Johanna Mason X Reader - Tumblr Posts

I hope I am wording this right but can you do a Johanna Mason x fem!reader where Johanna and the reader are arguing about something and Johanna raises her hand to make a point which causes the reader to flinch away? (I also apologize if I've sent in this request before because I can't remember if I did or didn't)

Arguments weren't rare or new with Johanna

Sometimes they were silly and meaningless, other times they were severe and caused tension

Thankfully, serious arguments didn't happen often

But no matter who started it, the conflict was usually resolved either by you making up to Johanna in your own way or Johanna giving a grumpy but sincere apology

However this time it wasn't just some petty argument. This was serious, more serious than any of your previous fights

The fight progressed further and further until you and Johanna were yelling at each other to try to get the point across to the other

You were full of anger, and both of you had gotten more aggressive in your language towards each other

After some rage-filled comment towards Johanna, she had stepped forward raising a finger toward you, ready to tell you to never say something like that to her

But she froze and lowered her hand when she saw you stiffen up and flinch back

At first, she has no idea what to do or say. She had never been violent towards you or laid her hands on you in a harsh way, but you still flinched.

Was she scaring you? Did you really think she would hurt you over a stupid argument?

She felt angry and upset and not towards you, but herself

Sure, she had killed people but that was completely in self-defense, to survive the hunger games. But you had to know that she would never hurt you like that right?

She doesn't say anything, she looks down at the ground before walking off

Sometime later after the both of you have cooled off, Johanna comes with a peace offering, most likely a gift she had stored away or your favorite food

That's when she apologizes for letting the argument get out of hand, for saying things she shouldn't have, and for scaring you into thinking she would ever lay her hands on you

And once you two have sorted through things, she wants to know why you flinched away

If it was because it was a natural reaction because of trauma, she understands and is willing to hear you vent about it

If it was because you were scared she would hit you, she explains that she would never hurt you in any way

— HUNGER GAMES

a/n: look at my cute lil smiley fin 😭 god i love hunger games so much you don’t understand it’s my comfort movies and finn is my comfort character ❤️

RED MARKED STORIES HAVE DARK THEMES. READ WARNINGS PLEASE.

FINNICK ODAIR

— want and desire (req) dark themes

— summary: you’d thought you’d escaped the capitol, and to some extent, him, the ever so sweet and charming finnick odair. but apparently your fate had been signed, as it seemed you couldn’t get away from him, no matter how hard you tried.

— spring cleaning (blurb req)

— summary: finnick finally decides to clean out the garage with your help after you asking him forever.

— victors spoils

— summary: a victor should be celebrated! a victor should get what ever they wish, even if it’s a sweet capitol girl who misplaced her kindness in someone who was in desperate need of reprieve and distraction.

— lonely waters

— summary: even if you resided in the fishing district you only ever got close to the water for swimming late at night. it was your favourite time of the day, but it leaves you open and vulnerable to predators and people, the water won’t save you.. silly girl, don’t you remember? finnick odairs a champion swimmer.

— my people ft annie cresta

— summary: you’d been hired to help keep annie’s home clean and to keep her company. what you didn’t expect was to fall in love with her. and to find out that she was with finnick, and annie doesn’t want to let either of you go. but you’ve found your people, and you couldn’t be happier.

— miss officer

— summary: you’re tasked with training finnick odair for war and to fight in the captiol. only problem? he’s completely enamoured with you.

— breakups and makeups

— summary: you and finnick used to date, but it took a nasty turn when you heard rumours of his dalliances. but now the two of you reunite apart of the same alliance. will you make up or break up? again?

— damage control & lifeline (anon blurb)

— summary: finnick and his mentor getting into a fake relationship for damage control after peeta and katniss’ stunt at the 74th games + finnick saving his stylist from execution by proposing marriage.

— unrequited (anon blurb, implied smut)

— summary: you’d divulged one to many secrets to your favourite victor and he wasn’t afraid of using them against you. karmas a bitch!

— oh baby! (smut)

— summary: finnick found you to be as cute as ever. but you aren’t exactly the smartest in the room according to him. luckily, finnicks more than happy to help his sweet baby succeed, and he will not let you forget him.

— capitol girl (req blurb)

— summary: finnick loves his favourite victor.

— love you best part two (req, smut)

— summary: your boyfriend doesn’t exactly like you around other men without him.

CORIOLANUS SNOW

— trapped

— summary: after the 10th hunger games, coriolanus set his sights on a girl from his younger years to be his wife. disgusted by his actions and scared by the rumours your family agreed. as you realise he wasn’t the same boy from before, snow finds himself intrigued, especially when you seem to be visiting a friends house too often.

— delicate*

— summary: coriolanus had to marry. lucky for him one of the most eligible girls of the capitol was up for grabs. only problem? he hoped his cold exterior would keep her away but nothing broke her sweet spirit. what happens when he finds himself being drawn to her light? and how far was he willing to go to keep it untainted and all to himself?

— ravage delicate pt 2

— summary: he’d won the election, much to your elation. now you’d have to navigate the fame, fortune and status as the first lady of panem. but coriolanus just wanted you all to himself, and he’d do anything to scare you into his arms.

— safe and sound ft lucy gray baird

— summary: somehow you’d ended up in the games, snow and lucy would do anything to keep you safe.

— worth it

summary: coriolanus made the mistake of protecting lucy gray during the bombing, rather than you.

— runaway

summary: you’d always considered coriolanus to be a friend of yours. family even. but after sejanus’s death you find him to be off. he’s keeping something from your family and you’ve run out of time to get as far away as you can.

— our little dove ft lucy gray baird

— summary: you reunite with your dear songbird after the games, but it seems the capitol has followed her home, and taken an interest in the two of you.

— our little dove alt ending

— summary: you reunite with your dear songbird after the games, but it seems the capitol has followed her home, and taken an interest in the two of you.

— late to the party

— summary: after corio was sent away to district 12, your managed to come to terms with the fact that he did not love you by any means. but what happens when he realises he liked that affection? and what happens when you’re already in a relationship?

— brown jewel (req)

— summary: he was a lifeline and you’d grabbed on in hopes to avoid the reaping, but you were coriolanus’ obsession and he was not going to let you go.

— temper tantrum (req)

— summary: you were the daughter of one of the richest couples of panem. everything you’ve ever wanted, handed to you. coriolanus had a short temper and you were stubborn. who knows what could happen?

— mr president (req)

— summary: mr president seems to be especially enamoured with his favourite maid, you.

— all grown up (smut)

— summary: you were always tigris's annoying rich friend to coriolanus, but once he returns from 12 you seem to be irresistible, not only to him.

— charity (req)

— summary: president snow was praised for his love and devotion to his wife, a cripple. if only they knew how you’d ended up that way.

— love you best (req, smut, read as coryo or finnick)

— summary: your boyfriend doesn’t like you around other men without him.

PEETA MELLARK

— sweet like sugar (blurb req)

— summary: peeta teaches you how to bake since you’re nowhere near as good as you thought, not that you’d admit it.

—paranoia (dark req)

— summary: peeta tries to reintegrate into society in district 13 and get over his fear of you being taken from him. no one noticed just how badly the capitol messed him up until he lashes out.

SEJANUS PLINTH

— coming soon!

LUCY GRAY BAIRD

— safe and sound ft coriolanus snow

— summary: somehow you’d ended up in the games, snow and lucy would do anything to keep you safe.

— destined

— summary: you and lucy enjoy time together at the lake.

—our little dove ft coriolanus snow

— summary: you reunite with your dear songbird after the games, but it seems the capitol has followed her home, and taken an interest in the two of you.

— our little dove alt ending

— summary: you reunite with your dear songbird after the games, but it seems the capitol has followed her home, and taken an interest in the two of you.

KATNISS EVERDEEN

— coming soon!

JOHANNA MASON

— underestimate (blurb req)

— summary: johanna learns not to underestimate you.

ANNIE CRESTA

— my people ft finnick odair

— summary: you’d been hired to help keep annie’s home clean and to keep her company. what you didn’t expect was to fall in love with her. and to find out that she was with finnick, and annie doesn’t want to let either of you go. but you’ve found your people, and you couldn’t be happier.

TRIBUTE!READER

— coming soon!

(in general, no ship just the reader in the arena, with katniss n peeta etc)

hi! if ur requests are open, could we get a black cat! johanna mason x golden retriever!reader dynamic pls? johanna doesnt think r can fight but r shows her training in the training room and johanna is in aw of her? maybe a “close ur mouth, you’ll catch flies” tease from r pls! no worries if you don’t write it, thank you v much! i adore ur writing 😊

UNDERESTIMATE

pairing: johanna mason x fem!reader

summary: johanna learns not to underestimate you.

warnings: teasing, combat, tension

a/n: i adore johanna!! also, great idea!! sorry it’s a short i’ve been a little busy

johanna stood near you, watching intently.

about two minutes ago, johanna had been teasing you. telling you that she thought you were just a pretty face. johanna believed it in all honesty, apparently you’d hid half your games so there was obviously a reason. she assumed it was your lack of skill.

but she was proven wrong as you slung dagger after dagger, hitting the bullseye on each target. then, you’d waltzed over to her axe, levied it over your head and hit it again. adrenaline coursed through you as you made your way over to johanna.

her mouth was agape as you couldn’t help but giggle.

“you know, you might want to close your mouth. you might catch flies in there.” you joked as you closed it for her. she laughed, “okay, maybe i was wrong about you.” you crossed your arms, “not maybe, you were wrong about me. don’t underestimate me again, you’re a pretty face to yknow?” her eyebrows raised, “is that so?” you nodded your head before kissing her on the cheek.

“see you around jo.”

and god did she want to see you again.

welcome to my blog!

every single person is welcome here under one condition, kindness. i want to embrace everyone here on my blog, thus, i intend everyone to treat each other with kindness and compassion.

as of right now, my ask and request, as well as my taglist is open, up, and running. please feel free to ask me to write for anyone on the list below. i solely write reader insert fics, except for the two mentioned ships below. also, my work tends to be a female insert, but i try to make it as gender neutral as possible. please include in your request if you'd like a specific gender presentation of the reader.

i DO NOT write any super hard nsfw content (i do write nsfw and smut as long as it is consensual between two adults 17+), rac!sm, homophob!a, hate towards any religious beliefs, fertilization of any person not of appropriate age or not aged up, or anything of the sort. none of this will be tolerated, and thus you partake in these actions, you will be blocked from this blog.

i DO write fluff, angst (nothing super hard that doesn't have the two characters make up in the end), smut (see above), blurbs, list, short and longform pieces, and series. i do not have a prompt list. feel free to request whatever you please as long as you follow the above don'ts.

please find below the characters/series that i write about. i am willing to possibly accept request within these films/books/shows even if the character is not mentioned below. never be afraid to ask.

the hunger games

sejanus plinth

corionalanus snow

finnick odiar

peeta mellark

johanna mason

lucy gray baird

percy jackson

luke castellan

percy jackson

leo valdez

annabeth chase

harry potter

james potter

remus lupin x sirius black (not reader insert fics)

george weasley

shadow and bone/six of crows

kaz brekker

wylan x jesper (not reader insert fics)

nikolai lantsov

young sheldon

georgie cooper

thank you for reading my intro!! please please please send in some request! also, if you would like to be mutuals, please dm me! i'd love to make friends!

also side note, i will not be using y/n in my stories, i will try my best to make it name free!

“THEY’RE PRETTY BUT…”

based off that one trend where it’s like “blah blah is pretty but blahblahblah is pretty like (insert something here)

a/n: i think this is really cute so i hope you like! i’ll do more characters if i can think of them ☆

includes katniss, peeta, johanna, and finnick

the hunger games characters are pretty, but…

katniss is pretty like fog over lakes

peeta is pretty like golden evenings

finnick is pretty like secret coves

johanna is pretty like fireworks

botany major!katniss, who isn’t so good with her words, so she gifts you flowers that correlate with what she’s feeling. you walk hand in hand through the woods as she points out different plants, rambling on about how to recognize various species and their distribution patterns.

fine arts major!peeta, working tirelessly at his family’s bakery, making personalized latte art which leaves him with huge tips at the end of the day. all of his peers recognize you as the inspiration for all of his assignments, your features taking up every bit of his sketchbook.

mechanical engineering major!gale, his schedule so full and busy but always making time to see you daily. you’re always the first to hear about how he did on a particular exam, cuddled up as you watch nature documentaries.

aquatic biology major!finnick, known around campus as the university heartthrob. he spends most of his free time at the docks or the beach, feet always bare and buried underwater, occasionally splashing you playfully. suntanning and writing your initials in the sand is how your dates usually go.

athletic training major!johanna, who caresses your sleeping features and plants a small kiss on your forehead before leaving for her morning run. she teasingly flexes her muscles while you’re applying kinesiology tape on her body.

johanna masterlist

* ˚ ✦ oneshots

coming soon

* ˚ ✦ requests

daybreak vivid diluted

nav.

✧.* hunger games fandom

→ finnick, johanna, gen.

✧.* open to requests

→ they will be fulfilled at my own discretion and in my own time

✧.* masterlists

→ finnick → johanna

Hey ! I'm so excited to see someone else writing for Johanna because I'm obsessed with her and a grumpy×sunshine trope !!! Grumpy and abrasive Johanna and sunshine always kind fem!reader 🥹 would love love love to see some scenes maybe in the arena of during training and everyone is just shocked lol

johanna is literally my gf i'm so happy to write something for her

i'll link the completed work here when it's finished!

EDIT: here it is!

daybreak

(johanna mason x reader)

cw: none- just two girls in love

link to the request → grumpy x sunshine during training for the quarter quell

open to submissions/asks

You watch from across the room as Johanna strips off her training uniform and begins to rub oil all over herself. You shake your head in amusement and refocus on the conversion you’re having with your district mate and close friend, Beetee.

“I wonder what the reason they put the forcefield up this year is,” he comments offhandedly while observing a piece of wood as he attempts to figure out how to start a fire. You sit opposite him, not having much luck either.

You didn’t win your first games by fighting or learning survival skills. You won by appealing to the audience.

“Maybe someone attacked them. Or maybe one of the Gamemakers fell over the balcony,” you giggle, throwing down your two sticks as Katniss walks over to you.

You’ve never met her, but of course you know all about her. Who doesn’t at this point?

“Hello,” you friendlily greet her. She stands over you and Beetee awkwardly. “Do you know how to make a fire with two sticks? We’re awful at it.”

She sits down at the station with you. “Yeah, but I haven’t done it in a while. Let me see…” she grabs some sticks and begins to rub them together.

For the next ten minutes that you three spend at the station, a friendly rapport grows. You talk about many things, like the forcefield, productivity in your districts, and a few other topics. Eventually, she starts asking if you’re going to join any alliances.

“I think so,” you say hopefully. “I know me and Beetee are going to stick together. Johanna, too.” 

“Johanna?” Katniss asks, raising her eyebrows.

You smile, finding your girl across the room. She’s arguing about something with Finnick, shoving his shoulder and getting shoved back in response. 

“Yeah, she’s great. She’s just really, really great.” You can feel a blush growing on your cheeks which you hide behind your hands.

“I didn’t feel that way when I met her.” You furrow your eyebrows at Katniss.

“Oh. While I’m going to go see if I can try to make a lure with Mags. Beetee, want to join?” You want to be nice considering she doesn’t know about your relationship with Johanna and your girlfriend does come off as rude sometimes.

“Oh, yes. That could be very helpful,” he comments, getting up from his seat. “Thank you for helping us, Katniss. Maybe we would keep up that trend in the arena?”

Katniss nods, getting up as well. “I should see what Peeta is doing.”

You don’t talk to Katniss again until the next day of training. 

You’re sparring with one of the trainers, having decided that it might actually be important this time around to work on your physical skills rather than just relying on your brains and public appeal. 

When you finish the spar and are bent over trying to catch your breath, you feel a hand cup your ass. You let out a gasp of surprise.

“Johanna!” You shriek as you return to an upright position. Ignoring the shocked gazes of the people around you, you wrap your arms around her neck and pull her in for a quick kiss. “You can’t just scare me like that when I have a deadly weapon in my hands!”

She looks beautiful with her signature smirk on her face. “I just wanted to let you know how good you were doing. And let everyone know that you’re mine.”

You giggle uncontrollably, holding onto her for a few more seconds. With one final kiss to her smiling lips that end up more on her teeth than anything, you back away from the sparring station to allow other people to enter, namely Finnick and Katniss. Katniss has a look of disbelief on her face.

You say a quick ‘hello’ to them before Beetee is calling your name from across the room. “Can you identify the metal that comprises this beam? It seems to be steel but the density is all wrong.”

As you walk across the room to help out Beetee, you can hear Johanna talk to the two others, none of them being too quiet. 

“What a woman,” she says, causing you to smile once more.

“You two are…? Her?” Katniss practically hisses.

“Why not?” Finnick teases. “Johanna needs something good in her life.”

“Shut up!” You turn your eyes back towards your girlfriend just in time to see her try to knock Finnick over. 

This is what it means to be in love

-

vivid

(johanna mason x reader)

cw: none

link to the request → reader helping johanna dye her hair

open to submissions/asks !!

You look across the dinner table at Johanna. You’re both eating the same thing but something about how she brings her fork up to her mouth is very endearing to you.

“Stop watching me eat, weirdo,” she smiles at you, no heat behind her words. You smile back before taking a bite of your own dinner.

“You know,” she says, putting her fork down on her plate. “I was thinking I should dye my hair again now that it’s grown out.”

Your smile only grows. It’s been over a year since Snow died, since you moved out of the underground of District 13 and made a home in District 4 with Johanna. She wanted to stay close to Annie and her son and you would do anything for your girlfriend so you followed without complaint.

“I think you should do it. Red again?”

She nods, tilting her head. “Maybe you should do it for me. Some girlfriend bonding time for the two of us.”

You raise your eyebrows. “I don’t think I would be too good at dying hair. I can help you look for someone to do it for you, though.” You don’t want to mess it up and make her hate it.

“No,” Johanna insists. “I want you to do it.”

You bite your lip. Ultimately, you put your nerves aside and say, “fine. But if it goes wrong you absolutely can’t blame me for it.”

Apparently, the thought of dying her hair was something that has been on her mind for a while, because she squeals with excitement and runs out of the room. You stand up to follow her, but before you even make it out of the dining room, she’s back with a paper bag in her hand.

“I’ve already got everything we need. It’ll be perfect,” she grabs you by the hand and drags you to the master bathroom, both of you giggling excitedly on the way.

She unpacks the bag on the sink’s countertop, revealing red dye, gloves, a mixing bowl, and a brush. “This is it?” You ask, observing the materials.

“Should be,” she shrugs. “I don’t know, I’ve never done this before.”

“Huh. Okay,” you sigh before picking up the bottle of hair dye and reading the instructions, which doesn’t prove to be too helpful. 

Carefully, you put on the gloves and pour some of the dye into the little mixing bowl. You pause, before asking Johanna, “how much of your hair do you want to dye?”

“All of it,” she says offhandedly, playing with the hair tie that you left out this morning. “I just want something new.”

You nod, sticking your tongue out in concentration. “Okay, then I’m not even going to bother with the brush, to be honest. I’m just gonna slather it all on.”

“Slather,” Johanna teases. “Real professional.”

“I’m not a professional! If you wanted someone who knew what they were doing, you shouldn't have asked me.”

“Calm down, baby, it’ll be fine,” she puckers her lips and you oblige her with a kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you more,” you say offhandedly before scooping up a glob of the red dye and putting it on her hair. You work it through the ends before going up to her roots. You don’t know what you’re doing, but it seems right. It doesn’t take long before her entire head is covered in the red dye, some of it ending up on her forehead and her shirt. 

“Maybe we should have done something to prevent this,” you say, gesturing to the red mess all over the place.

Johanna shrugs, turning away from the mirror to face you. She kisses you, wrapping her arms around your neck. You reciprocate, moaning into her lips. After a few minutes, you pull away, leaving one last peck on her lips. “How long does the dye need to stay on?”

Johanna shrugs. “Like another half an hour?”

“You know what we can do in that time?” You smirk, eyes searching Johanna’s.

Your girlfriend smirks back at you. “What?”

“Kiss some more.”

Johanna’s smirk melts into a full blown grin and she practically attacks you in an effort to get to your lips again.

The next half an hour passes quickly between kisses and whispered words. When the hair dye gets rinsed off and her hair gets styled, both of you look at it in disbelief. 

“It looks… bad,” you say slowly. You slap a hand over your mouth when a giggle almost leaves your lips. You shouldn’t be laughing at your girlfriend's botched hair but you can’t help it.

It’s not terrible, the color stuck and is a beautiful deep shade of red. The issue is the fact that there are several sections of hair that the dye apparently never touched in the first place.

“No, I like it,” Johanna says unconvincingly. “It’s unique.”

You two look at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” you laugh, tears welling in your eyes. “I’ll find a hairstylist, even if we have to go to a different district.”

Johanna leans into your side. “No, I want it to stay like this. It’ll remind me of you.”

You coo loudly at her. “When did you become such a sap? Love you, baby.”

She shuts you up with another kiss. “Love you too.”

-

Hi :) can you write a Johanna x fem!reader fic where the reader helps Johanna with dying her hair? I need domestic Johanna in my life.

Thanks so much!

loved this one!

Hi! I would love to see Johanna x fem!reader that takes place after Johanna’s horrific time in the Capitol where the reader starts helping with her now developed fear of water. Johanna is my beloved and she deserves all the kindness and care 😭 like a the reader is so sweet and gentle with her, very slowly exposing her to water. Then they build up to a full shower and Johanna is all worried but reader is there being her rock. Ahhh sweet gentle shower scene 🫠 I die

Love ya 🖤 thanks

i'll start working on it soon!

EDIT: its here and it might just be my favorite thing ive written for johanna

diluted

(johanna mason x reader)

cw: panic attacks, crying, mentions of torture

link to the request → reader helping johanna overcome her fear of water

You eye Johanna critically from across the room. It’s been weeks since she’s been rescued from the Capitol and she’s been completely ignoring you since then. Every time you ask her if she’s okay or if you can do anything for her, she brushes you off.

You understand that she’s been through a lot, but as her girlfriend, her indifference upset you. In an effort to keep yourself busy, you spend most of your time with Beetee in the weapons room, helping to design defensive strategies. Ever since you banned Gale from helping, things have been better on that front.

“Stop looking at me like I’m going to collapse at any moment.” Johanna calls out to you. She’s playing with the sheets on her bed, not even looking in your direction.

You sigh. “I just want you to be okay, Jo. I worry about you.”

She sneers down at her sheets. “Worry about me when Snow’s dead.”

So you do. After Katniss kills President Coin, Snow dies, and the underground community of District 13 falls apart, you move to District 7 and begin to worry about Johanna like it’s a full time job.

It starts with weaning her off of her morphling supply. You two live in the middle of the woods, so there’s no easy access to the drug, nor do you want Johanna using it to cope anymore. It takes her weeks to get back to her healthy self, which brings you great relief.

The other issue that you quickly learn about is Johanna’s newfound fear of water. You quickly piece together that when she was held captive by the Capitol, they used water as a form of torture for her. She doesn’t like talking about it, but you can see the truth in the way her face scrunches up in fear whenever she’s confronted with water. 

It breaks your heart.

You decide to take matters into your own hands once again. You helped her with her morphling withdrawals, you think, how much harder can it be to help her overcome her fear of water?

“Come on, Jo,” you plead with her. “I want to go down to the lake.”

You don’t really want to go to the lake- swimming in freshwater scares you a little bit- but you figure this is a good step one.

Johanna eyes you with a look of disdain on her face. “I don’t want to go. I’m sure there’s a hundred other people in District 7 that would love to join you.”

You grab her hand and kiss her palm. “But there’s no one else in this district that I love like I love you.” You know as soon as you say the words that you’ve sufficiently sweet talked her.

Johanna likes to pretend that she’s tough, but she’s really a giant softy.

Once you actually make it down to the lake, three hours later, Johanna grips your hand with all of her strength, it seems. You take it in stride, though, and hold on just as tight.

“It looks beautiful,” you comment, staring at the water. “Reminds me of you.”

It really does. The way the trees cast a shade upon the surface perfectly complements the highlights from the sun. Just like Johanna, there’s darkness and light.

Johanna rolls her eyes and sets your belongings down on the grass. “Go on, have your fun. I’ll be over here.”

You pout. “Oh. I wanted you to join me.”

The pained look that you’re now so familiar with makes its return. “You know that I don’t want to.”

You instantly melt, wrapping your arms around her. She clings back to you just as tight. “You don’t have to, my love. I just want you to be able to let go of what they did to you. I want you to reclaim it.”

Johanna pulls back and looks into your eyes. “Yeah. You’re right.” And with renewed vigor, Johanna grabs your hand and pulls you to the lake, kicking off her shoes along the way. When she gets to the water’s edge, she stops suddenly.

“What’s wrong, baby?” You ask, letting your own toes dip into the water.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” she says in a soft tone. “I don’t think I can reclaim it.”

You frown, standing in front of her. “Jo, if you don’t want to go in you absolutely don’t have to. It was just a stupid idea.”

Now it’s her turn to frown. “It’s not stupid, you were just trying to help me.” With that, she dips her toes in the lake.

Your jaw drops. You were not expecting her to go in the water that easily. “Baby, you did it!” 

Johanna closes her eyes. “Can we eat lunch now?”

You grin. “Of course.”

After that day, you don’t force her to deal with water so boldly for another few weeks. The next time you bring up the exposure therapy is during a rainstorm that has your girlfriend curled up on the couch holding her ears.

“How about,” you say, rubbing her back. “After this has all cleared up, we do something fun.”

“Like what?” Her voice is muffled by a pillow.

“We can jump in the puddles outside.”

Johanna tenses, more than she already was. “And how is that supposed to be fun?”

You lean down and kiss her nose. “I always used to do that when I was a kid. I liked it. And I feel like it’ll help with what we’ve been working on. You’re scared of this rain, but we’ll have fun playing in the puddles it provides afterwards.”

Johanna looks at you, trust in her eyes. “Okay.”

So that’s what you do.

After the rain ends, it barely takes any coaxing to get Johanna out of the house and bounding into puddles. Once she sees you do it, giggles leaving your lips with each jump, she joins in.

“This isn’t so bad,” she admits, wiping some mud that splashed up on her off of her arms. “It’s kind of nice.”

You nod, grabbing both of her hands. “It is what you make it, baby.”

That’s what you repeat to her when it’s time to get in the shower upon your return home. “It is what you make it, baby. You need to clean off.”

Johanna shakes her head. “I can’t. This is too much.” It breaks your heart to see tears flowing freely from her eyes.

“I’ll be there with you the entire time. Holding you, kissing you. This is just going to be another good memory,” you try to convince her.

Without wasting another moment, you strip out of your filthy clothes and throw them in the hamper. You then turn on the shower, heart panging at the sound of another one of Johanna’s sobs.

You turn back to your girlfriend, helping her strip as well. You pepper kisses all over her cheeks and lips, hands running over her back. “Let’s wash off, baby. It’ll be quick.”

You step into the shower, just standing under the stream. You think that maybe if she sees that you’re okay under the flow of water, she will be too.

That hope doesn’t last long- Johanna just stands and watches you with tears in her eyes, hands twisting together.

“Come on,” you plead. “You can’t stay covered in mud forever. And I’m lonely in here. I need you with me, always.”

That seems to do it. Johanna takes a step forward, then another, and then eventually she collapses in your arms, sobs wracking her body.

“That’s my girl,” you say, petting her hair. “I’ve never been so proud of you in my life.” You continue to repeat positive affirmations to her, holding her close to you.

After a few minutes, Johanna is calm enough to agree to you washing her body. You take your time, scrubbing her from top to bottom. She even jokes around with you towards the end while you quickly wash yourself off.

Hours later, wrapped up in your matching robes on your bed, she thanks you. “I never would have done that without you. Thank you, baby.” It’s so uncharacteristic for her to say, even more so when she tucks her head in your neck.

You love that she feels safe enough with you to be soft.

“There’s no need to thank me. I just want you to be the happiest you can be. This is the start of the rest of our life, baby. I don’t want the past to hold us back.”

She nods, kissing your collarbone. A few moments later, she’s asleep. 

You fall asleep shortly after her, a smile on your face.

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