Speak Now

speak now

"i hear the preacher say, ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’" "there's the silence, there's my last chance" "i stand up with shaky hands, all eyes on me" "horrified looks from everyone in the room" "but i'm only looking at you"

pairings: anthony bridgerton x fem!reader

warnings/tags: angst with fluff at the end. you fell first, anthony fell harder. the reader is daphne’s best friend.

summary: anthony comes to a realization the night before your wedding— the wedding where you’re supposed to be marrying someone else.

the moonlight cast a soft glow over the elegant drawing-room of bridgerton house. anthony stood by the window, lost in thought, as daphne entered the room. she had just returned to london, bringing with her news that had unsettled him to the core.

"why have i not heard of this in lady whistledown’s columns?" he had demanded, pacing the room.

"it was kept private," daphne replied, her voice calm but tinged with sadness. "y/n did not wish for any undue attention. the wedding is tomorrow, anthony."

"tomorrow?" he stopped in his tracks, a look of determination hardening his features. without another word, he grabbed his coat and left the house, ignoring daphne’s calls after him.

the night was deep when anthony arrived at your family home. the world around him was silent, the only sound his hurried footsteps on the cobblestone path. he knocked on the door with a sense of urgency, his heart pounding in his chest. when you opened the door, your eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

"anthony? what are you doing here?" you whispered urgently, glancing around to ensure no one else saw. "it is improper for you to be here at this hour."

"i had to see you," he replied, his voice a fervent plea. "you cannot marry him."

you shook her head, "anthony, this is madness. you should not be here. think of our families’ reputations.”

“i do not care about reputations," he insisted, stepping closer. "i care about you, y/n. i cannot stand by and watch you marry a man you do not love."

your eyes filled with tears, but you quickly blinked them away. "you do not love me, anthony. you only say this because i am soon to be wed. please, leave before someone sees you."

his heart ached at your words, but he pressed on. "y/n, i have always loved you. even when you were merely daphne’s bothersome friend. my feelings are not sudden. they have always been there, growing stronger with each passing day."

you shook your head again, more vehemently this time. "no, anthony. this is not right. you must go."

with that, you turned and fled up the stairs, leaving him standing in the dimly lit hallway, the weight of his confession hanging heavily in the air.

returning to bridgerton house, anthony found daphne waiting for him, a knowing look in her eyes. "where have you been?" she asked, though it was clear she already knew the answer.

he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "i went to see y/n. i professed my love to her, but she does not believe me."

daphne’s expression softened. "anthony, she has loved you since the moment she stepped into our home. you must show her that your feelings are genuine. if you truly love her, you must fight for her."

her words resonated deeply with him, and he resolved to do whatever it took to prevent the marriage.

the morning of the wedding dawned bright and clear, the air filled with a sense of anticipation. the church was adorned with flowers, the pews filled with friends and family. anthony took his seat, his heart heavy with the knowledge of what he was about to do. as the ceremony commenced, he watched you walk down the aisle, your face a mask of composure. when the bishop inquired if there were any objections, anthony rose to his feet.

"i do," he declared, his voice ringing out in the silence.

gasps echoed through the congregation. your parents exchanged shocked glances, and the groom’s face darkened with anger.

his mother, seated next to him, grasped his arm with urgency.

"anthony, what in heaven’s name are you doing?” she whispered, her voice filled with concern.

ignoring her, anthony kept his gaze fixed on you, your face had turned pale with shock. he moved his arm away from his mother’s touch, his resolve unshaken.

"i cannot let this happen," he said, his eyes never leaving yours.

your eyes were wide with a mix of emotions. without a word, you fled the church, the weight of anthony’s declaration heavy on your heart. you ran to the one place where you could find solace—the apple tree in your family’s garden.

you stood beneath the apple tree, your breaths coming in ragged bursts. the sun was setting, casting long shadows across the garden as anthony approached you. your eyes, still red from crying, met his with a mix of curiosity and frustration.

"go away, anthony," you whispered, turning away from him. "you have humiliated me enough. no man will want to marry me now."

"how did you even find me?" you asked, your voice trembling slightly.

anthony, catching his breath, gave a soft, sad smile. "i have seen you come here before. when the demands of society became too much at the balls held at your family home, you would retreat here to find solace."

your brow furrowed in surprise, you turned to face him. "you have been watching me?"

he nodded, his gaze tender. "i have always kept an eye on you, even if you did not know it. i wanted to ensure that you were safe and that you had a place to escape when you needed it."

your heart ached with the realization of his quiet vigilance. "you knew?"

"yes," anthony replied softly. "i knew. and i could not let you marry someone who did not see you as you truly are. you deserve to be loved fully, and i have always felt that love for you."

he knelt beside you, gently taking your hands. reluctantly, you met his gaze, and in his eyes, you saw an intensity you had never witnessed before. "i am terribly sorry for ruining your ceremony, but i simply could not bear to see you marry another. alas, i am a gentleman. if you do not feel the same, i will leave and never bother you again."

your heart ached with the depth of your feelings. "i desire no one else. i have always wanted you, but i never believed you could feel the same. i think you have ruined me for everyone else."

anthony’s grip on your hands tightened. "it is you who have ruined me, y/n. my heart is so full of you that i can hardly call it my own."

with a sob, you threw your arms around him, pressing your lips to his in a kiss filled with years of longing and unspoken love.

anthony held you close, your heart swelling with joy and relief. "i am yours, y/n. nothing will ever change that."

in the quiet of the garden, beneath the shade of the apple tree, your love found its voice, a love that had always been destined to be.

Crush | Azriel x reader [Masterlist]

Oneshot-Series: Every part of this story can be read separately.

Summary: When a big bad Illyrian warrior falls head over heels in love with a sweet baker lady from Velaris.

A/N: I love this story so much you guys, it's literally all fluff and I'm channeling all my impossibly high standards into this to cope with the disappointment that are real-life men.

Feel free to drop a request if you have any scenarios in mind that you feel would make a good addition to the story and lmk if you want to be added to the taglist!

Warnings: all the fluff, somewhere along the lines of grumpy x sunshine, some SMUT (*)

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Just a Little Crush - Everyone secretly longs for Azriel, but Azriel only longs for her.

Every Time We Touch* - Azriel gets with his crush, the lucky bastard.

Body and Soul - Azriel and his love spend some time discovering each other’s stories and bodies.

Apple Pies and Family Ties - Azriel brings a girl home to meet his family for the first time ever.

Flour Prints* - The recreation of Feysand’s infamous paint scene followed by an important step in their relationship.

A Matter of Firsts - Azriel and his love get into their first fight.

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last updated: July 2024

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More moodboards made by my sweet @itsswritten ❤️

calming

regulus black x gn!reader

500 words

description: regulus gets anxious in a hectic environment and your presence calms him + sirius finds it baffling

You and your friends are all sitting around the Gryffindor common room, James and Peter are on the ground in front of the fireplace playing a game of magic chess.

Remus is sitting on the couch across from you reading, Sirius is laying against the arm of the same couch with his legs draped across Remus’ lap while loudly announcing every move Peter and James make in their game. 

Lily is sitting in an armchair working on an upcoming essay, while Mary is sitting on the floor leaning against Lily’s legs drawing in a sketchbook. 

Marlene is passed out in the lap of her girlfriend Dorcas, who after sneaking into the common room took up one of the other armchairs.

Also having been snuck in, is your boyfriend Regulus, who is currently sitting next to you on the couch while you read.

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You're deeply enthralled in the story completely used to the noisiness of your common room. Unlike you, Regulus is not used to the environment, as he has just recently rekindled his relationship with his brother to be hanging out in there with you all.

You are observant of your boyfriend though and take notice when his breathing begins to get heavier and his body language gets tenser.

Carefully and slowly, as to not draw much attention from your friends around the room, you move your hand closest to Regulus off your book and gently place it on his leg and begin to rub your thumb slowly against it.

You can physically feel the muscles in his thigh relax under your touch which makes you smile softly at the book in front of you.

Out of the corner of your eye you see Regulus glance over at you which makes you look up at him and smile at him.

"What're you doing, love?" He questions you.

You lift your book slightly and wiggle it before you speak. "Reading, obviously. Do we need to borrow James' glasses?"

The corners of Regulus's lips turn up ever so slightly at your comment, before he shakes his head lightly and huffs out a small laugh.

"No, I think my eyesight is just fine,"

He takes your hand on his leg in his own and starts to twist and pull the rings adorning your fingers - most of which are gifts from him.

You smile and lean into his side more before returning to your book allowing him to mess with your rings as much as he likes.

You'd let him do whatever if he asked, if you're being honest.

-

Across the room from you on the other couch sits another couple consisting of one flabbergasted Sirius Black.

"What. The. Fuck. Moony look." Sirius nudges the boy next to him.

Remus looks up at the couple before them before turning to look at his boyfriend.

"What about it Sirius?"

"They just put their hand on his leg and he immediately calmed down!"

Remus continues to just stare at the raven-haired male, unimpressed. So Sirius continues speaking "He hasn't so much as let me poke him since he was 10!"

With a simple roll of his eyes Remus returns to his book after saying "You should just be happy your little brother has someone who makes him feel comfortable, Pads."

Sirius glances back and forth between his brother and his boyfriend for a moment before he huffs dramatically and flops down to rest his head on Remus's lap.

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Keep you close

Prompt: Tugging at the other's clothes to keep them close

Pairing: Kelly Severide x reader

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 1.2k

You'd always had the awful habit of wandering off. As a kid you had been an absolute nightmare for your parents, silent footsteps trotting away at the smallest of things. A shirt you saw across the store, a street performer, or a cat in an alleyway. You were excitable with a short attention span and far too adept at unintentional escapes and as such had caused premature greying in your mother's hair.

As you grew older you'd managed to calm down some, you were still prone to wandering off with no warning, but you no longer straight up disappeared to chase a butterfly.

In fact, many of your now friends hadn't picked up on your habits due to how switched on you were at work. Paramedicine had no place for a lack of focus, and whenever you did wander it was for the job.

The habit had only really started to show its self when you frequented Molly’s. You fluttered between groups like a butterfly on crack, the overheard snippets of more interesting conversations sometime leading you to leave a conversation midway through. You didn’t intend to be rude but it was hard to keep talking to Cap when Otis was starting a debate on aliens.

Alcohol tended to only exacerbate your condition. Though the running away become purposeful instead of accidental. You had pulled a runner quite a few times before your friends learned to guard the door from your menacing ways. Apparently running away while drunk was a common enough phenomenon for many people so your actions weren’t overly questioned.

To almost everyone’s surprise, it is Severide that becomes your keeper 9 times out of 10. Always appearing just as you had stood to dash away and tugging at your clothes to force you back into a seat. He becomes so adept at the motion that most times you don’t even get to stand before one of his hands is lashing out to latch onto your shirt.

The first time it happens on shift you don’t think much of it, chalking it up to him protecting you from an aggressive patient. The second time it happens you are slightly mystified, glancing back at him for an explanation. All you get is a nod towards the encroaching crowd that is starting to crowd around your patients. You aren’t too happy, but still let it slide, a small part of you giddy that Kelly cared enough to stop you from being overwhelmed. The third time however, gives you pause, and even the squad members that had witnessed the interaction seemed shocked.

You had been walking past the table where squad 3 was engrossed in what seemed like a heated game of scrabble when Kelly’s hand had shot out to grab you. He had played it off as needing an objective judge to veto certain words. That would have been fine, except that his hand had remained clenched around your shirt well after he should have let go.

From there it becomes near constant, you always sit next to him for lunch now, his grabby hands not allowing you to wander far. Most times it doesn’t even seem like he realises what he’s doing, nor does he notice the perplexed looks the members of firehouse 51 shoot him at every confirmed instance. Eventually the tugged clothes evolves into, wrists and hands wherever possible and you can’t help but to feel you are dreaming everytime it happens.

It becomes somewhat of a game amongst you and your family, to see how long it takes upon you entering a room for Kelly to grab you. Or if you can ever manage to sneak past him without being thwarted. Nobody ever says anything directly to him though, your glares enough to warn them away. Because as much as you were confused, you found the whole thing incredibly cute. Especially when his hand moved like it had a mind of its own, reaching out to grab one of your own even if his eyes didn’t leave whatever he was focused on.

In a rare turn of events, it is a sober you escorting a slightly tipsy but still aware Kelly back home, fingers entwined from where he’d grabbed to pull you along. Looking down at how perfectly your hands seem to fit together you can’t stop yourself from asking anymore,

“Kelly, why are you always grabbing me? It’s not like I’m going to run away at work.” He stops at your words, turning to look at you with what you think is incredulity.

“I thought it was obvious” he replied, before leaning in with a flirty grin, “I just like having you close by, getting to hold your hand is just a bonus.”

Your heart stutters at the confession paired with the warmth that encompasses Kelly’s eyes when he looks at you. Your mouth moves before you can stop it,

“I’m going to kiss you now” your voice sounds foreign to your ears, as if you are underwater and you almost don’t realise you’ve said it. That is until Kelly positively beams in reply, leaning even closer to you as you throw caution to the wind and close the gap. The hand that isn’t wrapped in his comes up to the back of his neck, lightly hold him against you as you smile dumbly into the kiss.

Neither of you really discuss what the kids means for the future, but neither do you let go of each other. Not even when Kelly throws you the keys to his car, and not when he tugs your head down to lie against his chest, your hand clenched around his shirt as you sleep. The two of you continue like that as you find your groove, only Kelly is no longer the only one with a desire to keep someone close. Tugging against his short collar to demand kisses quickly becomes one of your favourite activities.

Otis and Cruz are the first to lay witness upon you tugging at the back of Kelly’s shirt as he tries to walk past where you are sat on the couch. The two stare with open mouths when the lieutenant actually does stop like nothing is wrong with the situation. Rushing over to demand an explanation when Kelly eventually takes his leave.

“I just like having him close” you shrug with an innocent smile, before standing and making your way to the chiefs office. A journey which you is quickly joined by said lieutenant, the slight tug on your shirt sleeve announcing his presence as the two of you enter the chief’s office. Boden took one look at the close proximity and matching grins and simply sighed, handing over what looked to be pre-prepared forms for HR.

The cat is very quickly let out of the bag to your friends when Kelly tugs you into his lap for all to see and you make no effort to escape, settling contently into him. An action that is almost immediately banned within the firehouse. Molly’s remains free game though, no matter how much Otis complains at the blatant affection.

FBI

Characters: Kelly Severide x Reader, half of firehouse 51

Warnings: Brief mentions of a crime idk.

Summary: This wasn't exactly what they were thinking when an fbi agent strolled into their firehouse.

A/N: I had such a nice plan for this little beauty but then I messed up and then I remembered I had homework due tomorrow that I haven't done so please enjoy this ugly piece of writing. Kinda don't want to publish this but I need to feed you lot before I get swamped in holiday homework.

"Hey, I'm looking for a Kelly Severide."

You said, asking the first person you found. It was your first time in the firehouse and this definitely wasn't how you planned it to be but you could make this work.

"Lieutenant Kelly Severide?" The woman rose her brow, her voice coming across as soft as she looked. You couldn't deny she was pretty and taking into account her blonde hair and the word paramedic on her uniform caused your brows to rise ever so slightly.

"Oh! You must be Sylvie Brett." You smiled, holding out your hand for the paramedic to shake which she did with much confusion and slight fear. "Agent Y/N Y/L/N."

"You work for the fbi." She stated, fidgeting with her fingers once your hands were released. It was clear she was shocked and you could understand why; your gun in its holster, your shiny golden badge and the bold yellow letters printed on the back of your government issued jacket.

"Yes I do." You replied with a tight lipped smile, annoyed that your job was the first impression everyone at the firehouse would be getting from you; these men and women were family to Kelly and greeting them for the first time ever in your uniform wasn't what you wanted.

Before Sylvie could fully shake off her shock, someone butted into the conversation, having spotted and recognising you.

"Y/N, you're back." Matt smiled, his arms wide inviting your for a hug which you immediately accepted. The captain was the one person in Kelly's life that knew of your existence since there was no hiding you from his roomate, especially since your stay became more permanent.

The hug was what caught everyone's attention. Sylvie talking to someone was normal but Matt hugging a stranger wasn't, hence all the heads turning and when all their eyes widened, you weren't surprised.

"Feds." Two men whispered in sync upon laying eyes on you, the others stood out of their seats and came around to you in the middle of the common room.

"What do the feds want with us now?" One man asked, crossing his arms with an attitude that you could smell from a mile away. Maybe it was his accent or it could've been his snarky tone which got him a quick reprimand from the captain but you knew his name.

"Christopher Herrmann, right?" You pointed at him, your smile brightening when he did a double take at the name you guessed correct.

"It's probably creepy that I know all your names and I really wished that we could've met under better circumstances but I will explain everything." You said, sheepishly smiling at the very confused group of firefighters.

"Y/N! What are you doing here?" Kelly noticed you from afar, it was hard not to recognise the three yellow letter the second he turned the corner.

Within seconds, Kelly enveloped you into his arms and despite the reputation that you wanted to maintain, you folded and accepted the hug, wrapping your arms around his waist, contently inhaling the comforting scent that always followed your boyfriend.

"Okay I'm sorry but who are you?"

"Agent Y/N Y/L/N." You replied automatically, not even thinking about leaving out the agent. Biting the inside of your lip, you internally cursed at yourself.

"She's my girlfriend." Kelly smirked, his arm happily resting across your shoulders where he could keep you close to him. "Whose actually supposed to be in Texas right about now, what happened?"

"Everything's fine. We apprehended our guy earlier than expected and there might've been a gunfight and there's a small possibility I was in the middle but a graze is nothing." You said with ease since it was your job and you loved everything it entailed but to your crowd, you seemed like a lunatic and a hero combined in one.

"You're kidding." Kelly looked down at you in concern, his heart rate picking up at the mere thought of you getting hurt, even if you brushed it off as a papercut.

Before you could explain further that a graze inflicted zero pain, a man you could name purely based off the aura that surrounded him entered the common room.

"Agent, what can we do for you?" The tallest man came forward and asked, his hands shaking yours before they were on his hips. From his stance and the way his voice was so gentle but commandeering made it easy for you to deduce his position in the firehouse; it also helped that Kelly continuously boasted about the men and women of 51.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your day chief." You firstly apologised, sheepishly smiling at the firefighters who were shocked at Kelly's arm still wrapped around your waist. "I need nothing but a few minutes with lieutenant Severide and I'll be out your hair."

"Don't be silly." Kelly shook his head, looking down at you with a slight frown. "Why don't you stay for lunch, you can't just appear out of nowhere and not eat with us."

"I have so much paperwork I left behind. My boss will have my throat if they're not done." You tried fighting Kelly but he looked at you with such big eyes that you wanted to drown yourself in and a slight pout was making itself known and before you knew it, you were caving in.

"Alright, just a few bites and then I have to go."

It was safe to say, some feds were okay.

Across the Universe (Fenrys x Reader) series masterlist

Warnings: mentions of trauma, mentions of abuse, violence, smut (yeah that is all for now)

Chapter one Chapter ten

Chapter two Chapter eleven

Chapter three Chapter twelve

Chapter four Chapter thirteen

Chapter five Chapter fourteen

Chapter six Chapter fifteen

Chapter seven Chapter sixteen

Chapter eight Final chapter

Chapter nine