QSMP OneShots!

Slimariana-I'm sorry for not wanting to be your décor

From:EthanTheAnnus
Slight blood mention!

It's just past sunrise, and Charlie's already scowling as Mariana freezes on the threshold of their house (the very same he'd lingered in for a quarter of an hour six days prior, promising their daughter over and over that he'd be back soon, and soothing Charlie's earned anxieties and fears). He has a deer in headlights look, eyes wide in an almost comical sense, and Charlie almost wants to laugh about how ridiculous the moment is, if not for how angry he is.

"Don't," he snaps before Mariana can even try to speak. His voice shakes with rage, pitching it up a little in a way that normally would make him wince, but he can't bring himself to care. "Just don't. "

" Lo siento ," Mariana mumbles despite Charlie's words. The anger in him roars like a fire, and that's when he spots it. Mariana's expression changes, so slowly he almost could have missed it in his fury. It softens in a way he's not seen before, not when he's looking at Charlie anyway.

And Charlie doesn't get it. Mariana's suddenly staring at him like he's a god walking among mortals, adoration dripping from every inch of his expression. There's early-morning sunlight warming Charlie's face, lighting his features in a way he knows has to make him look good, because there's no other reason someone would be looking at him like that if it didn't, and he doesn't get it.

"Where have you fucking been?" he demands, because it's easier. It's not like he needs to be told, not in the slightest, but any other words he wishes to hurl at Mariana die in his throat before they can even fully form. "You left us again . Fuck, do you even spare a single thought for her?"

Charlie tries to pull back the second he realises where his anger is leading him, but he's too late. Words spill over his lips faster even than blood had, during their first few days as a family, when Mariana had kissed him so hastily and excitedly that his teeth had caught Charlie's lip and split it open.

"It's not even about me anymore, Mariana. I don't care if you- if you never fucking love me, or even like me. But fucking hell, she doesn't deserve this. Be here for your fucking daughter." If not for me, lies unsaid, dying and decaying on the tip of his tongue before he can even dare to try speaking it.

Mariana says nothing. Charlie should be angry at him for that too, but he's reached out a hand to cup Charlie's cheek, and all the fight left in him shatters like a sledgehammer to glass. He lets out a shuddering breath, leaning into it just slightly, and the world stops for a moment.

" Eres hermoso ," Mariana says, so quietly and breathlessly that it drives what little air is left from Charlie's lungs. The translation flickers into view in all the glory of the optic implant's glitch-ridden abilities, but he doesn't need it to know what he said, or to give in like a fool and kiss Mariana senseless.

It's messy, and desperate, and Mariana's teeth catch on the barely healed cut on his lip. Charlie doesn't let the taste of blood on his tongue deter him, fisting a hand in the material of Mariana's shirt to keep him close. His lip stings under the force of it.

"Just stay ," Charlie says brokenly against Mariana's lips.

" Lo haré ."

The translation in Charlie's view glitches as usual.

"No, you won't. But... But podemos fingir , right?"

Mariana's face falls. "No. No, I will stay. This time, me quedaré ."

"For her. Stay for her ," Charlie begs, and he's not sure why anymore. Why he doesn't believe Mariana's words, why he keeps repeating it as if that will change things.