le domas

you really don't hear yourself when you talk, do you?

i don't know who you think you are, but it's not impressive.

you love playing the victim when it's convenient.

don't look at me like that. you made this choice.

you always say that, and it's never true.

i'm tired of pretending you don't know exactly what you're doing.

funny how it's always someone else's fault.

you don't get credit for almost doing the right thing.

i trusted you, and that was my mistake.

you don't listen, you just wait for your turn to talk.

say it again, slower this time, maybe you'll hear how stupid it sounds.

you don't get to rewrite what happened just because it hurts.

you're not misunderstood, you're just wrong.

i don't owe you patience.

you love control more than you love honesty.

stop acting so surprised, this was always coming.

you really think that excuses what you did?

you don't get to be angry about consequences.

i expected better from you, and that's on me.

you're exhausting, and it's not charming anymore.

every apology you give sounds rehearsed.

you only care when it affects you.

you don't actually want the truth, you want validation.

don't pretend this is about concern.

you cross lines and call it curiosity.

you never ask how i feel, you just assume.

you're cruel when you're cornered.

i see right through the act.

you confuse confidence with arrogance.

you just don't know when to stop.

you keep pushing until something breaks.

you don't get to play innocent here.

you really thought i wouldn't notice?

you always need an audience.

i don't recognize you when you're like this.

you're not brave, you're reckless.

you say you're honest, but you're just mean.

you enjoy this more than you admit.

don't flatter yourself, i stopped believing you a long time ago.

you don't fight fair, you fight to win.

you're not protecting yourself, you're attacking me.

you keep confusing silence for forgiveness.

why do you make everything a competition?

you don't get to decide what hurts me.

you act like being hurt gives you permission.

you only hear what supports your narrative.

you don't respect boundaries, you tolerate them.

you always push until i snap.

is this the part where i'm supposed to feel sorry for you?

you keep calling it honesty like that makes it noble.

you enjoy being cruel when you think you're justified.

you've been waiting to say that, haven't you?

i know you always choose pride over people.

you don't know how to back down.

you don't listen when the answer isn't what you want.

you treat everyone like they're disposable.

after what you did, you don't get to talk about loyalty.

you always take more than you give.

you never stop to think who gets hurt.

you only care when you're exposed.

you don't know how to sit with discomfort.

you poke until something bleeds.

you love being right more than being kind.

you don't know when enough is enough.

you keep digging and wonder why you're alone.

you don't see people, you see leverage.

no, you don't get to speak for me.

you twist everything until it suits you.

you don't actually care about the truth.

you always need the last word.

you don't know how to be gentle.

you don't care who you hurt if it proves a point.

stop calling it honesty like it absolves you of anything.

you don't know how to lose gracefully.

you don't fight fair, you fight dirty.

you make everything personal.

you don't know how to let things go.

the truth is, you just enjoy tearing people down.

you don't care how this affects anyone else.

how convenient, you only show empathy when it benefits you.

you don't see how far you've crossed the line.

you always think you're justified.

you don't know how to stop hurting people.

don't act like you actually want answers.

you always think you're the smartest one in the room.

you care about winning.

when they finally break apart, both of them breahing hard, grace rests her forehead agianst his, eyes still shut. her thumb continued its slow, trembling stroke across his lower lip. just to touch him, to feel him, still. “ fuck, daniel... ” she whispered, voice rough with everything she wasn't supposed to feel for her brother-in-law. “ you're not supposed to kiss me like that. ” she pulled back just enough to look at him. the way he looked at her like she was only good thing left in his entire cursed world made her chest ache. it made her want to give in. “ i love alex. i really love him. ”

she's not pulling away from him. she's saying it as if to remind the both of them that that's a truth. a fact that doesn't seem to change what's happening.

“ you look like at me like i'm something worth burning the whole goddamn le domas empire down for. and that's fucking terrifying. because a part of me... ” grace lets out a breathless laugh. “ fuck. a part of me wants you to. ” she pressed closer again, letting him feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the way her body was already reacting to him despite every alarm bell going off in her head. the thin fabric of her dress did nothing to hide how her nipples had peaked. her fingers tightened in his hair as her hips grind into his, a silent, needy roll that betrayed just how badly she wanted him right now. “ tell me the truth, daniel—is this just 'cuz i'm the shiny new thing... or have you been thinking about fucking me since the day alex brought me home? ”

THE KISS ends and daniel isn't entirely sure how . he knows he didn't break it , which means grace must have - a thought that WOULD be worrying were her chest not heaving against him , one of her hands gripped tightly into the front of his quickly wrinkling shirt and the thumb of her other hand sliding touches along his bottom lip that makes him want to suck the digit into his mouth . the only reason he doesn't is because she takes that moment to speak .

it ALMOST sounds like a rebuff , an attempt at a warning . but her body language is most certainly not saying the words ' i really love him . ' it is , though , another reminder at what they're doing to the little brother he's protected his whole life . guilt gnaws its serrated teeth at his breastbone . still , though , he doesn't pull away .

❝ dominion , ❞ he corrects without thought then blinks it away and shakes his head , skating past it to focus on her actual words . and it makes him sink . if anyone was going to burn it all down, it would be ALEX . alex is the brave one , the strong one , the smart one . daniel . . . daniel is a fuck up . no , worse . he's a coward .

conflict wars in every part of him . to go . to stay . to kiss her . to push her off . to tell her to run . to promise her that alex will protect her . to tell her his secret fear that HE MIGHT NOT . a slow breath releases from him , brows furrowed , fingers curled into the silky fabric at her waist , as if letting it go will cause her to disappear .

❝ someone should burn it down , ❞ he murmurs , more to himself than to her . but then he lifts his eyes , searching her face , something desperate in his features . ❝ you don't have to marry him . ❞ his voice is quiet but the words come out with an almost burning intensity . ❝ you both could - - - ❞ but he stops himself , brows furrowing deeply .

borne through many nations and over many seas i come , brother , to these sad funeral rites to honour you with the final gifts for the d e a d and make my vain address to your mute ASHES . since fortune has borne you away , alas , poor brother , undeservedly taken from me , accept now these mourning offerings , made in the time - honoured manner of our fathers and soaked by the outpouring of a brother’s t e a r s , and for ever and ever , brother , HAIL AND FAREWELL .

say it louder for the people in the back.

(THEY!!! THEM!!)

grace didn't move for a minute. she heard his voice, licked her lips, still tasting the alcohol on his breath, and she didn't move. her eyes remained shut, as her brain tried to wrap itself around this situation. she really had not expected this. daniel had been... unusually flirty, sure. but she thought that was just him being a jackass. maybe it was some older brother trying to haze his younger brother situation. she had grown up in the fucking foster system, how was she meant to know what normal family dynamics were supposed to look like? she wasn't going to judge.

but the way that he had kissed her just then—that wasn't just him trying to rile up his brother. even if he was drunk. drunk words, sober thoughts. in this case, drunk action, sober wants. she finally opens her eyes, meeting his, her hands dropping to his chest, where she can feel the way his heart is beating out a samba against her palm. she should tell him to leave. she should tell him that she loves alex, that she's going to marry him and they're going to be family and this was going to make things really fucking weird. instead, grace just stares at him like a fucking idiot. jesus fuck.

THE LAUGH bubbles out of him , unbidden and entirely without joy . you don't really want me she says and daniel can't do anything BUT laugh . the draw he's felt to her has been driving him crazy since alex first introduced his new fiancé ( he still can't believe that after everything , alex is marrying ANYONE , but so did daniel so - - - - who is he to judge . . . ? ) . at first daniel had thought it just casual attraction . there was no denying to anyone that had eyes that grace was . . . beautiful , and even that feels like a severe understatement . but it had become so much more than that . . . and it had happened so quickly that daniel still felt like he hadn't gotten his feet back under him yet .

grace is GOOD . she's hopeful and kind and funny and full of life . not like them . not damned like they are . she still has joy in her eyes and daniel didn't know that that was something he so craved . . . . it wasn't that he didn't love charity . he did . DOES . but it's . . . different . part of him had hoped , that day that he'd told her before he proposed , that she'd run screaming from the room . that she'd throw the ring at him and go running to the cops . but something hungry had burned in her eyes instead , and in that instant , something small inside of him died in return . their love had never been the same since .

tonight's the night of my play party and i just got a fucking cold sore. i'm literally so fucking upset i'm crying in this coffee shop right now. i just wanted one night - one fucking night - where i could just like. not care and be hot and kiss my friends. and now i fucking can't. it's not fucking fair dude.