#20-30k

the song in the silence

by @icouldhyperfixatehim

Aaron/Robert (2025, Mature, 25k)

What if Robert didn't have to make an entrance and crash the wedding? What if it started more quietly? What if it started with a letter?

This fic is a true and utter delight, a wonderful exploration of what might have happened if Robert and Aaron had reconnected under slightly different circumstances in 2025, and *SPOILER* if we got got the big, Woolpack siege showdown that this librarian was secretly hoping John would bring.

It's so cleverly and gorgeously written, with a perfect balance of angst and action and romance, exactly what we need on these long, hot nights while we anxiously await the next big villain to invade our dear village.

(If you enjoy this, this librarian urges you to check out the excellent sequel too)

Today's featured fic is "All Those Earthly Pleasures" by badwolfgirlicouldkissyou

----------------------- Read on ao3 ---------------------

Crowley had retired for the evening, a ritual that Aziraphale was still finding quite difficult to master. He glanced at the grandfather clock that stood in the corner of their sitting room and wiggled a little in his seat – just gone 11pm, plenty of time to get some reading in before dawn.

Only, something was different tonight. Oh, everything else had happened in concordance to their quiet little life in the South Downs. They’d spent the day harmoniously coexisting, their once solo activities now becoming things that they liked to share with each other. They tended their garden, went on long walks, they attempted to cook and/or bake with mostly disastrous results. Sometimes they would receive visitors – Nina and Maggie, or Adam and the Them. Very, very occasionally Anathema and Newt. Then, once the sun had begun to set, Crowley would lay on their sofa with his head in Aziraphale’s lap; the angel would read aloud from one of his many books until the demon became too sleepy. They would kiss goodnight – kissing was something that they just did now – and then Crowley would go to bed for a few hours. Usually be up again by sunrise.

-------------------------- Read more on ao3 -------------------------

We encourage readers to engage with the fic as well. Comments are always appreciated, and we hope to foster a greater sense of interaction in the community.

Here are some ideas if you don't know where to begin:

What was your favorite moment? Was there a character, scene, or line that made you laugh? Smile? Cry? Did you connect with the author's style? Love the dialogue? The action?

"I can hear your thoughts," Keith nearly whispered.

Lance went pale, but that wasn't what Keith was focused on. Because he could feel the horror creeping up inside himself as Lance heard his declaration. Because he could feel his own heart skip a beat in time with Lance's. Because he could feel the rejection bubbling up inside him as Lance frantically worked out what all this meant.

"Wh—what are you talking about?" Lance said, stumbling over his words even while his mind screamed clear as day please say you're lying just say you're fucking with me don't play these kinds of games with me—

In which the paladins are subjected to the unfortunate consequences of a broken mind meld program.

waiting on you by beckywritesthings

Words: 21,432 // Rating: mature

“Do you want to touch?” Harry asks, taking one of his hands off to tangle with Louis’. His open invitation finally drags Louis’ attention away from his baby and up to his face, blue eyes wobbly with emotions. It’s clear that he’s too taken to really form words, so Harry takes the initiative to press their laced hands against his shirt fabric, warmth from the skin radiating through.

Louis pushes his shirt up to his chest, taking Harry’s hand and pressing it to hold the fabric in place. His hands return to warm skin, palms even more scalding now that there’s nothing in between them. And then, as if that wasn’t enough for Harry’s heart to handle, Louis leans in, pressing his lips right above his belly button.

“Hi, baby,” he says, lips moving across his skin softly. “I’m your… I’m Louis.”

Or Harry is pregnant with a stranger’s baby and Louis doesn’t know. It’s a minor detail that Harry’s both living with Louis and in love with him. No big deal.

Retiens la nuit by @teamlouis2020

Words: 26,789 // Rating: Explicit

“Where's Niall?" Louis asked.

"He didn't tell you?"

"What?"

"He's in San Francisco. In my house. For the holidays. We switched our houses."

"What? People really do that?" Louis asked, surprised.

"Apparently. Since I'm here. In his house. In my pajamas."

"He tried to call me a few times today. I haven't called him back. I feel stupid now. Hey. Do you mind if I sit? My legs are so tired.”

"Oh, okay. No problem."

He went to the living room. He took his coat off, threw it on an armchair, then collapsed on the couch. The fire in the hearth started to go out. Harry felt a bit gauche, not really knowing what to do. What was one supposed to do when a beautiful and drunk stranger collapsed on your couch?

*** Everything is too much for Harry. His exboyfriend, his job, his whole life actually. Flying across the globe to find a quiet place for Christmas holidays is exactly what he needs. Among a warm cottage and snow-covered fields, he doesn't expect to come across Louis, the beautiful stranger that stumbled into his house one night. Love isn't supposed to find a way to his heart, but Christmas has its magic tricks, hasn't it?

Read now on Ao3.

Word Count: 29,005

Rating: Explicit

On the surface, it looks like Louis Tomlinson has the perfect life; after all, he has the whole package: a white picket fence house (well, his doesn’t technically have a white picket fence, but work with him), a wife, a daughter and a dog. He has it all and he’s not even 30, yet.

On the surface, he could be the happiest man in the world.

The thing is, he never wanted this life. There was this boy, see, this Harry Styles, whose arrival made Louis question everything he thought he knew about himself. Before Louis could pursue it, though, before he could be brave and ask the boy out, one moment of bad luck on prom night, one single lapse of judgment, shaped his life in a way he never would have chosen. Between doing the right thing or turning into his own absent father, he knew what he had to do, even if it meant burying his dreams under the weight of a premature adulthood.

That is, until he receives an invitation for his school’s ten year reunion and sees that Harry will attend.

Could it be his second chance at happiness? At what cost?

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14290320

i see myself (in you) by parkrstark on Ao3 ~ 4/4 ~ 28,774 words ~ Teen And Up Audiences ~ No Archive Warnings Apply ~ Irondad

“Hey, c’mon, before long we’ll be back to normal and we’ll look back at this and laugh.”

Peter just looked up at him with a slight glare as he scratched at his chin again. The itch of the facial hair was driving him crazy and Tony found it highly amusing. “You’re in the body of a 15-year-old boy. Why are you smiling?”

“You’re in the body of Tony Stark. Why aren’t you smiling?” Tony asked with a smirk.

Or, the one where Tony and Peter swap bodies.

“How does this keep happening to us, every time.” Lance grumbled.

“You’d think they’d stop sending us on away missions,” he agreed. Honestly, between the poisonous plants of their last planet, and Lance’s tendency to always end up on the business end of every blaster or pointy ended stick, Allura was just being inefficient at this point.

Or, five times Keith kissed Lance but the situation was less than ideal, and one time Lance finally kissed him back.