Fresh Start

Fresh Start

Stefan Salvatore x Reader

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Written for Fictober 2022!

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries

Prompt: “We all have our reasons”

Summary: Y/N is a non-practicing witch, living her own peaceful life in a small town after running away from home a few years ago. Stefan shows up looking to do the same thing and pretending to be human, although Y/N realizes he’s a vampire on-sight. They don’t press him, though, even as they start dating. When things start to get more serious, however, they can’t continue ignoring the secrets and truths of each others’ pasts.

Word Count: 2,228

Category: Fluff, little bit of Angst

Warnings: Mentions of an abusive family, no details or descriptions

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“We’re closed- oh, hey Stef.”

“Hey, Y/N.” My friend and boyfriend of about the last month gave me a small smile as he walked through the door of my bar. We were closed for the night, so I’d briefly been bracing myself to throw out somebody who didn’t realize or want to accept that fact, but Stefan came to spend time with me as I closed things down pretty regularly.

We’d met in this same bar just over a month ago. Stefan had just arrived in town, and after moving into his house on the edge of town, he’d wandered into the bar to start introducing himself to everyone. I’d served him a drink while we chatted, and we’d actually hit it off the bat fairly quickly, which I hadn’t been expecting to do with a vampire.

He hadn’t officially told me he was a vampire yet, of course. But I was an out-of-practice witch. And just because I’d left my coven and come here for a different life, didn’t mean I couldn’t still clock a vampire from a hundred yards out.

Weiterlesen

My monthly reminder that Jules Kounde is hot

Whipped

Pairing: Lando Norris x Assistant!Reader

Warnings: Smut mentioned, Lando is a secret simp, Fuckboi!Lando

Rating: PG-17

Requested: Yes/No

Being Lando's assistant, you've seen and heard many things. Girls coming and going at odd hours, girls leaving his driver's room in a mess, hell, you've even had to hide girls from the media after hookups. But you knew this when you took the job as it was the first sentence in the contract.

It has never bothered you because Lando was a playboy/fuckboi who wanted to have fun. Of course, you did more than just help him with his ways, interviews, photoshoots, media obligations for F1, and anything Lando needed you for. You did.

Lando flirted with you. Brains and beauty is what he said about you when people asked. He praised you to no end but never crossed a line with you, always keeping it professional; he cherished you too much.

"Lando! For the love of christ, put on clothes. You have the driver's interview!" You bang on his door, but that doesn't stop the porno noises in the room; you just roll your eyes.

Leaning against the wall, the door gets thrown open, almost hitting you, but you just stare at the blonde girl rushing out of the room with Lando following her.

"See you later." The blonde giggles winking at him as she rushes into the sea of people here for the race.

"Really? We just landed yesterday and couldn't wait, could you?" His head turns to your hard stare, and he has the decency to look ashamed.

"What? She's hot." Is his only argument which has you standing up straight again.

"Make yourself presentable. I don't need to get shit again from Zac about your.......look." Eyes roll over his messy hair, lipstick-stained skin, and love bites very visible.

"Damn, okay, don't lose your cool. I'll look nice." He smiles and goes back into the room and, not long after, comes out smelling clean, clearly taken a shower while you waited.

"Ready?" He asks and starts the walk to the media room having the media day with Carlos, Fernando, Pierre, and Max.

You don't say a word to him on the walk there, just stopping occasionally for him to take pictures and sign autographs for fans. Walking into the media pen, you wave at the others, but you have a slight blush when you wave at Max, who waves back, smiling too. Lando looks back and forth between you two, this little tightness in his chest with seeing the blush on your cheeks.

"Stay here. You've been trying to find me all day, so you don't have to stand the entire time." Lando mushes you to a chair in the back.

"Bu-" "Just stay here." He groans, walks up to the sofa, and sits between Max and Carlos, forgetting about that feeling in his chest.

You type away on your phone, answering emails and texts from the team and brands that want Lando to model or talk about their brand. You don't even look up when Carlo's, Lando's, and Max's voices are above your head.

"Lando's got you working hard, doesn't he?" Head snapping up, you meet Carlos's eyes with a slight blush forming, having always found him attractive.

"Not too hard. He needs a shock collar when he wonders after a girl." You joke, making Carlos laugh and causing the other two drivers to stare at the both of you

"Yes, he does. Honestly, it's impressive but also cruel to you." You nod in agreement with the Spaniard heading out into the sun and walking through the Paddock.

"It is; the girls sometimes come back expecting round 2 only to realize that he doesn't do that. One and Done." You gripe, which Carlos adds onto.

Lando tries to stay focused on his conversation with Max, but he's unable to when he hears you and Carlos laughing and quipping inside jokes back and forth. That earlier feeling returns to his chest, making him wonder why he felt this way.

"What's up with you? Why are you staring at Y/n like that?" Max asks, noticing how Lando is walking weirdly to keep an eye on the two people behind them.

"What? I'm staring at her. I'm just....I gave her a hard time earlier and ensuring she's okay." He rushes out, ripping his eyes off his assistant, trying his best to focus on Max.

"Translation; I was busy getting laid that I made Y/n run all around the Paddock trying to find me before the interview." Max snips.

The drivers hated seeing Lando give you such a hard time, especially regarding the girls. Carlos and Max hated it when you'd run to them out of breath or annoyed trying to find Lando when he runs off with some girl. Lando doesn't say anything as he stops walking, staring as Carlos and you walk past, not even paying to the fact you walked right past them.

"Honestly, if the money wasn't so damn good, I would've quite a while ago." You joke, but to Lando, it sucked the air out of his lungs hearing those words.

Max watches Lando's face, the color draining, and how his chest and throat tighten as he processes those words. He wants to tell Lando that it was a joke, you always joked about quitting, but the moment someone offered you a job or tried to tell you how horrible Lando was, you'd defend him.

Yes, he slept around. Yes, he sometimes made life unbearable, and you wanted to kill the prick, but you knew the real him. The gamer nerd, the doting uncle, the mentor for young karting kids, the guy who would drop anything to help anyone. You knew the real Lando but saw more of the Fuckboi than the man behind this persona.

Laughing and joking some more, you find yourself back in front of the Mclaren motorhome, and low and behold, a new girl was sitting in the spot Lando always told girls he met that he wanted to hook up with. Lando jogs up the steps and stops when the girl steps in front of him.

"Hi, Lando." The girl was practically shoving her chest in his face, and while you wanted to gag, you didn't blame her.

Lando was beautiful, and that boyish charm would make any girl drop. What would usually not bother you was. Why did you care if Lando paid more attention to them than you? Woah...where'd that thought come from. You didn't want that attention from him. Did you? No, you didn't because if Lando wanted you, he'd already have you. You fell for the man you knew personally, not the act he put on in front of the girls.

"Listen, umm Kelley, I'm sorry but.....I'm canceling plans. I have to do training with my assistant. Sorry." He rambles and yanks you inside, leaving your head spinning.

"Lando, you don't have plans; you can hook up with her. I'll cover for you." You smile, double-checking the calendar to make sure you got everything.

"The night before the first practice, we always watch movies." He states, looking at you hurt since you forgot.

"Lando.....we haven't done that in almost 2 years. You spend your nights hooking up with girls." You state cocking your head to the side, suspicious of his motives.

"Well, I want to do it tonight, okay. Just....I'm not always like that." You almost missed the last part since he turned his back to you and started to walk away.

"See you at 9." rushing past him and up the stairs to your mini office to get some work done. You swear you could hear Lando's smile.

When 9 hit, you knock on the door, standing outside his apartment door for the last 15 minutes trying to gather courage. You loved the Monaco race since you all could be home, but also you loved the view outside Lando's apartment that overlooked the marina and city. The door swings open after the 2nd knock. Lando wearing a black shirt and grey sweatpants, you almost blushed at the thoughts that whizzed past but quickly shook them away. It was cheating for him to wear this, but it wasn't for you; for all you knew, he could've just gotten home from a girl's place.

"Come on, I've got Fast and Furious on." Closing the door behind you, a soft giggle leaves your lips. Lando can't help his full smile come out, hearing your laughter, and follows you to his living room.

You slide your shoes off and lay comfortably on the couch, knowing Lando is probably fixing snacks as you hit play on the movie. He comes padding into the room and puts down fruits, pretzels, candy, and other things laid out, but you notice that all your favorite foods and the movie selection lined up as your favorite movies. Nothing of his was thrown into the mix.

Thinking nothing of it until Lando lifts your head and lays it in his lap, but he doesn't touch you, not even playing with your hair like he would typically do whenever you had your head in his lap.

"Okay, what the hell is going on with you?" You ask, pausing the movie as you sit up to look at him.

"What do you mean? We're just watching movies." His face scrunched up in confusion.

"No. We're watching my favorite movies only. Eating only my favorite snacks, and you aren't even trying to make a move on me! So what's going on with you?" You yell, hating this change in him all of a sudden.

"I don't want you to quit!" He yells back now you're the one making the confused face.

"What? Lando, I'm not going to quit."

"Yes, yes, you are. I heard you talking with Carlos. You said you'd quit if the money wasn't so good. I...I know I've been sleeping around a lot, but honestly, I can't...I'm just trying to forget that the person I want doesn't want me." He groans, running his hands over his face in frustration.

"Lando." You sigh, gathering your thoughts. "it's a joke. A gag between Carlos, Max, and me. I'm not going to quit. You'd have to fire me first." You laugh, touching his jittering leg, making it stop as he looks up at you.

"Also, no girl is ever worth that. You shouldn't even be dealing with your feelings like that. So, who is this girl?" You ask, wanting to know who is sending Lando into a tailspin.

"You." You both just stare at each other as you just blink at him before laughing out loud.

Lando groans and hangs his head. He knew he didn't deserve you; honestly, no one did; you were perfect. You try to gather yourself so you don't hurt Lando too much with your laughter.

"No, seriously, who is it really?" You ask, wiping away tears from laughing.

"You. It's always been you. You weren't supposed to have 3 weeks of vacation when you first started. It was supposed to be 1. I changed it. I changed the menu for your favorite foods on the road so you weren't homesick. Whenever you got sick, I left the little care baskets of your favorite things to make you feel better. You big ass raise you got last year? ME! I pay for it myself; Mclaren doesn't pay you like everyone thinks. I pay you because you're mine. I don't want you to leave because if you leave, no one, no one, could even replace you. You are what I want." He huffs out, breathing heavily.

Standing slowly, you nudge his legs open, move between them, and lean down, making Lando swallow thickly as he tries hard to control the urge to not kiss you silly.

"Want me, Lando? I'm yours?" You ask, smirking, moving your fingers through his curls.

"Then earn me. You wanted to be such a fuckboi, but you're really a simp, right? The moment we met, I wasn't yours. You were mine." Leaning down, you kiss the corner of his mouth before quietly leaving his place.

Let the Games Begin.

‧˚⊹ 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 ଓ :: 𝗠𝗩𝟭‧₊˚⤾

✧ pairing :: ( max verstappen x girlfriend! driver! reader ) ✧ summary :: ( you were close to wining your first world title, until you weren't ) ✧ genre :: ( angst ) ✧ warning :: ( — )

master list || part two - part three - part four →

The amount of concentration a formula one driver needed was beyond compare. Holding p1 against Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was consuming every bit of energy strength and concentration you stocked up in your soul.

You were so close to the chequered flag, so close to your first world title. You could hear Arabic commentary over the loud speakers of Abu Dhabi, you could feel your heartbeat in your chest, the adrenaline flowing in your veins and very blood. This would've been it. Your childhood dream. Your life goal.

Highlight the word: would've.

You somehow found yourself upside down on turn 16. Saved by the halo, you watched as your rivals passed you. Your vision was doubled and your body was numb, you didn't even realise that the marshals had already taken you out.

you couldn't feel anymore, you couldn't hear anything, people were moving you around and you could barely stand on your feet, knees buckling several times. Your vision was blurry and disoriented. Your throat hurts.

And of course, everyone's favourite part, you were forgotten. Sitting on the floor of the Porsche garage, alone. You could see the colours and blurbs of people celebrating and hugging, you could hear the muffled and distant noise and music, the cheer and laughter.

From leading every lap to a DNF in less than 30 seconds, you watched Max hug his team and shake hands with other drivers. Even your parents congratulated him, shaking his hands with your father and sharing a quick hug from your mother.

You continued to sit, while everyone left the garage to watch the podium celebration. Wasn't this exactly why you were in this sport in the first place? To be on that very podium, on the highest pedestal, singing your country's anthem as you draped the flag on your shoulders, to hold the trophy up high.

Time passed as you held your head between your knees, sitting in the same spot. You only moved when someone gently took off your helmet gently, pulling off your balaclava.

Was he talking? His voice was muffled and you couldn't see well enough to read his lips. The man gently used his sleeve to wipe your eyes. Free of tears and no longer blurry, you looked at Max.

His lips were pursed as he looked into your eyes. Your hearing slowly came back as he cupped your cheek, pulling you in a hug. You were hesitant to hug back, but you did, finding yourself hugging him tight as sobs started escaping your lips.

Realisation hits you like a truck.

It was over . . .

You lost.

Max stood up, pulling you to your feet with him while he rocked you gently. He pressed your head into his shoulder, turning around so your back would be facing towards any cameras who would try to capture you in your weak moments.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." You repeated over and over. He didn't know why you were apologising but Max let you vent out your feelings. You have been wearing a cool face all weekend despite how nervous and frustrated he could tell you were, you deserved to be let free.

Two days passed and the FiA publicly apologised to you and your team. Marshals had failed to clear all derbies  off the track which caused your crash. Although some people were mad about it ( your brand and fans definitely were ), and filed complaints, even going to the extent of suing the FiA; you did not care.

You take a plane back to Monaco after receiving a lecture from your father and mother. And you've been laying in your bed with the blinds closed ever since.

The only time you got out of your bed was when there was a ring at your door. You ignored it at first, but it rang two more times ( building  up frustration because you were busy not watching your parents' disappointment on tv on loop ).

You slammed the door open, a dark glare being sent to the person who was about to ring the doorbell one more time. Max looked at you from the corner of his eye before lowering his hand away from the bell, looking at you sheepish smile on his face. "You're not wearing pants." He pointed out as he invited himself into your apartment. "I can tell, Max." You chuckled closing the door after him

part two →

The Aftermath || LN4 {1}

Pairing: Lando Norris x widow!reader Summary: A year after losing your husband to an F1 crash, his teammate comes by and regrets never coming to check in on you. Warnings: 18+ only, grief and loss, depression, mentions of blood, alcohol WC: 2.2k

F1 Masterlist || One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six

It doesn’t matter how long the night may seem, dawn will find a way to fight the darkness and break in a new day. Another day without him. 

365. It had been 365 days since he left this world for an eternity among the stars. Even now, a year later, you struggled to say his name without spiraling into the abyss where you wished you could join him. 

“Racing is my oxygen, I need it to survive.” That is what he had said whenever someone asked him if he was thinking about retiring.

“I hate you,” you murmured to the picture of your wedding day, the bright smiles something that hadn’t been seen inside these four walls for a year. 

You could almost hear his mocking laugh and you sighed at the truth, you could never hate him. He was your other half, he completed you. You hated that he had left you and the emptiness that had remained in his absence.

“I miss you.”

A knock sounded at your door and you dragged yourself through the silent house to see what had been delivered. You didn’t want to have to interact with anyone, let alone on a day like this one. “Just leave it on the step.”

“Y/N?”

You stumbled at the voice and froze, wondering if it was too late to climb back into bed and pull the covers up over your head and hide from the world. 

“Please, Y/N, open the door,” Lando called out.

They had been teammates. They had been friends. The three of you had spent so much time together the media joked Lando wasn’t third wheeling but a part of a throuple. 

Your hand trembled as you reached for the stiff deadbolt, the harsh scrape evidence of how long it had been since it was last opened for a grocery delivery almost two weeks ago. 

After the funeral, everyone else moved on with their lives while you were left with dozens of decaying bouquets and sympathy cards that could never replace your husband. For a while there were phone calls and invitations but leaving the house had become daunting and eventually those had stopped entirely. You couldn’t blame them.

“Jesus,” Lando muttered as you opened the door. “Are you alright?”

“What are you doing here?” you asked as you pointedly ignored his question. 

He shuffled on the doorstep as he shifted his balance about. “It’s the memorial unveiling today, I thought you might want someone to drive you.”

If you could feel anything, you might have felt angry. “I didn’t know there was an unveiling.”

“Shit, seriously?” He ran a hand through his curls that had grown longer than he used to keep them. “You should be there.”

He carefully stepped around you and into the house, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled the stale air before he frowned. You couldn’t remember when you last opened the curtains, preferring the dark where you could sit in his shirt and pretend he was still with you even after his scent faded from the material.

Lando stepped into the kitchen next, opening the fridge and cupboards to find them almost empty before slamming them closed. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” you said lamely as he stormed across the room to grab your shoulders. “I’m fine. I was going to order groceries today.”

“This isn’t fine, Y/N!” He sighed and released his grip so he could pull you into his arms. “I should have come by sooner.”

You froze as you felt the first human contact in months and felt his heartbeat against you, the rhythmic thump enough to jolt you back into control and you pulled away, wrapping your arms around yourself protectively.

“I’m not your problem, Lando.” You turned to the door that was still open, his comical Fiat Jolly parked in the drive. “You should go.”

His head dropped as he slowly walked past, pausing only a moment to say something before he thought better of it and shook his head, closing the door behind him. 

The road noise in the retro pastel blue car was too loud to hear anything when Lando’s phone rang so he pulled over into the next parking lot off the busy streets and found Oscar’s name on the caller ID. 

“Hey mate, what’s up?” 

“Where are you?” his teammate asked in a hushed tone. “The ceremony starts in five minutes and you’re the one who actually drove with the guy.”

Lando stared out ahead at the shop space he had pulled into and saw it was a food mart. “I’m not going to make it.”

“What could possibly be more important than this?”

“I’ll talk to you later, tell them to start without me.” Lando hung up without a goodbye and rushed out of his car, an apology sent to his friend in heaven. 

There was no knock at your door this time, there was just the quiet scratch of the pot plant moving across the concrete step before it was unlocked and swinging open. 

You didn’t even have the energy to rise from the bed you had crawled back into, there was only one person who knew where the spare key was hidden. He pottered around in the kitchen and you heard the doors opening and closing before his bare feet padded softly down the hallway. 

“Coming in,” Lando warned as the door creaked open and he stepped into your room. “I hope you’re wearing something.”

Before you could ask why he gave you the answer and ripped the blankets off the bed. Cold air rushed in and you shivered as you pulled the hem of your husband’s shirt further down your thighs. The orange and grey pattern on the shirt caught Lando’s attention and his eyes turned down before he turned away and opened the closet.

You weren’t sure if he was expecting to see one half empty but you hadn’t been able to box up a single item. You were clinging onto them, and the memory they represented, for dear life. 

He grabbed a casual dress he had seen you wear before and tossed it over, the soft cotton covering your legs. “Get dressed.”

“Lando!” He had already disappeared back down the hall and you groaned as you rolled off the bed and onto your feet. The material hung loose around your body in a way it hadn't before and the dress was no longer flattering as you stood in front of the mirror. 

It was the first real time you had looked in the mirror and you barely recognised yourself. Your skin no longer glowed, your hair was knotted and unkempt and your eyes held no life where they were sunken into your face.

Needing to try salvage something of your dignity, you tried to brush out the knots but the handle snapped and you stared at it in disbelief. Sudden rage hit you as you failed at such a simple task and you threw what remained of the brush at the mirror, shattering the image but somehow making your reflection more true to how you were feeling.

“Y/N?” Lando skidded to a stop, barely missing the shards of glass on the carpet. “Are you alright?”

“No,” you admitted aloud for the first time and your legs gave out as reality crashed into you. “I miss him so much.”

You didn’t feel the glass slash your legs or the sharp pain as they stabbed your knees. You didn’t feel the warm blood seeping into the carpet or Lando’s arms as he picked you up. You didn’t feel anything but the overwhelming sense of loss like a fist squeezing your heart from inside your chest.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you,” Lando murmured as he sat you on the kitchen side and cupped your face. “I’m sorry I wasn't here.”

“I’m not your problem,” you reminded him as you shook his hands off your face. “You were his friend and I’m not an inheritance.”

“I’m your friend too. A shitty friend, but I’m going to fix that,” he said as he looked down at your bleeding knees, “starting with this.”

He went to the cupboard above the fridge to find nothing had changed and the first aid kit was still on the shelf you struggled to reach, but he easily did. You tried to get a bandaid from it as he placed it on the benchtop beside you but he moved your hands back and gave you a warning look.

“This might hurt,” he apologised as he broke the top off a saline bottle and started to rinse the blood away. “There’s some glass stuck in there - maybe we should go to the hospital.”

“I’m not going back there, especially not today,” you said with a lick of venom and a shake of your head. “There’s whiskey in the back of the pantry, just give me some of that.”

He seemed dubious about the idea but knew how stubborn you could be and exhaled a resigned sigh before getting the half empty bottle. He looked at you through the clear glass, above the sloshing amber, and you could feel the judgement in that stare.

“I have trouble sleeping.”

He didn’t give you a response as he handed it over before getting a chair to sit on, placing your foot on his knee so he could try to get the glass out with a pair of tweezers. To be honest, you were numb to everything and didn’t even need the alcohol but you gulped greedily at the spiced whiskey. 

“What’s that?” you asked as you noticed a pot on the stove, steam softly billowing up, and then you noticed the mouthwatering scent. 

“Vegetable soup. You need to eat.”

“When did you get so mature?” The joke fell flat as he looked up and you saw the depth of his own grief that he let escape from where he had buried it.

“A lot has changed in a year.”

There was no appropriate response to be said so you took another swig and felt the warmth of the alcohol hitting your empty stomach while he continued to pull shards of glass out.

“All done,” he said as he gathered the rubbish and left you to inspect the bandaids plastered all over your knees and skins too.

“If you ever look for a change in career, nursing isn't the answer.”

His lips curled up with a small laugh as he checked the pot and gave the soup a stir. “You’re meant to say thank you.”

“Thank you, Nurse Norris.”

Lando returned to where you were sitting after lowering the heat on the stove and tapped his finger on the stack of mail beside you. He picked up an envelope with the F1 symbol beside the return address and flipped it over before seeing almost a dozen others just like it. 

“Your invitation is probably in one of these.”

“Did you know there’s a clause in the contracts for ‘surviving spouses’?” You laughed bitterly and tipped the bottle back, no longer feeling the burn of the alcohol rushing down your throat. “They send a cheque every month, the very people who killed him and I want nothing to do with, and if it wasn’t already bad enough, they send it in his name.”

Lando looked at the envelopes and frowned. “Seriously?”

You took the top one and ripped through the seal to show him the cheque address to René Gauthier. On and on, you tore them all open and Lando swallowed deeply as the mess grew.

“Do they think €10,000 a month is going to make everything better? Nothing they do can bring back my husband.”

“Nothing can fix what happened,” he said as he wiped your cheeks that you hadn’t noticed were damp with tears. “I know it doesn’t make it any easier but they brought in new regulations this year, so it doesn’t happen again.”

“Sometimes I wish he hit those officials,” your voice broke at the whispered confession. “He would have had to live with that guilt, but at least he would be alive. Oh god, I’m a terrible person.”

René had been labelled a hero for the manoeuvre he had done to save the lives of the officials that were in the wrong place. He had put himself into a wall swerving away from them and while they had walked away unscathed for their mistake, your husband had died for his. It wasn’t fair.

“You’re not a terrible person, Y/N,” Lando reassured you as he pulled your hands away from where you had hidden your face in shame. 

The alcohol had hit your system and you closed your eyes as the room swayed, your words falling unfiltered as your head spun. “Racing was his life, Lando, but he was mine. I don’t know how to live without him.”

The bottle disappeared from your fingers and you lifted your heavy eyelids to see Lando putting it on top of the cupboards out of your reach. 

“You find a way to live because it's what he would want.” He scooped you up off the counter and your head fell into the crook of his neck without resistance. “You find a way to live because we’ve already lost too much. I’m not going to lose you too.”

Click here for part two.