When you crash-land on a frozen planet on your way to Trask, you and Din work together to keep the Crest afloat and keep your little family safe under the cold night sky.
After a botched raid, you and Javi both need a cigarette. Sitting together on the sidewalk outside the embassy, you find out you both need each other too.
You partied a little too hard with the boys last night; lucky for you, you married a man who’s really good at taking care of you while you’re hungover.
When your move into your first house as Mr. and Mrs. Morales is interrupted by a thunderstorm and power outage, you and Frankie remind each other that even an empty house can be a home if you’re together.
Frankie “Catfish” Morales x Reader || smut (18+ only) || College AU
High off your asses and half-asleep watching Deep Space Nine, you and Frankie say some things you might not have said sober - but that doesn’t make them any less true.
If you’re not a writer, that’s okay! You can make moodboards, playlists, art, whatever you want! Just please tag all triggers appropriately if there are any! All fandoms are welcome to join well!
When you post your work, please tag them with #ChristmasCreationCalendar2021 but we all know how broken tumblr’s site is so feel free to message us with a link to your work!
Will “Ironhead” Miller x f!reader (of Potions and Myths AU)
Word count 4,2k
Warnings: Werewolf AU, wolf dynamics, established relationship, full moon run, wolf rut, explicit smut, size kink, breeding kink. Minors be gone, this is 18+.
A/N: Ummm… I do feel kind of bad holding onto this fic for so long. I actually started writing this back in October 2021 and it has been sitting completed in my Drive since January. But it just didn’t feel right putting it out there until now.
We are going back to visit Will and his mate from Of Potions and Myths. But I do think this can be read without knowing the full story before this.
It’s so wonderful to be back with them and to get more into their relationship and dynamic. They are so so in love and in tune with one another that it has me just head over heels for this universe. Truly I love this so so much
Summary: When an old acquaintance reemerges in your life with a offer too good to refuse, you find yourself trekking through the woods with a pack of werewolves, one of which has an undeniable pull. Skilled and trained in pack handling, you somehow find yourself in over your head.
Warnings: Werewolf AU, A/B/O Dynamics, Canonical violence, Canonical death, Pining, Angst, Miscommunication, Explicit Smut, Bonding, Slight soulmates/Fated/True Mates, Mentions of guns, Mentions of violence, Peril, Mentions of wounds, Vague descriptions of death, Monster fucking, Monster attack
Wordcount: 12k
Notes: My contribution to The Moon of May writing challenge! I’ve wanted to play around with a few werewolf characters and I love that a/b/o au is basically an offshoot of that, so this seems perfect to have a little bit of angst and intensity with our wonderful Frankie ‘Catfish’ Morales!
Summary: After joining the boys as a much needed team medic, the tension between you and Frankie becomes to much to ignore.
Word count: 4.4k.
Warnings: Masturbation (male & female), P in V sex (unprotected), Oral (Fem receiving), Fingering, Yearning, Pining, Two idiots in love and trying to ignore it, Use of restraints (consensual) swearing, and Benny Miller being Benny Miller.
I have not beta read this! I wrote it in a few hours, I’ll check for mistakes tomorrow.
Thank you @frannyzooey for being so helpful, and helping me with a few things my ass struggled with when writing this.
You shouldn’t be staring. You should NOT be staring. He is your teammate, and he is your friend. But fuck. The way the droplets of rain drip down off of his curls and down on to his face is mesmerizing. The way the raspy texture of his voice seems to go straight to your core and make you drip with arousal every single time he speaks is mesmerizing. You’ve gotten to the point where you fear that he can smell your arousal every time he’s close to you, and you’ve actively started to avoid laying your sleeping bag to close to his through worry he’ll be somehow able to see that you dream of him every night.
He’s caught you looking a few times and he downplays it with a simple smile or a wink, the obvious embarrassment rushes to your face with an immediate blood rush. You’ve felt something for him since meeting him that very first day, but it has continued to intensify, and that tiny flame has formed into a full wildfire.
The sound of Santi barking an order at you pulls you out of your daydream. You gulp loudly and the vacant expression on your voice is enough for him to repeat himself, “What has gotten into lately?” nothing unfortunately you think to yourself, “We are making shelter. Get some water boiling and some food. We’re camping here.” You nod in agreement and swing your head around just enough to see Frankie, it’s his time to stare at you and he’s doing it intently. Head slightly tilted and mouth open as he takes in the flushed look on your distracted face. You quickly turn to your day pack, pulling out the set of small fuel cannisters and pots – lighting all four – and filling them all with water and adding ramen noodles to two of them.
You’d joined the group a year or so ago, their previous mission being a complete disaster which resulted in the death of one of their friends, Tom. You’d reluctantly allowed Santi to bring you along to a meeting in which the guys had seemingly only come along to because he was in another one of his ruts after the hell-mission. But they’d noted how he’d become a lot more responsible with planning and kept his word to be one hundred open with them from the off-set and you were a huge part of his newly found responsible turnaround as an ex-army medic that was on a much-needed sabbatical from your trauma residency he’d decided that you’d be a welcomed addition to the team.
Having seen combat and being able to deal with gunshot wounds, stab wounds and so on in not so ideal places you were exactly what was needed. The hell-mission had three gunshot wounds, one of which was fatal, and he’d decided then and there that someone clinical was a necessity for their group. So, there you were. Tucked away in the corner of the booth, wedged between a very interested and flirty Benny and Santi – trying to avoid gazing into the most gorgeous deep brown eyes you’d ever seen unaware that one year on, you’d be in the exact same situation.
The sound of Frankie, Benny, Will and Santi laying out your bed for the night kept you from falling back into another daydream, listening as they slightly argued and groaned at each other – all frustrated, hungry and tired from the insane amount of walking you had done for the past twelve hours after successfully completing your mission, all eager to get home.
You fill cups with tea and evenly dish out the noodles before calling them over to eat with you.
They form a circle around and murmur their thanks as they begin to dig in, and you stare idly into the bowl in front of you, not hungry enough to eat. “Did she look at your leg yet, Fish?” Will asks before shoving a large forkful into his mouth and you look across to Frankie who’s shaking his head at Will.
“You’re hurt?” you ask with a confused expression etched across your face, unsure why he’d hide this from you seeing as that is the reason you’ve been bought along.
“It’s fine. It’s nothing.” He says with a shrug avoiding eye contract.
“You got stabbed in the thigh, dude, that’s hardly ‘nothing’.” Benny counters back and your face flushes red with fury.
“You got stabbed, and didn’t tell me? What the hell am I here for? Because I sure as hell, didn’t agree to this just to make you guys’ dinner!” You yell across at him – shocking yourself and everyone else at your outburst, “I don’t know if you don’t trust my skills as a doctor, Frankie, but I’m more than capable.” You all but throw down your bowl of noodles before getting up and skulking away, ignoring the voices behind you as you strut away from your teammates and out of the little shelter and into the rain.
You stand outside being drenched by the rainfall, stood far enough from the guys to let the frustrations of the past week leave you. The mission was to retrieve information in regard to a huge incoming weapon shipment from a cartel that had singlehandedly been flooding the streets of Bogota with illegal arms for months. You’d kept guard with Benny earlier that morning as Frankie, Will and Santi stormed the building, only a few of their guards had remained and they’d successfully retrieved the information before destroying every computer, phone and electrical device that had been serving as the tools to communicate with the citizens they’d been bribing in the city.
You’d thought that it had been a total success but clearly, you’d been kept in the dark about everything that had transpired.
The rainfall had left you shivering and soaked, completely wet through and you sighed at your own stupidly; aware that you’d probably not be fully dry again until back at the hotel. The feeling of a large palm gently resting on your back makes you audibly gasp out-loud.
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you; I called your name, but you didn’t respond.” Frankie says almost sheepishly, “Fuck, you’re drenched, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, I-uh- I needed to step away.” you say whilst staring at your shoes.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. And, I have complete faith in your skills. I think you’re amazing. I just didn’t want to burden you; you’ve been a little… stressed the past few days.”
“We’re all stressed, Frankie, you’d still done your duties. Mine is to make sure you’re all safe, you should have told me immediately. A stab wound isn’t nothing.” Your voice comes out a lot harsher than you had intended it to and you immediately regret the way you come across, “Look, I don’t want to argue or yell at anyone, I just want to be doing my job.”
You feel a wave of guilt as you look over at him and noticed that he himself is now completely drenched through and before you get a chance to apologise, he reaches out a hand for you to take and leads you back to your shelter.
“Fuck,” Benny mumbles at the sight of you both shivering and soaked, “Better get changed before you both catch your death. And let her look at your leg, dumbass.”
You pull open your backpack and start desperately pulling everything out in search of dry clothing, finding fresh underwear and dry pants but falling short at a fresh shirt. You groan in annoyance at your own stupidity. Frankie having watched you manage to find everything, but a dry shirt reaches back into his and pulls you out a spare one of his and tentatively hands it to you along with a reassuring smile. And you offer him a heartfelt thanks before returning the smile.
You look over at Benny, Will and Santi who are all caught up in conversation by the fire and watching the rainfall outside the shelter.
You retreat behind one of the two privacy partitions and hastily get out of your drenched clothing, making sure to squeeze the water out of your hair before getting dressed in your dry clothes.
The boys are still in deep conversation as you come back out and grab your medical bag before walking over to the other partition and asking Frankie if it’s ok to come check his wound.
Dressed in just his boxers, a shirt and a sweater you try not to let him see how affected by him you are and instead concentrate on his injury. He’s perched down on a rock and you sit in between his legs having perfect access to his cut.
He’d hastily packed the wound with gauze and wrapped a tight bandage around it and you sigh at the image, fresh red blood still staining the skin around it. “The moment I cut this off, it’s going to gush, Francisco,” you say with another sigh, “you must be in agony.”
“It’s fine,” he grunts back as you take your safety scissors and start to remove the bandage, “A little sore.”
You instruct him to hold a bunch of fresh gauze against the wound as you get out your antiseptic wipes to clean the cut, “It’s going to sting a little” you warn as you signal for him to remove the gauze. He hisses as you gently wipe across the jagged cut, it’s not as deep as you were anticipating but it’s deep enough to require tissue adhesive. He winces in pain a few times and your free hand reaches up to his hip to give it a reassuring squeeze before dropping down so you can treat him the best you can. After you glue the wound the best you can, you gently access the area – running your fingertips slowly across his smooth skin.
He lets out a ragged breath and your eyes shoot up to his, he stares back into yours with an intensity that makes your core throb. You swallow hard as you look away, your line of sight automatically looking down and you see it. The affect your touch had on him, his cock hardening at the feeling of your fingertips gently grazing his skin, the feeling of your hot breath of his skin as you focused on his injury.
Your eyes flash back up to his and he’s still staring at you, the look in his eyes desperate and hungry, “I want you too,” he says barely above a whisper, confirming he’s been well aware of why you’ve been on edge the past few days, “Have been wanting you for a very long time.”
The sight of you on your knees in between his legs, biting down on your lower lip becomes almost too much to bare, he lets out a small grunt in frustration before reaching across to roughly palm himself over his boxers. A gentle moan escapes through your lips as you watch in desperation, desperate to reach out and take him in your hands, in your mouth… anyway you can.
His other hand grips the bottom of your chin and tilts your face upwards; he continues to palm his hardened length as he moves his face down towards yours. His nose bumps yours and he stills, eyes locked into one another’s, he awaits your confirmation and the moment you give it, his lips crash on top of yours. You cup his cheeks as his tongue dips into between your lips, tasting the inside of your mouth with fervour. You moan into him, embracing the way his tongue works tirelessly to explore your mouth. “Frankie,” you murmur up against his plush lips, “I need you.”
“Me too, baby. The minute we get back to the hotel, I’m going to make you feel so fucking good.” His forehead rests gently on top of yours as you fight the urge to reach down and take him into your hands, “Soon.” He whispers as you look back down at his throbbing erection.
The sound of footsteps make you both hastily break your embrace, you quickly covering his now closed wound with an adhesive bandage before he pulls on his dry pants.
“Will he survive? What’s the verdict, doc?” Santi asks as he pokes his head around the partition.
“He’ll be fine… As long as he doesn’t hide anymore injuries from me in the future,” you say shooting him a little wink and he holds his hands up in mock defeat, “Cuts closed, and I’ll put a fresh dressing on it before we leave tomorrow morning.”
Shoving your medical pack back into your backpack, you feel him gently press a fleeting hand against the small of your back and he flashes you a smile before joining the guys around the fire. After a few moments you decide against joining them as lack of sleep is gaining on you.
After brushing your teeth, you pick up your sleeping bag and announce to the team you’re going to sleep. They all wish you a goodnight and you lay your sleeping bag on the mat nearest to your partition, facing away from the boys. You trace your fingers gently over kiss swollen lips, as your thighs clamp together at the vivid imagery of him palming his cock for you replays over and over in your head.
Sleep doesn’t come as quick as you’re hoping, instead you lay there listening to the boys tease each other and reminisce over past missions… they all agree at the same time to get some sleep.
Not looking over your shoulder you hear him, laying his sleeping bag down next to yours and you smile at your shared need for closeness. Barely above a whisper you hear a small, “goodnight, sweetheart” murmured in your direction.
Morning arrives and the sounds of the rainforest fill your ears, the lack of rain a welcomed surprise. Frankie, Santi and Benny are still sound asleep, Will sitting up in his sleeping bag and looking out at the jungle. “Morning,” you murmur voice still thick with sleep, “Should be back at the hotel in a few hours.”
“Good morning,” he returns with a nod, “Yep, back to reality.”
Boiling water and cooking oatmeal had become your morning routine and you eagerly begin – desperate for a caffeine fix. “If I never have to eat oatmeal ever again after today, it’ll still be too soon,” you groan as you stir the pots it’s cooking in.
Frankie wakes up next and his loud stretch makes you giggle, his face swinging around in search of yours as he greets you with a knowing smile.
“Morning, Fish,” Will grumbles from across the room, “Better wake the sleeping beauties if we want to get out of here this morning.”
Stomachs filled, and flasks filled with coffee – you all pack up your supplies and put on your backpacks and start to make your way out of the rainforest. Santiago had arranged with a contact for a car to be dropped off about two hours away from where you’d set up camp, and as you dredged further through the muddy forest you began to see the coastline in the distance signalling you were close.
It took more restraint that you’d care to admit as you saw the truck waiting for you, the keys had been hidden above one of the tires and your heart sank as Will went to retrieve it under the one that had been agreed upon and it wasn’t there. The mad rush as you all stepped forward to try and find the missing keys almost comical and the shared simultaneous sigh of relief when it was found under another tire made you audible giggle. Wasting no time all bags are thrown into the back of the truck without any care whatsoever, Benny volunteers to drive and Will calls shotgun.
Santi climbs in first followed by Frankie and yourself. The feeling of Frankie’s hand brushing up against the side of your leg makes you breathe out a ragged breath. Unable to ignore the ache that had started that very first night after he’d helped you over a risky looking bridge had gotten stronger and stronger, magnified by one hundred as you’d shared your first kiss the night before.
The drive back to the hotel was hell-ish. Benny wasn’t the most careful driver at the best of times, and after a week in the jungle surviving on little sleep, he unsurprisingly didn’t get any better. With every sharp turn he made you found yourself pressing up against Frankie and vice versa, at one point he’d driven so recklessly your hand gripped Frankie’s thigh so tightly that he groaned out loud – not in pleasure, but in pain as you fisted his knife wound without intent. “Shit” you hissed as guilt flooded your whole body. His flattened palm shifted beneath the bottom of your thigh to give you a reassuring squeeze as you apologised profusely.
The moment you saw the hotel you breathed out the loudest ‘thank goodness’ you’ve ever uttered and practically swung the door open… both in anticipation and relief.
As the other guys stood around discussing the plans for the afternoon, you reached into the back of the truck to pull out your backpack. Biting your lip, the moment he purposely pressed up behind you to grab his own stuff, “My room, shower, five minutes,” he ordered in your ear before quickly removing himself for your space.
You all but ran up to your hotel room, discarding your bags as quickly as you could and rummaging through the suitcase that you’d left there before venturing out on your mission – pulling out clean underwear, a sundress and toiletries.
Your room was on the same floor as the rest of the guys, five doors up from Frankie’s – you took the time to check it was clear before padding down the hallway to his room – you pressed the door gently and it swung open, steam from the shower already coming out from under the bathroom door.
You locked the door behind you, stripping yourself down completely before entering the bathroom.
He was facing the tiles in the shower, already dripping wet – the broadness of his shoulders, his strong arms and the firmness of his cute little butt made you lick your lips. You watched for a few seconds as he washed the shampoo out of his gorgeous brown curls and then you slipped in behind him; wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing gentle kisses to his shoulders.
“Was wondering when you were going to get here,” he mumbles, before spinning around to face you, “You kept me waiting.”
“Hardly” you say with a large grin.
“You’ve been teasing me for over a year,” he says with a wink before stepping back to take a look at you, he looks up and down at your bare form – eyes tracing back and forth over your breasts, “Fuck, you’re perfect” he grits out before reaching out and taking one of your breasts in his hand to test the weight of it.
You squeeze up next to him and press yourself against him as tightly as you can, relishing in the little groan he lets out as you do so. Stepping under the steaming spray of water you wet your hair and he watches every movement you make, silently admiring as you shampoo and condition your hair, and as you begin to wash the grime off of your body. Only moving as your eyes lock onto him and your fingers brush down through the small curls on your mound and dip into your slit.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he warns before ripping your hand away, “I said I am going to make you feel good when we got here… don’t make me restrain these pretty little wrists now.”
His words cut through you like butter, and you mewl at the thought he’d planted in your head.
“Out of the shower and get on the bed, now” he orders, and you obediently comply to his demands, making sure to press yourself up against him one more time on the way out.
Your still dripping wet as you lay yourself down on the edge of his bed, watching as he slowly emerges from the bathroom – his cock rock hard and heavy swinging between his legs as he makes his way over to you.
“Look at you,” he says quietly, “Fuck, baby, you’re absolutely perfect” he moans out whilst beginning to stroke his cock.
You salivate at the sight, the way he’s staring down at you with an untamed hunger and providing himself with a little relief as he does so. “Open those legs, baby, I want to see.”
Moving back a little more on the bed, you lean back onto your elbows and open your legs slowly, giving him a full view of your glistening cunt. Already soaked with arousal, and clenching around nothing with need.
“Frankie,” you whisper as he continues to jerk himself off whilst taking you all in. “Please, Frankie” you repeat as you hand unconsciously falls downwards towards your slit and you start to rub small circles into your clit to provide yourself some much needed relief.
“Uh-oh, baby girl,” he grits out, “I warned you.”
You immediately retreat your hand and start to apologise, “I couldn’t wait” you stutter.
“Poor baby” he says with an exaggerated pout, “Always got be such a fucking tease.”
“I need you, Frankie,” you whimper as he walks away from the bed and towards his backpack. Bending over to grab something from the side pocket, “Please, babe.”
“Sssh, baby” he soothes as he walks back over to you, you can’t quite make out what he has one in of his fists, “I intend on giving you all your pleasure today, baby, and if you can’t keep your hands to yourself then I’m going to have to restrain them” he drops a quick kiss to your forehead and then presents the long black cable wire to you, “Safe word – jungle, say it once and I’ll rip it off immediately” he says before making you say out loud you understand and consent. His hands are gentle as they bring yours together, and he ensures that the restraint is not too tight or causing you discomfort before playing your hands above your head.
“Keep them there” he orders before bending down on to his knees and slowly running a finger through your slit, “Been dying to know how you taste” he murmurs before licking a wide strip through your folds making you mewl in pleasure, and without thinking your hands whip down to find their way into his hair, “What did I say?” he grits up at you as you realise your mistake.
“Sorry,” you whisper before moving them back to their original position, “Didn’t think.”
He shakes his head at you, “Naughty girl” he says before burying his face back between your legs, he licks a few more wide strips down from your entrance to your clit, before focusing on that bundle of nerves. Groaning in approval at your desperate pleas and pleasured moans. Just as he feels your thighs begin to shake, he thrusts two thick fingers inside of you, pumping in and out as his tongue continues its delicious assault over your clit. The moment he feels your walls begin to flutter and clamp down around his fingers he curls them inside of you and continues to lick furiously as your orgasm rips through you. Cumming hard with a loud gasp of his name, “Francisco.”
“Good girl,” he soothes as you writhe underneath him, still high from your orgasm, “Love it when you call me that, baby.”
“N-need you,” you gasp out still unable to form a coherent sentence as your chest heaves up and down, “Please.”
“Fuck, so needy, baby” he teases as he slides his cock through your puffy folds, “Going to fill you up with my cum now, sweet girl.”
The thickness of his cock makes you gasp as he slowly breaches your entrance, he’s slow, making sure to study your face the entire time and make sure it’s not too much for you, and when he’s sure he’ll inch himself in further and further whilst murmuring sweet nothings about how beautiful you look and how well you’re taking his cock.
The stretch of him makes you bite down on your bottom lip, the slight stinging remaining present but being burned out by the pleasure, when he’s almost fully inside of you – he brings his thumb down to your clit and slowly rubs little circles into it.
He groans loudly the moment you’re filled by him, the feeling of you clenching around him making him worry he’ll blow his load immediately.
“Relax, baby,” he soothes quietly, “You’re gripping me so fucking tight, baby.”
“Please, move” you whimper in reply.
He rocks his hips in and out, just a little, barely moving an inch in and out at a time, and then he picks up the pace. Biting down on his lip as he searches for that sweet spongey spot inside of you and groaning in pleasure the second, he realises he’s found it, his pace quickens - rubbing against that spot perfectly, hitting it every single time and revelling in the way your eyes begin to roll back as you start to cum around his cock.
“You look so fucking good like that, baby. Going to tie those pretty little wrists up every time that you backtalk me, princesa.”
“Is tha-that a promise?” you choke out as blinding pleasure rips through you, “Fuck, I fucking love your cock, Francisco” you can’t help but choke out everything going through your brain, “I need it… need in my mouth after, baby, please can I suck your cock?” your words become more and more incoherent as you clamp down hard around his cock, flooding around it as you cum hard with another scream of his name.
He thrusts as much as he can grunting loudly as his spend paints your walls, “Fuck, baby, fuck.”
The pulls out of your still fluttering hole and watches as his spend spills out with your arousal.
“Fuck.”
You giggle at the look on his face as he continues to watch your pussy, “So fucking pretty,” he murmurs.
He climbs over you and pulls you into a passionate kiss, his hands working quickly to break yours free of the cable ties and the moment they’re free you tangle them in his still wet locks.
“This is the start of something spectacular, I think” he says before kissing you again, “Rest up, baby, we’re not leaving this bed for at least the next few days.”
He pulls you into his strong chest and you nuzzle into him, “I hope you’ve got more of those cable ties, Francisco.”
Hey guys!! I just wanted to know that I’ve made a new much prettier taglist form. Feel free to signup
Although, I must warn you, if you were previously on it you have to sign up if you want to stay on because everyone who doesn’t sign up will be removed. I’ll assume those who don’t sign up again want to be removed.
Just wanted to share the chapterboards for Chapters 9 and 10 of Frontier of Anarchy! ✨
tbh I haven’t even started writing Chapter 8 (I shared the chapterboard for that one along with Chapter 7 in this post previously!) but making these chapterboards has been part of my efforts to stay inspired to continue with this story
Rating: PG-13 (language, mentions of a “sleepover”)
Summary:Dating your best friend’s brother always comes with challenges. Benny doesn’t want to know any of the details about your relationship until he begins to wonder where he fits. | Ft. “Are you a thing now?” Requested by anon.
Pairing:Best Friend!Benny x Reader | Boyfriend!Will x Reader
Warnings: Some fluff, Benny being an annoying best friend, a little insecurity, some swears. That’s about it.
Word Count:2.3k
The moving playing in the background was one you’d seen at least a thousand times. Somewhere along the way, it became something of a comfort film - watched at least once any time Benny joined you for a movie night - and you were waiting for him to start quoting the villain’s lines aloud as he tilted his head to glance up at you.
Knowing him, the words on the tip of his tongue were either that or a train of thought only you would be privy to.
Benny’s position on your lap, head resting on your thigh and popcorn bowl resting on his stomach, was one that he’d adopted not long after you became friends. It was natural, easy, but you often joked that it made you feel like his therapist when he abandoned the movie to ask you questions that often lead to rethinking the ways of the universe.
“So, are you, like, a thing now?”
Unlike his previous questions - your thoughts on aliens, whether mankind is inherently good, how many marshmallows you imagined he could fit into his mouth and whether he would choke on them - there was no need to ask where this one came from or who he was referring to.
For nearly three months, you’d been seeing Will. It started slowly - neither of you were interested in rushing into something, let alone something with one another lest it leave you both in an awkward spot - but things were starting to get serious.
To friends that didn’t know him and strangers, you now referred to Will as your boyfriend. Benny knew - was the first to know, told by both you and Will the moment you decided to give one another a chance - but rarely asked for specifics. He knew enough to be kept in the loop - knew that you’d been spending more time together and that you’d moved beyond just getting to know one another romantically - but this was the first time he’d asked for clarity.
Still, you weren’t exactly surprised that he was asking now. When his early morning call - asking if you wanted to meet for breakfast as he’d been busy with training and you’d been busy with work, leaving you both unable to spend any time together - was answered by Will, it was bound to happen.
Despite the question - and your expectation that it was to come - Benny’s curiosity about your love life was rarely serious. He’d joked time and again that he didn’t want to know anything about your relationship with Will - he grimaced exaggeratedly and downed his beer the first time he saw Will wrap his arm around your shoulders - so you rolled your eyes and laughed at his question.
“Why?” As you reached for the popcorn, you fixed him with a raised brow and a playful grin. “You jealous, Miller?”
Though the question was lobbed at him in jest, a teasing jab meant to make him laugh, Benny seemed to take it a touch too literally. Something unfamiliar - something sad, anxious - flashed in his eyes as his cheeks flushed a warm pink. With a scoff, he sat up and shook his head as he averted his gaze.
“Fuck no,” he declared, not bothering to spare a glance in your direction. “I love you but not like that.”
The refutation was strong, one that carried more weight than a simple rebuttal should have, and was followed by another shake of his head. In the moment of silence that followed, Benny raked a hand through his hair - unweighted by the ratty cap he wore so often - and tapped his foot as he reached out for his beer as he attempted to gather his thoughts.
It struck you then, as you watched him furrow his brows and reach for the abandoned beer bottle on the coffee table, just how similar he and Will could be. Though Will seemed like the picture of stoicism upon first meeting him, he truly cared for the people in his life. His care was quieter than Benny’s - fewer words, more actions - but both Miller brothers wore their hearts on their sleeves around those lucky enough to be part of their lives. Benny could be rash, impulsive, but in the moments that mattered - moments like this - he took a page from his older brother’s book and fell silent as he tried to decide how to continue.
“I’m not jealous.” The repetition was unnecessary as you both knew that wasn’t the case - as much shit as everyone gave you, your relationship with Benny was strictly platonic and always had been - but his reaction gave you pause. There was, obviously, something simmering beneath the surface and it brought a frown to your lips as Benny took a pull from his now warm beer.
As he seemed to lose himself in his train of thought, you hesitantly attempted to answer the question that prompted the conversation. “I mean…” You paused for a moment to really consider where you and Will stood.
The relationship was exclusive - it had been all along, even if neither of you explicitly said anything in the beginning - and you could see yourself falling in love with him but that was not something you felt necessary to share with Benny in that moment. The relationship was one of the most stable you’d had in years, something you attributed to starting off so slowly, and you saw a future with Will in a way that you hadn’t with anyone else.
“Yeah,” you finally confirmed. “We’re a thing.” There was a moment of hesitation before you asked, “Is that… are you okay with that?”
Benny nodded quickly and nearly dropped the bottle onto the table as he returned it. “Yeah,” he confirmed, pausing momentarily to clear his throat. “It’s… yeah. Of course I’m good with it. I just…”
A beat of silence passed as Benny frowned. He shook his head once more before turning to glance at you. “Look,” he began, voice as serious as you’d ever heard him. “I’m happy for you. You and Will are perfect for each other. Just… say you get serious. That’s great,” he acknowledged, certain and firm in his declaration. “But what happens when Friday nights are date nights, not movie nights. And when dinner after a fight is just you and Will, not the three of us. And what happens if you break up? I know you’re both all tough and emotionally constipated and shit but it’d be weird. I’d lose my best friend and be pissed off at my brother.“
Though Benny no longer had any problem being vulnerable with you, this was the most honest - and serious - he’d been about his feelings in a long while. It made your chest ache as you studied the frown that looked so out of place on his face. Without a second thought, your expression mirrored his.
“Benny.” A soft sigh escaped your mouth as you reached out for him. When he frowned, eager to swat you away before you could pull him into an embrace, you tapped his hand away before tugging him closer. “You’re my best friend. I don’t say this often because your ego would be too big for my fucking house but I look forward to the time I get to spend with you. Movie nights are the highlight of my week when we can make them happen. And post dinner fights give me the perfect opportunity to make fun of you for getting your ass kicked. I’m not gonna give that up.”
Narrowed blue eyes met yours as you glanced at the man you’d grown so close to. You could see that there was an argument on the tip of his tongue - likely about his fighting, eager to deflect the conversation from something so serious - but you pressed on.
“Will knows that nothing between us is going to change. Before we decided to give us a shot, we sat down and talked through all the tough shit. One of the beauties of knowing Will before trying to really get to know him, I think. Just know that this,” you gestured between the pair of you and tilted your head to glance at Benny, “is good. We’re good. Right?”
A soft laugh escaped Benny as he tossed one arm over your shoulders before reaching for his beer. “Yeah,” he agreed with a nod, “we’re good. I really am happy for you both. It’s just… weird.” He paused for a moment to scrutinize you, blue eyes narrowed as he studied you, before he shook his head. “You know, I try but I just can’t figure out what he sees in you.”
A surprised gasp escaped before you shoved Benny away and reached for an abandoned pillow. “Oh, fuck you,” you laughed as you tossed the pillow in his direction. “I’m a complete catch and your brother is smart enough to understand that.”
“Mm.” Benny shrugged as he drained the remainder of his beer. He turned to glance at you with a badly hidden grin and glimmering eyes. “Poor guy.”
Benny stood, easily dodging the next pillow you tossed his way, and laughed as he wandered through the living room to the kitchen. “You’re a pain in my ass, Miller, you know that?”
He shrugged as he returned with two bottles in hand and a bright grin on his lips. “You would’t have it any other way.” The declaration was confident, easy - a return to the man you called your best friend - and made you roll your eyes as he settled back onto the couch at your side.
After a few moments of comfortable silence - during which Benny actually seemed to pay attention to the movie - you turned to glance at him. He raised a brow and glanced at you from the corner of his eye. “What’re you starin’ at, creep?”
“You’d really be pissed at Will if we broke up, even if it was my fault?”
Benny, who likely forgot he’d even said it, shrugged as he considered your question. “Depends on what you did,” he answered after a moment. “If he deserved it, probably.”
A surprised laugh escaped as you shook your head and reached for the bowl of popcorn. “I kinda love you. You know that, right?”
Another shrug from Benny as he nudged your beer closer to you and tilted his head to meet your eyes. “Mm. If you really loved me, though, you’d share the fucking popcorn.”
Instead of waiting, Benny reached out and snatched the bowl from your hand with a triumphant grin. You allowed him to keep it, not bothering to put up a fight, and shook your head as you sank back into the cushions to finish the film.
Once more, the silence only lasted a moment as the sound of a car door closing caught Benny’s attention. When the door closing was followed by footsteps on your porch and the jingle of keys, he frowned. He turned his attention to the door as the lock turned, momentarily on edge, before he turned to you. Benny raised an eyebrow as he sat up straight and glanced between you and the door. “He has a key? Come on, that’s more than a thing,” he declared, though you could hear the hint of laughter that tinged his voice.
As the door swung open and the thud of Will’s boots hitting the floor echoed through the house, you shrugged. “Well, ‘thing’ was fucking vague. That’s your fault.” You pointed your bottle at him and raised a brow as he shook his head. “He’s my boyfriend, Benny, he has a key. I’ve got a key to his place, too,” you admitted with a laugh as Will stepped into the living room and offered you a smile. “You really think I’m getting up at the crack of dawn to lock up after he leaves to go to the gym with you? Please.”
Benny made a face at the idea of Will sleeping over - just as he’d pretended to retch the moment Will answered your phone - and blinked as he glanced between you both. “Gross. Your love is disgusting, I hope you know that.”
Will shook his head as he dropped his backpack beside the couch and settled onto the arm at your side. As he did so, Benny moved to stand from the couch. “You can just say that you hit a dry spell. We won’t make fun of you,” Will offered, grin badly hidden as Benny glared at him.
“Speak for yourself, babe.” Benny grimaced at the pet name and rolled his eyes as you shot him a bright grin. “I will absolutely make fun of you.”
“Alright, fuck both of you.” It was said with a laugh as he reached for his cellphone and the hat he’d discarded on the table but before he could move any further, you shook your head.
“Sit back down, Benny,” you huffed, not bothering to glance at Will as he gave your hand a quick squeeze. “The movie’s not over yet.”
Benny glanced between you and Will - though he seemed uncertain as to what he was searching for - before he nodded and crossed the small distance to the loveseat. He dropped onto it and stretched out - head and legs hanging over the sides - before turning to look at Will. “You ever seen this one?”
Will moved from the arm of the couch to the spot Benny had just occupied and tossed an arm over your shoulders as he pretended to think for a moment. “Don’t think so,” he finally answered, barely bothering to look at the screen. He squeezed your thigh to keep you from blurting out that that was a lie - you’d made him watch it less than a week ago - and shrugged as he offered, “We could start it over, if you two don’t mind. Wanna see what the excitement’s about.”
As Benny launched into a passionate defense of the movie, eager to halt any potential argument Will could make before he could make it, Will tilted his head to give you a smile. Though Benny had valid reasons to worry, and though the future is never guaranteed, you couldn’t help but think that there would be no future without the Miller brothers in your life.
Author’s Note: I know Will is barely in this but, like. I’m a Benny girl, what can I say. I’m making a little progress on my next fic (Rick Flag) and then I’m going to try to get a Pedro character fic up (Din or Frankie, most likely; possibly Javi G). Anyway! I’ve written something! Now I’m gonna go continue my Enterprise binge.
through your eyes, everything had been golden; though, what makes the beauty of any moment even better, is each time both you & benny find yourselves getting closer…
rating: T or M, love, comfort, the perfect getaway, allusions to mature adult situations, blog is 18+ only
With the way the sun’s been going down like this, in faded waves of an amber glow, the plane ride over the mountains doesn’t seem so bad at all.
It’s like a steady tipping point between how you got here, and where you’re on your way to now. A towering silhouette of smog surrounded evergreens, reminding you of your closeness and his touch; of all the intimate shadows from just the night before – a fever dream, maybe, where both your hands and his just might have collided, grazing past pebbled skin there inside your memory, where a mess of things inevitably ends up in piles there along your floor…
Shifting there beside you, Benny smiles, stealing a glance your way before you have the chance to really notice him.
But you do, every time; especially now with the way he’s been taking up the whole seat next to you, arms the slightest bit tense, and looking for reasons just to hold your hand.
It feels like maybe you haven’t just imagined all of it; how he smells as good as he does right now without even realizing that he does, playfully nudging the edge of his knee against yours away from his more than obvious distraction…
It’s all so that you don’t end up missing a glimpse of everything that passes there from right outside your window; the subtle way the light’s been cascading itself past, trailing amidst the moment where the pad of his thumb brushes over yours. The warmth embraced by a hovered air, rising toward the edge of nowhere, until a stone carved trail becomes visible beneath it all, and you suddenly remember getting lost throughout all the cloud cover.
“See, right down there? That’s where our tent is going to go, sunshine. You and me, baby, on top of the world.”
Leaning into the sound of his whisper, you lend the smooth ridges of his hands a gentle squeeze, humming softly to yourself as you listen to him soundly against that heartfelt wave of stillness; taking it all in, one mile further at a time, as your eyes begin affectionately coming to a close.
“On top of the world…just you and me.”
You can feel that familiar wide grin of his sliding over the curve of your shoulder, kissing you so leisurely and slow, where a rush of heat soon presses to your skin he’s been quietly chasing after.
A subtle promise for something moreto happenlater,that awakens all your nerve endings; committing the pure shape of you to the forefront of his mind, with all the loving touches he’s been giving.
And, oh, how you can’t imagine a time when anything had truly ever felt better than it does right now.
…
a/n – this is my late entry for writer weds ! hope you love this little scene with benny. xo A
AN: No thoughts, only thots about meeting Frankie at a party you were reluctant to go to in the first place. There’s infidelity here - so if that’s not your jam no worries! Enjoy!
Pairing; Frankie Morales x f!reader
Warnings; Infidelity, (18+ no minors) piv sex (wrap it up), swearing, dirty talk, unhappy marriage - mentions of divorce.
Her lips were parted slightly, her eyes dilated and her pulse was almost visible on the delicate skin of her neck and the realization hit him like a sledgehammer.
My wife hasn’t looked at me like that in years.
“Sorry? I didn’t quite catch your name.” He instantly likes her voice and tries to imagine what she’d sound like in bed and for the first time in god knows how long he isn’t ashamed of himself.
“It’s Francisco - you can call me Frankie.” He shakes her hand, holds onto it probably longer than he should and he knows his dimple is staring her in the face with the way he’s smiling. “How do you know James?” He gives her a once over, almost subtly and he’s happy to see her fluster a tiny bit.
“Oh um - ha I actually don’t - I came with a friend. Maureen - do you know her?” She fiddles with her dress, smoothing it down with her plump lower lip between her teeth. It’s endearing and he wants nothing more than to pull her close - to nuzzle at the hollow of her throat but she looks at his hand when he takes a sip of his beer and the spell is broken. She sees it, he knows she does and there’s nothing he can say.
Fuck.
“Oh, I’m sorry - I didn’t realize.” She frowns a little staring at his wedding ring, more flustered than before but now it’s out of embarrassment and he feels cruel, like he’d led her on in some way.
“Yeah, that’s - sorry that’s-” He doesn’t know what to say to this lovely thing in front of him.
Technically, yes I’m married but my wife has been cheating on me for years, I just got the proof I needed a couple of days ago and I’m going to divorce her ass. Wanna fuck?
“There you are, have you seen my purse?” His wife came in right on cue and then he was alone with her, a swirl of a skirt left in the pretty woman’s wake - he sighed loudly, not that his wife commented on it - or even noticed for that matter. “There it is - oh look - your buddies are here! Why don’t you catch up with them?” She didn’t look at him as she said it - too busy fixing her lipstick and he knew then that her side piece was here.
He felt nothing.
“Sure honey.” He spoke the words to her back as she walked away from him - he couldn’t even remember when he stopped watching her go.
-
The heat was crawling up your body, warming the apples of your cheeks with embarrassment and your legs couldn’t carry you away fast enough. You moved through the crowd of people you didn’t know, winding through the little groups of them while scanning for Maureen, hoping to catch a glimpse of the red shirt she’d been wearing - relief washing over you when you finally saw her.
“Hey- where’d you get to?” She smiled big, looking for the drinks you were supposed to grab. “No drinks?”
“Sorry- There were a bunch of people waiting so I came back.” You did your best to smile through the lie. “I’ll try again in a few.”
If he’s not still standing there.
Your stomach dropped at the thought of running into him again, a groan threatening to claw its way out of your throat. Why did he have to be so handsome? Why did he have to be exactlyyour type? Tall and broad, with that cute dimple and those soft waves- marriedwaves.
Why did you flirt back?
This question annoyed you a bit, it burned brightly in the back of your mind while you tried - genuinely tried to listen to Maureen chatting about - well whatever the hell she was chatting about.
You saw his wife walk past the two of you then, a very pretty woman with gorgeously thick hair and Ruby red lips lost in conversation with a burly blond man, if he’d told her that you’d flirted then it would only make sense that she’d glance at you but mercifully she didn’t. Thank christ.
Maureen laughed and pulled you away from your thoughts, introducing you to a few of her friends from college and you busied yourself trying to remember their names, muddling through polite conversation while also counting the hours until she’d be ready to go. It wasn’t so bad though- they weren’t so bad. Her friends, while maybe a bit pretentious, were all in all nice enough and it wasn’t hard to find common interests with a few while she made her rounds until your bladder pulled you towards the bathroom.
The door to the powder room on the bottom floor was locked, in use. Goddamn it-
“There’s a bathroom just up the stairs and to the left-” One of the hosts saw you standing there and came to the rescue “-please feel free.” With a polite thank you, you climbed up further and further until the door was opening before you. The scene inside froze you in your tracks, it was the blond burly man and Francisco’s wife in the middle of a hook-up.
Your mouth gaped open for half a second before you shut the door - unsure if they’d heard you, unsure if they even cared.
Couldn’t even be bothered to lock the door???
You ran down the stairs as quickly as you could, almost crashing into the person just coming out of the powder room and after a nervous shuffle from both of you, you were safely tucked away in the enclosed space. After relieving yourself, and splashing your face with cool water came the time to rejoin the fray - maybe if you could make eye contact with Maureen, she would see the discomfort on your face but that was a dead end - she was nowhere to be found.
I need a cigarette.
-
He was standing alone on the porch of the house, taking in the cool night air and it seemed as though the Gods or the fates or whoever was responsible for the day was thoroughly enjoying your discomfort.
“Oh - hi.” He smiled his dimpled smile and it was almost too much - you didn’t know this man, you had no idea what was happening in their marriage but what you did know for sure was how fucking disrespectful it was of this woman to fuck another man while her husband was here. “You okay?” His head tilted, concerned, beautiful.
“Yeah. Sorry um - you wouldn’t happen to have a smoke would you?” Fingers crossed he’d say yes.
“No sorry - I quit a long time ago.”
Fuck me sideways, seriously.
“No worries.” You stood there, gawping at him as he leaned his hip against one side of the railings. His smile faded and a neutral realization took its place.
“Was it with a blond man?” His words were stones in your stomach, boulders being dropped from a great height.
“What?” You hoped against hope that he wouldn’t make you do this.
I shouldn’t have fucking come out here.
“It’s okay - it wouldn’t be the first time. It’s funny - I didn’t want to divorce her until I had the proof and I got it a couple of days ago.” He sighed big but it didn’t seem sad or heartbroken. “I’m not naive, it’s nothing new.”
“I’m sorry - I don’t know what to say. Are you going to confront them?” The idea of him storming upstairs and pulling them out of the bathroom for everyone to see made your skin crawl with anxiety.
“Oh no, nothing so dramatic as that, I don’t care to - haven’t cared in a long time.” He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Just please don’t look at me like that.” You frowned.
“Like what?” It was your head that tilted now.
“Like you pity me - I’m okay, in a couple of days I’ll serve her with the papers and it’ll be done. For now I’d much rather you looked at me the way you did before you knew I was married.” He straightened as he spoke - taking a few slow steps towards you.
“And how did I look at you before?” He was so tall, so broad and handsome.
“You looked at me, like you wanted me.” He watched your mouth, licking his bottom lip as he spoke and suddenly it was too hot - your skin was too warm and your tongue followed the example set by him and swiping along your bottom lip.
-
His grip is almost bruising, but his hands are so much softer than you would have thought and after a harder thrust one of them is sliding under your bra to hold the weight of your breast.
“You feel so fucking good.” His voice is hoarse, the words clipped as he groans them into your ear. The plush swell of your ass is pressed up tight against his groin, his cock punching up into you in the back of his truck.
I am letting a married man fuck me in the back of his truck, in a suburban neighbourhood.
The thought bleeds out of your brain with every snap of his hips, with every swirl of his fingers on your swollen clit. Your slick is dripping out around him, soaking the panties he roughly pulled down to fill your aching cunt. His cock sliding in so easily with how aroused you are and it takes everything not to scream out from how good it feels.
“Feel how fucking hard you made me baby.” He picks up speed, pushing the air out of your lungs with the force of it - your eyes roll back - mouth a wordless ‘O’ as he steals the thoughts out of your head with the slip of his cock and the swirl of his fingers. “Talk to me baby- tell me it feels good.” He pulls you up, his hand moving up to cradle your jaw and bring you towards him in a misaligned kiss. All tongues and pants as he doubles down on his efforts to pull you apart.
“It’s good - god it’s so fucking good.” Your words are almost slurred and he lets out a breathless laugh before he bites at your ear.
You’re racing towards your orgasm, the tingle of it spreading from your center out through your limbs and when he pinches your clit between his two wet fingers you fall off the cliff. Euphoria burns through your veins, cunt clenching around him hard enough to make him groan from deep in his throat.
“Where do you want it?” He grits it out through mashed teeth and you pull away, bending forward as best you can.
“On my ass.” You pull your dress up past your hips, displaying yourself for him shamelessly.
“Fuck-”He sounds pained and you can’t help but look back as best you can, the pain in your neck is worth the vision of him, his eyes down watching as he pumps his cock against your ass. One of his hands gripping you and with a shuddering moan he paints you in himself. “Jesus baby- fuck that’s pretty.” He rubs the sensitive tip through the mess on your skin before finally finding a tissue and wiping most of it away.
The cab is steamy when you exit, your hair a mess, his shirt untucked but both of you giddy with post orgasmic bliss - wordlessly parting to join the party but not before saving your number in his phone.
After the blood has cooled and it’s time to go, he catches your eye at the door with a wink and a promise and as you walk out with Maureen you hope he’ll call soon.
warnings: angst, some swearing, flashbacks, mentions of death and blood, vulnerability, mentions of sex…please read at your own risk
word count: 1.6k
inspired by: ‘epiphany’ - taylor swift
a/n: this is my first time writing for santiago, i hope you enjoy it and it doesn’t suck <3
The mountains were silent as he moved, careful not to make his presence known. The smoke and sound of gunfire had cleared, each of the five men holding their breath as their ears strained for sounds of movement from their attackers. The same thought ran through each of their heads.
Stay alive and get out.
It was a surprise attack, a sudden gunshot from unknown followers as they climbed up the mountains. Their military instincts kicked in and took over, even when Benny got shot in the arm. It was just a flesh wound, nothing that could deter him from shooting when he heard the next gunshot.
There was one man left. Five against one.
And then Tom was hit, a bullseye to the head. There was no way to survive something like that. Santiago shot his assailant twice and fell, blood dripping from the wounds and onto the rocks. A brief moment of silence passed before Benny’s voice pierced the air, yelling for his fallen comrade as he rushed over to him. Santiago felt numb, not acknowledging the next few moves he made. All he heard was Benny mourning over the loss of their friend.
It didn’t even register that the brothers were punching each other until they were nearly falling off the cliff. Santiago jumped into action, Frankie joining him and tearing the brothers apart as ‘stop this shit!’ spewed angrily from his mouth.
A chill ran up Santiago’s spine, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. They were being watched. Movement caught his eye and he looked. Lorea stood a few feet away, a rifle in his hand that was pointed directly at Santiago’s head.
But he was supposed to be dead. Santiago killed him himself.
Ten of his guards stood beside him, each of them pointing a gun at the others. They were surrounded and outnumbered. A wicked smile crossed Lorea’s face.
“Espero que estés listo para morir.”
Santiago’s breaths were shaky and he took as many as he could, not knowing what one would be his last. He didn’t want to die, but there was a brief moment where he caught a single glimpse of relief he would feel if he did. All he’d ever known was the military…how he gave his life over and over and over again and for what? To go back to civilian life without any help from the Colombian or US government? He deserved more, his friends deserved more, which is what brought them back to Colombia to steal Lorea’s money.
But look where that got them, Santiago thought. A helicopter crash, an ambush that left one wounded and one dead, millions of dollars left behind because they were too ambitious and couldn’t take it all with them.
Tom was someone’s son, someone’s father. And he was gone because Santiago wanted to steal the money he thought they were robbed of. That glimpse of relief from the guilt and the pain and the anger Santiago knew he’d feel for the rest of his life suddenly didn’t seem so bad…
…until the the shot was fired.
》》》
It’s always the same dream.
Santiago would finally succumb to sleep, sometimes hours after he lays down in deafening silence and his mind finally stops reeling. And then before he knew it, he’s awake again, the violent images of Tom’s death replaying in his mind. At least the part about Lorea coming back from the dead to kill him wasn’t true. He just wishes the rest of it wasn’t either.
This time, he had fallen asleep on his couch. The beginning of a new movie had already started and he doesn’t recognize it, but he also doesn’t really care. A quick look at the clock shows that it’s just after two in the morning and a heavy sigh and a whispered ‘fuck’ leave his lips and he turns the tv off. He runs a hand down his tired face and sits in the silence. He’s alone with nothing but his thoughts and none of them are pleasant.
He debates calling you. A one night stand turned into another one night stand which turned into the both of you reaching out whenever you were drunk, lonely, and horny. He had attempted therapy at the suggestion of Frankie, but walked out before the hour was up. But it’s early on a Friday morning and he knows you have work in the morning.
He decides instead to grab his keys and go for a drive. Empty roads with the windows down and a classic rock radio station playing in the background would surely relax him.
The drive to clear his head brings him to your house, the route so familiar now that Santiago doesn’t realize he’s driven to your house until he’s outside of it. The lights are still on and he recalls you telling him once that you were a night owl, so he wasn’t too surprised to see that you were still awake.
He knocks on the door softly in case you had gone to bed already and he almost lets out a sigh of relief when you answer the door in sleep shorts that peeked out from beneath an oversized t-shirt. Your hair is down and disheveled from laying against the pillows of your couch and Santiago thinks it may just be the most adorable thing he’s ever seen.
He doesn’t kiss you, no hand on the back of your head and crashing his lips onto yours. All he does is stare, like you weren’t real. Just your presence in front of him now was like the light at the end of the tunnel, the desire to rush towards it nearly overwhelming him.
It had been awhile since a woman made him feel like that. He thought there was a possibility with Yovanna when he went to track her down in Australia. Their chemistry was undeniable, but looking at her only made him feel ashamed. It was him giving her safe passage out of Colombia in exchange for Lorea’s whereabouts that led to Tom losing his life.
He blamed her for awhile, but he mostly blames himself.
“Hey…”
Your voice brings him back to reality. He opens his mouth to say something, but all that comes out is a breath that shakes. You can see the pain behind his eyes. It’s the same pain you’ve seen get drowned in alcohol and hidden by lust at the bar you both frequent.
“Do you want to come in?”
“I don’t…” His voice is low and defeated and it makes your heart ache. “I don’t, um….”
Santiago sighs, not knowing what to say to explain why he stood at your doorstep. The only thing he knew for sure is that he isn’t looking for sex…and he hopes like hell you won’t turn him away.
You give him a small smile and step aside, welcoming him inside
The warmth of your home a sharp contrast from the chill of the night air and giving him goosebumps. The glow of your bedroom light cast a faint glow into the hall and he follows it like a siren call.
“Do you want something to—“ He isn’t behind you and you turn just in time to see his shadow disappear into the hallway.
Santiago lays back on your bed, breathing out all the hurt and anger he’d been feeling as the scent and comfort of you engulfed him. After turning off lights and plugging your phone in, you carefully lay next to him so you wouldn’t scare him. The only sounds that are heard is his breathing and the rain outside. You’ve seen him get caught up in his mind before, but never like this. You don’t ask him what’s wrong…whatever it was is clearly more complicated than a shitty day at work. You know as well as anyone there are some things in life that you just can’t speak about.
Instead, you watch him carefully and put your hand on top of his. He closes his eyes as another shaky breath escapes him. The touch of your hand on his grounds him, reminds him that when he closes his eyes, he’s not actually back in Colombia and reliving the death of his friend. He’s home, in your room, feeling safer than he’d felt all week.
Santiago curls onto his side, arm sliding around your waist and pulling you into him. His forehead falls against yours and you gingerly put your hand on his cheek. A tear escapes his eye and you tenderly wipe it away, letting him pull you even closer.
“It’s okay,” you whisper into the darkness of your room. Those two words squeeze his heart in a vice grip and he allows more tears to fall as sobs start to rack his body. His hold on you tightens and he’s scared to cry but he can’t stop. “I’ve got you, it’s okay.”
He cries himself to sleep in twenty minutes and you move just enough to grab the blanket to cover yourselves up. His head rests against your chest and you gently run your fingers through his salt and pepper hair. It had never been like this with him before. A couple rounds of sex with talking and flirting in between always ended with one of you leaving the other to go home.
And yet as he lays against your chest and looks peaceful for the first time all night, you find yourself wishing you can be that for him all the time…his relief and his peace.
Warnings: None. Just us getting a little weepy in the end notes.
On the drive back, Santiago and Leah discuss plans, details, how things would happen, and how things would change. At one point, Pope pauses and stares off into the space on the road ahead of them for a moment. Leah picks up on it immediately as easily as if she could have seen tangible wheels turning and looks over from the passenger seat.
“What are you thinking about over there?”
“So follow me through this line of thought, and feel free to say no when I’m done,” he begins and she nods, waiting for him to continue. “Esperanza already calls you Mama, you’re the only mama she knows, and truthfully the only one that she’s ever going to know. What if, and I know this sounds a little crazy but…what if you adopt her? Obviously I’m already totally okay with it, and it would only be a matter of filling out and filing the legal documents. What do you say?” He finishes in a rush, wanting to get it out, and knowing that honestly, Leah is Esperanza’s mother in every way that matters.
“You really want me to do that?” Leah asks. She knows that this is big, certainly bigger for Santi than him asking her to marry him. This was him saying that he was willing to share the legal responsibility of his daughter, the most important thing in his life. Leah is honored that he would trust her with that.
“Yes I do, and I think Esperanza would too. If you want to talk to her about it we can. I don’t know how much she’ll be able to comprehend, but we could try.” Santiago reaches across the center console to take her hand, “I love you, Esperanza loves you, my mother loves you, and Richard adores you too. I don’t want to have just one foot in any more, no more half-assing. I’m all in this.”
Leah pulls their joined hands up to her lips and presses kisses to each of his knuckles. “Okay, I’m all in too. But we have to talk to Richard about this first.” She knows that the man has become an influential part of their lives and he deserves to know that they’re planning on taking this step with Esperanza, who will likely be his only biological grandchild.
“Deal. After we get back, we can go talk to him some time this week,” Pope says, pulling their hands towards him and planting a firm kiss on the back of her hand. “All in.”
After Santi and Leah had returned home and got settled back into their routine, and everyone had a chance to fawn over their rings, they made plans to go see Richard. The older man cleared his schedule for the afternoon, on the condition that they bring Esperanza along with them so he could take her out to ice cream.
When the small family arrived at his office, his secretary, a kind older woman who had been with the company for decades, smiled at them in greeting. As they waited, she let the comment slip that “Mr. Westingham has been a very different man now that he has something to focus his attention on. No more late nights in the office and he actually smiles again. He hasn’t done that since Virginia was a teenager, back before he lost Ella.”
Shortly after that small revelation, Richard walks out of his office to greet them where they’ve been waiting for him. He smiles at the pictures they make sitting together on the bench, Esperanza perched on Leah’s lap, babbling away at her father over something that is clearly very important to her.
“Santiago, Leah, Princesa, welcome! I’m so glad that you all asked to come by today,” he says as he strides across the space toward them. He shakes Santiago’s hand, hugs Leah, and when he turns his attention toward his granddaughter. He opens his arms to take her from Leah, but Esperanza practically launches herself out of Leah’s arms as she squeals “Papa!” and throws her small chubby arms around his neck. She loves Papa Westi, and she knows that there’s always a good chance that seeing him means that she gets ice cream.
“It’s good to see you, sir. We actually came to discuss some adult business with you, if that’s okay,” Pope tells him, his posture stiffening as a wave of nervousness washes over his body.
“Absolutely. Charlotte, would you mind watching Esperanza for a moment?” Richard asks, addressing the older woman. She just smiles and nods, and it’s easy to see that she’s overjoyed to see the man she’s known for years finally happy again. With Esperanza happily transferred into the care of Miss Charlotte, the trio of adults heads into Richard’s office.
Once they’re all seated around his desk, Richard begins speaking, “I see rings, so congratulations are in order. I am pleased that you both finally decided to do something about solidifying this relationship, although I do hope that I didn’t miss the wedding.” He looks slightly hurt as he finishes. Although he knows he has no right, over the past few months he has come to view Santiago as his own son.
“Oh, yes sir, definitely congratulations, but no marriage yet. This just happened this past weekend. We happened to propose to one another on the same trip,” Leah tells him, flushing slightly under his intense gaze. Richard nods, looking more at ease now knowing that he didn’t miss out on anything.
“No, no marriage yet, but what we did want to talk to you about was Esperanza. We would like, well, I would like, if Leah were to legally adopt Esperanza. Meaning that she would absolutely be Esperanza’s mother in every way but biological. But legally, we would have the same responsibilities for her. And obviously, we would both be responsible to love her and raise her as best as we can. I know that Lacy is no longer in Esperanza’s life, but Leah has been there through everything. And to be honest, if I”m going to make her my wife, then she’s going to be around her all the time anyway,” Santiago says, feeling a bit like he’s pleading his case before a courtroom judge.
Richard looks between the couple and hums contemplatively. “I agree, Virginia is no type of mother, nor is she ever going to be. I think it would be an excellent idea for Leah to adopt Esperanza and make the family completely official. At least legally speaking, since we all, including Princesa, know exactly who her mother is,” he says before pausing. “This wouldn’t change that I’m still able to be a part of her life, correct?” He asks, worried that he could potentially lose what has quickly become the best part of his life.
“No sir, absolutely not. She would still come to visit with you, and you would still be her Papa Westi, just legally I would be her mother. We still want you to be around for her, and for us. You’re an excellent person, and she deserves to grow up knowing her grandfather. Just because we get married, or I legally adopt her, doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be room for you too,” Leah tells him. “She’ll just be an extra loved little girl, and that’s not a bad thing. Family is important.”
After being assured that the current dynamics of his relationship to them would not be changing, Richard walks around his desk to the couple and gathers them both up in a hug. “I have no objections to Leah becoming Esperanza’s mother legally. In fact, I know a judge who would gladly review the case and settle the paperwork. Now, talk to me about this wedding while we go get some ice cream with my granddaughter…” Richard says, already on his way out of the office.
That evening was meant to be a small family dinner to catch up after everyone’s vacations and celebrate Leah and Santi’s engagement, but Jayme had quietly invited everyone. She hadn’t given any explanation, just that everyone should make it over to their house for a barbeque. By the time Santi and Leah showed up with Princesa, Frankie and Jayme were out back with their own children, Mama Garcia was there, Hayden and Benny, Will, Papa Westi, and Smokey and Diane (who had recently convinced all the kids to start calling her Lolli).
Pope and Leah look a bit overwhelmed at the number of people gathered in the Morales’ backyard, but by the time they set Esperanza down to go play with her cousins and make the rounds of hugging everyone, they’re thankful that their entire family is together. They take care to keep their rings as inconspicuous as possible, at least until they can find an appropriate time to tell everyone together.
After dinner has been eaten and everything has been cleaned, everyone is spread out across the yard talking and enjoying themselves. The grandmothers are chatting away together, the kids are all playing tag with Uncle Benny, and Richard and Smokey are getting along surprisingly well.
Pope wraps Leah up in his arms, pulling her back to his chest so he can rest his chin on her shoulder as he whispers, “Are you ready?”
Leah spins in his arms and cups his face in her hands before staring into his eyes and planting a quick kiss on his lips, “I’m ready if you are. All in.”
Santiago smiles as he responds, “All in,” and then turns her around again so he can gather everyone’s attention.
He grabs her hand and they walk out to the edge of the patio before clearing his throat and lifting Leah’s left hand in his.
“Hey everyone, we’re getting married!”
WHEW.Princesa is finished. At least for now…
I don’t think either of us had any idea when we first started bouncing around HCs about Santi as a girl dad that we would end up HERE. Here being almost 70k later and with plans for even more spin off stories and one shots.
We’re so incredibly thankful to all of you for going on this journey with us, and we hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have.
If you’re wondering what you’re gonna do without Santi, Leah, and The Gang™️ every Sunday, never fear! Each of the boys will be getting their own story/one shot in the near future, with some group reunion one shots.
Will’s very hyped up lunch with Mamá Garcia (the prologue/preview to his story, The Last to Fall) will be coming next Sunday, August 15, same bat time, same bat channel!
For our next We Were Warriors adventure, check out Down Payment, Frankie and Jayme’s story, starting Sunday, August 22, on @jedi-mando’s blog! She’ll be using the same WWW/Princesataglist for Down Payment, so if you would NOT like to be tagged, please let her know!
My soul sister and One Brain Cell™️ chaos twin @jedi-mando had a work emergency come up this weekend, and won’t be able to post Chapter Four of Down Payment this evening.
Hopefully it’ll be popping up on a screen near you next Sunday, September 19th! I’ve read it, and I promise, it’s worth the wait.
Thanks so much for being understanding and we’ll see you back next week, same bat time, same bat channel!
A/N: Thanks so much for such a warm welcome of Jayme and Frankie! They truly are an amazing couple and I’m happy to explore more of this universe with you! A huge thank you to my One Braincell™ partner @hotspacepilots for reading this over as I go.
Word count: 3.6k
Warnings: Explicit language, more Tom being an asshole
It was coming up on a year of Jayme being a part of Frankie’s command. She had fit in beautifully, managed to get them out of a few scrapes, they had all attended Sandy’s wedding to his fiancé, Tom left her alone after the incident, and Frankie had tried his hardest to retain his military bearing around her.
The pre-mission and the post-mission drinks remained a tradition, of course, and they were at yet another pre-mission drinking night. Sandy and his wife, Amy, had left early. She was pregnant and the morning sickness was difficult, but they had managed to come out for Sandy to have a beer with his team. That night Jayme had decided against the regular jeans and shirt she wore and went instead with her black party dress, paired with red high heels and the perfect shade of red lipstick to match. She sauntered up to the guys, who were already gathered around the table, and everyone let out a whistle.
A/N: Welcome to the beginning of Will’s story! It goes along with our entire We Were Warriors universe. The Lunch Date is the prologue, and there will be more to come (eventually), but everyone was so invested we felt like we needed to give the people what they wanted to see. And apparently, what y’all wanted to see was Will and MamáGarcia.
Word count: 2.1k
Warnings: None!
Gloria Garcia had been anxious her entire flight down. All of the nonsense with her granddaughter, Esperanza, and the child’s birth mother had her a fidgeting wreck. Gloria Garcia was not a fidgeting wreck. Thankfully, the young woman sitting next to her turned out to be absolutely lovely, and someone that she was glad to spend the flight speaking with. They had started out talking about books, and it had morphed into more from there. Gloria told the woman about her trip, why she was going, and how excited she was to see her Princesa, regardless of the circumstances.
The delightful younger woman’s name was Evelyn Jasper, and she explained that she was flying into town because she had a new job opportunity and she needed a fresh start. They chatted amicably for the majority of the flight and wished each other well as they departed from the baggage claim. When Gloria left with a tall, handsome blond man and an obviously pregnant woman, Evelyn waved her off and thought nothing of it. She got a taxi and went to her hotel to begin preparing for the interview she had scheduled for the morning.
The next day was a blur for everyone, Gloria and Evelyn included. Mamá Garcia learned that her granddaughter was safe, would be staying with her son and Leah, and that her biological mother wouldn’t be causing any more problems for their family. Evelyn’s interview had been a great success, and after a simple introductory review, they offered her the position on the spot. She quickly agreed and adjusted her plans with the airline so that she could spend the next few days looking for a new place to live.
That evening before Gloria went to bed, she joked with Santiago about her upcoming lunch date with Will, and while it was all in good fun, she was obviously looking forward to it. There was something about the soft spoken and meticulous man that Will had become after his fiancée left that left him that left him deeply endeared to the woman. She was proud of the growth that he had experienced and the man he had grown to be.
The next morning Will parked in the driveway of Pope’s house, grabbing the flowers off the passenger seat as he went and heading to the door. He knocked loudly as he opened the door and walked in to see Gloria and Leah already waiting to greet him.
“Good morning ladies,” he smiles at them both before handing the flowers to Gloria, “These are for you.”
“Oh William, you didn’t have to, but you are so sweet,” Gloria says, patting his cheek in her motherly way. She turns to head toward the kitchen to find a vase. Or at least, a substitute for one, since she knows her son doesn’t have any. She thinks that hopefully Leah will rectify that for him soon.
“Yes, I did. My mother said never to show up empty handed for a date, even a lunch date, and I would hate to disappoint her,” Will answers with a smile as he and Leah watch Gloria disappear into the kitchen.
“You know that she’s never going to stop if you keep encouraging her,” Leah says, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. She knows that Gloria means well, but it also points out the glaring reality that Will is the only single one left of the gang, and they occasionally give him a hard time about it.
“Eh, it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to disappoint her either, and besides, it’s looking more and more like she’s my best girl,” he laughs. “Maybe if I was thirty years older…” he says, knowing that Gloria is walking back from the kitchen and can hear him.
“Will, if you were thirty years older I would have proposed years ago. But you are not, and I am not thirty years younger, so we will just have to settle for dreaming. I am not cut out to be, uh, what is it called, a jaguar?” Gloria asks, causing Will to chuckle and Leah to snort.
“It’s a cougar, Mamá. An older woman with a younger man is called a cougar,” Leah tells her after composing herself.
“Ah,si si, una puma. No, I am not cut out for that life,” she says as she gathers her things. Will turns toward the door and offers his arm to her. “Come now, we will go to lunch. I am looking forward to this though. I will be home soon, mija. We will figure out dinner later.” With that, Gloria and Will head out the door for their lunch.
Will takes the time to open the car door for Gloria, walks her into the restaurant on his arm, and helps her with her chair. He does all of the things that his mother and father always taught him to do, even though some of them seemed to be falling out of style. But that was a thought for another day. They talked all through appetizers and hit a lull after ordering entrees, but Mamá Garcia has plenty more questions for Will.
“So, tell me about this ‘I’m dating her but we’re not dating’ girl that your brother had at the house yesterday,” Gloria probes. She’s been curious about the situation ever since she met Hayden. She wants all of her adopted sons to have partners as lovely as Jayme and Leah.
“Hayden, her name is Hayden. She’s a fighter like him. I’m not sure what she does for her other job, but she fights in a female league that’s comparable to Benny’s. I know he says they’re not dating, but they are dating. If he’s told our mom about her yet is another story, but from what I understand, he loves her. Or at least it certainly looks that way,” Will explains.
“I see. I wonder if he is aware that he is awfully clingy for one who claims that he is not dating her,” Gloria chuckles, taking a look around the restaurant as she waits for her meal to arrive. As she scans the room, she notices that the young woman from the plane, Evelyn, is at the hostess stand and she appears to be alone. Gloria had liked the woman immediately when they had met, and when she sees her again, an idea starts forming in her brain.
“William, will you please excuse me for a moment? I see someone that I know and would like to say hello to them,” she tells him, rising from her chair and quickly taking off before Will can object. She approaches the hostess stand and as she does, Evelyn raises her head.
“Mrs. Garcia! How lovely to see you again, how did everything turn out with your granddaughter?” Evelyn asks with a smile.
“Everything turned out wonderfully. She will be staying where she belongs with her father and her mama, and she also got a new grandfather out of it all. How about you, my dear? How was your interview?”
“It went well! I was offered the job and I’m staying a few extra days to find a place to live,” Evelyn tells her with a bright smile, excited and proud to have landed the new job.
“Excellent! Come join us, my dear, I’m here having lunch with my son, you should meet him,” Gloria says, motioning for Evelyn to follow her. When Evelyn glances over Gloria’s shoulder, she sees the same tall blond man from the airport watching their interaction. God, he certainly is handsome.
“Are you sure? I would hate to impose…” Evelyn is cut off as Gloria reaches out to grab her hand and tugs her along, reassuring her the entire time that she would be welcome. As they get closer to the table, Will stands to his feet and grabs another chair, already sensing that the woman Gloria was leading over would be joining them for the rest of their meal.
“Will, this is my friend Evelyn, and she has graciously agreed to join us for lunch. Evelyn, this is one of my sons, Will,” Gloria gets introductions out of the way as everyone gets settled. Will holds chairs for both of the ladies as they sit before returning to his own seat.
Evelyn looks around for a moment and Gloria asks, “What are you looking for?”
“I was looking for your daughter, Gloria. I thought that she would be here too,” Evelyn tells her, confused.
“Oh, Jayme! She is at home with her husband and their children. He didn’t have to fly today, so he was staying home to go with her to her doctor’s appointment later,” Gloria explains. Seeing that Evelyn doesn’t look any less bewildered, she goes on, “Ah, lo siento, you are confused. I have four sons, but only one is biologically mine, and the rest are his friends. Santiago is my first son, and his best friend is Jayme’s husband. Will here and his brother Benny served with them both, and I have adopted them all.”
As Gloria explains the situation and Evelyn gains a better understanding of her “sons” and the family dynamic, a small part of her is excited to hear that Will is not married, or that at least Gloria has yet to mention a partner.
“Now, Santiago is with Leah, and his daughter Esperanza is the one that I came out to see this week,” Gloria continues, pulling out her phone to pull up the photos from yesterday, the happy adults hugging the dark haired toddler. Will sits quietly as he watches the woman chat, noticing a spark of recognition in Evelyn’s eyes when she looks at the photo of Pope, Leah, and Princesa. He noticed right away that she was gorgeous, she seems to be quiet but confident, and clearly comfortable speaking with Gloria.
“Is that Leah Connor?” Evelyn questions.
“Si, it is, do you know her?” Gloria asks. A tinge of defensiveness enters her voice against her will, but after all of the drama had just settled down, she is more than a little protective of her family.
“I do know her, she used to teach a self defense class in that town that I live in. We had become friends and I was disappointed when she left, but glad that she was moving to be closer to her sister. It looks like it worked out well for her,” Evelyn answers.
“Ah! Well, I hope that you will have an opportunity to reconnect with her now. So, tell me about this new job…” Gloria launches into a series of questions and Evelyn answers until Gloria has exhausted her curiosity and Will finally has a chance to join the conversation. Evelyn learns that Will is very well spoken, that he’s a partner at the company he works at, and that he enjoys helping his brother train as an MMA fighter. He was also an uncle to several nieces and nephews, both from his own sisters and Santiago and Frankie.
As the lunch hour turns into early evening, Gloria checks the time before exclaiming that she needs to return to the house, as she had promised Leah that she would be back in time to help with dinner for the evening. The time had passed so easily when Will and Evelyn had begun speaking and asking questions of each other that Gloria had simply sat back with a smile and cataloged things for later, like telling Leah that her friend was moving to town.
“What is going on in that golden head of yours, William?” Gloria asks on the drive home, knowing that the wheels are turning in his mind. “What did you think of Evelyn? She is a lovely girl, yes?”
“Yes ma’am, she was. To tell you the truth, I probably could have spent several more hours talking to Miss Jasper. She’s easy to get along with. Did you have a good time?” Will responds carefully, knowing that the older woman is probably weighing everything he had to say.
“I certainly did, thank you for taking me. Hopefully I can find a place we like and these lunches can happen more frequently. Would that be okay with you?” Gloria asks with a smile, already knowing the answer.
“Of course I would, you know you’re my best gal, Mrs. Garcia. I would love to go to lunch with you any time we both have a free afternoon.”
“That’s a good thing, William. I plan on making it happen. I look forward to our lunches, and maybe in the future we could include Miss Jasper from time to time?” She hopes that he will be agreeable; after seeing how they had talked and how ease they were with each other, Gloria hoped that she would get to witness the start of a beautiful friendship, and possibly more to come.
For more We Were Warriors content, check out our finished story Pope’s Princesa or Down Payment, coming next week from @jedi-mando!
Additional ficlet for Writer Wednesday on 8/9/21 here. I didn’t write it as an addition to Another Round, but it fits if you assume it’s set pretty much immediately after the guys come back from their failed heist.
Really enjoying series and cannot wait for more!! i like the reader character very much too. Could you add me to a taglist for future Pedro fictions please?
Warnings:Brief ass slapping, discussion of a ruined car by a jealous lover and I think that’s it.
Pairing: Frankie Morales x OFC
A/N: Quick update, still figuring out the new work schedule but hopefully next week we will return to posting full chapters and there’s a SURPRISE at the end.
Word count:1.2k
The month passed at a decent pace, before they knew it the deadline for out-processing all the team and whether Jayme would stay or go came. While Pope, Ironhead, and Catfish (and of course Redfly), all had close to seventeen years in Jayme only had ten.
After many a discussion with Frankie about possibilities, where they would move to what, what they would possibly do they decided that Jayme would discharge and go with Frankie. Having more discussions with Molly, Redfly, and their family it was decided they would all head together. Starting life over in a new area and new scenery but still as a team.
Once Jayme informed her parents of what she was doing they were once again supportive, never once doubting her and even asking when they could come help pack them out and move them down. Thankfully though the Army would provide one last move to most of them. During their last days on base, Benny was approached by a guy looking to bring him into cage fighting, telling him that the training he had would only help him. Will was against it but Benny took the guy’s card anyway. Benny was always one after his own mind.
They all decided on the city to go to, a major deciding factor was that Frankie had already been offered a job as a helicopter tour pilot. Molly and Tom decided on Florida and went there with the girls, while they were missed Jayme mostly hoped they could work out their problems and reconcile. Pope, Benny, and Ironhead all got jobs with a security firm and Ironhead even started dating a woman not long after they all moved to the area.
For a while everything was fine, Jayme landed an amazing job working at the Veteran’s Affairs and writing part-time for a women’s veteran magazine. Life went on. The team kept in touch with Molly and Tom, civilian life began to develop for the group, Benny started doing some fighting and boxing matches and Will became engaged to the woman he was seeing.
It was more nights at home consecutively than any of the men had had in the past seventeen years, and that presented a new set of challenges. It was stressful, these men were always used to being on the go, mission to mission with very little downtime. Being home every night was a stumbling block for most, and the fact that they started frequenting the same bars over and over again and that Benny and Pope started picking up women from these same bars. Frankie and Will just started running more and working on small projects together to keep their hands busy while not with their ladies.
Jayme, ever the big sister of the group, tried to warn them that it was a bad idea. “Keep it clean and make sure you don’t shit in your nest.” She tried telling Benny and Pope. Then one lazy Sunday morning while Frankie and Jayme were still laying in bed when the quiet was broken by the sounds of Metallica playing from Frankie’s phone, groaning he rolled over to pick it up knowing that it was going to be Pope.
“Heyhermano, what’s up?” Frankie says, with Jayme listening in to what she can, hearing Pope’s voice stressed out but can only pick up certain words; keys, car, crazy. It didn’t take much for Jayme to put two and two together, leaving Frankie to talk to him she got out of bed and shrugged on her robe, and headed to make coffee.
Ten minutes later after hearing Frankie showering Jayme was standing in the kitchen when he walked in with his hair still wet from the shower. Pouring him his own mug she handed him coffee and kissed him on the cheek. “That was Pope on the phone,” Frankie said as he snaked an arm around Jayme’s waist.
“No really? I thought you had changed my father’s ringtone to For Whom The Bell Tolls. Silly me.” She said with a wink, before turning from his arms to finish preparing what was on the counter.
Frankie laughed and slapped her on the butt as she turned around, “you’re lucky I like you missy, not most can sass me like that.”
“You’re lucky I love you Catfish, not most get my sass,” Jayme said as she finished preparing what Frankie assumed was lunch, including a thermos of hot coffee. “Lunch, coffee, and sodas are in the fridge chilling. I figured something happened with Pope’s Challenger and knew you would head over there. I have things to do around here, I have that article to finish too, I’ll be okay. I’ll see you this evening.”
Frankie smirked at her and reached out and pulled her into his arms kissing her soundly, “I’m not sure what I would do without you, you sure you’re going to be okay? I know we planned for a lazy Sunday.”
Kissing him back Jayme reassured him she would be fine and sent him out the door with an “I love you”, with that he was off heading towards Pope’s in his truck. Knowing that Jayme was undoubtedly the most perfect fit for him. Pulling into the parking lot for Pope’s apartment Frankie spotted the gunmetal challenger in its assigned parking spot, covered in hot pink spray paint, eggs, bologna, and probably more damage but Frankie couldn’t see it from the truck.
Getting out he headed for Pope’s door and knocked, upon answering Pope looked at Frankie who held up the bag Jayme had packed. Pope waved him in as he was on the phone, hopefully with the insurance. It had started to seem more likely the more “uh-huh, yeah, umm,” that came from him, finally after asking “and how much is this going to cost me?” Pope hung up.
Coming into the kitchen Pope saw what Frankie had laid out from the bag, barbequed pulled pork sandwiches with a side of potato salad, the thermos of coffee and sodas. Pope sagged, against the entryway to the kitchen, listening to his hunger growl, ever since he woke up and headed out to go get breakfast and he discovered that mess of his car now, he had been on the phone or taking pictures to send to the insurance company.
Frankie saw Pope standing there and jerked his head towards the food telling him to come on over. Pope gladly did and they dug in in silence both focused on the food than talking. Once that was finished and they were cleaning the table up Pope sat back down and let out a sigh, he looked at Frankie and said “Frankie, if you don’t hurry up and marry her I will cause if she cooks like that I would be a happy man every night of the week.”
Rolling his eyes Frankie looked at his best friend, “don’t you worry yourself about that, Jayme’s only ever going to be a sister to you because, and I swear to God, Pope if you tell her a lick of what I’m about to tell you I will tell Mama Garcia on you.” Staring Pope down to let him know how serious he was, while the man was good at OpSec he wasn’t the best at keeping secrets from Jayme, like their first Christmas and Frankie didn’t know what to get her so he had bought her a simple opal necklace, Jayme had out within two days of the purchase thanks to Pope.
“I won’t I swear, I already have to deal with one angry woman in my life I don’t need my own mother complicating things because I upset Jayme.” Pope made a cross-my-heart motion and zipped his lip.
“I’m asking Jayme to marry me next week.”
Well? What did you think of that surprise, I mean not entirely shocking, we all knew it was coming but oooh how’s he going to do it?
Warnings: Mentions of military acts, military trial, self-doubt and we finally find out about why Redfly was the most loathed man…..
Pairing: Frankie Morales x OFC
A/N: Please remember that this is a work of fiction and not real, I tried to make it as close to the real world procedures as I could but obviously they weren’t going to be 100% factual.
Word count: 1.9k
“Well fuck.” Were the words out of Catfish, Pope and Benny’s mouth after General Watson gave the announcement and directly left the room. Once the initial shock wore off and the realization that they were being sent home for court-martial.
None of them wanted to believe it, but after the last mission it wasn’t a surprise. General Watson was probably trying to court-martial them all for disobeying direct and lawful orders. Jayme looked to Frankie and found him looking back at her, worry clear in his eyes. Tom was the only one who seemed nonplussed by the idea of going back home, even being court martialed, like he had done it all before.
Packing up the rooms proved to be a challenge with the image of the deranged grin on General Watson’s face haunting Jayme. Three days later the team was all stateside standing in front of a group of Generals and Admirals, being told that they will not be returning to the warzone, nor would they be allowed lots of freedoms such as associating outside of the base supervised. The board almost forced Jayme and Frankie to be housed in separate locations but the argument from Will was that it was a two bedroom apartment and that they wouldn’t associate in the apartment, keeping to their “separate rooms.”
Later that night, laying in bed next to one another Frankie voiced his apprehension of this court-martial to Jayme, “it scares me, it worries me about what is going to happen to you should for some reason it be found that you acted unlawfully. I don’t want to see you go to Leavenworth.” He tells Jayme, kissing her head.
“It’ll be okay, whatever happens will happen and its out of our hands now. Although I would really like answers as to why General Watson had it out for your team so much. Do you have any clue?” She asks while drawing circles on Frankie’s chest.
“Well I would have to do some double-checking but I have a theory. Let’s not worry about it, hopefully this nightmare will be over soon enough.” Frankie pressed a soft kiss to Jayme’s forehead, “come on, let’s get some sleep.”
The next six-weeks passed in a haze. Countless times Jayme was called to the stand to answer questions about one mission or another, to give testimony about her actions, Tom’s actions, even Will’s actions. Same with Frankie, though the retelling of how the helicopter went up in flames was the most horrifying one from Jayme.
That mission Tom had managed to lead a cell of enemy soldiers back to where Frankie was waiting with the helicopter, a rocket launcher was involved and it all equated to the Army being down a helicopter, Frankie barely missing being in the helicopter when it was hit and the five of them walking back to their base in the middle of a desert. She held Frankie extra tight that night as it was the closest she had really ever come to the reality that he could not come home from these missions. While its something most are acquainted with in dealing with the military the first time it comes close to home brings a whole new level of reality to it.
As the trial came to a close there was quite a few interesting faces in the viewing area, General Gwendolyn Mayford, Smokey the Bear, a few other high ranking officials that Jayme knew and had worked with. Finally the day came that the verdicts and sentences if any would be handed out. Standing at attention in dress uniforms the lead Admiral reads out the verdicts the board had come up with.
Benny for being enlisted was being honorably discharged, would maintain his rank and would retain his benefits too. Will and Pope would retain their ranks, be honorably discharged and medically retired due to injuries they had sustained while in service. Jayme was cleared of any wrongdoing, it was found that General Watson had issued an unlawful order to her and she was doing what was right, she was given the opportunity to have her service continue or be honorably discharged. Frankie was found to be innocent of all charges, would maintain the rank of Major but would be retired from service honorably as well.
Then there was Tom’s verdict. While none of the team had been allowed to sit in on the parts that focused mainly on Tom they just assumed it was due to not wanting to have emotions get in the way of the facts. That was not the case when the Admiral who was reading off the verdicts passed the paper over to a woman in business dress who Jayme vaguely recognized as a Congresswoman.
Answers were had when the woman stood and looked Tom right in the face before reading off the verdict on the paper. “Major Tom Davis, you have had quite a military career; mostly decent and good hard work. However in the last several years there has been doubt cast upon your ability to lead, friendly-fire that cost time in theater not to mention a man’s eye. Holding over and basically bullying your crew and team liaison into doing whatever you wanted, conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman by sleeping around including with multiple general wives,” Jayme side-eyed Tom while at attention, the angriness of General Watson was becoming a LOT clearer.
“But on top of all that you led the enemy purposely back to your evac aircraft, allowing for it to be destroyed and any surviving tech to be taken over by opposing forces. Tom Davis, the following is recommended from this board of Generals and Admirals as well as a recommendation of Congress that you are lowered in rank from Major to Captain, stripped of your duties, given an other-than honorable discharge, and not allowed back into any service.”
The Congresswoman laid down the paper and looked at him, then to Molly sitting in the viewing area and back to Tom before continuing, “now just to show that we, myself and my colleagues are not monsters will allow you to keep the majority of your retirement in order to cover the living expenses of your wife and daughters. This is the decision of the Congressional committee.” With that explanation the woman handed back the paper to the leading Admiral and sat back down.
“Thank you Congresswoman Wellers, this and what the Congresswoman relayed is the decision of this committee. Lt Connor we expect an answer within the month on whether you will remain on active service or wish to resign from your commission free of any strings attached. Dismissed.” With that he sat back down and let the team file out while collective breaths were let out and shoulders deflated in the members of the view areas.
As they walked single-file down the the office that had turned into the teams waiting area they were mostly dumbfounded at how the verdicts came out. Most of the team retired with full benefits for the, hopeful, resolution of their post traumatic stress, surgeries that will be required and years of therapy. While they hadn’t expected things to go that way for Tom, Jayme had to figure that it was actually fairly decent of the committee to take the girls and Molly into account and not leave them completely destitute.
Looking around the room as the door shut, Jayme took in the look of exhaustion and shock written all over her teammates faces. Benny and Will were sitting next to each other with Benny staring off into the distance and Will rubbing his temples, Pope was leaned against a wall, Frankie next to him, while Tom was sequestered over into a corner looking for some solitude the verdict for himself was the heaviest and simultaneously the worst.
Jayme sat down behind a desk and processed her day and luck, she could stay or go, just have to share with the Army what she decided to do. The weight of all of it finally settling in when there was a knock on the door and in walked Smokey the Bear. “Men, Jayme, I came to see if I could get you guys anything, its a heavy ordeal you’ve been through. Food, drink, sanity, what do you need?”
Before anyone could speak Molly strode in the open door, “Davis, you are coming home with me, now. We have tons of things to discuss and you have daughters to see.” The finality in her voice when she said it made Jayme wonder if she needed to go home with her as well, she bet Molly was a force to reckon with when it came to it and now was one of those times.
Will stood and nodded, “Thank you Mr. Shandler, I think we could all use some food and drink that isn’t Army chowhall.”
“Please, call me Smokey, you’ve all mostly earned it. Gwenie told me what you did for Jayme over there when she got tossed in the brig. Come now, lets go, I know a good spot nearby.” Smokey said as he placed an arm around Jayme’s shoulders leading her and the rest of the group out. “What are you thinking of doing?” he asked her in a low voice as the traversed the hallway.
“I don’t know dad, I don’t, I just wanted make sure I made you and mom proud. I don’t want you thinking I road your coattails or ….” Jayme tapered off on what she was saying as they passed the group of men who had sat on the board of the court-martial.
Walking past Smokey nodded to several and even reached out to shake the one General’s hand, “Mitch, how are ya?” He asked pulling Jayme to a stop beside the man.
“I am well Smokey, how are you? Why are you here?” General Mitchell Franks questioned looking between Jayme and how Smokey’s arm was around her shoulders, “You didn’t break it off with Diane did you?!” Shock coloring the mans voice causing Smokey to laugh heartily.
“No sir, Diane Connor, or Diane Shandler as you no doubt know her, is my mother. I’m Smokey’s firstborn.” Jayme says offering her hand to General Franks.
“Oh. OH!” The General said as he took Jayme’s had and realization had dawned on him, “why didn’t you say anything to me during all this? I had no idea she was your daughter and things might have gone completely different.”
“No no, my girl wanted to do this career on her own, it wasn’t until she put her team CO on the ground, that Tom Davis, did she even let it be known she was related to me. I tried offering her advice but she’s just as stubborn and hard headed as Diane. I will have to tell her you thought I traded her in. HA! That is the only thing in this world that scares me is my wife pissed off. No though, honestly, Diane and I couldn’t be more proud of Jayme and her choices, she’s a damn good daughter, friend and soldier.” Smokey told General Franks, making sure to look at Jayme during the last bit of his statement.
“Very good, well before you leave lets get a beer. One hell of a daughter you and Diane raised though, I wished they had team liaisons like her when I was on the teams, probably wouldn’t have so many bullet holes if I did. Good luck ma’am in whatever you choose.” With that he and Smokey exchanged phone numbers before the group separated and Jayme and Smokey continued outside while General Franks went over to talk to others from the board.
1) I am alive. I have been on overtime since mid-December and managed to only have 4 days off the last month.
2) I have the next chapter of Down Payment so I will be sharing that.
3) I am so so sorry for just ditching like that, I just literally had no time even for my phone. If I wasn’t working or driving my kid somewhere I was sleeping.
Pairing: Franciso “Frankie” Catfish Morales, no specific pairing.
Summary: That’s it, that’s the story.
Word Count: 1500
Warnings:Explicit, 18+ MINORS DNI, Sex Worker!Frankie, implied other Triple Frontier Boys!Sex Workers, allusions to sexual acts, male masturbation, pillow humping, probably a bad representation of posting things on Tumblr, Frankie posts dirty pics.
Note: It was just too good not to. Thanks to @toomanystoriessolittletime for the original inspiration and @fuckyeahdindjarin for sharing it so I could absolutely tumble down the rabbit hole:
I was also thinking about Frankie having a nsfw tumblr blog where he posts pics and gifs of himself and there’s this one girl using his gifs in her steamy stories and he gets the notifications every time and of course he starts reading them eventually.
I wrote this in two hours like a rabid raccoon and it’s both of your faults.
This is my Sex Worker!Frankie finding your spicy fanfic, because it’s way too meta if he found my own. Writer is gender neutral and story is unspecific except for the fact that it does have a sex scene (also not described beyond Frankie being representative of a character). Feel free to imagine whichever story of yours would make you the happiest.
Takes places before the events of Something New while Frankie was still doing sex work for Pope’s.
It was Pope’s idea. Something to boost Frankie’s confidence, show him that people like and appreciate his body. Frankie had balked at the idea, years of warnings against posting naked pictures on the internet for anyone to find screaming in his mind. But Pope sets up a Tumblr account for him, a burner email and no personal information beyond an age disclaimer, and now Frankie has an empty blog at his disposal.
“Don’t use it to get clients, it’s too risky,” is Pope’s only warning. Followed by, “Have fun, stud.”
Ohhhh YESSS this is meta deliciousness and Frankie is too perfect for it. This part made me laugh, it seems like peak Frankie not being of the internet generation “but squinting at tiny words on his phone screen was making his head hurt”
The action was hot , hope we’ll be lucky enough to hear more about his Tumblr adventures
Taking requests peeps. Having a break from my current fics atm as I got toooo much going on with the wedding and it’s given me writer’s block!
HOWEVER!
I love to write so I’m taking requests for a few juicy one shots. Any fics you want me to expand on? Maybe just something a little fluffy? Or angsty? send em my way
Summary: Frankie was always the one who got away but when you learn that he’s retired from the army and has moved back home. Your life falls apart.
Relationships: Reader x Original ‘Male’ Character, Reader x Frankie Morales
Warnings: Like A03, I chose to give none. 18+
Your husband wasn’t a cruel man. But as time had gone on you’d come to learn he wasn’t a good one either.
Your life revolved around him. His wants and needs and never your own. But he supplied you with a safe, comfortable life and that’s all you could have really hoped for. You’d loved him once and you were sure he had to but as the years had passed childlessly, your once blossoming romance had fizzled into something sour. You knew he resented you for not giving him a child. Blamed you for it and you blamed yourself to a degree but as the months blended into years, you found you blamed yourself less and came to terms with the fact that your having kids wasn’t meant to be.
You’d imagined your life differently as a younger woman. You’d imagined it with a different man if you were being honest with yourself. You thought you’d met the one as a teenager but, like most childhood sweethearts, he got away. Francisco Morales. The man of your dreams had shipped out to the army as soon as he’d graduated and your relationship had lasted another year after that before you’d called it quits and broken the man’s heart. Something you’d regretted to this day and had never imagined you’d see him again. How wrong you’d turn out to be.
“Did you hear the news?” Your best friend Sally asked as the two of you browsed through the sale rail of your favourite clothing store.
Your obvious look of confusion was all the answer she needed to know that you were oblivious to the latest gossip to spread around town.
“Morales moved back.” She elaborated and your breath caught in your throat “Retired from the forces and decided to kick out the tenants renting his folk’s old place and moved in himself.” She finished, shrugging her shoulders as she pulled out a sweater she liked the look of.
“Oh.” Was your reply, suddenly completely disinterested in shopping anymore.
“Think you’ll see him?” She asked and this grabbed your full attention.
“Why would I see him?” You questioned, eliciting a snigger from your friend.
“We all know you never go over him.” She stated and you felt your heart start to race and your cheeks grow hot “Thought you’d be all over, seeing him.”
“I’m married, Sally.” You warned and she scoffed.
“Yeah to a man that barely looks at you and who’s definitely shagging his assistant.” She grumbled and you felt a sting at her last statement.
“You don’t know that.” You choke and her demeanour changed upon hearing the crack in your voice.
“I’m sorry babe.” She started as she threw a hand around your shoulder “I shouldn’t have said that but you deserve better than the life you have.”
“I’m fine.” You replied with a shrug “He keeps a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my belly. What more can I ask for?”
“Happiness?” She shrieks “Love, passion, excitement… to name a few. He’s an asshole and you need to leave him.”
“It’s not that easy Sally.” You snapped “Where would I go? I have no job, no money.”
“Your divorce would sort that out.”
“Sally-”
“You can’t keep living like this.” She interrupted, taking your hand in hers and boring into you with her serious gaze “Waiting to die or for him to leave you.”
“This is my life now.” You said, your tone defeated and your heart heavy “I’ve made my bed.”
Sally decided it was futile to argue any further. You weren’t going to accept that you deserved better and she was tired of trying to convince you of the fact. So you finished off your shopping trip and turned down her invites for drinks that evening at your once favourite watering hole.
No way Joe would let you go.
Despite having little interest in sharing any sort of physical relationship with you he hated the idea of you having a social life outside of him. So going out for drinks with your girlfriends was not something you were able to attend anymore. You were limited to shopping trips and coffee. How dull your life had become.
Walking through your front door and placing your sparse shopping bags down on the polished marble floor, you announced your arrival as you toed off your shoes and hung up your coat. Not expecting the arms that wrapped around your middle and or the lips that found your neck.
He did this sometimes. Showed a fleeting interest in you and you took what you could get. For all his faults he wasn’t a selfish lover.
He turned you in his arms and dropped to his knees before he pushed your underwear to one side and placed a teasing lick on your clit. You felt a jolt of pleasure surge through you and the moan that slipped past your lips was all the invitation your husband needed to continue. Credit where credit was due, he knew how to fuck with his tongue and it didn’t take him long to have you cumming. Your legs then gave out and you were in his arms as he threw you down on the couch and pulled out his throbbing erection for the confines of his slacks. His lips returned to your neck as he lowered himself between your open legs and once again pushed your underwear to the side. Your eyes locked for a moment and you thought you saw a flicker of love in his eyes. Something you’d not seen for what felt like an eternity but then he was pushing inside of you and you weren’t able to keep your eyes open then.
Sex with Joe was always good. Whether you wanted to admit it or not your husband could fuck but these sparse sessions only hurt more. You missed the way he used to worship the ground you walked on. How he’d not be able to get enough of you but then again, you were trying to get pregnant back then. This was now him looking for a release and that’s all you were to him now.
A release.
He fucked into you expertly and you were cumming again in no time at all, moaning loudly as he continued his assault on that spongy spot inside of you that had your toes curling. He hooked one of your legs around his waist and the new angle started to stir another orgasm down in your loins. It took half a dozen more thrusts for the two of you to cum together and leaving you a sated mess on your couch.
“What was that for?” You asked between laboured breaths and Joe shrugged before slipping out of you and pulling his slacks back up again.
“I’ve got to go away for work for a few days.” He stated simply “Should be back by Wednesday.”
“Oh.” You replied as you manoeuvred into a sitting position “Short notice.”
“Tell me about it.” He grumbled before grabbing the suitcase situated by the couch that you’d not noticed before “I’ll call you tomorrow.” He said, pecking your lips.
“You’re leaving now?” You asked as you followed him out to the lobby and watched as he slipped on some shoes and grabbed his keys.
“Need to or I’ll miss my flight.”
“Well, safe trip.” You said, receiving one last kiss before he disappeared out of the door and left you standing in the lobby.
You weren’t sure how long passed before you slipped out your phone and dialled the number at the top of your caller list.
“Sally.” You said simply as you let out a shaky breath “Count me in for tonight.”
…
“I’m so happy you’re here.” Squealed Sophia as she pulled you into a tight hug “What changed your mind?”
“Husband’s fucked off on a work trip.” You said as you downed another apple sour shot “So I thought I would spend my evening seeing my girls.” You finished as you woo'ed with your friends.
“It’s been too long.” Said Lacey as she placed a tray of drinks down on the table and handed you your triple gin and tonic.
“That it has.” You agreed as you took a sip of your drink.
…
Frankie hadn’t been in the mood for drinks but Benny was determined. So that’s how he’d found himself sitting in a bar he’d only ever walked past as a teenager. What made the situation worse was that he was designated drive which meant not even the buzz of alcohol was a possible distraction.
His reason for being in such a foul mood was the information he’d learned upon moving back. He’d only been back a few weeks but when at the supermarket the previous afternoon he’d bumped into your school best friend and he’d learned through her that you were married. He wasn’t sure why he was upset about it. You’d dumped him at the first sign of trouble but there had been a small part of him that had held out hope that there was still a chance for you both.
“Come on Fish.” Ben groaned “You need to cheer the fuck up dude.”
“Ben.” His older brother warned but Benny waved him off.
“I don’t know what’s got your knickers all knotted up but we’re out dude. We’re free from all that shit now.”
“I’m fine,” Frankie grumbled, his eyes drifting to a rowdy table across the bar.
He realised quickly that he knew the girls, they’d all been in your year at school and he was fairly sure that you were friends with them. Ho noted Sally, the one who’d told him just yesterday about your marital status and Sophia who’d been attached to your hip once. Movement in the corner of his eye then grabbed his attention and that’s when he saw you with a tray of drinks in hand. You were just as beautiful as the day he’d kissed you goodbye in the airport when he was 19. More so if that was even possible.
“She’s hot.” Ben teased, dragging the older man from his thoughts.
“She’s my ex.” Frankie grumbled, his attention returning to the one beer of the night he was able to drink.
“Shit, really?” Benny exclaimed and Frankie nodded “She’s smoking Fish., Is she single?”
“No.” He replied simply, his tone grabbing Will’s attention “She’d married.”
“Sound a little sour about that Catfish?” Will questioned, “Something still there?”
“She broke my heart twenty years ago.” He growled, “Nothing there Will.”
“Well, you got me convinced.” Benny snorted and Frankie felt his temper growing even shorter.
“Believe what you want.” He snapped as he pushed himself to his feet “I need a piss.”
He stormed off, leaving two amused Miller brothers in his wake. He hated how seeing you had stirred up all those feelings he’d thought he had buried all those years ago. He went to the bathroom, took a breather and left a few minutes later, only to collide with a soft body.
“Shit, I’m sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going.” He said as shook his head and turned to look at the innocent person he’d just barged into.
“Frankie?” You questioned and his eyes grew wide as your name fell from his lips “Shit.” You said as you let out a shocked breath “Wow, how are you? You look… You look good.”
“You too.” He replied and he swore he saw you blush.
“How are you?” You asked again and he shrugged.
“Good as can be expected.” He replied and you nodded.
“I hear you’re married.” He said and your stomach twisted “Congrats.”
“We’ve been married a few years now.” You said, your face dropped “Nothing to congratulate.”
“You happy?” He asked and you were rendered speechless.
You’d never been able to lie to this man and twenty years on that was still that case. So all you could do was shrug and Frankie couldn’t help but frown at that.
“Looks like my party has made some new friends.” You said as your eyes drifted to your table, Frankie’s eyes following yours.
“Those would be my friends.” He sighed as he scraped a hand over his face.
“Guess we should make sure they’re not getting into trouble.”
“Sure.”
“Chica, look at these two dreamboats we met.” Screeched Sally as you made your way over to the table “This is Will and Benny… They’re brothers and -”
“Complete trouble.” Interrupted Frankie as he came to stop beside you.
“Francisco Morales… Fancy seeing you here.” Said Sally as she pulled him into a sideways hug “You know these two.”
“Sadly.” He replied with a smirk and Benny gave him the finger as your friends chuckled.
You all stayed together then. The girls cooed over the boys and you sat there awkwardly with Frankie as you watched. The conversation got more and more personal as more drink was consumed and you were glad you were drunk when you and Frank became the subject matters’.
“So Francisco.” Sally started as she sipped on her cocktail “No wife and kids to speak of?”
“Nope.” He replied, popping the 'p’ before sipping his soda.
“Don’t get him wrong.” Benny started and Frankie instantly cringed “This guy is the pussy king!” He gushed and you felt sick.
Of course, there had been others since you. It wasn’t like you were it for him and he was to remain alone for the rest of his life but to hear it out loud still stung.
“Shared a bunk with him for years and some of the women he managed to sneak back…”
“How’s married life?” Will asked, changing the subject when he noted both yours and Frankie’s uncomfortable demeanours “No kids?”
Your shoulders sank and your face dropped. Sally noticed it straight away and went to speak but you beat her to the punch, the alcohol giving you a false sense of confidence.
“We tried.” You said with a shrug, your posture changing completely “Never happened for us and now he despises me for it.” You finished with a false laugh and the whole table fell silent.
“I’m sorry,” Will said after a few tense moments of silence and you shrugged again.
“It wasn’t meant to be I guess.” You replied with a shrug, noting out of the corner of your eye how Frankie was looking at you with those sad brown eyes. The ones that let you to fall for him in the first place.
Frankie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It explained your reaction earlier when he’d asked if you were happy. He could see it now. How haunted you were and his heart broke for you. He’s always hoped that you’d end up happy. Sure he’d prayed it would be with him but as the years had gone on he had come to terms with the fact that it wouldn’t be.
A few more drinks were consumed before the night came to an end. Sally left with Will and Sophie with Ben who had left you alone with Frankie and stood on the sidewalk outside the bar in awkward silence.
“How are you getting home?” He asked as you fiddled with your hands.
“Well I have gotten a taxi with Sally but she’s gone home with your friend so… I guess I’ll get a cab on my own.” You chuckled nervously.
“I can give you a ride?” He suggested and you looked up at him with wide eyes “I was designated driver but guess I got ditched too.” She chuckled and that made you smile “I don’t like the idea of you getting a cab home alone. Please… let me give you a ride.”
“Sure.” You said after a few moments of silence and Frankie nodded, motioning for you to follow him as he lead you to his truck.
He opened the passenger door for you and helped you inside before closing it and making his way around to the driver’s side. Jumping in his was fast to start it up and peel away, driving you home with your quiet directions. It felt like it had all those decades ago. Him driving you somewhere quiet so you could steal perfect moments together before he had to get you home. You couldn’t stop yourself from glancing at him every now and then as he drove you in stoic silence.
When he pulled up in front of your large house his eyes grew wide and you smirked at his reaction to your home. You sat there in tense silence for a few moments before you plucked up the courage to speak.
“Do you want to come in?” You asked, eyes hopeful as you looked at him.
“Are you sure?” He asked, smiling at the nervous nod you gave him.
He opened your door for you and followed silently as you led him to the front door, watching as you shakily pushed your key into the lock. Stepping inside he copied you as you toed off your shoes and before he followed you to a large, modern, kitchen that put his to shame.
“Drink?” You asked and he nodded “Just water’s fine.”
“Just water?” You chuckled “I have beer?”
“I shouldn’t.” He replied shyly “Got to drive and all that.”
“Sure… right, of course.” You said, shaking your head and grabbing a glass from the cupboard.
After pouring him the beverage from the fridge, you handed him the glass and went about pouring yourself a glass of wine. The silence that hung over you both then for a short while was suffocating. You’d not thought this far ahead. All you’d thought about was how you didn’t want him to leave just yet, you wanted him to stay just a little longer.
“So how long have you been married?” He asked, finally breaking the silence between you.
“6 years this August.” You replied, your eyes unconsciously drifting to the silver bands on your left hand.
“He a good guy?” He asked and you sighed, feeling your throat tighten.
“He was amazing at first.” You confessed, eyes drifting to the glass in your hands “But when we discovered we couldn’t have kids he got sour.”
“I’m sorry.” He said sadly as his eyes captured yours “You would have been an amazing mum.”
You let out a sad chuckle at that. You’d always liked to think you would be but as time had gone on you’d started to wonder how good a parent Joe would have been.
“I guess the universe thought differently.” You joked, eliciting a sympathetic smile from him “Just wasn’t meant to be I guess.”
“You can’t seriously believe that?” He asked and you sighed.
“Well I’ve not been blessed with children so to be the evidence is pretty conclusive.” You said with a shrug, trying hard to fight the tears that were threatening to spill.
Silence fell over the two of you again for a while as you sipped at your wine and him, his water. It felt oddly normal to have him there with you yet tense that you were standing in the kitchen of the house you share with your husband, with the man you knew you were still in love with.
“You know I always hoped you’d find happiness.” Frankie uttered after a little while “Despite you breaking my heart I always routed for you to have the best life possible.”
“I always wanted that for you too.” You stated and he scoffed at that “Did you not?”
“I killed people for a living for almost half my life.” He replied shortly “What do you think?”
You winced at his reply and he instantly regretted his tone “I had to do a lot of unforgivable things, all in the name of my country.” He confessed after a short pause “I don’t deserve a good life for what I’ve done.”
“You deserve the best life has to offer Frankie.” You said softly “I’ve always regretted ending things with you.” You sobbed “Truth be told you were the one man I could picture spending my life with and I let you go.”
“Why did you?” His question took you by surprise but you didn’t hesitate to answer it. He deserved the truth.
“Because the thought of losing you was too much to bear.” You confessed, “I thought if I broke it off, it would ease the pain of knowing you could die at any point but all it did was break my heart and leave me hollow.” You sobbed, not holding back the tears now “You were the love of my life and I lost you.”
Frankie could help what he did next. Knowing that you’d regretted breaking things off with him, selfishly, was all he’d ever wanted to hear. Grabbing the back of your head he pulled you into a biting kiss that made your toes curl and your core ache.
Before you knew it your underwear was pushed to one side and he was buried to the hilt, thrusting hard and deep as he swallowed your moans. Your nails dug into the muscles on his back, clinging on for dear life as he tore several orgasms out of you before succumbing to his own release and then he collapsed over you as he caught his breath, practically purring as you run your nails through his hair.
“Shit.” He breathed after a short while and you chuckled at his statement “That was…”
“Perfect?” You finished for him as you smiled down at him “We shouldn’t have done that but I’m having a hard time regretting it.” You confessed after a short pause, moaning when he pulled himself out of your heat and tucked himself into his jeans.
“I’m sorry.” He sighed as he scraped a hand over his face and you suddenly panicked at his change of demeanour.
“I should go.”
“No, please… Don’t-”
“I have to.” He interrupted as he grabbed his keys and made his way to the front door, you were hot on his heels “It was nice to see you again.” He said without looking at you and then he was out of the door and you were left there to sob over what had been the best thing to happen to you in years.
~
2 Months Later…
Your hands shook as you held that stick of plastic in your hand. You felt sick. How, after all those years of trying, were you now looking at the second positive pregnancy test you’d taken that afternoon.
How was this happening?
You slowly started to panic the longer you stared at it. It was a disaster and you didn’t even know where to start in terms of how to deal with it. You knew you had to tell your husband and you knew he was going to be excited but you also had to tell Frankie.
There was a chance it was his too.
Grabbing the tests and shoving them in your pocket you made your way to the front door and grabbed your keys and bag. Slipping your shoes on, you made your way to your car and, after taking a steadying breath you got in. Driving to Frankies, you were relieved to see that his truck was on the drive and after parking up behind it, you hopped out of the car and briskly walked to his front door.
It didn’t take him long to answer after you knocked but his shock at seeing you stook there made your stomach twist into painful knots.
“What are you doing here?” He asked and you thought you were going to cry at that alone.
Instead, you let out a steadying breath before you answered him.
“We need to talk.” You said firmly “Can I come in?”
He said nothing, just opened the door wider so that you could enter. You looked back when you heard the door slam behind you and then you made your way to his kitchen, sitting at his table, you waited for him to join you.
“What do you want to talk about?” He asked plainly and you felt your nerves come to a head. God, you could be sick.
“Well uh… I need to talk about that night.”
“Why?” He groaned “It was a mistake. You’re married. We need to move on.”
“Yeah well, I wish it were that simple.” You snapped and his expression changed.
“Why isn’t it?”
“Because I’m pregnant Francisco.” You growled, slamming the two positive tests on the table.
That stopped him dead in his tracks. He started at the two tests, both saying 6 - 7 weeks along. He’s regretted that night since it happened. Not because of what happened but because you had been drunk and he’d taken advantage of that. So now to see that from that night, he was facing the possibility of being a father, he regretted it even more.
“Is it mine or?…”
“Fifty per cent chance.” You confessed “But let’s be realistic. I try for five years to get pregnant with my husband and then I fuck you one time and bam… Baby.”
“What are you going to do?” He asked and you sighed “Are you…”
“Going to keep it?”
He nodded.
“Yes, I am going to keep it.” You scoffed “But I need to tell my husband I am pregnant and there’s only a fifty per cent chance it’s his.”
“Shit.” He breathed and you nodded in agreement.
“I only came here to tell you because you have a right to know.” You stated plainly “I don’t expect anything from you and if turns out to be yours well… You only have to be involved if you want to be.”
Frankie nodded. He was numb and completely at a loss for words. It was his lack of reaction that had you scoffing before you scooped up the tests and grabbed your bag, barely saying goodbye before you were out the door and halfway to your car.
When he realised you were gone, he ran out after you. Only to find he was too late and you were gone. He groaned in frustration at his reaction to your news. He’s just been so shocked by it. Seeing you at his door, that had not been what he’d expected when you’d said you needed to talk to him.
Now you were gone and he was completely lost.
…
At home, you’d just finished up the dishes when you’re husband had called to say he was going to be working late. So you started on dinner for yourself, something that he could reheat when he got home and then sat to watch TV whilst it cooked in the oven. Joe’s iPad lighting up a short while later caught your attention. It was unusual for him to leave it laying around and so you couldn’t help your curiosity. Noticing it was a text, you tapped on the notification and what you saw made you sick.
'Can’t wait for you to breed me later baby’
You read the first message and choked. It was, sure enough, from his secretary. What a fucking cliché.
'Make round with you baby J.’
Popped up another message a short while later.
You’d known deep down he was cheating. It was obvious. The late nights the secrecy. They had all been warning signs but to see it confirmed in writing hurt but that’s not what you were most angry about. No, you were angry that he was not fucking his assistant… but that he was trying to get her pregnant in the process. That made your blood boil. You may have slipped up but this was something completely different and you knew you had to leave.
Your bag was packed less than an hour later. You packed what you could into your car and you drove to the first place you could think of. Sally’s.
~
1 Month Later…
Frankie had been browsing the cereal aisle when he’d bumped into Sally. He’s desperately tried to sneak past but she had the eyes of a hawk and he was soon cornered by the Coco Pops.
“Haven’t seen you since that night out what… three months ago?” She asked and Frankie shrugged.
“About that yeah.” He confirmed, “How are you?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” She replied, “My girl on the other hand is a mess.” She stated and Frankie’s stomach sank “Girls 3 ½ months pregnant and in the middle of getting a divorce.”
“What?” He exclaimed, the last statement taking him by surprise “Why?”
“Fucker is shagging his assistant.” Sally revealed, “What’s worse if they’re trying for a kid together.” She continued “Well they were and then he found out she was pregnant and he’s been begging for her to forgive him.”
“Shit.”
“Turns out though that there’s a chance it’s not his.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” She said with a nod “Had a weak moment a few months back and well… Kid might be the other guys but apparently he doesn’t want anything to do with it so-”
“I never said that.” Frankie expelled, eyes widening at his sudden confession.
“Wait what?” She practically yelled “She didn’t tell me who the other guy was… It’s you??”
“We uh… The night we met up, I took her home and we got to talking and one thing led to another-”
A hand impacting his face was not what he’d expected to happen to him whilst doing his weekly shop that day yet here he was, rubbing his cheek as your best friend glowered at him.
“She’s in pieces.” She scorned “She’s all alone, pregnant with a baby that could be yours.”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to her its just… Well, I didn’t know what to say.”
“Say that you’ll support her.” She shrieked “You’re a better man than Joe, I know that for a fact so step up and take responsibility! It takes two people to make a baby.”
“Where’s she staying?” He asked, knowing she was right and that he had to make this right.
“Mine.” She stated “I’m going to be out this evening if you wanted to talk to her alone.
He nodded and she sighed "Please don’t hurt my friend Frankie.” She pleaded “She’s suffered enough.”
…
You hadn’t been expecting a knock at the door that night. Sally was out on a double date with Sophia and the Miller brothers. She’d asked if you wanted her to stay but the truth was you just wanted some time alone to grieve. Your life as you knew it was over and you were facing bringing a baby into the world without the love and support of the man you knew was its daddy. Without a shadow of a doubt, you were certain.
You stiffly walked to the front door, not thinking to check who it was before you pulled it open but when you saw it was Frankie standing there your eyes grew to the size of saucers.
“Frank?” You all but whispered, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk.” He replied, “If that’s okay?”
You nodded. Opened the door and motioned for him to come in before closing it behind him. You led him to the lounge, muted the TV and motioned for him to sit as you plonked yourself back on the couch.
“How are you?” He asked although he knew that answer already.
“My life’s falling apart.” You scoffed “How do you think?”
“I’m sorry.” He replied, instantly regretting his question “How’s the baby?” He asked after a short pause and you sighed as you rubbed your now slightly swollen belly.
“They’re okay. Had my first scan and they were pleased with its progress so that’s positive.” You replied and he nodded “Why have you come here, Francisco?”
“I want to be a father to this baby.” He stated simply “If it’s mine and you want that.”
“Frankie I-”
“I reacted like a complete idiot when you told me but I was shocked.” He confessed “The last thing I’d been expecting you to tell me was that you were pregnant but I saw Sally today and she literally slapped sense into me and I… Well, baby, I love you and I want us to be a family but if just being a father is all you’re willing to give me then that’s fine.”
“And if we are a family and it turns out that it isn’t yours?”
“Then I will love it anyway.”
That was all you needed to hear. Next thing you knew you were on his lap and kissing him like you needed it to breathe. Finally pulling away to breathe you looked him in the eye and you smiled.
“Take that as a yes then.” He stated before you laughed and kissed him again.
It was definitely a yes.
~
6 Months Later…
“Well, shit that’s a cute kid.” Said Ben as he propped his head on Sally’s shoulder.
“He’s beautiful.” Sally gushed as she looked up at you and Frankie laying on the hospital bed.
“How are you feeling hun?” Ben asked as he came to stand beside you and place a sweet kiss on your brow.
“Exhausted.” You confessed and he chuckled “But I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Fishcakes here.”
“I thought we were past the nicknames.” He grumbled and you all chuckled.
“I just pushed your eight-pound baby out my vagina and now have stitches to prove it.” You scoffed “I can call you what I like.”
“Touchê.” He conceded and you chuckled.
“Did you have a paternity test done?” Ben asked and you both nodded
“I mean it’s obvious who his father is but Joe was adamant that we get it done. He wasn’t a happy bunny when the news was broken.” You stated.
“No, he was not.” Agreed Frankie as he rubbed his still sore jaw.
“You got a name yet?” Sally asked and you both shared a look before nodding.
“Luka.” You said in unison and the others gasped.
“Luka Morales.” Ben said, testing the name on his tongue “It suits you, little buddy.” He said as Sally handed him the baby.
As watched your best friend and Frankie’s coo over your newborn, a sense of peace washed over you. In the months that had followed, you discovered what true happiness felt like. The love and adoration Frank had showered you with had led you to realise that your life with Joe had never been good.
“You okay?” Frankie asked, quiet enough that only you could hear him.
“Yeah.” You replied as you rested your head on your shoulder “Tired but so fucking happy.”
“Me too.” He replied, kissing you sweetly before pulling away to look you in the eyes again “Marry me?” He asked and tears started to form in your tired eyes.
Frank instantly panicked “Or not… It was just an idea but if you don’t-”
“Yes.” You interrupted and he stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide and you both stared at each other.
“Yes?”
“Yes Francisco Morales… Love of my life and father of my child.” You started, smiling at him sweetly “I will marry you.”
He kissed you deeply, stealing the air from your lungs before he broke it and rested his forehead against yours.
