#edit: hello everyone! this post was a joke ���� no need to call me stupid in the tags. I use the vampire theme on desktop for context :)

[supmaww]

I can now fade away into secrecy as long as you all have dark mode enabled. if you don't I will take it personally. hey. hey you. you shouldn't be able to read this. jerk

[k-llama-llama]

Small Goodbyes

Monsta X AU: 8th member

Zoey x Monsta X

The day Shownu enlisted.

A/N:  Hello everyone! It’s nice to be back! I’m not making any promises about how often I’ll be posting, but I’ll start by gifting you all my re-edited Shownu and Zoey enlistment post! I hope you enjoy!

Requests are CLOSED…but your feedback is still super important to me.

Masterlist and other Follow Me links in bio!

“You need to pull yourself together,” Changkyun hissed.

“What do you mean?” Zoey sniffled. “I’m fine.”

He pinched her side. “You are very much not fine, and if he comes out here and sees you like this you’re going to freak him out.”

“I’m fine.” Zoey repeated, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. “Do you see him yet?”

“Not yet,” Kihyun answered. “Apparently there was paperwork.”

“Then I still have a few minutes,” Zoey reached into her purse, pulling out her compact so that she could fix her makeup.

She had to give herself credit — she had managed to hold herself together for most of the day. Every day that Shownu’s enlistment had grown closer, she had felt herself getting that much closer to breaking. But Changkyun was right, seeing her upset would freak Shownu out, and so she had fought to appear completely fine whenever he was around.

But now the day was here, and she was very much not fine.

“Minhyuk, how’s my makeup?” She lifted her chin to look at him.

He lifted his pinkie to carefully wipe away a smudge of mascara from under her eye. “Your makeup is okay, but you definitely look like you’ve been crying.”

“Well I have been,” She snapped, shoving her things back into her purse. “I’ve been crying since last night, and you all should be grateful that I kept it together in the car.”

“Poor Seungcheol,” Jooheon snickered.

“Laugh now, but you get to deal with me when he eventually enlists.” Zoey said it to be mean, and then instantly felt tears welling up again at the thought. “Shit.”

“Okay, I’ve got it all done.” Shownu’s voice reached her.

Zoey turned around to face in the other direction, trying to blink back tears.

“Are we ready?” Shownu asked, and Zoey noted the forced cheer in her voice. “Zo?”

“Yup, let’s go.” She pointed down the road and tried to take a step without looking back.

A hand grabbed the strap of her purse, pulling her back. “Zo?” Shownu looked down at her with a worried expression.

“Hi,” She sniffled.

“Damn,” Changkyun cursed.

“Hey, why are you crying?” Shownu wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I thought we were good.”

“We’re great,” She sobbed, pressing her face into his jacket.

“You definitely sound great.” Hyungwon snorted.

“I hate you all. This is exactly why I moved out.” She snapped, clinging tighter to Shownu. She looked up, catching sight of his newly shorn hair, and started to cry even harder.

“I still say we should never have let a girl in the group.” Minhyuk shook his head.

“Yah,” Shownu said, though he was laughing. “Leave her alone.”

“Don’t laugh at me,” Zoey pulled back slightly. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Zo, I’m only gone to be gone for a few weeks.” He chuckled, squeezing her tightly.

Even though she knew it was true, it didn’t make it any easier to handle. It felt like the end of an era, the first time in as long as she could remember that Shownu wasn’t going to be there when she called. She didn’t care that it was only two weeks, it was two weeks too long.

“You have to be careful, okay?” She distracted herself by straightening his jacket. “Watch your shoulder, and your eyes, and don’t do anything stupid.”

“When have I ever done anything stupid?”

Zoey cried harder, resting her forehead against his chest.

“Okay,” He patted her back. “I guess we aren’t doing jokes.”

“Don’t worry, Hyung,” She could practically hear Changkyun’s eyeroll. “We’ll take her out for ice cream after and it’ll be fine.”

“I’m not a child.” She snapped.

“Then stop acting like one.” He stuck his tongue out.

“We should probably get going,” Kihyun reminded, pointed down the road to the gate.

Shownu sighed, shifting Zoey so that she was under his arm at his side. “Come on, Zo.”

They walked down the street, the boys chatting quietly about the paperwork Shownu had had to fill out and Zoey working on reining in her tears. She knew that she was probably overreacting, but that didn’t help her calm down. Before she realized, they’d reached the end of the short road and it was time to actually say goodbye.

“Zo, are you going to be okay?” Shownu asked again, patting her hair.

She nodded, swallowing a sob. “If I pretend to faint, do you think we can get you out of it?”

“Not likely.” He smiled. “It’ll be okay. I’ll be back before you know it.

“But what if…” She choked, trying to think of reasons. “What if I need someone to beat up Seungcheol? You’ve been waiting to do that forever.”

“No, I’m not going to get arrested just so that I can beat up your boyfriend.” He laughed.

“Traitor.”

“Dude, give me a hug.” Jooheon shouldered her out of the way for his own hug, and the boys took their turns saying their own goodbyes. Zoey was suddenly thankful that they had taken the group picture before they arrived at the facility. She doubted that she looked particularly attractive right now.

Which reminded her of something.

“Wait, I brought something for you.” She dug through her purse and then ducked under Hyungwon’s arm to hold out the envelope.

“Money?” Shownu laughed. “Are you my mother?”

“It’s not money.”

“Though it has a similar purpose,” Changkyun noted.

“You know what it is?” Shownu opened it. “What is— urgh, Zoey. What the hell are these?”

“They’re photocards.” She smiled. “Changkyun helped me pick out the ones where I looked the hottest.”

“Why would you do that?” He grimaced, sorting quickly through the small stack of cards, and looking more distressed with each shuffle. “And why would you think I would ever want to see these?”

Zoey wiped at her eye, giving up on caring about her makeup. “In case the other boys are mean to you.”

“He’s not going to preschool.” Jooheon scowled.

“You think…” Shownu frowned. “Boo So-Young, you think that I’m going to bribe the guys I’m training with by giving them sexy photos of you?”

She nodded.

“That’s disgusting.” He put the cards back in the envelope. “I’m not doing that.”

“You might have to.” Minhyuk snorted. “It’s a good back up plan.”

“I would literally rather die than be handing out these pictures to random guys.”

“They won’t be random. They’ll be your new friends.” Zoey pointed out.

“That’s worse.” Still, he shoved the envelope in his own duffle bag. “Alright, give me a hug.”

Zoey hit his chest with enough force to knock the breath out of him, and he lifted her up in a tight squeeze.

“I’m really going to miss you.” She said in a small voice.

“You’ll be okay.” He whispered. “I’ll be back soon.”

Zoey froze as the next words caught in her throat — words that she should have said a long time ago but was just now finding the courage to do.

“Thank you.” Her voice was so quiet that he could barely hear her.

“For what?” He set her back on her feet, still holding her close.

“For everything.” She replied. “For being my family when I didn’t have one.”

“Aw, Zo.” He hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head. “You know I love you, right?”

“I love you too.” She was crying again. “So much.”

“I’ll see you soon, okay? Don’t let the boys bully you, and if Seungcheol doesn’t treat you right you know where I hid the pepper spray.”

“That’s illegal.”

“I don’t care.” He kissed her hair again. “Will you be okay?”

She nodded. “I will. Promise you’ll be careful?”

“I promise.” He pulled back, letting her step out of his arms.

Turning around, she saw Kihyun wiping away a tear.

“Are you going to miss me that much?” Shownu laughed.

“No.” Kihyun protested. “I just…that was really cute.”

Shownu checked his watch, sighing. “Okay, it’s time. I’ll see you all soon.”

He gave everyone another quick hug and then walked quickly past the COVID checkpoint, leaving them all behind.

“I can’t believe he’s leaving me with all of you.” Zoey sighed.

“Jeez, love you too.” Jooheon glared.

“Stop it, you two.” Kihyun wrapped his arm around Zoey’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s go eat something really unhealthy until we feel better.”

“Unhealthy? You?” She gasped. “You must be feeling sappier than I thought.”

“Shut up.”

[fwacchi]

On mobile & sorry if I said anything weird my first language isn't english & for not using puntuation I'm not good at it

Hello! This is just a mini rant(kinda)(since no one that I currently know are into vtubers or know what they are & I just wanna talk about it) but I just came across this tiktok short/edit (don't really know what to call it 😅) but she basically trying to expose? Vtubers (mostly nijien) (mostly nina in this case) but she was a minor (it's in her prof.) & I found on one of her edits/videos she was asking ppl for shoutout bc she 'needs her fame back' & that just makes me feel weird about it like.. Idk.. I think that recently I just had seen some ppl trying to cancel some vtubers on tiktok for stupid things like fu-chun getting 'cancel' for liking/reading BL even though he's bi if I'm correct (ik that some of the cancel aren't really recent but tiktok just kinda stated to put those videos on my for you page recently) like for vox I kinda get why he's was cancel but at the same time not bc sure you can feel uncomfortable & all but for me personally I think that calling him a p*do was too mush like lately ppl have been throwing that word around to losely & I just think that he over share to much but yeah

Btw it's ok if you don't want to respond to this you can just ignore it but have a good day/night also I hope that your first day in college was good! My younger sister also just started college & she was saying the same thing as you so just know that you aren't alone 🤣🤣

Your English is reallyyyy good!! <3 and good luck to your sister too!!!

I've wanted to talk about this topic before but didn't really have the chance to but now that you've ranted about it, I'm gonna reply to your rants with a rant of my own so buckle up 😌

(there's literally an essay down there so enter at your own risk 👁️👁️)

This is exactly why I barely go on tiktok anymore. when I used to be a diehard fan of kpop artists, shits like this was way more worse. At some point, it started disturbing me to the point I actually never went back on tiktok again. That's how much I hated that app back then. Literally just one or two months ago I opened that app again, thinking I could have a peaceful life in vtubers fandom but oh lord I encountered a hate video.

It was something similar to what you said, but what I saw was a video saying "canceling nijisanji en" and I thought it was a joke or something so I went to the comments section to see what it was about. And the whole comment section was filled with "omg yes" "ugh shifting to nijisanji jp right now" "well at least shu is safe💀" honestly, I was like huh??? seems that they were talking about most of the nijisanji en boys interacting with an artist who was apparently racist (or something else i'm not really sure) but yeah that's the bits of it. [I saw a comment under the specific post saying something like "if this is how yalls attitude is, then don't even think about coming to the jp side" and I was like SLAYY GIRL YOU RIGHT ASF] sorry I'm pretty much gatekeeping niji jp from toxic fans like that who could just hate on their so called "oshi" on a baseless rumour.

First of all, I'm on twitter literally everyday and have heard nothing of that issue. Or maybe it's possible that I could've totally missed it. Secondly, even if the issue is true, I'm pretty sure the en boys wouldn't have interacted with the said artist if they knew about it. Like girl, vtubers don't have to know everything about everyone on internet. Just because they don't follow up on who is who and who is supporting what doesn't mean you have the fucking rights to cancel them.

Let me tell y'all something mind blowing. Reading BL isn't a crime. Surprising? Get that into your fucking mind. BL is a genre just like Mystery, Romance, Historical and etc. Even if you're straight you can read/watch BL it's not wrong. It's not wrong as long as you don't fantasize about it and get off on it. If you're a straight person reading BL (yaoi) and getting turned on about it and being public about it, then seek help. That's just so wrong. You girls don't like it when men jerk off to lesbian porns so it goes both ways.

This is me speaking for myself as someone who enjoys BL and I would love to read GL genre too. But there's just none that suits my taste and BL stories are being published more and more rather than GL. That's the main reason I read more BL and not GL. It has nothing to do with me being a freak. I don't even read much yaoi like BJ ALEX, painter of the night, etc. I mostly enjoy fluff BL genre because I see it as any other romance. (if you have good gl manhwa/anime/donghua/manga recommendations, please share it with me👁️👁️)

And calling vox a p*do? that's just way too offensive and wrong. Did you see him having dirty talks or actually having sex with a minor? No you fucking didn't so stfu. You don't even know who he truly is behind the avatar so what gives you the rights to say something so horrible about him? And this goes to everyone else. Even if a person you know, or barely know, is a prostitute, slut, playboy or whatever, you do not get to judge them. You're not their parents/family members so you get no say in their life. Just stfu and live your own life instead of judging others'. UNLESS you see them committing real crimes which is against the law of your country then report them to the police. That's all you have to do.

Now, I don't want to categorise all tiktok users as one group but most of the people, I repeat, MOST of the people in tiktok are underage, or simply just utter fools who have no morals in them. Especially those hate accounts (and this goes to EVERY hate accounts. not just the ones dedicated to nijisanji/vtubers).

I see some accounts saying "this is a troll account. i actually love [insert name] so much🥺" no. If you love them as much as you claim to, then you wouldn't even think about hating on them like that even for a joke. That's just disrespectful.

What do they really get out of this hating behaviour? likes? shares? comments? fame? well if that's what they want then they're really doing it in a wrong fucking way. I didn't know people could be happy getting those achievements from such a nasty way. They have little to none shame. Possibly bringing down someone's career because of their stupid behaviour isn't something to be proud of. Their parents surely wouldn't be proud of it either. Am I mean? well not as much as they are and at least I'm only speaking facts.

It's literally so easy to shut up your mouth if you don't like something. Like, go find something else you enjoy instead of hating.

+the nijisanji en family has been getting bigger these days which is why they're getting more hate that are visible. The only thing we can do is comment something to put some sense in their shitty mind(which will end up going over their head considering how dumb they are), report, block and scroll away. Fools like them can't be fixed unless they themselves realise what they're doing and how it harms others around them. We really shouldn't be wasting our time and ruining our mental health over some dumb asses.

[duffs-shot-glass]

Forget Him *PART ONE* (Izzy Stradlin)

Forget Him Part Two

Izzy Stradlin x Reader

Sad fluff (not really much fluff in this part)

WARNINGS: profanities, abusive relationship, physical abuse, mental abuse

Word Count: 1,758

PART ONE

Y/N’s POV:

I was sitting in the living room of Izzy’s apartment, hanging out with the boys. And my boyfriend, Greg. If I was being honest I hated hanging out with greg. He made me uncomfortable constantly. In the beginning of our relationship he was really sweet. He spent time with me on the weekends, told me how important I was to him, and sometimes spoiled me a bit. Material things don’t mean a lot to me but I still thought it was kind of him. At first he really was the perfect boyfriend. Then it all went downhill.

I still remember the first night that started it all.

~flashback~

Greg and I were sitting in my apartment watching tv and cuddling when he started kissing my neck. I didn’t think much about it because we had made out before and he did that sometimes when we made out, but this time was different. He trailed his hand up my leg and started tugging at my pants in an effort to take them off. I stopped him and he looked at me confused. “Greg I’m sorry I uh...I’m a virgin and I...I don’t think I’m ready.” Greg huffed and looked at me. “Are you serious right now? After all I do for you and you’re gonna say ‘I’m not ready’?” He said it in a taunting voice. That was the first time I ever felt unsafe around Greg. “Greg I’m sorry I just don’t want to do that right now.” I said and stood up, moving away from him slightly. “Fuck you Y/N! Come here right now.” He literally chased me around my apartment until I threatened him with a police call. “Gregory Connar Philips I will call the police on you!” I yelled at him. His eyes widened and he looked worried. “Fine.” He slumped onto my couch and I couldn’t believe what had just happened. “I think it’s best you leave.” I whispered. He stood up and walked over to the door. After grabbing his jacket off the coat rack he opened the door and began to walk out. Right when I thought I was safe he turned to me and whisper-yelled, “If you tell anyone about this you will regret it. I will find out Y/N. I’m not stupid, unlike you.” And with that he slammed the door in my face. I couldn’t sleep that night. I wanted to die. I cried the entire night and contemplated what he said.

*End of flashback*

The next few weeks weren’t any different. Greg would come over to my house and the only way I got him to leave was by threatening him with the police. It was true I wasn’t ready. As long as I was with Greg, I never would be. I always loved my best friend Izzy. He was one for me. I was too scared to ask Izzy if he felt the same, and he never made a move. So eventually I met Greg and I liked him so I settled for him. I shouldn’t have done that though. Greg never layed a finger on me thankfully. Of course that changed though, two weeks ago actually.

~flashback~

“Greg please stop yelling at me!” I yelled. I had sat on the couch crying for the past two hours. Greg had been yelling and cussing at me about not wanting to have sex with him. I fucking hated Greg at this point. All the love I had ever felt for him, if any, was gone. Then it happened. Greg lifted his right arm and I looked up at him. He wouldn’t hit me, right? Well I was wrong. His hand came down at an extremely fast speed and hit me in the face. My face was stinging and tears were now running down my face at an immensely fast pace. I looked up at Greg and he smiled devilishly. “Don’t fucking yell at me little girl.” He spat. He pointed his finger in my face and walked into another part of the house. I wasn’t at my house so I decided I would leave. I walked to the door and opened it, but Greg shut it. “You’re not going anywhere. We don’t need you telling anyone about this do we?” I didn’t answer. I just looked at him shocked. “Do we?” He yelled. I shook my head no. After that I stayed at his house for the night. I slept on the couch that night.

*End of flashback*

After that I think Greg felt more comfortable with hitting me because he did it often. The worst so far was the black eye that I had currently. I didn’t want the boys to see it so I covered it up with makeup. I wanted to tell the boys about what Greg did but I was scared. Greg draped his arm around my shoulders and I shifted uncomfortably. Izzy and Slash were sitting on a couch opposite of me and Greg. I felt Greg’s hot breath on my ear and I shuttered. “You look very good tonight doll. What do you say we ditch these guys and go have some fun?” He whispered. He was seriously doing this in front of people?! “I’m alright. Thanks though.” I said loudly enough so the boys could hear. Greg gave me a death glare and I suddenly knew I had messed up. How bad would the punishment be this time? Izzy looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I shot him a small smile and looked down. Greg put his hand on my knee. Here we go again.

Izzy’s POV:

I looked over at Y/N as she shifted uncoftably. Greg whispered something in her ear and she declined it politely. I saw the look Greg gave her afterward and it made me think. What could he have said to her? I looked at her and raised my eyebrows, but she just smiled and looked down. I shrugged it off and continued to joke around with the guys.

*Time Skip*

It had been an hour since the Greg incident happened. I thought that was the end of it but then it happened again. And again. And again. I was starting to get upset with Greg. He was a complete asshole whenever I talked to him and Y/N seemed to be uncomfortable around him. As much as I didn’t wanna admit it I loved Y/N. We had been best friends for a while and I had developed feelings for her. I never had the guts to ask her out though. Then she found Greg and I had no chance. Greg wasn’t like me at all. He was some rich momma’s boy that played golf on the weekends. I was some weird ass rocker that played with their band on the weekends. I had watched Y/N become more uncomfortable by the minute over the past hour and I was done with it. I walked into the kitchen to find Axl and Duff. “Hey guys can I ask you something?” I whispered. “Ya just did dipshit but sure, give it a shot.” Duff spoke. “Have you guys noticed anything off about Y/N? Like, doesn’t she seem uncomfortable around Greg?” Axl and Duff both shot glances at Y/N and Greg. “Nah man. I think they’re fine.” Axl said. I leaned on the counter and sighed. “Alright.” I whispered. I watched Greg and Y/N for the next little while. It sounds creepy, but I wanted to make sure she was ok. I decided to sit in the chair next to them. I acted like I wasn’t paying attention, but I was snooping. I knew it was wrong to listen to their conversation, but I couldn’t help it. “Y/N you’re going to sleep with me tonight.” Greg whispered. What the hell is he talking about? “Greg, I told you I’m not ready for that. Please don’t do this in front of people. I don’t want it to get out of hand.” She pleaded. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. As much as my heart was hurting hearing the conversation I continued to listen. “Y/N I’m done with your bullshit. Tonight is the night or you will regret it.” His hand formed a fist in his lap and she frowned. “Can we please just talk about-” He cut her off. “No. No more talking Y/N!” His voice was now loud enough for everyone to hear. The boys turned their heads towards the couple and Y/N looked around. Greg’s eyes, however, stayed on Y/N the entire time. A single tear escaped her eye and coursed down her cheek. Greg stood up and looked down at Y/N. “Greg, please don’t do this right now please!” She choked out. It was obvious she was about to start crying and I had to do something. I looked at all the boys and they looked at me. “Hey Greg take a seat buddy. We can figure this out whatever it is.” Slash said in a hushed voice. “Shut up mop head.” Greg said and grabbed Y/N’s arm. “You are going to wish you didn’t do this Y/N.” He began dragging her down the hallway and Axl chased after. “Hey man I’m sorry but you can’t go back there we are uh..remodeling.” Axl stood in the hallway in front of Y/N and Greg to block their way. I could hear Y/N crying as Greg dragged her back down the hallway to the living room. “Greg, please stop! You’re hurting my arm.” She squealed. I walked over to Greg and looked him in the face. I wasn’t about to let him hurt Y/N. “Greg I don’t know what your problem is but you need to calm down.” He looked at me and smiled evily. What the hell was with this guy? “Tell the worthless piece of shit to make me happy and maybe I would calm down Mr. Stradlin.” He said perfectly calmly. This guy has issues. “Don’t talk about Y/N that way!” Duff stepped in. Greg tried to grab Y/N but I stopped him. “You need to leave Greg.” “Fine. Come on Y/N we’re going home.” He motioned for Y/N to go with him but I stopped her from going. “No Greg. Just you. Out now before I call the police.” Greg flipped me off and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Hello!~This is my first two part imagine! I know this was really sad but I promise it will get better. Just make sure to read the second part! Thanks for reading btw. I have an instagram where I post edits I do of the boys so if you want to check it out i will put the name of it below. Have a great day and remember you are beautiful! :)♥︎

Instagram: thinkaboutyou_65

[watchmegetobsessed]

And I always will - Tom Holland

❄️ FANFICmas 2020 ❄️

Read more about FANFICmas here!

week 3 babies! it’s been so long since i last wrote for Tom and this story just screamed for him when I made up the plot. so here is some cute friends to lovers christmas edition! updated the fanficmas post with next week’s fic and added another one for the 24th, check it out if you are interested!

word count: 4.2k

masterlist

It’s not a date, it’s not a date, it’s not a date!

That’s your mantra for the evening and the closer the time is coming when Tom is picking you up, the louder you’re shouting it in your mind. Well, while it was sure he was nowhere near your apartment you physically kept telling yourself, heart pounding in your chest with each passing moment, but when he texted you that he’d be there in five you shut yourself up.

Stepping to the mirror you take one last look at yourself in your simple black dress and red blazer, a simple but fitting look for the annual Christmas party of the company you’re working for. You tug your hair behind your ears to make your earrings more apparent, they are like little red Christmas ornaments, the perfect touch up for the occasion and you also happen to know Tom loves how you wear them around the holidays every year.

This whole thing started a week ago when he was over for a movie night, something you often did when he was in town and you whined about having to go to the company party alone again and listen to your boss comment on how she was already married at your age. She is a very old school woman with strong beliefs that a woman should be able to catch herself a man at an early age if she doesn’t want to end up alone for the rest of her life.

You were only twenty three, not at all in rush to settle down, but you hated the teasing and commenting every year. It happened all through the year, but it was the worst at the Christmas party, because then she had the time to talk to you without the distraction of work, so she was able to touch on more personal topics as well.

Tom listened to you patiently, letting you rage about the irritation even the thought brings to you every year before proposing his idea.

“I could go with you and pretend to be your boyfriend.”

The words rolled off his tongue so easily, like it was nothing at all, when in reality it put your stomach into a knot immediately. It might have not mean anything to him other than just a friendly request but it meant so much more to you, being in love with the man for years.

Cliché, right? Falling for your best friend and keeping your emotions bottled up because you’re too afraid to come clear and possibly ruin your friendship. It sounds like a horrible teen movie, but this is the truth. It’s not something you can just blurt out without having to overthink about all the possible outcomes that would send you into a rabbit hole of the worst case scenarios until you are scared to talk about your feelings for life.

You were hesitant about his idea, but like every time, he managed to talk your ears off and convince that it would be a great idea.

“Lots are already thinking we are a couple, it would be easy!” he assured you, and he gave you a sly, cocky smirk, one you can never resist. So naturally, you said yes at the end and that brings you to this evening, when you’re nervously waiting for him to arrive to pick you up so the two of you could go to that stupid party together, pretending to be a couple.

You keep pacing back and forth in the small hallway as you wait for him to arrive and when you hear the knock on the door you jump.

It’s not a date, Y/N! Just pretentious!

You keep telling yourself your little mantra as you stride over to the door and open it for him. And there he is, handsome as ever, wearing black dress pants and a nice, crispy looking white shirt under his wool coat, the top buttons of the shirt left undone to let your greedy eyes a little hint of his toned chest underneath the fabric. You need to stop yourself from sucking on your breath, he looks so great, not just now, but all the damn time, making you feel lightheaded with just a simple smile.

“You look beautiful, girlfriend,” he tells you, putting a teasing tone into the last word and though it was just a joke, it made your heart flutter for sure.

“Thank you, boyfriend,” you shyly smile, the word tastes so sweet on your tongue, but there’s some hidden pain behind it.

“Ready to go?” You nod and grab your coat and purse before shutting the door behind you and locking the door.

The ride is short, but feels like forever. You’re anxiously chewing on your bottom lip, heart pounding in your chest and you fear that Tom might hear it and question you about it. This is so nerve-wrecking, and so not how you imagined to be his girlfriend for the first time.

Though it’s the closest you’ll get to the title, probably, you tell yourself, stomach churning at the thought.

“Hey,” Tom’s soft voice grabs your attention when he stops at a red light. “Nervous?”

“Just a little,” you nod shortly. “I just… want to my boss to take me seriously for once,” you lie, because there’s absolutely no way you are telling him it’s him that makes you shit your panties.

“I’ll be right there with you and we’ll charm the shit out of that woman,” he smirks making you laugh at his words.

“Hope so,” you mumble with a sigh, turning back to stare out the window.

Tom parks down in an empty spot near the venue that holds the part and he helps you out of the car giving you a hand, but he doesn’t let go of it once you are standing on your feet, holding your hand and even lacing your fingers together. When he gives it a gentle squeeze you peek up at him and notice that he is looking down at your with a warm smile as if he is trying to tell you that it’s gonna be alright without words. You try to swallow your anxious thoughts and hope he doesn’t find your hand too sweaty as the two of you head inside.

You work for a huge marketing company, one of the biggest ones in London. You landed an assistant job two years ago, fresh out of college and worked yourself up to be a fulltime graphic designer, mostly working on visuals for smaller campaigns running in the company, but you were proud of your work and enjoyed it to the fullest. One of the lead designers is rumored to retire sometime next year and you were hoping to be considered for his spot, thought there are quite a lot who has been working there for a longer time, but you felt like you have proven yourself to be suitable for the job. Tonight you are praying to charm your boss so she would move your name forward in the process and earn you a few good points at the admission, but this meant that you have to make her believe you are the definition of couple goals so she would get off your back and finally see that you are trying your best to move forward in life.

The venue is one big ball room, several tables set on the sides with the department’s name on the table to let people know where to sit, the luxurious decoration making the whole place appear like Winter Wonderland straight out of a fairytale. There’s a stage at the very back with a DJ already playing and a dancefloor in the middle, some guests are busting their best dance moves there, while others are enjoying the open buffet that runs along the two sides, tables filled with the most delicious looking meals.

A waiter greets you both, offering you champagne and you gladly take a glass while Tom shakes his head with a soft “I’m driving, thank you”.

Looking around you see some familiar faces but there are a lot new ones. The company has a whole office building with five floors and one usually stays on their own floor throughout the working days, you don’t interact much, so it’s hard to tell who you are working with on a wider level.

“Do you know where we are sitting?” Tom asks leaning closer to your ear so you hear what he is saying over the music and as his hot breath hits your neck it sends a shiver down your spine.

He is so close and his hand feels so warm on mine, you think to yourself while your eyes scan the place, trying to find your colleagues. When you spot them you pull Tom in their direction, plastering a nervous smile on your lips.

“Hi everyone!” you greet them arriving to the big, circular table. You work with a team of ten designers, some of them are older, but there are two around your age. Sally is twenty-five, her desk is right across yours and you’ve become closer, eating lunch together almost every day, and then there’s Owen, who is basically the office’s gossip source, always knows what happened to who and he makes sure to give the word away to the right people. Your older colleagues find him nosy, but you think it’s funny how he can still get any information from anyone even though he is known to have a big mouth. There’s just something about a tall, gay dude who approaches you with a sly smile, it’s like he puts a spell on people and they magically start talking. He often joins you and Sally for lunch, the three of you forming a club of young, ambitious people, holding each other up so you don’t get crushed by the judgy thirties.

When Owen looks up from his cocktail he almost spits it out seeing Tom standing next to you, holding your hand firmly.

“Little miss Y/N?! What is this supposed to be?” he gasps dramatically and you just chuckle shaking your head at him.

“This, is my uhh—This is my boyfriend, Tom,” you nervously introduce him and he waves around politely.

“Hi, nice to meet you all,” he calls out and most just acknowledge him with a nod and a hello, but Owen is over the roof that you just appeared with Tom Holland by your side.

“Why haven’t you tell me you were fucking Spider-Man himself?” he continues to rage and you almost choke on your own saliva hearing his words. Your cheeks start to heat up, but seemingly Tom doesn’t feel as uncomfortable as you, he just chuckles lightly, before pulling out your seat to help you sit before he takes the seat next to you.

Sally, who is sitting between you and Owen just slaps his chest in a warning manner.

“Control yourself!” she scolds him, but it only earns her an eye-roll.

“I’m sorry, but I feel offended I didn’t know about this,” he explains pointing at you and Tom.

“I hope you understand that I like to keep my private life, well, private. So it’s my fault Y/N hasn’t been bragging about us.” Tom rescues you from making up some stupid lie and you’re happy you didn’t have to say a word, so you just chug down half of your champagne in hopes it would ease your nerves a little.

Surprisingly, Owen backs off immediately, giving you a knowing look, as if he understood so well the life of a well-known actor even though he was far from being one.

“Oh, totally. I get it, don’t worry about it, Tom. Though I’m sure she’s been dying to talk about you all along.��

“Has she?” Tom teasingly looks down at you and you just let out an awkward chuckle nodding.

“Yeah. Exactly,” you mumble finishing off your champagne and putting it to the table. Tom can easily tell how nervous you are, so he puts a hand to your knee under the table and gives it a gentle squeeze, leaving it there afterwards, but it just rises your anxiety level. You are highly aware of every touch and look, as if your senses became hypersensitive all of a sudden, but only to Tom.

“So how long you two have been together?” Sally asks with a warm smile, trying her best to steal the opportunity from Owen to talk so he doesn’t say anything inappropriate and you are endlessly thankful to her for that.

“Um, couple of months,” you say the first thing that comes to your mind and from the corner of your eye you see Tom just nod along your words.

“And how do you know each other if I might ask?”

“We’ve been friends for a long time, actually,” Tom speaks up this time. “Y/N’s dad used to work with my dad when we were younger and we sort of became friends. I was always in love with her, though it took me a long time to grow the balls to ask her out.” You are stunned at how easily he is talking about something that’s not real, as if he has been building up this story in his mind for a while, but that can’t be the case of it.

“Oh, this is so cute! And did you feel the same way?” Sally asks you. Licking your lips you glance over at Tom.

“Yeah. Loved him all along,” you softly say and it’s the truth, however he will probably never know about it.

“It’s like in the movies!” Sally gasps, holding her hand to her chest.

Tom’s eyes still hold yours and he gives your knee another squeeze that makes you take a deep breath before you tear your gaze away from him, feeling giddy and lightheaded.

You stay at the table a little longer before the two of you head to fill your plates before everything is fully gone. It’s kind of a relief to get away from Owen and Sally, you hated lying to them, but you had no choice.

“Everything alright?” Tom asks, brushing a hand against the small of your back as the two of you stand at the buffet, looking at the food.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you nod with a weak smile. “Just a little nervous,” you admit.

“Don’t be, we are doing just fine,” he smirks and leaning down he kisses your forehead gently. It’s nothing new, he often does this and the gesture always manages to pull you out of your boiling thoughts and it has the same effect this time as well. You feel like you can breathe again after holding it in for a long time.

You carelessly glance over your shoulder as you wait for Tom to finish packing his plate up with veggies when you spot your boss talking to a guy who you recall works as an accountant on a higher level. Her eyes move just enough to meet yours and you suck on your breath when she spots Tom next to you, right when he reaches out mindlessly sliding a hand to your waist.

“Oh God, she saw us,” you mumble under your breath as you watch her excuse herself from the guy and head in your way.

“Hm? What?” Tom lifts his head and his eyes quickly find the tall, lean woman walking towards you with ambitious and confident steps. Mrs. Winston is the kind of woman that could easily intimidate any high power man in the industry, and she worked hard to be where she is now. However, you don’t necessarily always share her beliefs of the world and life, for instance her vision of a woman marrying a man as young as possible.

“Y/N? Who is this handsome man you brought tonight?” she asks right away, eyes landing on Tom who has put his plate to the table behind him and circled an arm around your waist. Before you could even get a word out, Tom extends his other hand out for her, with a charming smile.

“Tom Holland. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Winston. I’m Y/N’s boyfriend.”

Oh God, you’ll never get used to hearing him say that and you’re amazed he remembered her name even though you just mentioned it earlier.

“Nice to meet you too. Call me Carol,” she smiles, seemingly already loving Tom and honestly, you can’t blame her. “I saw that you were bringing a plus one, but I was expecting a relative,” she comments finally paying you a glance and you can feel the sharpness in it, how she partially meant it as an insult, but you just smile at her widely.

“Oh, no. Hope you don’t mind it.”

“Not at all. So tell me, why do you look so familiar, Tom?”

“I’m an actor, you might have seen me in movies.” It takes Mrs. Winston to put the picture together, but when she eventually does, she gives you a highly approving look.

“Well yes! Now I remember! I think my son in law is a big fan.”

“Give him my best wishes,” Tom nods with a warm smile.

“You know, I’m happy to see Y/N finally with a worthy man by her side. I always told her to grab herself a good one before she runs out of time,” Mrs. Winston starts her usual sermon.

“Oh, I think Y/N is perfect on her own, I think she is an amazing individual,” Tom replies and your and Mrs. Winston’s eyebrows rise at the same time. “I don’t think a woman needs a man by her side to make her complete and I admire her strength as a person on her own, not just in a relationship.”

“Don’t you think a woman needs the support of a man to succeed in this man dominated world we live in?”

“Not at all,” he shakes his head confidently and you feel him pull you closer to his side while you listen to his words curiously. “I think women deserve the recognition of them and their work and not to have it overshadowed by any men. I’m proud to be Y/N’s boyfriend and I’ll support her through everything, but I would never let anyone think of her as just a part of our relationship, or the person connected to me, because she is so much more than that and I want everyone to recognize that.”

You are at a loss of words, you knew Tom was a feminist, supporting women’s rights passionately, but you never heard him talk about it in a close relation with you. His words twisted your heart in the best possible way and though tonight is all about faking, something is telling you that these are his genuine thoughts, except the part about your relationship, but he could easily mean just your friendship under that.

Mrs. Winston seems stunned at the honest and forward answer, though you can tell it surprised her that someone went against her beliefs. However, it doesn’t seem like she is upset about it, more like she appreciates the balls that someone spoke up.

Her eyes fall back on you and there’s a small smile tugging at her red lips.

“He is a keeper, Y/N,” she simply tells you before walking away.

“Holy shit,” you breathe out when she is far away. Tom gives your waist another squeeze as he glances down at you with a smirk. “It’s like you put a spell on her!”

“I’m a charming bastard,” he shrugs smugly before grabbing his plate from the table and the two of you make your way back to the table.

Following the little talk with your boss you feel a lot more relaxed, knowing that Tom charmed the shit out of the woman. Now you are starting to enjoy the party, laughing with Sally and Owen and you’re happy to see that Tom is getting along with them pretty well too.

When the DJ starts playing All I Want For Christmas, the whole room cheers as one and most guests rush to the dance floor, that includes you and Tom as well.

He keeps you close, twirling you and moving around with you to the song, even singing it just like most people around you. Looking around you spot Mrs. Winston dancing as well, a lot more reserved than you, but she looks like she’s genuinely having a good time. She winks at you when your eyes meet and she sees Tom wrap an arm around your waist. You feel yourself blushing and you turn back to him, earning a sweet smile from him as he is enjoying the party.

When the song ends, the DJ slows it down a few knots playing Christmas Lights by Coldplay, people start to leave the dancefloor, only couple staying to slow dance to the song. Your eyes meet Tom and you thought he might want to go back to the table, but instead, his arms wrap around your waist and he pulls you to his chest, starting to sway to the rhythm.

You try to ignore the butterflies in your stomach as you feel his body pressed against yours, his hands holding your waist firmly, and you cheek is next to his, occasionally brushing in the motions. You run your hands up his broad shoulders and rest them behind his neck, a shiver running down your spine when you hear him sing the lines into your ear:

“Like some drunken Elvis singing, I go singing out of tune, saying how I always loved you darling and I always will.”

You lean back just enough to look into his eyes, feeling like the words he sang were a message addressed straight to you and you needed to see it in his look. When your gazes meet your heart skips a beat when they validate your thoughts. He sang those lines on purpose and he wanted you to hear them, but still, you can’t bring yourself to say or do something. You just stand there, wrapped in his arms, eyes lost in his, swaying gently to the song.

He brings a hand up to your face and tugs your hair behind your ears, his yes fall to your earring and he can’t help the smile that tugs on his lips.

“I don’t know if this is the right time, but I feel like it is,” he softly starts, seemingly having a hard time to find his words. “Y/N?”

“Yeah?” you breathe out faintly.

“I love you.”

The words almost push you out of your balance, and you feel like you are falling down in a deep, endless hole. He said the words you’ve been aching to hear from him for so long, he really said them and he is looking at you with eyes you’ve only seen in the mirror when you were thinking about telling him about your feelings. But this time the look belongs to him and he is breathlessly waiting for you to say something in return.

“I love you too,” you softly tell him, brushing your fingers gently along his jawline. He breaks a relieved smile, but then furrows his eyebrows in a serious expression.

“Just to make it sure, you are not talking about a friendly love, right?”

You can’t help but let out a chuckle, shaking your head at him.

“No. Not friendly,” you assure him and he sighs in relief again.

“Great, because it would have been really awkward.”

You bite into your bottom lip, shyly staring up at him, a little lost about what should be said or done next, when you hear Owen call out from behind you.

“You guys are standing under the mistletoe! Kiss!”

First you turn to look at him and then you follow the direction where he is pointing and you see that you are in fact standing under a little mistletoe, hanging from the ceiling. Turning to face Tom you shyly smile at him, while he looks way more confident in himself.

“We can’t break the rule,” he chuckles teasingly, making you laugh as well before leaning down he captures your lips in a sweet, breathtaking kiss.

You feel like a teenager again, the butterflies are going wild in your stomach and you’re pretty sure your hands are shaking, but you couldn’t care less. All you could think about is Tom and that you were finally kissing him. Teenage you would lose her mind knowing you finally got to kiss him, after all those years of secretly dreaming about it.

Tom kisses you again and again until you both are breathing heavily, so he pulls back a little, resting his forehead against yours, his hands keeping you close to him.

“Wanna get out of here?” he breathes out and you nod your head eagerly.

“Fuck yes,” you chuckle making him laugh as well before he grabs your hand and pulls you back to the table to grab your stuff and then head out.

You don’t bother to say goodbye, or tell anyone you’ve left, you were busy feeling Tom’s hands touching you wherever he could, his lips finding yours every other minute. You both are a hot mess in the car on the way home and when you finally reach your apartment, you turn on the Christmas lights in your room, before Tom pulls you down to the bed and makes love to you all through the night.

-

general/forever taglist for Tom Holland

i do separate taglists for different people, but not for different works of mine! if you ask to be on my Tom taglist, you’ll be tagged in all of my Tom fics!

@zaahidahhh @shawn-youth  @wildflower-cth @imaginashawnns @haute-shawn  @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 @cutepenguin1 @madatmendes @harrysleftchelseaboot  @sarcasticallywitty15 @dontworrysunflower​

if you’d like to be taken off or added to the list, please let me know!

[tillthelandslide]

Made to Love

Author's Note: Hello to all of you beautiful and wonderful people. I hope your day is going well. After having a whole day of writer's block, I listened to Made to Love by John Legend and this wonderful idea came into my head so I wrote it down. I hope you liked this and I'm thinking maybe I could do a part 2 if you guys like it?

This is set in a utopian world, not ours just so you know.

Tag List: @harrysthiccthighss @thereisa8ella @magdelen69 @henrythickcavill @hc-geralt-23 @kissthatlifeaway @darkbooksarwin @august-w-princess @speakerforthedead0 @pixie1484 @constip8merm8 @tigerbroadwaybaby @agniavateira @summersong69 @aestheticallywinchester @stephartrave @al-wiisa @henrycavillfanpage @intenselikes @anat2507 @ellixthea @aguspalazzo @1ookatthestars00 @wintersoldierslut @michelehansel @cavill-sass @thecavillstache  @xelizabethvalentinex @sesamepancakes @tumblenewby @thefangirlsblog @sugermelonwater

(if you would like to be added to my tag list, feel free to message me, if you are new to my blog then I post Henry Cavill fanfics and make   Henry Cavill fake Instagram posts, my requests are open so feel free to request anything  and I will try my best to make your vision come to life. Edit: requests are still open but there might be a delay as I am working my way through the current ones and all other stories I am writing)  

Growing up you were taught the laws of the world you lived in. You were taught that every person around you had different morals and different beliefs. But one thing everyone agreed on was the existence of soul mates, two people linked by destiny, made for each other, two people bound my fate to be together until death do they part. You were taught that you could tell who your soulmate is purely but the feeling you got. You were told that your soul mates aura would match yours and the closer you were to each other the deeper you would feel, the more intense your feelings would be, as if amplified by the other person. You were also taught that as you grew up you would get visions of your soul mate. You wouldn't see what they looked like or where they lived but would see visions of what they were like, what they did in their spare time. You knew yours was an actor (although how famous you didn't know), you knew he enjoyed video games just as much as you did, he grew up reading fantasy books just like you, you could feel that family was important to him, he had brothers but you weren't sure how many. You could also feel each other's emotions when you were apart, a constant reminder from destiny that you had to find each other to live in peace, to live in paradise with each other. The piece of information that made it difficult in finding him was that he was an actor, he was always travelling and was always filming. This made finding him difficult because you were a singer, a famous one at that, you were constantly on the road, never in the same place for more than a couple of days at a time.

But you were currently on a break from your life on the road, you had told your fans that you were going to take a hiatus and lots of them encouraged you to find your soul mate, because they wanted you to be happy.

One of the fundamental laws of soul mates was the push and pull dynamic, the more someone would push their soulmate away. the more they would find themselves needing that person. There were people who ignored these laws, and lived their lives running from destiny. Soulmates who were yet to find each other were allowed to carry out temporary relationships with non-soul mate individuals, named "betas" but were forbidden to marry them or reproduce with them. Again there were those who hated these laws, those who married non-soulmates to spite destiny.

As for you, you had a few relationships with betas, but they never satisfied that of your deepest desire. It was fun getting to know betas and you found yourself loving them, but not in the way that soulmates would love each other. Eventually the relationship between betas would come to an end when the other found their soulmate. But you were yet to find yours so all of your beta relationships had ended because they had been successful in carrying out the law.

So here you were, alone in your house in London, what was the point of a break if I can't even find my soulmate? you thought. You were beginning to lose hope, maybe you had done something to spite destiny and this was its way of punishing you.

You had begun to feel ill, your mother bringing you some soup in hopes you would feel better. Your mother was one of few individuals, who destiny had granted multiple soul mates, this only happened to people whose original soul mate had passed, destiny would grant them another if they had successfully carried out the law of soul mates in all its glory. And your mother had, she had found her soulmate when she was 21 and had gotten married soon after, having 4 beautiful children (you included) before sadly her soul mate (your father) and passed. Destiny had decided that she carried out the law so well that she deserved another one.

To say it irked you was an understatement, you were happy for her, sure, but there she was having had 2 soul mates and you were yet to find yours.

"He's on he's way dear" she said, as she was leaving your home.

"I don't know ma" you frowned, rubbing your forehead I wish this throbbing in my head would stop for christ sake you thought.

"He is, my love. Now rest and get better, I have to meet Derek for lunch" she said referring to your step farther.

"Have a lovely day ma" you said, making her smile and leave you.

Your head throbbed again, making you have to close your eyes as you felt like you were going to faint.

"What in the world?" you said, your hand coming up to rest against the wall to stop yourself from falling.

Sit down love you heard his voice in your head say. Oh yeah, another side effect of not finding your soulmate was having this kind of connection with them, they could communicate with you, through your mind. It sounds ridiculous but it's true, it takes practice to successfully send a message to your soul mate, apparently it becomes painstakingly easy when you've actually met them.

"You're not helping me" you chuckled out, crashing on your sofa.

You need to rest, your making me feel nauseous his voice said again

"Oh thanks love. Sorry to be such a pain" you said, sarcastically.

Sorry love you heard him chuckle

"It would be a lot easier if you were here dickhead" you laughed, joking with him, your eyes still shut. An image flashed in your mind... A lot of green, that's all you could see for miles.

"What are you doing?" you laughed, talking about the vision you got.

Walking Kal

"all I can see is green, like for miles?" you asked, and you heard him chuckle. He didn't say anything else and you sighed, resting your head against your sofa.

Wish I could help you. He sounded sad and he felt sad too, you could physically feel him frowning, but you knew it felt worse for him, that's how it worked. You were feeling dizzy, which meant he was feeling it a little too.

"Would be so much easier if I knew where you were." you said, your cat jumping up to sit on you.

Y'know how it works love, can't tell you that

He was right, another stupid rule was that if one soulmate attempted to send a message containing information about where they were or where they lived, the information would be corrupted, all the other would hear is muffled speech.

"I'll leave you to it then my love" you said quietly.

Okay love, rest well. Get someone to come round and look after you

"I'll try." you said. You managed to open your eyes, the world spinning a lot less now, the same throbbing in your head like someone was constantly playing a drum in there. You picked up your phone texting your best friend.

"Hey. Not well. Please come save me 😂" you typed, short sentences will have to do you thought.

"coming" was all you received back. Your friend arrived 10 minutes later, as she lived close by. She let herself in calling your name, to which you just groaned.

"Oh c'mon you big baby, it can't be that bad" she said upon seeing you.

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have what feels like someone kicking your head in every 2 seconds" you said, groaning when she tried pulling you up from your seat.

"We're going for a walk, the fresh air will do you good." she said, forcing your shoes on your feet.

"Really? I'm not well" you pouted.

"C'mon you need air" she said, pulling you up and to the door.

You began walking, every few steps you had to stop and shut your eyes, your vision became blurry and your head pounded and pounded with every step. You could see green again, a park?

"Hey it's okay, I've got you I'm here, Cmon sit down" she said, leading you to a bench.

Another vision: a bench?

Another one: two women?

Another one: a dog jumping excitedly

What was that?: An American Akita?

"This isn't working" you groaned loudly, your vision coming back to you, you looked around you, you were in a park, surrounded by green.

"Oh my god" you said, your head pounding, like a drum getting louder. You stood suddenly, your feet hurt but they carried you forward, you didn’t want to be walking but your body had other plans, your legs hurt... Everything hurt.

What's happening? You heard him say

You were falling, falling, your head throbbing more than ever, just as you were about to hit the ground, you felt something soft... Hands? You opened your eyes briefly, two blue eyes, the left had a bit of brown in it

 And then? Nothing.

The next thing you know, you were lying on the pavement, your head no longer hurt... That's good you thought. You opened your eyes, seeing the same blue eyes, your heart felt like it exploded, your back shooting up from the ground on its own accord, turning to look at the man.

"Oh my god" you cried, he was here, you found him.

"Told you to rest, love" he said, somehow making a joke out of it, but he had tears in his eyes too. You wrapped your arms around him, him pulling you to his chest.

"It's okay I've got you love, I've got you" he said, hugging you like he was never going to let go.

"You found me" you said, pulling back to look into his eyes.

"I found you alright" he said, nodding as tears fell from his eyes.

"Henry" you said, suddenly knowing his name as if you'd always known it, you knew everything there was to know about him, and he you.

"Y/N" he uttered, his hand grasping your face tightly in his hand, bringing it closer to his so he could finally kiss you. His lips were perfect against yours, it was everything everyone told you it would be, nothing but heightened emotions, destiny and fate.

"I love you so much" he uttered against your lips.

"I love you too" you replied, pulling back from the kiss.

"How's the head?" he said, his fingers rubbing at your temple.

[egcdeath]

a blip in the reader-verse

chapter 6: extra! extra! read all about it

series summary: a minor mistake causes a shift in the multiverse that only you have the capacity to fix.

chapter summary: you kept your friends close, and your enemy even closer.

pairing: politician!andy barber x journalist!reader, steve rogers x reader

word count: 4k

warnings: american politics, fake dating/marriage, angst at the end, heavy codependent behavior at the end

author’s note: i saw @jtargaryen18 post about politician!steve a while ago and must’ve internalized it because this chapter pretty much wrote itself. just a heads up: all of my political knowledge comes from political sitcoms, so sorry in advance if i get some things wrong. another warning is that there are still some very unhealthy relationship dynamics at play here, so promise me you won’t be like reader okay?

previous chapter / series masterlist

Is Andy Barber Really the Best for Our Nation’s Future?

Opinion

by Y/N L/N

Feb 7, 2021, 4:36 PM ET

After tonight’s debate, the question that’s begged is if Andrew Barber is truly fit to run our country. Although he’s clearly a front runner for his party’s nomination, he’s shown time and time again that he may actually be our weakest candidate.

His weaknesses were highlighted during the debate, with his dodged questions and vague answers. At this point in time, it’s hard to tell if Barber has a platform at all.

With Super Tuesday just around the corner, I ask you to reevaluate your support for Barber. Though a charming candidate, it seems that that’s all he has, his charm. His policies are weak, and borderline impossible, and he certainly isn’t the right person to become the most powerful man in the world.

—-

When you became conscious, you were no better than unconscious. Your eyes opened and were immediately met with a harshness from the sun peeking through a window. You shifted away from the brightness, body sinking into a memory foam mattress while your nude form rubbed against similarly soft sheets. You sleepily rubbed your eyes before they flitted throughout the room you were in. Observing an oddly clean, generic looking area, you’d quickly connected the dots that you were in a hotel room. A rather fancy one at that. 

Soft breathing came from next to you, and as you turned your head a bit more, you were met with the back of a fluffy and dark haired man. You weren’t completely sure, but judging by your history of finding your way to Steve, you’d assumed that it was some alternate form of your partner.

The man in bed next to you yawned, and haphazardly threw an arm in your direction, before rolling over to greet you, “morning sunshine,” he slurred sleepily.

The beard was a bit of a surprise to you. Though you’d begged and begged your Steve to keep it, he often refused for one reason or another. Seeing the man next to you who (what was now much clearer to you) a version of your boyfriend, was a rather pleasant surprise. 

“Morning,” you responded in an equally sleepy manner, ignoring the rhythmic vibration coming from your night stand.

“Mm, you should get that,” he mumbled, pressing a disoriented peck to the side of your head while you reached over to grab your phone, which you could now see was the perpetrator of the vibrations.

“Hello?” you asked into the phone.

“Are you dumb? Or are you fucking stupid?” Aaliyah’s voice scolded through the phone. “Do you know what kind of position you’ve put me in? This is a fucking mess, Y/N. All for some dick? How could you be so careless?! Jesus!”

“What are you talking about?” You glanced over at Andy, and sat up a bit, pulling the crisp blankets over your body in an attempt to retain some form of modesty.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You’re fucking Andy Barber, but you’re writing articles about him like you just watched him kill your dog. You realize that this puts all of us at risk, right? You’re gonna lose your job, I’m gonna lose my job since I decided to edit and publish your shit, and you and I will lose any sort of journalistic integrity we’ve ever had, or will have, for the rest of goddamn time! Seriously, you could’ve had anyone, but Andy Barber? Andrew fucking Barber?” she groaned over the line.

“Uh, I’ll uh, call you back,” you whispered.

“You’re joking right? Are you with him right now?”

“Aaliyah!”

“Oh my god, you’re with him right now. You’re a fucking mess,” she huffed before hanging up.

Why did the universe have to send you off to such a shitshow?

You rolled out of bed, and sulked into the bathroom, desperate to find out what was going on. While sitting on the toilet, you scrolled through the wall of notifications; tweets directed at you, messages from confused friends begging you to call them when you had a chance, and even the occasional concerned email. 

You grimaced as you read through each one of them, eventually clicking on the article that many seemed to be referencing, which included a paparazzi photo of you and this Andy Barber character entering a hotel together sometime in the late night to early morning, partnered with an article or two of your own criticizing him. At first, you wondered if he was some sort of celebrity, but what you ultimately found out was much worse. 

He was a politician. A senator who was running to be president.

You screamed into your hands, before tossing your phone aside, and starting a warm shower for yourself. Perhaps the shower could help jog your memory a bit. 

Stepping into the steamy chamber, and letting the water pelt down onto you did do wonders for you, and it gave you a moment of focus. With both your memories from this universe, along with the information you’d been given through your phone, you were able to piece a few aspects of the universe together.

You were a journalist, a popular one at that, Andy was Steve, but not Steve, and also a presidential candidate. Aaliyah was your editor, and a higher-up at the Times, and you were about to have your ass handed to you over an affair. At least Andy wasn’t married.

Your shower must’ve taken longer than you’d expected, as there was a soft knock on the door after some time. 

“Everything okay in there?” a slightly muffled voice asked.

“Yeah. Just peachy. Why aren’t you more worried about this?” you called back.

“I have a good publicist. And campaign manager. I just have a good team,” Andy paused briefly. “When you’re ready, room service is ready.”

----

Over aggressive mouthfuls of fresh fruit and bitter coffee, you conversed with Andy.

“How are we gonna fix this?” You questioned while setting down your fork.

“Well, it’s simple. We just have to find some kind of spin to this whole story. Maybe you were just interviewing me, or getting a soundbite from me.” “Why would you agree to get a soundbite from someone who clearly has it out for you?” You set your fork down, and crossed your arms over your white robe clad chest. 

“That’s a good question,” Andy nodded a bit, “a good question for someone else to answer.”

“Why don’t we let your publicist figure out how to play this?”

“I’d say I’m a bit of an expert at this at this point, but I’ll call my team.”

“You do that, I need to assess the damage to my career,” you huffed, moving to sit on the bed so that you could aggressively scroll on your phone in peace.

Andy called someone, and you patiently waited while he chatted with them. 

“Okay, Y/N. We can’t leave through the front, so my guy’s gonna pick us up in the garage. We have like, half an hour,” he tossed his phone aside, then maneuvered himself to get in bed with you, setting both hands down on either side of you, and placing a soft kiss on your lips. He slowly began to inch down your body, untying the belt of your robe as he did so, when you interrupted him.

“What do you think you’re doing, Andrew?”

“We have time.” He looked up at you.

“We are not doing this. What do you think got us into this mess in the first place?” you frowned, moving one of his hands so you could slide away from him. 

“Are you serious?”

“Yes! Why aren’t you taking this seriously! Do you realize that both of our careers are at stake here? I don’t want to lose my job because I’m having an affair with you. You shouldn’t want to lose a shot at office for a woman you’re not even with.”

“Come on, we’ve been doing this for almost a year, and you only have a problem with it now?”

“Yes! The public had no idea before! They’re going batshit now! And the worst part is that I’m the one taking the most heat,” you sighed, and Andy gave you a frown. 

“I’m sorry, Y/N. You know I didn’t want this to happen.”

“It’s kinda too late for sorries now.” 

——

You stepped out of your suite about five minutes after Andy left, suitcase in tow, blocky sunglasses on your face, and a heathered grey peacoat draped over your shoulders. Although you were stressed from the controversy you’d found yourself in, you couldn’t help but feel the buzz of excitement from having to hide from the paparazzi. At the same time, you felt quite bad for this version of yourself.

When you finally got out to the designated Cadillac, you asked for his driver to roll up the partition, like you’d done a million times before, then looked out of the tinted windows. The ride was pretty awkward, considering you were in no mood to talk to Andy, and Andy felt bad about the issues he’d imposed on you from his own carelessness. He set a cautious hand on top of yours, and though you were agitated, it did brighten your mood the slightest bit. 

After what felt like forever, you arrived at his campaign building, and you were ushered into a small, soundproof space, with a large and round pine table in the center of it. Surrounding the table was a very tired looking Aaliyah, and… Tony Stark? 

“How’s everyone’s weekend been?” Tony asked, breaking the ice as you and Andy settled into your seats.

“Are we really doing small talk right now?” Aaliyah deadpanned, “sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“Alright, straight to the elephant in the room then. You two were out spotted, big deal, happens all the time to politicians and their mistresses-“

“I’m not his mistress! You know this, Tony,” you huffed.

“Tony knew and not me?” Aaliyah gasped.

“Well-“ you began. 

“Save it.”

“It was on a very need-to-know basis,” you muttered.

“Back to what I was saying. I suggest that we don’t address it, unless addressed.”

“I don’t know if you’re dense, or what, but that’s the exact opposite of what we need to do. We have to get on top of this story before the story is that you,” Aaliyah gestured at you, “are packing your shit at the Times.”

The door shot open, and quickly closed. A slightly flustered blonde man stumbled through. “Sorry to interrupt,” he began.

Aaliyah rolled her eyes at this notion, muttering a ‘sure you are’ to herself. 

“We just finished polling numbers, and Andy, you’re up?” He projected the screen of his iPad onto a TV in the room, then passed the device over to Andy on his way to sit down.

“Thanks, Vis,” he gave him a curt nod.

“Why would our candidate allegedly hooking up with someone who hates him boost him in the polls?” Tony asked.

“Middle America loves a family man, you know that,” Vision said in a matter of faculty manner. “Andy has had a hard time connecting with that demographic because when they see him, they see an Elitist East-coaster.”

“Hooking up with a hot reporter does not make you a family man,” Aaliyah retorted.

“That brings me to my next point. If you don’t mind, I’d like to add a proposal of my own,” Vision stated, and received a shrug from the rest of the room. “Well, if we need to put a spin on this, the obvious choice is to explain that they’ve been seeing each other the whole time. Under wraps, of course. The photos the paparazzi received are not damning by any means, and look more romantic than sexual, to be quite frank. Y/N wrote those articles to throw the public off her scent, and she didn’t really believe anything she said, and Andy? He’s just a good, all American man who was tired of keeping his relationship under wraps. Everything’s to gain from this plan.”

“Well, I lose my journalistic integrity. That’s a pretty big loss to me. I may never work again,” you rubbed your forehead in a distraught manner.

“You won’t have to worry about working when you’re the First Lady. Think about it, if we can get votes from the swing states, we’ve secured enough electoral votes to have a Barber win. All over a little character rebrand.”

“Excuse me, the First Lady?” You nervously glanced between Vision and Aaliyah while you attempted to pick your jaw up from the floor.

“Well, yes. We can’t exactly get the full ‘family man’ look without Mr. Barber being a real husband.“

“Are we talking, real wedding?” Aaliyah questioned.

“Yes. You just have to be legally bound together for around four years, eight years tops. About twelve would be preferable, but I understand that not everything works out.”

“I don’t object to that,” Andy winked and nudged you a bit.

What a mess.

“Back to what I was saying, we’ll probably need about a two week PR period before we do a press briefing announcing the engagement. Give or take. During that time, we could have your publicist arrange all sorts of good photo ops for you two.”

“Either way, my career is ruined,” you sighed, and Andy set his hand on your back.

“Sorry, sweetheart.”

“You don’t have to do that. We’re not currently standing in front of 30 cameras.”

“Well, we should prepare for when we are in front of 30 cameras.”

“Is it though?” Vision interjected, bringing you and Andy back from your aside. “We can just deflect, maybe have a few of your friends make articles about how what you did wasn’t all that bad.”

“Is it not a valid criticism of me that I was sleeping around with the person who I was also slandering?”

“Is it not possible to criticize someone you care about? In fact, helping someone learn how to improve can be very romantic,” Vision shrugged. 

There was a brief silence throughout the bunch while everyone pondered a counter argument. 

“That right there, that kind of insight is why we call you the Vision,” Tony shook his head and proudly clapped the man on his back.

“So it’s settled then? We’re really doing this?” You glanced around at your peers while Aaliyah spoke. “Any objections, love birds?”

Andy shrugged, “I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life with her.”

You, on the other hand, weren’t so sure. 

——

Barber and his Greatest Critic Break Bread Together on Friday

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Y/N L/N Announces She’s Not Resigning from Senior Position, and That She’s Been Seeing Barber!

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BREAKING! Barber Announces Relationship with Critic Y/N L/N

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Is L/Nber the Ship that Shows us How Relationships Are More Powerful than Politics?

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Our New Favorite Political Power Couple Showed Up Together at a Rally, and We Couldn’t Be More Excited.

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Barber 7 Points Ahead in the Polls, Leaving Loguidice and Kline Trailing Far Behind

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Was Y/N Really in the Wrong?

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“L/Nber” Celebrate Valentine’s Day Together 

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These L/Nber House Hunting Photos Are Giving Us Life!

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This was your reality for the next two weeks. The news cycle was filled with a plethora of articles about you, some criticizing you, some criticizing Andy, but most, supporting the two of you in your romantic endeavors. Unsurprisingly, the world loved a good story about two attractive people getting together. 

During this period, you didn’t particularly feel like leaving, though the thought had certainly crossed your mind. You just weren’t sure that you wanted to be dealing with those terrible symptoms again in the midst of an already stressful stage of your life. At the same time, it seemed like the universe was not going to be fair with your time in this reality. You were convinced that you were here for the long haul, or at least, until Andy proposed to you. 

Although it was a bit annoying, cameras around every corner, a watchful eye on everything that you or Andy even considered doing, you found yourself growing on Andy. In some ways, he was a bit more intense than Steve, whose personality had mellowed out a bit since the Snap.

This had been the first time in all of your travels where you felt like ‘Steve’ was the one pursuing you, and in all honesty, it made you feel good. Even if everything the two of you did had an aftertaste of artificiality.

You spent more and more time with him every day, staying together with him in hotels across the country, visiting local businesses with him to get the perfect photo op, and attending galas with donors. It seemed like in every candid photo of Andy, you weren’t too far behind. By the time the day of your proposal arrived, you weren’t even all that opposed to the marriage. 

When the proposal finally arrived, the two of you were sat inside a rather fancy restaurant, finishing up your meal when Andy settled on one knee in front of you, “Y/N,” he began, and you felt the all too familiar tremble of your watch on your wrist. 

You almost had to restrain yourself from exclaiming out loud. It’s not that you didn’t like Andy or anything, he’d genuinely grown on you. In the least cheesy way, it wasn’t him, but you. Being somewhere so unfamiliar for so long had begun to create a cumulative exhaustion that wore a bit more on you every day. Feeling homesick was an understatement.

You brought your hands up to your face, and gasped dramatically, squeezing your eyes shut to see if you could possibly produce a few tears, while mobile cameras and a few professional flashes were directed towards you. A few warm droplets slipped down your face, and for a moment you weren’t even sure how fake they were. It seemed like once they started, they couldn’t stop.

You missed Steve, your Steve, the man you’d fallen in love with. You missed your friends, teammates, and family. You missed the stability of knowing what the world held for you next. 

In the midst of Andy’s proposal, in what should’ve been the happiest moment of your life, all you could focus on was your overwhelming desire to have a sense of normalcy in your life once again. 

——

You woke up in a cold sweat, heart racing in your chest, and shaking your ribcage. You looked up to the ceiling of what you had grown to know was your room in the Compound, your real room, and felt your eyes well up in tears that stung you. 

You sat up, and took as deep of a breath as you could manage, when you noticed Wanda sitting by your bedside.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” she said softly, coming closer to you, offering you a glass of water before sitting at the foot of your bed. 

“Where’s Steve?” you asked, trying to gauge where you were. 

“Honey,” she sighed softly. “I’m so sorry. He’s still missing.”

Your lip trembled as you took a sip. You really were back home. 

“I know you’re hurting, but when you feel a little better, we’re going to Medbay. Banner decided that we should probably keep an eye on your vitals, but you were gone before we even had the chance to get you there.”

You gulped down the water, then set it on your bedside table, “so was that all just a dream or something? Why isn’t Steve back?” you huffed frustratedly.

“I don’t know why he isn’t back, but I don’t think you were dreaming. I was trying to watch your dreams, but I couldn’t read you, or your thoughts at all.”

“Hmm,” you mumbled, throwing your legs over the side of the bed, “let’s go.”

As you settled into the cold, and sterile medical facility you were hooked up to a plethora of monitors, and a cacophony of devices beeped as they read your physical state. 

You tuned out the words being spoken around you, zoning out and looking forward to your vital signs monitor. Your mind wandered to your last few thoughts in your previous reality, the desperation to come back, to see your estranged lover again. You couldn’t help but to feel disappointed, lamenting the fact that you’d found your way home, yet felt the ever present void in your heart where your Steve used to be.

“Y/N?” a voice asked you, and you glanced in its general direction. “What happened while you were out? What did you see? Did it work?” Bruce pelted you with questions.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it yet,” you sighed softly, bringing a hand up to your neck and rubbing it. “The watch worked though, I was definitely in other universes. I just couldn’t reach him. Bring him home. I failed.”

“Do you think he’s really out there?” Bruce whispered to Wanda hoping that you might not pick up on it.

“I’m… I don’t know. I just don’t know how likely it is that we’ll manage to find him,” she responded in a hushed tone. You bit back tears as she spoke, resuming your empty gaze on the pixelated green text of your heart rate on the monitor.

“I’m sorry, guys. I have to go back,” you interrupted. “I can’t give up on Steve yet. I know he wouldn’t give up on me.”

“Y/N, you could be gone for centuries before you find him, then return back here with no time passed at all, and possibly no Steve. You don’t deserve to take on all of that pain,” Wanda set a hand on your shoulder. “Steve would’ve wanted you to move on from him. To find happiness without him.”

“I can’t do that, Wanda. Without him I don’t even know who I am,” your voice trembled as you spoke. “He’s literally been my only tether through all of this.”

“I just don’t know that this is the best thing we could be doing. Sure, you’re physically fine, but it almost seems like you’re doing worse emotionally than you were before you left,” Bruce added.

“I’m not!” you sniffled before continuing. “I’m just tired from going to all those new places.”

Bruce and Wanda didn’t seem too convinced. “Don’t you guys believe in me? When have I let you down on a mission before? I’m gonna find him, okay? I’ll find him if it’s the last fucking thing I do,” you blubbered.

Wanda’s hand slid down your shoulder, and to the watch that was currently on your wrist.

“Don’t,” you uttered, swinging your opposite hand to grab onto your own wrist. You were aware that there was absolutely no way you could overpower her in taking the watch from you, but even in your minor hysterics, you were able to think fast enough to press the round button before the watch was able to be taken off of you.

You, and your wrist shook. Wrist shaking from the watch, and promise of sending you elsewhere, and you from a mixture of sobs and adrenaline. Though not the most ideal exit, it was an exit nonetheless.

You weren’t even sure if you cared that you were on good terms with your teammates anymore. 

You just needed to be with Steve again.

[lalahbug]

Can’t You Love At All? - Levi x Reader

Fandom: Attack on Titan Word Count: 2,222

My Masterlist

Warnings/disclaim: general It’s got some PG-13ish stuff,

Author’s Note: Originally posted on DeviantArt, under the same username, on 01/22/2017. Revamped/edited in 2020. 

___ is a blank for your name/oc/whatever you prefer Written in 3rd person

Line/header is to separate paragraphs to indicate time skips, as Tumblr hates my formatting. 

Story under cut

          Levi watched her intently, as she sat with her squad, chatting about things from the training that day. He watched her walk over once Hange called her over.

          “Why don’t you sit at the Squad Leader table, like you're supposed to? Do you like your squad more than us?” Hange whined. ___ stared at her blankly. She was always calm, composed, rare smiles, and giggles. She was so very kind and caring, but it was clear, after being in the Survey Corps for years, she didn’t have much emotion left to her.

          “I have to make sure they know me, trust me. My last squad didn’t, that’s why I lost all but one of them. I can’t make that mistake again.”

          “You care so much about them, but I never see you look back with regret.”

          She glanced at Erwin. “If I let one death get to me, they all will. Erwin taught me the hard way.” She looked back at Hange, pushing some hair from her face. “You need a bath, you stink.”

          “Well, thanks, Levi.” Hange joked at her.

          “Personal hygiene shouldn’t be a chore, Hange. Take care of yourself sometimes.”

          “I can say the same to you.”

          “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

          “Relax! Go find someone to hang with besides your squad, go visit your sister on your days off. Take some time to yourself.”

          “I don’t need things like that. I am writing to my sister. I don’t need to visit her. I do my paperwork, train my squad, take care of myself, and read before going to bed.”

          “Don’t lie, we all know you don’t sleep.”

          “I sleep as much as I need. I can’t help that.”

          “Awww, I want you to find someone special though!” Hange leaned on ___, glancing at Levi, knowing of his crush on her.

          “There’s not a man on this planet I can trust to stay alive long enough for me to do so. Get off, I need to get back to my paperwork.” ___ pushed Hange off her before leaving.

          “Shorty! You’ve got to tell her.” Hange whined.

          “Tell her what?” Erwin asked.

          “That he likes her!”

          “Shut up, Shitty Glasses.”

          “I didn’t know you like ___,” Erwin commented.

          Levi rolled his eyes and left.

          The next day was much of the same, but the conversation carried into relationships. Mainly past ones. “What about you, ___? What’s your favorite memory with a past lover?” Hange raised an eyebrow at her.

          “I don’t have one.”

          “What?! Why not?”

          “Because I’ve never had a lover.”

          “You’re funny!” Hange pushed her shoulder, but she just looked at Hange like she was stupid. “What! Really? Does that mean you’re a virgin?” Everyone looked at ___, wanting to know.

          “None of your fucking business.” ___ glared.

          “You are,” Mike commented, which made ___ blush a bit. A rare sight, everyone stared at her in awe.

          “What? How do you know, Mike?” He tapped his nose. “Are you saying you can smell out virgins? That’s gross but very interesting!” Hange leaned closer to him.

          “I’m going to bed.” ___ stood up and left.

          “That’s a bit shocking because of how pretty she is,” Erwin commented. “But then again, she never wants to get too close to anyone.”

          “Don’t you want to jump her Levi?” Hange giggled.

          “No.” He deadpanned, he stood up and left as well.

          Levi ran a hand through his hair, what everyone didn’t know, was that he had already confessed to ___. Almost a year ago, she flat out denied him and walked off. It still stung his heart to think about it. A knock at his door irritated him.

          “What?”

          ___ opened his door. “Erwin said you had my half of paperwork. I came to get it.” She walked up to his desk, scanning it.

          “You could just fucking help me with it. A lot of it will have to come back to me for approval anyways.”

          “Alright.” She sat down in the chair across from him. Extending her hand out. “Give it here, I’ll get it done then leave.”

          Levi silently handed her the paperwork. He relished moments like these. They were extremely rare, but he was able to enjoy her presence. Glancing up at her occasionally. Her posture was really cute, all curled up, writing away on the stack in her lap, bored eye and lips slightly parted.

          A few hours had passed before Levi looked up at her again. Shocked to see her asleep, her head resting against her fist, relaxed, softly breathing. He couldn’t help but smile at her, ignoring his annoyance that she fell asleep while doing paperwork. He noticed her breathe deeply before slowly opening her eyes, scanning her lap. She continued working, as though she never fell asleep. Levi loved this, but hated it at the same time, his feelings for her were only growing stronger.

          ___ adjusted herself up onto her horse, Hange had finally got the funds to capture and test another Titan. Levi was behind, staring at her back, she glanced over her shoulder at him. She had felt his eyes on her. He looked back over to Hange.

          Everything was pretty calm while they set up the traps. ___ and Levi were sent out to go draw in some Titans. She was spinning a leaf in her hand looking down at the Titans on the ground. “Oi!” She glanced up at Levi. “Pay attention, brat.”

          “I am, I’m just doing something to keep thoughts at bay.”

          “Just don’t fuck up. I don’t have time to deal with Shitty Glasses and saving your ass.”

          “You’ve never had to save me before. Don’t get your panties in a twist, I can take care of myself. If I get in trouble, just let me die from my own stupidity.”

          “You’re a bitch.”

          “Proud to be if it means staying sane and alive.” Her face was as emotionless as his, which pissed him off.

          “Brat.” She shook her head a bit.

          A flare was spotted so ___ shot off, not waiting for Levi, knowing he could easily catch up. Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance before going after her. His eyes widened as a variant jumped up and pulled down on her wires, throwing her into a tree.

          “Fuck.” She grumbled while slowly standing up, looking at the Titan, eye to eye. “That was just fucking rude. You could have broken my gear!” She scolded him, she had no fear of the Titans, which is why she got along with Hange so well. Moments later, Levi came by, taking the Titan down.

          “I told you to pay attention! Now you’re getting blood everywhere!” He lectured her, he was worried about the amount of blood gushing from her head.

          “It’s a head wound, there’s always more blood than necessary. Let’s just finish this and head home.”

          “Tch. Can’t you be more careful?”

          “Nope.” She gave him a sarcastic smirk, before shooting off.

          While heading back with the captured Titans, Levi made sure to keep ___ close to him. She protested, but Hange could see how the blood loss was getting to her. Since Hange was in charge of this mission, ___ listened. So she sat in front of Levi on his horse. He tried very hard to focus on anything but her and how she would occasionally bump back into him.

               “Get off me. I’m fine.” ___ waved off a nurse trying to wrap her arm because of the scraps from hitting the tree.

          “You’ll get infected, hold still, brat.” Levi lectured her, she glared as the nurse wrapped up her arm.

          “Can’t you mind your own fucking business?” She spat at him, he gritted his teeth until the nurse left the room.

          “Can’t you love at all?” Levi growled at her, which caught her off guard for a moment. She gave him a softer look, pulling her eyebrows together with a mix of concern and annoyance. He sighed at her, he loves her too damn much to stay mad. “Do you not remember?”

          “What are you talking about?”

          “Are you fucking serious?” He glared at her. Scanning her face, seeing how her hair was a bit messed up from the bandage wrapped around her forehead.

          “Are you talking about that half-assed confession you gave?”

          “What do you mean, half-assed?”

          “You just walked up, said you loved me then just stared at me, no emotion. Of course, I’m not going to respond to that weak ass shit.”

          “Well, what the fuck did you expect?”

          “A man.” ___ deadpanned, Levi took a deep breath and decided to leave before fighting with her.

          “Hey, Shorty. How is ___?”

          “She’s a bitch.”

          “What why?”

          “A year after confessing to her, she fucking tells me it’s because I’m not a man.”

          “Wait! She already knows?” Hange squealed.

          “I told her last year.”

          “What happened?!”

          “What the fuck do you think happened, she blew me off!”

          “Why?”

          “Something about a weak confession.”

          “You didn’t kiss her or pull her close?”

          “What? Of course not.”

          “Well, that’s why Shorty! If you love her, don’t be scared to show her. That’s why she didn’t accept you. She likes you, I know it.”

          “Are you fucking serious?”

          “You’re so aggressive and certain in everything you do. How could she trust your confession if you couldn’t show her your normal passion? Can you even show love at all?”

          “Fucking, brat.” Levi turned on his heel to go back to the infirmary.

          “Where the fuck is she?”

          “Hello, Captain. Squad Leader ___ checked out to go to her room for rest.” He clicked his tongue before heading towards her room.

                    Levi threw open her room. “Oi, brat!” He barked at her, but froze in place, noticing she was in the process of taking off her shirt. Her face flushed.

          “Get out!” ___ hugged her shirt to her chest.

          “What the fuck is that?” Levi closed her door, pointing at the wound on her side.

          “I got cut when the Titan threw me.”

          “Then why didn’t you tell the nurse?”

          “It’s not that bad, it just needs cleaning. It doesn’t even need to be patched. Now git!” She barked at him. Levi walked towards her, which was making her back up until her bare back touched the wall. “Go away, Levi!” Her face was burning up.

          Levi placed his hands on either side of her face. “I like it when you blush. It’s so rare but very enticing.” He kissed her neck, she pushed him off, causing her shirt to fall from her hand.

          “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” She demanded an answer. She could feel her heart hammering inside her chest. “Levi!” She squeaked as he pressed her up against the wall more.

          “Oh, if I would have known this is how you would have reacted. I would have done this a long time ago. I never could have imagined your reactions like this.” He chuckled before kissing her neck more.

          “Levi! Stop!” She placed her hands on his chest, trying to push away.

          Levi stopped for a moment, looking into her eyes. “I love you, ___.” He pressed his mouth to hers, not waiting for any rejection. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him. She still struggled against him a bit. “Let me love you.” He whispered, huskily, still not giving her time to respond. He pressed his lips against hers again, then nipping her bottom lip. ___ let out a strangled whimper, gripping on his shirt. Levi’s heart jumped at her reaction, shoving his tongue into her mouth, pressing his body against hers, so there was no space between them. They fought for dominance, ___ won for a brief moment, but Levi grabbed her ass, distracting her long enough for him to dominate her.

          Levi pulled back and rested his forehead against hers, ___ kept her eyes closed while she tried to catch her breath. Levi drank in her flush face, slightly parted lips, and noticed how long her eyelashes are. ___ opened her (e/c) eyes, meeting steel blues drinking in her face. Levi wanted to stare at her all day, this the closest he’s been to her in years. If it weren’t for that one day in training where he wrestled her to the ground, he never would have noticed how soft her skin looked.

          He put a cool hand on her cheek, she shivered slightly at his cooling touch. He examined how the small peach fuzz on her face stood up as he ran a thumb across her cheekbone. He smirked when he noticed the glance she did at his lips. Her heat radiant off of her face at the sight of his smile.

          “I love you, ___,” Levi whispered, he wanted an answer now.

          “I can see that.” She gave him her rare breathtaking smile, they always made his heart jump.

          “Brat.” She giggled and rubbed her nose on his. He couldn’t believe he was getting to see this side of her. It was so heartwarming.

          “You can’t die, now. You’ve taken too many of my bricks.”

          “I didn’t plan to. If you die. I’ll fucking hurt you.” She giggled at his stupid joke.

          Their faces resting back to their normal places, but they were both extremely content holding onto each other.

[artificialqueens]

Cause Though the Truth May Vary, This Ship Will Carry (Gigi/Nicky) - Campvanjie

AN: Based on the prompt: “You weren’t supposed to hear that.” - “Well, you shouldn’t be saying it then.” A slight AU Gigi/Nicky, little bit of unrequited crushing and a lot of fate, originally posted to my old AO3 account on May 24th, 2020. Edited as well to add non-binary pronouns for Gigi out of drag, as the original used male pronouns. Don’t worry, I’m the original author and only want all of my stories collected under one pen name.

Summary: Nicky and Gigi strike up a friendship online, but just can’t meet until the time’s exactly right.

CW: slight mentions of homophobia.

The sun’s almost setting on an August day when Gigi flicks through the games in their library, bored of sniping enemies from rooftops, set on finding something else that has a competitive mode, kicking underneath the bed to find their headset. It would probably be best to at least try to talk to other people, and maybe even count up all the times people call each other gay without even realizing they’re talking to someone, who’s made sixteen dollars an hour dressing up as a girl and working at the rock climbing wall for all of high school.

There’s gay, and then there’s Gigi Goode; with a closet hanging full of custom couture, not that they’d ever admit to their mom that her work isn’t the worst.

There’s only one player in the team’s group chat, as Gigi adjusts their headset so they can talk into the mic.

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

“Hi!”, laughs the voice in his headphones; crackling as Gigi shoots and blows apart a box in the game’s lobby. There’s an accent there he can’t quite place, not that it matters so much, since the guy on the other end easily guides him through the map and even cracks a couple of jokes as one of the other team’s players is booted off a cliff. Maybe he’s Spanish, or Russian, since there are lot of Russian people on the server at this time of almost- night.  

They queue for another round, his player’s character stopping next to a poster of one of the girls in the game.

“I like her, do you?”, he asks, and Gigi cringes a little. Straight guys were fucking exhausting, but this was just embarrassing-

“Like, this coat, with the belt like this, makes her waist look like she is a wasp. The insect, not the white people.”, he keeps talking, and Gigi’s eyes widen a little.

“Yeah, I’d buy those boots.”, they joke, hoping that whoever it is, will take it in stride, and he won’t have to listen to someone who’d been cool for the past half an hour, suddenly start losing their mind over how gay that was to say out loud.

“The boots? I want this hair- I want just Mortal Kombat hair but like this color, and maybe instead of a gun I want the scepter, like Sailor Jupiter. You’ve seen that, yes?”

Gigi blinks a couple of times. He’s serious?

“Like, of course. Yeah.”

“She’s a Mugler bitch. Hm, aren’t you?”, the voice teases on the other end; kicking at one of the boxes in the game.

Gigi is silent, as their queue timer runs out, and their team join another game which is already active when they’re dropped in.

“It’s the Hermes winter collection.”

“What?”

“That jacket is a dupe from the Hermes winter collection. You said Mugler-”, Gigi repeats, blasting through a wall in the game.

“Oh- oh you’re saying- this past winter! Of course! Maybe someone on the design team is also a fan?”

“Maybe.”

The two of them finish the round, and Gigi eagerly hits yes; when a little box pops up to add TheNickyDoll to their friends list.

(Gigi adds him back on Discord, too- because they’re probably not taking the Xbox to college, and then, they can send pictures right away.

He’s not a serial killer, and he’s cute.

Gigi can’t help but wonder if Nicky thinks the same of them.)

They slowly knit together in between Gigi’s first semester, and when Nicky moves into a new apartment in the eleventh arrondissement in Paris, and pops a bottle of champagne against his camera on his phone, propped up in his new kitchen. He plays with the zipper on his hoodie, and Gigi still can’t help but be surprised with how simple his wardrobe is.

Gigi spends hours carefully curating their wardrobe, though they supposed in Europe, there were just better pickings.

“Don’t you have friends?”, Gigi jokes, shirtless against the white brick walls of their dorm.

“Everyone will be over later, but I just wanted to do a toast for your timezone. It will be like three am for you when everyone else gets off work.”

“So this is a private party? Well… okay let me get my card.”

“Seriously? Not that kind of party!”

“Didn’t say it was. Congratulations, by the way. I got you something! Well like, I found it, and it’s so you-“

Gigi flicks the camera to face forwards, swinging to a painting hanging in the closet.

“Aw, well you didn’t have to- what the fuck is that?”

“Putin! I painted him in like the eighth grade. My mom was dropping off some stuff last weekend and I can mail him-“

Nicky’s eyebrows shoot up, pots and pans clattering on the other end of the line.

“Bitch, I am trying to not be the victim of a hate crime.”

Gigi laughs a little bit, flipping the camera back to focus on their face.

“I never asked, what do you even do?”

“What?”

“Like you- you have a job right? What’s your job?”

“Ah, I’m working, well I worked at a makeup store, but now I have some contracts, and maybe, you know- this neighborhood is where all the bars and the clubs are. If there’s no work on the runways maybe some will be looking for new girls.”

Gigi’s cheeks run hot for a moment.

“Wait, you- you’re a girl?”, they ask weakly, hoping it won’t absolutely ruin their entire… whatever it is, when you’d rather have a private housewarming alone in bed, than pretend to enjoy the beers that are flowing through the rest of the hall downstairs.

“Only when I’m being paid. Do you know- well, you have to in America you have RuPaul’s show- it’s like that-“

“You do drag? Wait, really?”

“Shhhh.”, he stops them, pressing a finger between his lips. “It’s like, I haven’t got any bookings yet but some of the clubs are interested- some of the parties, too. I can be a bottle girl.”

Gigi simply blinks repeatedly in the screen.

“What- is that too gay? I thought we were both pretty gay.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Hey-“, Gigi keeps the camera on their face, their eyes flicking up towards the naked mannequin resting against the closet door. Most of Gigi’s things were still at home, but there was a black feathered swimsuit they’d been working on- if they took out the waist just a bit-

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Wow, we are getting deep in, Dr Phil.”

“Seriously, what is it?”

“I’m feeling pink recently. Usually just- something simple. Blue. Black. It’s soothing.”

“Black is not a color.”  

“Then it’s my favorite not-color.” Nicky pours from the bottle into a flute on her counter. “Get something to drink, come on.”

“Uh-“

“Doesn’t matter what. Come on!”

Gigi reaches for Red Bull, yesterday’s alcohol mixed into it, tangy and stale in the metal can.

“Okay.”

“Pace a Salute!”, Nicky cheers, and they clink their drinks against the camera.

-

Two months later, there’s a wrapped package on his stoop, covered in foreign postage, wet at the edges like it’s been through- what Americans would call the ringer, the labels so scratched over he can barely make out the return address, when he cuts the cardboard open on his kitchen counter.

If this was that stupid Putin painting, he was deleting Gigi from his entire life-

Inside, is fabric folded in paper, a little cloth ribbon tied around where a card is tucked in.

“I dont know what your actual skin tone is because you need better lights but merry Christmas if it doesn’t fit or doesn’t match sell it on eBay and get better lights”,

Gigi has written, in neat, large letters.

Nicky carefully unfurls the rest of it, and there’s a blue and pink bodysuit inside, accented with green and yellow panels that glitter like the facets of a diamond, and a yellow jacket, the bottom cut off just below the ribs, hemmed in thick stitches so the fabric won’t roll up.

Had Gigi gone and had this made? Or was it off the rack?, he wondered, digging for price tags and labels in the fabric.

Nothing.

Shit.

He fires off a message to Gigi, who is still showing as offline, given it’s probably six in the morning where he is.

14:17

-

How much is this “gift” you got me? Wtf…

FaceTime me later.

There’s predictably no response, and that night; he paints carefully in the mirror in his bedroom, laying out the little black dress he had chosen for the performance on his bed.

At the very last minute though, it’s that little suit from Gigi that wins out, nude panels sliding over his tights as he shimmies in front of the mirror.

It’s not perfect, but it all looks very nice.

When later comes, Gigi is wearing a red wig with blonde streaks that she runs her long fingers through, winking at the camera.

“My mom’s actually a professional seamstress. It didn’t cost anything, babe.”, she says with a little shrug, a tight yellow dress barely moving around his shoulders. There’s always a party here; and Gigi can’t imagine hating it more, the little college town bigger than he was used to, and yet still- too small for what she really wanted.

“If you want other stuff, I’ll send it. There’s lots of stuff that I don’t really wear anymore and we kind of have the same style. It’s not like anyone can say anything, then they’d have to admit they’ve seen me out in public. Or I could even make you something, I’m bored all the time.”

“Why are you doing this?”, Nicky asks.

“I dunno. It’s not like you’re my competition. You’re my friend.”

19:41

-

Anyway, I’m dropping out of school, getting a nose job and moving out to LA.

Gigi types out on their phone, underneath the table at their family’s annual thanksgiving dinner.

19:41

-

Maybe not all at once.

Nicky’s reply comes lightning fast- making Gigi grin.

“Are you seriously getting nudes right now?”, one of their brothers asks, and their mother glares at the both of them over the table.

“I’m getting some new sketches from my atlier in Paris.”, they seethe, glancing back down at the floor. Nicky’s been trying to teach him French, like it’s something that occupies them so that Gigi doesn’t implode; in between sending him links to his favorite shows to watch, and YouTube links to makeup tutorials.

(He still hasn’t figured out if Nicky means it; or if he’s trying to be shady, and just doesn’t know how.)

“Atlier is where you get the clothes made, dumbass. Mom’s sewing room isn’t Paris.”

“Shut up!”

“All of you just stop-”

19:43

-

It’s a hard time in life in general.

Try not to listen so much to those voices in your head.

Nicky’s text pops up with a loud, mechanical pinging noise, three dots still hovering under the message as Gigi forces looks up from the screen and glowers across the table as they reach for more baby carrots.

19:43

-

Make mistakes, but not too many, haha. You’ll figure it out.

If it makes you feel a little bit better, I’m moving to San Fran

19:43

-

What? For real?

Gigi’s nails frantically tap over the screen.

19:45

-

Yes! I bought a ticket.

And my husband called an immigration lawyer, we’re going to get my green card situation set.

“Lawyer-”, Gigi gasps; and their entire family pauses, glancing over the table at them.

“Jesus Christ. You did it, didn’t you? You got arrested your first semester, and you weren’t even gonna tell us-”

“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”, they snap, flipping the bird at their oldest brother.

“Well, you shouldn’t be saying it then.”

Their whole table erupts in a discussion Gigi can’t pay any attention to.

19:50

-

Cool.

That means I get to see you soon.

It’s gonna be great.

They taps ou, and close the app with a smile.

-

They hadn’t known if Nicky even had a boyfriend, not that it mattered; until it did.

Apparently; he had been married, for almost the whole time they had known each other- a blow Gigi hadn’t quite expected, to leave them as breathless as landing in Los Angeles; the shock not setting in, not in full, anyway- until they are standing in a new apartment, looking down at a menu of instructions on how to set up the wifi in the unit, fingers hovering over everyone in contacts.

They can’t call their mom; not this soon, and their brothers would tell her, and the whole plan would crumble; just like everything had with Nicky; whose calls Gigi had declined for the past solid month; the nights they had spent with their phones propped up behind desks and dressing room mirrors fading into something beyond memory; that they refused to think about any more than they had to, the messages asking if they’re alright answered in curt, short replies.

How could they have been so stupid, thinking that they were talking-talking, teasing that Nicky and they were friends; when Gigi didn’t even know what his real name was.

(Unless it was Nicky?)

Shit.

Gigi waits for their phone to load into the app, and refreshes the friends list a couple of times, until they can see Nicky’s icon at the top, the side of the circle cut through with a little green dot, and taps twice to start a call.

“Hi?”

Nicky’s greeting floats in the air, between a breath and utter silence before Gigi swallows their pride, pressing the phone to the side of their face.

“What do you know about connecting a router to a tower if I live on the…um third floor?”

The line crackles, but soon there’s a tiny, familiar chuckle. “First of all, that is not how you do any of that-”

They talk a little more, every day; in between, Nicky moves to New York and Gigi cuts a tape that they put in the mail with a wink. They’re due for a visit home soon, and carefully proposes- maybe it’s time they meet Nicky. New York isn’t far at all, and a layover would make for a cheaper flight, anyway.

-

Their plans stack up in hours of calls; and Gigi think they’re almost back to normal. Until, three days before the flight is supposed to leave, there’s a call they had forgotten to wait for, and their fingers hover over the message box below Nicky’s name, vibrating with anxiety and excitement all at once.

09:22

-

Hey. I had a family thing come up.

Gigi types, and then erases the text, steeling themselves as they taps out another one that makes a little more sense, and doesn’t seem like such a lie.

09:30

-

I’m so so so so sorry about this

I had some things come up and my trip fell through.

They send this instead, surprised to see Nicky start typing back immediately.

09:35

-

You’re not going to believe this

I have some work things that started recently and so it would have been really shitty to have a guest over now.

09:35

-

No way!

09:37

-

Yeah. :(( But we’re gonna hang out someday, I swear!

09:37

-

Dont worry! You’re definitely gonna see me.

Real real real soon!

-

“-Where do I go?”, Gigi asks, pulling at the bottom hem of the ornate jacket she wore, fiddling with the gold telescope in her hands. The lights behind the set burned brightly, making the thicker bottoms of the outfit feel much warmer than he had remembered them being.

“Go to that green square on the ground, and wait there, when you see the little arrow light up, you can enter the Werk Room and then we’ll have you stop inside, get your opening line, and let you see the other girls.”

“Okay.”

He does as he’s told, prancing in and kicking his boots in front of him as the lights move to capture Gigi’s entrance, his head only snapping to the side when given the signal, so he can see the others who are already crowded around the pink tables he’s only dreamed of seeing for so long.

“Holy Shit…Nicky?!”

In reality; Gigi can see far more of the detail of Nicky’s face; of her eyebrows and carefully painted cheeks and lashes, of all the effort that they had only really talked about, his eternal summer tan and the long fringe of black hair that he’s always nudging across his forehead, or slicked against a beanie, gone behind a platinum blonde veneer that’s so much brighter than Gigi has ever seen. She’s thinner, and taller, careful breaths underneath sequinned shoulder pads, knees knocking together as she gasps.

“Gigi!”

Widow and Crystal glance at each other over the pink table.

“Hold up, you guys know each other?”

In the flesh; Gigi is impossibly small, the sharp angles of her face, and the dark brown hair that sticks up in angles which Nicky traces against the white of his pillows in his bedroom on the screen of his phone in the morning, taped underneath a gold-tipped pirate hat, and lush, wavy curls. She looks like a model on the runways where Nicky used to work; so close to him that he can feel Gigi’s breath on the back of his hand, as he tightens his grip around the epaulets on her shoulder.

“Gigi Goode.”, she repeats, and Gigi giggles a little at that.

“The Nicky Doll.”, she laughs, and her voice sounds so much more solid, than it ever has over every crossed wire.

Gigi’s hand swings, squeezing Nicky’s tightly as they swing around the table; like the others who are there don’t matter at all. She rests her head on Nicky’s padded shoulder, cocking it just slightly, waiting there, as Crystal’s eyes flash at the scene before them.

“…and may the best woman win.”, Gigi whispers, only for Nicky to hear.

[stevenuniversetanzanite]

Ally x Cordelia x Reader (part 4)

I’m more active on posting on wattpad currently or at least they come out straight after writing.

This is two and a half times longer than the other parts.  I tried to edit it but I don't think that went very well so... Enjoy.

Also, I may have made Cordelia a dick in this, but I'll fix it in a later chapter maybe.

Parts: One, Two, Three, Four, Five (will be added when posted)

Late in the night with nothing but your phone to light the inside of your car, the button for the dome lights in your car jammed from childish use years ago. Your car was due for an upgrade but instead of replacing the heap of junk you poorly maintained it and persuaded the mechanics to pass the heap of metal as safe for driving.

You're phoned buzzed once more.

Your forehead rested on the steering wheel, you pulled yourself to sit upright and glanced at the phone.

Your car was parked a block away from the building. The key in the lock ready to start the car's engine. The phone was nestled amongst the stolen blanket on the passenger's side. The phone confirmed your suspicion about the number of missed text messaged and phone calls, not only from Ally and Cordelia but also varies students warning you that you were in big trouble when you got home.

It would be another seven hours until you got back to the school and you'd have to count in for a pit stop or two to pick up coffee or another caffeine-filled beverage. A part of you was thankful for your long nights back in the hospital (also uni), it was useful for all-nighters.

It could be another seven hours before you'd have to respond back to anyone, there's not much they can do. Cordelia had the other girls to look after and Ally- well she has her son. You had no one- not anymore.

Then again, Cordelia would go hell and back to protect her own and ignoring the fact that you were her girlfriend, were still 'one of her girls'. Nothing like this had happened, at least with someone she cared about.

You sighed. You better make sure she doesn't come searching for you. Of the two, you'd be in hotter water with the blonde. Considering the time, they'd most likely be together.

The phone picked up immediately.

"Hello," you said.

"Y/n, oh thank goodness you're safe," The voice on the other end said.

"Why wouldn't I be," you kidded your voice quivering.

"You're so stupid why would you go without telling us. We told you it was a trap. You could have died."

"I didn't- don't you worry. I'm fine" you said. Should you tell them about your Discovery. Probably. It would cause her to worry more about your recklessness but who cares it's not a targeted attack, but the witches just got caught in the Crossfire. Then again, how are you going to explain away your findings? They didn't know, couldn't know. "It was a dead-end nothing came of it I'll see you when I get back home ok."

You hung up and powered on your 7-hour drive back to New Orleans.

It wasn't until hours after you'd left that the two noticed learned of your absence. They came up with a plan of attack when a student interrupted to inform them of a student's injury. When asked why the girl didn't inform you, they were informed that you left in a rush, muttering something about having business to take care of.

Everyone in the school was now aware of your absence and while Cordelia tried to help the injured student, Ally dialled your mobile.

"No response?" Ally shook her head, her phone still pressed to her ear in case you picked up. She paced around Cordelia's office begging for you to pick up. It was close to midnight but neither of them dared to sleep until they heard from you. The only thing that stopped Cordelia from dashing out was the fact that she was sure she'd have some sort of vision or someone in the school would if something accord. It was the only thought she had that could slightly calm her down even if it weren't true.

"I can't believe she did that. Why- this isn't like her-"

"Yes, it is," Ally cut in. "It's exactly like her."

"She's never done this before-"

"She goes against us all the time" Cordelia was too shocked to listen. "When it comes to the woman's safety when has she ever listened-"

"She never used to do this when she was in school."

"That was like what 15 years ago"

"13" Cordelia corrected.

"My point exactly. Are you the same person you were 13 years ago?"

"No but-"

"But nothing. The moment she left the school you no record of her life. You don't know how she became the person she is today. She had experiences that shaped her into the person she is now. But in the 2 years she's been with us, has she shown any sign of the person she was before."

Cordelia paused and thought about it. To an extent you were, like anyone, you kept the same core soul you had before but the circle of people you surrounded yourself around was different and with that came different reactions and experiences for you. You were no longer the good-natured student; she would go so far to say this is a late rebellious phase. You always cared about others safety over your own but this was a step to far. If you were like this before then she never noticed. You still had some sense to talk to, allow to be helped instead of playing this 'saviour' complex you'd adopted. She wondered where that came from.

The two had seen you in times of need, your recent development of 'sleepwalking' as an example. The two offered to help you figure out where this developed from, but you were apprehensive.

Cordelia was thankful the doors were shut. She crumbled into the nearest seat, covering her face with her hands. "What do we do?"

Ally moved closer to her girlfriend, resting her wait on the armrest, she pulled the blonde closer. She rubs circles on the woman's shoulder with her thumb while staring vacantly at the opposing wall. Before Ally could speak, Cordelia's phone rung. Cordelia lept to answer it.

"Y/n, oh thank goodness you're safe," Cordelia said relieved to hear your voice.

When the phone call was done, Cordelia placed her phone down on the table and leant into Ally's body muttering, "This woman is going to be the death of me."

The two remained in the comfort of each other until Ally suggested that they should head off to bed. They cuddled up with each other, Cordelia rested her head on Ally's chest. Ally ran her hands through Cordelia's hair wondering what the woman was thinking. Cordelia fixated on the roof, occasionally her hand fiddled with the fabric of Ally's nightshirt.

Ally was as stressed, if not more than Cordelia, but hid it from the other woman. Her stress would only make the situation worse. She rushed around, dialling your number trying to find out if you were safe. Now that she knew you were, she had new worries. Why did you make the rash decision of going yourself?

A part of her was shocked that she wasn't the one anxious, in a sense, she caused you to act. If you had never known, you couldn't have gone. Then again, the stress from the incident had prepared her body for the sudden anxiety. Who cares about that now? They both needed a distraction until you returned.

"You've known Y/N for a long time, what was she like when she was younger?" Ally asked.

"Very similar. However, she had less friends." She pulled her gaze from the ceiling to the brunette. "She had this one, they were inseparable, we used to joke that they would end up marrying each other they were so close," She chuckled at the thought. Then she stopped halfway through and thought to herself before continuing. Ally didn't understand why that was until Cordelia spoke again. " I hadn't heard from her in years, they must have fought, I can't explain why Y/n wouldn't speak about her otherwise. I remember bringing her up not long after Y/n came back and she brushed me off. The only other time I brought it up was by text asking if she had any of her recipes that the two used to make. They are the best chefs. You won't guess that with how often Y/n has nearly set the kitchen on fire but their Chocolate Cheesecake was to die for." She began to list all the desserts you'd use to make and all the meals your friend would make.

"They used to host bake-offs and convinced all students to get involved. The kitchen was always a disaster by the end of it. You'd be finding offcuts days after. We had to implement a rule for when the two girls hosted this torment they had to clean up afterwards. To which they made it a rule to tidy as you go."

"Did they judge?" Ally asked.

"No, that's the best part, they managed to convince the teachers to judge," Cordelia smiled as she reminisced. "Most of us would have helped but I know for a fact one of the teachers despised her. Can't remember why. OH, I forgot-"

"What?"

"You remember My Auntie Myrtle?" By name, Ally remembered. She never met her. "One time she came in for a visit during one of the bake-offs and she unintentionally entered the 'war zone' between Y/n and one of the older students and let's just say no one left without being covered in food that day. Y/n came second that day, I think she lost because she started the food fight.

Cordelia went on about stories from your school days until the two fell to sleep.

It was early in the morning when you finally parked outside the school. You hid the blanket in the glove compartment before exiting and locking up your car.

Delphi trust, how could it be Delphi trust. You and your hand through your hair I think is getting Tangled in the locks. more importantly, how did they get those items? you hadn't seen any of them in 18 months if not longer why haunt you with them now.

Before you could pull your keys out the door swung open it was Ally. You pulled up about 7 she should have been at work, yet she stood there front of you in her pyjamas. You couldn't decipher her expression a bit over 7 hours since you last spoke, she had long enough to calm down and talk with Cordelia. Her hand was still clenched around the doorknob and the door closed except The Gap she stood between. Unlike the other woman, you have yet to speak to her.

You slowly approached her, running potential dialogue through your head. What would she say?

You suck your hands into your pockets, your hand's fiddle with the loose ring. You almost forgot you stole it or did they steal it from you? You need to find it a hiding spot. Maybe with its pair.

"Are you trying to save me you ask?"

You can tell she's fighting off the urge to scold you. She went to say something but stopped herself. She shook her head, opened the door wider and said, "She somehow managed to blame me for your idiocy." As if Ally not sharing add inspired you to do the same. The truth was you've had your secrets and wanted to keep them to yourself.

"Well, you're a bad influence," you teased. You always joked to try and lighten the mood but always got scolded for it seriousness the others to talk cramps your style. You are lucky to be alive you knew that you didn't need the others to telling you out your areas you could do that enough on your own.

She smiled sadly as she allowed you access into the school. She knew there was no point in scolding you, you never listen to her advice. You may be younger but you're not a child and like to make it evident every time the two tried the parent you. She had her own child to worry about and Cordelia the girls- even if they are most of them are adults themselves.

"Should I avoid her or get it over with," you asked.

"Best get over with." She remained distant and you made no attempt to get closer. When you turned to leave, Ally called out your name. In acknowledgement, you turned around to face her.

She pulled you into a suffocating hug. "Don't ever do that again."

"Okay."

"You scared the shit out of us."

"I'm sorry."

You knew this is not how she normally reacted, but she's had hours to calm down. Your journey to Cordelia's office lasted an eternity.

You knocked on the door waiting to be let in. The door opens Cordelia looking down at you blank way. She opens the door wider, allowing you to move inside in her office. You shuffle inside and station yourself in the middle of the room. She moved passed a seating area to a desk. You knew you were in for it. She only ever used the desk for formal meetings or for serious occasions when someone's trouble.

She asked you to take a seat. You settled in the armchair across from her desk, the seat wasn't comfortable from lack of use. A part of you was praying for a similar interrogation as Ally's two days prior.

Their rooms air was stiff. The curtain drawn shut blocking the morning light from entering the room. The fluorescent light flickered every now and again causing you more tension. You watched Cordelia organize herself, fighting every urge to snap are you, calling you reckless, stupid and other words you'd need a thesaurus for. You were surprised to she was more concerned one seeing as it's Ally's trouble a mess to begin with. Ally was concerned but hold it back due to the scolding she knew you're going to get from your Supreme.

The woman didn't they speak nor did she let you. A part of you wished you never entered the room. Delaying it and wrapping your head around the situation may have benefited you in the long run. So, you would have told her the truth, revealing your findings. Not that it wasn't too late now but you were into too deep.

The woman stared you down, "Why did you do it Y/n?"

"I don't know."

"That's not a good enough answer."

"Yeah yeah."

"Y/n, I'm being serious."

"I know"

"Then why aren't you listening to me?"

"I am."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I said I don't know."

"You're leaving me no choice-"

"What are you going to do?" Cordelia stood and headed over to one of the bookcases in the room. "Cordelia? What are you going to do?"

"I forbid you from leaving the school grounds-"

"You're grounding me?" you laughed. "You serious?"

"You clearly can't be trusted to left to your own regards." Cordelia scanned the bookcase before pulling out a spellbook. "It's for your own safety."

"Safety? Fuck that, you're trying to take away my freedom. Who do you think you are?!"

"I'M THE FUCKING SUPREME!"

She flipped open the book, searching for the corrected page. She wasn't planning on giving you the choice. If you weren't going to do it willingly, she'd force you to stay. You caught on to her plan and tore the book from her grasp.

"IS THIS YOUR WAY OF SHOWING POWER OVER ME, HUH?" You yelled. "I WON'T LET YOU CONTROL ME AND YOU SURE AS HELL AIN'T TRAPPING ME HERE!"

"Y/N, YOU HAVE NO SAY IN THIS!"

"I HAVE VERY SAY IN THIS. IT'S MY LIFE!" you stumbled back to the door. "You know what? I'm done. I'm done with this-"

"Y/n-" Cordelia grabbed you by your wrist stopping you. She tried to use her powers to find out anything about you or why your acting like this. Anything to justify why you did what you did, but she got nothing. You were blank.

"I'm done with this Cordelia."

The door opened revealing a concerned Ally. You yanked yourself free and exited the room as soon as possible, brushing shoulders with Ally.

"What did you say to her?"

"Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." Ally did a once over the blonde before leaving her to check on you.

Ally found you on your way back to your car.

"Y/n!" She called out your name. "Y/n!"

"What do you want?"

"Don't talk to me like that, I'm not the one you're mad at."

"Sorry. Can I go now, or are you trying to trap me here too?"

"Is that what she said?"

"Was even planning on cursing me to this place."

You turn around and opened your car door.

"Where are you going?"

"The store," you said before hopping into the driver's side. "And don't you worry, I plan on coming back, my stuffs here." You needed to get out of here before Cordelia could trap you to the place. Ally found your last sentence odd, of course, you'd be back, this was only a fight, right? You hadn't called off things between them.

"I'll talk to her for you. Try and come up with a common ground."

"There is no common ground, Ally. She wants me to be her prisoner."

"It's not like that-"

"Could have fooled me." You slammed the door shut. You had a feeling Cordelia was watching from the window. Her office faced the street.

Ally stormed through the school all the way to Cordelia's office. She flung the door open.

"You threatened to trap her here?!" Ally lashed out, "What on earth possessed you to think that was a smart decision?"

"I told you to look after-"

"You have no right to tell me what to do. I am not a witch, you have no status over me and even if you did, what gives you the right?"

"Ally, she's reckless-"

"So?"

"She could have been killed last night. People are after you Ally and she waltzed into the lion's den."

"That doesn't give you the right to trap her here. She isn't your slave, she's your girlfriend, treat her like it."

"Ally-"

"No, I'm not finished. Now do agree she should be monitored after... what she did. Yes, but don't bound her here."

"You're right."

Ally knew what Cordelia wanted to do was wrong but her sticking up for you wasn't purely selfless. Ally needed your freedom so you could take Oz out places he needed to go. Ally being caught up in this mess couldn't go out without being heckled and her other girlfriend is too busy with her supreme status and upkeeping the coven to chauffeur Ally's son around. She could have gotten one of the girls to do it but that was a worst-case scenario.

Everything had gotten back to normal besides all of you searching for the 'unknown' sender. Cordelia apologized and the two agreed someone had to be with you at all times (except while using the bathroom), it didn't matter who it was as long as it was someone in the school. You had the school hours (when you didn't have to teach) off from being monitored because you were helping Oz with his schoolwork. Oz had been kept at home for the week while the adults thought through what they were going to do to keep him from knowing. You were tasked with keeping him ahead of his studies. You were thankful he was still young making the work easier to relearn and teach.

He questioned why he was being kept from school but wasn't complaining besides the fact that he can't see his friends. He'd been allowed to stay with some of them after Cordelia worked her 'charm' in the form of magic on the parents to ensure they'd not mention anything. She rarely used her power of 'persuasion' very often but after both your and Oz's begging she couldn't refuse. After Ally's reputation was guaranteed to be protected, she had no reason to refuse.

Due to the increased number of hours spent together, you decided to surprise him with the Nintendo switch he wanted. You had no place to store it in your office until you set it up so you hid it behind your mountain of shoe boxes in your shared wardrobe.

Alone in your shared walk-in wardrobe, you knelt, going through the belongings you'd stolen from your search.

Within the last five days you managed to find a spot in time where you could sneak the stolen belonging inside. Now, you stored them in an old shoebox that came with your most commonly worn pair of shoes.

Your mind thought back to the note, Happy Anniversary. How could they know?

You were on edge the whole time, maybe you should have told your girlfriends your findings. Regardless you chose to leave them unaware and in turn, must suffer for your stupidity.

You hadn't noticed the others come into the bedroom nor did they notice your presence in the wardrobe.

"You need to talk to her about it."

"I know you said that last time."

"And you haven't spoken about it since."

"It's really not the time Ally."

"It's never the-"

"More now than ever. You're under threat, Ally, what if they come after us too? They know about Y/n. They may even have footage of her sneaking about because she stupidity went out-" She kept revving on about the whole thing they got caught up in. You had yet to catch on to what they were talking about.

You put the blanket back in the box and tucked the shoebox back into your collection of shoes. Making sure the box covered the gift you got for Ally's son. You crept towards the entrances of the wardrobe.

"It's too late for me Ally. End of discussion." What on earth were they talking about? Too late for her, oh god is she getting replaced? No, it's too soon. "I sent the council to check out the address Y/n gave me, or should I say the real address."

"She gave you the wrong address?"

Cordelia nodded, "it wasn't a simple mistake with the number, the street doesn't exist."

Shit, she figured out it was a fake street. Of course you did, you should have done a better job. You needed to get out of here and figure out your next move before they figured out what else you're hiding. You teleported out of the room dashing down to your office where you're meant to be.

"What are you suggesting? That she's the one behind this?"

"You said it yourself earlier, I don't really know her anymore."

"She's been with us for almost two years-"

"Enough time to study someone and send info back."

"She didn't know about Ivy-"

"Do you know where she was in 2016?"

"No."

"Because she never talks about her past."

"You think she was in Michigan?"

"It's not unlikely."

"She would never-"

"But what if she is- All I'm saying is be careful. No one would dash off that quickly unless they had something to hide."

"What do we do once we find out?"

"Act accordingly."

"If you're wrong, you owe her an apology." Cordelia insisted she wasn't wrong but agreed nevertheless. "Couldn't you just read her mind or something?"

"Use the sight? I generally block off using my power, I have tried it a couple of times on her but she's barricaded her memories."

"When did you use it?"

"Most recently after she returned from 'her trip'." Her trip referred to the five days earlier. "I also tried when she was too stubborn to tell us about her 'episodes'. I thought when she was distressed would lower the wall but it was stronger."

It wasn't until the next day when Cordelia found out the building actually was. She called Ally immediately.

"You're saying she's a witch hunter? But she's a witch."

"I can't explain that myself, but she refused to tell us this when she knew who they were."

"Does she know that that's the company that-"

"My ex worked for? Probably. Hell, she's probably one of his side chicks."

"I doubt that-" You had never mentioned or shown interest in men before. Cordelia would most likely explain that away as you were keeping it away from them which Ally would claim was ridiculous.

"Why are you supporting her?"

"Why aren't you? She's shown nothing up until now that would suggest that she'd associate herself with witch hunters. They probably have dirt on her."

Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt-"

"It's not yours to give. You aren't the only one at threat anymore. Ally my girls are in danger-"

"Including Y/n."

"She's not one of us anymore-"

"We haven't confirmed she's done anything-" Ally tried to reason. "She isn't your ex, stop painting her out to be. At least wait until she gets back to explain herself."

You were out with Oz. You had taken him to the park for psychical activity and to get him out of the school. Mainly it was an excuse for you to get away from school, you found the place to crowded with the constant eyes on you. An escape sounded nice and Oz didn't complain. You may have had to offer him a comic book to seal the deal. He would have gone out anyway but the extra incentive was nice.

Ally ended the phone call leaving Cordelia to her own thoughts.

Cordelia stormed down to your office. If you had anything, you'd hid it in your own space, she thought. She shredded the bookcase, flipping books to see if you hid any secrets within the pages. She flung open draws and flicked through files, but nothing showed up pinning you as the culprit. A couple of students in passing watched her tear down your medical posters and swipe the contents of the contents on your desk to the floor. When she caught them she straightened up her act before saying, "Shouldn't you all be in class?" They scampered off soon after.

She thought about other places you could hide something. What about in plain sight? Her eyes lit up, the bedroom. Nothing in the main section or the ensuite. The last place she had to check was the cupboard. The school would need a good cleaning after she was done searching. She hadn't bothered to tidy as she went, set on you being in the wrong so it wouldn't matter.

She was more careful with the wardrobe as she didn't want to wreak any of her or Ally's more expensive clothing. She pulled out the collection of shoeboxes, finding a hidden red and white box. She pushed the box aside hoping the box would be what she sort instead finding a game console. She rose her brow, why was it hidden away in the closet. Maybe you hid the contents inside the box? The box hadn't been opened yet but she was convinced you'd hidden something inside. There were only the console and its extra contents. There were some games hidden behind it and a little tag addressed to Oz written in your handwriting. You bought the boy a game console? You really spoiled him.

"Maybe I'm wrong," she thought aloud as she put all the contents back where she found it.

She went to place the shoes back in front of the box when she noticed a shoebox that shouldn't have been kept. They were to your casual pair of shoes which you never but back in their box. She always had to tell you to place them somewhere where out of the way so she wouldn't trip on them.

She slowly opened the box, "A blanket?" She removed a small knitted blanket from the box to see two rings and some other trinkets. Why did you have these hidden away? Cordelia held the blanket up, allowing it to unfold. She noticed the lavender stitching in the lower corner of the white blanket. She flipped it over revealing the name on it, "Odelia?" she questioned. She raked her brain around the name, the only thing that came to mind was how similar it was to her own. Maybe it was intentional? She assumed it wasn't your blanket, it was two pristine. Was it meant for someone? A child perhaps? "The child," she muttered. The day you were in Oz's room, you sounded like you were speaking to a child. Was that her? Or was Cordelia getting it wrong? She couldn't get much information off the blanket other than it had been used by a child with the last seven years. She rested the blanket on her lap, hoping another item would give her the clue she needed.

She'd gotten you all wrong, you were hiding something but she no longer thought you worked for the witch hunters. Maybe they threatened you or a loved one? She pulled out the pair of rings.

A vision flashed before her eyes. She got a first-person perspective of someone driving in a car. The person chuckled in response to something she heard on the Bluetooth speaker of her car. You're current car.

"Baby~" The woman whined, "I swear your gonna love it."

"This better not be like your last surprise," a voice from the speaker call said. The voice was distorted due to being on the phone, but it was undeniably you. "I still can't go to that park without reliving it."

"Stop being dramatic." The more Cordelia thought she recognised the other woman's voice too. "I dropped Lia at my sister's place-"

"So, we could have some good old fashion alone time~" you purred.

"You wish," the woman laughed. "When do you get off?"

"5. Just in time to catch up."

"On some sleep maybe, how long was your shift?"

"It wasn't that long-"

"But your-"

"Don't get started on this-" You're what? Why did you cut her off, Cordelia thought.

"You need to find a better job."

"I will just give me some time," you said. "I'm thinking of trying to get a job at Miss Robichaux's. I could teach magic there or something."

"You should." The woman encouraged. "God, I miss that place."

"I know. Maybe you can visit me sometime if I work there."

"I'll probably have to pry you out of there too. Doesn't that, uh~ what's her name, she works there."

"Wow, helpful."

"Shut up, the one you were infatuated with, the one that you only settled for me cuz she was straight-"

"I didn't settle for you-"

"Yes, you did. Don't worry I don't care. But if she does swing our way you better not scamper off."

"I wouldn't-"

"All I'm saying is tell me first, I'm open-"

"For a threesome," you said. "You can't even remember her name."

"I don't need to," she said. "I'll learn it again if I ever met her again."

"Why would you meet her?"

"When I visit you at your new job."

"I haven't even applied yet." The woman turned her car right on an interaction. "So, what's the surprise?" The woman chuckled.

A van ran the red light and was coming straight for her car. She swore and tried to swerve out of the way.

"Amber?"

Her vision faded to black.

"Amber!"

Cordelia gasped. Your friend from high school, Amber. Oh god, no wonder you never talked about her. That can't be all, the car was fine now, you wouldn't keep the car your friend died- wait, Cordelia looked at the rings, you married her. She was your wife. You would have mentioned something like that to her, right?

A knock at the door interrupted her thought process.

"Ms Cordelia?" A girl burst into the bedroom.

Cordelia dropped the belongings and rushed over to the door.

"There's been a crash."

[btschooseafic]

Hey you, what’s your dream?

Pairing: platonic!oc x ot7

Details: manager!oc, predebut/idolverse, partial BTS World!verse

Summary: Aviva and Hoseok celebrate their birthday at the dorm.

Warnings: This is a fictional story based on real events. The characters presented here are not the same as their real life counterparts. [9/2/21: some minor edits] [Masterlist]

Track 20: Birthdays

Birthday- The Beatles

“You say it's your birthday

It's my birthday too, yeah”

February 18th 2013

Aviva’s three-day suspension ended just before her birthday. Hobi suggested they both ditch and do something fun for the day, but she knew he was joking (mostly). He was in crunch time, really pushing to prepare for the debut, and she was eager to get back to work and do her best to support them.

It was a fairly normal day at work, with no one mentioning or treating her any differently because of the suspension. She was surprised when the office gave her a cake from Paris Baguette during her lunch break, even though it was a fairly standard policy, she had thought they might want to exclude her this time.

After work, Aviva went for out for a late dinner with Soonyoung. She stopped back at the office to pick up some paperwork, and was surprised to see the van still in the parking lot. Jin had offered to drive the boys back, so why were they still here? She went to the Bangtan Room and found them...

“Are you filming a Harlem Shake video?” She wondered, having walked in on a strange number of poses. Everyone froze. Namjoon blushed.

“Yep.” Hoseok tipped the brim of his cap away from his face to grin at her. “You’ll edit it and post it before the night ends, right?”

“What? No way.”

“But it’s my birthday!” He whined.

“But it’s my birthday!” She whined back at him. Everyone laughed.

“Won’t you bake me a cake at least?” Hoseok asked, pouting at her.

“Hmm…” She glanced at her phone. “It’s getting late. Anyway, didn’t the company give you one?”

“Yeah, but yours are better!”

“Paris Baguette is pretty good, I think...” But she was smiling.

“Why don’t you hang out with us, noona?” Jimin suggested. “We were gonna watch a movie at the dorm after this.”

“I can make extra popcorn!” Jin said excitedly.

“I don’t really care about popcorn… but, maybe I will hang out,” she thought. “Let’s head back to the dorm, okay?”

Jimin, Jin, and Hoseok cheered.

She texted Soonyoung to let her know, and then got to work baking a cake. They ate cake and popcorn as they watched Hoseok’s favorite movie (which also happened to be a favorite of Aviva’s). Aviva found herself on the floor leaning against Yoongi’s legs, with Jimin and Tae snuggled on either side of her. At some point Jungkook migrated his head onto her lap with his legs sprawled over Jimin. Yoongi and Namjoon and fallen asleep curled up in the corner of the couch, while Hoseok stretched out with his feet in Jin’s lap.

As the movie came to an end, Jin stood up and started to clean. Aviva tried to move to help him, but was weighed down by three growing boys.

Jin waved his hand. “Just let them rest for a few more minutes. Hoseok-ah can help me clean.”

“But it’s my—” Hoseok stopped at a sharp look from Jin. “Yeah, okay, hyung.”

“Hmmm, are you sleeping on the couch again, Aviva-yah?” Yoongi wondered, rubbing his eyes as the boys started heading off to bed.

“Yeah. I already pulled the blanket out.”

He nodded. “Do you need clothes to sleep in?”

“Damn.” She snapped her fingers. “I knew I’d forgotten something.”

“You can sleep in my clothes, noona!” Jimin said. Everyone looked at him suspiciously.

“You sound very… enthusiastic about that, Jiminie,” Namjoon commented.

“No, I just…” Jimin blushed. “I just thought she’d look cute…”

Aviva smiled apologetically. “Sorry, Jiminie, but there’s no way I’d fit into your clothes. You’re too skinny.”

He frowned. “I’m not.”

Aviva ran her hand through her hair. “Maybe skinny isn’t the right word…”

“She means she’s got a chest and hips and you don’t,” Hoseok said.

“Yah!” Jin hit his arm. “Don’t talk about her like that!”

“What?” Hoseok looked at him. “I thought I put that very politely. Anyway, with an elastic waistband, she’d fit in mine, Yoongi, or Tae Tae’s pants likely.” He looked around at them. “Rock, paper, scissors for it?”

Yoongi shrugged. Taehyung nodded, holding up his fist.

“Wait a second,” Aviva said. “Isn’t anybody going to ask me what I want?”

“What do you want, Avi-yah?” Yoongi asked, looking at her steadily.

She froze, her face going pink.

“Ah, never mind,” she said quietly. “I don’t… I don’t want to inconvenience anyone. Maybe I should just go home…”

“No, it’s too late to be driving,” Namjoon told her. “Anyway, you’re never an inconvenience, you’re our friend. We’ll take care of it, okay?”

“…You’re just saying that cause you know your shirts are the only one she fits in,” Jimin muttered. Hoseok tapped his chin.

“Actually, because they prefer a baggy fit, Yoongi-hyung’s sweaters, and some of Jin-hyung’s tops would work,” he thought. Namjoon looked at them.

Yoongi shrugged again. “I don’t care. This is stupid.”

“I agree,” Jin said. “…But I do kind of want to see Avi-yah in pink.”

Yoongi snorted. “Obviously she’d look better in white,” he thought.

“I think black,” Namjoon said. Hoseok nodded.

“Two rounds of rock, paper, scissors it is.”

Aviva turned to Jungkook. “Aren’t you still growing? If we end up the same size I’m only borrowing your clothes and staying away from this nonsense.”

Jungkook shrugged. “I don’t care. We all share everything anyway.”

Aviva ended up wearing Hoseok’s sweatpants and Namjoon’s baggiest Supreme shirt.

February 19th 2013

In the morning she turned over, glancing at her phone. It was fifteen minutes before her alarm was set to go off, so she decided to get up early. She went to the bathroom and washed her face, pulled her hair up, and then went into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

“Avi-yah?” Taehyung squinted at her sleepily.

“Mmm. Morning Tae. Are you waking up?”

“Hmm…what time is it?” He glanced at the clock on the wall and shook his head. “No, I think I’ll sleep a little more, just need the bathroom... you’re waking up?” She nodded, shivering a bit. It had gotten weirdly cold over night. He looked at her thoughtfully. “Want to borrow a sweater? I bet I have one that’ll fit you too.”

“…Okay.”

He smiled. “Great. One second.” He went to the bathroom and then moved over to the closet, pulling out a large green cardigan. “Is this texture okay?” He asked, knowing she didn’t like things that were either too soft or too scratchy. He held it out to her and she ran her fingers over it.

“Just right.”

“Hmm.” He smiled again. “Let me help you.” He motioned at her.

“I can put it on myself.”

“Want to help you.”

She sighed and got down from the stool at the counter, letting him manipulate her into the sweater like she was a giant doll.

“Thanks.”

“Later.” He kissed her cheek and walked off, yawning. She stared after him for a moment and then shook her head, settling back down on the couch and pulling out her laptop.

Just as she was finishing editing Hoseok’s video, she got a message from her sister.

 ‘Hey, u ok?’

 ‘Yeah. Y?’

 ‘… u forgot, didn’t you?’

Aviva tilted her head, trying to remember what she had forgotten. Oh! She was supposed to be on a Skype call with her family for her birthday. She glanced at the time. She had long enough to speak to them for a while before everyone woke up and got ready for the day. She clicked through some settings and made the call. Her parents and her sister were sitting on the couch in their living room, Jen’s arms crossed over her chest as she pouted.

“I can’t believe you forgot about your own birthday call!” Jenny said.

“Yeah, hello to you too, Jen,” Aviva said. Jenny huffed. Their mother smiled.

“It’s good to see you,” she said. “You look... cozy. Is that a new sweater?” Aviva touched the cardigan.

“Ah, no, it’s not mine, I’m just borrowing it cause it’s cold in here,” she told them.

“Where are you?” Her dad wondered, his eyes searching. “It doesn’t look like your apartment.”

“It’s the boys’ dorm. I… was editing a video,” she said vaguely.

“Oh, is JK there?” Jenny wondered, looking around excitedly.

“Hmm, he’s probably not awake yet,” she told her.

“Ah, too bad,” their mother said. “He was such a polite young man. And handsome too!”

“Mom!” Jenny said, her face flushing. Their mom just grinned. Their dad shook his head.

“What video are you editing?” He wanted to know.

“Um, just another meme one,” she told him. “I don’t know if you’d understand…”

“I still don’t understand what a meme is,” he muttered, rubbing his chin.

“Yeah, and I keep trying to explain it to you,” Jen said, shaking her head. The three of them talked for about fifteen more minutes before the door opened, and a sleepy Yoongi wandered in. His hair was impressively mussed, and his eyes were barely open. He was hugging his laptop to his chest.

He automatically went to sit on the couch, almost sitting on top of Aviva.

“Ah, oppa, I’m on a call, sorry!” She called out in Korean. He froze, and then slowly looked at the screen. His face flushed.

“Hello,” he said awkwardly in English, bowing.

“Um, guys, this is one of the group members, Yoongi,” she told her family.

“Oh, if he’s awake does that mean JK is awake?” Jen reasoned.

“Probably not,” Aviva thought. She looked at Yoongi, who appeared frozen in his bow. She nudged him. “It’s fine,” she told him in Korean. “You didn’t do anything wrong. These are my parents and my sister.” She pointed them out.

He straightened up and waved.

“I can’t… I’m not awake enough for this,” he muttered in Korean. “I just wanted to get some editing done, I forgot you were here…”

“Is anyone else awake?” She wondered. “They can come say hi if they want before I sign off. Jen would really like to see Kookie.”

“Hmmm. I’ll wake him,” Yoongi said reluctantly. “But you owe me coffee.”

“Sure,” Aviva said, not really caring. “Just don’t go back to sleep, oppa, it’s almost time to get ready to go anyway.”

“No promises.” He left the room.

“…He’s cute,” Jen decided. “Not as cute as JK, but…” Aviva snorted.

For the next ten minutes, various members drifted in and out to say ‘hello’ with Jungkook staying the longest.

Namjoon was excited for the opportunity to practice his English, although a lot shyer than he usually was when he practiced with Aviva.

“Is it true you learned from watching Friends?” Jen wondered.

Namjoon nodded. “Ah. Yes. Good T.V. show.”

“Avi!” Hoseok said, poking his head through the door. “Seokjin-hyung wants to know if you want an egg or toast or something.”

“I’ll take whatever,” she called back to him, glancing at the time again. “Ah, we should get ready.” She smiled apologetically at the screen.

“Okay,” Jen said. “Have a good day at work, Avi—practice hard, JK!”

“Yes, I will!” Jungkook said happily in English. “Thank you!”

“Nice to meet you, Namjoon, and good to see you again, Jungkook,” their mother said. Namjoon and Jungkook bowed.

“I will send you that article, Avi,” her dad said.

“Okay, baba, thanks!” She signed off and sighed. “I don’t want to read that article…”

“I thought it sounded interesting,” Namjoon said. She frowned.

“You read it, then.” She yawned. “I want to take a shower before we leave… are there clean towels?”

“I’ll find one for you, noona!” Jungkook said, running off, still buzzing with energy from having seen Jen.

“…He really might become your younger brother some day,” Namjoon thought.

She smiled. “I wouldn’t mind.”

Later that week, Kyungsoo finally called her into his office to lecture her about Namjoon’s song Expensive Girl song. Aviva did her best to smooth over any backlash from him and random Internet commenters, but it was a lot of work.

As their punishment, Aviva had Namjoon alone on dorm cleaning duty for the whole week, and assigned Hoseok to extra public speaking lessons.

She came to the dorm to pick Hoseok up for his lessons and found him cleaning. She squinted at him as he froze in the position of sweeping the entryway.

“Hobi… don’t tell me you two switched?”

“Okay…” He said. “I won’t tell you.”

She sighed. “Hoseok, it’s not a punishment if it’s something you enjoy doing. I know you secretly find cleaning relaxing, and Namjoon-ah finds the public speaking lessons fascinating.”

“Hmm. And that’s the problem.” He booped her on the nose, laughing as it wrinkled. “You know us too well, dear manager.”

“Just go wait in the car,” she told him. “I’ll have to speak to Namjoon-ah before we go.” She looked around. Hoseok pointed his thumb behind him.

“He’s in the living room.”

Aviva shivered as she entered the room. Namjoon was on the couch, holding something like a hockey mask in front of his face as Yoongi, who was sitting at the table, curled over laughing. She couldn’t help smiling, pausing in the doorway for a moment before stepping inside. She shivered again.

“You still haven’t gotten the heater fixed?”

Namjoon froze. “Ah, Avi-yah.” He put the mask down, his face going pink. “No. We couldn’t find anyone to come look at it, so I tried, and I think I made it worse.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Hmmm.” Aviva walked over to the heater, pulling off the top. “I think I can do this. The toolbox is in the bathroom closet, right?”

“Yeah, um. I could go get it for you…” His brow furrowed. “Are you sure you can do it?” She nodded.

“Pretty sure. I helped Soonie’s grandpa fix the heater at their place, and it looked pretty similar to this one.”

Namjoon nodded and left.

“A girl who knows her way around the toolbox… that’s kind of hot,” Yoongi thought, leaning back as he studied her. She raised an eyebrow at him. He flushed slightly. She walked over to him and ran her fingers over his soft fluffy hat, her lips twitching. He stiffened. “What’re you doing?”

“You look adorable,” she told him. His cheeks flushed even pinker.

“I thought you didn’t like soft things?” He grumbled, grabbing her hand and pulling it away from his hat.

She shrugged. “I couldn’t resist.”

He shook his head, smiling slightly.

“What are you doing over here, anyway?”

“Dropping Hobi off at his classes,” she told him. “There’s a nice cafe around there—want me to pick up anything for you?”

“Hmmm…” He played with her fingers for a moment before letting go, turning back to the computer. “I’ve been thinking, since you were technically off duty when Namjoon-ah posted that song… doesn’t that mean it’s not really your responsibility?”

“I’m still your manager, oppa, even if I was… suspended, at the time.” She rested her hand on her hip, studying him. “Are you saying I shouldn’t punish them?” He shook his head.

“No, I don’t really care about that. I just don’t want you creating more work for yourself than necessary.”

She smiled softly at him. “Yoongi—”

There was a loud crash. A moment later, a red-faced Namjoon rushed into the room.

“Okay, so I may have dropped the toolbox, and everything is everywhere, but I don’t think anything’s broken!”

“Aish, Joonie.” Aviva clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “I’ll clean it up—ah, but I can’t leave Hoseok-ah waiting in the car for so long…”

“Hosekie can take the train,” Yoongi said. “Namjoon-ah and I will help you clean up.” Aviva nodded.

“Thanks, oppa. Hobi better not skip his class.”

“Oh, I’ll make sure he doesn’t.” Yoongi grinned evilly. Namjoon shivered.

“Chen Aviva!” Hoseok sang out as he entered the kitchen.

“Huh?” She looked up at him from the sink. “How did you know I was still here?”

“I have my ways…”

She turned around, frowning as she noticed him staring at her.

“What?”

“You look really hot right now, like, figuratively, but also literally, what were you doing to get so sweaty?”

She glanced down at herself. She had stripped down to her undershirt, which was soaked through with sweat.

“I fixed the damn heater, but then it got too hot and I had to adjust it again before it killed Yoongi-oppa’s equipment and he killed me in revenge.”

“So… it’s okay now?” He wondered. She nodded.

“Finally, it’s okay. I’m gonna borrow your shower, I just needed to clean my hands off first and the bathroom sink is kind of… There was like… grease?” She shook her head. “I don’t know, Joonie did something weird.”

Hoseok nodded absentmindedly. “Well, after you get out of the shower, you can eat this.” He held a paper bag out to her. She peeked inside, her eyes widening as she smiled.

“How did you know?”

“Yoongi-hyung mentioned there was a cafe near my classes you liked, and so we Instagram stalked you to find where it was and what you like to get there.”

“That’s creepy, but also sweet,” she thought. “How did your lessons go?”

“Not as bad as I thought they would be, actually. I’m gonna start beating Joon at public speaking, next thing you know.”

“I don’t think it’s a competition, but I’m still proud of you.” She gave him a peck on the cheek on her way out.

Over the next few weeks, a few of Namjoon’s freestyles, as well as one of his and Yoongi’s collaborations had gotten Aviva thinking about the draft. Namjoon and Hoseok, having just turned twenty were eligible candidates and were required to take physical exams. Afterwards, they went out for drinks with Jin, Yoongi, Aviva, and Soonyoung. Aviva was trying to understand more about it, but it just wasn’t clicking for her.

“I don’t think it’s something you can really understand without growing up here,” Yoongi said.

“You’re probably right,” Aviva thought.

“Hmmm. You don’t have anything similar in the US?” Hoseok wondered.

“There hasn’t been a draft in the US since the Vietnam War,” Aviva told him. “I do remember my dad talking about how much anxiety it caused him and his friends. And my mom was worried about her brother when she was growing up.”

“Hmm, yeah. America has a lot of issues, but that’s not one of them, currently,” Soonyoung said. She sipped her drink. “Like, we could totally talk about the socioeconomic and racial aspects of US Army recruitment, but that’s a somewhat different problem.” Namjoon stared at her. “The system is majorly flawed, dude.”

“Most systems are,” Yoongi thought. He looked at Aviva. “But why are you bringing this up?”

“You’re right it’s not something I can personally understand. But… I see it’s stressing you out, so… I’m here, if you need me.” She looked around at the others. “For all of you, I mean.”

“Yah, that’s nothing special, Avi’s always been there for me,” Soonyoung said, wrapping her arms around the other girl possessively.

“Hmm, but that’s because you’re special to her, which must mean we’re special to her as well!” Jin reasoned cheerfully.

Soonyoung smiled at him. “Aren’t you sweet?”

Jin blushed. Everyone laughed.

[softweebqueen]

👋 hello 👋 I’m new so can I get some spicy sero smut, I saw that you did sero so I was like yess let’s ask, that’s if your ok with it! But thanks a whole bunch!!!👌👌💕💕

~ So I broke this up into two parts because I know I would never post it if I didn’t. So this is the first part and part number two will be up soon. I just am really bad at the spicy stuff so I need so much help from my friends. Also it’s like 3 in the morning while I’m posting it and I have not done any editing to it so ignore my mistakes.~ 

Fun Fact: Characters are aged up. 

The lights were low in the hazy smoke-filled room. The reek of stale beer and burnt out cigarettes swirled around the air burning those nostrils of anyone who walked in from outside. Bodies filled the tables and the booths while music played in the background drowning out the sounds of their conversations. The bar was surrounded by those who had already drunk too much and found pleasure in harassing the bartenders. The occasional single attractive female would find herself sitting on a stool with a drink in her hand but would soon retreat back to her group of friends when approached by the bar’s seemingly endless amounts of creeps. Their hands traveling places where they didn’t belong and their mouths speaking words that no girl would ever want to hear from a stranger. 

You couldn’t help but wonder how in the world you ended up here in the place you hated the most. Of course, you’ve been here before on lonely nights. Those nights were never as busy as it is now. You were unaware of the reason for it being so busy but you were forced into being at this bar by one of your roommates. It was a rare occasion that everyone was able to get together. Someone was always busy or none of you could agree on one thing. This was a difficult task when there are six of you living under one roof. 

Some times you question why you chose to move in with the rowdy group that you call your friends. You would soon remember how convincing your best friend Mina is though. She was the reason all of you moved in together. The reason you put your sanity on the line to live with four boys and one other girl. There were perks to being in the same house as these nutcases though. Katsuki always cooked due to him hating how awful everyone else’s food tastes. Eijiro is surprisingly a clean freak so he does most of the chores. Denki was the idiot of the group which provided everyone with entertainment. Mina is like the house’s personal therapist and everyone’s best friend. Hanta… Well, Hanta was a completely different story. Living with him came with perks that only you benefitted from. 

It started on a lonely night when the two of you were home alone with a cabinet full of liquor. Gentle experimental touches were exchanged that night. It soon turned into late-night texts when either of you felt like you needed to feel something. Your roommates began to suspect that the two of you were sleeping together, however, the two of you would very quickly deny it. There was a time where you were almost caught in the shower with him. After that incident, you guys agreed to be ancient history. Your agreement didn’t last long. The two of you were right back at it within a week, continuing your late-night fucks almost weekly now. He was just so… intoxicating. When you were with him with your bodies pressed together, it was a whole different type of high. There also came along the certain thrill of being able to sleep with someone whenever you pleased without the commitment.

“This is lame.” Hanta Sero grumbled as he sat in the seat to the right of you. “Where is everyone else?” The two of you had been sitting at a table waiting for your housemates to join you for the past hour. You passed the time by drinking more thanyou should have, however, you couldn’t stop due to the tall lean boy bringing drinks back to the table for you. In fact, he had just come back from the bar to place a drink right in front of you. You wasted no time downing the drink, feeling the buzz of the one too many drinks coursing their way through your system.

“You know they probably aren’t going to show up. It wouldn’t be the first time.” You pointed with a small shrug of your shoulder. It was usual for them to be late when all of you would get together. Sometimes they wouldn’t even show up. You didn’t mind the little bit of alone time with Sero though. He is good company even when the two of you aren’t fucking. He is laid back, funny, and has such a calming effect on those around him. 

“I wouldn’t mind some alone time with you. It’s been a while.” You leaned in close to him whispering in his ear. Your lips brushing against the soft spot just below his ear before moving away. A loud familiar voice pulled your attention away from the boy who sat next to you. Across the bar was a rowdy group that you called your friends. The ash-blonde boy arguing with the two other boys. The short pink-haired girl, waving frantically when she made eye contact with you. Her lips were moving but the other sounds of the bar filled your ears. You watched as they slithered between the groups of people just to get to the table. Your eyes scanned their figures. If you said they clean up nicely, you wouldn’t be lying. Mina had to have something to do with it because there was no way in hell Denki and Eijiro dressed themselves. They both looked too good. Not too fancy. But not too casual. Just the right mix that made your foggy mind start to wander places where it shouldn’t. 

“I’m sorry we’re so late! It was impossible to get Ei to change out his damn crocs.” Mina grumbled as she sat at the table, noticing just how many empty shot glasses and pints littered the top. “You guys didn’t wait for us?!” Her laughter was so light and playful that you couldn’t help but grin. Without her, you were sure this group would have fallen apart a long time ago. Maybe not fall apart but you all would not be living in the same house. 

“I couldn’t help myself. You know how I am when there’s liquid courage around.” You admitted sheepishly as your eyes locked with Denki’s. The corner of your lips tugging up into a smirk. Oh, the hell you were going to put him through just for the sole purpose that he was the unlucky fool who sat across from you. “I do have to say that you look pretty good right now, Denki… However, I think you’d look better on top of me.” Your coy smile not matching the words that came out of your mouth. A brief silence fell over the table while all their eyes flashed between you and Denki. The table shifted from the weight of you leaning forward and resting your chin in your hand. 

“Alright… You need to calm down and lay off the drinks, you nasty.” Mina scolded you, throwing a paper coaster at you playfully which you tried to catch but only failed terribly. It was a sure sign that you were a bit tipsier than you’d like to admit. It was the childish smile that you flashed in her direction that made her shake her head, laughing. “Well since we’re all here, I can finally explain why we had to come to this specific bar on this specific night.” She looked down at her phone only to check the time as she spoke. “Here in about thirty minutes, karaoke night begins and we all need to loosen up and enjoy ourselves!” The collective groan she earned from the lot of you only coaxed a devilish grin out of the pink girl. How you guys were stupid enough to fall for such an obvious scheme was a whole mystery. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The night quickly passed by as the hours were filled with chit chat, mindless flirting, and downing a few drinks here and there. Your friends even convinced you to sing a solo but other than that you wouldn’t go up unless one of them was singing with you. Most of the time it was just you and Mina having the time of your lives. The time speedily approaching the early hours of the morning. At this point, you were drunker than the others who sat at your table. Denki had joined in with you when it came to drinking, almost catching up to you but didn’t quite get to your leg. A large portion of the night, the two of you becoming touchy and flirty with each other. As this went on, the lean boy next to you only grew tenser, watching the way you acted with the blonde across from you. 

He had stopped drinking a while ago just so he could keep an eye on the two of you. It was driving him insane. The way you would pull your bottom lip in between your teeth as Denki spoke to you. How you would lean in only centimeters away from the other boy’s face just to say something to him. All the snide and dirty comments leaving your lips. It was really starting to get on his nerves. Hanta Sero knew that there was nothing between the two of you that would make you tied down to him however that didn’t stop the jealousy that rose up in his chest as he watched your feather-light touches brushed against Denki’s skin. You were his plaything and he wasn’t just going to let some ripoff Pikachu steal you away.   

You finally noticed how tense the boy next you was as you leaned against him, holding your stomach as you tried to suppress the giggles that Denki pulled from your lips with a stupid joke that would normally only make you roll your eyes. When you finally pulled yourself together, it was impossible to hide the smirk on your lips. It took long enough for Sero to get so worked up. You were unsure if you would be able to keep up your game with Denki for much longer. Of course, you loved Denki but you could never imagine yourself doing anything with him. He was like a brother to you. 

“A little tense are we? Do you need some help loosening up?” You whispered and leaned in close to the raven-haired boy. Your lips brushing against the shell of his ear while your hand came to rest just above his knee. Laughter threatened to spill from you when you saw the stupid look on his face. He seemed to be frozen in fear. Neither of you had ever been very touchy with each other in public so he had a right to be taken aback by your actions. “Just relax… I’ll help you loosen up.” You purred quietly before laying your head on his shoulder, looking at your other friends who were engaged in a seemingly heated argument about something you couldn’t care less about. 

Feather-light touches brushed against the rough material of Sero’s jeans as your fingers trailed up his thigh, stopping to squeeze gently when it seemed his attention was pulled away by someone at the table. You continued the conversation that you had been having with Denki all the while. Though you drug out your teasing touches, Sero prayed that time would slow down. He wouldn’t be able to control himself if your teasing continued to work it’s way up his thigh. It wasn’t long until all eyes were on him, mouth agape from the gasp that your touch pulled from him. Your fingers brushing against the tent in his ever so tightening jeans, the innocence and fake concern plastered on your face as you looked at him like everyone else only frustrated him more. Tonight was going to be a long night for you. 

“Bro, you okay? Do you need anything?” Kirishima was genuinely concerned for his friend considering how Sero was squirming and gritting his teeth like he was in pain. The raven-haired boy scrunching up as his brows furrowed together, breathing as if he had just run a marathon. If only his friends knew the torturing he was enduring. How the feeling of your hand cupped against the bulge in his jean, applying light pressure as you rubbed him up and down, was driving him so far up the wall that he almost considered bending you over the table. He considered fucking you in front of all of your friends and everyone else in this bar so they knew just how much of a slut you are for him. 

“Hanta… Do you need some water?” Your sweet voice filling his ears as he turned to glare at you, the root of his current problem. To prevent this from going any further, his fingers wrapped tightly around your wrist as he mumbled something about being perfectly fine. He applied more pressure to your wrist as he moved it away from his crotch before letting it go and drop to your side. His head turning to meet your gaze, giving you a look that could mean that you were completely and absolutely both figuratively and literally fucked. 

“I think it’s best to be the time that I go…” You rubbed the side of your neck with a small smile. Your friends now shifting their attention from Sero to you. Pouts forming on Denki and Kirishima’s lips. They began to beg you to stay awhile longer. Stay for a couple more drinks. Sing a song or two more with them. There were many appealing offers however you know if you stayed longer and drank anymore, you’d get yourself in even more trouble. 

“Just one more song. Sing for us one last time.” Mina begged with big sad puppy dog eyes burning into your soul. To deny her request would be like denying a starving puppy a bite of your ham sandwich. It was impossible to deny her request. Even if you weren’t already drunk it would be impossible. The table teetered slightly as you used as an aid to stand up from your seat. 

“One last song then I’m gone. Out of here.” A quiet sigh escaping but you couldn’t hide the smile on your lips as your friends cheered for you.

~ Heh. I promise the second part will have the spice you desire. It may not be good spice but it will be spice. Also gotta tag my favorite Hanta Sero lover @fourteenow ~

[joetatoeheads]

“If he wanted you he’d make an effort if he missed you he’d make time” X David Dobrik

Word Count: 1.6K

Warnings: None

Masterlist

There was an unspoken thing and you and David. There were obvious feelings but David’s schedule had made it impossible for you two to have any type of relationship. David sometimes barely had time for friends, if it didn’t involve content some days.

You, on the other hand, had nothing to do but hang out with the other members of the vlog squad. You appeared on some vlogs with Zane and Heath and appeared on some of Carly and Erin’s videos too. You were another Matt but were treated better because David had a soft spot for you.

The simple fact that David would never pull a prank on you was the first sign. Then every day he would ask where you were and if you wanted to hangout. This constant need to be with each other was overwhelming in the beginning. He cared for you, you cared for him, and then things changed.

Just as quickly as David wanted you by his side, he didn’t want you anymore. The vlogs became his concern and you had no objections. The vlogs took precedence before you met David and they would still take precedence after you were gone. It was a slow change that slowly broke your heart.

Missed hangouts, unanswered text messages, and apologies as David left you all alone some nights were just the beginning.

“What are you doing here?”

Y/N turned around to find Zane, Heath, and Mariah by the door.

“David canceled again. I was already here before I got the text.”

“Oh baby girl,” Mariah’s sad voice had made things worse.

“Come out with us.”

“What are you guys doing here?” asked Y/N.

“Zane forgot his camera when he was pregaming earlier,” explained Mariah.

“Mariah’s right, come out with us! If Zane gets drunk enough then maybe you’ll get to see David.”

Y/N agreed and she did end up seeing David for a couple of minutes. They said hello and exchanged a couple of sentences. David even apologized and promised to make it up. A movie night was arranged later in the week and when the day finally came David barely paid attention to you.

Either he was trying to edit or doing a brand deal and was trying to post. You didn’t mind the lack of attention because Youtube was his life and how he made a living. When the movie ended you turned to David who was on his phone as he was before.

“David?”

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?” asked Y/N.

“I am. Why?”

“It’s just that we’ve barely had time to hang out that’s all. I could help with some things if you like.”

David gave her a big smile, “I’ve been busy but I’m not going to bother you with my stuff.”

“I could see you more if I started helping.”

“Thank you for offering but I have everything under control.”

“I just want to hang out with you. I never see you anymore,” said Y/N.

“We’re hanging out now,” observed David.

“The first time in weeks.”

“Look, I like you, you know that but I can’t spend every second with you.”

Y/N nodded and let things go and David never knew how much his words hurt. So slowly the drift widens as the days went by. Everyone noticed but no one could do anything about it. David cared for Y/N just not enough to make things official nor enough to prioritize her above other things.

From seeing David less and less, things changed once again when Y/N wasn’t invited places anywhere. Parties and hangouts never included Y/N and the rest of the vlog squad started to notice. The vlogs stopped featuring Y/N but she was still being in Zane, Heath, Carly, and Erin’s videos. So of course gossip stirred.

David didn’t care for gossip but when Corinna and Natalie finally mentioned something, David realized he was toying with Y/N. Keeping her close enough to have someone, but keeping her far enough so it wasn’t anything serious. David wasn’t interested in anything serious and that wasn’t his fault.

Days after being confronted, Y/N went to David’s with chipotle and was met with tired eyes and mumbles. The guys had a late night and Y/N was more than happy to cheer up David and things were fine until David wanted to talk to alone. It was in his bedroom that David confessed his feelings. He didn’t want a serious relationship with Y/N and all she could do was nod even if she wanted to cry.

“Are you okay?” asked David.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” smiled Y/N.

“Everyone made it seem like you would cry and hate me.”

“I could never hate you.” But Y/N did cry when she went back to her apartment.

The smile was gone from Y/N after that. Her routine was still the same. Film some videos, appear in some vlogs, and bring over food to David’s. The first sign that David was annoyed with Y/N spending less time with him was when he found out she was spending more days with Zane, Matt, and Jeff. His little side comments didn’t alert anyone in the beginning.

Then the food stopped coming. No more chipotle or homemade cookies from Y/N. One night Zane was passing around cookies and David could recognize them from a mile away.

“Hey where you’d get these?”

“Y/N she made them this morning and I thought I’d bring what’s left of them.”

“I missed them so much! I can’t get them at David’s anymore,” said Carly as she tried to get as much as possible in her hands.

Then there was getting food. Y/N didn’t come by with Chipotle or Jimmy John’s. David had to find out that Y/N was stopping by to eat with Carly, Erin, and Matt. Y/N was ignoring David and he didn’t like it. After a missed phone call and unanswered text messages, David was trying to find out where Y/N was.

“Dude she’s at Jeff’s. She helping him out with a video,” said Zane

“She never does that,” replied David.

“Ya she does man. Jeff thinks she has a crush,” added Matt.

“On him?” asked David.

“No on Oscar.”

“Y/N doesn’t have a crush on Oscar.”

“Why because she can only have a crush on you?” asked Erin.

Everybody had uncomfortable faces. David found an excuse to go to Jeff’s finding Y/N talking to Jeff. Oscar was on his phone and David went up to him first. He introduced himself to the group of people in Jeff’s apartment and finally made his way to Y/N.

“Hey man what’s going on?”

“I came to pick up Y/N,” smiled David.

“Me? Why?”

“Movie night,” answered David.

“Oh. Okay… like right now?”

“Well I was thinking of getting some food.”

Y/N nodded but Jeff gave David a weird look. After picking up chipotle and going back to an empty house, Y/N turned to David.

“Where is everybody?”

“I thought you’d appreciate just the two of us.”

“It’s been so long since we’ve ever been alone like this,” laughed Y/N.

“I asked them not to come tonight,” confessed David.

“Okay, what is going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have never done anything like this before. If you think I’m mad at you, I’m not, I could never be.”

David looked at Y/N, with a small smile, “Are you sure about that?”

Now Y/N was confused, “What are you talking about?”

“You ignore me now. You don’t come around anymore and now you’re helping Jeff film videos?”

“I’m not ignoring you. I just stopped putting you at the top of my list now. Besides, I’m helping Oscar more than I’m helping Jeff since he does most of the prop work.”

“Let’s go on a date,” suggested David.

Y/N laughed at the bluntness, “Are you serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You have never shown interest in me like that.”

“That’s not true.”

“David yes it is.”

“I don’t treat you like Natalie or Corinna. I treat you differently because I like you.”

“What happened to not liking me that way? You told me that to my face.”

“I did like you. I do like you but I just never have enough time to put effort into any relationship. If I’m going to be your boyfriend I want to put all my love and time into it and not give you this half-ass version of me,” explained David.

“Wow didn’t realize there was a whole you, that I had yet to see,” joked Y/N.

“I’m serious. You’re too pretty, too smart, and too everything for me just to drag you around to stupid parties and dangerous stunts. I like you too much for that.”

“Say I say yes to the date where would we be going?”

“I would take you to the fanciest restaurant in LA and buy you 100 roses. I would try and show you I’m in this for the long run.”

“This can be our first date.”

“What?”

“This can be our first date. We’re both already here and all alone. We can just watch a movie and order Chipotle,” suggested Y/N.

“I don’t deserve you.”

“Well no, you don’t, but things happen” Y/N walked over to the couch and started going through movies, “Also you’re paying for chipotle. This is a date after all.”

[st-crylo]

Rebound

Part 6

A/N: Sorry this took a little bit longer to get out, I’ve had a really busy couple of days. I hope you guys like this chapter, it’s filled with some drama!

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 5.2K

Tagging: @nankstasty @haylaansmi @thomasscresswell

Masterlist

Going home the next afternoon sucked. It was like plunging into ice cold water after being wrapped in warm blankets, and the moment you stepped through your front door that Sunday afternoon, you felt alone again. 

Your mom had given you a lecture about having not messaged her after the movie, but she seemed to get over it quickly. It was clear to you that she was simply content in seeing you do something other than hiding in your room in your sorrows. You couldn’t say you blamed her. Even as the feelings of sadness and loneliness crept back into you, you could recognize that your refusal to interact with the outside world following the receiving of the picture was nothing short of sad.

However, as you sat in your room that night after dinner, looking for something to keep you occupied, you began to scheme. You and Kylo were “official” now, so you needed to cement suspicion in the student body before going to school tomorrow. Just as your friendship had come to a shock to the student body, so would this, and if the student body knew, Shawn would know. 

Looking through your phone, you browsed the pictures you’d taken over the weekend. Seeing a picture you’d tried to take of Kylo that morning at breakfast, an idea came to mind. Closing out of your camera roll, you opened up Instagram, creating a new post. The first picture you used was a picture of the waterfall at Endor State Park. The second was the picture of Kylo at breakfast, his hand covering most of his face as he reached for the camera. You quickly typed out a caption before pressing the word “post.” Then, you decided to move over to your bio. For an extra bit of spice, you quickly edited your bio, adding the word “taken” in the space it had once been when you’d been dating Shawn. Then, you put today’s date and saved. Now all there was left to do was wait. 

It took maybe fifteen minutes before you’d gotten a message in your DM’s. You opened up the message request, and much to your content, the message was exactly what you wanted.

Are you dating Ben Solo?

You responded with a quick yes before your phone began to ring. Kylo’s name flashed across the screen, and you picked up, putting the phone to your ear.

“Y’know, I’m hurt you used that picture,” came Kylo’s voice with feigned annoyance. You laughed before letting out a sigh.

“I figured that picture would be a little more mysterious. Besides, the other picture I have of you, you were making that stupid face. I figured you would hate that picture more,” you responded, leaning against your bed frame as you stared out the window. 

“Fair point. This is gonna cause a shit storm tomorrow, you know that, right?” he asked. 

“That’s the idea. Gotta get the people talking.”

“Alright, well, I’ll see you in the morning. Later.”

“Later,” you responded before hanging up the phone. As soon as you put the phone down, though, you felt the buzz of a message coming through. Bringing your phone back up from your lap, you saw you had a message from Poe.

Please tell me you’re joking.

You couldn’t lie and say you didn’t know this was coming. After all, none of them liked Kylo, especially Rey. You knew Rey would have a lot to say about it eventually, but you really weren’t expecting an almost instantaneous message from someone. A part of you wished you could tell them about the plan, how you weren’t really interested in Kylo that way, but you knew they would hate that too. The idea of you even hanging around Kylo was hard for any of them to understand, you weren’t naive enough to think otherwise. If you told them about the plan, they’d say something about how Kylo had put you up to it, and how it wasn’t really you. So, as hard as it was, you had to keep the facade up with them as well.

What do you mean? You responded before looking at a notification from instagram. Sami had commented a number of emojis underneath your post. Just as you were about to respond, you were receiving another call. 

“Hello?” you asked as you answered the phone.

“Cut the shit, (y/n). Are you really dating Ben Solo? Of all people?” came Poe’s voice from the other end of the receiver. You let out a sigh before answering.

“Yes, I’m dating Kylo,” was all you said. You didn’t need to justify the reason. Even if the relationship was real, you would hope that your friends would respect your choice, or at least not be so up front about it. To be fair, though, Poe was the only one to say anything so far, but you knew more was coming your way.

“I get that you’re hurt from what Shawn did, but that doesn’t make it okay to jump to the next shitty guy who will have you. He’s a piece of shit, (y/n), he’s always getting into trouble, and he’s probably going nowhere with his life!” The words stung. You knew Poe was mad, but that didn’t justify his cruel words. Now, you were starting to boil over with rage.

“Fuck you, Dameron.”

“C’mon, (y/n), you know I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just that-”

“That I’m going for the next shitty guy that will have me? Grow the fuck up. When was the last time you bothered to talk to him, or even know the person he is now? And how the fuck dare you say something like that to me? What the fuck else was it supposed to mean? I know you might not agree with all of my decisions, but I at least hoped you would respect me enough to not degrade me for the decisions I make.”

“But this isn’t who you are! We’ve all been thinking about it, but this really just proved it. You’re not like Solo’s group of friends, and you’re trying too hard to reinvent yourself after what happened,” Poe fought back.

“Sorry that I can’t just go back to the person I was before I got cheated on. Sorry I can’t be the perfect little girlfriend I was to Shawn and never do anything but study and chat all day long! The person I was with Shawn wasn’t really me, and the fact that you expect me to still be that person really fucking hurts. It tells me that you can’t understand how something like that can change everything about a person. Even so, that’s not why I’m dating Kylo. I’m dating Kylo because for once, someone doesn’t expect me to be what they want me to be, and it’s so goddamn refreshing. So go fuck yourself, Dameron, and don’t talk to me until you get your head out of your ass,” you all but screamed into the phone. Once you finished, you hung up, tossing your phone onto your bed. You grabbed the nearest pillow and screamed into it, infuriated. Tears streaked down your face as you steeped in your anger, trying to process the conversation you’d just had.

The next shitty guy who would have you? He made it sound as if you had been jumping to relationships over the years, as opposed to the reality that you’d been stuck in a relationship for three years that ended in nothing. Poe hadn’t even bothered to ask what it was about Kylo that made you want to date him, he simply assumed the worst and decided to share his assumptions with you. Through all your anger, you felt a pang in your chest from the hurt of what had just been said to you. 

You were grateful that your relationship wasn’t actually real though. If it was, this conversation would have crushed you. Even so, you weren’t sure you could ever look Poe in the eye the same way again.

The next morning you tried your hardest not to think about your conversation with Poe, at least until you could tell Kylo about it. You knew Kylo would be furious- rightfully so in your opinion- but you knew that talking to him about it would make you feel a lot better. You rushed out of your house, only barely remembering to grab your lunch from the counter before heading outside and meeting Kylo in his driveway. 

As soon as you caught sight of Kylo, you felt your eyes well up with tears. Kylo smiled at you when he spotted you, but it faded to a frown when he realized you were on the verge of tears. As you approached him, you wrapped your arms around him, burying your face in his chest as you let out a few sobs. He wrapped his arms around you as well, letting you expel your tears before wiping a few of them away. Once you cried all you could, you walked over to the passenger side, climbing into the car. 

Once Kylo had climbed in and started the ignition, he turned to look at you while backing out of the driveway and into the cul de sac. 

“So, are you gonna tell me what happened?” he asked before beginning the route out of the neighborhood. 

You explained the whole conversation with Poe, trying to hold in anymore tears of mixed rage and sadness so you could properly explain. As you expected, Kylo was furious. His knuckles turned white as they gripped onto the steering wheel.

“What the fuck kind of friend even says that?” he said, teeth grit and voice dangerously soft. 

“I don’t know. I don’t understand why he thought that was an okay thing to say to me,” you said, wiping away the tears threatening to spill. 

“On the bright side, I don’t think anything anyone else will say to you could be any worse,” Kylo said with a small bit of optimism in his voice. You smiled up at him, truly thankful for his patience with you. Kylo was certainly a friend that could never be replaced. 

Upon arriving at school, the two of you sat in the car so you could take some extra time to regain any composure you’d lost on the way here. You knew you had to prepare yourself for the eyes that would be following the two of you, but that was the easy part. The hard part was, and would always be, the whispers. If Poe’s reaction to the news was bad, you were afraid to see the reaction of everyone else at Mos Eisley High. 

Sure enough, the eyes were everywhere. Of course, it didn’t help that Kylo chose to make a spectacle about it by wrapping an arm around your shoulders as he walked with you through the halls. It also didn’t help when, at the part of the hall where the two of you usually departed, Kylo leaned down close to you, placing a kiss on your cheek. Despite the incessant chatter in the halls that had the volume of a dull roar, you knew that everyone had just seen Kylo do it, and you couldn’t help the fierce blush that rose to your cheeks as you waved a goodbye to Kylo before he disappeared within the crowd of gossiping people. 

The whispers, however, weren’t as bad as you had feared. It seemed that a lot more people were sympathetic to you, even though they all seemed to disapprove of your choice in man.

“I just can’t believe she’s in another relationship so soon.”

“Can you blame her? I would be moving on quickly too, if I’d gone through the same thing.”

“I just don’t understand why it’s with him.”

Kylo’s reputation simply couldn’t be helped. You could live with that, as long as you didn’t get anymore of what you’d gotten yesterday. The more you thought about it, you kind of liked the idea of dating the bad boy of the school. Maybe it was cliche, but it was kind of thrilling, not to mention the whole construct of your “relationship” was as well. Not only was it a pretty devious revenge scheme, but you’d now have a new reputation of your own, instead of the subservient girlfriend you had always been. It was a nice change, and gave you more of an opportunity to explore who you really were. 

Once you’d gotten to math, everything seemed to calm down a little more. There were still whispers, but the amount had decreased, which was something you could honestly work with. You were sure to be the subject of many a lunchroom gossip for a while, but the less you had to hear it, the better it was. As you pulled out your notebook to begin taking notes, you felt your phone buzz from your pocket. You discreetly pulled it out to see a message from Kylo.

Dickhead Dylan won’t stop staring at me. You held in a laugh as you texted back your reply.

Give him an air kiss. This man is so homophobic, his brain might split in half if you do.

What a sight that would be. 

Letting out a soft chuckle, you shoved your phone back into your pocket before continuing with your note taking. So far, the day seemed to be flying by, which you were actually quite thankful for. It was certainly better than last week's feeling of each block being an eternity. 

Though the whispers had followed you all the way to the cafeteria, you were grateful for the break. Heading out to the courtyard, you spotted your lunch group. As always, Sami and Alan were already there, Sami sketching in her sketchbook and Alan doing his normal routine of pushing the food around on his plate. As you sat down, you pulled out the oreos your mom had packed for your lunch and tossed it Alan’s way. His face lit up as he looked at it.

“(y/n), you’re the best,” Alan said before digging into one of the oreos. 

“I try,” you said with a smile. 

“You don’t even have to,” came Kylo’s voice from behind you. You turned around to see him standing behind you, a smirk on his face as he looked down at you. Then, he took his spot beside you, making sure to sit close so that the wandering eyes in the courtyard could witness the two of you together. It was a spectacle to them, and you figured you might as well give them a show. As soon as Kylo settled down beside you, you leaned your head against his shoulder while taking a bite of your sandwich. 

“You two are really the talk of the town,” Sami said, not looking up from her sketchbook. 

“Can’t say I’m surprised. People love getting involved in business that isn’t their own,” Kylo said before biting into an apple. 

“That was the whole point though, wasn’t it?” Sami asked, looking up and glancing back and forth between the two of you.

“She’s right, that is the point. Though, if the soccer players think about it too hard, their brains may implode,” you quipped. Kylo let out a chuckle before taking another bite from his apple. 

“I thought Dylan might have an aneurysm, his blood vessel was popping on his head like some kind of cartoon character,” he remarked. 

“Has anyone seen Phasma today?” Alan suddenly chipped in with a mouth full of oreos. You had only just noticed Phasma’s absence. 

“She went to help Jordan move into her dorm,” Sami answered, looking back down at her sketchbook. Alan nodded at her response, shoving the last oreo into his mouth as he did so. 

Once lunch had ended, you and Kylo continued your routine of holding hands on the way to physics. It was a simple way to be affectionate, and the most comfortable in your opinion. The way Kylo’s hands seemed to dwarf your own just made holding his hand feel so natural. 

The classroom went silent when the two of you walked in. You didn’t bother to look and see if Shawn was already present. Instead, you simply walked over to your seat and pulled your notebook out, ready to take notes the moment Mr. Windu began lecturing. 

The silence in the classroom did not lift after that. The only sounds that really penetrated the blanket of soundlessness were the occasional whispers, but they were too soft for you to make out what exactly they were saying. You decided though that you didn’t really care what they were saying, at least in this class. You didn’t want to overhear whatever nasty thoughts Shawn or Dylan might have about you. 

“Well this is a nice surprise,” Mr. Windu said as he walked in the classroom and over to his desk. Once he began his lecture, you could feel the eyes staring into the back of your head, as if the glance was murderous. Though you hadn’t even looked him in the eye yet, you already knew you had pissed Shawn off. It was as if you could feel the hatred oozing from his body, creating a miasma all over the physics room. It penetrated every crevice, and poisoned the very air.

Good. Now he had even the slightest inkling of understanding what you felt. It gave you satisfaction that he was so angry, you couldn’t lie about that. He deserved it, after all, with what he’d put you through. Though you knew there was no way he would truly ever feel what you had felt, this was good enough. In fact it was wonderful, knowing that you had sent him a silent fuck you, and that you’d given him proof that you would never be with him again.

Throughout class, you tried to do little things you knew would annoy him- not that the way you and Kylo had been acting before wasn’t annoying him already. Every once in a while, you would mess with Kylo’s hand under the table, or put your leg flush against his. It truly proved the advantage of sitting closer towards the front of the class. 

At the end of class, you gathered all of your things, shoving them into your backpack so you could be ready to head out the door as soon as the bell rang. When it did, Kylo stood first, waiting for you before continuing out of the classroom. When you fell in place next to Kylo, he wrapped his arm around your shoulder as the two of you walked to English.

“You could’ve cut the tension in there with a knife,” Kylo remarked. “Thought a dagger might materialize into my back with the way he was staring.”

“No kidding. Do you think he’s mad?” you joked, causing Kylo to laugh. 

“Maybe a little,” he responded as the two of you walked into English. When you first walked in, the first person you saw was Poe. The two of you made eye contact for a brief second before you turned away, taking your seat next to Kylo. You could feel Poe’s gaze linger for a moment before you saw him turn towards the front from your peripherals. It was incredible how the site of him brought back even the smallest portion of your rage. 

Trying to calm yourself down, you pulled out everything you needed for class before leaning back in your seat. You then watched as Sami came in the door, sitting in front of you like usual. 

“Can you believe that Mr. Plo is assigning a five page paper on the party system? It’s the second week of school!” Sami said with exacerbation, placing her backpack on Phasma’s empty seat. 

“That’s bullshit. When’s it due?” Kylo asked.

“Friday! I have to have a five page paper done in less than a week! Sometimes I seriously consider dropping out,” Sami huffed. 

“Can’t say I blame you. I have 3 pages worth of math homework to do, and they’re due tomorrow,” you added. 

“Why is it that now that it’s not the first week, teachers decided it’s okay to give mountains of homework?” She said, pulling out her stuff from her backpack. 

“Because we’re seniors, and they’re ‘preparing us for college,’” Kylo answered. He brought up a good point. All of your teachers had mentioned at one point that they were preparing you for college, the hidden specter in the not so distant future. Though it was exciting to think about graduating, college was definitely a daunting thought. You shook the thought out of your mind, though, as Mr. Skywalker stood from his desk. 

Maybe it was the fact that you were in the same room with all of your old friends, but English seemed to move horrendously slow. Every word that came out of Mr. Skywalker’s mouth seemed to move at half the speed, and the ticking of the clock on the wall almost seemed like it was taunting you, showing you the futility of hoping for time to pass more quickly. 

“Alright, the essay isn’t due for another two weeks, but I’m going to go ahead and hand you the rubric. It would probably be within your best interest to go ahead and start gathering any quotes you want to use, and any outside sources too. I know a lot of your teachers are assigning you a lot of homework, that’s why I’m giving you the rubric this far in advance. Any questions?” Mr. Skywalker looked around the room to confirm that no one had any questions. When the class remained silent, he let out a sigh. “Alright, go ahead and pack up, I’m going to pass these around.” 

Without any further prompting, the whole class moved to put their things away in their respective bags while Mr. Skywalker handed out rubrics to each table. After he’d gotten to yours, you also rushed to put your things away, ready to get home. This day had used up a lot of your energy, and you were ready to lie down for a while. Standing from your desk, you slipped your arm through one of the straps of your backpack, and slung your backpack over your shoulder. Sami and Kylo soon followed, standing and waiting for the crowd to pass by before the three of you made your way out of the school. You made a point of looking down at your phone while your old friends passed by. 

When most of the people left the classroom, the three of you walked out, heading towards the entrance of the school. You all walked side by side, moving past the last remnants of the crowd in the halls, everyone just ready to get home for the day. Once you’d stepped outside of the doors of the school, you let out a sigh as the sun warmed up your whole body with its light. 

“You two drive safe,” Sami said to you and Kylo.

“We’re just going down the road,” Kylo said, rolling his eyes. You let out a small laugh at the sight of him doing so.

“Well, you should still be safe anyways,” Sami said, sticking out her tongue at Kylo playfully before waving goodbye to the two of you and heading for the buses. You waved back at her, and then followed Kylo to his car. 

“Well, that’s day one of our arrangement,” Kylo said with a sigh as soon as the two of you had gotten inside the car. You let out a deep breath you didn’t know you’d been holding in.

“I don’t know if I can handle being around my old friends for a while. I couldn’t even look at any of them earlier,” you confessed to Kylo as he turned the key in the ignition. 

“I’m gonna be honest with you. If they really care about you, they’ll eventually come around. Unless I very openly was treating you like shit, they should learn to respect your decision,” Kylo said as he pulled out of the parking spot. You frowned as you thought about his words. You had thought the same way, but another person confirming it just made it hit home. You didn’t want to lose your friends, you loved them dearly, but if they couldn’t accept your choices, you may just have to take a break from being friends with them, at least until they came around. It wasn’t even just about you “dating” Kylo. It was about your need to discover who you really are, and the fact that they would need to accept whoever it was you decided you truly are. 

Poe had said that the way you were acting wasn’t you, but if you didn’t really know who you were, they definitely didn’t. If they didn’t like the person you became, you feared you would have to leave them behind with all of your memories from before Shawn cheated on you, and from before you became friends with Kylo again. It was a hard thing to think about, so you decided to put it out of mind for now.

“On the brightside, Gran likes you. She says you’re ‘a really sweet girl,’” Kylo said, changing the subject, for which you were thankful.

“Oh, really? Have you told them yet?” you asked, turning to look at Kylo. The afternoon sun hit his eyes just right, making them look amber.

“No, but I was going to tonight. Might as well, I’m sure they’ll hear it from my uncle soon enough,” he said, running a hand through his black hair before letting out a sigh. “It’s telling my mom that’s gonna be a little more difficult.”

“Why’s that?”

“She asks way too many questions. She wants to know every little detail about it, like how I asked, why I wanted to ask, have we gone on any dates yet. It’s just a lot to handle at one time. I’ll let Gran tell her, I’m sure she will almost immediately afterwards,” Kylo responded. You could understand that, especially in this context. You couldn’t blame her, though, it wasn’t like Kylo really talked to her all that much.

“Why don’t you talk to your mom more?”

The question prompted silence, and for a few seconds, the two of you were stewing in your question. You watched as Kylo’s face turned to one of thought as he pondered over how to answer your question. You worried that maybe you’d asked too personal a question, until Kylo began to talk.

“I don’t know. I just don't feel like I can tell her anything. I used to be able to, we used to be really close, but over the years, I guess it became harder to be open. I don’t hate her, like Rey seems to think I do, I just...can’t really talk to her anymore.”

You turned to look forward as you thought about his answer. In a way, it made sense. Most teenage boys felt they couldn’t talk to their parents about things, and you knew for a fact Kylo wasn’t really on speaking terms with his father. It still made you sad, though. You wondered if something like that could really ever be the same.

The rest of the ride home, you changed the subject to more lighthearted conversation. Soon, the heavy conversations of earlier were merely memories in the back of your minds. As Kylo pulled into the driveway, he let out a laugh at a joke you’d made, causing you to laugh as well. When he put the car in park, the two of you both let out sighs.

“Alright, well I’ll see you tomorrow. Try not to drown in your math homework,” Kylo said as he turned off the engine. You smiled and shook your head.

“Try I definitely will, but I can’t make any promises,” you said before stepping out of the car, and heading to your house. 

Once inside, you made your way up the stairs, wanting to go ahead and get your homework out of the way. At almost the exact moment you sat down at your desk in your room, your phone began to ring. Great. With a glance at the screen, you saw that it was Rey, and a chill filled your chest. Though Poe’s response had been disappointing enough, you were more afraid of how Rey would feel. With a deep breath, you picked up the phone and put it to your ear.

“Hello?”

“I was really hoping this was a joke, so I’m asking you now whether it’s real or not,” came Rey’s voice from the other side of the receiver. With a sigh, you rubbed your forehead before answering her.

“Yes, it’s real. Are you gonna lecture me, too?” you asked, already losing your patience.

“Look, I had the sense to wait a day before saying anything to you, and what Poe said was really shitty.”

“At least someone thinks so,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“But he’s not entirely wrong. First of all, you are rushing into a whole new relationship, you have to know how that looks-”

“No, Rey, I don’t know how it looks, why don’t you educate me?”

“C’mon, (y/n), don’t play dumb. There are people who are thinking that you were talking to Kylo before you and Shawn broke up, which in their eyes, makes you no better than him. I know you weren’t, but it doesn’t change the fact that people are thinking that way. On top of that, Ben is shitty. He’s shitty to his parents, and he’s shitty to our grandparents. I have no doubt that in the end, he’ll be shitty to you, too,” Rey combated. You took in a deep breath, because if you didn’t, you would run off at the mouth. Instead, you took a moment to collect your thoughts.

“I’m curious Rey, when was the last time you bothered to talk to your cousin? Like, really talk to him? You don’t even bother to know the person he is before you believe everything that everyone else says. Does he make mistakes, yes, but if you actually talked to him, you might realize that he’s trying to learn from them, but people like you and everyone else in this goddamn town won’t let him. You know what, if all of you are planning to lecture me this week, just tell everyone else not to fucking bother.”

“(y/n), we’re only looking out for you. I think you’re giving Ben too much credit, he spent the summer under house arrest for God’s sake! He’s a loser, and you know it. He isn’t going to go anywhere in his life,” Rey said with finality. 

“You know what, one day I hope you can learn to respect my decisions, even if you don’t like them, but until then, don’t bother to call or text. I don’t need you trying to convince me I don’t know who my own damn boyfriend is,” you said. Without any hesitation afterwards, you hung up the phone. 

You knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it any less disappointing. As tears threatened to be released from your eyes for the second time today, you pulled out your homework and began working, trying to keep yourself distracted from the fact that you may lose your friends over something so stupid.

[somekindoftuber]

vld youtuber AU part two (klance)

part one

Lance gets home from spring break with his raw footage and gets right to editing. He’s pretty pleased with how it came out, but he still waits a few days to post it, worried he’ll seem overeager. Shiro posts the video that Lance is in the next week, and he’s so thrilled, it came out great. Keith had been working the camera a bit and Lance sort of wants to thank him for capturing some flattering shots. He quickly posts the video of his song and links Shiro’s channel.

He contemplates sending a follow request to Keith’s locked twitter, but doesn’t. He just met the guy and he doesn’t seem to be the type that opens up easily, and Lance doesn’t want to push his luck.

Flashback to when Lance left Shiro’s garage after filming. Keith is cleaning up and getting ready to lock up the garage when Shiro gives him A Look.

“Lance was nice, don’t you think?”

Keith pauses where he’s sweeping the floor. “He’s alright, I guess.”

Shiro just grins at him.

Things go well after that. Shiro follows Lance back in twitter, and they chat about videos and cat memes. Lance has noticed that Shiro will sometimes disappear off the internet for a few days at a time, but doesn’t pry.

Lance keeps streaming, and starts to occasionally post videos of his streams. He uploads an Overwatch clip where he sang a stupid song over the mic that had his entire team rolling with laughter, and it gets a lot of hits. A few days later, he gets an email, and has to blink a few times. Because it’s from Keith.

Lance,

Thanks for posting that Overwatch video. Shiro was feeling down and it really cheered him up.

-K

And that’s it. And it puts the biggest smile on Lance’s face.

Months go by and things are normal. Lance keeps finding himself looking at Keith in Shiro’s videos, but who can blame him? The guy is hot, and there’s nothing wrong with admiring the view. He hasn’t really spoken to Keith beyond that one email exchange - Lance had sent him a reply that was probably a little too long-winded but whatever - but he doesn’t mind. Too much. That’s what he tells himself.

Pidge calls him out on his bullshit. “You are absolutely crushing on Shiro’s brother,” she says like it’s the most obvious thing ever.

“I am not.”

But then he mentions it to Hunk on Discord and his oldest friend just laughs at him. “You so are,” Hunk accuses. “Even I can tell.”

Lance just glares into his webcam. So maybe he is. So what? He’s allowed to have a crush. Crushes are harmless. Besides, the guy lives five hours away and Lance doesn’t even know his last name. He’ll eventually get over it and that’ll be that.

Lance gets another opportunity to film with Shiro and he absolutely jumps on it. Shiro invites Lance to stay with them since they have a furnished basement he can stay in for the weekend and he is so excited. It also means he’ll be getting out of Pidge’s hair, since she has some intense projects to finish before the semester is over and needs to focus. So he puts in a time off request at the cafe where he works part time.

Lance packs his bag, his guitar, and all of his filming gear and makes the five hour drive on Friday morning. He only makes one pitstop for snacks and a bathroom break in some tiny town with absolutely no cell signal, then is on his way again.

When he parks on the street in front of Shiro’s place, he checks his phone and panics. Tons of texts. Emails. Twitter DMs. Missed calls. He hadn’t seen them because he was driving, and the one time he stopped, there was no signal. The most recent text is an unknown number:

>Lance this is Keith I got your number from Pidge please call me asap

Shit. Shit shit shit. He calls the number and it picks up after one ring.

“Hello?”

Wow, his voice even sounds nice over the phone. “Uh, Keith? This is Lance.”

“Lance.” There’s a pause. “Um. Where are you?”

Lance looks up at the house. “In front of your house…?”

He thinks he hears Keith curse under his breath. “Okay, I’ll be out in a second.”

Keith sounds tense and Lance is out of his car immediately, shutting the door just as Keith comes out of the small house. He definitely looks tense, shoulder hunched as he marches towards Lance.

“Hey,” Lance greets. “Is everything okay?”

Keith glances around, looking incredibly uncomfortable. “Um. Shiro isn’t feeling well. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to film this weekend.”

“Oh.”

They stand there on the sidewalk awkwardly for several minutes. Lance looks down at the phone in his hands. “Sorry,” he tells Keith. “I was driving and didn’t have a signal, so I didn’t see any messages until I stopped just now.”

Keith rubs the back of his neck. “How far did you drive?”

“Harborville,” Lance shifts his weight. “It’s about five hours from here.”

Keith curses again and fiddles with his phone. Lance is starting to panic because he just drove across the state and the place he was supposed to stay is sounding like a no-go and he’s too tired to drive back he doesn’t really have money for a hotel right now —

“Grab your stuff,” Keith says, “and follow me.”

“Uh. You sure?”

Keith’s expression is blank. “Shiro said you could stay, so you can stay.”

Keith ends up helping Lance carry his stuff inside, down to the basement apartment. It’s small but nice, with a tiny bathroom and a back porch that opens up to a wide yard of weeds and grass. Keith gives him the wifi password, then shuffles awkwardly.

“Sorry. You came all this way for nothing.”

Lance looks up. “Oh! Uh, no, it’s okay, things happen.” He puts on a smile. “I’ll find something to occupy myself, and I can get out of here tomorrow.”

The atmosphere is so, so awkward.

“Um.” Keith motions at his phone. “I was gonna order a couple of pizzas. What kind if toppings do you want?”

Lance perks up a little. “Oh man, I’ll eat literally anything. Get whatever you want, I’m good.”

Keith just nods and goes upstairs. Lance uses the bathroom (holy hell that last energy drink was a mistake, he’d been holding it for so long), then answers all the texts he got from everyone that wasn’t Keith. He assures Pidge that he’s fine, explains what happened, and says he will be back tomorrow.

Keith comes back downstairs about a half hour later with two pizza boxes and a couple of bottles of beer. Lance helps him and they go out onto the back porch, where he finally get to meet Kosmo. His mood is instantly lifted, Kosmo is huge and unruly but sweet as can be, and Lance alternates eating pizza and throwing a drool-covered ball across the yard, watching Kosmo dart after it like a freight train. Keith laughs softly.

“Are the cats around?” Lance asks as Kosmo rests his giant head on Lance’s thigh.

“They’re upstairs,” Keith answers quietly. “With Shiro.”

Okay. Guess he’s not meeting the cats this weekend.

They finish off most of the pizzas, Keith saving several slices for Shiro. It gets awkward again. It’s barely sunset and Lance has no idea how he’s going to spend the next twelve hours. Sleep?

“Wanna play some Overwatch?”

Now there’s an idea. “Yeah! I brought my laptop.”

Keith gives him a little half smile, though it seems forced. “I’ll go get mine.”

They set up their laptops in on the coffee table of the little sitting area in the basement, sitting on the carpeted floor. Keith brings down another beer for each of them and they start playing, Lance using an external drive to record because why not. Keith adds him as a friend so they can play together and it’s stupid how much that pleases Lance, even if he gets the feeling that Keith is just humoring him out of guilt. Keith is also a Genji main and that’s not surprising in the least, though he sometimes plays a pretty effective Mei and a devastating Doomfist. Lance sticks to Widowmaker and Ana, and though it takes them a few rounds to find a groove, the end up working surprisingly well together, each getting Play of the Game a few times.

They take a break and Lance ends his first recording to start another while Keith goes upstairs for another round of beer and a box of cookies that they put between them, and then it’s time to really have fun. Lance invites Hunk into the game and they find some gag servers. Lance starts singing his joke songs, making everyone laugh. At one point he darts back to the room where his stuff is to grab his guitar and play it while he sings. He makes up little jingles about player’s screen names until Keith finally chokes on his beer a little, then throws back his head laughing.

And holy shit, Keith has an amazing laugh, his face lighting up and the corners of his eyes crinkling as he snorts a little. Lance keeps singing just to keep hearing him laugh, and finally Keith is hunched over his laptop covering his face because he’s in tears. It’s incredible and Lance thinks that this, right here? This made the five hour drive worth it.

His voice gets too tired to keep singing and Keith looks sleepy, so they agree to call it a night. Keith takes his laptop and says goodnight with a smile that looks genuine. Once he’s in his sleeping clothes and settling into the guest bed, he’s messaging Hunk to gush a little about Keith. Hunk just sends him several eyeroll emojis and tells him to go to bed.

Lance wakes up disoriented and takes a full five minutes to remember where he is, dehydrated and groggy with a headache forming. Right, he’s in Shiro’s basement. He gets up and brushes his teeth, then looks at the stairs. Can he go upstairs? He can smell coffee, and he would do just about anything for some caffeine right now.

He hears a chirp and looks up again. The basement door is open and there’s a fluffy red tabby at the top of the stairs, looking right at him. One of the cats! With a giant grin, Lance creeps up to the top. The tabby backs up, and Lance is out of the basement before he realizes it, crouching on the floor to hold his hand out to the gorgeous cat that sniffs at his fingers.

He’s been petting the cat for several minutes before he realizes he’s in a kitchen, and he’s not alone. Sitting at the little breakfast table in the corner is Shiro, and he looks like hell. Hair a mess, face scruffy, bags under his eyes and wearing rumpled sweats with a blanket draped over his shoulders. But what Lance notices the most is that his prosthetic arm is gone, his right bicep tapering in the middle before it just stops, covered in webs of scar tissue. His chest is dotted with more scars.

Lance stands up. “Shiro?”

Shiro doesn’t respond right away, his eyes sort of vacant as he stares at the wall. Then he turns to look in Lance’s direction and seems to snap to attention.

“Lance,” he says and his voice is rough and tired as he pulls the blanket around himself with his left hand. He looks over to where the coffee maker is on the counter, at the opposite side of the kitchen. “I was just getting some coffee--” Shiro goes to stand but he looks like he’s in pain, favoring one leg.

Lance jumps. “I’ll get it!” he rushes over to the coffee maker and is sort of relieved to see Shiro sit back down in his peripheral. There’s a bunch of mismatched mugs in the glass door cupboard just above the coffee maker, so he pulls out one and fills it.

“Uh.” This is super weird. “Do you want sugar?”

Shiro gives him this tiny little smile. “There’s some hazelnut creamer in the door of the fridge.” he fidgets a little. “You’re welcome to have some too, if you want.”

Lance thinks that might be the best thing he’s ever heard and pours himself a cup, then goes for the creamer in the fridge. He brings the two mugs to the table and sits down across from Shiro, passing him the mug that’s printed with instructions on how to moonwalk. Shiro mutters a thanks and takes a few sips.

Lance nervously drinks his coffee and tries not to freak out. This is definitely not how he expected this weekend to go. The Shiro in front of him was so far removed from the one he knew online - the cool, confident Shiro was a million miles away, replaced by a man that sat at the table and sipped his coffee like he was expecting the roof to collapse on his head any second. It was unnerving, and Lance feels horribly out of place, like he was intruding on something meant to be private.

Before he can say anything, Shiro speaks up. “I owe you an apology.” he looks like he’s struggling. “You came all this way, and I can’t even film with you. I’m sorry.”

Lance does his best to smile. “It’s okay, really, it’s not your fault you got sick.”

Shiro frowns, then slowly lifts a hand to rest on his right shoulder. “I’m not sick,” he says. “It just... Bothers me sometimes.”

His arm. Shiro is a veteran. The pieces click into place.

Shiro explains a little, that his time in active duty changed him. That sometimes he remembers things he doesn’t want to and it’s hard to get past it. He says he’s better now, with therapy and medication, but it’s still difficult sometimes. Sometimes he still shuts down, gets phantom pains.

Lance doesn’t really know how to respond to that, so he just reaches out and pats Shiro’s hand where it’s resting on the table.

The sound of tapping claws makes them both turn, Kosmo rounding the corner panting happily, followed by a half-asleep Keith. And Lance can’t help but grin, because it’s an adorable sight. His hair is wild and poofy and all over the place, shirt slipping off one shoulder and wearing sleep pants that are printed with cats playing jazz instruments. Keith rubs at one eye with the heel of his hand and doesn’t really seem to register either of them, going straight for the coffee maker.

Lance learns that Keith takes his coffee black.

He’s halfway to the table with a steaming mug in his hand before he even realizes Lance is there, then Keith pops awake with a squeak.

“Morning,” Shiro says. Lance shrinks a little in his chair before muttering a “good morning.”

“Uh.” Keith keeps glancing between them. “Good morning.”

Shiro looks unfazed and takes a drink of his coffee. “Lance and I were just having a chat.” He smiles. “What did you two do last night? I heard a lot of laughing.”

Thanking all that is holy that he finally has a conversation topic to break this intensely awkward silence, Lance tells Shiro about their Overwatch game and the songs he made up. Keith snorts a laugh or two over his coffee and Shiro is wearing a genuine smile.

The conversation lulls. “I should probably pack up and hit the road,” Lance says. He tries to hide his disappointment. But Shiro shakes his head.

“No, please, you’re welcome to stay. We can probably get a little filming in tomorrow.”

It’s the best thing Lance has ever heard.

An hour later they’re all showered and dressed and Shiro looks significantly better, his hair combed and face shaved. He’s wearing his prosthetic again, even if he still has dark circles under his eyes. They pile in Shiro’s truck and head to a local bookstore with a cafe attached, and Shiro introduces Lance to Allura, one of his oldest friends.

Lance is struck a little speechless at first because Allura is so beautiful she can’t possibly be real. But she shakes his hand and Lance can’t place her accent but she’s sweet and cordial, sipping on a coffee with a book next to her elbow that’s in another language.

They spend several hours in the cafe just talking about college, YouTube, cats, and their shared friends the Holts. Allura is in grad school studying sociology or something like that (the title was long and complicated and sounded super difficult). Shiro gets up to get another muffin and Keith goes to the restroom, and Allura puts a hand on Lance’s.

“Thank you for caring for Shiro,” she tells him.

Lance is confused. “I didn’t really do anything…?”

But Allura shakes her head. “He’s told me about you and your videos. You make him laugh and have been a friend to him. It means more than you know.”

Lance blushes hot and doesn’t know what to say.

They return to Shiro’s and have a small barbecue, just the three of them and a small charcoal grill, a pile of meat, and a cooler of beer and soda. Lance plays happy songs on his guitar while Keith plays with Kosmo in the yard. Shiro looks so much better than he did that morning, and they trade stories until sunset. Shiro goes to bed and leaves Lance and Keith alone.

They talk into the night as they pick at the last kebob. Keith is still stoic and secretive, but he’s loosened up after a couple of beers and speaks more candidly than Lance has ever heard. About how he and Shiro aren’t related by blood, how he had it rough before Shiro found him. About adopting his dog from a shelter. Little things, too - Keith hates spicy food, is ambidextrous, and is a crossfit trainer. Lance files away all these little bits of information like precious treasure and goes to sleep with them bouncing around his brain.

The next morning, they head to the garage to film. Shiro doesn’t do an intro, still looking sort of tired, but assures that he can do a voice-over later. Lance and Keith trade camera duty as they work on the old chopper. It’s in bad shape and Keith has to bust out the welding equipment at one point. Lance swallows hard and tries to keep the camera steady because that shouldn’t be hot. Keith in a welding mask with a torch shouldn’t be hot but wow. Lance is definitely in trouble here.

They film for hours until Shiro says he’s too tired to keep going, then they pack up and head back to the house. Lance helps cook dinner and Shiro looks relieved, saying that he and Keith can’t cook very well outside of barbecue. They sit around the table and Lance can’t believe he’s there, in Shiro’s kitchen, trading stories with him and his brother like they’re old friends. A few months ago they seemed so untouchable, like celebrities that he looked up to. Now Shiro is laughing so hard he snorts at a story that Lance is telling him. Lance catches Keith’s eye a few times, smiling when he does.

Lance has to head back on Monday morning, and Shiro pulls him into a hug. It has Lance sputtering a little before he hugs back. Shiro whispers a thank you and it’s so sincere and heartfelt that Lance feels his eyes water a little. Keith just clasps his hand, squeezing it tight. No hug, but the look he gives Lance says a million things that he’ll have to sort out later.

For the drive home, Lance puts on his Florence + The Machine playlist and sings until his throat is sore, so happy he feels like his heart could burst.

.

Continued in part 3!

[randomfandomfamily]

Alright, here’s the other story I did a few weeks ago. It takes place during Season 2 Episode 4, so… yeah. Good times. Anyways, I just got done editing the crap out of it, so I’ma post it now and get to work on some of those requests ✌

“GARY!!” Little Cato panicked. Pushing himself off the ceiling, he tried to chase Gary into the translucent pink void. He slammed into it, unable to pass, watching Gary disappearing behind a wall of solidified time. “NO!!”

He beat his fists against the wall. “Gary?! Gary, can you hear me?! Gary!” The power flickered back on, gravity reactivating, and Little Cato fell unceremoniously to the floor. “Hang on, Gary, I’m coming!” He pulled his blaster off his side and fired it at the wall. “Come on, come on, come on!”

The gun wasn’t working, so he holstered it and took off running. “Guys! Gary’s trapped on the other side, we gotta get him back!” He couldn’t hear anyone, and he assumed the worst. Had all been injured in the crash. Or maybe they- “Nightfall! HUE! Ash, Fox, anybody! Hello?!”

Every hallway was empty. Giving a frustrated shout, Little Cato went back and checked every room. Twice. “Empty, empty… AVA where are they?!” He paused, realizing the ship’s AI hadn’t answered. “AVA, too? What is going on?!”

He looped back around to the control room. “Guys, this isn’t funny! We have to help Gary, he’s trapped on the-!”

Then he remembered. He and Gary were the only ones in the control room when it hit. Everyone else was…

“On the other side…” Little Cato whispered. “I’m on the other side.” He felt his heart sink with the realization. “I’m trapped.”

Between the slowly increasing despair and suffocating fear of never getting back to his friends, Little Cato spent the next couple of days throwing anything and everything at the pink wall that kept them separated. Eventually he realized that he simply didn’t have the resources to break solid time.

So he decided to be a little more productive with his time. He spent the next couple of days doing some repairs. There wasn’t much he could do, but he knew how to use the welding tools, so that’s what he took care of first.

After about four days of making absolutely sure he welded together every piece of the ship he could (it took longer than expected without AVA to tell him where to go and what to fix), Little Cato ended up back in the control room, tapping his fingers anxiously against the arm of the chair.

The controls weren’t working. Nothing was working. And that stupid wall of pure pink frustration still wouldn’t budge no matter what he hit it with.

“Think…” Little Cato crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Gary and the others are gonna try and find a way through from their side, and they’ve probably still got AVA. Maybe the best thing I can do is wait. I mean, the ship’s still connected, right? I could seriously mess stuff up if I start messing with wires.”

Rocking back and forth, he reconsidered. “Then again, this is a time shard. Maybe normal laws of physics don’t apply here.” He paused. “Does this fall under physics? Whatever, it’s some kind of science.”

He stood and cracked his knuckles. “Well, it’s been a week and nothing’s happened. If nothing over there has affected anything over here, then I guess I can mess with some stuff if I need to.”

The only real problem was that Little Cato wasn’t sure what to do. He could do surface repairs. He understood the basics of spacecraft engineering. He knew how to hack into someone else’s mainframe. He could lightfold, jump a dead craft, hotwire someone’s ship (that last one was strictly emergencies only), but the Crimson Light was an advanced shipt. And when it came to redirecting power and trying to keep track of the important wires that needed to not be cut, it was completely beyond him.

He was a hacker and builder, but he was not equipped for this.

Fortunately, he found a manual that outlined the ships wiring and circuits and whatever else was in this complex monster of a ship. Unfortunately, it was huge and full of words he didn’t understand. But, on the plus side, he had plenty of time to read through it and even understand most of it.

Which also meant… that meant his friends still hadn’t come for him.

But they were coming, Little Cato was sure of it. Even as weeks and weeks passed, he knew that they were going to come, even if it was taking a while.

The more he studied, the more clear it became that he wouldn’t be able to move the ship. He would have to redirect power to the engine, and he didn’t have access to it. He tried to see if he could do it indirectly from the controls but, as he suspected, the time shard was preventing any correlation between the split sides of the ship.

He couldn’t get power to the engine, but he could redirect it to the parts of the ship he did have access to. In order to make sure he had as much power as possible, he shut off most of the lights and redirected it to oxygen, gravity, and other essential parts to his survival on the ship.

By the time he had studied all the materials and mastered the intricacies of the ship, there was an estimated sixty-seven years or so before he ran out of power. Not that he would ever need that much power because Gary would definitely find him long before then.

The three years he had already spent there were nothing, really. He had already spent that long in the Lord Commander’s care, and that was way more terrifying.

There was only one thing that he had from the other side, and that was the hologram he had built of his father. It was kind of the only thing that kept him motivated. When in doubt, Avocato was always there to say that he believed in Little Cato’s abilities.

Or at least that’s what Little Cato could program him to say. The real Avocato had never even said ‘I love you’, much less ‘I’m proud’ but, hey, a kid could dream. Besides, who else would know? Fox was his roommate, and he didn’t even know.

Three years doubled, then tripled, and suddenly twenty years had gone by. Little Cato had stopped carving lines into the wall. There were too many to count.

Except that he had counted all of them. Several times. Because he didn’t have much else to do.

All he could do was wait. Wait and survive. Fix the ship, maintain the ship, wait for Gary, survive until the next day.

Being thirty-four was weird. Little Cato around Gary’s age… though Gary would actually be in his early fifties by now.

Little Cato often wondered if the others were stuck just like he was. Could they have possibly found a way to detach the Crimson Light from the shard? Or maybe they had called for help and gotten on a different ship?

Gary did have universe-saving to do… dimensional keys to find… it would make sense if they had all left. Little Cato wouldn’t blame them, really. Two decades was a long time to wait.

“You bet it’s a long time,” a voice laughed, “I’ve been hopping timelines for a while now. Twenty years is no joke.”

Little Cato whirled around. “Nightfall?” But of course there was no one there. He shook his head. “Get it together, Little Cato. You haven’t been here that long.” The tally marks on the wall seemed to laugh at him. “Well… not long enough to go crazy, anyway.”

He hesitated. “But hypothetically speaking… what would Nightfall say if she were here? She knows more about time than I do…”

“The best thing you can do is remember is to stay calm.” Nightfall’s voice said gently. “It doesn’t matter how much you know or how much you learn, it’s useless if you are too scared to act.”

Little Cato smiled. “Right… stay calm.” He smiled to himself while he worked. “And you know who was always pretty good at keeping people calm? Mooncake.” He grinned. “Mooncake always gave the best face hugs.”

“Chookity-pok?”

“Well, probably Gary because he has, you know, arms. But you and your little poddles totally win in the face-hug department.”

“Chookity.”

Little Cato chuckled. “Yeah, well-” He dropped wrench he was holding. “What the heck am I doing? Am I seriously talking to myself?! Get a grip, man!”

And he had a grip… for another two years or so. Then he figured, what’s the harm in pretending he had Nightfall and Mooncake back? As long as he remembered that it wasn’t real, everything would be fine. It was really no different than the hologram he had of his father.

He just couldn’t imagine Gary. Only Nightfall and Mooncake.

Though after a while it seemed kind of wrong not to include HUE. And things were just too quiet in his room without Fox around to bicker with, and if Fox was there of course Ash had to be there.

Clarence got to be there to for some reason, but Little Cato didn’t remember when he showed up. Or Tribore. They both just sort of appeared.

Somehow he managed to fix AVA. Though he wasn’t sure if he had actually fixed AVA, or if that was just one more thing he had created in his slowly deteriorating mind, but she and HUE seemed to be getting along either way.

And KVN was there… but he hated KVN. There’s no way he would have imagined KVN there with them. Maybe he had been there the whole time… that had to be it. Of course that was it. KVN was just always there.

The only one who wasn’t there was Gary. Tribore asked about it once, where Gary was, and all Little Cato could do was tell him the truth: Gary was on the other side. They had to get back. No matter how long it took.

But then awful things started to happen. Fox and Ash died, Nightfall slowly started to go blind, things that Little Cato wouldn’t wish upon his friends in a million years were becoming reality all around him. Part of him started to wonder if ever really imagined them.

Forty-five years on the other side of the time shard, and Little Cato had completely forgotten he was ever alone.

Little Cato had forgotten that he was the trapped one. He had forgotten that the friends he had conjured were only meant for emotional support. Everything was real to him. Sixty years of trying to break through the time shard to find Gary was so so real…

He didn’t remember that he forgot until he was saved.

It wasn’t until he saw Gary staring down at him that he remembered where he had really been for the past sixty years. When he had his ghostly friends to keep him company, he forgot that he had been alone, his mind twisting his memories so that he never remembered.

But being back… being young and back in his time… he remembered. Every memory came flooding back: every torturous night, every haunting day, every moment of crippling loneliness came back with a crushing vengeance.

“I was alone for so long…” Little Cato stood, trying not to show how hard it was to reorient himself. “For sixty years…”

Gary blanched. “Wait, are you saying you remember? You remember what happened in there?”

“Ugh.” His own insanity flashed through his mind. “Yeah… all of it.” He couldn’t stop thinking about how twisted everything had gotten. All he had wanted was the reassuring memories of his friends. Something to call on when he didn’t know what to do.

How did things get so out of hand? Why did they get so out of hand? Maybe trying to create a person out of memories wasn’t all that… healthy.

An image of a gray box prodded at the back of his mind. There was something he had to do.

“Dang. Loneliness is the worst, man. I’m just glad you’re okay.” Gary looked at him, concerning tugging his features into a worried frown. “You are okay… right?”

The answer was no. But he couldn’t tell Gary that. He also couldn’t lie and say yes. So he just said, “Thank you, guys. For not giving up on me.”

And then he left. It was going to be a long, long time before he was ready to talk about what happened in the time shard. But there was one thing he definitely wouldn’t be telling this to.

It was time to put that hologram away. For good this time.