At the age of thirty five, Stede Bonnet could count the number of times someone had hugged him on one hand. His mother, before leaving for boarding school. His teacher, who found him crying and homesick. His aunt, at his mother’s funeral.

Touch wasn’t something Stede associated with happiness - the embraces in his life had been associated with melancholy and lonely memories. More reminders of how alone he was, than of the connection he had to others.

Stede could count the number of times he’d been held on any number of hands. Because that number was zero.

Stede had all but resigned himself to a life without intimacy of any kind until he comes across an article about professional cuddlers. Upon finding an all-male group of cuddlers called Blackbeard's, Stede books an appointment with a cuddler named Ed that will change his life in more ways than one.

*This is an updating podfic with a total of 13 chapters

Come On and Hold Me (Rated E)

Chapter 26: Crossed Blades

Chapter 28 Bed Rest

Saphires 17

Podfic of scarrletmoon's "Powder Blue" ch 17

find the fic here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45284749

find SD_Ryan here: archiveofourown.org/users/SD_Ryan

[podfic] powder blue ch 17

Podfic of oatmilktruther's  "Anything We Want"

find oatmilktruther here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48786949

find SD_Ryan here: archiveofourown.org/users/SD_Ryan

[podfic] Anything We Want

6 Quick Question

Podfic of smallestchurch's  "a warm horizon"

find smallestchurch here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51115318

find SD_Ryan here: archiveofourown.org/users/SD_Ryan

[podfic] a warm horizon

At the age of thirty five, Stede Bonnet could count the number of times someone had hugged him on one hand. His mother, before leaving for boarding school. His teacher, who found him crying and homesick. His aunt, at his mother’s funeral.

Touch wasn’t something Stede associated with happiness - the embraces in his life had been associated with melancholy and lonely memories. More reminders of how alone he was, than of the connection he had to others.

Stede could count the number of times he’d been held on any number of hands. Because that number was zero.

Stede had all but resigned himself to a life without intimacy of any kind until he comes across an article about professional cuddlers. Upon finding an all-male group of cuddlers called Blackbeard's, Stede books an appointment with a cuddler named Ed that will change his life in more ways than one.



This story is based on real-life professional cuddlers - I wanted to create a universe full of gentle, non-toxic masculinity, a space for queer men to be soft and intimate and express themselves without judgement. Inspiration taken from Cuddlist.com and this article - https://gcn.ie/cuddle-club-gay-men-creates-intimacy/ Thanks to my amazing betas lookinglass, AO3Bendifferus, NifaFifa, and Dr CF for your lovely comments and gentle fixing of my run-on sentences, and to my irl bff who was kind enough (despite being very confused about the concept of fandom) to provide sensitivity reading for this fic. You are my ride or dies and I don't know what I would do without you!  Note: There are consent issues in this kind of relationship! In preparing for this story, I interviewed the CEO of a cuddling agency, to learn more about the profession and how they handle complex situations like these. I have their internal policy for when cuddlers and clients fall in love, and am following it closely so that our boys can have a healthy and enthusiastically consensual experience 🥰  Title is from "Hold Me", by Fleetwood Mac

Come On and Hold Me Ch 1 - To Have and to Hold

Stede arrives at Blackbeard's for his first cuddling appointment, and he and Ed finally meet.

Come On and Hold Me Ch 2 - The Smooth Move

Stede joins the crew at Blackbeard's for dinner, and experiences something new for the first time.

CW: Social drinking, social use of cannabis (legal in New York)

Come On and Hold Me Ch 4 - Take a Lap

The morning after Stede's dinner at Blackbeard's. Deep conversations are had, and Ed and Stede's relationship changes in a significant way.

Come On and Hold Me Ch 5 - The Mirror

Stede has his second cuddle session with Ed. Cryptid infodumping ensues. Things get deep and vulnerable, and Ed makes a split second decision.

 
CW: Discussion of discovery of sexuality/being gay, childhood bullying, features men crying - ends on a happy note!

Come On and Hold Me Ch 3 - The Courtship

Fast forwarding three months, we learn how Stede has spent the time, and Stede reaches out to Ed to reconnect.

Content warning: This chapter goes into more depth about Stede's childhood and the therapy he receives. There is a history of emotional neglect, but not violence or other trauma. There are sad moments, but Stede is happier and in a much better place by the end of this chapter.

I included real details of a type of therapy for trauma and childhood issues called Internal Family Systems.  This is a great intro video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdZZ7sTX840&t=31s (there are many more at the IFS YouTube page), and this is a wonderful piece https://ifs-institute.com/resources/articles/evolution-internal-family-systems-model-dr-richard-schwartz-ph-d the founder of the therapy wrote explaining IFS if you want to learn more!
Find an IFS provider here https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners or by searching this site https://psychologytoday.com/us/therapists in your area and filtering for IFS under types of therapy.

Come On and Hold Me Ch 6 - Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

After a long morning in bed at Blackbeard's,Ed and Stede spend the day together at Stede's apartment. Stede tries out his Swedish skills, and their relationship is taken to the next level.

ps - there are a few well hidden teaser Easter Eggs in this chapter as well as the last, excited to see if you find them all!

Come On and Hold Me Ch 8 - The Face-to-Face Embrace: Part 1

Ed and Stede hit several new milestones in their relationship.

Come On and Hold Me Ch 12 - Fit to a T

Just want to create and chat on discord with friends

Come On and Hold Me Ch 6 - Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

weonlyhavethisonelife

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