Karen Page X Reader - Blog Posts

✨🐟TUNA-TOBER FIC DETECTED 🐟✨

✨🐟CALCULATING... CALCULATING... 🐟✨

✨🐟PROMPTS FILLED: “I’m in love with you, and that scares me.” + A Hug That Lasts A Little Too Long🐟✨

✨🐟Find the rest of the Tuna-Tober prompts here, and remember to follow to see what other prompt fics these writers might drop this October!🐟 ✨

At Least Out Loud (Karen Page x Fem!Reader)

Here's my day 2 of Tuna-Tober! Finally wrote something for the love of my life Karen Page

Sorry it ends on a sort of cliffhanger, I am trying to keep these as short as I can manage so I can get through more! Maybe I'll write a part two🤭 Also title is a reference to the absolute BANGER of a song I Won't Say I'm In Love, which hits so much harder in a sapphic context if you ask me <3

Tuna-Tober Day 2: “I’m in love with you, and that scares me.” + A Hug That Lasts A Little Too Long

Pairing: Karen Page x Fem!Reader

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, sapphic yearning, platonic matt and reader

Word Count: 1.1k

Karen slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to refrain from spitting out her drink at Foggy’s joke. You had failed that challenge, but managed to get it back in your cup as the entire table erupted into laughter. It was a much needed break for all of you, the end of a long week and long work hours. Foggy and Matt at their firm, you and Karen at the Bulletin. You hadn’t been able to spend time together with all four of you in so long. It felt so right, like coming home, and you never wanted it to end. Foggy’s jokes, Matt’s smile, and…Karen. Everything about Karen.

The low lighting of Josie’s gave you courage, or maybe just the ability to hide from the truth. No matter what, at the end of the night in the run-down dive bar, you always were left with that feeling in your stomach. A feeling that felt suspiciously like butterflies.

“Okay, okay, I need to…” Karen let out a few more giggles before running a hand through her stupid, perfect hair. “Need to go. Got a meeting tomorrow morning.”

There was a unisonous groan across the table.

“Tomorrow’s Saturday!” Foggy protested.

“Yes, Foggy, I know. I’m not looking forward to getting up early on a weekend either, but this is when Julia Dayton can meet for an interview.” she explained as she shrugged her bag onto her shoulder.

“Let me know how it goes,” you smile up at her. “That’s gonna be one hell of an article.”

“All thanks to you,” she laughs a little bit. “You helped me finish up my editorial in time.”

You waved a hand in dismissal as she hugged Matt and Foggy goodbye. You stood up too, grabbing your bag. “Walk you home?”

She shook her head. “I called an Uber.” 

“Oh. You sure you’re good going by yourself?”

She smiled knowingly. “I’ll text you when I’m back safe. Okay?” she pulled you into a hug, the faint scent of roses and shitty tequila washing over you as you gently gripped her shoulders. 

“Okay.” you responded, your voice far too small. You briefly wondered how long you should make the hug…were you hugging for too long? Were you making it weird? 

You tried to pull back, but then she held on, and you just about melted in her arms. You weren’t sure if it was the alcohol, or the way her thumb was ever so slightly moving back and forth on your arm, but you felt entranced. If this was where you stayed for the rest of your life, you’d be completely fine with that.

When the hug finally broke you forced your expression into what you hoped was nonchalant, giving her a small smile. Then she was gone, leaving you to watch her walk out the bar door.

A beat of silence passed before you heard a snort from behind you. You turned around to see Matt and Foggy, trying to hold in smirks.

“What?” you were immediately on the defensive, practically stomping back to your seat. 

“Nothing, nothing. Sorry.”

~

You tried your best to enjoy the rest of the night, but the feeling in your stomach wouldn’t go away. A note of roses still lingered in the air, clouding over every other thought in your head. 

You tell yourself it’s the alcohol.

“Alright, guys. I gotta call it a night.” Foggy sighed, standing up with a slight wobble. 

Matt laughed at the slur in his friend’s voice and his lack of balance. “Yeah, I think that’s for the best, buddy.” 

Foggy shooed him away, huffing as he mumbled something about the King of England being his uber driver.

“It says George the third…” you heard him tell Matt as he walked him out to the car. You laughed to yourself, finishing off the rest of your glass. You weren’t sure how many drinks that had added up to, but for the sake of your sanity you didn’t look at the bill before giving Josie your card. By the time you paid, Matt was back at the table, pulling his jacket around his shoulders.

“Ready to go?” He wasn't nearly as drunk as Foggy, and you couldn’t blame him. After learning about his heightened senses, you could understand how being drunk could be unpleasant for him.

You nodded, starting to force a smile before deciding not to bother. He would tell you’d be faking it, anyway. It almost seemed that he noticed you starting to fake it. You felt him focusing on you as you took his elbow and walked out of the bar.

After a block of heavy silence you pursed your lips and turned to look at him. “Do you have something to say? Or are you just going to keep counting my heart rate or whatever you’re doing?” 

He laughed a little at your remark. “I don’t need enhanced senses to realize you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset.” you said immediately, but there wasn’t any conviction to it. You were too tired, too drunk. He just sighed, because he knew you were lying, and you knew he knew you were lying.

He murmured your name gently, before saying, very quietly, “You can’t keep running from it.” 

The words hit you like a freight train. He was right. That’s what you were doing. You were running from this. That’s what you always did. The tightness expanded in your chest, moving past your ribcage, making your whole body feel like it was under ice water. Tears pricked at your eyes and you furiously wiped at them, turning away from him.

“She’s my best friend, Matt. I…I don’t want to lose her.”

“Do you really think you’d lose her?” he stopped you walking with a gentle hand on your shoulder. “Honestly. Do you think if she somehow doesn’t feel the same, that she would treat you any differently?”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head. “N-no, no, of course not but it’s…I can’t just…” you struggled to find the words. “It’s not that easy, Matt, I’m…I’m terrified. I’m in love with her and that--that scares me. I don’t like feeling like this. Like I could just give her everything and she could just…say no. Or worse--she says yes. And then I…then I have to find some way to be enough for this beautiful, ambitious, amazing woman.”

Matt frowned. “That’s not how love works. It’s not a business exchange. If she loves you, which I--” he sighed. “Which I really think she does…then you’re already enough for her. It’s why she loves you." He gently placed a hand on your shoulder. “I’m not saying you have to tell her if you’re not ready. I’m just saying that…” he trailed off, searching for the words. “If anyone is going to be gentle with your heart, it’s Karen.”

@tunatober