#i just read the prompt “my mom thinks we are dating” AND GUESS WHAT

[idk-i-want-mcl-content]

lalisa can u teach me japanese i said hai hai

[amorisxx]

Snickerdoodle pt. iv

pairing: Art Donaldson x reader, Patrick Zweig x reader, Tashi Duncan x reader summary: Art comes out of retirement to test out his coaching skills. Your relationship with him continues to spiral. warnings: smut 18+, cheating, divorce, rough sex, piv, marijuana use, slight angst, hastily proofread word count: 7.7K divider by @cafekitsune <3 prev part | next part

𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃

Kaleb decides he wants to play tennis. Or that he wants to “get serious” about it. He’d done tennis camp every summer along with soccer camp, and he’d enjoyed it enough. But for some reason, he’s determined to be a tennis player now. You blame it on how much time he’s been spending around the Donaldson’s. Between the various play dates and carpooling, he and Lily have been attached at the hip.

The two of you are enjoying a quiet evening  on a weeknight when he brings it up. 

“Lily doesn’t really like tennis,” he tells you in between bites of mashed potatoes. 

“Well that’s okay. Sometimes our friends end up having different hobbies,” you say.

“Hm,” he puts his finger to his chin, “kinda like you and Mr. Art?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well he’s like the greatest tennis player ever,” he says, spreading his arms out wide. “But you’re terrible at tennis. And you guys are friends right?”

His assertion has you placing your fork down. “Okay, first of all, I’m not terrible at tennis. Secondly, it’s really not fair to compare me to a professional tennis player, K, he’s had years of practice.” Then, you reluctantly think of the last thing he said. About the two of you being friends. 

Images of Art kneeling above you in bed dance through your mind. You think of the last time you were with him. How he’d laid his cheek on your thigh while you threaded your fingers through his tufts of blonde hair. His gaze searing as he watched you in all your post-orgasmic bliss. Your chest was still heaving as you tried to recover.  

You clear your throat. 

“Yeah, um, I guess we are friends.” You avoid eye contact with Kaleb and pray he changes the subject. You don’t want to think about Art. 

Unfortunately, your son is too young to properly read the room. If he was, he’d see the way you’re clenching your fork in your fist. Or he would’ve realized by now that his mom is a harlot. Instead of calling you out on your immorality, he turns to you with express earnestness. “I wanna play tennis like Mr. Art,” he says definitively.

He then furrows his little eyebrows and asks you, “you think I can be as good as him one day?”

You smile, reach over to smooth your palm over his curls, and tug his ear. You say what every parent would. “I think you can do whatever you put your mind to, my little monkey.” 

He grins at you, dimple poking out.

After all, you’re almost certain this is just an eager phase prompted by Lily bringing Tashi to school for career day. Tashi mentioned to you that Kaleb was very eager to ask questions about her job. Apparently, he thought it was super cool that she “got to coach the best tennis players in the world.” You’re worried that before dinner is over he might ask you to put in a word with her about coaching him. 

Once you’ve finished eating, tucked Kaleb in, and tidied up the kitchen, you finally get to relax with a cup of lavender chamomile tea.

Before you settle into the refuge of your bed, you make a note to sign Kaleb up for club tennis. 

ᯓ

You’re at a gas station near Kaleb’s school when you realize your dumb credit card has a faulty chip. You grab your purse and lock the doors to your car, having been forced to go inside the store and pay for your gas the old fashioned way. 

The door shuts behind you with a ring of a bell. The unmistakable smell of fuel fills your nostrils as it mixes with stale coffee and the emblematic stench of small convenience stores. You grumble when you see there’s a short line. 

With a sigh, you take a detour down one of the narrow aisles to grab a pack of gum. You pick out a random pack of spearmint, but your inner child lingers on the yellow packaging of juicy fruit bubble gum sitting beside it. When you were little, your mom would’ve made you pick one or the other. Without a second thought, you pluck the yellow pack out from the shelf and head back towards the front. 

On your walk back, you glance out the windows, checking to make sure the pump you’re parked at is still number 5. 

The line is shorter now. There’s only two people. You think you recognize the dark head of the person standing at the counter. They’re digging through the back pocket of their jeans and pulling out a leather wallet when your cellphone dings. It’s an email notification from your boss. You read the subject header before dropping the phone back into your purse, hoping to avoid whatever stressor awaits you there for a couple more hours or so. When you look back up, you’re met with the face of the dark haired stranger. 

His eyes meet yours. Patrick Zweig sends you a mischievous smile of recognition as he saunters toward you. He snaps his fingers. “I know you.”

“Hi, Patrick,” you say through your tight smile. The last time you’d seen him, he tried to blackmail you into going out with him. If he wasn’t so attractive, you’d probably be repulsed by him. 

“Long time no see.” He pockets his package of Marlboros. “How you been?”

“Um just busy you know,” you hum. “You?” 

He nods. “Same, same.” He looks you over, smile growing wider when he meets your eyes after lingering on your cleavage. He doesn’t even attempt to be discreet. 

You scoff, rolling your eyes to the side.

Thankfully, the bald guy in front of you finishes up his transaction so you have an excuse to say “excuse me” to Patrick as you approach the register. You glance back when you hand your money to the bored cashier, catching one last glimpse of Patrick as he exits through the door. You nibble on the inside of your cheek, feeling the tiniest hint of disappointment. 

You accept your change and two packs of gum and make your way back to your car. Not wanting to waste any more time at this point, you toss the plastic bag into the passenger seat and hurry to pump your gas.  

You’re leaning against the trunk while the fuel fills your tank when you hear a small “hey.” 

You’re startled as Patrick approaches you again. You look around suspiciously. “Um are you stalking me?” 

“No.” He huffs out a laugh. “I was standing over there taking a smoke.” He points towards his beat up suv. You wonder why he doesn’t have a better car. You thought tennis players made money. “And I saw you. Didn’t get to say goodbye earlier.” 

You click your tongue. “Well, bye.” 

“Wait—I hope I didn’t rub you the wrong way last time.” He rubs his palm over the back of his neck. “I kind of have a fucked up sense of humor.” 

“It wasn’t the joke,” you supply. “It was more so you trying to blackmail me into going on a date with you.” 

He laughs. “Yeah, I don’t know why that didn’t work.” The grin he gives you sends a shiver down your spine. 

This time, you smirk, your gaze tracing the length of his body, from his Nikes to the curly wisps of hair flying in the wind. The gas pump clicks, signifying that your tank is full. You don’t remove it right away because you’re busy letting Patrick type his number into your phone. You wish you could say you played hard to get, but that would be a lie of monumental magnitude. 

You don’t actually intend to call him, content to let his number go forgotten in your phone. After all, what type of woman would get involved with the best friend of the man she’s having an affair with? 

Later on, when you’re having a glass of wine, mommy duties complete for the night, you pause on his number as you tap through your phone. You inhale, take a sip from your glass, and quickly save his contact before swiping out of the app. You can blame it on your being slightly tipsy when you notice that he’s saved as “for a rainy day.” 

ᯓ

It turns out that the tennis thing isn’t just a phase. You don’t mind of course. You’d always support your kid in whatever he pursued. The only issue is that Art fucking Donaldson thought it would be a good idea to train little Kaleb. As if you needed more reasons to be around the man. 

You’d told him that you didn’t think it was necessary because your son was only eight years old. Surely, he wouldn’t need a retired professional tennis player to train him. His tennis lessons at the local club would certainly suffice. Plus, you imagined he had more important things to attend to than give private lessons to a third grader. 

On a random weeknight, you’d gone to pick Kaleb up from a play date with Lily, hoping to grab him and get back home before the rain got any worse. Art had greeted you at the door, placing a hand on the small of your back. 

He decided to bring up the topic again. Even Tashi, who was usually busy with training of her own, chimed in, claiming it would be a good opportunity for Art to find real meaning in tennis again. Whatever that meant. Patrick, who you had been avoiding thinking about, once again inserted himself into a conversation, pointing out how young he and Art were when they first started playing tennis. According to him, it was never too early to learn how to properly hit a ball with a racket. 

ᯓ

The thought of Art spending time with Kaleb through tennis is an endearing one if you’re being honest with yourself. But you know you would have an intense fight on your hands should Chris find out. 

Ever since Art had stepped in with your ex at the fall festival, he’d harbored an attitude toward him. He’d gone as far as complaining about all the time Kaleb spent at his house, accusing you of trying to turn your son against him. If it weren’t for the court mandated visits, you’d have simply told Chris to go to hell. But in an attempt to maintain peace for your son’s sake, you reassured him that Kaleb only spent so much time around Art because Lily was his best friend. 

You asked him if it was worth destroying his son’s friendship. He conceded for the time being, but you’re sure if he found out about any extra tennis lessons, he’d blow a gasket. 

Ironically, you had never been offered the freedom to express such possessiveness. You had to be content each and every time your son stayed at his father’s new house with his new fiancée that you barely knew anything about. You handle some occasions better than others. 

This time, though, when you watch Kaleb go through the front door of their luxurious home, Spider-Man backpack affixed on his back, your stomach churns. Chris’ fiancée smiles and waves to you with her left hand. Bitterly, you think it’s a miracle she can even lift it with the large diamond wrapped around her finger. She places her hand on your son’s shoulder, pulling him into their home, as if she wasn’t the one that helped wreck yours. 

Maybe it’s the fact that this past week would’ve been your anniversary, but your shoulders shake with sobs throughout the entire drive home. You sniffle as you think about Kaleb building a life with his soon to be step-mom. You hope she treats him right, but, ultimately, you wish he didn’t have to know her at all. 

It doesn’t help that you aren’t able to bury your sorrows in Art’s chest or on his dick. He’d already told you about the gala he’d be attending that weekend for the Donaldson Foundation. You haven’t seen him since last weekend, and you ache to call him, but the thought makes you feel nauseous when you think about the wretched irony of seeking comfort in a married man. In a decision that’s almost homogeneously pathetic, you sit in your lonely driveway and send a “hey” to ‘for a rainy day.’

ᯓ

It doesn’t take long for Patrick to offer to come over. You send him your location as you pop open a bottle of wine. 

You reach for a glass, your eagerness causing you to apply too much force as you slam the glass down. It breaks under the pressure of your haste, immediately cracking at the stem. The inconvenience is too much for you. You curse before bringing the entire bottle up to your mouth. You take a swig, red liquid spilling out of the corner of your mouth. With a gasp, you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand. Pitifully, your vision starts to blur again as your eyes swell up with hot tears. You resort to sitting on the kitchen floor, taking the occasional drink, and wallowing in your despair. 

You’re propped against the cabinet, knees to your chest as you cradle the green tinted bottle of red wine like a toddler holding a stuffed animal, when you hear your doorbell ring. You stumble to your feet, dragging them as you move toward the door. When you swing the door open, Patrick is standing there with his hands in his pockets. He looks you over once, mumbling that you “look like shit” before stepping into your home as if he’d been there a thousand times. 

He lifts his eyebrows when he sees the neglected pieces of glass on your counter. He looks back at the bottle in your fist before groaning. “Please don’t tell me you’re an alcoholic.” 

You roll your eyes. “No, I’m just having a pretty shitty day.” 

“No shit,” he snorts. 

You send him a glare. “I don’t even know why I called you,” you say and rub your temples. 

“Because I’m obviously easy and you know it.” He smirks. 

It makes you laugh, your red, puffy eyes squinting back at him. 

Patrick eventually convinces you to smoke the joint he’d brought with him. You haven’t gotten high in years, and you find yourself mindlessly rambling about your life as you pass the joint back and forth to him. You’d stopped crying a while ago, your eyes now red because of the weed. 

You and Patrick are lounging on the floor of your living room. You’re dragging your fingers through the shag rug underneath you and leaning your head back on the sofa when you hear him laugh. He sounds like he’s far away, down through a tunnel, but when you turn your head, his face is right beside you. 

“What’s funny?” You grunt. 

He shakes his head. “S’nothing.” 

You frown and shove his bicep. “Tell me,” you say, scooting closer to him. “I hate feeling left out.” 

His smile falters for a second like he’s remembering something, but when you blink he’s sporting a melancholic grin. “It’s just—you kind of remind me a lot of Art.” His head falls to the side to really look at you. “I mean not like completely, and not really how he is now, but when you’re upset—it reminds me of when we were teenagers.” 

“I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not,” you say. It comes out as a whisper. Your faces are so close that you don’t want to startle him. 

“Hm.” His eyes flicker to your lips. “Not a good or bad thing. Just a thing.” 

“That’s why you like me?” You mumble teasingly. “Because I remind you of your boyfriend?” 

He smirks, lips so close to yours you feel his breath fan them. “Who said I liked you?” 

“You don’t have to.” You’re just the slightest movement away from kissing him. If you tilt your head just the tiniest bit—

He lets out an almost imperceptible moan when he finally presses his lips to yours. It’s so quiet, you think you might’ve imagined it. It all happens incredibly fast, but feels like slow motion. Your head is fuzzy and your body is tingling as Patrick grabs your waist, hoisting you onto his lap. It takes you a moment to build momentum, your sensory overload working against you.

When you’re finally able to match his energy, the kiss is searing. He’s sucking your lip into his mouth like you’re already his, hands roaming everywhere he can get them. When he bites your bottom lip, you suck in a breath, giving him room to thrust his tongue into your mouth. You mewl at the way your mouths seem to fit together like velcro. Your toes curl and you tighten your fists into his dark locks when you feel his hot tongue traveling down your throat, leaving white hot bites that feel like being branded. His teeth sting and your cunt throbs as you impulsively rut against his length. 

Patrick rubs his large palm over your ass before abruptly smacking it, making you release an embarrassingly airy moan. His teeth tug on your earlobe. “You like that?” 

You only nod, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. 

“Hmm?” He mumbles, continuing to lave over the skin behind your ear. His hand comes down on your ass again, harder this time. 

You let out a pathetic squeal and slam your hips down against him in search of some kind of friction to relieve the ache between your legs. “Oh god—please fuck me—“

His mouth meets yours again. You can barely kiss him properly, panting about needing him to fuck you right now. 

He really is easy, you think, but it’s not like you have room to talk.

ᯓ

The first time Patrick Zweig sinks his cock into you, you’re on your knees, face pressed against your rug. The slam of his hips threaten to take your breath away as tears cling to your eyelashes. He’s rough, possessively grabbing your flesh with no regard for potential damage. When he experimentally grips your hair in his hand, tugging your head back gently, you see stars behind your clamped eyelids.

Patrick nearly whimpers at the way it makes you arch your back into his thrusts with increasing intensity. He groans something about you being a slut and fists your hair with less restraint. Your walls clench around him when he wraps his hand around your throat, pulling you to his chest. 

He grunts into your ear. “I knew you liked it rough, could tell from the first time I saw you.” 

The tears have started to spill now. Whether it’s from the humiliation or the utter ecstasy, you aren’t sure. All you know is that you almost sob when Patrick drags his tongue alongside your face, collecting the salty tears.

ᯓ

He buries himself inside you for a second time no more than twenty minutes after you’ve both cum. You gasp and claw at his back as his body presses you into your couch cushions.

You have to admit that Patrick knows how to fuck. Knows how to read your body, tapping into just the right frequency to get you off. 

It’s obvious that you’ve been craving this type of treatment from the way you’re responding to him. But you’re sure that he must have a sexual sixth sense because in the midst of fucking you wildly, he grabs your ankle that’s dangling by his ear, turns his head, and plants a sweet kiss to the bone. It makes you melt into the sofa. 

He leans down to shove his tongue into your open mouth. Softly pats your cheek, relishing in your cock drunk state. 

“Does he fuck you like this?” He murmurs into your neck.

You don’t have to ask who he’s talking about. 

“Huh?” He prods. 

You choke down a moan. “Better. He—“ You cry out when you feel him start rubbing harsh circles into your clit. “He fucks me better.” 

He huffs out a laugh through his smile, but his hips slam down harder as if he’s determined to change your answer. In less than a minute, you’re biting down on his shoulder when you feel another orgasm rack through your body. 

ᯓ

You take a longer break this time. Stopping to pour yourself a real glass of wine. One with its stem intact. Patrick lazily inhales from a cigarette as he watches you, with hooded eyes, attempt to hold a throw blanket over your bare torso. In contrast, he nonchalantly spreads his thighs over your couch, body on full display. 

His eyes leisurely meet yours. They shine prettily in the dim lighting of your home. His dark lashes flutter on each drag of his cig and it makes the corner of your mouth curve up when you take a sip. The lamps have cast a cozy shade of amber over the room. It blankets Patrick’s skin in a golden aura reminiscent of something being baked in an oven. 

Patrick reminds you of the gingerbread man, you think. It makes you press the tips of your fingers to your lips to stifle a giggle. 

He tilts his head at your odd behavior, but he assumes the weed must still be affecting you. 

Once you’ve placed your glass on the coffee table, and he’s put out his cigarette, Patrick is pulling you by the ankle, tossing your blanket to the side and kissing his way down your abdomen. 

You yelp when he captures one of your hard nipples in his mouth but let him press his hot kisses into your skin nonetheless. 

You end up cumming for the third time that night with his head buried between your legs. 

ᯓ

Patrick leaves while you’re asleep. 

When you wake up around 3am to an empty house, you think it’s for the best. You check your phone. You have a missed call from “a.d.” and a text from Patrick that says “had fun” with a winking emoji. You don’t respond to either, instead, opting to pad your bare feet to the bathroom. You desperately need a shower.

In the morning, you tidy up your home from the events of the night before, cringing at what took place on the terracotta colored sofa.

When the buzzing in your head doesn’t stop after cleaning your entire living room from top to bottom, you find yourself in the kitchen, pulling out ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. 

You’re frantically kneading dough when the doorbell rings. You frown, not expecting company, but clean your hands as best you can as you make your way to open the door. Sometimes, your talkative neighbor, Mrs. Taylor, likes to come knocking on your door early in the mornings. 

You’re surprised to find that Art is standing on the other side with a latte and a bag containing a chocolate croissant. You assume it’s for you. He places his things down on the table by the door, the one that holds your catch all tray, and scoops you up into a hug. 

He groans into it, making you smile. “Hi,” you mumble into his chest. 

“Hi, pretty girl,” his voice comes out equally mumbled. “Missed you.” You can hear the grin in his tone. It makes your heart clench. 

You allow yourself to hold onto him, despite the ever present worry that you should be reining yourself in when it comes to him. He moves to let you go, grabbing your face in his palm and kissing the side of your head. You whine and lock your arms around his waist in protest. You inhale his scent, all warm and familiar. You’ve missed him. 

“Baby,” he laughs into your hair. You grunt, squeezing him tighter. “Okay, c’mere.” He pulls you into him, securely engulfing you in his arms. “I got you, I got you.” 

You eventually release him long enough to walk into your home. 

You’re relieved that you’d been overtaken by a cleaning spell this morning because you fear that Art might take one glance at your couch and figure out who had been here. That he’d smell him in the air. 

You’re afraid he might’ve detected it anyway when he freezes in the walkway separating your kitchen from the living room. You nibble on your lip as you try to search his body for any signs that he’s onto you. 

To your relief, Art is actually focused on the copious amounts of cookie dough you have on the counter of your kitchen island. He turns to you with the all knowing look of a father, his eyes creased with concern. “Oh no, what happened?” 

ᯓ

After a therapy session in which you decide to stop letting your ex influence your decisions from afar, you finally relent, allowing Art to begin practicing with Kaleb on their private tennis court. It seems like since you got involved with their family, that’s all you ever do, give in to everyone’s requests. In any other context, it would be disturbing, but the sight of Kaleb racing to the court with an oversized tennis bag fills you with joy. The bag threatens to pull him down, but his excitement keeps him upright as he makes a beeline for Art. 

You don’t know who’s more excited to see Art between the two of you. Your son’s tennis instructor waves at you from across the court. And you have to fight the rush that flows through you, threatening to cut off your oxygen, and give a simple wave in return. It makes you feel like a kid with a fervent crush. You could gag.

You remind yourself that you’re here for Kaleb. Not you.

You think that as long as you get to see him happy like that, you’d agree to anything. It’s a scary notion, but becoming a mom has made you aware of a lot of terrifying realities. 

ᯓ

It’s this maternal need to preserve your son’s happiness that leads you to another prolonged encounter with Tashi Duncan. She’d caught you when you were dropping him off for tennis lessons one day. Apparently, she had a free day. Lily was spending the day with her grandparents, and Patrick is, thankfully, nowhere to be found. You try to hide your relief when she tells you that. You don’t think you can face him right now. 

She insists you join her in their sunroom while the boys practice. You try to think of an excuse to turn her down, but you decide your karma from sleeping with her husband has built up too much to take the chance of tacking on more. So, when she offers to make you a cup of tea, you oblige and sink down into the fabric of a warm sofa.

When Tashi reappears, she sits down with a cup of steaming hot tea for the both of you. You thank her with a smile, letting your eyes trail over her figure. She looks ethereal. The sunlight pouring through the glass forms a halo of light around her, illuminating her like a Madonna painting. She has her hair pulled back into a low ponytail that causes her to have to tuck the loose strands behind her ear every now and then. The motion makes you take notice of her slim neck and the way her collarbones dip into her loose-fitted button down. Even dressed casually, she looks like a goddess. 

You feel your heart start to beat a little faster and reach to take a sip of your tea. You wonder how she knew that lavender chamomile was one of your favorites.

It’s only awkward for a moment because the two of you quickly fall into a conversation about what she’s missed now that Art has taken over attending the PTA meetings. That’s how you’d initially met her. She had actually been the one who you exchanged communication with about carpool and play dates. Art’s retirement allowed her to focus on tennis and other aspects of raising Lily that she preferred. You giggle when she admits that she never really liked those meetings anyway. You don’t tell her that you always had that inkling. 

When you mention that Cynthia is still advertising her knitting business at every single meeting, she sucks in a laugh before leaning toward you. She presses her lips together, holding in her giggle. “Guess what?”

You squint at her, your expression already anticipating a joke. “What?” You all but sputter out. 

“I’m probably responsible for like half the sales on her Etsy shop.” She says like she’s admitting to something top secret. It’s a lot like the expression Lily takes on when her and Kaleb are playing “secret agent.”

“Girl, what?” You didn’t think she’d be a fan of crocheted animal figures. 

“I ordered one for my mom for Mother’s Day,” she explains. “She fell in love with the thing I swear, thought it looked just like her little Yorkie, next thing you know she’s asking for the link to share with all her friends.” 

You’re snickering into your mug imagining Tashi unintentionally being Cynthia’s best saleswoman.

She smiles at you. “I’m serious. Apparently, amigurumi is the new thing. It’s gonna be flying off the shelves. That’s why I had to go ahead and put in my order.”

“Of course you know the official term.” You toss your head back. “What’s yours look like?” 

“It’s a little tabby cat,” she smiles wistfully. “Like the one I had growing up. Her name was Aphrodite.” 

It’s a fitting name.

You’re biting back a grin as you take a sip from your tea. You sigh at the taste. “How’d you know what type of tea I liked?” You ask absentmindedly. 

“Art mentioned it to me.” 

You freeze. “Art?” 

“Yeah he says you like to make it before bed. Now, he’s hooked on it.” 

All the blood in your body rushes to your head. You feel that unwelcome yet proverbial sinking in your gut. You think you might start projectile vomiting.

“Are you okay?”

You don’t respond. It’s hard to speak when you feel like you’re dangling upside down on a roller coaster.

“Wait… you didn’t think I knew did you?”

For some unintelligent reason, you decide to play stupid. Usually, in times of danger, humans resort to fight, flight, or freeze. You choose fucking idiot. “Knew what?”

“That you’re fucking my husband.” Tashi says quite unceremoniously.

“What—what do you mean?” You squeak out.

“Don’t.” She laughs. “I’ve known the whole time.” 

“How?” Your voice is shrinking smaller and smaller to your ears. The sound of Tashi’s voice, her pert laughter, drowning it out.

“Art tells me everything.”

“And you’re okay with it?” You attempt to ask though you can barely hear it.

You know your question reaches her ears because she shakes her head and tells you, “I suggested it.” 

Your eyes go wide. Her divulgence seems to propel you forward on your metaphorical roller coaster. In a snap, it brings you out of your stupor.

“I told Art that he should fuck you.” She says it like it’s nothing. Like it’s as simple as telling him to pick up some carry out on the way home. 

You’re confused, and your head is starting to hurt from the whiplash, and you wish this ride would end already. “I’m—I’m not sure I understand what’s going on here.”

“Okay, well, Art’s been attracted to you since the day he met you,” she says plainly. “But he’d never actually do anything about it because that’s just who he is. He needed that push—“

“That push?”

She nods. “He needed to know he could do it and everything would be fine. He’s still figuring out how to be open to stuff like this.” She explains, gestures vaguely in the air. “He’d never break up what seemed like a happy marriage, but when it was clear that your marriage was far from happy…well he started to warm up to the idea.”

“What do you mean far from happy?” The shock has you feeling unreasonably defensive.

“Clearly something was off. You never seemed happy with him. You’ve said it yourself that he was a dick.”

“Um—okay, well, I’d say something has to be off if you’re coaching your husband into sleeping with unsuspecting women.” You shoot back. Your gaze is sharp and accusatory.

She lets her eyes fall down to her lap, picking at little buds of lint being exposed by the sun’s glow. “You’re right, something was off between us,” she says like it’s something in the past. Like maybe they’re good now, but at one time they weren’t. “But Art knows how I feel about him.” Then, her gaze returns to you. “Something tells me your husband either didn’t know or didn’t care.”

Her comment strikes a nerve. Chris did know something was off, and she was right, he didn’t care. He made you feel like needing more from him made you selfish. As if the reminder of the vows he made to you was an affront to him. He knew you were unhappy. That you felt ignored. But he didn’t care. When you’d served him the divorce papers, you naively thought that he’d realize what he might lose, that he might beg for your forgiveness, promise to be better. Instead, you watched him sign the document in the same way he’d signed receipts for dinner before closing the tab and tucking the pen inside. 

You think you envy her. Because she has a husband that actually doesn’t want to leave her. 

“Hey.” She grabs your attention. Her voice softens when she sees your glassy eyes peering back at her. “I’m not judging you. I’m just trying to offer an explanation.” 

You work to swallow down the onslaught of emotions threatening to rise up like bile. You release a fractured noise from your throat, letting the revelation fully soak in. “So you really knew this whole time then? Or rather you orchestrated it?” 

“Okay, that’s a little extreme,” she says. “When we found out you were getting divorced, I mentioned to Art that he should pursue you. That’s all.” She shrugs. “I never knew if he’d actually do it or when he’d do it. All I know is that the first night he came home smelling like you, he fucked me like he did when I first agreed to be his tennis coach.” 

“Then, he was constantly meeting up with you or staying to talk after PTA meetings,” her fingers curl to form quotations around the word, talk. “But I knew what was up.” She bites her lip. “It was honestly kind of hot.” 

You frown. The thought of him sleeping with her immediately after being with you has your stomach in knots. The worst part is that you can’t stop wondering if he’d showered first. If he’d cleaned himself up or if he’d went straight to her, buried himself inside her, cock still sticky with your fluids. In a way, it’s like you had also been inside her. If you think about it long enough, you can imagine what it must feel like. So, you don’t think about it. Instead, you fix your gaze on the golden pothos plant sitting on top a table to your right. The tapping of your nail against the ceramic mug fills the silence. 

She gives you a questioning look. 

Ignoring the implications of what she just told you, you settle for the anger you’re feeling instead of dwelling on any confusing arousal. “Do you not realize how fucked up this is, Tashi?”

“Excuse me?” 

“Yeah! It’s fucked!” You throw your hands up. “I mean I’ve been running around feeling guilty, thinking I was a fucking homewrecker while the two of you get off on a cheating kink!”

She can tell you have more to say, so she leans back and lets you go on.

“I mean how could you do that? I was fucking depressed.”

She snorts. “Not so depressed that it ruined your libido. You two have been going at it like rabbits.” Her smirk makes your cheeks burn. 

You place your mug down onto the table. “Wow. You know what?” You’re on the edge of the couch now, body rigid. “You and Art can go fuck yourselves! This is seriously messed up.”

She raises her eyebrows. “As messed up as you fucking another woman’s husband?” 

Her words drip with mirth, and it pisses you off that the fiery look in her eyes is poking at a budding desire in your belly. “This is ridiculous,” you mumble to yourself. You’d rather focus all your energy on being outraged than interrogate why this is kind of turning you on. You’re about to stand up to leave when she places a hand on your arm.

“Are you seriously mad right now?” She asks you. 

An incredulous look takes over your face. “What do you think?” You spit out.

“Well, would you have preferred I not know?” She asks as if you’re the crazy one here.

“I—“ you squeeze your eyes shut, and try to gather your thoughts. “Obviously not, Tashi.” You glance up to the glass paned ceiling. “I just—it would’ve been nice to know what was really going on. I mean he never even told me that you knew.”

“Well, did you ask?” She asks simply. 

Did you? You think back to the past couple of months. The more you and Art hooked up, the more you avoided directly mentioning Tashi. He didn’t bring her up more than what was necessary, so you suspected he was actively trying to keep it from her. 

To be fair, he did mention a couple of times that he’d told Tashi you two were going to meet up for lunch, but you thought he must’ve been leaving out the activities that followed. And if she happened to call him while the two of you were together, he would casually tell her he was with you. You obviously assumed he was downplaying your friendship because there was no way Art would be so nonchalant about a mistress. But, apparently, the word mistress didn’t even apply to you. 

“I mean, I guess I didn’t.” You stammer. “But I feel like that was on him to bring it up to me.”

“Well that’s where you went wrong. Art can get in his own way sometimes.” A pensive expression works it’s way onto her face. “Or maybe part of him did kind of get off on feeling like he was sneaking around.” The thought seems to bring a small smile to her face. 

It still doesn’t make sense to you. You try to tamper down the sinking feeling that you’ve been nothing more than a pawn. “I just don’t understand why you two couldn’t proposition me like a normal couple looking for a third,” you say.

“Who said you were our third?” 

“Oh, so there’s other women you’ve sent Art to fuck?”

“No. I—I don’t just pimp out my husband, okay?”

You back down.

“We already have a…third I guess.”

You look at her with furrowed brows. 

“Patrick.” She answers.

“Patrick? Like Patrick Patrick?”

She nods.

You laugh cynically. You didn’t think this situation could get any worse.

“I know.” She sighs. “I know how it seems—”

“Was that part of the plan too?” You’re out of breath, chest heaving. 

She looks genuinely confused. “What are you talking about?” 

“Me and Patrick,” you blurt. 

“Wait a minute, you’re sleeping with Patrick?” She’s scooting closer to you. 

You shake your head. “It just happened once.” You think of how he’d shoved your face into the rug, fucking into you as he grunted out various obscenities. “I was high. I haven’t spoken to him since.”

She looks away for a moment, brows drawn together tightly. She’s piecing together what you’ve told her. 

“I—I didn’t know he was with you guys,” you try. 

She waves you off. “No, it’s not that.” She sits back. “I’m just not surprised that he wormed his way into your pants. He just couldn’t take that Art had something to himself.” She’s speaking to you, but her eyes are trained ahead. 

“So, you really didn’t set that up too?” You ask meekly. 

“God, no!” She says. “I had no idea.” 

You believe her. 

“Look I don’t care what type of weird shit you tennis players are into, if you guys have wild orgies or whatever. I just would’ve liked to have known that I wasn’t a hypocrite.”

“A hypocrite?”

You nod. “I mean I sit here and give my ex shit for cheating on me with that skinny ass whore from Modesto. Hell! That’s why I got so much fucking alimony.” You’re rambling now. “And, then, I go and let Art fucking Donaldson screw me and then send him back home to play loving father and husband like it’s nothing. God! And on top of it all, I also sleep with his best friend! I became the whore from Modesto.” 

Tashi’s watching you like you’re a kid experiencing big feelings.

“I felt like a home wrecker.” You sniff. “But apparently I’m actually not…because it was your idea, well only Art, not Patrick, and I—it’s all just fucking with my head.”

Tashi swallows. “I honestly thought you’d be relieved to find out.”

She looks at the frown on your face, takes in the way your plump bottom lip is jutting out. She reaches for your hand. “We’ve never really been the best at communicating. Me and Art. For the past year or so, we’ve gotten better at talking to each other, being honest about what we want, but we’re still working on doing that with other people I guess.” You let her thumb rub the back of your hand before you gently pull away. 

You grab your mug again. The handle is cold to the touch. 

“I promise we didn’t mean to fuck with you. Honestly, I think Art really likes you.” She offers you a small smile.

You look into your mug trying to still your reaction. You don’t care. 

Tashi’s gaze feels heavy on the side of your face as you feel her watching your expression. You start to fiddle with your watch. Checking for the time. Except your watch is too busy displaying your increased heart rate to offer the time. 

You sigh. 

She reaches out to you again, but this time she brings her hand up to your face, moving the curls falling down over your eyes. You let her nimble fingers caress your cheekbone before trailing down to your chin, guiding you to look at her. 

She gives you a steady, knowing smile. “You fell for him didn’t you?” 

Your cheeks go ablaze, and you try to look away from her. 

“Hey.” She grasps your chin in a firm, but gentle hold. “It’s okay.” She nods as if it’ll telepathically make you agree. 

You clear your throat. “I know you say that, but this is all new to me.” Your voice is slightly wobbly and you think you might cry. “I—I didn’t think it’d happen but it did. I thought I could get him out of my system but now,” you inhale and press two fingers against your neck, subconsciously trying to self-soothe. “Now, it’s like—it’s like I can’t stop.” Your voice comes out almost like a whisper. Like you’re afraid to admit the truth. 

And, really, you are afraid. You’re fucking terrified. 

You’re scared to fall in love with a man who already has one—two people in his life that he’s in love with. The last time you entrusted a man with your love, he was only meant to love you, and he couldn’t even give you that. 

What if you realize you’re absolutely enamored by Art Donaldson and he realizes the same thing Chris did? That there’s something about you that makes you unworthy of love. That the depth of you is as deep as your cunt goes and that’s it. 

What if he realizes that he already has what he needs in Tashi, even Patrick? What if they realize they actually aren’t willing to share?

You apparently voice the last bit aloud.

Tashi tilts her head, some of her strands have fallen loose again and she wears the prettiest pout on her lips. “Do you want me to prove it to you?” 

You gulp when her hand presses into your thigh, and she brings her face impossibly close to yours, forcing you to hold her gaze. “You want me to prove that I’m okay with it?” Her eyes flit between each one of yours with a level of seriousness you’d expect from someone like her. 

Her expression demands an answer, and so, you give a faint nod, transfixed on the woman in front of you. 

You gasp when you feel her mouth on yours. 

You learn that Tashi tastes sweet when she has her tongue in your mouth. You think you can taste the tartness of the lemon she’d sucked on earlier. It’s good, and you realize you’re fucked because you really like kissing her. 

Her tongue twirling around yours has you panting quietly, and you keen when you feel her manicured nails press into the nape of your neck. You haven’t kissed a woman since your last girlfriend in college, and you find you miss it. Something about it feels like drinking sweet tea on a hot summer day. Climbing into cool sheets at night when you’re bone tired. Or the feeling you get when you discover the song that you’re going to replay for the next week. 

It also makes you feel absurdly wet. 

The two of you work up a rhythm of pulling away for a breath before coming back together like magnets, letting your foreheads gently press together as you breathe deeply, thumbs caressing skin, eyelids fluttering. 

Your tongue is sweeping across Tashi’s lip, on a path to enter her mouth again, when you hear someone clear their throat. 

There’s an audible smack as you yank yourself from Tashi, eyes flying to the doorway of their sunroom. 

Art is standing there staring at you, gaze shifting from your face to the hand you still have placed on his wife’s neck. His jaw is clenched, and his bulge is painfully evident in his pants. 

𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃

a/n: I've been waiting for this since the first post. Let me know how you feel about the reveal <3 as always, my asks are open!

[imagining-in-the-margins]

🌈CM Pride Challenge🏳️‍⚧️

The following are prompts including LGBTQA+ PRIDE! Reader, Original Character, Character/Character ships, Gen/Platonic fics are allowed!Please check out the Rules below the Keep Reading.

This event is over (Masterlist of Fics here), but you are welcome to use any of these prompts. If you would like to be added to the existing Masterlist of entries, please check out the Rules below!

** This is not a request list for me. Feel free to request these from someone, and be sure to inform them about the challenge!

General Prompts 🏳️‍🌈

Coming out is so much harder the second time

Describe Character’s first kiss with the same gender

Describe Character(s) spending a day at a Pride parade

The team realizes that A&B were more than roommates

Penelope goes a little overboard on rainbow decorations at Characters’ wedding

Character's marriage mutually comes to an end when they come out... now what?

Character comes out at the same time they announce their new relationship to the team

Character A fears it’s too late for them to live authentically, and B assures them that’s not true

Character A gifts B something colored like their pride flag because “the colors reminded me of you”

Child realizes that not every kid has two moms/two dads and they have a lot of questions about it

Queer characters have a hard time deciding what their child should call them and come up with fun ideas

Character A goes to a LGBT bar with B as a wingperson (or maybe they want them, themselves?)

Anything else you can think of!

More prompts (transgender, assorted, dialogue) below!

Transgender Prompts 🏳️‍⚧️

Character A helps B get their first tailored dress/suit

Character A helps B shave and/or put on makeup

The couple is looking for gender neutral nicknames

Character A buys B specialty gender affirming lingerie

Character is casually referred to with an appropriately gendered nickname for the first time

Characters are renewing their vows and redoing their wedding photos following a coming out

Character A walks in on B wearing a new gender-affirming outfit and surprises them with an enthusiastic compliment

The team throws Character an impromptu first birthday party following their coming out (how did they get a banner so fast?!)

Character A buys B a gender affirming but stereotypical gift (sports jersey, neon pink purse, etc.) that they would otherwise hate (but find absolutely hilarious)

Specific Prompts 💝

[Bisexual] Character gets irritated when people reduce their sexuality to their current partner

[Bisexual] Character A is in a M/F relationship with B and worries that their queer identity will become invisible dating them

[Asexual] Characters explore different forms of non-sexual intimacy

[Asexual] Characters are both asexual but too nervous to tell one another. They awkwardly attempt to have sex but end up laughing at how ridiculous they feel.

Dialogue Prompts 💐

“Are they… flirting?” “Big time.”

“I got to fall in love with you twice.”

“To be seen is to be loved." "I see you.”

“Be gay, do crimes.” “Aren’t you a cop?”

“There is no heterosexual explanation for that.”

“Life is very different once you find your people.”

“Cardinals and hydrangeas can change. Why not you?”

“You're still the person I love. Nothing will change that.”

“We both wear pants. Makes it easier to kick your ass.”

“It’s never felt like this before. I've never felt like this before.”

“I guess it makes sense now why it never worked out with my exes.”

Am I allowed to look at her like that? Could it be wrong when she's just so nice to look at? ("She" by Dodie)

“You can kiss a hundred boys in bars, shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling ... Well, good luck, babe. You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.” ("Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan)

Rules ❤️🧡💚💙💜🖤🤎

The fic can be a Reader insert, an Original Character, a character/character ship, a platonic ship, or a Gen fic. It can feature any Criminal Minds character. AUs and crossovers are more than welcome.

Tag me in the fic, or send the link to me in a Direct Message. It can be already written, or you can write it for the challenge - I’m collecting both! You can also tag it “#mentioningmargins” which is a tag I track.

The fic can be any genre, but ONLY send me smut if your bio states you are 18+. I DO NOT WANT smut written by minors. Ever. At all. I will check.Platonic ships and pure, fluffy fics are 100% allowed.

Please include Content Warnings and a one-sentence Summary of the fic in your post.

Have fun!

🌈Happy writing! 🏳️‍⚧️

[vodika-vibes]

I would love to see Wrecker with Topaz in the winter! Warm soup, cozy fireside snuggles, and just sheer cuteness! 💕

Silent Night

Summary: After Wrecker and the Batch’s Medic are stranded in the middle of a winter wonderland, Wrecker decides to make the best of it.

Pairing: TBB Wrecker x F!Reader

Word Count: 725

Warnings: None

Prompt: Topaz - Affectionate Love

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: This one fought me at every turn. I knew what I wanted it to say, but I'm not sure I managed to make it as soft and sweet as I wanted. Oh well, Happy reading!

“You know, you’re pretty good at this, Doc.” Wrecker says with a grin as his gaze drifts from the fish he’s cleaning, to where the team medic is crouching next to a roaring fire. 

The light from the orange flames gives her an almost ethereal look, and Wrecker has a look away before he gets too distracted. “Well,” She admits as she clears a space of snow, as best as she can, and pulls the tent out of his kit, “Mom and dad divorced when I was a kid. And while mom had a nice house, dad wasn’t so lucky. So his weekends were usually spent camping.”

“So you could probably clean this fish then?” Wrecker asks, as he glances at her curiously.

She smiles sheepishly, “Well, dad did show me how, but you’re doing a wonderful job.”

He grins at her, and sets his knife to the side, “Well, as it happens, I’m done anyway. You have everything set up?”

“Yep. Just toss everything in the pot.”

Wrecker does as she instructs, and watches as she adds a few packets of seasoning, as well as some dehydrated vegetables, “I’m guessing your dad had you doing most of the cooking?”

“Yeah. Well, he wasn’t very good at cooking, really. So it was either learn to cook, or me and my siblings were going to end up with tapeworms or something.” Wrecker sits on the flat rock that she found…somewhere…and starts cleaning his knife.

“You know, you don’t talk about your family often.”

She glances at him, “Well, there’s not really much to say, is there?” She drops the contents of a second package into the pot, and then sits next to Wrecker, “My family is just average.”

“I’m not sure what an average family is,” Wrecker points out, “Though I bet Tech could tell me.”

She laughs, “Right, right. Well, there’s mom. She was a housewife up until she and dad got divorced, and then she got a job at the local elementary school getting me and my siblings free tuition. Dad was a firefighter who had a gambling issue. And then there’s the kids, my other brother, me, and our younger sister.”

“Well, you’re a doctor. What do your siblings do?”

“My brother is a chef at some big name restaurant on Coruscant. My sister is trying to become an actress, though she’s only really starred in commercials.” She shrugs, “Like I said, normal. Your family is so much more interesting.”

He laughs, “That’s one word for them.” Wrecker finishes cleaning his knife and stashes it away, “Are you comfortable?”

“Hm?”

“It’s kind of cold.” Wrecker points out.

“Oh, I’m alright. The fire is helping, and Hunter insisted I wear cold weather gear for this mission.” She hesitates, “Do…do you think-?”

“I’m sure they’re fine. Tech is there, after all.” Wrecker drapes an arm over her shoulder and tugs her against his side, “We’re the ones who have to camp outside in the snow.”

She smiles shyly, “I’m not worried.”

“No?”

“I have you here, don’t I?” She asked with a small, almost flirty, smile.

Wrecker’s heart flips nervously, “I…uh…”

She tilts her head, “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“Nah, Doc. I’m just…I’m not Hunter or Crosshair, I’m not used to flirting.” Wrecker admits.

“I’ll stop, if you want.”

“Well now, I didn’t say that.”

She laughs, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, “I like you, Wrecker. You’re fun and you make me laugh and you make me feel safe. I’d like to go on a proper date with you, if I can.”

Wrecker blinks at her, “You…you do?”

“Yeah, if it’s alright.”

“We don’t really…there isn’t much time for proper dating-” Wrecker stammers, “And I don’t get paid-”

“I do get paid, and, well, it doesn’t have to be a big thing, Wrecker. I just want to spend time with you.”

“Well, in that case, can’t this be considered a date?” Wrecker points out.

She looks startled for a moment, and then she beams at him, “I think that’s a wonderful idea.” She lifts to her knees slightly and presses a light kiss against his cheek, before she settles next to him again.

Wrecker presses his hand against his burning cheek, a wide grin that he isn’t even trying to stifle. 

Being stranded here isn’t as bad as it could be.

[sstardustt3]

"smile, you're on camera y'know?"

summary- fem!reader and joel go get grocries while reader films.

word count- 1611k

tags- Ifem!reader x joel miller I fem!reader being a horrible camera woman I pre!outbreak (like way before) I 19yo!joel I breif mention of sarah I pregnant!reader I domestic fluff I grumpy x sunshine trope I

additonal info- Hiii this is my first actual fic so sorry if it's bad and it's not proof read so sorry for some grammer mistakes and i'll end up doing another post abt this but i'm going to make a masterlist for my fics in the future and i also can do requests and prompts so if you like this and any future fics and writing please feel free to put it in! reposts are also appreciated.

time-12:35 

Date- 3/31/2001

Recording sesion- 15:28:52

“Fucckkk…” Joel groaned and shifted around in the sheets

“If you don’t get that goddamned camera out my face…what is it five?”

Your eyes drifted down to the time at the corner of the camera.

“No actually, it’s twelve thirty five. I let you sleep in.” 

 you said from behind the camcorder, having a bit of a laugh at his irritation. He rolled his eyes at your comment and put the sheets over his head. Which promptly got it pulled off and thrown onto the ground

“No c’mon get up sleepy. We have shit to do.”

“Why can’t you go yourself since you’re full dressed already?’

Despite his protests and mumbling, sadly for him he knew he could never deny you, so he begrudgingly rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom, mumbling on the way. You soon followed, the cold air hitting your body once again and went to the drawer and sat the camera down as she slipped the thick whit socks on.

“He’s so adorobly in love with me, and it might seem like he hates me but trust me if you saw the way he was all over me last night you would be eating your words right now, trust.”  you chuckle to your camera, picking it up and walking to the sink in their bathroom. You hear an annoyed, slightly pained groan from joel on the toilet. 

You quickly turn your head and a grin grows on your face. “You okay in their honey?” you hear another annoyed sigh.

“Im great doll. Just fuckin’ peachy” the toilet flushed and he opened the door, one  hand on his hip and the other with his hand making a poor attempt at covering his face from her god forsaken camera that was tracking him.

“I'm starting’ to think that getting you that camera was a mistake”

He picked up his tooth brush and paste and squeezed the tube. The thick paste beading at the opening and getting wiped off on the toothpaste 

“Nonesense. Plus, wouldn’t little sarah love to see her mom and dad when they were young?”

She smiled, sitting it down on the counter and showing off  her pregnant belly to the camera. 

“Isn’t that what photos are for?”

He supposedly said. It was hard to tell with all the paste muffling him. 

“It’s the digital age.”

He didn’t dignify your teasing with a response and spit out the toothpaste and washed it all out with tap water. He whipped his lip and kissed your forehead.

“I’m guessing you wanna go somewhere?” he lazily pulled his shirt off and threw it in the hamper and you quickly seized the opportunity to zoom the grainy film all the way in to his chest to his abdomen. A cheeky smirk grew on your face at the sight. 

“It’s for groceries and to get a christmas tree. You can’t help get a christmas tree?” you quickly refuted. You zoom out and walk to window and gracefully pushed the blinds up and focused the camera on the outside. Thick snow covering the trees and the driveway covered in ice, It looked amazing on the camera, even better in real life.

“Y'know you didn’t have to wake me up for groceries, could’ve just gotten them yourself.” he mumbled, pulling the shirt over his head and slipped on his grey sweatpants.

You twirl, the camera becoming unfocuesed and slightly blurry at the abrupt halt as you dragged your foot to stop.

“Meet me in the kitchen when you’re ready.”  You call out before shutting the door.

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Time-12:42

date-3/31/2001

Recording session-27:02:24

The doors to the grocery store opens with the chime of bells accompany it as joel pushed the door with one hand and push the cart with other with your hand over his. 

“What do we really need outta here?” he said, seeming a little more awake then he was on the walk there.

The camera whirled to the fruit section they were first greeted with upon walking in. Focusing on the bright red color of the peppers and tomatoes.

“Tomatoes…cabbages…ribs....thats really it.”

“Simple enough.” he walked to the produce section and started looking through fruit, his hands turing them around and looking at them closely. You followed his hand and zoomed out a little to see his face. And once you noticed you couldn’t help but laugh at that  stupidly serious look on his face. He noticed and looked at you and your camera.

“What- what is it, why are you laughing?”  he said, with his eyebrows furrowingly slightly, making him look confused and annoyed.

“Your face, your so serious all the time baby, lighten up, please.” chucking hard, her hand that was filliming dropping to her side and hooking her arm around his neck and gave him a light kiss. His face warmed slightly in response which promptly earned a smirk from you.

“You’re too unserious.”

“You’re too serious.” the camera raised and a cheeky smile grew on your face “c’mon smile, you’re on film.” 

“Forget it.” he rolled his eyes and he refocused his attention on the fruit,inspecting it and testing the firmness to make sure it’s fresh.

The attention of the camera flew to the bakery and you made your way over. Getting welcomed by the secent of crepes, macaroons, jelly filled donutes, and other various foods. First going to the donuts, bending down to the prettily decorated display. A woman came over from the otherside, sliding the door to the side as her tongs took out the powdered donuts out and slid in a fresh new steaming hot batch with a little star star shaped candy on a stick on the top. Quickly you stood up to grab the young tired tenagers attention.

“Exuse me, ma’m?”

She turned around, and came back over, putting her arms on the top of the glss display. “Yeah?”

“Can I have two dozen of these?” you said, pointing off screen to the cute little pastry

She leaned far over the counter, ridiculously far and caused you to flinch slightly and back up.

She looked at the name plate next to the desert.

“The…fairy dust powdered donut?” she cranked her neck up to look at you.

You nodded. “Yeah those are the ones.”

She gave a quick nod and pulled back to her side, swiftly grabbing the tongs and picked up 24, 12 at at time and placed them in a bag.

“Is that it?” she asked.

“Yeah thats all.” you said,  trying to hide her shock at the womans quickness.

“That’ll be 9.95.”

You dug your hand in your purse and pulled out two fives and handed it to her which she accepted without a word and she gave back some cents.

“Have a good day ms.”

She called and you responded with a nod and walked away.

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Date-3/31/2001

Time-1:42

Recording session- 60:02:37

“Goddamn it, it feels like i spent all day in there.”

Joel sighed as he carried the bags from the store to the train station.

“Well not all day. Just…” you paused briefly. “Around two hours. Average time for a trip.”

He scoffed as he stopped at the platform. He turnt  your camera which he was also holding towards you.

“I don’t need you being a smartass.” he said from behind the camera

“It’s what I do best.” you retort with that stupid smile before turning the opposite direction. Leaning to the right to see the train coming.

“Don’t do that.” he pulled you towards him, unintentionally backing into his chest.

“Why not?” you asking while reeling your head back to look at him.

“Because I don’t want a damn bullet train to speed towards us and rip your head off because you’re being stupid.” he said, not noticing the light reddining on his face.

“Joel, your blushing.” you tease with that damned smile you’ve had on all day.

“Shut the hell up.” he quickly snapped back.

Within a few seconds the train slowly came and opened it’s doors and you quickly went inside with joel following closely behind. You took your seats and it was only when the pair sat down they realized how tired they were from standing. Joel craned his neck down to look at the camera. It was a quite a tooth rotting sight actually. You and joel holding hands on the train with both shoes in frame and yours untied. He sighed and sat the camera down on your lap and bent over to tie your shoes. You look down, slightly confused at what he’s doing.

“...What are you doing?” you mumbled as you looked down.

“Why are your damn shoes always untied is the question.”

“Hey, blame converse not me.” you said as you put your head back and sighed. 

He didn’t say anything back and you didn’t either. The entire train ride for the two was surprisingly quiet, with joel just looking into the grainy footage of the camera the whole time that had been recording the pair the whole time, that you were oh so obsessed with. He didn’t realize just how he was staring at the camera until the train speakers rang out their stop. He turned to you and saw you completely knocked out. He chucked and shoved you awake.

“Hey..” you rubbed your eye and and slowly rised as you noticed a few others on the train were, including joel

“C’mon sleepy head, smile your on camera y’know?” he said, cracking a smile. Which caused you to laugh and lightly shove him.

“Yeah, c’mon.”

[syncopein3d]

CW: discussion of a real life death / loss of a parent

Hey, whump community! I know I haven't been around as much lately, and I'm sorry to the person who tagged me in a game recently and I didn't reply. I'm pretty new around here compared to many of you, but I have a few followers now, so I thought I'd do a small update. This is about some difficult personal stuff, so you don't have to read this, I just thought I should maybe explain because I hate it when people vaguepost about how they're doing poorly and I don't want to be that person. Just know that I appreciate you all and whump has helped get me through a bad time.

I've mentioned at least once that we lost my Dad in July '24. He collapsed at home on the bedroom floor. I did compressions until the EMTs came and took over, and he died at the hospital. All our lives revolved around his medical and personal care for years before that. Me and Mom and my sibs are still trying to build a new life for ourselves. I'm mostly over the nightmares from that specific night, the guilt that I wasn't better at cpr, and the worst emotional fallout, but none of us will be "normal" for a long time. I am not young, but you're never really ready for something like this. Sometimes even people whose parents are awful still aren't. Dad, while our relationship was complicated (I've never been out to him about being agender, I think he guessed I was ace), was part of my life consistently for pretty much all of it to date.

I will not share the details, but things were pretty awful in the hours before it became clear he wasn't going to wake up and we had his ventilator removed. All of us were in the room with him right up to the end.

After a bunch of connected bits I wrote proved ineligible for a big event and I'd written over 30k words, I really wanted to turn them into a novel about this modern supernatural clinic for vampires, witches and hunters (set in the Trifold Balance universe my Jack Ford one shot is in and also the now very long Left Alone). Obviously, I haven't finished it. I just couldn't put myself into a medical environment for a while, even a very fictionalized modern fantasy one. I've been writing drabbles and short pieces off and on, and interacting sporadically with other people's work.

My bigger regency-era fantasy wip, closer to 200k words now, also was untouched for months apart from basic edits, because I just didn't have the mental energy to write. Yesterday I wrote another 1200 words on it for the first time in ages. I finally have some hope for being able to finish this thing and maybe, just maybe, eventually the other one, too.

I have all of you to thank for that, because all of your prompts and bits and stories helped keep bringing me back to what I love about writing. I'm still 17 lbs heavier than before the funeral (down from 20), I have psoriatic plaques on my face when I never have before, and I still sleep slightly worse than before it happened. If I hear anything like a thud in the house I still run there in a panic. But things are slowly improving for me as they do for all of us. And this place is where I can go away from the part of myself that isn't better yet.

I'll go back to just the fun parts after this, I promise, but thank you. We hardly know each other, but I appreciate you and your writing and reading and comments so, so much. None of us is normal here, but I've always felt at home.

[starlightswitch]

Broken Up and Brought Together

@flashfictionfridayofficial Tell me I can write more than 1,000 words and you don't have to tell me twice! Sort of disappointed I only got in 2/6 prompts (maybe 2.5 if you count the fire) compared to 3/5 for #100, but on the other hand I got this one posted on time

Addy had stayed in her room that first night. She was going out tomorrow—she was not going to sit in her room the whole time. She was going to have fun. But tonight she hadn’t felt like going out by herself, so she hadn’t forced it. She’d ordered a pizza from a place that had a lot of fun pizzas, choosing one with peach barbecue sauce because Troy would have hated it because he was ‘fundamentally opposed’ to fruit in condiments that were not for breakfast foods, and she’d gone downstairs to pick it up and eaten it on her bed with her laptop playing reality dating shows.

She’d finished the pizza but was in the middle of an episode when the power went out.

At first she thought it was just the lightbulb, but when she opened the door to go look for the manager she saw the whole hallway was dark.

A door opened across the hall. It was a woman about Addy’s mom’s age. When she spotted Addy she gave her a small smile.

“I am so sorry!” said a voice from the direction of the stairs. It was the manager. “This has never happened before. I have no idea what happened. I feel like we should definitely have a generator, and I will definitely look into getting one, but it honestly never occurred to me the power would go out because this never happens.” By now she had reached them and was standing in the middle of the hall, scratching her head with a pained smile.

Addy heard a door open behind her and glanced back to see a woman a few years older than her. She thought. She wasn’t great at telling if someone was older or younger than her when it was close.

“Obviously that doesn’t help you,” the manager went on. “I guess I should offer you all refunds if you want to go somewhere else—if there’s power elsewhere, I don’t know. Maybe it’s a brown-out or something.”

“You haven’t seen this as long as you’ve managed here?” the woman across the hall from Addy asked.

“I don’t think it happened the whole time my parents owned the place.”

“Your parents owned the place?”

“Yeah, for decades,” said Addy, then added a bit sheepishly because clearly not everybody read the website, “I read the website.”

“I’m okay staying here,” said the woman further down the hall. “The power went out a bunch at my parents’ house when I was growing up. And I travel with a flashlight.”

“Yeah, I don’t need to leave,” said Addy. “I understand. And who knows, it might come back on any time.”

“Wish I’d brought a book,” said the woman across the hall.

“Yeah. I probably can’t get enough light to sketch.”

“Come out to the fire pit if you want,” said the manager. “I can get a fire going. I should have smore supplies and probably toast tite supplies too.”

“What’s a toast tite?” said the artist.

“Toasty bread with some kind of fruit filling. I like cherry pie. Mom always used chunky applesauce.”

“I’d try it,” said the mom-ish woman.

They all went out to the patio and the manager, whose name was Emma, got the fire going and opened up a can of cherry pie filling and made toast tites for her and Lori. The woman about Emma’s age introduced herself as Britt and asked if Addy was any better than her at roasting marshmallows—she always burned hers and she hated eating burned ones—so Addy stuck three on a stick and was extra careful not to hold them too close to the fire.

“So why are we all here alone?” Lori asked, her toast tite on a plate Emma had run inside to get when she realized that fresh-cooked it was too hot to hold. “I’m guessing the rest of you have stories, because I have one.”

“If you want to tell it,” said Britt, “go for it.”

“Divorce,” said Lori. “That’s the short version.”

“What’s the longer version?” said Emma.

“The classic ‘left me for a younger woman’. Who he met through work. They’d hang out together on business trips. She was just so much more exciting, and he hadn’t felt that excited with me in a long time.”

“It had nothing to do with the fact that they were in new exciting places and didn’t have to worry about kids,” said Britt, carefully taking a marshmallow when Addy offered them. “Perfect,” she said, and popped it into her mouth.

“We’ll see,” said Lori, a gleam in her eye. “When I said I was going on vacation by myself, they said they were going on vacation too. But his parents are a plane flight away so they couldn’t take the kids. And my parents wouldn’t take the kids.”

“Because they wanted to see what would happen?” Addy deduced. She’d finished her marshmallows and was toasting more.

“You bet.” Lori was eating her toast tite by now. “This is pretty good,” she said to Emma.

“I asked,” Britt said, “because divorce is the short version for me too.”

“The long version is presumably different, or it would be illegal. Or bordering on.”

Britt snorted. “Nah. He just decided we got married too young.”

“How old are you?” said Addy, assuming that was okay to ask when they were about the same age.

“Twenty-four. We got married right out of college. We’d been together since high school. Suddenly he starts talking about how we missed out on having fun and we should do an open relationship so we can experience being with other people. I said I didn’t want to experience being with other people and he acted like that was the most bizarre thing he’d ever heard.”

“Like, I think being monogamous is pretty common?” said Addy.

“I said something like that, and he said but it’s not that common to only ever be with one person.”

“He didn’t think about that before getting married?” said Emma.

Britt threw her hands in the air. “You’d think!”

“And if you’re divorced…” Lori said to Addy.

She laughed, dryly. “Yeah, we weren’t married. I wasn’t even really thinking about it yet. But a breakup, yes.” She hadn’t thought to get out the rest of the smore ingredients and it was hard to do one-handed. Emma and Lori both jumped to help her. “There’s this group of us that have been friends since freshman year—I’m in college, I’ll be a senior next year—and I started dating one of the guys sophomore year, and he broke up with me near the end of last year, which was awkward, but what was really awkward was that he obviously liked one of the other girls in the group. And she told me he liked her but they weren’t going to date for a while because it wouldn’t be fair to me.”

“But it was fair to tell you,” said Britt, reaching for the toasting stick.

Addy handed it over, two marshmallows still on it. “I will say she was drunk at the time. Anyway, the group is doing a summer trip and I decided to spare myself and do something on my own.” She capped off her smore and took a bite. “Kind of nice that it ended up not being totally on my own.”

“Yeah, what are the odds everyone here is getting over a guy?”

“Um,” said Emma. When everyone looked at her she said, “Not exactly. I mean, I don’t think. There’s a fourth guest here and it’s a guy.”

“Oh,” said Lori.

“You didn’t invite him down?” said Addy.

Emma shifted in her seat. “Well, at first I didn’t think of it, because he didn’t come out when you all did, and then… the conversation was not exactly one that would be super fun for him, I think.”

They all looked at each other.

“We should probably invite him,” said Lori.

“As much as I would love to keep dunking on guys,” said Britt, her eyes trailing up to the upstairs window, “the room is right up there and if I saw this happening and wasn’t invited, that would suck.”

“He might not be up,” said Addy, “and he might not be interested. But yeah. If he like… overheard this and thinks we all hate him, he should know we don’t hate him.”

“I’ll go knock on his door,” said Emma.

As she went inside, Lori said with a hint of a laugh, “Maybe he got broken up with too. This does seem to be the heartbreak hotel.”

[letstrywritingmaybe]

On the agenda for today: send out love letters cause I owe comments, irl stuff (I really need to do laundry…), read my library book, listen to the new twenty one pilots album cause I’ve been slacking, watch hockey (fuck the rangers all my homies hate the rangers. But also why is Krieder not the captain??? That man bleeds Rangers blue!), I’ve already replied to comments and wrote the next chapter of the fake dating fic so I guess any other writing will be considered a bonus to me… oh wait, I should work on CoAi week. Damn it. Okay yeah I’m not getting everything I want done today. My main priority should be CoAi week but realistically I need more fluff in my life

Update: love letters sent <3 hockey watched *sigh fuck the rangers but Wennberg is a cutie. Started my book and laundry! Now onto baseball and finishing irl things and maybe some writing. Idk I’m not really feeling any pull but we’ll see. I’m reading Rebecca, I think Tay read it? I think I saw a tumblr post about how she did or maybe it was in the long pond doc? Idk but yeah already I’m like girlie this is not it. You deserve a nice romance, you’re so young, I don’t mind age gaps but she hasn’t seen the world and gotten to experience so many things and to just settle down like this? And yeah he didn’t even say he loves you! What are you doing!! Omm I’m reading and filling myself with dread over this poor girl. I’ve only just begun and already I’m like you deserve better. I think I’m projecting my feelings for my queen onto her even though I don’t think Shiho is anything like her. Idk I’m feeling like I need to write now, but what idk, I just need to escape and I suppose that’s fitting given the book I’m reading

Update 2: Not to be annoying, (I always am) but I had some banger ideas with my year of the otp prompts. Like I would read most of these as actual fics. Which I mean I’m self indulgent so duh but damn. Since idk what to write I was hoping by I could expand on one of those verse but it’s not what I want to write. I’m feeling sorta royal verse vibes but more so in the arranged marriage scene? But not for shinshi like they’re betrothed to others but they meet and a whirlwind romance ensues and fuck it lets get married and deal with the fallout later. Yeah that’s what I’m feeling right now. Like two rebellious kids who are sick of being responsible, who cares about consequences and scandals? They know what they feel now and they’re going to go after it even though every one tells them it’s a mistake and when reality hits it does feel like it’s a mistake but then… they’re alone and all the doubts disappear

Update 3: I’ve gotten zero writing done but I went back through the year of the otp prompts and my American football AU still gets me!!! That is the absolute most self indulgent thing I’ve ever written and I love it! Literally I know no one else gives one single fuck but I love that verse! It is so me coded, rereading it I was like Omm yes football!! Dude I kinda miss when I had month projects like that cause they were so soft but also some were super challenging cause I don’t vibe with certain ideas. Like the shift shaper one? But that one was so freaking soft and they were so hopeless for each other. The bond between the moms and shinshi too like I can’t. More fics that mention familial relationships too please! But for real how did I manage to do that? I sometimes wonder how I can turn any situation into fluff? And maybe that’s why I made things super difficult with the fake dating verse. But also I didn’t do my usual here’s a massive dump of fluff to make up for the angst…. Maybe I should write an extra? I mean I thought about writing their rated moments as an extra already but I think we need to see their soft moments too. Idk. I hate when I feel like I kinda wanna write but then I also don’t? It’s very annoying

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | wolfstar x reader

Series Masterlist | Previous episode (backstory)

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 7.7 K Warnings: none Prompt: Of the unopened letters and your first day at Hogwarts. This IS a wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it.

Rainy days and Mondays

July 10th, 1974

Dear Sirius, 

My mom gave me your address. She feels really bad about the whole situation, but that does not justify her actions. She and Dad were awful by keeping their mouths shut, awful, and I’m terribly sorry about it. If only they’d said something, maybe then they would’ve changed the outcome of the situation. 

I tried asking her to write a letter to your parents, with the truth behind the trip, you know, that it was MY IDEA, but she refused to do it. I’m sorry I can’t do anything to help you avoid the wrath of your parents. Our families are a bunch of cowards. 

Thanks for the necklace, It’s beautiful. I put it on when I got home, it’s got a strange weight to it, but I like it, it reminds me of you. I’m writing a copy of the instructions of you know what on a letter and I’ll send it to you once we’re back in school. I’m really upset our trip was cut short. It would’ve been nice to stay in the moment a bit longer. Anyway, I really wish you’re well. Hope to hear from you soon. 

Love,

(Y/N)

July 15th, 1974

Dear Sirius, 

I hope my letter finds you alright. I’m writing again since perhaps my last letter got lost in flight, my owl Reese can be very clumsy sometimes.

 I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened. I’m sorry for having the idea to go to Xplore (not for what happened inside the park, but yes what happened after), I’m sorry your parents found out, and I’m sorry we trusted Regulus to have our backs. I’m sorry my parents were cowards and didn’t back me up when I said the truth. And I’m really sorry for whatever your parents do to you. 

It was really fun spending our break together. I get the chances of it ever happening again are zero, but it’s nice thinking we got to meet. 

Also, I wanted to thank you for the necklace. I've been wearing it every day since I returned home, I really enjoy having it around my neck, it reminds me of our adventure. 

Hope to hear back from you soon, 

(Y/N)

July 25th, 1974

Dear Sirius Black, 

I’d like to be able to assume my letter was lost in the mail again, but since the lack of response from the previous two, I can only imagine you have decided to ignore my letters. 

Which, to be honest, I don’t understand. YOU were the one that decided to take the blame for yourself. If you HAD backed me up, and told your parents it had been me, then you wouldn’t have gotten in so much trouble. 

Last night I received a letter from Regulus, I did not care to read it and threw it straight to the fire. I do not want to hear his apologies, mom told me it was him that spilled the soup. Traitor, like you’d call Slytherins in the past. I guess once a snake, always a snake.  

I don’t want to sound like I’m begging, but please talk to me, if anything just tell me you’re alright. I just want to know you’re ok. 

(Y/N)

August 3rd, 1974

Sirius, 

This is the last letter I write. I’m sorry for bothering you with my insistence, I will not write any more letters. I’m sorry we met, and I’m sorry I caused you so much pain that you decided to completely cut me out of your life, or whatever, I don’t even know what happened. 

I really thought we could stay friends, even after everything that happened. But I guess we can’t always get what we hope for. Either way, a promise is a promise, and I will send you the instructions for you know what once we’re back in school. I don’t want your parents to accidentally find them by opening your mail. 

I really hope you’re alright. 

Goodbye Sirius, 

(Y/N)

After writing that letter you cried like a baby and considered burning it instead of sending it several times. But you knew writing more letters was useless –and that it would be worse if you went on without any closure– still waiting for an answer from him that you would never receive. So you tied the letter to Reese and sent him off. Once the school year started, and after you made a copy for yourself, you bent the old piece of parchment and put it inside an envelope alongside a note. 

August 14th, 1974

Sirius Black  Dear James Potter,

This is something I promised to give Sirius. He is currently very angry at me and will ignore all my attempts to contact him. But this contains something that will be very useful for him, I know he really wanted it. So I appeal to you instead, his best friend, to knock some sense into him. 

Please receive this letter and give him the parchment. He’ll recognize it. If you must, lie to him, tell him you found it in a restricted area of the school library or whatever (Hogwarts has one of those too, right?). 

Yours truly,

Someone who disappointed your best friend. -and was disappointed by him too.

You closed the envelope, waving your wand with a small spell to make sure it was properly sealed and wrote in thick black ink:

TO: James Potter

Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry

2 years later

September 1976

You walked to Kings Cross with your cart in between your hands. Your dad had left you just outside the station. The idea of moving to a new country had been fascinating in theory, but once you arrived there, alone and with no one to talk to, you’d felt incredibly lonely. 

Your mom told you about your dad getting the position in the British ministry on your last day of school, you didn’t even have enough time to say goodbye to all of your friends before going back home to find all your stuff had already been neatly packed in boxes. 

Just two days after that you were in London, lonely as ever. You spend your entire break exploring the muggle part of the city. The muggle museums were pretty interesting, but you felt alone non the less. You kept in touch with your friends through owl mail but it wasn’t the same as being able to actually hang out with someone. 

In the middle of the summer break, your mom took you to Diagon Alley, and nothing made you feel more isolated than Hogwarts students hugging their peers as they saw each other for the first time in a while. The only thing that somewhat cheered you up was the stunning Dark Nimbus your dad had bought as an apology for making the move so sudden. They did care about you, a lot, they just had different priorities than yours.

As you walked through the large corridors of the station you spotted a couple of younger kids walking beside their mother, while carrying trunks similar to your own, one of them had a huge cage with an owl in it, which was a dead giveaway that they were actually wizards, even in their attempts at a muggle outfits.  

You discreetly followed behind them and saw them walk in right through a wall in between platforms nine and ten. You imitated them shortly after and found yourself in a very wizarding-looking space. A huge scarlet train with the words “Hogwarts Express” painted gold on its side pumped smoke through its chimney. As you stared at it, someone bumped against you from behind and pushed you forward a bit. 

“I’m sorry,” He said, turning towards you apologetically “I didn’t see you there.” 

You looked at the boy, he was tall and lean and had a fair share of scars all over his body. Made you think of a pirate from those spicy romance novels your mom had on her bookshelves.

“No problem,” You answered honestly. 

He then gave you a strange look, he was wondering whether he’d seen you before and was about to ask you about it when a girl called for him from the far distance “Remus! We’ve got to go, we gotta care for the first years!”. 

“Coming!” He shouted back at her and turned to look at you one last time before giving you an apologetic smile and leaving. 

You stared at him for a minute, Remus, the girl said. The name was oddly familiar but you couldn’t pinpoint why. Perhaps it was the name of a book character you read a while ago or something. 

Then you continued to push your bags to the baggage administration system, keeping with you only a small trunk with your uniform. 

As you walked inside the train you realised most of the carts were full, and sighted when you realised how awkward it would be to invade some already-made friend group by showing up uninvited, even if the curiosity of meeting the new kid was in your favour. 

You decided to open one of the doors where you’d seen kids that looked about your age walk in earlier but regretted it the moment the door was fully opened. 

Most of them had given you scornful looks. Especially an unhinged-looking boy, but that wasn’t even the worst part. Right there, in the middle of all of them was Regulus Black. The traitor, Regulus Black. 

He stood up the moment he saw you, letting some candy fall from his lap as he stared at you in disbelief. “What are you…? How–“ 

You took a deep breath and decided the world had been a better place when you didn’t even remember his existence. So you simply closed the door and left to find a different place. 

As you continued walking through the train you saw many groups of people hanging out in the different sections of it. Laughing students that talked to their friends, a small little brunette girl, who must have been a first year since she was crying about missing his parents while another girl, that looked just like her but older, comforted her. There was no one else in their cart so you gently knocked on the door. 

The two girls turned towards you and the smallest quickly wiped the tears from her face. “I’m sorry to disturb you,” you said as you closed the door behind you “I’m trying to disappear before someone I really don’t want to see finds me.” You sat down in front of them “I cried too when my parents first put me on a carriage to school.”

“I wasn’t crying,” the little girl said defensively. 

“A carriage?” Asked the older girl, clearly curious now that she started paying attention to you “You weren’t at Hogwarts,” she said as she took your appearance in.

You denied with your head “I’m a transfer student, this will be my first year here,” you said and then turned to the smaller girl “like yours.”

“Does that mean she doesn’t have a house?” The smallest girl asked as she looked up at her sister “But she’s old.”

“Old?” You asked, diverted.

The little girl covered her mouth “I didn’t mean…”

“It’s all right, I was just teasing. But I’m not that old either. Only 16.”

“Oh, like Marlene,” she said pointing at her sister “maybe your guys will end up taking classes together.”

“Year 6?” Marlene asked you.

You nodded and held your hand towards her “ (Y/N)(Y/LN).”

“Marlene McKinnon,” she said while shaking your hands, she was strong and had slightly rough palms, which indicated she flew a lot “And this rude little girl is my baby sis, Margo.”

“Nice to meet you.” You said with a smile.

“I’m not rude,” mumbled Margo as she crossed her arms and started munching on some candy Marlene had handed over to her. 

“You fly a lot?” You asked, when she looked puzzled you showed her your palms “I felt the broom marks when we shook hands, I have them too.”

She smiled and nodded, “I’m on my house’s quidditch team, I’m the best beater they have,” she said with a smile and then whispered, “Just don’t let the other guy know.”

At that, the two of you laughed, at that moment you figured perhaps life at Hogwarts wouldn’t be so bad, as long as you got to meet more people like Marlene. You talked about quidditch for most of the trip back, she told you about the new broom her parents had bought her last year and you told her about your new Dark Nimbus, which she made you promise you’ll let her take a ride on. Margo seemed rather bored with your conversation and grabbed a book from her backpack, something about care for magical creatures. 

Once the train was close to the destination a tall brunette boy knocked on your doors “Are you (Y/N)(Y/LN)?” You nodded to answer and he smiled “Great! My name is Alexander Wood, Head Boy in Hufflepuff, I was asked by Professor McGonagall to escort you to Dumbledore’s office as soon as the train arrived.”

“Oh, all right,” you said as you stood up and grabbed your small trunk, “Hope to see you around,” you said to Marlene with a quick wave before following behind Alexander. 

“You can call me Alex,” he said as he continued walking towards the doors “Professor McGonagall said it was immensely important you arrived before everyone else, apparently they want to get you sorted before the feast,” he explained. 

“Sorted?” You asked confused.

“Into your Hogwarts house,” he explained “There’s four of them, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor-“

“-and Slytherin.” You concluded. 

“Yes! Exactly!” he said without noticing the bitter tone which you had used to say the latter “you’ve done your research.”

“More like I met someone once,” you said as you continued to follow him. “There’s a sorting cap, right?”

“Sorting hat,” he corrected. “Don’t dare call him a cap, or he’ll be offended.”

“The hat?! He’s sentient…”

“Very much so,” he said with a nod “and very touchy too.”

“How do you know in which house he’ll sort you?”

“You don’t,” he said as the two of you stood next to the doors “Sometimes you get sorted the same way as your parents, kind of like a family line sort of thing, other times, like in my case, your family gets sorted into all different kinds of houses, my mom’s a Gryffindor, dad’s a Ravenclaw and my sister was a Slytherin. But then again, your parents didn’t attend Hogwarts, did they?”

You responded by shaking your head “Mom studied in Ilvermorny, Dad in Beauxbatons.”

He nodded, and then the train came to a halt, you grabbed the railing to stop yourself from crashing against him and then the door opened swiftly right in front of you. He quickly got down and motioned for you to follow. On the train, everyone else was starting to grab their things to prepare to get off. You followed behind him towards a couple of carriages without any horses. 

You got in and then started to move towards the castle at a relatively fast pace. "Do you normally take new students to the director's office?" You asked Alex.

He shook his head "We don’t get many new students unless they’re first years, and their sorting is public."

"Why won’t mine be?" You asked, genuinely curious. 

"Haven’t a clue," he said honestly and pulled a transparent bag from his robe "You want some?" He asked as he offered the bag to you.

"Are those Fizzing Whizbees?" You asked as you grabbed one of them, he nodded "They’re my favourites!"

"Mine too!" He said with a smile before popping one into his mouth. 

Soon enough the two of you were already entering the huge castle. As you looked around he drove you towards the famous moving staircases. You had heard of them in some of your history classes, but you never expected you’d see them in person, they were as magnificent as the books described. 

"Come on, they won’t wait for you to stop admiring them before they change," he said motioning for you to follow, "you’ll have plenty of time to look at them later on." 

You nodded and followed right behind him. Soon enough you were just outside of an office, a giant golden eagle stood there. A very elegant-looking lady in a green gown walked from the hall towards you "Thank you very much, Alex, for bringing (Y/N) here, I’ll take it from here, you should go to the banquet, help the first years that get sorted into your house." Alex nodded and left, then the lady turned towards you "My name is Minerva McGonagall," you said, you were surprised, up until then you had thought the professor McGonagall they kept referring to was a man. "Follow me please."

You nodded and followed her, as she stood right in front of the eagle it started twirling and unveiling a set of stairs. The two of you walked up the staircase and you found yourselves in front of a large office, filled with magical gadgets, and astronomy tools. An old wizard with a very large white beard stood in the centre "This must be (Y/N)," he said. 

"Nice to meet you, sir," you said to the old man. 

He smiled kindly "My name is Albus Dumbledore, you may call me Professor Dumbledore, I am the director of Hogwarts." You nodded in response "We brought you here to sort you, after talking about it we decided it would be a lot easier to sort you here instead of the banquet hall, we thought you could perhaps feel uncomfortable being the only 16-year-old student being sorted along the first years."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," you responded. 

"And we also wanted you to have enough time to get your uniforms ready before walking to your classes tomorrow." Then he motioned for you to sit on a chair in the middle of the room. Professor McGonagall picked a hat from a pillow and placed it over your head.

"Interesting…" you heard the hat speak, in a rather low tone. Your breath hitched "You’re old to be sorted… it won’t be easy to decide where you’ll fit in best."

"It’s… speaking to me…" you said as you looked at McGonagall. 

"It does that often, just let him ramble."

You took a deep breath and continued to listen "ambitious, clever, brave." He said "Many qualities from many houses in one person…" 

"Ambitious no…" you whispered back "Not cunning, not a traitor."

"You’ve got preferences," He responded to your words "You don’t want to be a Slytherin."

"I’m no snake." You responded. 

"Slytherin are not all traitors, besides, other houses can harbour them too."

"I… I don’t want to see him every day." You admitted, thinking of Regulus. 

"There might be things you don’t know about him… or the other boy."

"I just–" you started.

"–Gryffindor!" The hat roared before you even had time to elaborate. 

Professor McGonagall smiled as Dumbledore told her "She’s one of yours."

She walked towards you, took the hat off your head and set it on the pillow again "I had a good feeling about you," she said with a smile. 

"Nimbletwist," called the old man, soon enough a house elf appeared, "Please take (Y/N)’s robes to the laundry elves, that way they’ll have her house colours before her classes in the morning." The house elf nodded. 

"Please follow us," said McGonagall as they guided you out of the office and towards the great hall. In the middle of the way, the same boy you’d seen on the platform walked towards her. 

"I was told you were looking for me or Lily, she stayed with the first years, and sent me here."

She nodded "This is (Y/N), she’s new, the hat just sorted her in Gryffindor, and she’s in your year. I was hoping you could introduce her to your classmates and keep her out of trouble until the end of the day." The last remark seemed to be directed towards him specifically. 

Remus, as you remembered, just gave her a flashy smile and nodded "I’m always out of trouble." He responded before turning towards you and offering his hand "Remus Lupin, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you." You shook his hand and smiled back. McGonagall and Dumbledore were gone in an instant, and you were left alone with yet a new Hogwarts student. 

"I saw you at the station."

"You ran into me at the station," you corrected teasingly. 

"You’re right," he said with an apologetic smile "I wasn’t looking where I was going."

"It’s ok, I can tell you’ve got very many responsibilities around here."

"I’m a prefect, that’s why I’ve been so busy today," He explained and changed the subject "I didn’t see you on the train."

"I stayed in a cart most of the way there, met a girl called Marlene, she’s lovely."

"You met Marlene?" He asked, surprised. "She’s also in Gryffindor."

“Our year too, right?” He nodded in response. “Where are we going?” You asked as you walked alongside him. 

“Great hall, I just need to meet with some of my friends first.” You nodded and followed him all the way to a hallway, two boys waited there for him. 

“Moony!” Said the tallest of the two as soon as he saw Remus, he was wearing a pair of round spectacles and had relatively long messy hair “Took you long enough.”

“And you brought company,” said the blond boy, he’d been the first one of the two to notice you. 

“Yeah, guys this is (Y/N), she just transferred here, McGonagall asked me to take her to the great hall and introduce her to everyone.”

You waved awkwardly from behind Remus and the shorter boy walked towards you “Peter Pettigrew, nice to meet you.”

“(Y/N) (Y/LN),” you responded with a smile as he shook your hand. 

“Hold up,” said Remus turning towards you “Your last name’s (Y/LN)? Same (Y/N) (Y/LN) Pads couldn’t shut up about on 5th year?” 

Pads? You wondered in your head as the only boy who hadn’t introduced himself spoke “She fits the description,” he said as he looked at you with curiosity “Hair, eyes, complexion, has to be her.”

“Do you by chance speak Spanish and French too?” Peter asked. 

Still slightly confused, you nodded. “It is her! Pas will go crazy when we tell him,” said Remus with a smile. 

“Right, I was forgetting,” said the boy with messy hair “I’m James Potter, nice to meet you,” he said with a flashy smile as he offered his hand for you to shake. 

You took his hand, and that’s when it downed you. These boys, they were all Sirius’ friends. “It’s nice to finally meet you, James,” you told him with a smile.

“Finally?” He asked, confused. 

You quickly remembered the letter you sent him hadn’t been signed with your name and decided perhaps it would be better to leave things as they were “Ah… Sirius told me a lot about you.”

“He’ll be thrilled when he sees you,” said Peter excitedly, to that you wondered which kind of thrilled? “That may not be today tho, if he’s in position.”

You shrugged “In position?”

James smiled mischievously and handed you a small umbrella “Can you take care of this for me? Until we see each other again?”

You grabbed the umbrella and nodded. He winked at you and turned to Remus who spoke to them “So, everything’s ready right?”

“Yes, Pads’ll do the heavy magic, we just need to make sure the lasting jinxes are not countered too fast,” responded James. 

“Fantastic!”

“Off to your prefect duties then,” Said Peter almost shoo-ing Remus “You have to be in position, too.”

Remus nodded and turned around to walk to the other side, turning back to you shortly “Come on,” he motioned for you to follow “I gotta introduce you to some more people,” he said with a smile.

When you arrived at the great hall it was almost already full of people. You saw Regulus staring at you from a table with kids all wearing green, he looked like he wanted to approach you but when Remus guided you to the Gryffindor table he sat back down “Hey everyone!” He said with a smile “This is (Y/N), she’s new.”

Marlene smiled and waved towards you “Here, sit with us.” She said as she and the red hair girl that had called Remus at the station both opened some space for you. 

“Mind taking care of her while I focus on some other prefect duties?” He said looking at the redhead. 

“Of course,” she said with a smile and turned towards you “Lily Evans,” she then pointed at a girl, “You’ve met Marlene, yeah?” She asked to which you nodded, “this is Mary,” she said pointing at a girl with the most beautiful curls you’d seen in your life. “That over there is Tom”, she said pointing at a boy with brown hair “And that’s Beth,” she said pointing at another redhead. She continued naming other students and then she started talking to you about the teachers, who all sat on a table right in front of the four tables with students that wore different coloured robes. 

“Do we always sit colour coded?” You asked as you stared at the other tables.

“Oh… yeah, we sit at our house’s table at meal times.”

“So houses don’t really mix?” 

“On classes we do.”

“But never on meal times?” She shook her head “So you only make friends in your house.”

“Not at all, I used to have a Slytherin friend, but sometimes the values of the people in their houses can become stronger than their original self.”

“I’m sorry,” you said when you noticed that the falling out had clearly hurt her. 

“Don’t be,” she said with a smile, slightly forced. “But you can make friends with other houses, it’s just a bit harder to get close to them.” She explained and then her face lit up with an idea, “You know, Remus and I, we started a study group last year, you could join us if you wanted to, that way you could meet more people.”

“That’d be lovely, thank you Lily,” you told her with a smile. 

By then the sorting ceremony had ended and Dumbledore stood up from his seat in the centre of the teacher’s table. 

“Hogwarts has always been a place of wonder, where magic comes alive and friendships are forged. Whether you are starting your magical journey,” he said glancing towards the first years “or returning to continue your studies, this is a place where dreams are nurtured and knowledge is expanded. We know we’re living in dark ages, the magical community is filled with hate and discrimination at the moment, but the school will not tolerate any instances of said hate or discrimination to be brought inside these walls. We are all witches and wizards, our precedence does not change that fact. We must remember the core values that make Hogwarts shine. Respect, compassion, and loyalty shall be the guiding principles that shape our interactions. We are a community, a single organism, and we must understand that an organism at war with itself is doomed.”

“Embrace the thrill of discovering new spells, uncovering ancient mysteries, and weaving your own story in the tapestry of magic, but remember to be kind, and loving towards your fellow classmates.” He paused and clapped his hands with a smile “May your time at Hogwarts be filled with magical moments, lifelong friendships, and unforgettable experiences. I have no doubt that each and every one of you holds within you great potential, waiting to be unlocked. Welcome to Hogwarts!”

At that moment plates started appearing right in the middle of all the tables and students started to indulge in them. It was truly a feast. “Is Muggle-born prejudice as bad in the UK as the media claims?” You asked Lily who cringed slightly. 

“Worse,” responded Mary instead “Some pure-blood kids’ parents are death eaters,” she explained “They follow in their parents' steps and spread hate among the school. Last year a muggle-born boy was tortured so badly he ended up in St. Mungo’s, they never discovered who had done it.” She explained. 

“We always make sure to walk in groups,” Marlene explained “That way no one's ever completely alone, you don’t want to become a target of their hate.”

“But she’s a (Y/LN)? Your family’s pure blood right?” Asked Beth from the other side “I read about the history of Pure Blood wizards for a project last year,” she explained when everyone gave her a look.

“Uhh.. yeah.” You said with an awkward smile, remembering how your parents had made such an effort to hide your non-wizarding great-grandmother origins from all the records. 

“Still, she’s new, we’re better off if we stick to each other.”

You nodded “You girls know best,” you said with a smile and looked around, you wondered what would happen when you eventually saw Sirius. Would he even want to speak to you? He ignored your letters so I’d seem he wouldn’t, and you had gotten over him, or you hope you had, it’d been over two years. 

By then you looked around. Wondering where Remus and the boys he’d introduced you to had gone too, maybe they were going to skip dinner together or something. And then you felt it, a small drop of water falling on top of your right hand as you were taking a bite of mashed potatoes. 

You stared at it for a second before looking up and feeling another one fall right on your cheek. On the ceiling, the clouds were quickly turning grey, and more droplets of rain started to fall. Eventually, you heard the rumbling of some far-away thunder and saw some of the clouds shine with lighting. In the span of a minute, rain started pouring. Some students got under the tables, others walked in panic towards the doors of the hall. 

You took out the umbrella James had given you and opened it, covering yourself and Lily under it. 

“Why do you have an umbrella?” She asked you,  suspicion evident on her face.

“I… came from Wales, before taking the Hogwarts Express,” you lied “You know how it’s always pouring there.”

She nodded and huddled closer to you, and the two of you both stood in front of the table as you saw the rest of the chaos ensue. Some teachers were trying to use a spell to avoid getting wet but it did not seem to be working. McGonagall was desperately trying to stop the rain while Dumbledore stood there with somewhat of a diverted smile. He stood up and with a wave of his wand said “Finite Incantatem.” The rain stopped, you pulled the umbrella down and shook it to get rid of the small droplets still coating it, but only minutes later it started pouring again, even stronger this time. 

Dumbledore seemed puzzled, but that satisfied smile wasn’t gone, almost as if he was proud of the elaborate spell his students had created. 

Lily looked around suspiciously “I knew they were up to something. That’s why James didn’t even try to sit with me on the train!”

“James Potter?” You asked.

“You’ve met him?” She asked, puzzled.

“Remus introduced me to him and Peter before bringing me here,” you explained.

“Did they look suspicious?” She asked.

“I… wouldn’t know.” You responded. While you were pretty sure it had been them who caused the ruckus you were going through at the moment, you didn’t know how close Lily was to them, and you didn’t want to give her more reasons to think it had been them, which she already did. Who knows? She could’ve been the kinda person who would tell a teacher. And you certainly did not need to add any more reasons for Sirius to intensify his animosity towards you any further. 

“Witches and Wizards, this marks the end of our feast, please retire to your dorms,” Dumbledore’s voice boomed through the hall when he placed his wand on his throat to amplify it. 

Seraphina Nightshade, who Lily had identified as the head of Hufflepuff, walked towards her table "Alex, find the other prefects and take the first years to their dorms."

Alex nodded and went off to tell the rest. "I have to go find the first years,” Lily told you urgently. You nodded and walked alongside her. 

Out of nowhere, Remus caught up with the two of you "Hey again," he said with that dashing smile of his. Lily gave him a look and continued calling the first years. Once outside of the great hall, you closed the umbrella, bending it back to its small state while Lily and Remus made sure all the first years were ready. The Gryffindor head boy, Teddy Hawthorn, had given the prefects the new password to enter their house common room and sent them all but Remus and Lily, who would take the first years, to find the rest of the Gryffindors. Lily was at the front, guiding everyone while Remus and you stayed at the back, making sure none of the new kids were left behind. 

"I get it this isn’t what normal dinners look like?" You said, motioning to the chaos all around you. 

He laughed, "Let’s say it’s a bit of a special one."

As the entire group approached the grand staircases, you spotted Marlene and Mary, who walked along a couple of stairs above you. They were soaked, like most people around you, leaving the stairs very wet behind them. 

"Mind your step," Lily told everyone from the top of her stairs "The stairs are quite slippery, we don’t want anyone to trip."

Just as she said that a small girl that walked just in front of you tripped, her ring falling back a couple of steps. Remus quickly held her up, but the moment she realised her ring was gone she panicked. "It’s a family heirloom!” She said distressed. 

"It’s ok, I’ll get it," you told her as you walked back to find it. 

"(Y/N) wait!” You heard Remus warn but it was too late, the stairs were already moving. Remus jumped before the gap between the stairs was too big but by the time Lily saw what was happening it was too late. It would be impossible for you and Remus to catch up with them unless the stairs aligned themselves again. 

"It’s ok," Remus shouted at Lily, who stood a couple of metres away "We’ll catch up with you in the tower.”

She nodded and motioned for the children to follow her, but the little girl was still distressed looking towards you. You finally found the ring between a crevice and showed it to her. She seemed relieved, you then made a small spell and the ring started levitating, sooner than later it was swiftly landing on her palm. 

"Thank you," she said before running behind Lily and the rest of the first years. 

"That was really nice,” Remus said as he saw the little girl go "and reckless, you could’ve gotten lost"

You turned towards him "and here I thought recklessness was a particular Gryffindor trait."

He laughed lightly as he shook his head "Come on, we should arrive at the dorm room before curfew."

You nodded and followed behind him to another set of stairs, eventually, you found yourselves in front of a dead end. The stairs had also changed on Remus’ planned path “damn it,” he whispered under his breath.

"Plan B is not gonna work, aye?" You asked, leaning against a wall. 

He exhaled, "You don’t seem particularly preoccupied by being lost and not getting to the common room on time."

 "I’m new, I got lost, they’re not gonna punish me."You shrugged “Besides, it’s not as if I had planned the entire prank that got us here in the first place," you said that last bit with a knowing smile. 

"Are you trying to imply something?”

"Me? Whatever could I be implying?" You responded innocently “So… what’s plan C?”

“There’s a way to get there. But you mustn’t tell anyone about it.” You nodded and he guided you through a door a couple of steps behind, then he turned towards you again “Would you allow me to blindfold you?” 

You raised your eyebrows at that, with a little smile on your face “Buy me dinner first?” 

“Not like that!” He responded, surprised. “We’re gonna take a shortcut, it’s a secret passage.” 

“Mm… and if I know where it is, it won’t be so much of a secret…” 

“So…?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Of course you’re not gonna blindfold me Remus!” You retorted “A girl’s gotta know how to sneak around the castle too.” He stared at you for a second, as if trying to decide whether to trust you with the location of his secret passage. “Hey, if it makes you feel better, I solemnly swear I’m telling no one about your passage.” That line convinced him on the spot, but you didn’t know it yet, so you kept talking, presenting your hand in front of him, with your smallest finger raised and an innocent smile “Pinky promise?” 

He laughed at that. “This isn’t the Japanese Mafia,” he nodded towards your finger. 

“Why? You wouldn’t want to cut it off?” You said as you raised your finger to look at it up close, then swiftly brought it back down and turned to look at him “Anyway… Am I gonna have to excuse myself for getting lost, or are we going to take your secret passage?”  

He smiled at that, he kind of started to understand why Sirius was absolutely obsessed with you when he came back from that summer in 5th year. “All right, let’s go.” You smiled at that and followed behind him. He took you all the way to the end of the hallway where a giant painting stood. Besides it, a shield with two swords crossed in the middle, like a coat of arms. 

“Sneaking about again, Mr. Lupin?” Asked the old wizard staring at us from the painting “And you bring company,” he added suggestively.

“Not today Oliver,” Remus complained as he pressed a button on the hilt of one of the swords, causing the shield to separate from the wall, opening a relatively small hole. 

“That’s the secret passage?” You asked, looking at the dark passageway that seemed to extend from the other side of the window-like hole. 

Remus nodded “Is either that or we go wait until the stairs decide to change for us.” 

“Fine then,” You said as you climbed through the wall and pulled your wand from your pocket, whispering “Lumos.” Remus was just behind you and once he was inside, the shield closed the hole in the wall. 

“So…” you said, scooting out of the way to let him take the lead “Which way to go?”

“It’s easy, we’ll have to go up some stairs tho,” he explained before he started walking, with his wand raised high to show you the way. He took a couple of lefts and then you went up a rather long spiral staircase. “We’re almost there,” he said. “We need to get out of this passage and take another one before we get there.” 

“Do I have to swear I won’t tell anyone again?” You teased, he gave you a look and then shook his head with a small smile forming on his lips. “Just wanted to make sure.” 

By then you had reached a dead end, he whispered something onto the wall and it moved, letting the two of you out. But just as you got out of the passage and onto the hall, you crashed into something. But there was nothing really there. Until there was. Somehow you had stepped on Jame’s cloak and it had slipped off of him and Peter. 

You were very surprised when you saw them appear out of nowhere until you noticed the cloak on the floor. Picking it up, giving it a look and handing it over to the two of them. James took it. “You’ve got an invisibility cloak?! Where did you get it? I’ve been trying to get my hands on one for ages, but the spells on them are rarely any good, I’ve never seen one as good as yours.” 

“Uh… it’s a family heirloom…” 

“Oh, you’re so lucky!” You said and then, you realised how the rain prank had lasted so long “It all makes sense now! That’s how you managed to counter Dumbledore’s spell. You were close to him! You used your cloak to hide from the people and did a close-range counter spell, Dumbledore’s magic didn’t even reach all the way to your spell caster.” 

“You told her it was US?!” Peter asked Remus, looking completely betrayed. 

“Remus? No! I assumed it was you when James’ umbrella became useful!” You told them, and then looked at Peter “You confirmed my theory now, tho.” 

James punched him lightly on the arm in reproach “Ouch.” Peter complained and rubbed his arm as Remus walked closer to you. 

“You cannot tell anyone about it,” he said seriously. 

“Why would I? It was a great prank! You could’ve added chaos by having toads raining too but I guess the spell would’ve been a bit more complicated.” 

“That would’ve actually been great!” Peter agreed, forgetting all together he had been the one to out them. 

Then you heard steps from the end of the hallway “Someone’s coming,” you warned.

“Quick, let’s get out of here.” Said James as he pulled a tapestry from the side and motioned for you to get in. 

Once deep in the small aisle, you decided to ask the question you’d been thinking about since Remus guided you through the first passage “So… How do you guys know so many ways to sneak about? Are you in some kind of secret club?” 

“We’re making a map, so we explore the castle a lot,” Peter said casually which earned him another punch, this time from Remus. 

“Might as well tell the new girl all of our secrets, right mate?” James complained.

“I guess I’m trustworthy like that.” You said with a smile, even if the dark passage wouldn’t really let any of them see “Besides, it was you who gave me the umbrella.” 

“Yeah James, you gave the girl the umbrella,” Peter retorted. 

“I was trying to be nice,” he explained, “she’s new.” 

“It’s ok, I won’t tell anyone, about your prank, or about the fact that I was sneaking about with the… What? Hogwarts gang of pranksters?” 

“That’s a terrible name for a gang,” Remus said. 

“Says the guy with MOONY as a nickname.” 

“I swear she’s been here for like 3 hours and she picked up on half the things we’ve done,” James said, pinching his nose. 

“Also Sirius mentioned his friends and he liked making pranks in the school at some point,” you said remembering how he’d told you about a particular prank a few days before you sneaked onto the zip line park “When we were on talking terms.” 

“On talking terms?” Asked Peter, but by then you had already arrived at the end of the hallway and Remus got ahead of him, shushing him before looking around and motioning for the three of you to follow behind. 

“Mystic whispers,” he said to the portrait of a fat lady who opened up to let the three of you into the Gryffindor common room. 

Regulus’ letter, 

Burned by (Y/N) without opening. 

July 23th, 1974 Dear (Y/N),  I know you may not want to hear a word from me, but beseech of you to do so, for it is imperative that you lend me your ear. First and foremost, it was never my intention for my progenitors to discover our clandestine affair. I had resolved to provide a cloak of secrecy to shield you and Sirius from their prying eyes. However, an owl arrived to my father, telling him his offspring had been seen in a witchcraft emporium within the city limits, it enraged him. With righteous indignation, my father directed his scrutiny towards me, inquiring as to your whereabouts. I resorted to our story, how you’d gone to a broomstick race with Sirius, as we had plotted. Yet, to my great chagrin, he had already acquired knowledge of the falsehood, detecting the mendacity inherent in my words. Compelled against my volition, I found myself partaking of a draught, undoubtedly Veritaserum, rendering me incapable of withholding the truth. At that moment, the weight of guilt settled upon my conscience, eclipsing any previous instances of remorse in my life. Providentially, I managed to refrain from implicating your involvement, particularly as the collective assumption posited the culpability of dear Sirius.  Despite your impassioned plea, reverberating across the wooden deck, beseeching their cognizance of your agency, I, alas, found myself bereft of the fortitude to voice your pivotal role. The notion of subjecting you, dear (Y/N), to the punitive machinations my progenitors habitually employ proved an insurmountable ordeal. I could not bear the prospect of witnessing my parents inflict their customary retributions upon your personage. I know their punishments. I do not want you to know them too.  Perchance I observed my mother consigning some of your letters to Sirius to the scorching fire, ensuring that he refrained from indulging in the forbidden act of writing you back. They harbour an unwavering resolve to preclude him from "exerting undue influence" upon your vulnerable disposition. "For as long as you dwell within this house, the act of inscribing correspondence to her shall be verboten," Mother uttered with resolute conviction. Devoid of alternative recourse, Sirius succumbed, he was forced, a spell was cast on him. Ah, Mother, she can be wicked if you do not abide by her volition.   I beseech your clemency, dear (Y/N), for the manifold grievances that have befallen us. I fervently pray that you shall not harbour enmity towards Sirius and myself, for the prospect of such estrangement would be anathema to my very soul. I hope this letter finds you in good spirits and the finest of health. With utmost sincerity, Regulus Arcturus Black

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Raead more Marauders Fiction

A/N: Most Poly!Marauders fics are oneshots, where the relationship between characters is already established, and they're all happy and pleased with it. No issues, no drama, but I WANTED the drama. Couldn't find it, so I set myself up to write the story behind the stablished relationship. I wanted to know how they started dating each other, the jealousy, the will they won't they, because getting into a poly relationship can't be an easy task, and I wanted to explore that story. If you're interested: Welcome to Gilded Constellations!

[ofstoriesandstardust]

when i get where i’m going (jake “hangman” seresin)

a/n: i’ve enjoyed writing this mini-series. make sure to read the original and the follow-up prequel before reading this.

inspired by “when i get where i’m going” by brad paisley and dolly parton 

summary: a career change and unexpected life event brings you and your brother Tyler to San Diego. and unfortunately, back into the orbit of Jake Seresin. a devastating loss could change the tide of your life and your relationship with him.

memory i don’t mess with | break up in a small town

main masterlist | top gun: maverick masterlist

warnings: minor character death, brief reference to death from a terminal illness, yes two people die what else do you expect from me, swearing, i still don’t know how the military works sue me, Iceman is in fact actually alive and healthy because I said so, i’m terrible at writing grief so i just Don’t, Hangman is very much “I hate everyone but you and your little brother” in this fic and i’m not changing it, medical inaccuracies 

word count: 5,881

You sighed as you sat down next to your brother Tyler on the couch. The house felt quiet, but the two of you knew why. It’d only been a week since your Mom passed, but the two of you have been dealing with your grief better than expected. You’ve long prepared yourself for what was going to happen, ever since she got sick when you were 16, not long after your Dad died. It’d been a miracle she’d held on as long as she had and even more so of a miracle was that the periods where she’d been good had been as great and long-lasting as they were. You were blessed to have had the time you did with her and you were glad she was no longer in pain. You reached out for your brother’s hand, squeezing it. “There’s some place better.” You whispered. He squeezed your hand back, sighing. 

“I know.” He whispered and you pulled him into a hug. “By the way, I got my basic orders today.” Tyler mumbled. He had decided to enlist in the Navy not long before your Mom had passed. “Guess where?” He said, a small smirk forming on his face. You raised your eyebrow. 

“Don’t tell me...”

“Miramar baby!” He exclaimed and you groaned. “I’ve already called Jake to tell him. He’s taking me out for a beer when I land.” 

“I fucking hate you.” You said, shaking your head with laughter as you took a sip of your beer. Your brother liked Jake too much, probably always would. The two had been as close as brothers when you’d dated him and the break-up had ripped Jake out of his life so quickly. You couldn’t hate your little brother for wanting at least some semblance of that back. Tyler laughed openly. “But on that note, I heard back from the people at the USS Midway today.” As things had turned dire with your Mom not long after your run-in with Jake at the farmers’ market, you and your brother had prepared yourselves for life after Mom. Part of that included looking for new jobs. You’d only been able to go to college within the last 5 years or so, with Tyler finally being older and you’d finished your grad program the same time Tyler did his undergrad. A new job and a fresh start only made sense, which is how you found yourself applying for a job in San Diego on a whim. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that you couldn’t stop thinking of Jake after seeing him at the farmers market that day. Your brother nudged you. 

“Hey that’s great, did they offer you the job?” 

“That and then some. They offered me double the pay of what I originally applied for and a higher position. Apparently my application stood out because of my experience.” 

“So...” Tyler prompted, waving his hand. Of course he knew there was more, there always was. 

“So I have a proposition for you.” He nodded, urging you to continue. “I take the job. You have basic there. We sell the house, Uncle is already taking over the business. After basic...” You said, sighing. That’s where your plan always stopped. 

“I ask to be stationed at the base in San Diego. I intend to make my way to TOPGUN eventually anyways so.” Your brother stated with such confidence you felt like it was actually Jake you were having this conversation with. 

“We moving to San Diego together?”

“Sounds like it.” The two of you clinked beers and settled in, ready to discuss and dissect the next phase of your lives. 

-

Jake watched the young boy saunter into the Hard Deck. He still had a hard time believing that this kid was still the same that he had babysit all those years ago. Played football with, hiked with, and even taught how to swim in the lake during summers. Tyler spotted Jake’s tall frame where he was playing pool with his team and Jake waved, a bright smile on his face. Tyler made his way over, going straight for the hug. Jake adored this kid, hugs included. “Tyler man, it’s great to see you!” He said, chuckling. 

“Likewise, Seresin.” Tyler said, smile just as bright. Jake introduced him to the crew and then offered to get him a beer. Tyler nodded and Jake offered to buy the next round for the whole crew. 

“What’s your story kid, if Hangman here’s being so nice to us?” Fanboy asked, leaning on his pool cue. Tyler laughed. 

“My sister was his high school sweetheart.” Hangman did not miss the way Phoenix choked slightly on her beer. 

“You, keep a girlfriend?” Rooster chuckled. 

“I invited her by the way. My sister.” Tyler said, turning slightly. “She’s wonderful, you’ll all love her.” He said, turning back to the group. “She’s running late, they don’t close until 5 and I know her boss wanted to go over how her first day went. She might ghost me though, she’s being weird about being around you.” Tyler said, this time in direction to Jake. The irony of the situation, of Tyler being here, was not lost on Jake, but he intended to make the most of it. Ever since he saw you that day at the farmers market, he couldn’t get you out of his head. He was still as in love with you as he was the day the two of you broke up. Jake collected the beers from Penny, the bar being fairly quiet. He wished it had been noisy so he could’ve avoided Tyler’s next question. “Why’d the two of you break up anyways?” Jake sighed, passing the beers out to the group. 

“Tyler, man. You gotta hit me with the hard questions so soon?” Tyler shrugged, taking the pool cue from Payback. 

“My goal for basic is to get the two of you back together. I need to know what I’m working with.” Jake exhaled, trying to not let this kid down. For being an adult, he’s not sure he’d ever stop seeing him as a kid the same way you’d never not see Tyler as your baby brother. 

“Tyler, your sister moved on pretty quickly after we broke up. I doubt that after all this time she’s even thinking about the possibility of us getting back together.” Tyler raised an eyebrow. 

“That kid? Nah, they didn’t date. He certainly wanted to, and told everyone they were, but they didn’t. She flipped her shit when she found out what he’d been telling everyone, poured a beer on his head in front of all their friends apparently.” Jake was taken aback. He didn’t know that. He’d assumed- “The two of you are meant for each other and we all know it.” Jake gaped at the boy as he made a shot that effectively shut Rooster out from the rest of the game, unphased. Phoenix raised her eyebrows as the boys began to cheer, or groan, depending on who they were rooting for. Jake sighed. 

“Tyler, I love and care about your sister. Always will. I love you kid, you’re like my brother and you can call me for whatever you need, whenever you need it, no matter what. But some people just aren’t meant to be together. Your sister and I are some of those people.” Tyler raised an eyebrow, clearly taking that as a challenge. 

“We’ll see.” 

-

You had, in fact, decided to join the crew for a drink, Jake noted as he emerged from the bathroom. The business in the bar had picked up a bit as he made his way back to the pool table. You were sandwiched in between Phoenix and Bob, Rooster leaning against his pool cue (much to the obvious annoyance of Coyote, who was trying to play against Rooster) as the four of you had an active conversation. You looked happy and that was all Jake could hope for. Tyler had filled him in and he couldn’t image the kind of stress you were under, trying to sell your house back home, your brother starting basic the next day, a new job, a move across the country, all on top of the fact that you were dealing with the loss of your Mom. Jake hadn’t been able to go to the funeral, on a mission that week, and he regretted flying it as soon as he landed. He should’ve been there for you. Of course, that wasn’t really his place anymore, was it? He appeared next to Fanboy, who was listening to Tyler tell a story about the time Jake had gone swimming and came out of the water only to discover leeches on him. He cringed. It hadn’t been fun at the time and while everyone else had come to laugh about it, Jake still hated the idea of being anywhere near that specific lake again. “Surprised you remember that, kid. You were like... six.” Hangman laughed, raising his beer to his lips. 

“How long did the two of you date?” Bob asked, heading swinging between him and you. 

“Mmm,” you said, lips pursed in thought. “Four years? Yeah, just about ‘cause Jake asked me to homecoming freshman year and we started dating homecoming night.” 

“So I want to go back to the question Tyler asked earlier about why the two of you broke up.” Rooster asked, leaning on the pool table. You visibly hesitated and Jake took another swig of beer. He decided in that moment that he was not about to out you to his friends, or your brother for that matter, about the decision you had made. 

“Mutual decision.” Lie. “Our lives were going in separate directions.” Less of a lie. “Only love though, baby.” Truth. 

-

Tyler quickly became part of the crew as he tagged along to nights out when he could, you in tow because Jake knew you and he knew you weren't going to pass up any minute you could spend with your brother while he was still around. You seemed to be handling the Navy thing surprisingly well, right up until Tyler had gotten his advanced training orders. He would be at the base in San Diego, still uncertain for how long, but Jake suspected this made it more real as to what was happening. It wasn’t until a night when Maverick had dragged Admiral Kazansky out to the Hard Deck with him that you’d changed your tune. Hangman doubted you’d ever be fully pro-your brother being in the Navy and at risk of dying but whatever Kazansky had said had calmed you down. You were forming a closer friendship his crew, especially Rooster and Phoenix, and Jake knew that had to be helping. And while you were certainly aware of Tyler’s blatant attempts at getting the two of you back together, you were warming up to Jake, letting him back into your life piece by piece. Jake wasn’t sure when his end goal became getting back together with you but Jake could work with slowly. It was a start. 

-

Another six months later, and it was Tyler’s last night in town. He was leaving for deployment early in the morning and you seemed ready to jump out of your skin. When Tyler had joked that the next time he’d be back in San Diego, it would be to be part of the TOPGUN program (even though the timeline was almost impossible, although not improbable), you’d nearly wrung his neck right then and there, in front of Maverick and Admiral Kazansky and God and everyone. Jake had made the executive decision to send everyone home, particularly to get you away from your brother before you popped a vein from stress. The group quickly parted ways after that but Jake hung back as you said goodbye to your brother. He felt like an an intruder but he also felt like he should say goodbye to the kid who was family to him too. Jake watched the way you clung tightly to him as he said goodbye and tried not to make it obvious he was watching. The two of you eventually parted and Tyler made his way to Jake. Jake wrapped him in a hug before Tyler ever fully reached him. “If I don’t come back-” Tyler whispered. 

“Don’t say that.” Jake whispered sharply, grip on the boy tightening. 

“If I don’t come back, take care of my sister please. She doesn’t have anyone else looking out for her.” Jake swallowed, eyes shutting briefly. 

“Don’t ask me to do that. You’re going to be fine.” 

“Please Jake. I need to know that if I go, she’s going to be okay. Please.” 

“It’ll be okay bud. I’ll take care of her, no matter what. You’re gonna come home, I know it. Don’t make your sister bury someone else.” 

“Same goes for you Seresin.”

“Love you kid.” Tyler squeezed Jake. 

“Love you. Thanks for looking out for me all these years.” Jake nodded. 

“See you in six and a half months.” Jake said as he tipped an imaginary cowboy hat, the Southern drawl making an appearance. Tyler laughed, turning towards his car. 

“I love you Ty!” You shouted across the parking lot as you and Jake made the walk to your respective cars in the opposite direction. 

“Love you too!” The boy had shouted and the two of you waved as he drove away. You sighed, kicking a rock on the ground as you came to a halt outside your car. 

“I’m so worried about him Jake.” You muttered, rubbing your temple. 

“He’s gonna be okay.” Jake offered, knowing there wasn’t much he could say to alleviate what you were going through. Suddenly, he was thankful (for the first time in his life) you’d made that decision all those years ago, unsure if he could’ve handled doing this every time he had left. It was a lot to watch the girl he loved go through this and the guilt he would’ve felt being the one to put you through it? Maybe it had been for the best. 

“I wish you were going with him. I’d feel so much better if you were going with him, because at least then I know he’s got somebody to look after him.”

“Yeah, but I’m here to look after you.” You shrugged.

“I moved out here for him, Jake. I only took the job at the Midway because he was gonna be here. And I obviously knew it wasn’t gonna last forever but this feels different. This feels final and I can’t help but wonder what I’m doing out here if there’s no Tyler. I’m scared and confused and I just-” Jake pulled you into a hug, effectively cutting you off. 

“You got me. You always got me. Phoenix adores you as does Bob. Rooster’s taken a liking to you and if you disappear don’t think Coyote won’t hunt you down at your place of work and drag you to Penny’s for a beer. Payback and Fanboy have personally been taking bets as to which one of them can get you up in a plane first. Maverick likes having you around because you entertain Kazansky and honestly that man probably sees you as an extension of our crew at this point. You got friends out here. You got a family. Tyler’s gonna be okay, but even if he isn’t, you’re gonna be okay too.” Jake said honestly. His friends adored you and Tyler hasn’t been the only one pushing for the two of you to get back together. Jake held out hope but he wasn’t pushing anything. The last year had been a lot for you and right now he was just grateful to have you in his life at all. You sighed against his chest. “Tell you what. You get news about Tyler, good or bad, you call me. Day or night, I want to know. I’ll be the first to know and I’ll be there no matter what, you understand?” You nodded. “Alright, go home, get some sleep. We can get breakfast in the morning if you want, I know you don’t go in until 1 tomorrow.” You nodded again, pulling away from Jake. He turned to walk back towards his car but you called out his name. He turned to face you, hands in his pocket. 

“Thank you. For everything.”

- 

Jake immediately knew something was wrong the minute he entered the Hard Deck. You were standing next to Rooster and Maverick, your eyes wild, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. You looked ready to bolt the minute someone said something to you and Jake knew. He just knew. He called out for you and you turned, eyes widening as you saw him. He felt Phoenix’s presence behind him as he made his way towards you, and as he saw Rooster’s panicked face, Jake’s heart sunk. Any doubts he had about what was happening were gone. It hadn’t even been two weeks since Tyler had left for deployment...

He paused in front of you, concern evident. He reached out to touch you but in your panicked state he wasn’t sure that was the smartest idea. You gripped the counter of the bar tightly as you looked up into his eyes. “The Navy called.” You whispered. “He’s- Jake- Tyler’s dead.” Jake felt his world spinning as you said it, finding his balance on the bar. The kid who thought he was invincible, gone, just like that? “My baby brother’s dead.” You said, dam breaking and Jake’s arms shot out for you as your body crumpled. You clutched at his shirt, still slightly damp from his shower after training today. He pulled you close, unable to bring himself to offer any sort of comfort. What could he say? 

What happened next was a blur and honestly, he’s not entirely sure how you wound up in Phoenix’s apartment but he was grateful nonetheless. You were sitting on the couch with your head in your hands and Coyote was crouched in front of you, talking to you softly. He got up, knowing you were in good hands. He needs to call his sister, he thought. They need to know what’s happening. His family had looked out for you and Tyler long after your relationship ended, even if they didn’t know he knew that. He wandered into the kitchen, already hearing the dial tone before he noticed Phoenix and Bob. Their conversation paused and he leaned up against the counter. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Hello?” Came the voice of his sister Sascha. 

“Sasch, I need you to do me a favor.” 

“K, what’s up?”

“Call Mom. Tell her (Y/N) is gonna be coming out there, probably no later than tomorrow night. Depends on when we can get her a flight. I might be coming too but she needs somewhere to stay and I’d prefer to not put her in a hotel by herself right now.” 

“Jake, what’s happening?” 

“I’ll explain later.”

“Well, quite frankly, I don’t want to do anything for either of you unless you’re telling me you’re getting back together.” Jake sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Sasch-” He noted Rooster’s presence in the kitchen, gesturing for him to come out to the living room. He could hear Maverick’s voice, talking to you. He held up a finger, needing to get his sister on board. 

“You are soulmates and you know it.”

“Sasch, this really isn’t the time to be-”

“You know Jake, there really isn’t a good time to get back together with your ex-girlfriend but really, the two of you breaking up was a mistake and you know that.”

“Sascha.” He said firmly, losing his patience. 

“Listen Jake, I love you but-”

“Sascha, Tyler’s dead.” He winced at the bluntness but she would’ve kept going and that was not the point of the conversation. There was dead silence for a few minutes and Jake got worried. “Sasch?”

“Yeah, I’m here Jake. I’ll- I’ll call Mom, see what we can do. Should I reach out to (Y/N)?” 

“No, no don’t let her know you know just yet. I’ll text you and let you know when I have more details. I gotta go make sure she’s okay.” 

“Okay. Go take care of your girl Jake.” 

“Love you Sasch.”

“Love you too Jake.” He sighed, ending the call and pulling the phone away from his ear. He made his way back to the living room, where Phoenix and Bob had joined. Maverick was here apparently too. He leaned up against the wall as Maverick asked if you wanted him to call anyone for you. You shook your head. 

“Don’t have any family left. He was it.” You muttered and then looked up to him. “Where’d you go?”

“Called my sister.”

“Why?” You asked incredulously.

“Because you’re going back home and you’re staying with them. Don’t think I don’t know how much of a family they still are to you. You need to be with them right now.”

“You’re going with her.” Maverick spoke, self-assured as if the matter had been already settled. Jake startled from his position off the wall. 

“Maverick-” He started but the man cut him off with the wave of his hand. 

“It’s already been arranged. You need to be with her right now. The team will be here when you get back.” He gaped, unsure if he should thank Maverick or give him a hug. “The two of you leave tonight.” Maverick turned to Jake. “And no, you don’t get a say.” Maverick said, shoving the boarding passes into his chest. Jake clutched at the paper, mouth still wide open. The moment was ruined however, by Rooster. 

“Close that mouth Bagman, you’ll catch flies.” 

-

Hangman spotted his crew before you did. Bob had called him late the night before, stating that they had been able to make something work and that they were all going to be joining the two of you for the funeral. You’d pitched an absolute fit at the idea of having Tyler buried in a military cemetery in California and the Navy had lost that battle before it ever even started. So, the two of you were in your hometown for the funeral, and yes, even Maverick was coming. You didn’t know that yet though. He winked as he saw them come through the door, your attention still focused on his sister. His team was in their military uniforms, including him, and their team had rarely felt this cohesive. Phoenix wrapped you in a hug as everyone else crowded around and you looked over at her in surprise and shock. “What’re you doing here?” You asked, eyes flitting over the rest of the team. 

“C’mon, you think we were gonna let you do this alone?” Coyote asked, opening his arms for a hug. You smiled and gave it to him. 

“Never.” Rooster confirmed, pulling you from Coyote for his own equally tight hug. Jake’s mom wandered out from the hall. 

“C’mon, it’s starting soon. Let’s go sit.” She said, ushering the group in. Jake watched you cautiously out of the corner of his eye as you pulled Phoenix down to sit next to you through the ceremony but honestly, for what the day was, you seemed to be... okay. His parents had taken over all of the planning, leaving you and Jake to your own devices for the last week. The two of you had gone riding on his ranch and out to the lake and to the bookstore and to the diner and all the places you used to. It felt normal and right, despite the reason you were both there. You were healing on your own time and while you’d grow around the grief, and it was hard right now, he knew bringing you home had been the best decision he could’ve made. He felt someone slip their hand into his and he looked down at your hands clasped together. He wasn’t sure you even realized you did it as his sister gave a speech. He squeezed it, pulling you closer as you started to cry. As the ceremony finished up and people began to file out for the celebration of life that was happening afterwards, you stayed to talk to his sister and team. Two of the pilots who’d served with your brother, Golden and Petals, had come out for the funeral, and you chatted with them as well. Maverick wandered over from his place in the back of the room, a quiet observer as he seemed to be in most things. He clasped your shoulder and you looked up at him, quickly standing. 

“Captain.” You said, nodding your head and Jake didn’t miss the way Rooster nodded his head to everyone else, gesturing to give the two some space. Jake opted to hang back because he’d be damned if he left you right now. The two of you made small talk as the team filtered out but Jake remained planted. When Maverick noted everyone else was gone, he awkwardly cleared his throat. 

“I know... I know you didn’t want any part of the military proceedings for the funeral, but I uh, I thought you should have this.” Maverick revealed a folded up flag and Jake’s breath caught in his throat. He knew what that flag symbolized and represented, what the honor meant for Tyler. He knew you knew it too from the way you stared at Maverick. Maverick held out the flag nervously, unsure if you would take it. You instead attacked Maverick in a tight hug. Maverick had taken Tyler on a few flights, given him a bit of an education and Maverick wouldn’t admit it, but you and your brother had become an extension of his team, integral parts. Maverick returned the hug, still clutching on to the flag. Jake quickly took it from him, so that Maverick could properly hug you. You finally pulled away from the older man, tears pricking at your eyes. You laughed lightly, wiping them away. Maverick excused himself quietly, leaving you and Jake alone in the funeral hall. You took his hand and rested your chin on his chest. Jake brought your intertwined hands to his mouth and gently kissed your knuckles. 

“I don’t want to ruin the moment or the day,” He muttered, after a few moments of comfortable silence. “But we do need to talk at some point. About this, about us.” You nodded against his chest. 

“I know.” There was another brief pause as you came up to clutch Jake’s uniform. “Jake, please don’t leave me. I can’t do this without you.” He kissed the top of your head, arm now moving down to your waist to bring you close. 

“Never baby.”

-

The rest of the afternoon passed by in a blur, with Jake never once leaving your side. He refused to leave you alone, and his team stayed close as well. While Jake had another week of leave to be with you, his team had to leave early tomorrow morning. They’d wound up back at his house after the celebration of life, Maverick in the kitchen talking to his parents as the team sat in the living room with him and his sister. You were sat on the floor going through old photos with his sister, Phoenix, Rooster and Bob, as he chatted to Fanboy Coyote, and Payback. Phoenix was giggling at a photo from freshman year homecoming while Bob and Rooster had some from Halloween of your junior year. Sascha was flipping through the baby photos, trying to find the infamous one of him when you breathed sharply and stood up, sitting next to him on the couch. Coyote paused as Jake’s attention shifted to you and the photo you were holding. He took it from you, a mix of emotions settling in his chest as he registered what it was. 

There he was, tall as ever, with Tyler on his shoulders. Maybe a year or so before you’d broken up, at your Dad’s funeral. Despite Tyler being only 8 or 9 at the time, just having to bury his father, he was smiling as Jake looked up at him. 

He felt his throat close with emotion as he recalled that day, that exact moment. 

He’d held Tyler in his arms through the funeral, the boy getting to be just a little too lanky to be easy to hold but he’d wanted to be close to Jake and he was in no position to be denying what was practically his brother that. It was a bright and sunny day in their hometown, despite the fact that you’d just had to bury your father and as you stood talking to some family friends, he’d been talking to your Mom. Tyler, who’d been passed over to your Uncle after the ceremony, broke free, and raced over to him. He let out a small oof as the child collided with his legs and he looked down. He was crying and without hesitation, picked him up, and whispered “I know what will make you feel better bud.” He lifted him to his shoulders, holding him in place. He was suddenly thankful for all the conditioning Coach put them through as he bounced the kid around, still talking to your Mom as Tyler had laughed. You had smiled softly at them as you made your way over to them with his family. He had just barely heard Sascha’s words, ones he probably wasn’t meant to hear, before they decided to go back to his family’s ranch for the rest of the afternoon. 

“I hope you marry him (Y/N), I really do.” 

“What is it?” His Mom called from the doorway. He cleared his throat, trying to blink back the tears. 

“It’s Ty and I, from the funeral.” He called, still looking at the picture. 

“He loved you Jake, he really did. You were his brother and I’m sorry I ripped him out of your life.” You whispered and he shook his head, setting the picture down on the arm of the couch next to him. He grabbed your arm, pulling you into a hug as his Mom walked over to the couch to look at the photo herself. 

“None of that matters now.” He whispered into your hair as your arms wrapped around him. 

“I want you to have that photo. I mean, I guess, technically it’s already yours, but...” He chuckled, pulling away. 

“No, I- thank you.” 

-

It was the last night at home and the two of you were sat on his porch swing, sipping beers as you recounted what the two of you had been up to in the years since you’d been apart. He knew that the two of you needed to have a conversation about where things stood between the two of you but you were still grieving so he didn’t bring it up. You’d come to him when you were ready, he trusted you to do that. As the two of you looked out onto the night, the conversation lulled, a comfortable silence settling between the two of you. You were settled into his side and his arm was wrapped around you. You shifted and he looked down at you. You were looking at him with such sincere honesty he felt his mouth go dry. “Jake, I’m-” He shook his head but you kept going. “I’m sorry for making that decision so many years ago and I- I still love you. I’ve never stopped. You were the best part of me and letting you go- I was a fool. And I’ve- I’ve regretted it everyday. And-” As you asked, you had slowly shifted upwards, and he realized you were going to try to kiss him. He grabbed up my your arms, setting you back down on the swing gently. 

“(Y/N), no.” A flash of hurt crossed your face and he willed himself to keep going. “(Y/N), you’re hurting right now. Your brother just died. And I’m not going to take advantage of you like this.”

“Jake, I don’t-” 

“It wouldn’t be fair to you or me. Because the truth is, I never stopped loving you either, but emotions are running high right now, for the both of us, and it just- it isn’t a good idea.” He sighs, letting go of you. Jake loved you, but you were hurting right now and he didn’t want to get hurt because you’d only wanted him as you grieved or hurt you because he took advantage of your grief to get the girl back. He wouldn’t do that. The two of you were going to do this right. 

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.” You whispered, pointedly not meeting his eye. 

“(Y/N), trust me. I want to, but you need time. We can talk about this in a few months when things have settled. I’m not going to go anywhere, but now’s not the time.” If Rooster and Phoenix could see him now, they’d never believe the things he was saying but he didn’t want to mess this up. You were the only girl he wanted, the only girl he’d ever loved, and he wasn’t going to do anything that would cost him you ever again. 

-

It’d been 8 months since Tyler’s funeral and the two of you were sitting in the back of his truck, eating In’N’Out and looking out at the beach and the stars. You’d settled into California life nicely, making a group of friends of your own, and although you still made your way to the Hard Deck with him at least once a week, your life was busy. The first few months had been rough but you were resilient, and continued to grow around your grief. He knew you missed Tyler, but he knew Tyler wanted you to be happy, and you were doing your best to make him proud everyday. He watched as you laughed, so carefree, and he smiled fondly, glad you were so happy. Your laughter faded as you eyed him. “What’s on your mind Seresin?” You asked, scooting closer to him. His hand, came up to push a stray piece of hair behind your ear. 

“I love you.” He whispered and your breathing stuttered. “I- I want to try again, if you think you’re ready.” 

“Jake, I-” You whispered. 

“Only if you want to.” He whispered, one of his hands finding yours. “You’ll keep me either way, but I needed to be honest.” 

“Of course I want to try again Seresin, I told you when Ty died that I never stopped loving you.” He smiled softly.

“Great, then now I can do this again without feeling guilty.” He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to your lips. It was short, just to test the waters, but you brought a hand up to rest at the nape of his neck, not letting him go far. “I’ve missed doing that.” He whispered and you smiled against his cheek. 

“Yeah, me too.” 

“You know, your brother is definitely screaming that it took us long enough.” He whispers, chuckling. You snort. 

“Way to ruin the moment.” He scoffed in protest.

“What, like I’m wrong?” 

[leossmoonn]

One Hour

masterlist

pairing - tristan dugray x fem!reader

type - fluff, angst

note / request - “hi bestie 💕 could i get a soft tristian imagine where he's been bugging her. the reader finally agreed to go out with him and she ends up really liking him so they get together. i've been feeling soft and lonely 😔” such a classic idea! enjoy :)

summary - after some convincing, you finally so yes to a date with tristan

warnings / includes - mild language, food + eating, teasing, lil suggestive, crude humor, pet names, name calling, kissing, soft tristan. not edited

————

*gif isn’t mine* ik this is from one tree hill shhh

“hey, angel.”

tristan pulled a chair up next to me. i ignored him, putting my hand up to shield my eyes from him. i rested my head against my arm, continuing to work on my essay.

“awe, don’t ignore me now. i’m having a really bad day.”

i pretended that i didn’t hear him. i started on a new paragraph, looking at my prompt to find evidence of my claim. i started to cite my quote when he spoke again.

“c’mon, give me a witty remark. i’ll even take a glare.”

i finally turned to him, my brows knitted together and my eyes narrowed at him. he smiled at me, grinning from ear-to-ear.

“that’s my girl!” he exclaimed.

i rolled my eyes, sighing in annoyance and returning back to my homework.

“and now you’ve gone back to being a stick in the mud. great.”

“you know, you’re not going to get anywhere if you just sit here and annoy me. especially if you choose to insult me, too.” i finally spoke, my voice low with irritation.

“i’m not insulting you! i’m speaking the truth. why do you -”

“why do you have to be an asshole?” i shot back, my head snapping to him.

his mouth widened, his face filled with surprise. he was trying to figure out what to say, knowing that if he said anything else that made me mad, i would then punch him and get a restraining order against him. this was the game we played. he loved it, i hated it.

i decided to pack up my things while he was still thinking of what to say. i could just go to lane’s to study. no boys were ever allowed there, thanks to her mom, which i gratefully appreciated. it was the only place tristan couldn’t bother me.

i got up from my seat, pushing in my chair and walking out of the library. as i was about to step out of the doors, a hand grabbed mine. i was whipped around, coming face-to-face with tristan.

“jesus, what do you want?” i asked.

“you,” he grinned. i grimaced in disgust. “go and make out with louise or something. annoy paris or rory. they actually like the attention.”

“okay, one, i have never made out with louise, and i never will. two, i’m not interested in rory or paris. i’m -”

“you’re madly in love with me, yeah, yeah, i’ve heard it before. well, guess what? you’re not. you just like the chase.” i gave him a sickly sweet, sarcastic smile before turning on my heel and walking away.

i sighed in relief as he finally left me alone. i walked out of the school, going to my car and driving to lane’s. i parked outside of her house, letting myself in.

“hi, mrs. kim,” i smiled at her as i entered the house.

“hello, y/n. it’s nice to see you.” she said quickly.

“you, too,” i replied before going up the stairs and into lane’s room.

i opened the door, smiling as i saw lane dancing to music through her headphones, and rory on her bed, reading.

“finally!” rory exclaimed, throwing her book aside and coming up to hug me. “i was beginning to think you got in a car crash.”

i chuckled, hugging her back. “unfortunately, no. sorry, i got caught up writing my essay. and guess who was there to keep me in the library for longer?”

“oh, no,” rory scrunched her nose up in disgust.

“bingo,” i clicked my tongue. i sat down on lane’s bed, lane joining us.

“don’t pretend like you don’t like the attention,” lane remarked.

i scoffed, looking at her incredulously. “are you serious?”

“yep,” she nodded, her voice unwavering. i chuckled, shaking my head. “well, you’re wrong. i hate him and his attention. if anyone likes the attention, it’s rory.”

“what!” she squeaked. i smirked, “you like it when he calls you mary. don’t deny it.”

“i actually don’t,” she frowned. “i do like how dean asks about my books on the train, though,” she grinned.

“oh, yeah! has he asked you out yet?” lane asked.

“no. i don’t know if he will,” she said. “you know, you can ask him out,” i suggested.

rory chuckled, “i know, but i don’t know if i even like him like that.”

“you definitely do,” lane smirked. “and how do you know? are you cupid or something?” rory hummed.

“actually, i am.” lane got up, positioning her arms to look like she was holding a bow and arrow. rory and i giggled as she acted like she shot rory. “i now say you’re in love with dean!”

then she pointed her make believe arrow at me. “i now say you’re in love with tristan!”

i ducked down to dodge her arrow, glaring at her. “not cool.”

rory giggled, “it’s official, y/n. you’re in love with tristan now!”

“in his dreams,” i scoffed. “you’ll definitely be seeing him in your dreams tonight,” lane winked.

i grabbed her pillow, smacking her with it. she laughed, grabbing another one and hit me with it. i screamed, jumping off her bed.

we all had a pillow fight instead of studying. a better use of our time, if i do say so myself. i drove home and got ready for bed, only to hear rocks knocking on my window.

“oh, for pete’s sake,” i muttered, knowing who it was.

i peered out of my window, a not-so amused frown on my face as a saw a particular blonde trying to break my window. i slid the window up, sticking my head out.

“i’m going to bed! bother me in the morning!” i shouted. i then went to shut the door, but he started speaking.

“c’mon, angel! you know you like me,” he grinned.

i scoffed and leaned back, grabbing a book off of my bookshelf and then coming back to face him. “actually,” i threw the book, aiming it at his head, “i don’t.”

he caught it, looking down and smiling as he read the title. “romeo and juliet? how fitting.”

“not really, considering that i’m going to be alive after i run you over in my car tomorrow.” i gave him a sarcastic smile.

“wow, you’re really cranky when you’re tired, huh? it’s kinda hot.” he scrunched his nose.

heat rose up the back of my neck. i glared at him, grabbing another book off my shelf and aiming it at him. he put his hands up, beginning to plead for mercy.

“okay, okay! i would like to keep my two eyes. i’ll leave.”

i sighed, smiling, “thank god.”

“sleep well, angel,” he winked. he took romeo and juliet with him. i didn’t bother to call after him, i knew he would give it back to me sometimes during the week after he was done reading it. or after he was done trying to read it.

he was always trying to impress me. i’ll admit, at first, it was flattering. he would always look at the books i was annotating, trying to do some annotating of his own to show me how smart he was. he would play basketball when i walked by the park, pointing at me and making a shot. it was when he started talking to me when it got annoying.

he was so irritatingly persistent. my friends told me i should be happy, that he was chilton’s hottest. and while they weren’t wrong - he was attractive - he was just too full of himself. between him teasing me all the time and flirting with louise, i got sick of it and my hopes went down about him actually liking me.

i shut the window as i shook the thoughts of him out of my head. i trudged to my bed, turning off my lamp and snuggling under the covers.

i had trouble sleeping that night. i was tossing and turning. i was either too hot or too cold. my clothes tangled around my body, suffocating me. i woke up with a massive headache, sore throat, and stuffy nose. it seemed like my allergies had gotten the best of me.

but i didn’t have a fever, so i had to go to school. i said goodbye to my parents as i went out to my car, taking my time as i drove to school. i parked in my usual spot, yawning as i grabbed my backpack and trudged into school.

as i went in, i was immediately met my tristan’s booming voice.

“whoa, you look rough. didn’t sleep well?”

i looked at him, my face twisting in disbelief. “you’re a dick.”

i walked away, gripping my backpack and making my way up the stairs to my first class. tristan’s voice trailed behind me, getting closer and closer as the crowd of students slowed me down. he finally caught up to me once i began climbing up the stairs.

“hey, i didn’t mean that, i’m sorry. you just have circles under your eyes and you look like you’re in pain. i just want to know if you’re okay.”

i shook my head, brushing off his apology. i knew he didn’t actually mean it. he just hated when he didn’t get his way.

he sighed next to me, waiting until i was done walking up the stairs to pull me aside. his fingers wrapped around my wrist, making my heart jump out of my chest.

“hey,” he said, looking me in the eyes. “i really am sorry. i know that was rude of me to say. i just thought you’d play along.”

i frowned, “read the room next time and see if i’ll play along.”

i tried to push past him, but he held me back, pushing me up against the wall. goosebumps rose up neck as i felt his hot breath fan on my skin.

“i will. i just need you to know that i’m sorry.”

i looked into his eyes. they were shining with regret and guilt. i sighed, nodding my head.

“fine. you’re forgiven.”

“great,” he sighed in relief. “there was something i wanted to ask you.”

“what is it? i’m going to be late.”

“this’ll be quick if you say yes. i wanted to ask if you wanted to go to a movie with me tonight. we can make it a date. i’ll pay for everything and pick you up. you can wear whatever; pjs, a prom dress, i don’t care. just please say yes.”

my jaw dropped. i was completely shocked. “excuse me?” i scoffed.

his brows furrowed and he backed away slightly. “what?”

“you decide to insult me, then ask me out as if your apology changed something in me?” i asked.

“n-no, i just -”

“take a hike, dugray. i’m done with you.” i then pushed past him, speed-walking to my next class.

he didn’t follow me like he usually would. i felt disappointment pit in my stomach, but i ignored it. that’s what i wanted all along, right?

the day went by painfully slow. every time i checked the time, only fifteen seconds had passed. i was so happy when the last bell rang, signaling that the school day was over. i was excited to get back home and take a five hour nap.

as i walked back to my car, i saw tristan leaning back on the hood. and just like that, all my happiness disappeared.

i walked to my car slowly, trying to wait out the time so he would get bored and leave, but of course, he saw me and stayed.

“what do you want now? i’m tired and i’d like to go home and take a nap,” i said.

“why don’t you come to the movies with me tonight and i’ll get you some ice cream?” he asked.

“oh, this again?” i groaned. “how about no.”

he frowned, standing up. “please, y/n. you won’t regret it, i swear.”

“i think i can decide for myself, thanks. and i’m saying no. so, please, if you respect me just a little bit, go away and let me go home. it’s been a long day and i don’t feel like arguing.”

he stared at me for a few second, his lips coming into a pout. he sighed and nodded, walking away from my car. “fine. have a good nap.”

i took out my keys, smiling genuinely. “thank you. see you monday.”

he waved at me before turning around and walking away. i drove home quickly, throwing my back on the couch and running up the stairs. i took off my blazer and skirt, flopping on my bed in just my button-up shirt and socks. i fell asleep immediately, only to be woken up hours later by a knock on my door.

i opened my eyes slowly, turning my head and seeing that the sun was setting.

“holy crap.” i muttered as i realized i had been asleep for six hours.

“hey, sweetie. you finally up?” my mom came in my room.

i sat up on my elbows, turning my head to her. “oh, hey. yeah, sorry, i was really tired.”

“no worries. i took a nap, too,” she chuckled.

“nice. well, what’s up? do you need help with dinner?” i asked.

“no, actually. your father and i ordered mcdonald’s. there’s some chicken nuggets and fries for you downstairs.”

“oh, awesome,” i grinned. “thanks.” i jumped out of bed, stretching before grabbing a pair of sweats.

“but i don’t think you’ll want to eat it,” she added on. i frowned and turned to her as i slipped on my sweats. “why?” i asked.

“there’s a boy here to see you. he seems very anxious to get you to go out with him. he has hamburgers, popcorn, soda, and candy.”

“oh, that’s tristan. i’m sorry about him, i told him no countless times.”

“it’s no problem. he’s really nice and polite, he’s downstairs talking to your dad right now. he’s cute, too. you sure you don’t want to hang out?” she asked.

i chuckled and shook my head. i went over to my closet, grabbing a t-shirt and changing into it as i answered her. “i’m sure. he’s been bugging me since rory and i transferred. i’m so done with him.”

“well, i think you should give it a try. he seems to really like you.”

i frowned, “you know i don’t like him. i complain about all the time, i -”

“it’s because you like him, y/n,” my mom said.

i opened my mouth to speak, but she continued speaking.

“just give him an hour. if you really don’t like him, then fine, you don’t ever have to go out with him again. but i can tell you like him. you’re going to regret not giving him a chance.”

i sighed, knowing she wouldn’t stop convincing me until i said yes.

“fine. just one hour,” i said.

“sounds good. are you going to change?” she asked.

“no. if he doesn’t like my outfit, then he can go and screw off,” i said.

my mom chuckled, “i guess that’s true. alright, well, i’ll be in my room if you need me. call us if anything goes wrong.”

i nodded, “i will. see you in an hour.”

she smiled, “see you in an hour.” she then left and closed my door.

i looked in my mirror, eyeing my clothes. i was wearing black sweats and a green t-shirt that had a name of a summer camp on it that i went to a few years ago. i looked at my closet, contemplating if i should change or not. i decided against it. tristan said it himself: i could wear whatever. if he didn’t like it, then my suspicions about him not really liking me would be right.

i walked downstairs, seeing tristan and my dad talking by the door. my mom was right. he had a bunch of food in his hands.

his head turned to me, his jaw dropping and his eyes widening. i rolled my eyes, putting an annoyed look on my face, but my whole body got warm and my heart started to race. i kept up my front, though.

“you’re gonna catch flies,” i remarked.

“y/n, be nice,” my dad frowned.

tristan just chuckled, turning back to my dad. “no worries, chris. i’ve grown fond of her attitude.”

“that makes one of us,” my dad smirked.

i scoffed, “sorry, chris. i got my attitude from you, though.”

“more like you got it from your mother, but don’t tell i said that. you two kids have fun. be back by eleven.”

tristan nodded, “of course.”

“i’ll be back in an hour,” i said. “alright. have fun, then,” dad smiled.

i smiled back, kissing him on the cheek. “thanks. see you later.”

i slipped on sandals that were next to the front door, going outside. tristan and my dad exchanged a hand shake before trisfan followed me outside.

“since when are you on first name basis with my dad? didn’t you just meet him?” i asked.

“yes, but parents like me. i’m charming,” he shrugged.

“yeah, sure,” i snorted. “anyways, where are we going to go?”

“there’s a movie showing at the park. i’ll drive you there,” he said.

“okay, but we’re only staying an hour. it’ll give you enough time to realize you need to stop bothering me.”

“alrighty, sounds good,” tristan grinned.

we walked to his car, tristan putting all the food in the backseat. i got in the passenger seat, buckling up and waiting for him to get in. we drove in awkward silence to the park.

i never thought he could be this quiet for so long. i never realize how weird it would feel. i didn’t like it one bit.

“so, um, what movie is playing?” i tried to make conversation.

“you’ll see,” he grinned. i frowned, “why can’t you just tell me?”

“it’s a surprise. we’ll be there in literally a minute. you can wait.”

“fine,” i grumbled.

he was right, we did arrive in one minute. he parked in the parking lot and we got out. i made my way to the park, confused as to why nobody was here.

“are we the only two here?” i asked him. “yep. i said it would just be the two of us, right?” he replied.

“i guess,” i nodded.

he put a blanket down and the food. he instructed me to take a seat and i did so, watching him walk to where the projector was. he started the movie, running back and joining me on the ground.

as the introduction started, i couldn’t help but smile.

“romeo and juliet, huh?”

“yep. i know it’s your favorite book and movie,” he said. “how do you know that?” i asked.

“i overheard you saying it to paris,” he explained.

“oh,” i said, “well… that is nice. thanks for renting it.”

“no problem. and i bought it. i thought that when we started to date, you’d probably want to watch it a lot.”

“whoa, slow your horses. i never committed to anything.”

“not yet,” he winked. “great,” i muttered, turning to the movie.

“want some food?” he asked. “yeah, sure,” i answered.

he gave me a hamburger and soda, and set out the popcorn and candy.

“whatever you want is yours,” he said.

“thanks.” i gave him a brief smile as he gave me the food. he returned the smile, turning back to the movie.

we watched thirty minutes of the movie before tristan spoke again.

“how many times have you watched the movie?” he asked.

“um, not too many, actually. this is my like, fifth time,” i answered.

“fives times is a lot.”

“it’s a lot less than thirty times. which is, by the way, the number of times rory has seen casablanca.”

he chuckled, “yeah, i heard her say that, too.”

“oh, so you pay attention to her, too? i thought i was special,” i remarked sarcastically.

he turned to me, a deep frown on his face. “no, i just happened to hear her say that while i was listening to you. and i thought you didn’t like the attention.”

i looked away and at the bowl of popcorn. i shrugged, trying to play cool.

“i don’t. i was just making a joke.”

he chortled, “yeah, right. you keep telling yourself that.”

i turned to him and glared. “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“nothing,” he shrugged.

i didn’t say anything else. i looked back at the movie, holding myself up on my elbows.

“do you want a pillow?” he asked. “no, i’m okay,” i shook my head.

i yawned, laying down completely, putting my arm under my head for support.

“are you sure? i have a blanket and pillow in my trunk,” he insisted.

i looked at him, body shivering as he was already looking at me.

“you’re cold. i’m getting a blanket. here, take this for the time being.” he stood up and took off his sweatshirt, his undershirt riding up so i saw his lower stomach.

i gulped as i saw a his happy trail trail down below his jeans that were hanging dangerously low. i could see his v-line that was greatly defined. it definitely didn’t leave much to the imagination.

he smirked at me as he threw his sweatshirt to me. “you’re catching flies, angel.”

i clamped my mouth shut immediately, my face heating up as he ran to his car. i sat up, mocking him quietly as i put on his sweatshirt.

“you’re catching flies, angel. whatever. i’ll make him catch flies.”

he came back, setting the pillow behind me and putting the blanket on top of me.

“thanks,” i said.

“no problem,” he grinned. i cocked my brow. “what’s that face for?”

“you look great in my sweatshirt.”

i rolled my eyes. “i knew you’d say that.”

he didn’t say anything else. he sat down next to me, taking a few pieces of m&ms and dropping them in his mouth. i sighed quietly and turned my attention back to the movie. i laid down on the pillow and snuggled into the blanket.

the collar of the sweatshirt sat right under my nose. i inhaled deeply, his scent filling my nose. i couldn’t help but smell it again. it made my head dizzy.

“do you have a cold?” he asked.

i pulled his sweatshirt down, shaking my head. “no. my nose has just been really runny today.”

“oh, sorry to hear that.”

i shrugged, “it’s alright. allergies, you know.”

“understandable,” he said. “yeah,” i sighed.

“have i told you that you look really beautiful tonight?”

my head snapped up at him. he was staring at me already, his eyes wide and reflecting the moon.

“n-no,” i stuttered. he smiled, “well, you do.”

“thanks.” i looked away to the screen, avoiding any and all eye contact.

he shuffled next to me and in the corner of my eyes i saw him lay down next to me.

“it’s nearing an hour. should i take you home?” he asked.

“wow,” i chuckled, “you are letting me leave?” i turned to face him, my breath stopping as i realized how close we were.

“i don’t want you to hate me,” he explained.

my eyes went down to his lips. they were shining with butter from the popcorn. they looked so soft and kissable.

“do you actually hate me?” he asked.

my eyes snapped up back to his. “no,” i shook my head slowly.

“really?” his eyes lit up with joy. “yeah. you can just be a little annoying sometimes,” i said.

he chuckled, scooting closer to me. our nose bumped together and i couldn’t help but smile.

“have you ever kissed anyone?” he whispered.

my eyes widened. my heart stopped as i could tell where this was going. i didn’t dare interrupt the moment.

“yeah, but it was in middle school and it wasn’t very good.”

“wanna make your first kiss up, then?” he asked slowly, his eyes going down to my lips slowly.

butterflies shot down in my stomach and i started to feel giddy.

“yes,” i whispered.

and with that, he set his lips onto mine. the kiss was a lot more gentle than i thought it would be. he kissed me tenderly; with care. his hand came up to my face and cupped my cheek, his thumb rubbing back and forth on my skin.

my hands reached up to his hair, my fingers burying themselves into his golden locks. his other hand set itself on the small of my back, high enough to where it was polite, but low enough for heat to grow between my thighs.

i pushed my body up against his, our legs tangling together. his tongue ran across my bottom lip and i opened my mouth immediately. i never realized how much i wanted this.

our tongues met tentatively at first. we were feeling each other out, and i loved it. my fingers pulled on the back of his head, a husky moan leaving his throat. i pushed my chest up against his in response, my tongue running up against his, too.

his hand slipped under my shirts. his fingers were surprisingly cold and it made me jolt up against him. his fingertips skimmed the curve of my lower back, a moan of my own sounding.

“tris,” i breathed out.

he pulled away, his eyes shining with concern. “did i do something wrong? i’m sorry, i was trying to read the room, and i thought you’d like it. i -”

i crashed my lips onto his, taking his hand and placing it where it was. he smiled into the kiss, his fingers tip-toeing up my back.

i pulled away, smiling at him. “you didn’t do anything wrong. it was really nice. you’re a great kisser.”

“why, thank you. you’re a magnificent kisser.”

i giggled, setting my hand on his chest and fisting his shirt.

“i thought you said you didn’t like me,” he smirked.

i grimaced, pushing him away. “what a way to ruin the moment.”

he laughed, “you know me.”

“yeah, i do,” i smiled. “it’s past an hour,” he said.

“oh, damn. looks like i went past my limit,” i sighed.

“well, it’s getting late anyways. want me to take me home?” he asked.

“nah, we can finish the movie,” i shook my head. “great,” he grinned.

he laid back down in his back. i scooted closer to him and put my head on his chest. after a few moments, i looked up at him and spoke again.

“prom is coming up. you have a date?” i asked.

“hm, no. i don’t believe i do. why do you ask?” he grinned.

“oh, i’m not asking you anything,” i snorted, turning back to the movie.

he chuckled, his chest moving up and down under my head.

“would you like to accompany me to prom?” he asked.

i smiled and looked up at him, nodding. “i would love to.”

“great. along with that, would you like to be my girlfriend?” he asked. 

“will you kiss me in front of louise and paris then?” i hummed. “oh, absolutely. count on it monday,” he smirked. 

“oh, i will,” i giggled.

he leaned up and pressed a kiss to my lips, intertwining our hands in the process. he pulled away after a few moments, laying back down on the pillow. i sighed contently and laid back down on his chest, turning my attention back to the movie. 

one hour definitely wasn't enough. 

————

the ending sentence bye 

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@myalupinblack​ @lukes-orange-beanie​ @sebsbrokentoe​

[trobeds]

hi! do you have any ronance + elmax headanons? <3

HELL YEAH!! ALSO YOU ARE AMAZING THANK YOU FOR THE RONANCE PROMPT IVE BEEN DYING TO RAMBLE ABOUT THEM OMG I LOVE YOU <3

ok so onto the hcs (yeaahh)

robin and max hang out and talk about their crushes a lot and robin ADORES having someone like girls in the same way she does. but straight boy solidarity is great, steve! (ik hes bi obviously it just hasnt clicked yet)

nancy is a journalist with insane instincts, so she was bound to pick up on elmax eventually

robins already out to nance and the party at this point so nancy just mentions it casually in conversation

"hey, do el and max like each other"

robin doesnt have a filter so she just blurts out "wait max told you??"

"...no. i guessed"

and thats how ronance teams up in trying to set elmax up. as if theyre so amazing at confessing to their crushes *hint hint*

ronance = maxs moms = encouraging max to ask el to be her gf near constantly <3

its so silly bcs they dont realize theyre making eyes at each other instead of keeping tabs on elmax and making sure everything is going according to plan

max knows. she knows everything 100% and she keeps thwarting their plans like the self sabotaging bitch she is (rip)

el asks her out first.

she goes to robs bcs she knows robin likes girls and is just like her <3 and they come up with a plan for el to ask max out

she does and their first date is a picnic fuck you i will never give up the elmax/elumax picnic first date agenda

nancy helps el pick out something cute to wear (disclaimer: el is fucking adorable in everything she wears. its all cute.)

they laze around and el appears in her mind so max can see her when she kisses her for the first time <3

max and el are super bouncy and happy next time they talk to ronance and robin and nancy clap for them and get just as excited, if not more

ronance with that sense of "you only got your shit together because of us" high-fiving quote unquote, "subtly"

the roles reverse. el and max are the matchmakers now (+ steve bcs hes ronance truther #1 in my mind)

el using her powers to make them gravitate towards each other and them giving her death glares that say "what are u doing stop trying to set us up its obviously unrequited" and el just stares back like "girl wtf are you talking about??" while max gives them thumbs up and nods encouragingly while both robin and nancy think theyre being set up for rejection.

once nancy composes herself she power walks her ass over to robins house to tell her that el and max are trying to set them up

robin "what? no theyre not haha why would they do that its not like we like each other amiright? am. i. right." buckley and nancy "yeah ofc totally not. right. youre right." wheeler being kind of oblivious.

they get together when robin is just rambling about this book she read one day and she wont shut up and theyre sitting close enough that their sides are pressed together and their knees are in a perpetual state of bumping into each other and shes just so adorable and pretty and hot and nancy just cant resist

she grabs her face and kisses her

it takes a hot minute before she pulls away in mortification and robin starts talking. again.

"that was mind-blowing but if that was an experiment we can just forget about this. um. if it wasnt. id be surprised but...not opposed. at all. but thats not possible so anyways, my book was so-" ohmygodohmygodohmygodholyshitohmygodwhatthefuckohmygod

theyre girlfriends pretty soon after

elmax commends them on *finally* getting their shit together

final verdict: elmax and ronance are in love

anyways, thank you sm for the ask!! i really enjoyed answering it ily and take care of yourself <3 <3 <3

[sawyerconfort]

Rumour Has It| Elizabeth Olsen x Reader

Hey!

As I said, I had plans to write part 2 of CAR’S OUTSIDE, so, here we go!

Part 1 to read first: CAR’S OUTSIDE | ELIZABETH OLSEN X READER

Enjoy!

Got any request? Ask or comment in one of my last posts!

---------

Prompt: When something goes wrong, you and Lizzie know you can't take any more hiding your relationship from the fans.

* * *

“All right, can we start?”

Elizabeth was tense. And aerial. The last night you had been together was still on her mind, because she would never have guessed you were crazy enough to walk into her hotel room like that without people knowing you were together.

Trying to change the course of her thoughts for the interview, she cleared her throat and waited for the interviewer to start asking the questions, but she couldn't stop her thoughts from flying towards the night you spent together in her hotel room.

While she was doing a battery of interviews with MOM, you must have been doing something else in her hotel room, still locked, waiting for the paparazzi to leave the hotel balcony so you could leave.

When the interview ended, Elizabeth went down the stairs towards the exit of the place where she was and ended up being photographed by the paparazzi that were surrounding there as well. Inside the “studio” it was quite cold, so she was wearing a scarf to cover her neck, but when hit by the morning heat, she acted on her own and took the scarf off her neck.

New camera flashes were blinding her eyes, and she sighed as she sat in the seat of the car that would take her back to the hotel, hoping you were still waiting for her and hadn't given up on the special day you had planned.

* * *

“Baby, I'm home!”, she warned as soon as she opened the door. And her eyes widened when she saw Joe sitting next to her on the couch, looking unfriendly. "What happened? Why are you with these shit faces?”

"I could say so much..." Joe began, getting to his feet. “But as I know it was probably unintentional, please, I'll let you see for yourself the mess you're getting yourself into...”

Elizabeth frowned and approached you, who had pursed lips and a serious face, as if something really serious had happened. “Baby, what the hell is he talking about?”

And then she saw. Her name in Trending Topics, the paparazzi picture as she left the interview studio. A huge hickey mark on her neck, just as she took off her scarf.

All of that was bad enough in itself. And the worst thing is that I couldn't explain or lie, let alone say it was a sun mark or allergy because of the scarf. It was clearly a hickey.

"I have nothing to do with your personal life, let alone your sex life, but..." Joe chuckled. "Couldn't they be a little less… wild?"

You smiled. “Joe, sorry, we can try to cover it up. We can make fun of the situation. People don't know about us, they might as well think she's with her boyfriend... you know, some guy. We both dated a lot of men, anyone could have caused this hickey.”

"You can't cover it up, baby..." Elizabeth replied, letting out a little giggle. “Everyone saw it.”

"But they don't know what happened!"

"You do know...", Joe cleared his throat, pointing his cell phone in their direction. There was a picture of you walking out with shopping bags in both hands. “The paparazzi got what they wanted, they stayed here all night after you two and you were careless enough to go back to the hotel where Elizabeth is holding two shopping bags full of stuff, JUST WHEN I TOLD YOU NOT TO LEAVE HERE NO WAY!"

You looked at Elizabeth, lost. “I think I fucked up…” you whispered. "Shit, I'm sorry Lizzie, if I had been careful..."

She wrapped her hand around you and pulled you close. “It wasn't your fault, love. We should have thought better of how we were going to do it when dawn came…” she whispered back. And then she looked at Joe. “You know what? I think we both made a good mistake, even.”

He was confused for a minute, and then she continued.

“It's about time, Joe. We have thousands of theories spread across social media, many people saw me kiss (Y\N) in public at parties we went to together. Pretty much everyone knows we're dating...there's no reason to hide anymore.”

“Oh, sure, I agree,” he replied, nodding. “But you don't care about your career? Or with her career?” His eyes flicked from Elizabeth to you and from you back to Elizabeth. “Now come on, Lizzie, you just got a movie out. Do you really want to risk everything for two pictures?”

"But you were the one who said there was no more solution, Joe...", you replied. “There is nothing more we can do. Unless you confess everything. I'm sure the fans will support us, they always support us in everything.”

He looked at you and shrugged. "Then don't say I didn't warn you..."

“Relax, man,” you scoffed. “Go back to my apartment and get something to eat, open the beers I left in the fridge and see if you can calm down, okay? We command from here now...”

Joe shrugged again and motioned to indicate that he was keeping an eye on you as he left the apartment. When Elizabeth came back to you after locking the door, she had a silly little smile on her face.

"I think we should have been more careful yesterday...", she smiled, hugging you and kissing your neck. “Especially you, young lady. I remember you told me you weren't going to leave any marks,"

You blinked at her. “Really, Lizzie? I mean, look at you. It's okay that I got out of control and I was to blame for all this, but come on, how can I not lose control when you're by my side?"

She laughed and took your face in both hands, kissing you and walking slowly towards the window. When she opened the curtains, you finally understood what her plan was. A good photo for the paparazzi who were still waiting down there was what they wanted, and if they could see the two of you kissing, it was a profit. There was nothing left to lose anyway.

"Lizzie, wait..." you said, pushing her away. “And now, what are we going to do?”

"You told Joe yourself, my love...", she replied, still clinging to you. “Let's take over everything. Kick the bucket and say “fuck you”! Let's give the people what they want!”

“You mean, take over? Assuming that we're really dating?

She nodded. “I've waited too long to show the world that you're mine. Enough of this bullshit, please, dear.”

Your eyes gleamed. "We'll be in this together, won't we?"

“We will, I promise”, she gave you a peck and reached down to your shirt, trying to unbutton it. “But now, I think you and I need to relax a little before sharing our dark secret, don't you?”

You smiled mischievously. "This time, I want you to leave me with the 'sunmarks'", you teased, making her laugh and kiss you again.

The two of you dropped onto the couch to make love once more, amidst the chaos that was becoming your lives now that everything was exposed.

* * *

Elizabeth opened her eyes and realized she was clinging to you on the couch. Her cell phone kept loading messages, and she grabbed it to see what was going on. They were messages from the PR agents, of course, and when she looked back at you, she realized she could ignore them for now.

Turning the camera to her side, she snapped a picture of you sleeping, the blanket covering your naked body, and posted it to Instagram, willing to tease, with the caption quoting Adele, and your favorite song of hers.

Rumor has it, (s)he is the one I'm leaving you for.

Smiling involuntarily, Elizabeth turned off her cell phone screen and lay down beside her, burying her face in the crook of her neck, ready to face the tide of chaos that would rise after that photo.

But she was Scarlet Witch, she could handle all that too.

[thatseventiesbitch]

Hey!, could I ask for “I moved on.” for the prompt ask? For Donna and Jackie talking again after a long time, and we don't know what happened between the gang and why they distanced.

Jackie and Donna at first somewhat resentful they catch up, talk about Jay and Leia and how they unexpectedly ended up dating, have a nice summer :D

Thanks for the ask! This is part 2 of my double-date drabble (part 1 here) 😁 Prompt Ask Game

Across the table from the men, Jackie and Donna were engaged in their own conversation.

"I'm so glad you suggested this, Jackie," Donna smiled. "We really need to catch up. It's been..." she trailed off, thinking about the last time she'd seen her old high school friend.

"At least four years," Jackie supplied. "I think the last time I saw you was at Margie Kelso's wedding."

"Yeah. And god, it's been even longer since we've actually talked," Donna agreed. "We all kinda lost touch after you and Fez..." she trailed off again.

"Yeah. Yeah, we don't ever really talk about it," Jackie nodded, subtly indicating Kelso just across the table from them.

"Right."

A slightly uncomfortable silence fell between them.

"So do you - " / "What happened after - "

They tried to speak at the same time.

"Oh, um. You first," Jackie offered, graciously. Donna eyed her curiously. This wasn't the same girl she'd known in the '70s.

Donna cleared her throat. "I was just gonna ask what happened to you after that new years. I - I feel like I never really saw you again." She shrugged. "I knew you were around, but things were just... different, I guess."

"Yeah," Jackie smiled sadly. "They were different."

Jackie explained what she could - how her pregnancy with Michael complicated every aspect of her life back then. She described her rise to fame on What's Up Wisconsin, and how she threw herself into life as a new wife and later as a single mom when Michael inevitably cheated on her again.

"I just... I moved on," she summarized, a wistful expression on her face as she thought about the last fifteen or so years without her friends.

"Wow, Jackie." Donna fought the urge to set her hand over the smaller woman's perfectly manicured one. They weren't close like that anymore, but the moment felt heavy with emotion. And regret.

"Anyway," Jackie's whole demeanor turned on a dime, and suddenly she was the perky, bitchy cheerleader she'd been in high school again. Donna remembered how she'd never liked pity.

"Now Michael and I are back together and we're the power couple of Point Place." Jackie pinched the fabric of her dress between her fingers. "Do you know how much this dress cost, Donna?" She smirked condescendingly. "Probably more than your whole wardrobe."

Donna chuckled and lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah, probably."

"You're a writer?" Jackie quizzed, returning the inquisition now. Both women picked at their entrees.

"I am," Donna smiled. "I have two collections of short stories published, and my first novel came out a year and a half ago."

"It was a best-seller, right?"

"Yeah. Did you read it?" Donna's eyes were alight with excitement.

"No," Jackie waved her fork dismissively. "But my hairdresser did. Antonia," she nodded and took a bite of her penne pasta. "She said it was good. Kind of sexy."

Donna blushed.

"Which is surprising because apparently you're still with Eric."

Now Donna rolled her eyes. "Jackie..."

"I lost a bet on that one, let me tell you."

"Well, we're really happy."

Donna expected another snarky response, but instead Jackie wiped her mouth with her napkin primly and said, "Good." Then she flagged down their waiter, and requested a bottle of red wine for the table.

"Jackie," Donna hissed. "A bottle?"

Jackie raised her eyebrows. "Well, we have some business to discuss, Donna."

Donna raised her eyebrows.

The maître d' delivered the wine and two glasses, and uncorked it for them before pouring each Donna and Jackie a healthy pour. Jackie picked up her glass and took a long sip.

"Jay and Leia," she said finally. "My son is dating your daughter. What do we think about that?"

Donna reached for her glass, too. "Leia's a good girl," she said evenly, looking at the top of her wine rather than Jackie. "I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Jay's a good boy," Jackie responded coolly. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Well then we shouldn't have any problems," Donna smiled tightly, and took a long sip.

"No," Jackie agreed. Her mouth was stained red from her beverage. "Maybe we'll get to go baby shopping together after all."

Donna grimaced. "Too soon, Jackie."

She nodded. Understood.

[sunshineacd]

You'll be my best friend until we grow old

Number 38: “I like your laugh” from this prompt list

[2007 words] Read on AO3

For @pragmatic-optimist 💛

Carlos isn’t sure what he expected to see when he steps through the door of the loft but it is certainly not TK sitting on the floor, at the coffee table with canvases and paints surrounding him. He’s frowning down at his phone as Carlos approaches the island in the kitchen and sets the bags containing his haul from the farmer’s market down onto the counter. The sound causes TK to pull his gaze away from the screen in front of him and his gaze finds Carlos’. His green eyes seem to shine in the sunlight that floods through the windows and a smile curls at the corner of his lips.

“Hey you.” He says, setting his phone down onto the table beside the blank canvas. Carlos walks the small distance between them and bends down, placing a kiss on his forehead before moving to place one gently to his lips. “How was lunch with your mom?”

Carlos can almost laugh at the fact that TK seems to be acting so nonchalant despite sitting in the middle of, what looks like, a paint night explosion. “Hey, sweetheart, it was good. She was sad you couldn’t make it but she said that you’ll have to come next time.” He says as he sits on the couch beside TK. Instantly, his boyfriend leans his body into Carlos and tucks his head into his side.

“I’d really like that.” TK says, his voice muffled into Carlos’ shirt.

Carlos smiles, lost for a moment in the intimacy and comfort before he snaps back to reality and looks around in front of him again. “Can I ask what this all is?”

TK hums, his eyes having fluttered closed as he seems to take Carlos in. But then, they reopen and he looks around the table as if seeing it for the first time. “Oh, I thought we could have a paint night.”

Carlos raises a brow as he too takes in the contents on the table as he slowly sinks to the floor beside TK. “Oh really? That sounds like it could be fun. What made you think of this?”

TK shrugs as he scratches a part of the canvas with his nail. “When I was at the store today after shift I found this book that has ideas for date nights, you scratch off the different circles and do whatever activity is there. Anyway, I scratched off the first one in the car and then bought all the stuff so I could have it ready for when you came home. I thought maybe we both deserved to have some time to relax, plus Grace saw it when I came back to the firehouse and she mentioned she used to paint when she was stressed out. So, I thought it’d be something we could do together.”

In his time of knowing TK, Carlos has found that he has a knack of making him feel unbearably warm. Along with the fact that TK has a massive heart and he consistently uses it to make him feel so full of love.

TK shrugs again. “We could always just watch a movie or something.”

“No,” Carlos says quickly. “You put in all this work setting up, I want to do it. I am just — well, I am not creative in this way whatsoever.”

“That’s okay,” TK says and he picks back up his phone. “I found a reference image that we could use, it says it’s for beginners and it looks pretty easy.”

Carlos nods and leans over to press a kiss to TK’s cheek causing him to look up from his phone. “What was that for?”

“You’re pretty amazing, you know that?” Carlos says.

TK blushes a pretty shade of pink at Carlos’ words and he shakes his head, a bashful smile on his face. “I love you, so very much.”

“I love you too.” Carlos whispers, brushing his lips against TK’s before he pulls away, despite TK chasing after him. “So, what do we do first?”

TK pulls up the image onto his phone and places it down in front of them. He’s right, it is a pretty basic image of a sunflower and it looks like an easy task. “Well, I have all the paints out already so I guess we just go for it.”

Carlos picks up a paintbrush and eyes the picture for a moment and at the step by step underneath it before he gently dips his paintbrush in pain and puts it to the canvas. They spend the majority of the time in a comfortable silence as they each go about making their respective pictures. Carlos almost laughs at his sorry attempt at painting and he takes a moment to glance over at TK. His boyfriend is intently staring down at his canvas, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

It’s amazing just how much Carlos can feel the weight of the day slowly slipping off of him and TK was right, he feels so relaxed. He knows that his painting is nowhere near amazing and is very far away from the reference image but he didn’t care. Getting to spend his time with TK by his side is the best thing he could have ever asked for.

“Okay, I think I’m done.” TK announces as he sets down his paintbrush. Carlos glances over quickly at the painting and it’s a nearly perfect replica of the image on his phone. Carlos’, however, is not. TK tries to bite back a smile. “It’s good, babe.”

“Yeah, right.” Carlos says, rolling his eyes. “I told you I was bad at this.”

“Yes, and you were right.” TK jokes, shaking his head.

Carlos opens his mouth but just simply reaches behind him and pulls the throw pillow from the couch and throws it against TK’s head. It bounces off softly but TK seems shocked at the act and he turns to Carlos, mouth open in surprise.

“Carlos Reyes, did you just hit me in the head with a pillow?” He asks as if in disbelief.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, I would never do —" Carlos’ words freeze as he takes his paintbrush from the table and lifts it up spreading a circle of yellow paint onto the tip of Carlos’ nose.

TK laughs, loud and bright as Carlos sits bewildered about what has just occurred. Carlos stares for a moment and he can feel his nose beginning to itch as the paint dries against his skin. He shakes his head, picking up his own brush before he swipes it across TK’s cheek, a big blue smudge. TK’s laugh cuts into a gasp as he freezes before he looks at Carlos who is giving him a smug look.

“Did you just — oh, that’s it, you’re on.” TK says and he reaches across the coffee table to grab a tube of paint and Carlos’ eyes widen as he attempts to get up but slips and falls back down, just in time for TK to squirt paint at him. It doesn’t make it far, just simply falls onto Carlos’ shirt and drips into his lap. He’s suddenly glad TK had put down a plastic mat onto the floor. “Oops.”

Carlos glares playfully at TK who is too busy laughing to even register the fact that Carlos is pressing his hand into the paint on the table before he reaches over and places it against TK’s arm and spreads it upwards to his bicep. TK looks down, his laugh only getting louder and things are a mess after that. TK puts a handprint onto Carlos’ bicep, Carlos places one against the side of TK’s neck. It’s a blur of paint and laughter before eventually, the two of them are laying on their backs, out of breath. Each of them looks like a really bad abstract painting, paint drying against their skin and their hair. Carlos figures there is a really long shower somewhere in their future.

“You’re right, paint night was fun.” Carlos says and it sends TK into another fit of laughter. “I think we need to do this more often.”

“I think that would be a waste of paint.” TK says through his laughter. “Although, I did see something on the internet once about Twister with paint.”

“Oh,” Carlos whispers breathlessly. “I like the sound of that.”

“We’ll do that next week.” TK says in a definite tone. “Except you have to be shirtless.”

Carlos turns his head to look at him. “Deal, but only if you are too.”

TK turns his head too and leans the small space between to brush his nose against Carlos’. “You have yourself a deal then.”

Carlos smiles before leaning forwards to press a kiss to TK’s lips and it only takes a split second for it to turn heated and TK is pulling Carlos on top of him, his hands set gently onto Carlos’ thighs. Carlos keeps himself steady as he lowers himself down so he’s flush against TK as the kiss deepens. Eventually, they are forced to part for air and Carlos places his forehead against TK’s.

“I think we should clean up.” Carlos whispers as his eyes close, just simply listening to their breaths mixing together. “We’re going to have to shower.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” TK says. “And we can always continue this there.”

Carlos smiles. “You’re right, I think that sounds like a very good idea.”

They sit for a few moments longer just simply sharing space with one another before Carlos moves to push himself up and he grabs TK’s hand to help him up off the ground. He walks over to the coffee table and begins to pick up the paint brushes and the plates the paint is on. TK moves beside him and he takes his finger, dipping it into the paint before he seems to find the only piece of skin not covered on Carlos and he uses his finger to draw a haphazard heart.

TK laughs once again as Carlos seems to stare down at the heart against his skin for a moment before he looks up and finds TK clearing off the coffee table. He walks over and wraps his arms around TK’s middle and rests his chin against TK’s shoulder.

“You know, I like your laugh.” Carlos whispers into his ear and he can feel TK shiver against him.

“Stop it.” TK mumbles playfully but Carlos can feel the heat of his cheek, surely from a blush.

“No, not a chance. I don’t tell you enough about how much I’m so incredibly grateful to have it back and getting to hear it every day. It’s my favourite sound.”

TK twists until he’s facing Carlos and he smiles. “Speaking of being pretty amazing, I’m so lucky to have you.” “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else or with anyone else.” Carlos states. “I promise you.”

TK doesn’t say anything else, just wraps his arms around Carlos’ neck and rests his head against his chest. “My heart is yours forever, I hope you know that. I can promise you that.”

“I’ll take good care of it.” Carlos whispers, pressing his lips to TK’s hair.

“I know you will.” TK says back, his voice quiet. “And I’ll take good care of yours.”

“It’s a deal then.” Carlos says before, “Now, I really do think we should go have that shower or else we’ll never get this stuff off of us.”

TK lingers in the hug for a moment longer before he takes a step back and Carlos gets a full on look at how much he’s covered in paint and the sight makes him start laughing again. That triggers TK into another laughing fit and they spend the entirety of their shower laughing with one another.

Carlos’ stomach hurts by the time they fall into bed later that night and when he pulls TK close to him, he’s reminded just how lucky they are to have found one another.

[tsuki-sennin]

Meet Shinichi Saruhara~! He's just a small town boy... with a super wacky family life~! His parents look identical, his sister is caught up in a love triangle, and his delivery man is super hot~! All this and more on Meet the Donbros! Premiering Sunday, December 24th on ABC~!

Been far too long since we had a Shinichi focus episode, so I'm looking forward to this~!

Spoilers, I guess...

-Ain't no breaks for the Donbros.

-Haruka-chan!

-C

-Chuwan?

-Is it like -chwan, the honorific Gaon uses to refer to humans/smol animals?

-Damn Saruhara, do you not work out?

-Oh, why'd you give Tsuyoshi the Hitler mustache hjlklhg

-Coupled with the glasses and combover, he gives me serious Bruno Ganz in Downfall vibes.

-TAROU WHAT WAS THAT

-Don Don Brothers!

-Okay so for this episode I'm watching the TV Anon subs, and they call it "Cringe Family" and... yeah <3

-"Yo, Kaito... are all of my beloved companions family? ...without me?"

-"Yes."

-Suzuki-san, you are rockin' that dress.

-Kameda Tsutomu.

-Of course, of course, this guy's our Hitotsu-ki!

-...did he scam an entire family out of nowhere?

-Soooo, Shinichi... what's your deal with this guy?

-Ohhhhhh, you're pulling a gigachad brain move.

-Good look scamming a dude with no money.

-I see the Professor's still beloved in his neighborhood :)

-Fake spiritualist... just like Kanedama from that Ep. 13 of Kakuranger. ...wonder if that's where we got his

-We had the boss lie for us~!

-Oh Jesus Christ, he followed us

-Oh here we go~!

-Outswindle the swindler.

-Good on Tsubasa for just like

-Instantly agreeing to help out.

-Damn, Sonoi.

-"What the dog doing with the shark?"

-Sonoza seems very proud of Murasame carving out his own path, how sweet :)

-"If the dog and the shark become friends... they must trigger some sort of game changing event."

-Aaaah, I see that smile too, Sononi~!

-Jirooooou~!

-Free Vegetables~!

-Daaaaaamn, Haruka, okay!

-Love how she picked both guys with girlfriends.

-"Look man, we're in too deep now, you gotta help us."

-While I do respect Haruka Saruhara establishing her right to date whoever however, I absolutely do not respect the way you worded that lmao

-"Hahaha, wow Tsubasa-san, we sure are the best rivals of all time, eh buddy~? Goku and Vegeta! Yusuke and Hiei! Deku and Bakugou! Naruto and Sasuke! Luffy and... I haven't really seen One Piece in a while, would you prefer to be Zoro, Ace, Law, Katakuri, or do you wanna pick for yourself?"

-"I might as well be Buggy, this is already humiliating enough."

-Everybody is haunted!

-Ah yep, classic cold reading.

-Stroganoff.

-Haruka I swear, if you actually had a cat named Stroganoff-

-Gave the poor thing a shoe hat.

-Miho-chaaaaan!

-"My older sister was born at a very young age. :("

-"And you'll get the spoon if you kill her off again!"

-Government assigned Dog. Tsubasa Inuzuka.

-Ooooooooh, Shurikeeeen!

-Dog...

-Ignored Jirou! How dare you!

-Scarecrow?

-That is a masterclass t pose, Beppu-san.

-...Shinichi fucking would t-pose without prompt.

-Tarou in da house!

-"I brought the meat."

-Oh I'm sure you did.

-Seems like Kameda is catching on.

-Imagine how much funnier it'd be if it cut off at "Tsubasa and I are dating".

-"Oh... good for you. I don't care."

-"Okaaaay, thank you for the meat, get the fuck out now, please~!"

-"I want meat."

-See, Tarou knows they're lying, but they don't know how they're lying.

-"Oh my God, Saruhara's mom is related to the salaryman!"

-Tarou is experiencing accidental neurodivergent-on-neurodivergent violence.

-Surrender your prized possession to be free of darkness!

-Haiku Meat.

-Worthless, worthless!

-"Noooooooooo, my dinner!"

-"Jesus Christ, fine I'll bring more meat, just calm down!"

-"Because reasons... It's quite alright Haruka, I think I understand."

-:)

-He only has death allergy hiccups

-Sometimes

-There's a demon.

-And his name is Momoi Tarou.

-Gotta know when to fold 'em, I guess.

-Ah nope, just straight up robbery!

-Made them think they're even crazier than

-Doggy man take an oolong nap :)

-"OH MY GOD THERE'S CRAZY PEOPLE AND MURDERERS IN THIS HOUSE!"

-HARUKA IJHKLHGH

-Tiger Jirou with the steel chair!

-Dead!

-GET HIS ASS SHINICHI!

-Himitsu-ki! You have been exposed for all from Earth to the farthest reaches of the Cassiopeia constellation to see! It's time for you to repent from your swindler's ways once and for all!

-Oh sure, kick a girl in naptime land, real nice

-Love this mix of the theme song btw

-Getting fired uuuuuuuup! Chozetsu Ninja!

-Time for the finale, it'd seem!

-Seiya seiya seiya seiya!

-25 points!

-Tsuyoshi ujhklhg

-Ah yep, time for the iconic Gorenger Hurricane!

-End Ball!

-Gotta build it all up!

-Oh no you don't!

-You ignored Jirou scammer man

-100 Point Shot!

-He has many things clinging to him indeed! They're called his companions~!

-And this cool robot bird he found.

-Get fucked!

-Awwwwww, Tarou :(

-Allegedly.

-Have a drink, shake your head.

-Poor Tsubasa, huh fellas?

-It's okay, he had a really fun time :)

-Shiina Naoki

-WAIT WHAT THE FUCK

-WHAT OKAY EVERYTHING'S HAPPENING THEN

-Most importantly for me, HARUKA'S USING OMIKOSHI PHOENIX YOU GO GIRL

-Well... I suppose I'll see you all next time, when Donbrothers does as it does