for @merelyafigment re this post on the topic

the Power Struggle series by @janejoens ft switchy brio, orgasm delay/denial etc

Next Time by @nottonyharrison ft bossy Beth, breathplay/choking, bondage

mermaid tits by thefudge ft grumpy fixated simp rio

Maybe you're my fantasy by @janejoens ft switch rio, bossy Beth

A Bit of Reciprocity by @nottonyharrison ft bossy Beth, orgasm delay/denial, choking/breathplay

there's a lonely blackbird by openhearts ft dominant Beth, orgasm delay/denial, Mentions of dean

Happiness in Slavery by @dropkickdisco6 (AU) ft sub rio, sex work, orgasm delay/denial, bondage, spanking, latex, feet etc

That's What You Get For Waking Up In Vegas by @fairhairedkings ft switch brio, bondage, praise kink

you're my favourite kind of night by Goldfish90 ft bondage

The Ways In Which They Meet series by @fanzel12 (AU) ft some bossy Beth

You're no good for me me but, baby, I want you by @mrslackles ft dominant Beth, lingerie

Tight Leash by @nottonyharrison ft bondage, knifeplay, breathplay

the tangerine series by @inyoursheets (AU) ft dom Beth, brat rio, semi-public sex etc

Strike, Dear Mistress, And Cure His Heart by @missmaxime ft switch brio, choking/breathplay etc

fifty-fifty by @blizabrth ft faux submissive Beth, semi-public sex

I'd give in to you over and over by Aniara ft switch brio, roleplay, orgasm delay/denial

the Housewives and Gangbangers series by thingcalledlove ft some bossy Beth, bondage

never say never by @phloxmagpie ft bondage, orgasm delay/denial

Ah, thank you so much, anon! Given how much time I've spent over the last few years thinking about Rio, I'm very happy my read feeels accurate, haha.

And sure! Mmm, I'm gonna say - -

It wouldn’t have started well.

Because yeah, okay, s4 might’ve ended on the hook of a promise, of a path cleared, of something real, but she gets home after the park to a frantic Greg and the understanding of just what Annie’s done, and it all goes to shit.

Because it is Rio’s fault this time – he’s the one who had Lucy killed, even if Beth knows that her blood is on her hands too, he’s the one who got her fingerprints on the gun, and it was his threats that made Annie replace them with her own, and Beth feels the familiar rush of anger, but she also feels something bottom out in her in a way she hasn’t since Dean took the kids.

The staggering depths of her own despair.

And she would’ve gone after him at first, tracked him down at the bar, and she didn’t throw a pool ball this time, but she stood in his way, made him face her, spitting fury in a way she couldn’t contain, and Rio just - - he didn’t know what she was talking about. He wasn’t across Annie’s deal with Mick, and maybe Beth used that against him. Maybe she told him he was some king to not know what was happening in his kingdom, and Rio smarted, teeth grit, and suddenly that path that had felt so clear earlier that day was gnarled and overgrown.

Every old seed of hurt sprouting, every sharp-toothed betrayal yawning awake.

This is still a little rough, anon, but have a snippet :-)

-

“Y’know, we could,” Rio drawls, his voice low and easy as Beth undoes the clip on her necklace, pulling the thing off and dropping it into the open drawer of her jewelry box.

“Could what?”

In her head, she’s thinking about tomorrow. About dropping the kids at Judith’s and picking Annie up from her Cog Test for her EMT course (god, she can’t believe her sister’s almost finished it), about the books she has to check before Mick comes round to the office to pick up the drop and the cookies she promised to make for Emma’s ballet class post-recital party on Friday. The usual chaos, she thinks, stepping one foot onto the sock of the other to pull the garment off as her fingers start on the buttons of her blouse.

“Get married.”

Her ankle rolls. Twists suddenly sideways in her sock as she loses her balance, and her hand flies up to grip the edge of the dresser. She takes a breath, tries to still her suddenly fast beating heart.

“Ha ha,” she says, glancing back at him, catching a glimpse of him sprawled in their bed. She keeps her tone light, airy, over the thrum of the central heating. “Very funny.”

“You think I’m kiddin’?” he asks her, and Beth looks back properly now, her feet flat on the ground again, her eyes a little wide, surprised when Rio suddenly sits up properly in bed, rolls his shoulders back. He wets his lips. “You think I ain’t thought about it?”

“I - - ” she flails out a hand. “I don’t know.”

She sees it – the very second his expression closes, and her heart slows, but not in a pleasant way. Like it’s been pulled back somehow, like she has. She’s gotten better at reading his looks, and he knows it, so this shut off is a shut out, he doesn’t want her to know what he’s feeling, thinking, so she glances at the floor instead. Sees her sock half off, and steps on it again, pulling it off properly, her bare toes curling instantly in the carpet, and no, okay. She knew he thought about it. Knew he was comfortable enough with the prospect to joke about it, for his sisters to coo, even for Ruby to raise an eyebrow when he’d asked, out of the blue at Harry’s birthday party, about Stan and Ruby’s wedding.

Her gaze flicks back at him, and he’s not looking at her now, rather he’s staring at the floor too, hand rubbing at the back of his neck, up over the base of his skull, like he’s chewing over his next words, and then he says:

“Yeah so, I kinda thought you figured that’s where we were headin’ too, darlin’.”

Had she?

Her thumb finds the wood grain of the dresser, presses in, her stomach feels full, her chest, like something’s stretching inside of her, pushing out, and she hadn’t thought about it, only because she hadn’t let herself, just like she hadn’t thought about moving in with him, sharing a room with him, sharing their families, sharing their lives. She hadn’t thought about any of it really, she’d just plowed forwards, taking everything she’d been given and feeling something close to holy in it, because Beth had been raised on have not’s not on have’s, and she’s still getting used to feeling full instead of starving, feeling this sated, this whole. Is still counting down the days until the fire in her chest she feels when she’s with him is snuffed out, until it’s doused, is so fixed on holding onto the now, on keeping him here, with her in the present, how can she think about keeping him forever?

Beth’s still learning how to let herself want things.

Jawbreaker Ch.1 scene flipped POV

“So, no training today?” Beth asks over her shoulder, her voice coming out weirdly high and breathy as she tries to shake off the feeling of his hands, how his fingers had trailed over her own when she let him take the basketball back.

His quick, lopsided smile that made her cheeks feel too hot. Made her have to turn away from him to hide the blush.

She thinks she hears him hum, distracted, like he hadn’t heard her, and she worries that maybe he doesn’t want her here. Maybe he just wanted to be alone?

“I just – I saw the rest of the team headed to the gym earlier so –”

It’s a lie. She hadn’t. But she’d heard he’d been benched after an injury last month at the Huron High away game that she couldn't afford to go to – the Ashfield newsletter had been frustratingly vague on what actually happened to him – so she knew he wouldn’t be at training today. Knew he’d be here.

(She’s not, like, obsessed with him or anything – she’s not – she can’t help what she overhears in class!)

But every time she had tried to see him, every time she looked for him at school to ask him about it, see how he was, every time she found him – Carla was there. Always Carla.

And that – well that hurt even more than how unbothered he’d seemed when she’d switched seats in English. So she stopped searching him out. Wanted to see if he would come to her.

He hadn’t.

Then he ignored her in the hallway today when she waved and she just snapped. Panicked.....

Rio’s not answering she realises, and as she drops her backpack by the kegs she spins back around to face him.

Was he looking at her legs? Oh god – he’d probably been staring at the ugly scratchy red marks on the backs of her thighs. Stupid bus seats.

She’d tried to rub them away before she came back here but she could still feel the prickly heat of the pink marks. Tries to tug the hem of her dress down but – but that just makes him stare harder.

Beth clears her throat. “So? Why the no training?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he looks away suddenly, blinking fast, uncomfortable in the heat or something. “Sprained wrist, should be back at it soon.”

He’s so jittery she’s about to ask him if he should maybe take a break when he blurts out, “You get the bus here?”

Damn it.

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

The muscle in his jaw does that thing that makes her insides feel funny and he looks at where her fingers fiddle with the end of her dress one more time. His brow furrowing before he turns away. Takes a shot. Misses. Shakes his head like he’s irritated with his aim. “Just a guess.”

My legs.

This is still a little rough, anon, but have a snippet :-)

-

“Y’know, we could,” Rio drawls, his voice low and easy as Beth undoes the clip on her necklace, pulling the thing off and dropping it into the open drawer of her jewelry box.

“Could what?”

In her head, she’s thinking about tomorrow. About dropping the kids at Judith’s and picking Annie up from her Cog Test for her EMT course (god, she can’t believe her sister’s almost finished it), about the books she has to check before Mick comes round to the office to pick up the drop and the cookies she promised to make for Emma’s ballet class post-recital party on Friday. The usual chaos, she thinks, stepping one foot onto the sock of the other to pull the garment off as her fingers start on the buttons of her blouse.

“Get married.”

Her ankle rolls. Twists suddenly sideways in her sock as she loses her balance, and her hand flies up to grip the edge of the dresser. She takes a breath, tries to still her suddenly fast beating heart.

“Ha ha,” she says, glancing back at him, catching a glimpse of him sprawled in their bed. She keeps her tone light, airy, over the thrum of the central heating. “Very funny.”

“You think I’m kiddin’?” he asks her, and Beth looks back properly now, her feet flat on the ground again, her eyes a little wide, surprised when Rio suddenly sits up properly in bed, rolls his shoulders back. He wets his lips. “You think I ain’t thought about it?”

“I - - ” she flails out a hand. “I don’t know.”

She sees it – the very second his expression closes, and her heart slows, but not in a pleasant way. Like it’s been pulled back somehow, like she has. She’s gotten better at reading his looks, and he knows it, so this shut off is a shut out, he doesn’t want her to know what he’s feeling, thinking, so she glances at the floor instead. Sees her sock half off, and steps on it again, pulling it off properly, her bare toes curling instantly in the carpet, and no, okay. She knew he thought about it. Knew he was comfortable enough with the prospect to joke about it, for his sisters to coo, even for Ruby to raise an eyebrow when he’d asked, out of the blue at Harry’s birthday party, about Stan and Ruby’s wedding.

Her gaze flicks back at him, and he’s not looking at her now, rather he’s staring at the floor too, hand rubbing at the back of his neck, up over the base of his skull, like he’s chewing over his next words, and then he says:

“Yeah so, I kinda thought you figured that’s where we were headin’ too, darlin’.”

Had she?

Her thumb finds the wood grain of the dresser, presses in, her stomach feels full, her chest, like something’s stretching inside of her, pushing out, and she hadn’t thought about it, only because she hadn’t let herself, just like she hadn’t thought about moving in with him, sharing a room with him, sharing their families, sharing their lives. She hadn’t thought about any of it really, she’d just plowed forwards, taking everything she’d been given and feeling something close to holy in it, because Beth had been raised on have not’s not on have’s, and she’s still getting used to feeling full instead of starving, feeling this sated, this whole. Is still counting down the days until the fire in her chest she feels when she’s with him is snuffed out, until it’s doused, is so fixed on holding onto the now, on keeping him here, with her in the present, how can she think about keeping him forever?

Beth’s still learning how to let herself want things.

And sometimes fanfiction is, ‘Watch me do a fucking KICK FLIP off this cool sentence!! Also here's some sex'

Look at Rosa’s face. 😂 “She is MARRIED, Christopher!”

And Rio immediately turns into a contrite little boy. Just nodding without ever looking up, his lips all pursed. My kids do this when they know they’re in trouble and they’re just trying to avoid it getting worse.

And of course Nick can’t help himself. You just KNOW he and Rio had a discussion about Rio bringing in his problematic new employee for Nick to meet and it was all serious business. Until Nick saw her and immediately went into his “let’s bully baby brother Rio” persona. Because THIS is the one giving him all this trouble? THIS is why everything is shut down? This little housewife with her bangs and giant cleavage and 2” black pumps? THIS is who Rio can’t get under control?

Look how mad he is 😂😂😂 Like, this kid has been bullied by Nick before and he’s right back to those times where he was the dorky little brother/cousin.

And Rosa already knows. “Don’t bully your brother, Nick. He’s a good boy. So he’s got himself a little girlfriend. And she’s married… OK. We’ll talk to him later.”

But I think my FAVORITE thing about this scene is Beth’s face through it all. Her utter bewilderment at the realization that Rio is, in fact, a dork. Like, the way she slowly lifts her head in this scene (while Rio lowers his down to his plate), and how wide her eyes get as she looks towards him. And look how embarrassed he looks!!! “Quit embarrassing me in front my my business friend, you jerk!”

LOOK AT HER FACE!!! 😂😂😂😂

But also, look at HIS face as he looks at her. He just can’t help himself. 🥰

Aaaaaand, scene! Genius!