#//still gonna reply to the party threads a little later just taking the morning off being on tumblr :)

[milcycyrus-archived]

@mileycyrus: sound check isn't the one this morning...thank fuck concelar is a thing. thank you all for coming out and celebrating last night, truly felt loved. (an early birthday treat) now on to corona festival.

[hockeyboysimagines]

Can you do fuck up the friendship with Tyler Seguin ? ♡

This was so fun! I’m so glad someone requested this song for him because he’s exactly who I wanted to write it for. Thanks so much and enjoy!-💕

Warnings: sex and implied sex.

Are you gonna kiss me?/‘Cause you're taking me homeIt's four in the morning/Are we doing this wrong?/This weekend I saw you/Through eyes that are new/You got me falling for you/And I kinda want to (want to)

Tell me what you mean/Is it all me? (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/Start to overthink everything (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/When you're close to me, I can't breathe (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/We're already six-feet deep/Let's fuck up the friendship/Come get in my head/Baby, cut the tension/I'm hung by a thread

Maybe it's something/But let's not pretend/Or maybe it's nothing/And this is the end

“All I’m saying is you guys look good together.” Jamie said giving Tyler a mischievous smile. Tyler rolled his eyes and waved him off.

“Come on Dude. You mean to tell me you don’t think she’s hot?”

“Of course I do. She’s fucking gorgeous, but she’s my friend.”

“You guys flirt all the time.”

“I flirt with you all the time too Big Rig, maybe I should ask you on a date. ”

“I mean if you insist-“

“Enough you two Jesus!” Roope said shushing them both and shaking his head “If he doesn’t wanna ask her out then leave him alone.” Jamie wasn’t wrong. He did want to take her out but he wasn’t so sure she felt the same about him. Being flirty people it was hard sometimes to tell the difference between what was real and what wasn’t, so he pushed it out of his mind and admired her from a friend standpoint.

“Thank you.” Tyler said taking a drag from his beer bottle. She was standing about ten feet away absorbed in an intense game of beer pong that had been going for a while. She and Esa were partners and had been the reigning champs for over two hours. As if she felt him looking at her she turned to smile at him, and without looking tossed the ball and sank it into the final cup, winning the game. With a screech Esa came flying around the table lifting her up over his shoulder and took a victory lap around the living room. When he finally set her down, she came over and accepted a high five from Jamie.

“Nice game.” Tyler said holding up a beer. She had on this tight little white tank top and these dark jeans and he wanted nothing more than to rub the beer bottle all over her exposed skin.

Wait what? He shook his head, and felt heat creep up his neck.

“Nah. I actually have to get going it’s almost 4 in the morning.”

“I’ll take you.” He piped up before anyone else could offer. She smiled and went to say goodbye to her friends as Tyler trailed behind her. He tried really hard not to stare at her ass, but he couldn’t help himself. He had always looked at her different but the guys on his team had been pushing the idea extra hard lately. He was mostly silent as he drove her home, and as they walked to her front door. The streets were dead, as they should be at 3:50 in the morning, the only sounds coming from the highway and the occasional car that rolled down the street.

“Are you okay?” She asked when they reached the door. She leaned against it, keys hanging loosely in her hand.

“Fine why?” She shrugged “Your unusually quiet.”

He bit his lip. It was now or never “The guys are just kind of riding me that’s all.”

“About me?” Tyler froze, eyes moving slowly over to hers. How could she know? Fucking big mouth Jamie no doubt had said something to her. She started laughing.

“You guys are all extremely loud.” Tyler laughed nervously and looked at his feet “Yeah they just like to tease me is all. Sorry about them. We’re friends right? I don’t wanna mess that up.”

She shrugged and cocked her head to the side “I kinda do.”

She had this look, a look he had never seen before. Tension hung thick and heavy in the air. It sent a chill down his spine and into his other extremities and before he knew it he had crossed the porch, and pulled her into a heated kiss. It never occurred to him that this would completely fuck their friendship up, and if it hadn’t he wouldn’t have cared.

She was tugging at the button on his jeans when he reached around her to unlock the door and they disappeared inside, not even able to make it to her bedroom.

We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends/We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends

It got kind of scary/My bones always knew/Oh, I didn't mean to/Are you feeling this, too?/Tell me what you mean/Is it all me? (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/Start to overthink everything (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)

When you're close to me, I can't breathe (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/We're already six-feet deep

Let's fuck up the friendship/Come get in my head/Baby, cut the tension/I'm hung by a thread/Maybe it's something/But let's not pretend/Or maybe it's nothing/And this is the end

We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends/We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends

She was thoroughly over sexed and exhausted by the time Tyler made his way from her house the next morning but she felt good. The flirtatious behavior had always been there but it had finally come to a head. She would be lying if she had said she hadn’t enjoyed what had happened but now that she came down from her high she had realized that maybe that was all it was. Tyler was in her head now.

Was she just a hookup? Surely he cared about her more than that. Did she want to be more than that? She rubbed her forehead and sighed, feeling the effects of beer pong, and sex start to catch up with her. Flyers cologne still hung in the air, and she sighed. It was both enthralling and intoxicating to be in the presence of Tyler Seguin. He funny and good looking, and the charm was always laid on thick for just about anyone. But she didn’t miss the way he seemed to bend over backwards for her in particular. She had always assumed it was because she was a conquest he wouldn’t ever achieve, and here she was completely ruined by him for any other guy going forward.

She felt her phone buzz and pulled it up to see a text.

I really enjoyed last night….but what does this mean for us?

She drummed her fingers on the nightstand and typed out a reply.

Let’s find out later tonight.

From that point on a beautiful and complicated situation was born. While they loved to be around eachother, they kept things under wraps. But the days turned into nights filled with sex, quick meetups after practice and a lot of secrecy.

Now that they were having actual sex, the tension and the flirting was worse than ever. Roope raised his eyebrows at them as the flirty banter between them turned sexual one night, and shook his head.

“Jesus.” He mumbled elbowing Esa who was pretending not to listen “Get a room.” She smiled and leaned in to whisper,

“Maybe we should.” She disappeared through the crowd leaving Tyler to face his friends.

“Are you guys fucking?” Jamie asked squinting at him.

“What? No.” Tyler said. Someone called his name and he was thankful to be pulled from the conversation before he had to lie to them. He was even more anxious to leave this party to Y/N could call his name later that night.

On the edge of my seat/I'll wait for the outcome/If we ever have one (if we ever have one)/Let me take the lead/You follow me closely/But come on and show me (come on and show me)

Let's fuck up the friendship/Come get in my head/Baby, cut the tension/I'm hung by a thread/Maybe it's something/But let's not pretend/Or maybe it's nothing/And this is the end (woo)

We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends/We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends (friends)

Tyler felt himself falling hard and fast, something he swore he would never do. Things had changed from the night of the first hookup. The relationship between them began to feel more like dating than friends with benefits. Tyler wasn’t sure how to approach the subject and ask her how she felt, but it had to be said.

“Do you wanna go out on a date?” He blurted out one day, immediately slapping a hand over his mouth.

“What?”

“I said do you want to go out on a date?”

“A date? Like a couple? Tyler I thought this was like a friend-“

“We’ve never been just friends and you know it.” He looked so good, long tattooed arms braced behind him, T-shirt right across his chest. Her feelings for him had gone beyond sex, and way beyond friendship.

“Come on.” He said good naturedly, giving her a smile “Lemme take you out.”

She bit her lip and nodded “Okay Tyler Seguin. Take me on a date. Maybe we’ll never have to be friends again.”

“We could never be friends.”

[silvertonedwords]

#40 kisses prompt if you haven't had that asked yet please and thank you.

A gentle kiss that quickly descends into passion, with little regard for what’s going on around them.

I felt like expanding this.

“And, why are people staring at us?”

Tina clears her throat as they walk past gaggles of well-dressed employees at the Ministry entrance, then waves her wand at a stand of this morning’s papers so that one flies into her hand and falls open to the second page. “The usual.” She passes the page over to Newt, her beaded charcoal gown rustling between them.

Many of the guests pay them no mind, but Newt is right to notice the odd person pointing or whispering with badly concealed glances in their direction. 

“ ‘Scamander and Auror Wife to Split’ details on page 10′” he reads. “Merlin’s beard, not again.” He skims the article briefly before sending the paper back to the stand with a flick of his wand and a frustrated sigh. Frequent absences for work. Sources close to the couple. Chilly atmosphere on a walk last week after Mr. Scamander returned from his research trip.

“Mm-hm.” Tina rolls her eyes, fighting hard to brush it off entirely, although she knows these articles bother Newt. Not all of them—not the ones speculating about the color of ink he uses at book signings or the financial arrangement he has with his publisher for a second edition. He finds those easy enough to ignore. And the articles that anger him the most are those with misinformation about his creatures. But she has noticed that it bothers him when the papers speculate about the state of their relationship. Is it so impossible for people to see how we feel about each other? he’d asked the night after the second article had run, his face cast in shadows on the pillow beside her and his fingers tracing absent-minded shapes along her ribs. 

She can understand the frustration. As secure as they are in each other, it stings that the rest of society seems to have decided that their feelings deserve suspicion and ridicule. A single article would be one thing, but to have the baseless stories repeated over, and over... (Who’s gonna marry him? she remembers asking Newt on the day they met, in reference to Jacob of course, but it feels apt now—the question everyone else seems to be asking of them.) Tina is a generally private person, and she knows it wouldn’t help, but sometimes she wishes she could make these foolish people listen to her as she describes her husband—his kindness, and wit, and energy. How unusual and wonderful he is, and how lucky they both feel every day, even when one of them is in a terrible mood, or they’re about to be separated for work, to have stumbled into each other on a New York street. 

The specifics of the articles change each time, but the implications remain more or less the same. Some speculate that she is always at work, too busy to support his success, and too disinterested a wife to care. Others suggest that he is too strange, too cold—that he couldn’t possibly care for her. And always, the articles seem to say, it was destined to be a disaster, and if ever there was any passionate feeling between them, there certainly isn’t now. She’ll take the criticism of her feelings and know it’s absurd, but the self-satisfied hints about Newt are enraging. 

They make their way to the east wing of the lobby and up a set of stairs, where floating chandeliers and draping gold and navy fabric adorn the usually bare hall. Newt must have picked up on her scowl, because he slides his hand into hers and squeezes tightly. She squeezes back, trying to shake off her frustration as she waves at a couple of auror colleagues. “Thanks for coming with me. I know you hate these things.”

“You hate them too,” he protests.

“Yes, but I’m the one who’s required to go.”

His thumb sweeps across the back of her hand, his fingers threading through hers. “I’d do far more, you know.”

She does not try to hide her soft smile, lovestruck though it must be. “I know.”

They reach the top of the stairs and turn left, making their way past tables of bubbling drinks and towards the ballroom’s heavy wooden doors. Newt drops her hand to avoid a floating platter of chocolates, stepping to the side to rejoin her a few feet later. A camera flash goes off in front of them. Wonderful, Tina thinks. More fuel for speculation.

-&-

The first part of the evening goes as well as can be expected. Tina has few enough people that she’s interested in talking to; the only reason the Auror Department is required to attend these soirees is ‘to demonstrate to everyone that England is doing just fine in our efforts to stop Grindelwald’. 

At least Perkins had pulled Newt deep into conversation about the creatures he’d come across on assignment in Brazil. They’d wandered off fifteen minutes earlier, leaving Tina to sip her drink and watch the rest of the senior aurors and department heads mingle. Occasionally, she has a brief conversation with a colleague, but they, like her, keep moving around the room, taking stock. Even if she were the kind of person who enjoyed parties, she supposes, her job would probably ruin them. There are too many people to keep an eye on--too many people that she’s learned by reputation or experience not to trust.

Since Newt left for a smaller anteroom, she has also found to her great annoyance that the gossiping has become somewhat bolder. There are a few whispers around her--a couple of women from the press office pointing at her with sympathetic sighs; a man turning to his wife and saying I didn’t think it would last, you know. He’s so odd.

She has just turned back for another drink when Mrs. Selwyn spots her. “Ah, Tina darling, how are you?”

Tina moves her glass to her left hand, reaching with her right to shake the woman’s hand. The Selwyns have purchased hippogriffs from the Scamanders and have known both boys since they were little, although they are not, Tina has gathered, a particular favorite of either. “Fine, Mrs. Selwyn,” Tina replies smoothly, keeping an eye on new arrivals passing through the ballroom door.

“You know, dear, if you ever needed--well, if you needed someone to talk to...”

Tina swallows a cough at the presumption. “What about?” she asks cheerfully.

“Oh, well. I’m sure I don’t know. Married life. That sort of thing.”

Tina does cough at that, covering it with a sip of her drink. Any anger on her part, she knows, will only be taken as confirmation of the story. The nerve of these people though, and the nerve of those so-called journalists with their smug implications, that no one could really fall in love with Newt; that a woman and an auror could not possibly have a happy marriage; that because Newt doesn’t follow her around like a crup at every event saying ‘yes dear’ and ‘of course dear’, he couldn’t possibly be in love with her. Never mind the way he looked at her from across the room a few minutes ago, when he caught her gaze mid-sentence. Never mind that her heart still takes off like a niffler in a jewelry store whenever he fixes her hair or kisses the back of her hand.

“Tina!” she hears, grateful that for once, her brother-in-law has good timing. “Could I borrow her for a moment, Mrs. Selwyn? Auror business.”

Mrs. Selwyn looks between them, raising an eyebrow as though deciding whether to be offended, and then nods and turns away.

“Thank you,” Tina murmurs under her breath as they walk towards the opposite wall.

“I’m quite put out, you know,” Theseus replies good-naturedly. “My brother and sister-in-law are splitting up for the fifth time this year, and they didn’t even bother to tell me.”

“Don’t you start,” she warns.

Theseus glances at her, then nods towards Mrs. Selwyn’s retreating form. “Is that what that was about?”

She hums in acknowledgement. “Offering ‘marital advice’.” 

“Ridiculous, if you ask me. ‘There was a chilly atmosphere on their walk’,” he quotes. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Mm, particularly given the fact that we’d spent the majority of that day in bed.”

Theseus chokes on a sip of firewhisky. “Tina, he’s my little brother, would you please not—“ She grins, and he scowls back half-heartedly. “You say things like that just to make me squirm.”

“It’s good for you.” Her grin melts into a softer smile as she catches sight of Newt, who is still engrossed in his conversation with Perkins half a room away, his hands flying through the air with his enthusiasm.

Theseus’s voice has gentled beside her. “I don’t know how anyone could pay attention to the two of you for five minutes and believe anything those articles say.”

Well, Tina thinks with a rush of impatient energy, perhaps that’s what everyone needs to put an end to this stupid speculation. “Back in a minute,” she tells Theseus, downing the last of her drink and setting the glass on a nearby table. 

She strides across the room to where Newt and Perkins are still talking. “Could I borrow Newt?” she asks, one hand grazing Newt’s elbow once he’s seen that it’s her.

“Hello,” Newt offers once they are facing each other. He swallows hard, she presumes at what must be a rather fierce expression on her face.

“Hi,” she returns, touching the edge of his fringe. 

He catches her hand in his own, turning to press a kiss to her palm, the touch comfortable and breathtaking in equal measure. “Is something the matter?”

She shakes her head, falling into the tender amusement of his searching gaze. The auror in her had crossed the room with a plan, but as she slides a hand along his jaw and brings his lips to hers, she does not think about who might be watching them, or who would care. She does it because she wants to, and because she loves him, and because they can. Because she’s caught glimpses of him looking at her all evening, and knows that she’s been doing the same. 

Newt is as wrapped up in them as she was in an instant. He tilts his head further and cups her jaw to keep their mouths joined, his other hand settling on her waist to steady them. The kiss is intense but not frenzied, the press of lips and tongues a familiar give and take, their soft gasps muffled into the space between them.

Tina slides her hand around his neck, slipping her fingers up into his messy hair and smiling against his lips when he arches into the touch, and Newt coaxes her closer with his hand spread across her back. A shiver works its way through her as his calloused hand settles against her bare skin where the cut of her dress has left it exposed.

They part slowly, first to their foreheads pressed together, and then enough that Tina glimpses the dazed expression that matches her own. 

He watches his fingers curl into her mussed hair and tuck it back behind her ear, and Tina melts into the tenderness in his touch and his eyes. “That was…” he manages, his voice rough.

Her teeth dig into her lip, her eyes dancing to find the beginnings of a smile on Newt’s lips. “Unexpected?” She fixes the ends of his collar, although they hardly need adjusting. “I thought maybe we could put a stop to the rumors. They were starting to bother me.” She fingers his bowtie. “I think they have been. A little. Not because—but the things that everyone assumes about you are...“

“I know.” His brow furrows, his fingers curling around hers. “I think the same about you.”

A camera flashes beside them.

Tina sighs as, reluctantly, they pull apart. In an ideal world, they wouldn’t appear in the papers. But if they’re going to, at least it can be a little more accurate, and less likely to send nosy women and thoughtless Ministry officials their way with cruel assumptions about Newt’s heart. 

The story runs the following day as a caption to a photograph from the evening, an ever-repeating moment of their hands tangled and eyes fixed together as they separate from their kiss.

Newt Scamander & Auror Goldstein Like Newlyweds at Last Night’s Soiree, the headline reads. 

Theseus drops a copy on Tina’s desk the next morning with a shake of his head and a begrudging grin.

“So, did that go how you’d planned?” Newt asks that night as they’re getting ready for bed. 

Tina grins as he settles under the blankets beside her. “I saw you tear out a copy of that photograph and put it in your case.” 

He settles a hand on her hip, and she grasps it to tug him closer, until he’s pressed up against her back, his voice behind her warm and sleepy. “Your eyes in that photo, Tina.” 

She cranes her neck to glimpse his face, reaching an arm behind her to tuck his face into her neck. “I may have left a copy in my desk. I prefer yours.”

[myhockeyworld87]

Not So Dangerous Liaison - Sidney Crosby - Part 13

Word Count: 3,374

POV: Reader

Warning: Language, NSFW, Small smut

Notes: You guys voted so here we go with the next part of this little romance. Let me know what you think. Happy Reading as always!

NSDL Masterlist

You were caught between that dreamlike state and that place where you're half awake, as memories of the previous night flooded your brain. The heat of his stare as he entered your body was ingrained into you, and you wanted nothing more than to not only see that, but to feel that again. As you came more alive, you felt his chest molded to your bare back, and his leg draped over yours; as his morning wood pressed into your ass. Your right hands were still entwined as his arm lay gently across your midsection and you could feel his soft breath against the nape of your neck. You couldn't help the smile that graced your lips, as you realized nothing was more perfect than this moment right now.

 Thoughts of Sidney waking and the two of going for a second round started to fill your head when you felt him stir. His grip tightened and he pulled you a fraction closer to his body so that no space separated the two of you. "Mmm, morning baby." Sid peppered your shoulder blade and your neck with kisses, and you relished in the feel of his warm mouth on your skin.

 "Good morning," you replied while twisting so that you could stare into his beautiful eyes. His smile matched yours, but it wasn't long before his mouth was hot and hungry on yours, and it wasn't long before his hands were roaming up and down your body. You moved restlessly against him, your legs tangling with his as your mouths were fused together. His hand cupped your ass, pressing your body to his and you moaned with need. It wasn't long until you felt his calloused fingers working its way between the two of you, before slipping amidst your folds.

 Sid broke your kissed, with a voice that held so much awe in it, whispering. "You're so wet already." A blush broke out, not only on your cheeks but over your entire body, and you hid your face into the crook of his neck. "Don't hide (Y/N). It's so fucking sexy." He tilted your head up to look into his eyes. "You don't know what you're doing to me right now."

 "I have an idea." You accentuated your words by skating your hand down his chest and abdomen until you could feel the length of him in your palm. Stroking him a couple times, you decided to give in to the temptation that he wouldn't allow last night and kissed your way down to his cock. You looked up at him from beneath your lashes, hoping to look somewhat seductive as you bit your lip before running the pad of your thumb over the head of his member. He hissed in a breath and you took that as a signal to continue, licking a stripe up the underside, before wrapping your lips around the head. His fingers raked through your hair neither coaxing nor deterring you, just letting you have your way with him. You slid more of him in your mouth, humming as you went; knowing the vibrations would add to the sensations he was feeling.

 "Damn, baby," and you felt his hips jerk forward a bit, as his breath hitched trying to get himself under control. You used your hand to pump what length you couldn't fit in your mouth; working your lips up and down, sucking him in and out. His moans encouraging you as you did.

 "SIDNEY!" Was it your imagination or did he yell out his own name? "Sid, we're here?" Sid pushed you off of him, though as gently as he could as his brain was only working where your lips were attached.

 "Fuck!" He whispered yelled and it hit you then that someone was in his house. You looked up at him with questioning eyes. "I forgot my family was coming today." His words fully registered in your brain and you literally jumped out of the bed, scouring the floor looking for your clothes. "Be right down." He yelled to his parents.

 "Oh my god," you shouted as loudly as possible without being heard by the occupants downstairs. "How could you forget they were coming?" You asked throwing the shirt on you'd borrowed from Sid last night.

 He grabbed his sweatpants and threw them on. "Easy, I was concentrating on you." It was cute and quirky and if you would've had time, you would've kissed him. As it was you were crawling on your hands and knees looking for the rest of your things. "Babe, what are you looking for?"

 "My panties, where did you throw them?" He turned to the left and then turned back to the right, and there they were under the chair by the window. He dangled them by his finger, that damn smirk on his face. You leaped up and snatched the garment out of his hands, as he chuckled at your distress. "Is there a way I can scoot out of here before they see me?"

 "Wait, what?" You were already in the ensuite, scooping up your damp clothing and shoving them in your bag. Shit, your shoes were downstairs. It didn't matter, you'd get them another time. By the time Sid came into the bathroom, you had all your things gathered and were ready to go.

 He grabbed your waist and halted your progress. "Sid, we don't have time. I need to get out of here before your parents know." His frown had you stopping in your tracks.

 "Why?" It was a simple question and yet there wasn't a simple answer.

 "I…" you blew out a breath and tried again. "I…I really want your parents to like me; well…and your sister too."

 "They already do." He insisted.

 "No, they like (Y/N) the girl that takes care of the team, not the woman that you're dating." His soft laughter both annoyed and endeared you.

 "(Y/N), they like both. Trust me." You dropped your forehead to his chest, in resignation, realizing there was no way you were going to get out of his house without at least talking to his family for a bit. "Now put on some sweatpants and let's go down." You glanced in the mirror, noting your messy locks from Sid's fingers threading through them moments ago. There was nothing you could do but throw it in a messy bun atop your head. You dropped your bag, leaving it in the bathroom before putting on the aforementioned sweats. As you walked out of the bathroom, Sid extended his hand for you to take. There was comfort and support in the simple gesture, and you took a deep breath before heading downstairs. They were all in the kitchen, standing around the island, speaking in hushed tones, which ceased the moment the two of you entered. "Hi glad to see you guys made." He said by way of greeting, keeping your hand in his. "Yeah, so I totally forgot you guys were coming today." He said with a small laugh. "You guys remember (Y/N), right?"

 "Of course," Trina said sweeping forward and enveloping you in her arms. "It's so good to see you." You were taken back by the warm welcome and had to release Sid's hands so that you could hug her back. Once she let you go, she hugged her son. "So big party the last couple nights, eh?"

 "Yeah, it's been pretty crazy. I even threw this one here in the pool last night."

 "Sidney, that's not very gentlemen like." His mother chided him.

 "I wasn't the only thing that got thrown in." All eyes turned on you, as you realized you'd actually spoke the words aloud. They were all waiting for you to respond. "Somehow the Stanley Cup got knocked in as well."

 "Yeah," Sid jumped into the story with you. "She thought she could save it, but took us both under in the process."

 "Hey, that's on you. I was trying to save a priceless trophy. The least you could've done was keep us above water." His family was laughing at the two of you as you recounted the story and you hadn't even realized that Sid has his arms wrapped around your midsection as the two of you went on and on about the previous night. Obviously leaving out the details of what happened when you got home.

 "God Sid, don't you have any food in this place?" Taylor ribbed him. "I'm starving."

 "Well, it's not like I've had time to go to the grocery store. I've been a little busy winning a championship here." He teased back.

 "Oh, why don't we all go out for breakfast before the game?" Troy suggested.

 "That sounds like a great idea dad. We can head down to that place on main that you guys like."

 "Then maybe you can grab some real food, for later," Taylor added but sidestepped the swat her brother made at her.

 "Let me just grab your bags and take them upstairs, while I get my wallet." Sid made a move to head out the door, behind his family, when you grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

 "Hey, I'm gonna head out, ok?"

 "What? No, we're all going to breakfast, including you." His hands moved up and down your arms in a comforting way, yet you still felt awkward at that moment.

 "Sid, look at me." You motioned to your messy hair and his oversized clothing you were wearing. "I can't go to some restaurant with your family like this."

 "Babe, you could literally wear a sack and look gorgeous, but if you're uncomfortable go throw on your dress from last night." He always made everything seem so easy like all you did was snap your fingers and poof you'd look like someone that was worthy to be on his arm.

 "I think it's still a bit damp and probably wrinkled from me throwing it in the bag."

 "All right, just stay here a sec will you." He scooted out and brought in the couple bags his parents had, announcing as he came in. "So change of plans, I'm gonna call down to the restaurant and have things brought here." Oh my god, you want to die of mortification right then and there. He was really going to tell his parents that you didn't have anything decent to wear out with them. Why he couldn't just let you head home was beyond you. "The menu's in the left-hand drawer over there, everyone, pick out what they want and I'll order it in a minute." You took note of how he emphasized the word, everyone.

 "Why don't we just go there?" And here there was the question that you would die a thousand times over as soon as Sid answered his sister.

 "Well, it's going to be crowded as hell, and I doubt I'd get to eat anything with everyone coming up to congratulate us and stuff. It'd be a lot easier on me if we just ate here." Damn, did Sid just save your ass with his family? He really was turning out to be the perfect boyfriend in every way, and if his parents were standing there you would've shown him just how much you appreciated what he'd done.

 He started to leave, shuffling all three bags, somehow in his arms. "Here let me help you." You told him, and he handed over the lightest one to you. You followed him up the stairs and into one of the guest rooms. "Thank you for that." You breathed out, going up on your toes to deliver a sweet kiss to his lips.

 "For what?"

 "You know what," and he just smirked at you.

 "You can really thank me later when we pick up where we left off earlier."

 Your eyes got big, and a shot of lust ran through your body, only you found yourself saying. "It's going to have to be much later." Sid just quirked a brow at you. "I'm not staying here tonight with your parents."

 "Why?" Why? Seriously, he was asking you that.

 "You know why. They're your parents." You spoke the words through gritted teeth.

 "And this is my house." He stated so matter of fact. "(Y/N), I'm almost thirty years old. If I want my girlfriend to stay over, they're not going to say anything."

 "Of course, they're not, but they will be judging me."

 "Do you know how long my mom has been on my case for me to ask you out?" It was easy to shake your head no because honestly, you couldn't see that happening. "Since, after your first conversation with her." He stopped you before you could respond. "I got off the trapped elevator and she called shortly after that. When I asked her about your phone call; she went on and on about you. Even asking me if I knew if you had a boyfriend." He grabbed your waist and pulled you close so that there wasn't any distance between your bodies. "Thank god you didn't." Sid dropped a kiss to the tip of your nose. "What I'm trying to say, is they already love you. Whether or not you stay here isn't going to change their opinion of you. Plus, you make me really happy, and I know that earns you huge points with them."

 "Mmm, you're not the only one that's happy." You captured his lips but didn't linger too long, as you knew his family was downstairs, and despite his words, you still wanted to make a good impression. "Come on, let's go order breakfast."

 As you went to leave, he pulled you back. "That's not an answer about tonight."

 "No, it's a, we'll see how the day goes." It was your turn to tug on his arm and lead him out of the guest room.

 "Then I guess I have all day to convince you." The morning flew by, as conversation flowed so easily between Sid's family and yourself. They all told cute little stories about a young Sidney Crosby and not just about his obsession with hockey. It was a glimpse into his life that not many people got to see and you soaked in every detail. Sid finally let you head back to your place to shower and change, on the condition that you pack a bag to stay overnight. By the time you got back to his house, it was time to turn around and leave for the baseball game.

 The Pirates gave a nice tour of the facility to the players and their families, and it was nice to see all the athletes interacting. A few significant others had opted out of the game, still recovering from the night before. Vero and Catherine were there, but you spent most of your time with Sid's family. Everyone headed to the private box, while the players presented the trophy and Sid threw out the first pitch. The crowd erupted with chants of 'Let's Go Pens' as the announcer introduced the team and their championship win. It gave you goosebumps to hear all the cheers, and you'd be lying if you didn't tear up a bit at all the pride the city of Pittsburgh had in their team. It wasn't long before Sid started the game with a throw that could have him playing pitcher in the major league, instead of a center for the NHL.

 He made his way up to the box, along with the rest of the players, shortly afterward. You were sitting with his family, in the middle of a conversation, when he slid in beside you pecking you on the cheek. As soon as there was a break, he asked, "so how'd I do?"

 "Meh," you answered shrugging your shoulder. "If it was me, I would've thrown the curveball, but the fastball worked just as well." The chirp hit the mark, and had him tickling you under your ribcage; your laughter and his ringing throughout the box.

 "Curveball, huh? I'll give you a curveball." He dropped a sweet kiss to your lips, definitely throwing you off, but you welcomed it all the same.

 "Eeek, you two are just so cute together," Taylor told you, and a blush stole up to your cheeks as you mumbled thanks.

 It wasn't long before Trina chimed in. "Taylor's right. I've never seen you this happy." His family's approval meant everything to you, for you knew how important they were to him. "So, when are you heading back to the lake house?" The mention of Cole Harbour took you off guard.

 "As soon as all the festivities die down, I'll be headed up there." Somewhere in the back of your mind, you knew that Sid would head to his hometown eventually; you just didn't think that it would be so soon.

 "Well, I know it's selfish but it will be nice to spend some time with you before you head off to Europe." Europe? Sid was going overseas. Why didn't you know this? And why did you get this pit in your stomach when you heard the news?

 "If you'll excuse me a minute." You said to no one in particular. "I'm gonna go grab another drink." Taking your half-empty glass from the table in front of you, you headed over to the bar. You needed a minute to think. Thoughts started swirling in your head, you'd been in this little newfound bubble of…well, you didn't know what. It wasn't quite love yet, but it was way more than a feeling of like, and now all of a sudden it felt like that bubble was bursting. Of course, Sid would want to go home and spend time with his family, that only made sense, given that he only saw them sporadically throughout the year, and who deserved more of a vacation then him. Hell, he'd put so much time and effort into the season; he needed a little time to himself. The thing was, you'd been so caught up with getting to know Sidney Crosby the person, you'd forgotten that you'd just agreed to date Sidney Crosby the professional athlete. The one that would be gone for well over the next three months.

 What were you thinking when you'd agreed to keep moving things forward? The logical part of your brain told you that you weren't; you'd been thinking with your heart instead. It seemed like everything had just fallen into place so perfectly, that it had nowhere else to go but up. Too bad you didn't remember the law of gravity and that what goes up must eventually come back down. You needed to get out here, to just breathe for a minute. Pushing open the door, you stepped out into the hallway and headed over to the side railing, gulping in the fresh summer air.

 A few deep breathes in, you started to rationalize with yourself. It was three months, that really wasn't a long time, however, when you were just starting a relationship it seemed like a lifetime. Looking back, you realized it was the fact that you'd grown so used to seeing him every single day over the last eighteen weeks, that you weren't sure you were ready to handle not seeing him at all. Sure you could visit for a long weekend and stuff; it just wouldn't be the same. There were just so many maybes to the scenario. On one hand, maybe things would work out fine, but on the other, maybe you shouldn't be starting a relationship with someone that was going to be gone for that long of a time span. Maybe he'd find someone else while he was galivanting off in Europe, someone that more sophisticated and worldly. Maybe the two of you were just moving too fast. The one that scared you the most was maybe you weren't cut out to be the girlfriend of Sidney Crosby. You chewed the bottom of your lip as you let that thought settle into your brain. It wasn't something you wanted to dwell on, but once it had gnawed its way in, it was eating away at you. So much so that you started to believe it was true.  

[atinybitofau]

[ateez] H O N G J O O N G ➩ the reason why

“A DARE”

—a series involving every day objects that either force you two together or force you two apart.

• “Truth.”

• the boys glance around the room,

• analyzed the emotions and the weary.

• no one seemed peeved.

• so they dared themselves to ask the question of, “Okay, y/n. Do you like Hongjoong?”

• you analyze the atmosphere.

• read the room to make sure no one was hostile.

• to reply the honest veracity, “Yes. Yes I do.”

• Hongjoong bites the insides of his cheek,

• yours flaming in peril.

• so it’s gonna be like that huh?

• “Okay, Joong.” you smirk eyes casted upon the victorious man. “Truth or dare?”

• his eyes narrow in suspicion. “Dare?”

• afraid to speak the truth.

• predictable.

• “I dare you to kiss me.”

• no one needs a pair of glasses to see the growing relationship in the room—

• a truth or dare game unnecessary really.

• it’s not a secret you two liked each other.

• but the boys like games.

• 5 months later and it’s just a game to him.

• the relationship feels like a game.

• you feel like you’re getting played by the many times you’re pushed away.

• but you shouldn’t be.

• you’re his goddamn girlfriend and this is not how things should be.

• “Why were you with her?”

• your voice is shaking through passive aggression,

• hands balled at your sides.

• but Hongjoong shakes you off.

• like the vibration of a PS controller during a cut scene.

• “Hongjoong, why were you with her?”

• his throat croaks before he’s glaring at you claiming, “I wasn’t with her.”

• “You’re lying.”

• “Y-you— hold on. You think I’m lying?” he makes you flinch when he whips around.

• cause he’s never abrasive.

• he’s neither aggressive, he’s loving.

• your romance was novel and honest before things started getting long..

• maybe he was too used to you already.

• maybe he was getting tired of you already..

• “I saw you with her,” you look down at your hands that picked at your dress. “I saw you this morning by the cafe and you were sitting with her. But you told me you stopped seeing her. You told me you’d never lie to me again.”

• Hongjoong groans throwing his hands up in the air. “Y/n, I don’t need to tell you who I meet. Or why I’m meeting them. And no one was fucking telling you to follow me. Why were you?”

• “Why are you lying to me?” a tear falls from your eye when you ask. “Answer me that and maybe I’ll tell you why I followed you.”

• “When was I lying?”

• you choke a scoff of disbelief.

• because is he kidding?

• he can’t be serious.

• he was cheating.

• this wasn’t a game that took cheating lightly.

• hell you aren’t a game in the first place and you sure as hell aren’t gonna stand here being treated as one either.

• “You said you weren’t with her.” you pick at your keys. “That’s only lie number 1.”

• “There’s more?” he laughs in sneer amusement. “God, y/n, you really think I’m—“

• “You still love her. Don’t you?”

• he’s quiet.

• shaking harder than before fists barred to the counter.

• “Don’t you?”

• “I-I’m not answering that.”

• you scoff wiping at the tears that felt wasted..

• even though he’s telling the truth because he can’t completely lie to you.

• “I’m not gonna stand here and pretend that doesn’t bother me, cause it does.” you pack your bags as if you were waiting for this moment to come. “Honestly? It bothers me a lot. Cause you said you stopped loving her the moment you started loving me. Or don’t tell me that’s a lie too, Hongjoong.”

• his jaw clenches to hold back the lies. “I do love you.”

• that’s the honest truth,

• he does.

• but his mind’s playing tricks on him.

• his hearts playing games.

• how can he love more than one person?

• no, he should only love you.

• “Y/n, I never lied about loving you.”

• “Have you ever said anything to me? Anything true other than that?” you face him with pure despair heart hanging by a single thread falling out your chest. “I don’t know if I should believe you or if I should believe myself. That I’m just a game to you.”

• “Don’t say that.” he pulls forward to hold you but you’re hostile. “Please don’t—“

• “This relationship was built on lies, Hongjoong and I’m not gonna stand here and tell you I’m okay when I’m not.”

• he’s never done anything wrong.

• other than not tell you the whole truths, yes.

• but he’s never wanted his ex girlfriend back.

• only sees her to clear up that he’s with you.

• and he’s just abrasive because he’s confused.

• frustrated that someone he once loved keeps lying to him, saying she wants him back.

• but the truth is, he loves you.

• takes him one month to figure out how dumb he was for letting you go just like that.

• “You need to get out.” Yunho finds broken bottles on the floor, cleaning up as best he can. “Hyung, you need some rehab.”

• Hongjoong’s shaking more than usual.

• he’s got a hand tremor, that’s no lie.

• he’s tired and he misses you.

• of course he’s out of his mind.

• “I’m fine.” he lies straight from his teeth. “I just need some sleep—“

• San chokes on his spit rolling his eyes. “You need to stop drinking your ass off is what you need. And hiding here by yourself like a pity party when you’re not gonna get it.”

• truth hurts man, truth hurts.

• “What am I gonna do?” Hongjoong’s voice cracks. “I’m a liar. I’m a no good rotten excuse of a man. I don’t deserve anything but to rot in hell, is what.”

• Yunho’s jaw clenches.

• eyes shut hoping the others are doing well enough with you.

• but you’re just as bad as Hongjoong.

• if not worse.

• sleeping in bed all day and getting fat.

• what was work again?

• “I’m surprised your ass isn’t fired yet.” you hiss at Seonghwa who sits at your bed side. “Okay anaconda, relax. We’re here as detox, not intox.”

• “Funny.” you lie through your teeth in sarcasm. “Leave me alone to die please.”

• “Dude, you look pitiful in there.” Wooyoung kicks at a random milk cartoon. “When was the last time you took a shower?”

• “Last night.”

• “With what, ramen?”

• you sigh before muttering, “What are you guys doing here? And I want the truth, Seonghwa. Why are you guys in my apartment.”

• “We’re worried about you.”

• you scoff hiding you’re face in your blanket once more. “I’m fine. I just need some sleep.”

• “You need to get up, eat real fucking food, and take a goddamn shower is what you actually need.” Wooyoung smiles sinisterly. “And don’t make me drag your ass myself and take a shower with you.”

• you do as they ask because you’re just tired.

• you just want to be alone.

• confused nonetheless.

• cause shouldn’t breaking up with your lying boyfriend feel relieving?

• why is it you feel simple white lies would’ve been better than the honest truth?

• “You miss him.”

• your jaw clenches when you cry against Seonghwa’s shoulder in the car, “I don’t know..”

• “Be honest, y/n. We want the truth.”

• your sobs sound more louder than the words that escape your lips.

• “I miss him. I do.”

• “Even if he told you he loved you. Let’s pretend he said he didn’t, okay?” Seonghwa whispers finger lifting your chin up to look at him. “Wouldn’t it have hurt more if he was really lying to you? When he never really cheated on you.”

• you can’t look at him.

• because Seonghwa’s the walking definition of hurtful truth.

• it’s like facing god.

• how can you lie to Park Seonghwa the way you’ve been lying to yourself.

• “If you really loved him the way you say you do, the honest truth,” he blinks softly at you. “Then you shouldn’t be beating him and yourself up for lying a little bit in attempt to save the relationship between you two.”

• you’re so dramatic.

• you both can be so dramatic.

• like a romance game for teenagers—

• a game based on a novel.

• hey remember?

• how you and Hongjoong’s relationship used to be novel and true.

• now you’re back in his arms.

• as true as it is, you just can’t help it.

• “I love you.”

• Hongjoong holds you up against the wall, hands curled around your neck.

• you sob louder under his shadow,

• under the troubled waters.

• how crying was pretty much useless at this point when you were pretty much ready to give yourself up again.

• ready to make this game have the happy ending you want.

• “Y/n, I love you.” his fingers shakily trace aimless lines over your skin. “I’m not gonna stand here and lie to you. Say I never did when I did. Till now, I still do.”

• you kiss his lips like it’s a sin,

• like it’s cheating.

• running back to him can’t be this easy.

• there’s got to be a trick.

• “B-but how about her?” you’re afraid of loving him back this time. “What if you still love her?”

• “Maybe I do.” he whimpers cause even this hurts him. “Maybe I do but it’s you I choose. Why would I be crying here with you if it’s you I choose?”

• “Hongjoong, I don’t know what to do.” your hand grips on the collar of his shirt. “Joong, I don’t know what to do.”

• desperation hits and he’s gonna have to cheat a little.

• tell you some white lies to hide the hurtful truth from you.

• “I don’t love her.”

• “H-how can I believe you?”

• “Then don’t.” he snakes you over his arms and drops you in his bed. “Dare me to make you believe me. Dare me to get you to fall in love with me again.”

• it’s kind of cheating.

• cause, “No matter what I say, I’ve already fallen in love with you. I dare you to fall in love with me, Kim Hongjoong. Only me. Let’s do that instead.”

• fuzzy is all he feels.

• white noise an interlude to part two.

• “Just fucking stay with me, y/n. And I’ll make sure of nothing like this ever happens again.”

@atinybitofau

[collecting-stories]

Krampusnacht - Kelce (OBX)

Request: No.

A/N: My first Kelce story but also...I almost didn’t make a Dec. 5th story in time! Hope you all have a good Krampusnacht and that Krampus doesn’t leave sticks in your shoes 😂

Winter in the OBX | Outer Banks Masterlist

☃︎ ☃︎ ☃︎ ☃︎

“You know, I don’t wanna sound like I’m being judgmental but...tell me again why you have a pair of shoes outside your bedroom door?” Kelce asked, following you into your bedroom, stepping over the pair of uggs you’d left just outside your door.  

“Krampusnacht.” You replied, “put your shoes out, ‘krampus’ will leave you a present.”  

“Yeah?” He joked, kicking the door shut behind him, “Cause I’m pretty sure your dad will whoop my ass when he finds out I’m still here in the morning.”

If your dad was home now, he definitely wouldn’t be thrilled to know that Kelce was in your room, with the door shut. While you certainly wouldn’t rush to call your parents strict they did have certain rules about boys in the house, especially when those boys were kooks. boys were kooks. Your family had lived on the cut forever, for as long as there was a distinction between the cut and the eight, and kooks had always rubbed them the wrong way. They would be far less than thrilled if they found out that you were dating a kook.  

“Maybe.” You laughed, hooking your arm around Kelce’s shoulders as he leaned over you, hand pressed into the quilt beneath your head as he kissed you. “But who doesn’t love presents?”

“Presents? Yeah. Your dad? No.”

“Fine. But just know I’m gonna sneak into your house tonight and leave presents in all your shoes.” You joked, placing quick kisses on his mouth as you spoke.  

Kelce laughed, “oh yeah, I’m sure my mom will totally love having someone break into her house.”

“I’ll be leaving stuff, not taking anything.” You insisted, “though I think I left my hoodie there last time I was over.”

His parents didn’t care too much about him dating a pogue, they were barely around long enough to, but sometimes his friends were less than receptive. You had expected the icy reception when Kelce first asked you out. That alone had been surprising. During a party at the boneyard, when you’d stepped away from friends to grab a drink, Kelce had made a move. He’d been thinking about it for a while, asking you out, and he almost chickened out.  

-

“Hey,” Kelce had stepped up to the keg, grabbing a cup off the top and holding it out for you as you filled your own.  

“Hey...Kelce?” You asked, slightly unsure. He was definitely friends with Rafe, you knew that, and you knew Rafe cause he was the absolute worst, but you didn’t try and know too many kooks.  

“Yeah,” he nodded, “so, cool party?”  

“I guess...yeah.” You glanced around as you took a sip of your beer. “Kinda like...every other kegger on the beach.”

“True, true.” He was ready to walk it off, try his luck with someone more impressed with him but he just couldn’t let himself, he had to at least give it a shot. “Maybe we could try something different?”

“What do you mean?” You asked. The fact that he was still standing there was a shock to you, admittably, and you half expected some kind of aughts Aston Kutcher “punk’d” team to come out and announce that they had gotten you. An elaborately bizarre joke of some kind but so far the coast was clear and Kelce was just standing there, sipping beer that tasted like it was brewed in someone’s bathtub.  

“I mean like, maybe we could go out sometime?”

-

“Alright,” Kelce reasoned, tucking his hand behind his head as his eyes met yours, hovering just over him in your bed. “What kind of presents would you be leaving me?”

“Not me,” you insisted, “Krampus. Krampus would be leaving you presents.”  

“Really, cause earlier you said-” He started to say as you cut him off.  

“Well I meant Krampus. Obviously. He’s like a devil goat thing with horns and red eyes and-”

“Sounds like you.”

“Kelce!” You laughed, elbowing his side playfully. He smiled up at you, eyes shutting momentarily in a way that honestly made him look so sweet and innocent you were convinced it was the reason that he could get away with anything. “You’re the worst, honestly.”

“Alright, alright, so what’s this Krampus gonna leave in my shoes?” He asked.  

You thought about it for a moment. You hadn’t really spent too much time thinking about what you were going to buy Kelce for Christmas but you definitely knew that he could afford whatever you could get him. And more. But this was small stuff. Little gifts that were just a precursor to Christmas.  

“My mom always puts oranges in our shoes,” you mentioned, sitting up, “it’s like a tradition...but otherwise it’s little stuff like candy, I’ll make you a pogue bracelet,” you teased, tapping one of the threaded bracelets on your wrist. “Maybe I’ll slip you a mini bottle of something.”

“Fireball. And I’ll take a blue and green bracelet, please and thank you.” He replied.  

“Yeah and then it won’t be my dad kicking your ass but Rafe for associating with a pogue.” You said, doing your best impression of Rafe Cameron. Topper was always nice to you, if only because he knew how much Kelce liked you, but Rafe was never welcoming and he would be less so if something convinced him that Kelce was actually serious about you. Which he was.  

“What, you think I can’t take him?” He asked, sitting up a little in your bed.  

“Oh I’m sure you can...but do you really wanna?”

“Bring it.” Kelce said without hesitation, “but later, cause right now we’ve got like, thirty more minutes before your parents get home.”  

[mrs-hollandstan]

Make Me Love You || Frat Boy!Tom [seven]

Warnings: language, more drinking & partying, skimpy dress descriptions, dancing with Scarlett, mentions of an erection, aaaaaaaaaand smut haha, 18+, female receiving oral- whoops

Word Count: 5,605

Author's Note: Don't come for me when you read this chapter, I couldn't help myself. But surpriseeeeee. Also, gif credits to the original owner and lemme know what you think. :)

Series Masterlist || Add yourself to one of my taglists

Tom's heartbeat pounds in his ears and he swears you can hear it, but yours is just as loud and that's all you can hear. Both of you are panting just a little as you mutually undress, eyes seeming to never wander despite the want to. Tom desperately wants to look down at your naked body. He dreamt about it for Christ's sake. But he follows you into the shower, watching as you turn to wet your hair, the strands of it clinging to your skin. He allows himself that moment to glance across your body, eyes lingering on your breasts that he's primarily seen in his backseat. But the real killer is your thighs. He doesn't know why, but the way they're pressed together as you rinse your hair of the day's grime has him captivated. Soft, beautiful skin, unmared and asking to be kissed, spread, held. You open your eyes, smiling at him, 

"Perv." He shrugs,

"You said I couldn't touch, you didn't say anything about looking." He reminds. You nod,

"And I'm not covering myself because of it, because I kinda feel guilty." You admit quietly, but Tom can hear you even if a train drove by. His girl shouldn't feel guilty about anything. He frowns, 

"Why?" You scoff as you lather your hair in the sweet smelling shampoo that Tom knows from nuzzling his face in your hair,

"You're like... notorious for sleeping around and you're not getting any from me." You tell him. He clicks his tongue, finding your soap and beginning to wash himself, 

"Aaaand, I'm not your usual American frat boy into peer pressure and date rape and shit so... you don't have to give it up to me."

"Yeah but-"

"Our deal was you make me love you and that doesn't include sex. That's deception." He jokes, smiling as you, mid rinse of your hair, open your eyes to frown at him, 

"I'm serious Tom."

"So am I! For once in my goddamn life, I don't feel the need to have sex with a girl to stay the fuck around." He admits, rolling his eyes. Your heart swells as you stare at him, eyes never straying lower than his stomach just in shyness. You near him, his eyes downcast to yours, beautiful curls now sticking dark to his skin, 

"How did I get so lucky with you?" You ask, eyes twinkling as they dart between his. He smiles, 

"I ask myself that every day when it comes to you darling." He replies. You smile, standing on your toes to kiss him, hands rested on his slippery body. You hum, his hands drifting down to your hips where they rest lightly, as if he's scared you'll yell at him for the contact. You smile, reaching up to thread your fingers through his hair, bodies pressed together as you deepen the kiss, steam encasing you. He wraps his arms around you, holding you close to him as you kiss, letting you draw back and stare up at him, 

"Let's... finish up, yeah?" He nods, eyes darkened in lust as you both hurriedly finish washing up. You shut the water off, slipping out onto the tile and binding a towel around your body, Tom doing the same before he scoops you up, carrying you back to your bedroom. He lays you back on your bed, unravelling the towel from your body and ditching his own, kneeling between your legs. You hum as he bows his head to kiss you, your arms wrapping around his beautiful, lean figure. He moans into you, teeth clashing and his tongue slipping into your mouth. You gasp, sliding your hands down his sides and arching your back as his lips trail down your neck, small marks being bit, sucked, and licked into the skin. You hold him there, arching your knees up around him until he raises his head to stare down into your eyes. Its then that the uncertainty and the fear associated with giving yourself up to him at this point and time kicks in, but so does the guilt. A few water droplets dot your skin from his half dried hair as he stares down at you. You lick your lips and shake your head, reaching up to brush your own hair behind your ears,

"We can't do this. Tom... fuck, I'm sorry but we can't-"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're alright, I want you to be comfortable with this and you're not. I'm okay with that." He reassures again. You sigh, placing your hands on his shoulders, 

"But you... y-you're hard, I can feel it, and it's not fair that you don't get to get off." You whine. He chuckles, eyebrows raising on his forehead, 

"Darling, I get hard coming out of my room in the morning. It happens. And beside, dream you has given me much more than I probably need. I've gotten off." He informs, watching a blush rise to your cheeks with an airy laugh before he rolls off of you. He sits at the edge of your bed, letting you wrap your arms around his shoulders. He hums, pressing the side of his face to yours, closing his eyes as you kiss his cheek, peppering kisses across the skin. Reaching for his towel, you dry his hair off the rest of the way, laying him back in bed and climbing over his legs. You hum as you kiss his chest like a few nights ago, a hum slipping from his lips as you look up at him, eyes twinkling again. You press a kiss to his stomach, 

"I'll prioritize and blow you." You mumble but Tom clicks his tongue and drags you up to lay beside him, pulling your leg up around his waist, 

"Tom it's not fair to you!" 

"I'll be fine." He growls, arm wrapped around your waist and hand placed on your hip. You hum, pressing your hand over his heart and your cheek to his shoulder. You sigh, letting him kiss your forehead, raising your own head after a moment, 

"I do love you Tom. Even if you're not ready to say it." He smiles, knowing in his heart that he's ready but with all the surprises you've thrown his way, he wants to have one too. So he'll wait because he knows whether or not he says it won't break your heart. You lay your head back against his shoulder, sighing. He rubs his thumb over your skin, letting you melt into him as he closes his eyes, letting sleep consume him the same way it does you. 

                                   ---

"Alright nerds, what're you doing tonight?" Ivey poses as she sits across from you and Tom at the table in the library. Tom doesn't look up as you cross your leg under you, clothed arm nudging his as he scribbles away at his English study guide. You look to him,

"Uhm, we were probably just gonna stay in and study for finals." You tell her. She hums as Harrison slides into the seat beside her, sipping his steaming tea. She looks to him,

"Well... kinda last minute, but Phoebe, Scarlett, Cole, and us were all going out to a club in downtown Seattle and we were wondering if you guys wanted to come." Tom grumbles beside you, but you nod anyways, looking to him, 

"I think I could use a night out." His eyes find yours after a moment, hand pressed under his chin still. You raise an eyebrow and he shrugs, eyelashes fluttering,

"You know I go where you go. Guess I'll be there too." He diverts his attention to Ivey who smiles,

"Great! You have to go with Harrison though so the girls and I can make Y/N very whore couture for you." She jokes, Tom snorting and rolling his eyes as he returns his attention back to his study guide on the table. You smile, nudging his arm, 

"We'll both be there." You reassure your best friend who nods and stands, wishing you both goodbyes before she leads Harrison back towards the dorms,

"What, does she have a tracker on you or something? How the hell did she know you were here?" He asks as you watch them leave, eyes lingering on the other students around you both, 

"No... I'm supposed to tell the girls where I am even if I'm with you. Just in case." You inform. He nods, letting you lean your arm against him, lips pressed to his shoulder. His eyes glance between your study guide and his own, finishing up the last few words in his chicken scratch writing before he sets his pencil down and sighs, looking over at you, 

"You're really making me go?" 

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to sweet cheeks, but I'm going. So if you want to be a sorry sap who stays home and watches Netflix without his loving girlfriend, you do so." You inform him, grasping his face in your hand. He hums, leaning in to gently press his lips to yours, 

"So you're making me go." You giggle, 

"Sure. Whatever you wanna claim Mr. I-play-the-victim." You joke. He smiles, letting out a soft chuckle, 

"So accusing." He mutters. You shrug, laying your head against his arm, looking over the filled in papers in front of you. He flexes his bicep to give you a more sturdy resting place. You huff, 

"What to wear, what to wear." Tom hums, 

"How bout nothing and we stay home." 

"Tom-"

"I'm jokinggggg." He says with a chuckle. You hum, laying your head back against his arm, 

"I think I know what to wear. What are you gonna wear?" You ask. He stares ahead, twiddling his pencil in his fingers, 

"Probably jeans and a sweater. You want somethin special?" You shake your head, 

"No, I don't want you to upsell me." You joke. He smiles, looking down at you as you start to stuff your notebook into your bag, standing beside him. He follows suit, letting you lazily hold his hand as you leave the library, 

"So I'll see you later." You state rather than ask, pausing at the top of the stairs. His eyebrows knit together, 

"You're not gonna let me walk you home?" 

"No, it's fine, the library is the same length from the house and the dorms, I got it." You reassure, standing on your toes to kiss him softly. He pouts, features never changing as you giggle, 

"Tom I'll be fine. And I'll see you later." You say with a giggle, kissing his cheek once before you take a step back, eyes lingering on him. You cock your head before turning and walking down the stairs, glancing over your shoulder at Tom once before you tuck hair behind your ear and continue down the path towards the dorms, Tom watching you go with a bruised ego and worry laced in his blood despite knowing nothing will happen to you. 

That night, Tom is fidgety, wanting to get the show on the road as Harrison gets dressed, seemingly as slow as he possibly can just to torment Tom. It allows him to think about how odd it is to want to see you so bad despite having seen you earlier. He's surprised by how odd it is to practically grieve when you're apart and be as antsy as he is now to see you again. 

Harrison breaks him from his thoughts as he sighs and turns to him, outfit and hair in place perfectly, 

"Done, ready you fucking div?" He asks. Tom nods before he practically rushes down the stairs and out to his car, Harrison following close behind, but still trailing, 

"Ya know… I think you bullied me for the same shit all those years ago with Ivey." Harrison remarks, closing himself inside Tom's already running car. Tom half sighs, half growls,

"It's been two years and this isn't the same thing. Most times I wasn't even dressed. You forced me out of the house like three hours early for no damn reason just to try and see her. I have a reason and its…" he pauses to check out the clock in his dashboard, "half an hour before we're supposed to meet up." Tom explains to Harrison who waves him off. They drive in silence, sitting at the curb of the club waiting for Ivey's car to make an appearance. And when it does, both boys climb from Tom's car and cross the street to meet the four of you. 

Tom steps up on the curb, breath dissolving into a mist as it meets the cool air and you climb from the car, effectively taking Tom's breath as he looks you over, a white, plunging neckline dress billowing from your body, a black velvet choker wrapped around your throat, and white and tan wedges successfully making you just Tom's height, if not a little taller. You smile, the streetlights catching the glitter dotted over the smokey eye you sport clouded by the messy, thick curls in your hair,

"Hey." You croon, closing the door of the car behind you, glancing down to step up on the curb, 

"H-hey. You look uhh… you look beautiful." He chokes out around his tongue. You smile, holding his hand that he holds out to balance yourself on the uneven sidewalk,

"Thanks babe. I told you I didn't want you to upsell me." He nods, smiling down at you as you smile, gloss glistening in the low lighting. You follow the girls and Harrison to the door, leaning back into Tom's chest as the bouncer IDs everyone. He wraps his arms around you, resting his cheek to yours now that you're too tall for him to rest his head over yours. Heading inside, he watches you turn when Cole comes running up in a black button up with rolled up sleeves and jeans, quickly joining your group once he's presented ID. He quickly kisses Scarlett before hugging you and bro hugging Tom, greeting the others before you all retreat to a table. You sit at the end of the bench, Tom standing just before you, 

"Want me to get you a drink baby?" 

"I'll go with, let's find out what everyone wants." Before you can fully stand and collect yourself, Tom has sorted out drink orders and Cole is accompanying you both to the bar, ordering, leaning against the countertop and glancing out at the dancefloor and then between you and Tom, 

"So am I gonna have to kill you for puttin your hands all over my sister?" Cole jokes. Tom smiles, looking to you and shaking his head as you bind your arms around his torso,

"I'm always being told to keep my hands to myself so... I think we'll be okay." He replies jokingly. You smile, leaning into him, 

"Don't worry Cole, anything that happens between us will be consensual. Tom is the perfect gentleman." You reassure your older brother who smiles and nods,

"I know. Tom is a good guy." Cole remarks before he stands up straight as the array of alcohol is set in front of you. Tom carries three of the four beers for your group while Cole carries his own beer and Scarlett's drink as you carry your own drink and Ivey's drink. Once back at the table, you distribute alcohol, Tom sitting at the very edge of the booth beside you as you all sip your drinks, just trying to loosen up enough to get out to the dancefloor. 

Once the group heads that way, Tom takes your hand, having finished his beer in record time, 

"I think I'm gonna fetch another one, do you want something else?" You nod, following close behind him. He follows you once you have your second drink in hand, taking your free one to not lose you in the crowd as you find your friends on the flashing colored dancefloor. Scarlett is already in Cole's arms, back pressed to his chest as Ivey and Harrison dance facing each other, her arms around his neck. Tom hums as he wraps his arms around you, your hips moving the same as your friends. You’re facing Scarlett and Cole, your older brother laughing as he watches you and Scarlett sing to each other. Soon enough, she steps forward and takes your hand, spinning you and allowing you to bend just the smallest bit, her hand on your shoulder as you grind against each other, Tom laughing as he watches. Cole, having stepped up beside him, mutters back and forth with your boyfriend who has a hungry look swimming in his eyes. But his eyes don't stay locked on you; they wander over both you and Scarlett. He likes the way you look with her, likes the way the both of you look as your dress rides up against her body. She's wearing a dress that's just as skimpy and he loves how sexy the whole situation is, but you miss the look he gives completely, lost playfully in her. 

Scarlett releases you, dragging Cole back into her by his arm as Tom's hands find purchase over your hips again. You wrap your arms around his neck, watching him sip his drink with a small smile. He licks his lips, looking you over with a dark look in his eyes, 

"I lied to you." He remarks. You hum, cocking your head with your eyebrows furrowing,

"What do you mean baby?"  You ask so innocently, it nearly makes Tom want to carry you out to his car and have his way with you any, and everywhere. He glances down, watching the way the deep cut in your dress reveals the ample flesh he loves covered in the same glitter that you and your three roommates are drenched in. He reaches up, one of your hands slipping to his waist, 

"I told you you looked beautiful but... I lied. You actually look really sexy." He rasps out. His accent has you weak in the knees, your fingers threading through the hair at the base of his neck. You search his eyes as he smiles, one corner of his mouth raised. You let out an airy laugh, 

"Oh yeah? What, did I not look this good at all those frat parties?" 

"No you definitely do. You're always sexy, but right now, I'm definitely having dirty thoughts about you." He admits. You giggle, letting his hands wander to your lower back, your hands pressed to his chest. You hum, running your hands across his muscular pecs, 

"If you can play nice for a little while longer, maybe I'll reward you." He lets out a dark chuckle, holding you close, 

"Promise?" You nod, 

"Promise." He nods, sipping more beer before he lets you turn, grinding back against him similarly to when you were with Scarlett. He holds your hips, laughing the same as he had earlier as you, Ivey, and Scarlett all sing to each other and act in the same manner as you do at all the frat parties. It sends a surge of nostalgia through Tom. That first time he met you, that first time you teased him and he knew that you were perfect for him. You were sweet, but you were sassy and he loved it. He wanted all of it for the rest of his life, he still does too. 

There's only about a half an hour that goes by before the girls want refills of their own. You follow just for the hell of it, Tom just behind you so he isn't abandoned by the group. As you stand at the bar, he clears hair off to the side, over your shoulder and out of his way to kiss your neck as you talk to Phoebe and Ivey. His eyes cut up to them for a moment before he tucks hair behind your ear, 

"Let's do shots baby." He mutters. You turn your head just the slightest, eyes searching his before they wander down to his lips and you nod. He orders two shots of vodka, lifting one to his freshly wetted lips, eyes rising to yours. You hold the small shot glass out, clinking it with Tom's and giggling when it spills just the slightest. He smiles before he throws it back, the same as you and slaps the glass onto the countertop. He watches you shiver with a smile, letting you lean into him, a giggle slipping from your lips as you lean on your toes to kiss him softly. He shakes his head, 

"You're crazy." 

"But I'm your crazy." You remark. He nods, shrugging softly, 

"Guess so huh?" You nod, smiling up at him, 

"Buy me another?" You ask. He raises an eyebrow, 

"You tryna get me wasted?" You giggle again, ordering two more shots before you turn to him, 

"It'll be better when you're wasted." You pose. He hums, lifting the shot glass to his lips with baited breath as he watches you throw your own shot back. He gently sets the shot glass down, 

"Ya know, drunk sex is a great way to get pregnant." 

"Who said anything about sex?" You quickly imply, sparkling Y/E/C eyes glancing up at him with a mischievous glint. He purses his lips as you press yourself to him, 

"Besides, I'm on birth control. I promise not to have your baby." You joke. He smiles, 

"Not yet at least." 

"Ooh, you planning our future together or something Holland?" You ask. He smiles and shrugs, 

"Never know. I like the way we sound and look together, ya know, Tom and Y/N, and I want kids someday. But I'd much appreciate if we graduate before we try to do that." You nod, sipping the beer in your hand. You hum as Tom plays with his own beer bottle, watching your group of friends all act accordingly with their partners. He licks his lips, 

"So uhh, w-what's my reward if I'm good?" He asks. You sip from your drink, eyebrows raising just a small bit, 

"Dunno, what do you want?" You ask him. He raises the unruly eyebrow, 

"Are you telling me that I've been good? And what, I get to pick my reward?" He teases softly. You snort, setting your beer bottle aside, 

"There's no reason not to give you the option. And... if we can dance a little more and maybe you can give all the right moves, I'll let you do something." You tell him, playing with the collar of his shirt with a sultry cock of your head. He nods, leaning down to kiss the soft, clammy skin of your neck before you take his hand and follow the girls to the dancefloor again. His hands instantly wander, your head drifting back to his shoulder. He kisses your neck again, hands placed over your ribs where they finally rest, a vice grip on your body as you rock back against him, your butt pressed to his crotch. You can hear him curse every once in a while, his hands slipping down to your hips, to hold you back against him. He refrains from reaching up to hold your breasts, desperately wanting to but not wanting to embarass you, wanting to keep his respect to Cole. You reach up to thread your fingers through his hair, 

"Baby," he poses in your ear, listening to you hum in response, "how much longer until I get my reward. I wanna taste you so, so bad." He admits, your heart leaping into your throat. You swallow, head turning further up to look at him. He stares down at you, letting you turn in his arms and drape your own over his shoulders, 

"Really?" He nods, glancing down at your lips, 

"Yeah, I wanna fucking ravish you." He admits huskily, leaning in to kiss your feverishly. You hold the back of his head, heart pounding in your chest. You can't say no to him. Not only is it is reward, you don't want to say no. You know you've made him wait long enough and he can swear up and down that he doesn't need the sex to stay with you, but you want to give him something. He's been good. When he pulls back, he stares down into your wide eyes before you nod and his eyebrows raise again, 

"Yeah?" You nod again, clutching his arms as he glances towards a semi lit hallway, 

"You want the formalities or is the bathroom good enough?" 

"It's good enough." You quickly pipe up. He nods before his hand slips into yours and he nearly pulls your shoulder from the socket as he drags you behind him towards the women's bathroom, pushing the door open to find it surprisingly empty. He hums in approval before he turns to you, releasing your hand to cup your face in both of his own hands. He leans in to kiss you, pressing your back against the wall, your hands holding his sweater tight at his hips as he kisses you with raw passion. 

Turning your body just slightly, he backs you into the handicap stall. Its moderately clean for a club, but neither of you pay it mind as he closes and locks the door behind you, his hand slipping to the groove of your knee to lift to his hip. You whimper into his mouth and he smiles, holding you tight to him before he grows impatient and his hands slip beneath the material of your dress, dragging your underwear down your legs, 

"If I were about to fuck you I'd have you bent chest first against this wall, underwear around your knees. It's so fucking sexy when your clothes don't come off." He admits, starting to crouch between your legs before you grab a handful of the sweater on his shoulder. His eyes meet yours and for a moment he sees your eyes swimming in uncertainty. He nods, rubbing up across your thighs, 

"I'll be gentle with you baby, you can trust me." He reassures. You lick your lips, nodding after a moment as you tuck your hands behind you. He smiles, rubbing up your legs as he tucks your panties in his pocket, taking a wedged foot into his hand and dragging it up over his shoulder. Your heart pounds, visible as it beats from your chest and he bows to kiss the inside of your knee. His mouth waters as he smells your arousal, kissing closer to your center, his hand slides along your skin leaving a trail of scorched skin in his wake. His dark eyes flicker up to yours as you raise your dress over your hips, needing to see all of him once he reaches his destination. His eyes are significantly darker, your breath catching in your throat at the sight of him. He hums, drawing back for just a minute and licking his lips again before he reaches up, sliding a finger through your folds. The feeling of him touching you is intoxicating and he hums once more in satisfaction,

"So wet darling. God, what do you let me do to you?" He teases, dragging the tip of his finger over your clit before his hand drops into his lap and he leans in, wrapping his lips around your clit, tongue darting out to tease your opening. Your head falls back against the wall, eyes closing tight and teeth coming out to bite your lip. The hand not covered in your juices and resting at your knee to steady you, is placed over your ass, holding you against his mouth. You reach up, covering your own, letting out a whimper after a moment which Tom appreciates. He moans, pressing you further into the wall. The way his mouth feels, the way liquid courage in vodka form pumps through your veins has you suddenly not caring, letting out loud moans and whimpers, one of your hands holding your dress in a tight grip against your thigh, the other raveling in his hair. You give good tugs every once in a while, Tom letting out moans each time, cock hardening further in his jeans as he stares up at your blissed out face. 

He slides his hand up your skin again, slipping two fingers into your heat which draws a cry from your lips. Tom is pleased as the leg you stand on threatens to give out, his grip on you tightening. He groans as you give another sharp tug of his hair, drawing his mouth away from you as his fingers pump up into you in quick tandem, 

"Such a good girl for me. Fuck you taste so good darling, so wet, you like that?" He coos up at you. You nod, the hand previously occupied in his hair slipping up to palm your breast over the fabric of your dress,

"Fuck yes Tommy, you feel so good." You moan. He licks his lips of what's left of you, staring up into your beautiful features. He curls his fingers, smiling as you cry out again, 

"Fuck I would've loved to be your first, but all of this is fuckin amazing." He remarks, nudging his fingers along your sweet spot which sends a jolt through your body each time and brings moans and whimpers from your lips, 

"Tommy... please make me cum. I wanna cum." You beg. He nods, 

"I've got you baby, cum for me." He tells you, leaning back in to suck your clit back into his mouth after a moment. He runs his tongue over it, circling it with the tip of his tongue. You whine, knees trying to give out again as Tom's fingers speed up just the smallest bit inside of you, audibly colliding with your slick as he brings you closer and closer to the edge, your heart and head pounding with each move he makes. Your hips involuntarily move against his face, his chin effectively being soaked in your juices as he watches you. You moan, head falling back against the wall again as you near your high, every nerve ending in your body set on fire. He pulls back after a moment, 

"That's my girl, cum for me sweet thing." He tells you, driving his fingers faster inside of you. He leans in to lap at your clit some more, humming as your thighs quake and you bite the back of your hand to stifle a scream, 

"Good girl baby." He purrs, collecting all that you have to offer as you cum, hand grasping his shoulder tight. He bites his lip, watching you ride out your orgasm against his fingers. He draws them from inside of you, dragging his tongue across your folds once over before he sucks his fingers into his mouth, cleaning them of your juices and slipping your panties from his pocket to slide them up your thighs. He gives your ass a quick swat, molding the flesh in his hand as he kisses and gently nibbles the inside of your thigh before he stands, pressing you to the wall again and collecting your face in his hands, 

"So fucking perfect baby girl. God you're so sexy." He tells you, pressing his hips to yours as he leans in to kiss you, your hands grabbing onto his sweater. You taste yourself on him, tangy and sweet and Tom slides his tongue into your mouth. When he draws back, he lets you careen him back against the opposite wall, hands sliding up under his sweater to rub across his stomach, a part of his body he knows you love to feel up. You bite your lip as you grab hold of the hem of his jeans, your eyes dark, sparkling in mischief, 

"Want a blow?" He doesn't respond and you giggle as his lips turn up, 

"You're fuckin adorable. No, I don't want a blow, I'm okay." He says, leaning in to kiss you again. You hum, running your hands up and down across his stomach, 

"You're sure?" You ask. He nods, smiling down at you,

"Yeah, I'm alright. You looked fucking gorgeous though baby. You look fucking gorgeous." He tells you, watching you sort yourself out. You smile up at him before he follows you out to the sink, watching you fix your dress and hair as he washes his hands. You hum, leaning in to kiss his cheek as he scrubs, 

"How bout this, you do good in the game on Sunday, I'll blow you." You say softly in his ear. He smiles as he looks up at you, glancing down at your lips before you kiss him, 

"When do we get to the fucking?" He teases. You giggle again, standing back to let him dry his hands off, 

"The second you say you love me pretty boy." You toss back. He chuckles, tossing his paper towels into the trash can before he wraps his arms around you, your hands rested on his arms as he backs you from the bathroom, 

"Cheeky little thing." You nod, smiling wide, 

"But I'm your cheeky little thing." You reply. He smiles and nods, kissing you one last time before you sigh and take his hand, leading him towards your friends, 

"I'll let you take me home and we can get undressed and all." You present, watching Tom nod as he runs his hand through his hair, 

"That sounds amazing. It's about fucking time." You smile, leading him towards the front door, a cocky smirk on his face as he reached out to swat your butt once more for all to see. 

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[connordavidscamera]

Home at Last | Connor Brashier

A/n: Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! I hope you enjoy this, I’m sorry I literally suck at doing the things I say I’m going to, but here’s this one!

Summary: Connor’s coming home for Christmas

Warnings: fluff

Word count: 1.7k

***

Tonight is a good night, I'm making sure of it. It's my husband's last night on tour, but I unfortunately couldn't make it because we were already short staffed at the store. Plus, I couldn't exactly leave the employees I had left without a manager. 

I'm turning on the stove when my phone rings with a facetime call. I was expecting it. The show was supposed to start in about an hour and Connor calls every night before a show. No matter the timezone.

"Hey, pretty boy!" I smile and set my phone against the utensils jar we have near the sink. 

"Hi, baby. What are you doing?"

"I am about to make dinner and then I have a couple more presents to wrap before you get here, and I have to wash towels, so those are in the washer right now."

"Wow, look at my wife multitasking. What are you making?"

I shrug, "I've been craving grilled cheese the past couple days. So that is what I'm having tonight."

He smiles, "Well I'm glad you're taking care of yourself."

"And what about you, my love? You taking care of yourself? Have you eaten?"

"I snacked a little earlier. Was gonna eat with my parents and Dylan after the show."

"I'm glad they're there with you, Con."

"Me too… wish you were here though."

"I know, I do too. I'm still so sorry I couldn't make it."

"It's okay. I know the shop needs you. You'll just have to make it up to me when I get home," he smirks.

I laugh, grabbing the butter from the fridge. "I think I can do that." I clear my throat, "You excited for tonight?"

He nods, "Yeah. It's bittersweet though."

"Gonna miss thousands of girls screaming your name every night?" I tease and he rolls his eyes.

"While that's cool and all, I only ever want one girl screaming my name at night. And she's currently at home making grilled cheese."

It's my turn to roll my eyes. "Okay mister. I hope your family isn't in the room with you."

"Nope, just the band," he chuckles and my face heats up. 

"Alright, Mr. Brashier, you need to get ready for the show. Tell Shawn I said good luck."

"Tell him yourself. He's right here. Shawn," Connor calls out.

"Yeah."

"My girl wants to talk to you."

"Y/n's on the phone?" He rushes over with a big smile on his face. "Hey, honey!"

I can't help but laugh, "Hi, rockstar. Good luck tonight. It's gonna be your best show yet."

"Thanks. I'm really nervous."

"Hey, you've done it 104 times already."

He sighs with a soft smile, "Yeah. Wish you were here."

I frown, "I know. I wish I was too. But you can tell me all about it when you come visit me and Connor for New Year's, yeah?"

He nods, "Absolutely."

"Good. Now I need you to go rest your voice. Tell your family I said hi. And can you face me to the band real quick?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure." He flips the camera around and the boys all wave to me. 

"Hey guys, I just want to wish you luck. You're gonna do amazing and I am so proud of you."

"Thank you!" They all reply. 

"Alright, Shawn. Give me back to my husband, please."

A few seconds pass and I'm greeted again with the beautiful face of my favorite human. "Should I let you go?" He asks with a frown.

"Well you have some work to do. So I guess. But I will see you in two days. You make it back to me in one piece, Brashier. I mean it."

He gives me a two finger salute. "Yes ma'am. I promise. I'll call you after the show?"

I shake my head, "Call me in the morning. Enjoy this last night, okay?"

He nods, "I love you, Mrs. Brashier."

"I love you more."

"I love you most."

I smile and blow him a kiss. "Take some good shots tonight."

"I will. Talk to you later, baby."

"Bye, handsome."

---

"Dylan. What's up?" 

"Shawn said to call you before the next song!" He yells. I can barely hear him over the screams of thousands of people behind him. And the screams get even louder when Shawn says "yup" and I know now hes finishing where were you in the morning. "Hey look, Connor's on stage!" He flips the camera to show me my wonderful husband and I can't help but stare in awe at him. He's working so hard and I love watching him.

"So this next song is one of my favorites off the album. And I don't want you to worry, I'm not gonna call anyone out and make them kiss. However, I am gonna call out my friend Connor, who is walking over toward his family right now. Everyone give him a hand." The screams are even louder this time and I didn't think that was possible. "Yeah, alright. Well this man is such a hard worker and I am so thankful to have him with us this tour. But unfortunately his wife wasn't able to make it tonight. Which is why I have his brother talking with her right now. If everyone could say hi to y/n. Dylan, can you show y/n the crowd? Okay, on three let's say hi to her, eh? One, two, three," Dylan spins around, showing me the entire arena yelling hi to me on his tiny phone. When he comes to a stop, Connor comes into view and he takes the phone from Dylan. 

"Hi, baby. What's going on?" 

"I have no idea." He turns the camera to Shawn.

"Connor, I know not having your wife here is tough on you. And y/n, I know you not being able to come was tough on you. Which is why, tonight on my last show of 2019, I am dedicating this song to you. Because at every show you were at, you danced in the corner of the stage with your husband. This is your song more than it is mine now. This is fallin all in you."

I feel my eyes start to water when the music kicks in and Connor turns the camera around, back to his face. "It's like you're here, pretty girl."

I wipe at my tearful eyes. "Yeah…" is all I can manage to say through the tears.

"We're changing our minds here, be yours, be my dear."

---

I've lost nearly all track of time before Connor makes it home. The boy refused to let me pick him up from the airport because "baby, the roads will be chaos with people coming in and out last minute. I worry about you too much to let you do that." So his parents are dropping him off and we have one night alone before we have to report to his childhood home for his parents' Christmas party.

I'm setting the last wrapped present under the tree when I hear the front door open. "Y/n!"

I squeal and rush through the living room just to see Connor closing the door behind him. He barely has the chance to turn around before I practically jump on him, wrapping my whole body around him. "You're home," I mumble into his neck, feeling my eyes get a little misty.

He chuckles, holding me tight. "I'm home."

"Don't ever leave me this long again."

"Okay, baby." He kisses my cheek and sets me down, but I refuse to let go of him yet. It doesn't feel real to have him back for good this time. "Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but why do you have  bow in your hair?"

I laugh and pull away, wiping at my tears. "I was uh, wrapping the last couple presents earlier and my niece called. She said I should put a bow on for Uncle Connor when he got home."

He smiles and takes my face in his hands. "Well you're definitely a gift."

I hum, "You gonna kiss me now?"

He nods, "for a while."

"Good."

His lips press gently against mine and I melt into him. I've missed his lips, his touch. I've missed breathing him in when he walks through the door every day. But he's here and he's kissing me and I am so happy.

"Hey, Con?"

"Hmm?" His mouth trails down the side of my neck.

"Do you remember the first thing you said to me when we met?"

"'I hope I'll find you under my Christmas tree,'" he nips at my sensitive skin and I let out a soft moan.

I nod, "Yeah. You still want to find me there?"

He pulls away from my neck. "I'll have to think about that… do I get to open this present before Christmas?"

I nod again.

"Can I start by taking this bow out of your hair?"

I laugh, "Yes."

"Then yeah," he snatches the bow from my head and throws it to the side before picking me back up, wrapping my legs around his waist. 

I squeal, grasping his shoulders. "Where are we going?"

"Bedroom. Gotta try out my new gift, no?" He smirks and I roll my eyes.

"What? What's that face?" He bites playfully at my nose, carrying me to our bedroom. 

I shake my head, "I just missed you. Welcome home, Brash."

He kisses my pouting lips, "it's good to be home, love."

---

We're busy between the sheets until early hours in the morning. His fingers run over my stomach, drawing a little Christmas tree, and hearts, and spelling out I love you. I'm still breathing heavily, running my fingers through Connor's messy hair. It still doesn't feel real.

"Connor," I say, breaking our comfortable silence. 

"Hmm?"

"I need to hear you," I beg.

He takes my hand and puts it over his heart, which is still beating fast. "You feel that?" His eyes lock on mine and I nod, "This heart is beating for you and you alone. I'm here, baby. I'm right here and I'm not leaving you."

I swallow the growing lump in my throat. "I love you so much."

"I love you more," he kisses my knuckles.

"I love you most," I roll over and wrap my body around his, he just chuckles and lays on his back. 

"Merry Christmas, y/n." He mumbles, his fingers threading through my hair. 

"Merry Christmas," I say with a yawn, snuggling closer to my husband who is finally home.

***

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Tag: @sunrise-shawn @anamariel2301 @shawns-badreputation @bbellbagel @turtoix @ivegotparticulartaste @tomshufflepuff @dino-16-avocado @sleepybesson @lifeoftheparty74 @shawnssongs @luvluvxx @foreveralone19588 @shawnandconnor @5-seconds-of-mendes @emma-manuhpe @nedthegay @shawnsblue @curiouslycryptic @adelaidestreets @vinylmendes

Connor Tag: @shawnm521 @divinginfearlessly @enchantingbrowneyedgirl @bettroff @myyohmyuohmyy @madison-malfoy @shawnieeboyy @mutuallynotmutual @fivefeetapartt @rockstarshawnmendes @lostinmendess @sunrisebrashx @alinaxxshawn @heart-struck @ilsolee @daisyangei

[taetaespeaches]

“I’m just waiting for my damsel in shining armor to come save me”

Jimin x Reader Genre: fluff; mentions of sex Word count: 3.1K

a/n: HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIM!!! I hope you all enjoy, and thanks for reading :)) This is partially inspired by Ariana Grande’s “Goodnight n Go” and specifically the following lyrics:

Oh, why’d you have to be so cute? It’s impossible to ignore you, Why must you make me laugh so much, It’s bad enough we get along so well.

MUSIC boomed through the speakers in the living room of the condo, loud laughter and conversations trying to be heard over the tunes. The warmth of the mass of bodies within the apartment heated your skin, a dewiness setting over your features.  

All of these people, and you couldn’t care less.

You stood against the wall in the living room, eyes on Jimin as he talked to a group of people, a few of whom you recognized as his fellow members, others you didn’t recognize at all.

Then again, you and Jimin didn’t spend much time together outside of the bedroom.

You and Jimin had been shooting each other cute smiles and facial expressions for the past twenty minutes, but neither of you made a move towards each other. The phone in your hand buzzed, drawing your attention to the device, showing a text from Jimin himself.

Jimin: Are you as bored over there as I am over here?

Your lips curving up into a small grin, you looked towards Jimin who was staring at you with a small smile of his own.

You: Are you bored? I couldn’t tell from your total lack of fucks given for your current conversation. Also, my answer is yes.

Jimin read the text and you could see a small giggle slip out of his lips as he looked up through his fringe at the group of people and then to you. He began typing out his reply.

Jimin: Am I that obvious? Maybe I’m just waiting for my damsel in shining armor to come save me from this hell.

Reading the text, you bit your lip, trying to hold back your ever-growing smile. Looking up at him, you nodded your head towards the kitchen as you walked away, Jimin’s eyes following you as you exited the room.

Walking through the kitchen, you mindlessly smiled at fellow partygoers as you anxiously waited for Jimin to come after you.

You see, you and Jimin weren’t a couple. You weren’t friends. You were fuck buddies, plain and simple. At least that’s what you told yourself. After meeting on a rainy day while waiting for a bus, you and Jimin found that you had an attraction that could be described as magnetic. However, with a plethora of reasons to not date, mostly his hectic work schedule and your inability to open up to people, you chalked up the attraction to primal sexual desire.

After hanging out a few times, you two committed the act and decided it was way too good to only do once. Two and a half months later, and multiple nights and days spent together in the bedroom, you were classic friends with benefits—classic meaning being pretty sure you’re in love with each other but being way too afraid to mention the pent-up feelings.

The sex still happened often, nothing changing there, but each time you hooked up the pillow talk increased, as did the cuddling. You knew you were really in trouble when after a shitty day, he was the first person you wanted to call. You didn’t call him, but god did you want to.

You knew you were in too deep when he asked you to get breakfast with him the morning after a night together. You went, and you had a blast. It felt domestic and comfortable. And you couldn’t keep the no strings attached deal up any longer. That was two weeks ago, and you had only seen Jimin twice since then. The first was for a hookup where you went home almost right after you both climaxed, skipping the cuddling you both had become accustomed to. The second was, well, right now. This party.

Just as a man stepped in front of you as you walked through the kitchen, attempting to chat you up, your phone rang, Jimin’s contact name lighting up the device. Holding your finger up to the man, you quickly answered the phone.

“Well hello there, birthday boy,” you smiled into the phone as you walked past the random dude, leaving the kitchen to find cover in the hallway away from the noise.

“Where did you go?” Jimin asked you.

Looking around your surroundings, you told him with a smirk, “I’m actually right outside of your bedroom. I didn’t even plan this, I must just be drawn here,” you teased

Jimin fell silent for a moment as you chewed on your bottom lip. “Stay put,” he told you. You giggled into the phone when Jimin added, “are you staying put? I mean it, don’t move.”

“I don’t know, I’m getting pretty bored here,” you teased, causing him to yell out a noise of annoyance.

“How could you be bored at my birthday party?” He asked, a smirk on his lips that you could hear.

“You were literally just complaining about being bored,” you shot back.

“I’m allowed to be, it’s my party,” he informed you with a whine, making you chuckle.

“Well,” you started, leaning against the wall next to Jimin’s bedroom door. “I came here for one person and I am yet to see him up close and in the flesh,” you explained.

“Did you just say you want to see me in the flesh?” Again, you could hear the smirk.

“Oh my god,” you let out a mixture of a scoff and a giggle. “Anyways,” you reluctantly changed the topic. “Besides the supposedly boring conversation, how has your night been?” It wasn’t until this party that you realized how many friends Jimin has, and how few of them you’ve seen much less met. You’ve heard of his closest ones, but you haven’t spent much time around any of them besides Taehyung and Jungkook. And you wanted to meet them. You wanted to be included in that part of Jimin’s life.

At that moment, Jimin turned the corner, standing just down the hallway from you, a stunning smile gracing his features as his eyes landed on you. “Much better now,” he spoke into the phone before lowering the device and shoving it in his pocket.

With a few quick strides, he was stood in front of you, smiling at you, his eyes soft, happy, dragging over your features as if he was appreciating a Renior painting hanging on the wall of the Louvre. He should know better than to look at me like this, you thought.

“Hey, you,” he smiled brightly at you.

“Hey,” you smiled. “Happy birthday, Chim.”

Leaning towards you a bit, but leaving way too much distance, he softly replied, “Thank you, Dear. I’m happy you’re here.”

With one hand, you grabbed for his cream-colored sweater that was loosely tucked into his black pants, pulling him closer. Your other hand found the back of his neck, your fingers threading into his hair. Pulling him down to you, you left a soft lingering kiss to his jaw.

“You gonna take me inside?” You gestured to the door. “Or do you have an exhibitionist kink you haven’t told me about?”

Smiling bashfully, Jimin placed his hands on the wall on each side of you, effectively caging you between his arms. “As much as I want to,” he told you, his eyes wide to emphasize how badly he really did want to, “I think we need to find a place to talk.”

“Ok,” you said nervously, straightening your posture a bit, worried he was going to confront you on practically avoiding him for the past two weeks. Actually, it was obvious that was what he wanted to discuss. “Well, we could talk in there too,” you pointed your thumb to the door.

Shaking his head, he smiled a little. “I don’t trust myself in there with you,” he said, his cheeks heating up at the confession.

Smirking back at him, you let your hand slide off his neck, dropping to your side. With a nod of your head, you gestured for him to lead the way, removing your hand from his sweater. Jimin reached for your hand as he walked you down the hallway. Before reaching the kitchen, he turned to you, pulling you in close to whisper to you.

“So, I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m kind of a big deal around this party,” he spoke into your ear, an amused grin immediately spreading across your face at the comment.

“You don’t say?” You looked up at him shocked.

“Afraid so,” he nodded to you, a smile gracing his features, eyes shaped into adorable crescents. “You see, I’ve been trying to be alone with you all night, but people keep stopping me. They all want to talk to me or something,” he told you with an eye roll.  

You gasped, feigning outrage. “How dare all these people want to spend time with the man they all gathered here for.”

Nodding, he held back a giggle, his lips curving into a big smile. “I know, ridiculous,” he agreed. “I have more important things to tend to right now, don’t they get that?” The comment didn’t go unnoticed by you as you bit your lip, holding back a flattered smile, though your reddened cheeks gave away your flustered state. “What I’m saying is, it’s gonna be hard to find a place where we can talk in private.”

Giving him a single nod, you looked at him with a serious expression. “Ok, so what’s the plan, Mr. Big Deal?”

“Balcony,” he said simply, forcefully stripping the smile from his face, leaving you to nod as you waited for more explanation only to receive none.

“Ok,” you giggled. “How are we getting to the balcony?”

“Well, I was thinking I’d just hide behind you,” he explained, holding back a smile.

Smiling widely at him before composing yourself with a cough to clear your throat, you nodded once again. “Ace plan,” you said, pretending to be impressed. “Really, I’m impressed, just, wow,” you teased, causing Jimin’s stoic expression to crumble as he fell into fits of giggles, leaning into your frame. “Shall we then?” You asked him with a giggle.

Taking the lead, you began to walk towards the living room when Jimin suddenly pulled your jacket up, diving underneath to cover his head, making you halt in surprise. “Keep going,” he told you, his arms wrapping around you in a back hug.

“Why are you so strange?” You giggled as you continued walking, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, nodding and smiling at people as you made your way to the balcony door. “I mean really, this plan must have taken you ages to figure out. Did you have to run this by a team to work out all the kinks? Were there blueprints?” You asked, Jimin giggled against your back, whining a dragged out, “stop”.

You were nearly to the door when Taehyung stopped you with a kind smile. “Hey, have you seen Jimin around?” His eyes then went to the man who was hiding inside the back of your jacket, his eyebrows scrunching together. Looking back to you, he pointed to Jimin.

“Nope,” you shook our head. “I haven’t seen him.” Taehyung’s mouth dropped open a bit as he prepared to question you about the man who was smothered inside your clothing, very obviously knowing it was Jimin. Instead, he closed his mouth and nodded at you, giving a polite smile as he walked away.

“Well, your best friend now thinks I’m a freak,” you complained as you pulled the door open, stepping out onto the balcony.

“Eh, he’ll be fine,” Jimin told you as he pulled his head out from underneath your coat, straightening his form and looking at you.

Staring at the man in front of you, his hair standing on end due to static electricity, you smiled fondly. “And to think I thought you were so cool at one point,” you said under your breath, making Jimin erupt into giggles. Reaching up to his hair, you patted it down, Jimin observing your features as you did so.

By the time you directed your gaze back to Jimin, he was wearing an expression of utter fondness and adoration. “Hi,” you said softly, feeling shy under his stare.

“I know you’ve been avoiding me,” he told you bluntly, but softly.

Your eyes widened in surprise, not by the fact that he knew but by the fact that he was being so upfront. “Jimin, I’m sorry, I just—"

“No, don’t apologize,” he interrupted, shaking his head gently. “I mean, in case you didn’t notice, I wasn’t knocking down your door either,” he added, effectively stabbing your heart.  

“Oh,” you said in surprise and hurt. “Noted- not knocking down my door,” you nodded, crossing your arms across your chest. “Gotcha”

“No, no, no,” he worried. “Shit, that’s not what I meant at all, I just, I know you’ve been avoiding me, and I’m saying I know why because I-” he cut himself off. “Why do you have to be so cute?”

“What?” You vocalized your surprise from his question.

“I tried to avoid you, I tried to push aside how I’ve been feeling, but it’s literally impossible to ignore you,” he explained, adding, “And to ignore these feelings I have.” You stood frozen, shocked at his words. “I’ve been avoiding you,” he continued. “Because it’s scary.”

“It is scary,” you agreed, knowing exactly what he meant. You and Jimin were meant to be fun and carefree. Admitting to the feelings you were both feeling meant you either had to stop what you were doing or attach the strings.

“But I can’t keep pretending I don’t have these feelings for you,” he took a moment to breathe. “I don’t want to anymore.” Want to what? You screamed inside your own mind. After a moment of you both staring at each other, tension at an all-time high, you began to speak as tears started to fill your eyes.

“Jimin, you have got to be more clear with me, my heart is about to go into cardiac arrest, you don’t want to what anymore? Do you want to be with me or not?” You questioned him bluntly as a tear rolled down your cheek.

Jimin’s hands quickly found your face, holding your cheeks between his palms, this thumb swiping the tear from your skin. “Of course, I want to be with you,” he told you as if it was obvious.

“Oh thank god,” you breathed out shakily, more tears being released from your eyes as your frame relaxed, leaning into Jimin’s body. Your arms wrapped around his neck as his swiftly held you around your waist.

“I want a label, I want you to get to know my friends, I want you to meet my family,” he whispered into your ear. “I don’t want to have to wait until late at night after a hookup to have a conversation with you. Which it nearly killed me, by the way, when you left right after last time. I know this was supposed to be a no-attachments kind of deal, but come on, was it ever, really?” At that, he pulled away from you to look at you, you slowly shaking your head. “I’ve always wanted all of you.”

Leaning towards him, you pressed your lips to his in a much too quick kiss. “Me too,” you whispered against his lips. His hands found the sides of your face as he held you to him, kissing you deeper, not wanting your lips to leave his.

Your breath heavy, the only reason you both broke apart was because the balcony door suddenly slid open, a man letting out a small “oh” in surprise of the scene. “Uh, hi, y/n” he nodded at you politely. “Tae and Jin want you to blow out your candles,” he told Jimin. Jimin nodded, telling the man thanks, the man turning and leaving you both to yourselves.

“Was that Yoongi?” You asked Jimin who nodded in confirmation. “Yoongi knows me?”

“They all know you, they just don’t know you,” he told you with a smile. “Yet.” You pouted at him, Jimin giggling at the expression.

“I guess we better get inside,” you told him. “Those candles aren’t gonna blow themselves.” Jimin’s lips lifted into an amused smirk.

“Are you trying to tease me?” He asked as his eyes turned into crescents, his smile broadening.

“No, I’m actually not,” you giggled as his hands found your sides, tickling you a bit. “It’s just a fact, you are the birthday boy after all.”

Jimin whined, nuzzling his face against your neck. “I have a birthday every year though.”

“And you get to kiss me all the time,” you smiled at him, your fingers toying the with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Yeah but it’s different now that you’re my girlfriend,” he whined again. “Am I delusional or is this even better now that you’re my girlfriend?”

“No, you’re not delusional,” you kissed him softly. “And sorry, I’m just getting used to the fact that you’re calling me your girlfriend.”

“Yeah? You like that?” He smiled. “I wanna hear you say I’m your boyfriend,” he pressed a sweet kiss to the side of your mouth.

“Well if I’m your girlfriend, you’re obviously my boyfriend,” you smiled at him as he kissed you.

“What is this, a scene from the Notebook?” Jungkook’s voice cut in from the balcony door, you and Jimin jumping in surprise, your eyes finding an amused look on the younger man. “You’re a bird, he’s a bird, whatever, I want some cake, please, y/n, let us borrow your boyfriend for like two minutes. Then he’s all yours.”  

Your cheeks heating up in embarrassment, Jimin yelled out for Jungkook to go away, mumbling you’d both be there in a minute. “I’m sorry,” he giggled to you.

“It’s fine,” you laughed. “Someone calling you my boyfriend sounds really good.”

“It does, doesn’t it. Can I introduce you to my friends?” He asked you, his eyes searching yours for your answer. “As my girlfriend?” Before you could answer, the smile on your face gave away your excitement, a smile appearing on his own features. “Yeah?”

In one swift motion, your hand resting on the side of his neck, your fingers delving into his hair. You kissed him hard, easily deepening it, backing Jimin towards the apartment wall. Smiling into the kiss, Jimin flipped you over so you were pressed against the exterior of the building, his hands gripping your waist.  

“I think I deserve a little more alone time with my boyfriend on his birthday, don’t you think?” You said into the kiss. “Jungkook can wait.”

Smiling, one of his hands left your waist to cradle your jaw as he deepened the kiss, pressing his body against yours. “Yeah, you’re right,” he told you, capturing your top lip with his own before he continued. “They can all wait.”

[an-unknown-writers-world]

Breaking Routine

Day Seven: Ice Skating

Part of @panicfob​ 25 Days of Christmas Challenge

Warnings: Angst

Pairing:  Bucky Barnes X Reader (First Person, Nameless) ; Sam Wilson x Reader(platonic)

 Word Count: 2171

A/N:  The beginning of this series can be found on my Masterlist if you’ve missed any of this.

-----------------------------------------------

It had been a long, hard quiet day. I woke up with the worst hangover I’d had since freshman year of college, although I was at a loss for which was worse, my alcohol hangover or the emotional turmoil, I was feeling. The day had been full of things that were amiss, I woke up later than normal, so Bucky had come and gone by the time I made breakfast. I had tried to go for a run but lacked any motivation, I even tried a few rounds with the heavy bag and couldn’t stay focused on it. Most of the day had passed even into the evening and I was yet to see Bucky and believe me, I had looked everywhere.

I was beginning to think that game night was a bad idea or at least the alcohol part of it. I had practically thrown myself at Bucky and haven’t seen him since. I thought we were fine afterward, at least I was fine. I understood his thought process and I respected his decision even when every fiber of my being wanted to fight him. 

After eating dinner, I realized pacing the house wasn’t getting me anywhere and I had already done all the laundry and dishes I could find. So, I found myself on the couch in the theater room watching ice skating. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted from being so inside my own head. I wasn’t sure how long I had been there before Sam moseyed in. 

“You look miserable,” Sam said plopping into the chair next to the couch.

“Gee, thanks,” I replied not pulling my eyes from the tv.

“Maria says hello.”

I frowned, I hadn’t seen Maria in weeks, I didn’t even know she was back in town. She calls most if not all of the missions still. “You got to see her?”

“She got back into town last night, she’ll be here for a few weeks.” 

“Hope I’ll get to see her,” I said looking at him.

“You will, she’s gonna be at the Stark Christmas party thing, I get to be her plus one.” He grinned, “Guess Barnes is the only one not coming. That is unless you’re taking him.”

I shrugged. “We haven’t talked about it.”

“I just assumed with as cozy as you two have been lately, that it didn’t need to be talked about.” Sam pushed.

“Well, you shouldn’t assume Sam.” My tone came out harsher than I intended. “If things were so peachy between us maybe he wouldn’t have vanished the entire day after I practically threw myself at him.” 

“Whoa,” He sighed. “That wasn’t the response I was expecting.”

Grabbing the pillow next to me, I fiddled with the threaded design. Fidgeting had always been my give away for anxiety, ever since I was a little girl. I hadn’t intended to tell Sam any of this, it really wasn’t any of his business.

“You wanna talk about it?” He asked.

I shrugged, “Not much to say. We were all drunk, I asked him to stay with me and he told me no. He went to bed and I haven’t seen him since.”

“That’s it he just said no?” 

“Well not technically, he gave me a noble speech about how he refused to stay with me if alcohol was involved in my decision making.” I rolled my eyes. “Sometimes his old-fashioned personality can be really frustrating.” 

“Dude’s got some morals though. And as much as it pains me to defend him, there’s not a whole heck of a lot of those he can hold onto still. Mind control kind of robs you of a lot of those.”

I was shocked at Sam’s defense of Bucky; he had incredibly valid points, but this was progress for them. “That’s the things Sam, I’m not even mad at him for it.” I sighed realizing things for myself for the first time today. “I’m mad at myself for doing it, to begin with, it wasn’t the right time and I knew that I just didn’t want to be apart from him. The thing that upsets me the most is that he’s been gone for god only knows how long and I haven’t heard from him.”

“He left around nine-thirty this morning,” Sam stated,

I looked at him confused.

“We interacted over coffee this morning.”

“You interacted? Like you had a conversation?” I laughed.

“Not sure I’d call it that,” He shrugged. “He grumbled about him being an idiot and an asshole, which I naturally agreed with.”

“Sam,” I chided 

“I didn’t know what was going on.” He urged, “If I did, I probably would have just sent him back upstairs to fix it.” 

“Do you know where he went?” 

“He didn’t say specifically, just that he was going to see a friend.”

“Ugh,” I threw the pillow in my face.

“That was a bit dramatic.”

“Shush. I’ve been stewing all day.” 

“What are you watching anyway?” Sam asked looking at the tv.

“Figure skating.” 

“Never understood the point of it, ice rinks are for hockey, not dance parties.”

I laughed, “Those girls are more athletic than you are.”

“How do you figure?”

We went back and forth bickering about pointless facts about ice skating in general. I had always knowns I was too clumsy to ever put myself on ice, but that didn’t stop me from watching it every winter that I could. We agreed that each use of an ice rink required specific skills that neither of us possessed. Eventually, he decided it was time for him to find food and get a workout in.

“Also, before I forget, Morgan and Peter are coming over tomorrow to build Gingerbread houses.” 

“Morgan can stay, the other kid’s gotta go.”

“You can’t hate him for webbing you forever. Will you turn the light off?” I called out as he got to the doorway. 

“It’s bad for your eyesight,” He replied, turning the light out anyways.

I wasn’t sure I cared about my eyesight at the moment, instead, I snuggled further into the couch pulling the blanket off the back; I stretched out with my head on one of the armrests. Focusing on the screen I tried to clear my mind and just focus on the tv, watching their beautiful rhythm, the smooth glides broke up by intense twists and jumps. It was mesmerizing really. I’m not sure how long I stayed that way, but it must have been a while.

“It’s beautiful,” Bucky said from the doorway. “Can I come in?”

“It’s a public space,” I stated,

He didn’t respond, instead, he came to sit on the couch. Carefully lifting my legs so they laid across his lap with the blanket. We had sat this way every night to watch the news lately, it was comfortable, but it felt wrong with my current mood. Neither of us spoke through the next routine, but it wasn’t the comfortable silence I was used to. It was thick with unspoken tension and unheard emotions.

“I’ve always had an irrational fear that I would fall and get my wrist sheared off by the blade of a skate,” Bucky confessed breaking the silence.

I looked him a little confused at first, “Always, like since you were a little kid?”

He nodded, “Even Steve would go ice skating; granted he usually broke or bruised something. But I was always content to sit on the side and watch. Did you ever skate growing up?” He asked.

I shook my head, “The town I grew up didn’t have any kind of ice rink and the nearest city that did was about two hours away. Even if it did, I don’t think I’d ever try. I’m too clumsy, I’d be afraid of falling.”

“Isn’t it funny how we let the fear of falling keep us from doing things we think we’d enjoy.” Bucky mused. 

He spoke so softly I wasn’t sure I was meant to hear it. I sat hesitantly wanting to speak, there were a hundred topics on the tip of my tongue, where had he been all day, did he leave because he couldn’t face me, was he okay? I wanted to apologize for my actions the night before, but then I wondered did they really require an apology, me vocalizing something that I wanted. 

I was beginning to feel like our relations the last few days was like a figure skating routine, long smooth glides, the steady build of our friendship, the first twist with the cookies, the curving glides with the tree and stitches episode and that first jump on the sleigh ride. Routines end, sometimes they end poorly with the skater crashing to the ground, other times they end with a beautiful bow.

“Can I turn this off so we can talk for a few minutes?” Bucky asked. 

This didn’t sound good.

“Sure, you’ll want to turn on the lamp behind you.”

He reached behind him flipping on the light and quickly powered the tv off. Turning ever so slightly, my legs still across his lap but his body facing me almost head-on now. The serious expression on his face was impossible to read.

“I owe you an apology,” He started.

“No, you don’t.” I interrupted. “I owe you one.”

Bucky sighed, “Please, let me.”

I nodded, agreeing to shut up so he could speak.

“I let my fear of falling stop me last night. There were so many different, better ways that I could have handled that last night. Neither of us wanted to be alone, I knew that’s what it was. We don’t have to sleep together to sleep together.” I smiled at the way he emphasized the first sleep. “I should have been more open and talked about it. I need to be honest with you, completely honest.”

“You haven’t shared a bed with anyone in eighty years?” I joked.

“Har, har.” He pretended to laugh.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”

He reached out to grab my hand. “This terrifies me.” He confessed. “I don’t know how to do this; I barely knew how to do it in the ’40s. Last night after I went to bed and I heard your door close I got back up. I stood outside your room for a while, long enough to hear the crying. It killed me, I promised you back on the sleigh that I’d never break your heart and that’s exactly what I did last night.”

“Buck,” I sighed. “You did not break my heart. I was upset, but I was also drunk and overly emotional. I should have been clearer; I was asking you to stay the night with me not jump my bones.”

Bucky laughed, “What?”

I blushed, “You don’t know what jumping someone’s bones means?”

“Can’t say that I do, doll.”

“Well, it means to have sex.” 

“Oh,” He laughed.

“Let me be perfectly honest. You never have to apologize for having morals and not wanting to cross a line at a certain point. I know that there are some things I am more comfortable with than you might be. We grew up in different time periods. There’s nothing wrong with that.” I scooted down the couch to be closer to him, “I don’t want you to be afraid to say no to something because you’re afraid you’ll upset me.”

He nodded,

“You know the thing that upset me the most wasn’t even what happened last night. It sounds stupid, but I missed you at breakfast and everywhere I went in the compound today, you weren’t there. I didn’t know where you were.”

He smiled at me weakly, “You could have called or text. I was just in the city.”  

I looked down at where our fingers were intertwined, “I thought you were avoiding me.” 

“I was trying to give you space because I thought you were upset with me.”

“We really suck at thinking we know how each other is feeling.” I chuckled.

Bucky lifted my chin with his metal finger, “I’m not the best at saying how I feel sometimes.”  

He leaned forward pressing his lips to my forehead. When he pulled back, I looked up at his stormy blue eyes pulling me in like gravity. In one fluid motion, I closed the distance between us again pressing my lips to his. It was a sweet and gentle kiss, unspoken words of forgiveness and love shared. When we finally broke the kiss, I leaned my head in the crook of his neck trying to catch my breath. 

“I think that’s better than my stumbling over words.” Bucky laughed quietly.

“I don’t know, I like your words,” I replied pulling back to look at him again.

“You’re biased,” He kissed me chastely.

“I could get used to that.” I smiled.

He kissed my lips again, then forehead, the tip of my nose, before coming back and finding my lips once again. 

If this was our figure skating routine for the day, I’ll take it as a smooth gliding victory. 

[beautifulletdownfics]

‘someday, someday’ :: tumblr edition, #29

Harry’s fingers were linked easily through mine as we wandered back to his house from Hampstead Heath.

His other hand danced up in front of us, numbering off each of childhood birthday parties and what qualified them all for the title of ‘the best ever’. The morning light was still brand new, and I watched my breath fan out in front of me, my heart was floating somewhere high up above us because even at 6am Harry had me feeling my best. I mumbled out small agreements or noises of encouragement where it felt necessary but overall was letting Harry run away with his memories while I considered other things.

“My twenty-first was pretty epic too,” Harry prattled happily. It was chilly and we’d both employed our warm jackets and scarfs for the sunrise viewing, “I’ve deliberately kept jello shots off the drinks list for tonight though because—what are you doing?”

I looked up at him and stuck out my tongue.

“You’ll soak your socks,” Harry scolded me as we stood to wait for a few cars to pass so we could cross the road. I had been splashing the toe of my boot into the small gathering of water that rimmed the gutter, “Nina,” He tugged me back when I didn’t stop, “Stop it. Stop, you’ll ruin your shoes.”

“It’s called fun,” I grinned at him, “You should try it sometime.”

The look he shot back was half disapproving, half suspicious, “Do you know how much these shoes cost me?”

I looked to his feet and pondered the monetary value of the shining, leather boots he was wearing, “Dunno, but I paid eighteen pounds for mine at Primark, so I’m good to go.”

“Well these boots are not from Primark,” He stated through a frown that I loved. His concern for the shoes was so endearing but more than that I was finding teasing Harry to be one of my new favourite things. He was so easy to wind up.

I hitched my hands on my hips and gave him a playful, scolding look, “Harry, get that Gucci stick out of your arse and play in the puddle with me.”

“Gucci stick!” He repeated loudly, “I do not have a stick up my arse!”

“Nina, do you know how much these boots cost me,” I mocked his low, slow voice, “I only step in Evian pure spring water puddles in my Guccis.”

“You do a terrible impression of me.”

"Shut up, you love it.”

When we were safe to cross at the last minute, Harry wound a hand around my waist and heaved to one side to lift me over the puddle he knew I was going to slosh right through. I let out a yelp and kicked my legs in the air. When Harry settled me down in the middle of the street and kept walking, I gave the end of his scarf a hard yank which had him spluttering and pulling the top of it down.

“One more rude gesture and I’m going to march you right back to the home, young lady, and there’ll be no party for you tonight,” He used his best parental tone just as the heavens opened and a light shower began, “Don’t think I won’t.”

“Don’t know why you’re so bothered about the shoes, didn’t you tell me you don’t pay for them anyway?” “That’s not the point!” He squawked, “You’re impossible.”

I muffled my laugh in his shoulder when I linked my arm through his elbow and pressed our sides together, not a soul in sight this early in the morning. It was nice having Harry unworried about being spotted and not holding back on the affection.

My chest thrummed at Harry’s casual use of the word ‘home’. Not because I thought he meant anything by it, but because my immediate thought was that somehow I was the woman he was saying it to. Somehow Harry and I had grown into an ‘us’, and it felt wonderful. Neither of us was in a hurry to get out of the light rain, we both pulled up our hoods and kept walking.

I considered what our relationship had been like only a few months before at my birthday in November. I was so nervous about having Harry enter the world of my closest family and friends, and even more worried about having him see me perform. But here we were, just three months later, and it felt like no time had passed at all while at the same time feeling that years had gone by. He’d invited my family to his birthday tonight, and most of them were coming, I told him over and over it wasn’t necessary, but Harry wasn’t inviting them just to be polite.

“Hey, Harry,” I pulled his shoulder towards me and waited for him to stop and look at me. His eyes were squinted slightly from walking into the cold wind, and his hair was all over the place, but I thought he looked perfect.

“What?” He breathed out slowly, sinking his neck further into his chest to shield his ears from the chill. “You alright?”

I knew there was supposed to be fear behind what I was about to say, yet despite it all, I was unafraid. It had been swirling around my head for the last few days, and my idea of a grand gesture was a simple romantic moment. This felt like it.

“I love you,” I told him, automatically stepping closer while watching his face for his reaction. I took a deep breath and repeated it, “I love you.”

His eyes rounded out, and the corners of his mouth tilted up with a perplexed smile that only waited a few seconds before taking over his whole face. He let out a long breath and briefly looked up over my head, but his eyes flicked back to mine, “I love you too, Nina. A lot.”

I waited for something, although I wasn’t sure what it was until Harry’s eyes went to my lips. Then I extended onto my tippy toes and pressed my mouth slowly on his, leaving a warm and lingering kiss there.

We broke apart, and he was quick to wrap his arms around my back and crush me into his body.

“Middle of the street in the rain,” Harry mumbled, kissing the hollow below my ear and then pulling away from me to hold my face.

“You were looking all wet and lovely,” I shrugged shyly, leaning back on my heels and rocking with is hands securely holding me up. I threaded my fingers through the front of Harry's hair and pushed it back over his head like he usually wore it, “It was a happy moment.”

“I was gonna make a heartfelt speech later on,” Harry said lowly, “You beat me to it. And you were much more succinct and effective.”

“You can still make a speech, I’ll act surprised.”

His lips pressed to my forehead, “If you were surprised that would’ve been a bad thing. You don’t want to tell someone you love them and have them reply, ‘Really?’ You want them to say, ‘I know.’”

“That’s lovely.”

Harry cradled my face in his hands and kissed me again, “God, I can’t believe this. You’re so much braver than me, I was definitely going to chicken out telling you today … Would make my birthday party a real bummer if telling you I loved you went down poorly.”

“Why would it go down poorly?”

He gave me an incredulous look, “You could not feel the same way!”

“What would make you think I wouldn’t?”

“Because you’re not a flippant kind of person, and we’re still very new, and because things started well with your ex but turned to shit so I’d completely understand if you assumed the same could happen with me, and because love is hard at the best of times, but my circumstances make it a pretty significant fucking risk for you—

—Are you trying to talk me out of it?”

“No!”

“Good, I love you,” I told him again, grinning.

“I know,” He emphasised with a wide-eyed and unmistakable look, “And I love you too. Love, love, love,” He stepped even closer and mumbled the words in my ear, “So much love, Nina. I’m beyond anything I’ve felt before when I’m with you. It’s so much more than anything ever.”

I crinkled my nose at him when his face was back in view, “Didn’t you marry anyone in Primary School? I’m not sure I’m completely over my grade three husband just yet.”

His face contorted into a faux jealous look, “Who is he? I’ll kill him.”

I thought for a moment, “I can’t remember, actually.”

“Oh, well. He won’t be a problem then ... I was serious, though, you know?” Harry began, observing me while he contemplated his next words, “About you, about feeling more that I’ve ever felt with anyone before. I wasn’t just saying it, you mean the world to me ... And ... I can be anything with you, Nina. We can be idiots together, or I can lay all my greatest worries on you. It’s perfect, I wouldn’t change a thing about us.”

My eyes lingered on his chest for a second while I considered my own words, “I was terrified to have you see me at my worst,” I began, watching as Harry’s face turned kind and sympathetic. I knew he was remembering the days he spent up in my room with me hardly responding to him, “But I’m proud to have you know me at my best too.”

“A woman of few words,” Harry proclaimed, “I like it.”

“Love her?” I questioned cheekily.

“Love her,” He confirmed, “I’m hungry,” Harry announced after a quick beat, “And it’s definitely about to start pissing down rain.”

“Let’s go,” I waved an arm out in front of us, “Chaos awaits us!”

Harry boomed out a laugh at that and draped an arm around my shoulders as we started walking again, “Today is going to be fun,” He said, “I can’t wait to be happy drunk and hitting on you tonight.”

+++

“Please be careful with that.”

“I am,” Harry grumbled from across the kitchen.

We were making pancakes for breakfast for the girls who were starting to stir upstairs. Harry and I returned from our sunrise walk and spent a little too long in the shower together mumbling I love you’s under the warm spray, Harry giving me two delicious orgasms for being the first to say it.

Now, he was adamant; he starts the day with Nutella pancakes. Although at the moment, the metal seal on the new jar was standing between Harry and his dream.

He was in front of me with one strong arm pulled up above his head holding a butter knife he was about to stab the living daylights out of the innocent condiment with. I looked away at the last moment, knowing a mess was about to be made when he jammed the knife down without much thought.

“Aw, shit,” Harry groaned after a small bang and a tearing sound, I looked back at where he was holding up the Nutella jar with the knife firmly embedded in the chocolate spread. Harry’s knuckles were covered in hazelnut goo, and the seal was completely pushed in and stuck to the surface of the spread. “Why did I think that was a good idea?”

I stared at my mess of a boyfriend for a silent moment before breaking out into giggles. He stood there pathetically staring between his hands and the jar and then looked up at me unashamedly laughing at him.

“Nina,” He whined, drawing out my name, so it was three times as long. Harry waved his messy hands out in front of him, the jar still stuck over one. “Help me!”

“Hold still,” I breathed through my laughter, pulling out my phone, “And try to keep that pathetic look on your face.”

His pout increased as I took the photo and started laughing again. “Okay, okay,” he said, snatching the

phone off me, “That’s quite enough out of you.”

“Don’t delete it! It’s such a great angle for you, Harry!” I teased him more.

He was so much taller than me that there was no way for me to see the screen to look at what he was doing, even bracing myself on one of his shoulders and jumping up next to him didn’t help, “Give it back! You’re getting Nutella all over my phone. Harry,” I grabbed his elbow and managed to pull his whole arm down.

He relented to my attempts, giving it back to me, “Here you go,” his voice sickly sweet.

“What did you do?” I groaned.

“Hey Nina,” he called cheekily, I looked at him. “I’m Nutellin’,” he beamed with raised eyebrows.

I covered my mouth with my hand at his impressive play on words, “Nice.”

“Paper towel’s over there for your phone,” he pointing into the pantry, turning back and flashing me a killer smile as he cleaned the Nutella off his hands in the sink behind us. I was cleaning off the back of my iPhone when Isobel’s voice filled the kitchen, Sam and Georgie following in close behind her.

“Feed us!”

“Of course,” Harry replied, and I heard the sound of a plate being put down on his marble benchtop. He started rambling off the breakfast plan; help yourself pancakes, how the coffee machine worked, where the juice was.

“What the fuck happened to the Nutella?” Georgie was holding up the jar neither of us had gotten around to wiping down yet. It was a mess. Harry started laughing.

“Harry’s swag did,” I told them, stepping up to the counter and depositing my clean phone.

She raised her eyebrows in understanding, “That’d be why it’s such a mess then.”

“Hey.”

“I fucking love pancakes!” Sam said, “You make them, Nina?”

“She did,” Harry nodded, “But I opened the Nutella.”

He held it up with a cheesy grin on his face and looked around at everyone in the kitchen proudly.

“I don’t get it,” Isabel deadpanned, attempting to navigate Harry’s coffee machine, “It’s just a jar ... Right?”

“Ah, check Nina’s Instagram stories,” Harry waved, looking defeated.

“What did you do!” I grabbed my phone back and went to my Instagram. He posted one of the photos of him that I took, his hand in the Nutella jar and his face confused and pouty.

“Oh, it’s cute,” Isobel said, getting onto her account before me.

“Harry! People can see this!”

He sided up to me and put his arm across my shoulders, “It’s just to your close friends and family group. Delete it if you like.”

I looked up at him for a few beats, watching him completely unworried by a picture of him being shared, we hadn’t discussed that yet at all, “Okay,” I smiled at him softly and locked my phone in my hand. “But I think you should consider posting it on your feed, imagine getting a Nutella sponsorship?”

“She’s onto something,” Harry said to the room, kissing my cheek sweetly.

“Where did you two run away to this morning?” Sam asked, settling herself up at Harry’s counter with her plate of breakfast, “We heard you get back in.”

“We go up to the Heath to watch the sunrise,” Harry told her quickly, “It’s the perfect start to the day.” “Thanks for the invite!” Isobel interjected bluntly, but she had a smile on her face.

“Urgh,” Sam cried dramatically, taking the spot next to Sam, “That’s your couple thing? You’re so wholesome, it makes me sick.”

“Shut up, both of you,” I told them, blushing under their teasing.

“Is that a move you’ve used before?” Sam’s question was directed at Harry, who paused at the coffee machine, spinning around and looking a little caught out.

“You can’t ask him that!” I tried distracting them, really not wanting them to get stuck into Harry on the day of his birthday party, “Leave him alone.”

Sam gave me an unapologetic look, “To be honest after your last boyfriend, there isn’t much I wouldn’t ask him straight up.”

“Okay!” I cried out at the same time, Harry chuckled to himself.

“It’s just been Nina,” He said evenly, “I haven’t had someone who was still here in the morning for a long time. Especially not in London.”

“Alright,” Sam accepted the response, “Because I don’t want you thinking you get a free pass because the whole world loves Harry Styles.”

“Wouldn’t dream of assuming so,” Harry told her seriously.

“Guys,” I said, “It’s not even 9am. Can we not be weird?”

“Loving you isn’t being weird,” Sam turned my way.

“Attacking Harry in his—

—It’s okay, Neens,” He spoke over me softly, “Can I share the song with them?”

Harry already had his phone out and was watching for my reaction. I didn’t know how it usually worked if he was allowed to share music with whoever he wanted. I briefly wondered why Harry would think to share his new music with my girlfriends was a worthy risk to take. He only shared the one song with me, and I still wasn’t sure if he would share the others with me before the release.

“What song?” Isobel asked.

“I’m releasing an EP in a few weeks,” Harry explained calmly, “Nina helped write one of them.”

“No way! That’s so cool,” Isobel replied, “Play it!”

Harry connected his phone to the speaker system in his kitchen while I moved around to sit next to Georgie at the kitchen counter. I took a long sip of my coffee as Harry pressed play and rested his elbows on the bench across from me. He gave me a big smile and a wink before mouthing ‘I love you.’

+++

My hands were shaking as the black taxi pulled up outside Harry’s gates right on half four.

I looked up, and down the street, as Rodger stepped out, Harry mentioned a while ago that he’d won a court order many years ago that meant paparazzi couldn’t camp outside his house. Still, he’d told me, every now and again one would get brave and encroach. I didn’t see anyone and was pulled into a warm hug from Rodger that made me forget the worry I harboured. I needed to steady my breathing now for an evening that hinged on my keeping it together now.

“Almost didn’t recognise you,” He jabbed my side as we walked back up to Harry’s house, Rodger had given me three bags to carry, “You gonna give us any notice before you up and move in with Harry?”

“Shut up,” I rolled my eyes at him, “You’re not getting rid of me anytime soon.”

Rodger was on music for the night so had brought along a better sound system than what Harry presently had. In the house, I let Harry take over, showing him where to set up, and I took myself back upstairs to see if there was a shower free.

“Do you both have everything you need?” I walked into the main bathroom where Sam and Isobel were both doing their make up. I was conscious of the fact Gemma and Anne and a few other of Harry’s relatives would arrive in close to an hour, and I wasn’t dressed for the party yet.

“You still haven’t showered!” Sam exclaimed.

“I’m going now,” I said, “I went to help Rodger bring things in. Harry’s got drinks ready for you downstairs when you’re ready.”

“Go get yourself ready,” Isobel pushed me out of the bathroom, “Get on that sexy dress!”

In Harry’s ensuite, I was quick to get in and out of the shower. I put on the metallic two-piece skirt and top combo I was wearing for the night. The hem fell mid-thigh and was high waisted enough to mean the cropped top only relieved my midriff if I reached above my heads. I spent all afternoon trying not to talk myself out of how much leg it showed off. Harry said he liked it, and until a few hours ago I thought it was perfect too.

“You nervous?” I spun around to see Georgie standing in the doorway to the ensuite, she was holding a curling wand and two glasses of champagne, “Was I speaking out loud?” I breathed out an uneasy laugh, relieved but also alarmed by how easily my friend had been able to read me.

“It’s all over your face, babes,” She said gently, walking further in, “You do your face, I’ll do hair.”

“This is weird right,” I pulled back from the mirror after a few moments of silence where we both focused on what we were doing, looking at her in the reflection, “It’s weird.” “What exactly,” Georgie kept her eyes on my hair, holding the curl up to stop it from falling too quickly.

“A year ago, I was … I mean.” “You’ve come a long way in a year,” Her voice was quiet, “If you’re worried if this is like you and Gavin, you shouldn’t be.”

“I don’t know what I’m worried about,” I admitted.

“Gavin didn’t treat you half as well as Harry,” Georgie put the curler down and spritzed hair spray over my head, “He always had an air of disinterest which was a way of downplaying you being more talented. And we all knew he hated us. He’d roll his eyes at everything Sam said. I don't think Harry is just nice to us because we’re your friends.”

“I told him I loved him this morning.”

“Do you?” She asked.

“Yes!” I cried out, “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it!” “Okay, okay,” Georgie held up her hands to me, “I couldn’t tell from your expression … You love him?”

“Yeah, I do.” “Did he say it back?” “He did.”

Her smile was slow, but it took over her whole face, “This is amazing. You’re in love, and Sam owes me a Nandos. She was sure you’d have a crisis to one of us before you told him.”

I scoffed, “The three of you took bets on my new relationship?”

“Of course,” Georgie confessed readily.

Before I could conjure a reply, I heard Harry calling out for me.

“Upstairs!” I called back.

“Where?” His voice sounded like he was at the top of the stairs, but a moment later, he appeared at behind us, “Hey.”

He paused, his eyes staring blankly at me and focussing on my bare legs for a moment before his eyes flicked up to mine. Then they traced back the length of my body, so slowly I wanted to cover myself with my arms, but when Harry looked back up at me his cheeks had reddened, and his shoulders slackened ever so slightly, “Nina ...”

“How do I look?” I flailed out my arms a bit, hitching my hip to one side and then standing up straight again, feeling awkward and almost regretting deliberately putting the attention on myself.

“You look absolutely gorgeous,” He said without any hesitation at all.  

“Thanks,” I said slowly, trying to find something to look at in the room other than avoiding Harry’s eyes.

Georgie was grinning from ear to ear looking between us both as she excused herself from the room, telling Harry if he messed up my hair she’d kill him.

I heard him let out a long breath then claim a full gust of air again, he took one long stride and wrapped his arms loosely around my hips, “You are fucking delectable.”

My hands found their place on the back of his upper arms, “We both look good,” I told him, tugging his shirt closed and sneaking another button and buttonhole together, my fingers brushed against the warm flesh above his butterfly tattoo. “I like this suit.”

When I looked back up, Harry’s eyes were alight, and looking straight at my face, “You took my compliment!”

I felt myself blushing, “Be quiet.”

“It’s a birthday miracle!” He smiled.

His hands found either side of my face then, and Harry took a few seconds to look over me before his eyes closed and he leaned in to kiss me. It didn’t take long for our bodies to be flush against each other and Harry’s hands to slowly start to descend down my back, settling low. His fingers crept up under the cropped top and drew patterns on the middle of my back. He dragged the tips of them more roughly around to my hips when I let him deepen the kiss.

Eventually, Harry hooked his arms together tightly around my back and slowed the kiss, leaning back to lift me off my feet slightly, “Favourite person ever, I love you.”

“I love you too,” I returned, “Let’s go party.”

My feet found the ground before, and Harry pressed his lips sweetly to my temple, “Thank you.”

++

“Have any of you seen Harry?” I asked Max and Josh a few hours later, “I’ve got his phone.”

Neither of them had, nor had any of the other three groups I interrupted as I walked back through Harry’s house. The house was filling up, and people all seemed to be entertaining themselves for the most part. I was enjoying having the girls there as my buffer, and Josh came with Max and Rodger. Harry’s family were scattered throughout, Anne and Gemma knew far more faces in the room than I did. Truthfully, I hid with my people most of the night, but I hadn’t seen Harry for at least an hour, and I felt obligated to check in on him.

Eventually, I made it to the front door and found him standing with his back to me, a group of newly arrived friends in front of him.

"Nina! The woman of the hour! The reason we're all here tonight!"

"Nick," Harry groaned through a wide grin when I approached the group and was immediately tackled in a hug from his friend. Nick held me under his arm and turned back to Harry, “Oh, what are you moaning about?

Harry held out a hand to me and made grabby hands, "Give Nina back."

Nick puffed out his chest, "What if I want this beauty on my arm all night?"

"You're an idiot," Harry rolled his eyes at Nick's bright eyes.

Nick sweetly kissed my hairline and gently pushed me Harry’s way, but not before first leaning over and punching Harry’s arm, “Fine, let’s do this, birthday boy.”

“Man, birthday man,” Harry, correctly quickly as he comfortably slipped his hand into mine. He looked happily buzzed, each time I’d seen him throughout the night, Harry had a drink in his hand.

“How are you doing?” I hummed, looking up to gauge Harry’s reaction. He was looking around with a happy grin on his face, the slightest sway to his stance.

“I’m good,” He told me with a dopey grin, “Really good. What about you? How’s my girl?”

I smiled, “I’m fine. Here,” I handed Harry his phone, “Gem’s been texting you to make her a drink for half an hour.”

Harry rolled his eyes and took a few dramatic steps forward, “Let’s take her one, c’mon.”

He led me back through the house to the dining room that was now set up with all the drinks. I noticed a tray of Jello Shots on the edge of the table and pointed them out to Harry.

“I thought those weren’t meant to be here!”

I received one playful, smirking glare but then Harry proceeded to swipe three off the tray with one hand while taking a bottle of Gin and a stack of cups under his arm, “Someone else brought them. This way.”

When we found his sister, she was mid-story with a whole group of old friends. She cheered at the Jelly Shot Harry handed her, and I watched as Harry’s face lit up in genuine happiness as I clinked the small plastic cup he gave to me against hers before downing my own. He pulled me into his lap and watched as I struggled to get the gooey shot into my mouth.

“I hate you for this already,” I told him, not really meaning it. Harry’s palms were resting on my bare thighs, and he squeezed them gently, “Careful with those hands, Mister.”

We ended up not staying with that group very long. I thought Harry might leave me there in favour of doing another round of the party, but instead, he stood and said he wanted to introduce me to some people, “We’ll see you guys a little later,” he kissed Gemma’s head in goodbye.

Just like Harry and I were weaving through his living room, just before we stopped anywhere he turned back to me, letting me walk right into his side, “You’ve been hiding all night,” He said, “I’ve been telling people you’re here somewhere and I think most of them have decided I’m making you up.”

“I haven’t been hiding, I just wanted to let you have a good time.”

“I have been,” He kissed my cheek, “But with you being a musical genius and all it’s a more believable story for people if you’re in front of them.” “I swear to god if you use the genius word with any of these people I will strangle you.”

Harry’s laughter filled there room around us, and he was still chuckling to himself as he interrupted a group of people talking, waiting for a beat before introducing me proudly.

I smiled and tried to look like I was remembering names, but really I was remembering faces; all the faces of happiness and joy and delight that came across Harry’s. All the time we were there, hopping from group to group, Harry being tugged into hugs and brightly kissed on his cheeks. But always, Harry was drawing them to me, tightening his grip on my fingers each time he’d say, ‘This is Nina.’

It felt settled, and it felt like something to boast over, something for Harry to boast over; that I was there with him. That I was his girlfriend, and when we were talking to people from Manchester, that I grew up in Blackpool. Or that I played numerous instruments when they were musicians.

I think I blushed more than I ever had before, and met more people than I would ever remember. I nodded along in agreement to comments about what a great guy Harry was, for a whole myriad of reasons. And by midnight I was exhausted but could feel the same huge smile on my face that I saw on Harry’s.

+++

It took a good few hours after midnight before things started to quieten down, people had gone home after slowly leaving all the nooks and crannies of Harry’s house they had settled into. In the final few hours, there were ten or so people in the lounge room, a group in the kitchen picking at the remnants of food, a collection of people—led by Georgie, Sam and Isobel—playing Monopoly on the dining room table. Then there were the rest of us outside under the lanterns and warmed by the outdoor heater.

There was music playing from Gemma’s phone, and when Harry walked the final of his guests out the front to a waiting cab, it was just Anne, Gemma and I that he returned to in the kitchen. I could hear Sam and Georgie giggling upstairs as they got ready for bed, they were getting the train back up North in the morning.

“Does this make up for your disastrous seventh birthday party, Harry?" Anne asked.

Harry's arms latched around me as he slipping in behind me, his forearms pressing just above my belly button, "Yes, but I did this one, I'm not sure you can claim it as you 'making up' for it."

I turned around in his arms to look up at him. “What was so terrible about your seventh birthday?”

“Oh,” Gemma groaned, whacking Harry’s shoulder as she strode towards the stairs mumbling about going to order an Uber, “Here we go, someone get him a box of tissues.”

“Your sarcasm screams guilt, Gem!” Harry yelled after her, I jabbed his tummy, “Gemma and her friends ruined my seventh birthday pirate party,” He told me through a playful scowl.

“Gemma was a brat that day I’m afraid,” Anne agreed with her son.

“Yeah,” Harry breathed out, triumphantly, “Tonight has been significantly better.”

“We’re glad you had a good time, Harry,” Anne smiled, leaning across the kitchen bench to reach for a few bowls.

“Don’t worry about that, Mum,” Harry was quick to halt her in her tracks, “We’ll pack up in the morning.”

Anne kept with her cleaning, piling up the bowls and shuffling things around. Harry’s arms dropped from around me, and I felt the coolness of his body leaving mine, a moment later, he was tugging his mother away by her arms and wrapping his arms around her instead.

“You don’t need to do that,” He kissed her cheek and pulled her completely away from the sink. Anne laughed, and Harry refused to let her go, “Go let Gem take you home to bed, you’re old. When was the last time you were up this late? You’ll be feeling this all week.”

“Oh, you’re a cheeky boy,” She scolded her son through a broad smile when he released her, Gemma met her at the doorway, and after they both wished us goodnight, they followed Gemma out the front door.

Harry watched them for a moment and then his attention turned to me. He smiled softly, and I found myself return one without really knowing what the unspoken words between us at that moment were. But Harry looked lovely and flushed, happy and warm, with glistening eyes and a broad smile. He’d unbuttoned his shirt almost all the way. This was Home Harry.

My Harry.

“You’re blushing,” He noted, stepping towards me and plucking my glass of water out of my hand. I followed the movement of his hand as he placed it on the bench behind us and then wrapped his arm loosely around my back, “You look lovely right now.”

“So do you,” I said, “You’ve been lovely all night.”

He smiled wider and then shook his head, “Don’t make me blush.”

“Look who can’t take a compliment now.”

He laughed, pulling me closer and dipping his head to rest on the crown of my head, “This has been a great birthday.”

“Good,” I hummed, latching onto the material of his shirt which had gathered just above his trousers.

Harry quietened then, holding me firmly and just letting our bodies sway naturally together. The house was quiet, the only audible thing was the taps being used upstairs when else was now still. I shut my eyes and felt almost as if I could fall asleep right there, standing against Harry’s strong body.

“Remember that night we went to the Regina Spektor show ...” He drawled out slowly, lending back and tucking my hair behind my ears carefully.

“I do,” I responded, opening my eyes and watching him curiously. It was a pretty awful night in a lot of ways, for the first time I’d been unable to control my anxiety and Harry had sat with me through a panic attack.

“Do you remember what you said to me when I asked what your biggest goal in life was?”

“To be happy, "I replied simply.

“To be happy,” Harry repeated, “It completely floored me, you know?”

“Why?” “It was just so simple yet heartfelt … I don’t know what answer I was expecting or looking for, but it told me more about you than I think I realised at the time. You didn't sprout off some career goal or a bucket list item … You just wanted to be happy.”

“Yeah.”

Harry blitzed me with a kiss to my nose, “Think I fell a little in love with you that night.”

“I just remember being upset that you sat on the ground in that alley in your nice clothes.”

“I didn’t care about my clothes.”

“I was sure you’d think I was a freak after that night,” I sighed, “I hadn’t admitted to myself the crush I had on you yet.”

“It feels so long ago,” Harry said quietly.

My chest was pressed back up against his, and Harry lazily draped his arms over my shoulders. This embrace felt casual but somehow intimate. Harry was full of that, full of moments that were simple but meaningful. It was exactly what I needed, and sometimes I wasn’t sure if it was the two us matching, or if it was Harry’s remarkable ability to consider what people needed, but he always seemed to have the perfect next moment planned for us.

“I’m happy with you,” I murmured eventually.

There was hardly a beat before his response, “Same.”

++

That’s all folks, Happy Hina Ending xx Support group starts here

[milesfromjapan]

Finally

a/n: just some good ol’ smut smut for your monday evening.

The music was loud and there were people packing practically every corner of the party. Despite only being an hour into the party, everyone was stumbling around like they’d been here for hours. Award show after parties were always like this though and you weren’t even phased.

Your drink was almost empty and you had been ready for your second two sips into your first. Presenting awards always made your nerves spike for hours after because you were too keenly aware of just how mean the public could be. You were making a beeline for the bar when you bumped into a suit-covered shoulder. Your drink sloshed in your glass, but thankfully didn’t spill all over whomever you bumped into.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” you squeaked as you steadied yourself using his arm.

“Don’t worry about it,” he laughed as he put his hand on your waist to help steady you more. “Oh, hey there.”

You smiled when you realized who you’d bumped into. Shawn. You breathed a sigh of relief because you knew he really didn’t mind. His smile was wide across his face, making his soft eyes crinkle at the corner.

“Hey there yourself,” you laughed. His hand was still on your waist, his fingers spanning wide across your dress. “Congrats again by the way.”

“Oh thanks,” he ducked his head a little, a faint blush crossing over his cheeks.

“Want to go walk with me to the bar?”

His head snapped up, eyes meeting yours. His chocolate curls bounced with his fast movements. You’d spoken for a little earlier in the night when you’d presented the award he won. He was just as kind and gorgeous as the first time you met him years ago. He was definitely getting more gorgeous every year, something you and all of your mutual friends that had been trying to push you together were definitely all too aware of.

“Yeah, totally,” Shawn said.

You smiled up at him while taking his hand off your waist and holding it gently in yours so you didn’t lose him in the crowd as you threaded your way through the crowd toward the bar. Somewhere between one of your friends that stopped you to ask who made your dress and the five people that stopped Shawn to congratulate him, his fingers had slid in between yours, pulling your palms together.

You finally made it to the bar, dropping Shawn’s hand to rest yours on the edge of the bar. He moved slightly to your left behind you, his right hand reaching out to rest on the small of your back, which was exposed due to the backless dress you’d chosen to wear. Your heart rate sped up in your chest and you were so distracted you almost missed the bartender asking you what you wanted. A refill was the only thing you could think to say as Shawn’s lips lowered to your ear.

“You look stunning tonight,” he whispered.

His lips grazing your ear was making you pull closer into him, drowning out the rest of the world. You had been in a series of almosts with Shawn for the better part of a year. Almost kissing at a friend’s party. Almost hooking up at a New Year’s Eve party. Almost taking him home with you after dinner with friends. Almost. 

You wondered if tonight would be another almost or something better.

“Thanks,” you swallowed hard before continuing, “you look pretty good yourself.”

“Mm, thanks,” he chuckled a little, his hot breath dancing across your skin, which sent another shudder down your spine.

The bartender had to call your name to pull you out of your moment to give you your drink. You took a large gulp, the alcohol burning down your throat trying to bring you back to earth.

“Careful there,” Shawn laughed, “don’t want to get too drunk.”

You smiled against your glass. Shawn had just opened the door for you to take control of the moment. You spun in his grasp, his hand sliding to rest on your hip as you faced him to speak, “Got something planned that involves sobriety, Mendes?”

Your eyebrow raised at the end of your question, making Shawn gulp hard in a search for air and a comeback. His mouth opened, ready to say something, but he couldn’t come up with anything so it closed again. You smirked as you realized you’d back him into a corner, a corner he looked oh so good in.

“Nothing?” you asked. “Come on, Shawn. You can do better than that.”

A smirk started to form at the corner of his lips before he said, “Maybe I can do you better later.”

Your jaw went slack at his words. Neither of you had ever been that forward before, which is probably why things had almost happened rather than actually happened. You quickly pulled yourself together, covering up your shock with a sip of your drink.

“Was that a yes or no?” Shawn pushed, his hand squeezing your hip and pulling you closer.

“Well,” you sighed before downing the rest of you drink in one swift gulp, “why not right now?”

“Fuck,” Shawn breathed out. “Yeah, now is good. Let’s get out of here.”

Shawn pulled his phone from his pocket as you took a large gulp of your drink.

“Car,” he mumbled when you gave him a curious look as he brought his phone to his ear. “Hey, can you come to the back door now?” Shawn paused to listen. “Yeah, no, now. I know it’s early, but please?” Another short pause later and Shawn was smiling. “Thanks, man. You’re the best. Five minutes? Perfect. Thanks again.”

The next few minutes were a complete blur of gulping down your drink, trying to slide out of the party without too many people noticing, Shawn’s hand holding yours like his life depended on it, and avoiding paparazzi outside. By the time the car door closed behind you, you both breathed a sigh of relief, making each other laugh at your similar behaviors.

“So, where to?” the driver asked. Your presence had not even garnered the slightest reaction from him, for which you were grateful.

“My hotel?” Shawn replied, his eyes shifting toward you to see if you approved.

You shook your head and rattled off your address to the driver. He repeated it back to you and you nodded before he sped off away from the venue. Shawn reached out and placed one of his hands on your thigh, sliding it ever so slowly up as his lips dropped to your ear.

“Taking me home, are you?” Shawn chuckled.

You blushed a little at his words and his hand moving up your thigh, just now crossing under the edge of your dress. Your breath hitched a little in your throat when you realized he wasn’t stopping. He laughed lightly at the sound you made.

“That’s not the only sound you’re going to make tonight,” he added and you had to stifle the moan that was building.

His smiled was coated in satisfaction as he relaxed back into his seat, one arm tossed over the back of the seat next to him and his fingers tapping on your sensitive skin as they continued to move up your thigh. A comfortable silence fell over the car as the driver twisted and turned through the city toward your apartment.

Shawn’s fingers on your thigh were keeping you on edge, switching to making slow circles as he continued to climb ever so slowly higher. You glanced over at him to see him looking at the lights of the city passing by. Your eyes drifted up and down as your mind wandered. His chocolate curls that your hands would wind into and tug on later. His jawline that was practically begging for you to kiss. His soft pink lips that you wanted against yours, kissing you so hard they were swollen in the morning. The way his suit hung off his broad shoulders had you dying to take it off and find out what was underneath.

Without warning, his fingers reached over and swiped up your wet slit. He bit his lower lip hard and you could see a bulge form in his trousers as he desperately tried to keep his face neutral in case the driver was looking. He had just figured out you weren’t wearing underwear tonight and that you were already wet for him. Shawn’s long fingers had paused on your wetness as he tried to contain himself, but suddenly they started to move again, stroking slowly up and down your slit.

Shawn leaned over and whispered to you, “You’ve got to be quiet, baby. Otherwise, you’re gonna get us in some trouble.”

You bit down on your lip hard as one of his fingers found your clit and started to stroke it ever so slightly. You shifted in your seat and Shawn pulled back from your ear to give you a look, his eyes darkening as he felt you getting wetter with each movement he made. He still needed you to be quiet, so you tried to stifle all of the noises and movements your body wanted to make.

“We’re almost there,” the driver said.

“Thanks, man,” Shawn replied as he settled back into his seat, taking his hand with him.

You whimpered quietly at the loss of his hand and crossed your legs in an attempt to gain some friction in his absence. The minute it took for the driver to roll up to your building was agony. Your thank you to the driver was rushed as you slid out of the car hastily, Shawn hot on your heels behind you. You waved to the security guard at his desk as you headed toward the elevators, sighing with relief when an elevator immediately opened and you both slid in.

The second the doors closed, Shawn was on you, his mouth colliding with your forcefully as he pushed you against one of the sides of the elevator. Your hands reached for his hair, tangling themselves in it as his large hands grabbed your ass, squeezing it roughly, before sliding down to the back of your thighs and picking you up effortlessly. Your legs wrapped around his waist as his tongue circling yours pulled a loud moan from you. You broke the kiss to attach your mouth to his neck, gently biting and sucking on the thing skin.

“Oh, fuck, baby. Christ,” Shawn groaned.

The elevator dinged, signaling you’d arrived at your floor. You pulled back from Shawn and started to try to unwrap your legs from his waist, but his arm under your ass kept you on him.

“I got you,” he muttered as he carried you out of the elevator.

You pulled your keys out of your clutch as you arrived at your door. You looped one arm around his neck to support yourself as you reached to open your door. Shawn took it as an invitation to kiss your neck, making you almost drop your keys.

You finally managed to open the door. Shawn kicked it all the way open as his lips met yours again. He kicked it closed behind him and you locked it without looking, entirely focused on him. You threw your clutch on the counter as Shawn carried you into your room.

In one smooth movement, he set you down on the edge of your bed and dropped down to his knees in front of you. You looked down at him as smiled up at you. You bit your lip, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious because of just how incredible he looked with his hair a mess, his lips a little swollen, and little red marks from your teeth on his throat.

Shawn suddenly grabbed your ankles and threw your legs over his shoulders. You gasped when you realized what he was doing. He reached up and pulled the edge of your dress up. You lifted your hips up so he could pull it up around your hips.

“Fucking finally,” he growled as he pulled your hot center close to him.

His tongue swiped up your slit and you moaned instantly for him. His large hands gripped your hips to keep you steady as his face was buried in your thighs. Your hands tangling into curls as his tongue began to circle your clit with just the right amount of pressure.

“Oh fuck, yes, Shawn,” you groaned.

He pulled his mouth back from your center and you whimpered at the loss of contact. He smirked, his lips wet with you.

“You’ve got to keep steady for me,” he said gently. “Okay, baby?”

You nodded and he took one of his hands off your thighs to bring it to your slit. You whimpered again as he slid two fingers up and down you, coating them in your wetness, before sliding them into you. Shawn lowered his head back to your slit and you had to bite your lip to keep your volume low at the feeling of two of his long fingers slowly moving in and out of you as his tongue circled your clit.

“Make whatever sounds you want, baby. It’s so sexy. You’re so sexy,” he said against your wetness.

His tongue returned to doing what had just become your new favorite thing Shawn did, singing and guitar playing and all included. He was pulling noises from you that you’d never made for anyone else as his fingers moved in and out of you, curling up to graze the top of your walls each time.

Shawn’s eyes glanced up at you and brightened when he saw just how much you were enjoying him at that moment. He suddenly increased his speed as he gently took your clit in between his lips and sucking on it ever so gently. Your back arched at the brand new sensation that carried all the way to your toes.

“Oh fuck, Shawn, please don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop,” you chanted, practically begging with each word, as you felt your orgasm coming on.

He sped up just a little more and it brought you over the edge. You road out your orgasm with Shawn’s mouth on your clit and your walls clenching down on his fingers inside you.

When you finally came down, Shawn pulled away from you. He locked eyes with you as he slid his wet fingers into his mouth. You moaned as he sucked your wetness off his fingers.

“That,” he said as he got up to shrug off his suit jacket and lay it across the back of a chair, “was the hottest you’ve ever looked.”

You blushed a little as he looked at you with a lazy smile on his face and desire in his eyes. He kicked off his shoes and started to unbutton his shirt.

“You know you screamed my name,” Shawn told you as he worked through the buttons on his shirt.

“I did not,” you mumbled as you set your shoes aside and stood up, turning your back toward him. “Unzip me?”

“You totally did,” he unzipped your dress, “and there you go, baby.”

You tossed your dress to the side and turned to face him just as he shrugged off his shirt. He reached for his belt, but you pushed his hands away. He chuckled as you undid the buckle and pulled it off him in one clean motion. You reached out and tugged the button of his slacks open and slid the zipper down before pulling them down to his ankles along with his boxer briefs.

His hard length stood out from him and you bit your lip as you imagined what it was going to feel like to have him inside you in a few minutes. Shawn kicked his clothes to the side as you started to lower yourself, but Shawn caught you and pulled you up.

“No way. I want to fuck you,” he said.

You smiled and reached out to grab him by the back of the neck and pull him to you for a kiss. His hands touched your skin now with nothing in between. You pressed your body against him and he groaned against your mouth at the feeling of your curves against him.

He led you back to your bed, pushing you down against it without breaking the kiss until the last possible second.

“Condom?” he said breathlessly.

“Dresser, top drawer,” you replied. “You didn’t bring one?”

“I thought you were still fucking that guy until he wasn’t with you at the after party.”

The disgust was evident in his voice even though you’d never heard him talk about Chase like that before. He opened the top drawer and grabbed a condom from the box you kept there.

“Hello there jealousy,” you laughed.

“He sucks,” Shawn said with a shrug. “You deserve better.”

“I ended it,” you sighed as he ripped open a foil packet. “Couldn’t get some tall Canadian guy out of my head.”

A smile broke across Shawn’s face before he rolled the condom down his hard length.

“Well, let’s do something you can’t get out of your head,” he countered as he settled on the bed.

You laid back and Shawn kneeled between your legs. He reached for your right leg and pulled it up gently, seeing if it would go up to his shoulder.

“I’m flexible,” you replied.

“That you are,” Shawn laughed as he set your ankle on his shoulder and leaned in close to you, lining his length up with you. “Ready?”

His eyes met yours as he looked for your answer. You nodded and he slid into you easily. You groaned as his length filled you in the best way possible. He moaned at the feeling of your walls right around him.

“Fuck, baby, you feel so good,” he muttered as he started to rock his hips to slide in and out of you slowly.

“Faster,” you told him and he immediately obliged.

His free reached out and found your clit. You moaned as he started to rub it smooth circles. You reached a hand up and tangled it into his curls. He smirked down at you as your back arched up off the bed when he hit a particularly good spot inside you. His cheeks were turning pink and little beads of sweat formed on his forehead. You thought he looked even better like this.

You slide your hand down and touched his cheek gently, opposite of how rough everything else had been tonight. Your thumb gently rubbed over his swollen lips and he smiled against your fingers, his eyes going soft as he leaned into your hand. He turned and kissed your palm softly before he turned his attention back to your clit and pressed harder.

“Holy shit,” you cursed through closed teeth. “Shawn, fuck I’m close.”

“Me too,” he breathed out, his chest heaving with each thrust as sweat started to run down his face. His jaw clenched and his eyes squeezed closed as his body tensed. The look of him about to finish pushed you over the edge. Your walls clenched down around him as his spilled into the condom. He rode out his orgasm inside you. He slowly slid out of you after you finished and headed to the bathroom to clean up. He tossed you a towel on his way back for you to clean up.

“Well,” Shawn said as he plopped onto the bed next to you, “that finally happened.”

“Yeah, I guess it did,” you laughed. “Do you want to stay and maybe do it again in the morning?”

“Yeah, I think I just might.”

[lxveille]

lee chan would like to buy a vowel

dino x reader

word count: ~ 3330 warnings: profanity, mentions of sex a/n: part of the morning after shuffle; university au

This morning, Chan is certain of only three things.

Number one is that being put on door duty is the worst. He gets it; he’s obligated by virtue of being one of the newcomers in the fraternity to do it now and then. But it was particularly hellish on the night of ΣΛT’s infamous highlighter party. There were more people crowded on and around the front porch than parties of their usually attract, and Chan hardly knew what to say when upperclassmen in theme-mandated white shirts start namedropping older brothers. But the last thing he wanted to find out was what Seungcheol would say if the house went too far over capacity during his shift at the door. Telling tipsy party-goers they can’t actually get into the party yet? Not exactly the way Chan wanted to spend his Saturday night.

The second thing he knows is that you are, without a doubt, the prettiest girl he’s ever seen step foot onto the porch of the disaster area they call their house. Which is probably why he let you and your friends in as soon as you showed up instead of telling you you need to wait like he ought to. But he was also ninety percent sure one of the girls you came with has been hooking up with Jeonghan lately; so there was that excuse to fall back on. In all honesty, though, at that point he wasn’t thinking as much about avoiding getting yelled at so much as he was trying to wrangle one of the other brothers into taking over door duty for him.

The third certainty he has is that the clumsy line he used to invite you back to his room absolutely should not have worked. Once he got Seungkwan to cover the door for him, he made his way into the black-lit crowd to find you doing a shot with Jihoon while Soonyoung was giggling and doodling something on the back of your shirt in blue highlighter. From that sight alone, he assumed he didn’t really stand a chance. Of course, that thought didn’t stop him from approaching you all the same. It didn’t stop him from saying just about anything that came to mind and probably laughing too hard at the joke you made at Soonyoung’s expense.

And it definitely didn’t stop his heart from pounding too rapidly when you uncapped a green highlighter leaned in to write something on the front of his shirt. Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her; his mind had chanted when you looked up from your glowing handwriting to his eyes, but the thought of one of his brothers catching him in the act and teasing him about it tomorrow kept him from it. Instead, he blurted out a nonsensical line about how he had some highlighters in colors different from the standard blue, green, pink, or yellow up in his room. Even as he said it, he knew there was absolutely no way someone as attractive as you would accept that weak of an excuse for slipping upstairs together.

So maybe he’s only sure of two things, given that he’s waking up beside you.

Chan pauses, only just propped up on his elbows in bed, and looks at you with a helpless smile pulling at his lips. Some impulsive part of him wants to grab his phone and take a picture just as proof for himself later today. After all, it’s not everyday that he manages to actually hook up with someone that inspires the thought as soon as he lays eyes on them. Even with tousled hair and stubborn remnants of eye make up smudged on your face, he still finds you pretty.

That’s really something. If you had left in the middle of the night, Chan might have tried convincing himself it must have been some booze-induced dream. Because seriously. And that’s before he even lets himself think about what you look like over him. Or under him.

He makes himself look away from you. Heat rushes to his face at both his thoughts and a preemptive embarrassment at the prospect of being caught watching you sleep. From the bits of conversation the two of you did have last night, Chan suspects you’d probably give him at least a little hell if you opened your eyes to find him staring.

Could you blame him, really, though? His eyes find you again, just in time to catch you shifting slightly in slumber, nose pressing a little further against his pillow. From there, he focuses in for a few beats too long on your lips all over again. As if he hadn’t admired them enough throughout the night before. Grinning, laughing, smirking, pressed against his own, parted and panting his name, and --

Holy shit.

He’s an idiot. An outstanding, entire idiot. Perhaps the worst kind, because once you wake up his idiocy will just make him look like an asshole. Fuck.

Chan doesn’t remember your name.

He must have asked for it. Surely, you wouldn’t have gone to bed with a guy who didn’t even know your name. Right?

He doesn’t know. This is bad. How does he not know if he even got your name last night? It’s not as if he had that much to drink. And certainly not as if he doesn’t care about who you actually are. If anything, he’d been worried about coming off too obviously about how much he wanted to know who you are.

This feels like it must be some kind of karma. Though Chan can’t possibly imagine what he did wrong to deserve this particular twist of awkwardness. (He can, however, think of a few things Jeonghan or Jisoo would take the opportunity to say he did that would warrant this. Suddenly, figuring out your name becomes even more important than it already felt.)

Slipping out from under the covers feels like some kind of insanity.  Why would anyone want to leave a bed that had you in it? Like, ever? Except, of course, in a last ditch attempt to save face. Chan is shaking his head to himself when he arrives at this conclusion. As he starts to shuffle off the side of the mattress, he glances back to you several times over, quietly dreading that now will be the exact moment you wake up. Whatever fate has got against him, it must not be too bad of a grudge, because you stay still, cuddled up in his sheets and nuzzled into his pillow.

He just has to hope when he closes his door behind him that you’ll stay that way for a while longer.

At the top of the stairs, he spots Mingyu passed out on the designated sexiled couch. So Minghao had patched things up with his definitely-not-a-girlfriend, apparently. Or perhaps he’d gone and made things worse. Either way, Chan decides he’ll have to care about that particular part of last night at another time.

It’s an improbable relief when Soonyoung is already in the kitchen, in the middle of deciding whether or not to have cold pizza and cola for breakfast or actually start cleaning up the kitchen. There’s still marks of highlighter on his arms. Because of course Soonyoung wouldn’t mind people writing on more than just his t-shirt last night.

“Hey,”  Chan says, and must already have some kind of edge in his voice from the way Soonyoung’s brow immediately creases when he turns to look at him.

“Morning,” he greets, and takes a sip out of leftover red cup sitting on the counter. That particular choice is followed closely by a grimace and mutter something about how it was flat. And somehow not about how it almost cerainly had rum mixed into it as well. Soonyoung proceeds to pour it down the drain all the same, and adds, “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” Chan answers quickly. Quick enough, in fact, to draw a skeptical hum from Soonyoung and put a suspicious smile on his features.

“Did you forget to use protection?” Soonyoung takes a guess.

Heat rises in Chan’s face immediately. Along with a certain dose of regret already for his decision to come downstairs. “No!”

“So you did get laid last night.”

“That’s not --” he starts, only to realize that it is, essentially, what’s set him on edge. He pauses, shuts his eyes for a moment and shakes his head. And reminds himself that he’s a man on a mission, no matter whatever remarks Soonyoung might have to make. “Look, I wanted to ask you something.”

Soonyoung shoots him a look that makes it clear he hasn’t lost the original thread of the conversation despite the unsubtle attempt at shifting the subject. “Then shoot,” he says, shrugging and looking back at the mess on the countertop.

“You know that girl you were drawing on last night?” Chan asks plainly.

“Nope,” replies Soonyoung immediately, deflating Chan’s chest. “Which one?”

Really, Chan should have known better. Of any of the brothers, Soonyoung would certainly be among those very actively participating in the whole gimmick of a highlighter party. Lingering smudges of neon colors on his skin should have tipped him off that Soonyoung had been right in the middle of it all. As if simply knowing him wasn’t enough of an indicator. “She was doing shots with Jihoon too,” he tries again.

That additional details makes Soonyoung pause for a moment, hand on the door of the refrigerator. “That econ major he’s into?” he suggests after a moment.

“Maybe?” He tries not to visibly wince at the thought that Jihoon might already have a thing for you. It’d definitely put a damper on things if sleeping with you ended up adding tension of that kind into the house.

“What about her? Did you find out which guy from Mu Chi she’s seeing or something?”

Okay. Well, he doubts you’re seeing anyone seriously if you’re still snuggled into his sheets upstairs. Relief must be obvious on Chan’s face, because Soonyoung’s lips twitch along with the furrowing of his brow. “Seriously, Chan, did you drink something fucked up last night?”

“Nevermind, okay?” Chan decides that this plan is perhaps not going to work out so well in his favor. At least not without running the risk of Soonyoung barging into his room just to see who you are. And as much as he needs to know your name, that is hardly a waking up call he wants you to be on the receiving end of.

With that, he spins on bare feet to turn and head back up the stairs. “Hey!” he hears Soonyoung calling after him, “Aren’t you gonna help me clean up?”

“Later!” Chan shouts back.

It’s not as if Soonyoung is actually about the start tidying up, after all.

What Chan isn’t expecting is to come back into his room to find you standing in the middle of the room, buttoning up the fly of the same dark wash jeans you’d worn to the party last night.

You look up, unalarmed, at his suddenly entrance. You’ve slipped on your graffiti-ed white shirt as well. In the daylight, it looks less like a cool, glowing outfit and more like what it actually is: a shirt a whole party’s worth of drunk students wrote and doodled on.

“Hey,” you say, and the casualness of your tone makes Chan nervous all over again. You sound like him coming in on you only just finishing up redressing is a totally normal thing. Like it could be an entirely regular thing, even. And how is it fair that you manage to make last night’s clothes and messy hair look as good as it does right now?

“Hi,” he answers on a momentary delay. And -- to his own dread in exactly .3 seconds -- he adds, “You’re up.”

“Yeah.” You glance around the room as if something in the decor will explain why you couldn’t stay asleep in here. “Woke up alone, too.” Your gaze lands steadily back on him. There’s a slight tilt to your lips that, first of all, makes him want to kiss you all over again. But moreover, it makes him feel like you’re poking fun, even if your voice sounds a touch critical.

Chan smiles apologetically. “I was kinda surprised you stayed the night,” he admits. He can only hope you don’t take it as a suggestion that you should’ve taken off right afterwards. Watching you shrug and look towards his bedside table, he begins to worry that may be exactly what happened. So before you can reach your phone, he tacks on, “But glad you did.”

You pause to glance at him, and he feels himself smile back at you on impulse at your sudden flash of teeth. “What can I say? You’ve got some comfortable pillows here.”

Don’t say some dumb shit about how they were on sale before freshman year, he tells himself. Somehow in this line of thought, what he does end up blurting out is, “My mom would be glad to hear that.” He regrets it for a moment before your laughter reaches his ear and sounds amused rather than merciless. Chan takes note that there really is something about you that’s got him a bit off-kilter.

“I would love to be a fly on the wall of that conversation,” you reply before unlocking your phone and starting to tap quickly against the screen.

“It’s not like I’d mention the making out bit,” he hurries to quip back, drawing your gaze back to him in the process. There’s a glimmer in your eyes that makes him feel the best kind of nervous. A kind of bubbling feeling where he already knows he can’t anticipate what you’ll say, but that he’ll stay glad just to be talking to you.

You tilt your head a fraction at him. “So you’re  skipping straight to the sex part, then?” And then you look back at the screen cradled in the palm your hand as if you’d said nothing at all. The upwards tilt of your lips that he can still spot is a clear tell, though.

The thought of mentioning anything the two of you had done the night before to his parents is mortifying and somehow hilarious at once. He laughs, and is a little glad that you’re texting instead of looking at him just in case the slight warmth in his cheeks is showing.

“I’d probably say you came over to study instead,” he says, “And fell asleep or something.”

“Uh-huh,” you nod, and toss your phone back onto his bed of unmade sheets. “Key question then: what class do we both have in your story?”

“I hadn’t gotten that far yet,” admits Chan, grinning slightly, “Maybe econometrics?”

You glance towards the ceiling, feigning contemplation before nodding. “That does sounds like a class that would call for joint study sessions.”

“The exams can be ruthless.”

“And yet your pillows --- still comfy enough that I fell asleep despite all the stress,” you carry on, tone tilting playfully. “That’s a real testament.”

Chan chuckles, and for what must be the twentieth time already since he woke up this morning, he feels tempted to kiss you once again. In this moment, there’s something in the light in your eyes and the smile on your face that makes the idea even more irresistible. His feet start moving across the floorboards before he’s entirely made up his mind. “And a totally parent friendly one,” he adds to your point.

As he approaches, you eye him over and grin a little wider. “Well, I guess that’s that sorted out then.” Once he’s within arms’ length, your hands find a way to his shoulders and loop behind his neck.

He takes the nod and only murmurs a brief agreement of, “guess so,” before setting his lips upon your own. It feels grounding and head-spinning at the same time, as Chan nearly forgets that he doesn’t know your name and begins to slip into worries over that fact within milliseconds. All the while his mouth his moving with yours, his fingers skimming the fabric of your t-shirt, and his body inclining into yours slowly.

You pull back first, and take a moment with your arms wound around him to smile at him up close. He’s just about to lean in for a second kiss when you glance over your shoulder and begin with, “Anyway.” Somehow you manage to sound nothing like the bundle of anticipation and elation that Chan is. Had he been less certain, your calm demeanor might have set him on edge. As it is, he finds himself almost more charmed by how steady you are.

“My friends and I are going to brunch in a bit, so...” You look back to him, but your hands stay laced at the back of his neck. It reassures him somehow into thinking you’d be perfectly happy to stay right here if it weren’t for those plans. “I think I’m gonna have to head out.”

“Can I call you sometime?” Chan asks.

He realizes as soon as it’s spoken that this will either be his chance to get your name without having to admit he doesn’t remember it. Or it will the moment where you realize exactly the position he’s in.  It all depends on if he can get you to enter in your own contact information or not.

“Sure you can,” you reply simply, and take a step back from him to finally finish gathering your things. “I’m sure there will be an exam that needs studying for sometime soon.” And with a telling smirk, you head for the door.

It takes Chan a moment -- caught up in the half-coded insinuation -- to even realize you’re about to walk out without actually giving him a way of getting in touch. “I don’t have your number, though.”

By the time he blurts it out, you already have the door open. You pause with a hand still on the doorknob to look back at him. “Sure you do,” you answer, moving one shoulder in a kind of shrug and continue out of the room before he can get another word out.

Chan stares at the space where you had been standing for what feels like a small era, mouth parted as he tries to wrap his head around what exactly just happened. And around the very real possibility that he’ll never get in touch with you again. Shit.

Running after you would not be the smoothest thing to do, he has to remind himself. But there’s no denying that he moves a little faster than usual down the stairs.

“You finally gonna help with cleaning up?” Soonyoung asks from the living room when Chan gets to the landing. Soonyoung is, predictably, not actually in the process of cleaning up anything, but instead scrolling through his phone with a piece of cold pizza on a plate balanced on his lap.

“Did you just see a girl leave?”

Soonyoung says your name -- or what Chan has to presume is your name -- like it’s a question without looking up from his phone. “Yeah, I didn’t know she stayed over last night.”

A moment passes.

“Wait.” Soonyoung looks up suddenly, dismay written over his face. “Lee Chan, did you fuck my lab partner?”

“You know... Yeah, I’m gonna go get started with fixing the basement,” Chan deflects entirely. He doesn’t even make it three steps before Soonyoung is exclaiming about he can’t believe that’s who spent the night in Chan’s room last night. Like any reasonable person, Chan quickens his pace.

But at least he succeeded in figuring out your name without making a total fool out of himself to your face.

And later, he’ll pick up the marked up t-shirt from his bedroom floor and discover the same name written in green highlighter on the chest area of the fabric. Followed by a sequence of digits he’ll be adding to his phone contacts.

[queen-scribbles]

Steady

For @pillarspromptsweekly fill 71: Celebrate. Only proofread once because I have several other projects on a very rapidly approaching deadline (*cough* Christmas presents *cough*), so hopefully I caught everything. This is set the day after Shallow, but I think you could manage without having read that. 

Emiri was dragged awake long before she was ready by a kaleidoscope of memories--voices, images, emotions--that she didn’t even want. She sat up, breathing hard, and buried her face in her hands while she waited for her heart to slow down.

You’re in Stalwart, she reminded herself. Not... wherever that was. One hand dropped to rub the furs for a tangible reminder. Her past life’s surroundings had been far more austere and dour than the woodsy comfort of the Gréf’s Rest.

Once she had settled, Emiri looked toward the window and scowled. After yesterday, she had been dearly hoping to sleep in. No such luck--the view outside was just starting to lighten, a pale pink glow creeping in one corner of the window. From the look of things, all her friends were still asleep as well.

So, grumbling to herself, Emiri slid out of bed. The Awakened part of her hovered too close to the surface for her to hope she’d actually stay asleep if she tried again. A pity; their adventure in Cayron’s Scar had wrung her out both emotionally and otherwise. More sleep would have been nice. But she had plenty of experience running on less than she needed. Rather then dwell on it, Emiri steadied herself against the wall to pull on her boots and then headed out to talk to Haeferic.

The tavern part of the establishment was far busier than she would have expected, given the early hour. Emiri wove her way between kith until she reached the counter and caught Haeferic’s attention.

“Ah, Watcher, you’re up early!” the dwarf greeted her with a smile.

“Not by choice,” Emiri replied, shrugging gamely. She gestured to the bustling workers. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, Winter’s End,” Haeferic said, pausing briefly to direct a man carrying a cask toward the inn’s cellar. “We weren’t figurin’ on havin’ much cause to celebrate this year, what with those Iron Flail bastards practically on our doorstep.” He winked at her. “Impending doom has a way of dampening people’s spirits. But since you chased ‘em off and they ain’t a threat no more, Mayor Tarfos decided it would be good to hold the celebrations like normal. Give folks a chance to blow off steam.”

“Smart man,” Emiri said with a laugh. “So...” She hesitated. “I haven’t been in the Dyrwood long. What all’s involved in Winter’s End?”

“Drinkin’ and eatin’ and rememberin’ those we lost that year mostly.” Haeferic scratched behind his ear. “You should stick around, see for yourself. ‘Course, out here it’s more symbolic than anything. The snow don’t melt here like in other parts, and it sure as shit ain’t gonna warm up any time soon.” He smirked. “Still, any excuse for a three day party party is a good one.”

She smiled at his enthusiasm and shrugged. “We might just do that. Things were more... exciting yesterday than we bargained for, so more time to recover is probably a good idea. And it sounds fun.” It would also give more time for Hiravias’ knee to heal, and for Aloth to warm up before they went traveling through waist-deep snow to get home.

“Oh, it is that, Watcher,” Haeferic laughed. “It is most definitely that. But I imagine y’had another purpose in mind, comin’ out this early in the mornin’?” What can I do for ya?”

“Breakfast.” Emiri said, slightly scattered. “Please. For the six of us, something warm and filling.” She looked him dead in the eye. “The best you’ve got.”

He nodded, clearly getting the message. “When d’you need it?”

“In a couple hours, I guess,” she said, biting her lip. Hopefully her friends wouldn’t be rudely awakened by nightmares and could get a decent bit of sleep.  “Yes, two hours should be good. More or less.”

Haeferic chuckled. “That’ll run you... three hundred fifty pands.”

“Sounds fair,” Emiri nodded. “Add it to my tab?”

“Of course.” He gave a sharp nod. “Need anything else? If not, I need t’ get back to supervisin’ preparations.”

“Nope, go right ahead. I’m sure things are a bit crazy, with it being a last minute decision and all.”

Bobbing his head in both confirmation and gratitude, Haeferic swiveled back to barking directions into the milling crowd of workers. Emiri watched for a minute or two before heading back to her room. She didn’t hear anyone moving around as she approached, and so was very careful to be quiet as she slipped back in. The room was still dark, the fire banked to low embers. A quick glance towards the beds confirmed most of her friends were sleeping.

The one exception was Kana. He sat at the table, positioned so his body blocked the rest of the room from the light of his candle as he rapidly filled the pages of a spare blank book.

“Surprised to see you up,” Emiri commented.

Kana turned and flashed her a toothy smile. “There’s too much to write down. I was afraid I’d forget parts if I waited much longer. We learned so much; about Ondra, Abydon, the Engwithans. Such knowledge is worthy of preservation.”

Emiri nodded as she walked over to sit across from him. “That it is.”

A moment passed, her picking at her bracelets, Kana rolling his pen between thumb and index finger, heedless of the ink it flicked along his sleeve.

He spoke finally, softly, as he set down the pen. “Why do I feel what has you up at this hour is far less benign?”

She sighed, looked at the table instead of him as she answered. “...It’s the dreams again.”

Kana wordlessly reached over and covered her hand with his. His fingers smudged ink against her skin as he gave a gentle squeeze. Emiri’s face warmed and her halo flickered brighter at his silent support.

“I feel I owe you an apology,” Kana said softly. He rolled on before she could protest. “The other day, when I asked about you being a Watcher, I fear I may have been... rather tactless.  I didn’t really understand what was involved. Is it hard on you, hearing the spirits all the time?”

Yes. But she didn’t want to burden him, and definitely didn’t want to ruin a moment that involved Kana holding her hand, so Emiri hunched her shoulders in a not-quite shrug and mumbled, “It can get a little overwhelming.”

Kana cocked his head, eyes narrowing, and squeezed her hand again. “You needn’t soften your words on my account, Emiri, if it ever gets to be too much. We’ll find the means to cure you. You’ve my word on that.”

Alright, the past three minutes alone are worth the lost hours of sleep. Emiri ducked her head. It was a futile gesture, with how her halo glowed. She wasn’t hiding anything. “I... thank you, Kana.” She shifted her hand so she could squeeze back. “I appreciate it, truly. And you weren’t being tactless, you were being curious.” You were being you. “I didn’t mind.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Kana said, giving her another smile, more serious but somehow more honest than the one a few minutes ago. “If I ever do overstep, please tell me.”

Emiri nodded, fully aware there wasn’t much he could do she would consider overstepping. “You, um, you should finish writing. Before everyone wakes up and there are distractions.”

“A sound plan,” Kana agreed. He withdrew his hand, picked up the pen, and returned to his writing, filling page after page with rapid but mostly-legible script.

Emiri dug in her pocket until she came up with enough thread--white, pale blue, dark grey--to start a new bracelet, then settled in to pass the time until the others awoke in companionable silence.

>>><<<

Hiravias was the next one awake, nearly an hour and a half hour later, popping up with a growled curse as he rubbed out a cramp in his leg.” Hound’s teeth, that’s a lousy good morning,” he grumbled. “’Specially since that’s the same one got fucked up yesterday.”

Emiri winced in sympathy. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault.” He shrugged and winked at her. “In fact, you’re the reason more of me didn’t get hit by falling rocks, so you really don’t need to apologize.” He limped over and boosted himself into the very much not orlan-sized chair. “So do we have a plan for food or anything, Watcher?”

Emiri laughed. “I talked to Haeferic when I got up. Food should only be another half hour or so. And I paid for the good stuff, but we’ve seen how that can vary by location, so... we’ll see.”

Hiravias grinned and ruffled one hand through his hair, somehow leaving it a worse mess than it had been previously. “Sounds good. I guess I can hold out that long. And you know I’ll eat anything, but ‘good stuff’ does sound appealing today.”

The food did indeed arrive as predicted, and smelled so good it dragged the other three out of bad, though Aloth and Pallegina didn’t look truly awake until halfway through their first cup of tea.

Haeferic hadn’t been kidding when he promised her the best he had. Emiri wondered if anyone else in Stalwart--including the mayor--was eating this well. But it was good to have a meal that was actually satisfying and filling and made her feel warm inside after so long trekking all over the White March eating jerky. It was even better sharing it with her friends(who were all still here, despite Ondra’s best efforts).

“So, what’s the plan? Miri?” Edér asked once they’d all eaten their fil.

“I know stopping Thaos is important,” she began, playing with the bracelet she’d made. “But I feel like another day or two to rest would be good. For some of us” --she nudged Aloth’s knee under the table and shot Hiravias a meaningful look--”more than others.”

“I like this plan,” Hiravias chipped in. “But what’re we supposed to do while we’re here?”

“I did mention rest,” Emiri emphasized, looking him dead in the eye. “Which is probably an especially good idea with that knee of yours, before we go tromping down a mountain through waist-deep snow.”

“I see your point,” he said, idly snapping the strap to his eyepatch. “Anything to avoid more piggyback rides. But what if the thought of being stuck in here makes me itchy and I want to take it easy somewhere else? Does this... charming place have anything interesting to offer?”

“Funny you should ask that,” she said, laughing. “They are getting ready to start some festival...”

“Winter’s End!” Edér interrupted with a grin. “I’ll be damned, how’d I forget about that?”

“We have been roaming all over the frigid mountainside for the last several days, ac?” Pallegina pointed out. “I believe you can be forgiven for losing track of the date.”

“Right kind of you,” Edér shot back, slouching more comfortably in his chair. “But really, there ain’t no party in the Dyrwood like Winter’s End. It’ll be fun, even if they are throwin’ it together all last-minute.”

With that ringing endorsement from a local(or local-adjacent), the plan was all but settled. Emiri did notice, however, that Aloth seemed less enthused than the others. That was hardly surprising.

She leaned close and murmured, “I know how you are about big, loud parties. Feel free to stay here with a book or something if you’d rather.”

He half-smiled and twisted one of his rings, something like relief glimmering in his eyes. “That was my plan, yes. I may join you later, though.”

Emiri laughed. “I was about to say the same thing. You know how I am about big, loud parties.”

Aloth nodded. “I do indeed.”

Still, she was curious. And if the Dyrwood was to be her home, as she planned, it would be smart to familiarize herself with the customs. So she’d go for a while, have fun and relax, but there was a safe have she could retreat to if it became too much.

>>><<<

Even with the early start to the preparations, it took a few hours for word to spread and the people of Stalwart to turn out for the festivities. Once they did, however, the atmosphere picked up quickly. There was a lot for them to celebrate, after all. And the amount of alcohol present helped. Edér hadn’t been exaggerating when he said there wasn’t any party like it in the Dyrwood.

Emiri enjoyed herself quite a bit, even if she only sampled most of the food and nursed a single drink--wyrthoneg, Edér had called it, saying it was perfect for someone who didn’t drink much. She appreciated his looking out for her, but even the watered down mead had enough alcohol in it to make her go slow. She was just finishing her first round as Hiravias and Edér plunked down with their third.

“Enjoying yourselves?” Emiri teased.

“Absolutely,” they chorused.

“Anything like the ones you’re used to?” she asked Edér, reaching for another piece of the savory pie Keydy had plunked down in front of them with a wink.

Edér considered for a moment. “Not quite as loud as the ones we use’ta have in Gilded Vale, but maybe that’s just ‘cause me an’ Woden use’ta see which of us could whoop louder, which usually spread to everybody our age.”

She rolled her eyes and bumped his shoulder. “Why am I not surprised?” He just laughed and shrugged, so she turned to Hiravias. “Do you have any celebrations like this in your tribe?”

He snorted and downed half his drink in one go. “Course. We usually wait until the first sign of thaw to do the real celebrating, but there is a pretty big feast to mark the beginning of winter.” His gave drifted to something over her shoulder and he grinned. “’Bout time. You get bored?”

Emiri twisted around just in time to see Aloth half-shrug in answer. She broke into an ear to ear grin and scooted closer to Pallegina to make room on the bench. “Ignore him. Though I am glad you decided to join us.”

Aloth nodded, playing with the sleeve of his sweater. “I figured a little while wouldn’t hurt.”

“I’m glad,” Emiri said. She narrowed her eyes when she saw him shiver. “Are you still cold?”

“Perhaps a little,” he admitted, “though I’m sure that has more to do with being outside in a village halfway up a snow covered mountain than it does-”

“Almost drowning in an icy lake?” Emiri finished for him.

“I’m fine, Emiri,” Aloth said, smiling as he accepted the mug Pallegina nudged in his direction. “I appreciate your concern, but it’s unnecessary. There are no lingering ill effects from yesterday, I promise.”

“Alright, if you’re sure,” she murmured, lightly bumping her shoulder against his.

His smile widened, and he leaned in to the brief touch. “I’m sure.” His gaze flicked between the members of their group as he took a drink. “I see we’ve lost Kana.”

Emiri giggled. “No, he wanted to talk to people, learn more about their local traditions and how they maybe differ from say, Gilded Vale.” She winked at Edér. “You know, being Kana. He’s right over-” She turned to point toward where she’d last seen him, but he was gone. “Well, he was there,” she muttered, raising her voice instinctively to be heard over the swelling music. “Maybe I have lost him.”

As if summoned by her sheepish admission, Kana swept toward them out of the milling crowd of locals. “How goes it, my friends?” he greeted them, grinning ear to ear. “I trust you’re enjoying yourselves as much as I am?”

“Absolutely,” Emiri confirmed, her heart skipping a beat. He looked so happy it made her grin even wider. “Hearing good stories?”

He nodded. “The kith up here have certainly found ways to make this celebration their own. They fully embrace all the important parts, but put their own twist on the traditions and even added a couple. It’s fascinating to learn about.”

“I’ll bet it is,” she said with a laugh. “I’d ask you to stay and regale me, but Aloth got the last seat, and it doesn’t seem fair to make you stand.”

“Oh, no worries,” Kana laughed, eyes dancing with mirth. “I’ve no need of a seat. I just wanted to see how all of you were faring, and rid myself of this” --he set his empty tankard on the table with a thump-- “before asking you a question.”

“Me?” Emiri raised an eyebrow and her halo pulsed brighter.

He nodded and held out one hand. “Dance with me?”

Her mouth was suddenly very dry. “I...”

Kana smiled encouragingly. “I think it would be fun, in the spirit of things. And I know the songs are unfamiliar, but this one at least sounds close enough to a sarabande I’m sure you’ll manage with no trouble.”

“B’sides, ev’ryone’s drunk an’ won’t care if you fuck up,” Hiravias chipped in helpfully.

Maybe it was his encouragement, or the festive atmosphere, or even the small amount of alcohol she’d consumed. Or maybe something else, deep inside her, didn’t see a problem with throwing caution to the wind just this once. Whatever the reason, it did sound fun.

“Alright,” Emiri nodded, grinning as she took Kana’s hand and let him help her up. She heard Edér and Hiravias whoop as she and Kana skirted the table to join the other dancing couples.

“Just have fun,” Kana whispered as they set palm to palm and fell in step with the dance. “There’s no call to impress anyone this time, and no one who will care if you miss a step.”

Hearing the reassurance helped, as did Kana’s steady and exuberant presence, and Emiri relaxed enough to lose herself in the flow of the music. Kana had been right; there were a few extra steps, and the tempo was much faster--not to mention the different instruments--but this song was just a variation on the sarabande. She may have flubbed the new steps, but it was exceedingly fun. And gods knew she needed fun after yesterday.

The dance finished far sooner than she expected or wanted, and Emiri huffed out a sigh.

Kana chuckled at the reaction and didn’t let go of her hand. “Want to dance another?”

Emiri nodded, grinning wide around her breathless, “Yes, please.”

The next dance was unfamiliar to them both, and they messed up every few steps, but she didn’t care. Neither did anyone else. They offered encouragement and pointers, but the holiday was for fun, so enjoying yourself was the only requirement. And Emiri certainly met that. All told, she and Kana danced to five songs--with varying degrees of skill, but steadily increasing enjoyment--before they dropped, breathless and laughing, into seats near the rest of their friends.

Edér pushed drinks toward them with a grin. “Looks like you two could use this.”

Emiri nodded as she took a hard swallow and shot him a grateful smile. More wyrthoneg. She wasn’t much for alcohol, but this was sweet enough--mild enough--she enjoyed it.

The warm glow from dancing held steady in her chest through the next couple hours of conversation with both her friends and Stalwart’s people, overwhelming enough Emiri wondered if it was visible to everyone.

The answer proved a resounding yes when Edér grinned and pointed out, “You look like you’re tryin’ to outshine the stars, Miri.”

She grinned back and shrugged, gesturing toward her halo. “It gets brighter when I’m happy.”

“Good,” Aloth chipped in with a smile of his own. “You deserve it.”

Emiri shot him another smile. “We all do.”

“Well, this is the place for it,” Hiravias said, holding up his fourth--fifth?--drink in a toast of sorts. “They sure know how to throw a party, I’ll give ‘em that.”

“Right generous of you,” Edér laughed. 

“I’m in a charitable mood,” Hiravias shot back, grinning and bobbling the drink in wordless explanation. “Don’t expect it to last.”

The evening rolled on amid similar banter, punctuated by various locals seeking out the Watcher to thank her for keeping them from having more people to remember this Winter’s End. She chatted with Thyrsc and Suldrun, gave Mylla the bracelet she’d made before breakfast, and waved off Mayor Tarfos when he tried to offer her a reward for chasing away the Iron Flail. By the time they all turned in for the night, Emiri was almost as tired as she’d been the previous day, just for a much better reason.

She smiled into her pillow as she settled in to bed. It had to be her imagination, but she’d swear her hand still felt warm from holding Kana’s. I definitely like Winter’s End, she thought drowsily, before drifting off to significantly more pleasant dreams.

[whiskeyxcola]

Yours Truly: Part Five

Summary: Chris’s parents visit for Layla’s birthday; his outburst during a discussion with his mother surprises everyone.  Pairing: Chris Pratt x OFC, Chris Evans x OFC Word Count: 1650 Warnings: Mentions of divorce and abandonment. A/N: Hope you enjoy the continuing series collab with @captain-s-rogers! Don’t be afraid to ask to be on the taglist, and please let us know what you think! Also, keep an eye out for part four, which Ashley will be posting later today! (Also, it’s really tricky to find fitting gifs for Pratt!)

Tags: @ellen-reincarnated1967 @crazililwabbit @catching-up-with-kayla @speakinvain

Masterlist

July 1

Caroline,

So, you don’t have it bad for Chris? Then explain to me what that was after the debate! If you don’t have it bad for him, I’m going to venture to say that he has it bad for you. Drunk words and actions are sober thoughts.

As for Chris here, I don’t think he’ll be falling in love with anyone anytime soon. I think he’s still getting over his ex-wife, and I should probably figure out where I’m working next year before I start something with someone.

Layla’s birthday is today. We have invited a few of her friends, and Chris’s parents drove down from Minnesota for a long weekend. Seems like a far drive for a few-days’ stay to me, but Layla is happy to see them, and that’s all that matters. It will be a small affair, but it will be exactly what Layla asked for.

I’ve got to finish hemming my dress before the party, then bake and decorate cupcakes … summer procrastination at it’s finest over here!

Write soon and tell me more about Chris and the campaign. I can’t get enough of your letters!

Yours truly,

Sadie

The whirring of the sewing machine came to an abrupt halt when Sadie let her foot off the pedal. She snipped the thread and her dress was freed from the machine. After trimming the tails off a few more threads, she held it up in front of her; this new sundress was already one of her favorites.

Once the cupcakes were baking, she got Layla through the bath, then left it up to Kathleen, Chris’s mother, to dress the girl. Chris and his father, Daniel, had been up early to do the day’s chores before the party. There would still be the evening feeding of some of the animals, but that wouldn’t interfere with anything they had planned for the day.

“Adie! Will you put my bow on, please?” Layla pleaded, coming into the kitchen where Sadie was beginning to frost the freshly cooled cupcakes.

Sadie took the bow from her and crouched down to Layla’s level. “Your grandma made such a pretty braid in your hair!”

“Thank you,” Layla said, sitting still until the small bow was secured at the top of the braid, just above the nape of her neck. She turned and kissed Sadie on the cheek, then ran off to find her grandmother again.

Sadie got in the shower then, washing up quick so she could blow-dry and curl her hair when she got out. She donned her new dress and applied some natural makeup before slipping into a pair of sandals.

She literally bumped into Chris as she exited her room; he had been headed her direction, it seemed. Sadie chuckled at the mishap along with him and asked what she could help with.

“This tie,” he groaned. “I don’t wear one too often, but Layla said everyone has to dress their best, and I don’t want to let her down. A polo and jeans didn’t seem good enough. Can you help me?”

Sadie swallowed hard and nodded. The man wasn’t long out of the shower, and he smelled positively … well, manly. Not that she minded that smell of a hard’s day’s work, either. Today though, his smell combined with their proximity made Sadie’s heart beat even faster.

Chris lowered himself to her eye level; Sadie cleared her throat and forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand, and not the handsome blue eyes watching her face while she worked.

“I’m sure Daniel taught you how to do this,” she said, tightening up the knot at his neck. “All done.”

“He did,” Chris replied, turning to the hallway mirror to make a few minor adjustments and roll his sleeves up to his elbows, “but I don’t do it often enough, and he’s busy cleaning up himself.”

Sadie nodded and moved past him toward the front of the house. Guests would be arriving soon, and if she didn’t get her head out of the clouds, she would be no help during this birthday party.

Layla’s party was perfect. She hadn’t been allowed to see the decor on the back patio until it was party time, to allow for an element of surprise. She jumped up and down and squealed with excitement over the balloons and streamers and flowers before running off with her friends to the bouncy house Chris had rented and set up not far from the covered patio. The adults could relax in the shade where the fans were and still keep an eye on the kids.

“Chris, will you take a picture of Layla and me?” Sadie requested when the cake was brought out. “To send to Caroline.”

“Yeah, of course.”

Layla hopped up in Sadie’s lap near the cake and both girls smiled big for the camera. Sadie thanked Chris, then switched him out places so he could do the birthday song and candles with his daughter.

By the time all the guests went home, Layla had fallen asleep on the couch. Sadie offered to take her to bed; Chris smiled a thank you. He kissed his daughter on the forehead as Sadie walked by, then went out to the patio to help his mother clean up while his father worked on deflating the bouncy house.

Sadie managed to get Layla out of her party dress and into pajamas, and get the bow out of her hair, before tucking her cozy under the covers. Layla yawned and her pretty blue eyes looked up at Sadie.

“I think it’s okay Mama wasn’t here,” Layla said, “because then you wouldn’t be here. I love you, Adie.”

Sadie smoothed back Layla’s hair from her face. “I love you too, Layla.”

With a smile, she switched off the light and pulled the door almost closed. She headed out to the patio to help with the clean-up; heated voices stopped her at the back door.

“Mom, there’s still two months before Layla starts school. I’m not sending her up to Minnesota for the rest of the summer. I can’t.”

Kathleen sighed. “You can, you just won’t. You need time to heal from Emily leaving, sweetheart. Give yourself that time.”

“I’m over Emily — I’ve been over her. Things were bad for a while before she left, all right?” Sadie’s heart broke for Chris but also jumped at his confession of being over Emily. “Layla doesn’t need any more big changes.”

“Is this about Sadie? She’s a wonderful woman, but I can ready Layla for kindergarten, too.”

Sadie peered around the corner just in time to see Chris run a hand over his face and shift his weight to one foot in frustration.

“It’s about me not wanting to be away from my daughter, and — you know what, yeah, it is about Sadie. Layla loves her!” His voice raised even higher when he said, “I’m not going to let her lose another mother!”

Sadie gasped and lost her balance, causing her to slip against the doorway she had been leaning on and out onto the porch. She gained a good scrape on her elbow and up towards her wrist in the process.

“Sorry — I’m sorry,” Sadie stuttered out as she righted herself. “I’ll just — I’m gonna clean this up.”

She was rinsing off her elbow at the kitchen sink when Chris came inside. It was an awkward angle, and he offered to help her.

“Hop up on the counter there.” He wet a washcloth and cleaned the dirt from her scrape before going to the medicine cabinet for antibiotic ointment and a bandage.

The gentle way he applied the ointment and then the bandage made Sadie swoon a little more. In the weeks since she had come to the Pratt farm, the closed-off, rough man had warmed up, opened up, and began to work his way into Sadie’s heart. Between moments with Layla and early morning breakfast chats, as well as late night talks after Layla went to bed, Sadie knew she wasn’t going to have a hold on her feelings for much longer.

“Sadie, what I said about Layla not losing another mother,” Chris spoke up, breaking into her thoughts, “it may not have come out the way I intended.”

“It’s okay,” Sadie shrugged. She wanted to tell him that she would be all right if he meant it the way he said it, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment. “I’m not upset.”

“Good,” Chris smiled, helping her off the counter. “Thank you for everything today, Sadie. You made Layla’s day really special. And my birthday the other day. Means a lot.”

Sadie smiled. “It’s my pleasure, Chris. Really.”

She didn’t know it then, but that was the moment Chris realized he was falling for her. He stared at her long enough though, Sadie cleared her throat and excused herself to go outside and help with finishing the clean up from the party.

Sadie was in pajamas, reading through job opportunities on her laptop when Kathleen came to her door.

“Am I interrupting?”

Sadie closed her laptop. “Not at all. Everything okay?”

Kathleen took a seat on the edge of the bed. “I want to apologize if I offended you with what I said earlier. It’s nothing against you. Daniel and I just worry so much about Layla and Chris. Emily left them so suddenly — I won’t get into that. I appreciate what you’re doing for them, more than you know. Even the things you don’t know that you’re doing.”

“As I told Chris earlier, it’s truly my pleasure. I appreciate you clearing that up for me.” Sadie smiled and leaned over to hug the older woman. Before Kathleen could leave, she asked, “What do you mean, the things I don’t know I’m doing?”

Kathleen simply smiled and bid the younger woman good night.

Part Six

[meetmeatthestart]

Skye Rocket lyric collection

A selection of lyrics from Skye Rocket songs, including ones from their time as Rocket Ship Resort. Perfect to use for thread titles, ship tags, verse names, blog quotes, etc. Feel free to get creative.

A better place I'd never find

A cool breeze sweeps through the silver dust

A dance of misfits

A date with a time trial showdown

A different air waits for us

A ferris wheel tune

A fighter with a nature of gold

A glimmer on a winding trail

A glimpse of the night

A handful of fire

A lighthouse of love

A lonely flare in the dark 

A lullaby along the moon

A map to get back home

A smile among the storm

A snowball deep in hell

A window straight to the deep

Across all that reaches land

Adrift in the sighs

Ain't a chance we go outta style

Air that presses my lungs to paper

All the salty wit of an old drunk

All the ships eclipsing the ocean

Alone through the dark part of life

Among every storm and spark

An old wish, a dusty sign

And it cuts like a knife 

And the wound's getting bigger 

And when the sun goes down

And when you see its colors

Astray in the sky

At least we're adventure

Autumn blaze

Ballrooms and bridges

Bandanas and black boots

Be the might to my light shows

Bet I'll make ya light up like July

Boiled with blood pent

Born of the sunlight's dust

Bound down to a life on the free way

Break apart old cautions retold

Break the glass of every old impasse

Break us into the sky

Breathe deep into me

Breathing electric starlight

Burdened with gorgeous nature

Buried, wounded to the core

Burn as bright as you can

But you won't turn me

C'mon out to the edge of the world

Can we have a home everlasting

Cause there's vodka in the water

Chasin' disaster

Chasin' disaster; goin' faster

Chemicals of catastrophe

Come and stay with me

Come with me to race all the crumbling walls

Comfort within her chaos

Could you go if you had to?

Cry out to silence

Deep through beauty, treachery, and howling hail

Determined to be deflaters

Devoid of the morning daybreaks

Did a glow catch your heart?

Distant days of crescent moons

Do you find your way worthwhile?

Do you wanna run far away?

Do you want to run away?

Dogma's yearly tradition

Dream something new

Dressing up with dyed roots

Drifting on a cloud blanket

Escaping my tired mind

Every chip is a chilling climb

Eyes of ice in the sunshine

Fall white for another night

Falling through the snow

Far beyond the tallest trees

Fighting what the kings say 

Follow the trails in the air 

For life, for naught

Free your aurora

From atop the trees, reaching out so free

From high off the flowers

From the venom here

Fuck your war, I'm here for the starlight 

Ghost pepper voodoo

Give me a taste of oxygen

Give me all your pieces

Greetings, my glider

Growing up so fast

Hanging on the dawn

Hard times have you now, but you'll be alright

Harness it, make your mark

Heaven knows where we will go

Her gust is givin' you your flight

Hidden beneath the worries

Hits like a rocket

Home is where fires unite

Homesick for vistas new

I bet I'll make it light up like your eyes

I can taste the race in your heartbeat

I don't know how long this road goes out

I feel each step so slow

I held those words as law

I know the way, let's head there

I lack the blood to suck tonight

I lost you at the bay

I will save you every night

I wish I could take you sailing

I wouldn't hold your breath

I'd never believed in slowing down

I'd rather sweep a breeze under those old ashes

I'll be chasing the moon

I'll be rage on all fours

I'll be unleashed

I'll hold onto you as long as you hold onto me

I'll see you over the moon

I'll take a shot of what she's havin'

I'll take the heart break

I'll take the heart break before I slow

I'll wake up real soon

I'm fading fast

I'm seein' stars, the way you're flashin'

I've been here before

I've got a lot in my view but no one else that I can see

Ice upon the river

If summer had a daughter

If you chase the same chill in your weathered bones

If you're still awake by chance

In a dash we'll crash down the party

In a love story, where beauty is might

In the air we'll dance like we used to

In the grass like a landmine

In the july heat

In time the smoke will leave here

Invisible to the stars

It matters not what's outside

It's time to bring it all out now

Just lift your head aloft and wave

Just to cut me down to you

Just what this world needs

Kicked to the frost

Kicking rocks on a turnpike

Kiss the earth, let's disappear

Left here with life

Lend me the sight giants behold

Let me lead your breath home

Let me see your eyes 

Let your heartache down with your hair

Let's be lost, let's be heroes

Let's carve out our open view

Light a thousand streets

Like a backdrop for the moon

Like a lantern in the dark

Like a lightning strike in your heart

Like a phone hardwired

Like a secret in the dark

Like a whisper in a glance 

Like an earthy rust

Like the heaven's snow

Like you woke in the ocean

Listen close, my rogue

Lunar endeavors

Made of fireflies

May the guiding wind adorn us

Mistress magic

Movin' with mischief

My words are with you

Numbness is living on a loss

Of the demons in my thoughts

Oh will our hearts endure

On blankets of rockets and trees

One last ride up above the night 

Our wind in the sails

Out in search of truth

Out on the great wide blue

Please come down from your window

Please just give me one last dance

Poets long for words like your dreams

Princess Red Rum

Problem number one

Racing meteors

Rain on the river

Rainfall resistance

Reachin' up to the moonlight

Relentless, your scars open up wide

Remember how it sounds

Reminiscent of wings, you went

Ride on, shooting star

Ring your light through the dark

Rogues among the stars

Run like the rain

Running circles

Rushing like Niagara Falls

Scars that are far and gone

Scrapbooks and reflections

Seas and passions

Seashore at the door

See the sun surround you

Shadows shaped by gryphon stars

Shining soul, in the shade

Shooting for the stars

Show the way through the wild miles

Silver relics on the shore

Singing like a lonely ghost

Sky blue: it suits you!

Smile, you're wild inside

Snow dives by so quietly

Souls fade white

Specter on the bay

Standing in the night

Stars that look like you

Starstruck, a deep blue

Stay aloft for me

Stay awake, I plea

Still standing here years later 

Storm like the sea

Submerged neck deep

Sunrays and lattes

Swept along with a grip so sure

Tempest route

The air here is of your soul

The blood runs like a river 

The buildings glow

The clouds made their own way

The dance of the wind and waves

The ghost had a bouquet

The hope that you'd been saving

The horizon, it runs forever

The howling crowd's alive

The last time I felt alive

The meltdown ain't gonna thaw

The midnight streets

The midnight streets are empty without you

The night covers the earth

The night in front of you

The prettiest cold air

The rustic gears of establishment

The silent sky

The unruly, truly quite bizzare

The walls are your protection

The yell of a young punk

Theme park in the dark

There's magic in disguise

There's no need for frights, it's a show of lights

These gloves play love like guitar

Throttle it out

Through all the heartaches

Through nights into dreams

Through that disguise

Through the ballroom hall 

Through the land and night

Through the lights and heights of the compass caches

Through the time each night recalls

Through thunder's embrace

Till I stop the show

To the lands out somewhere far

Tonight we are aloft

Too heavy for words

Trace my touch all through here

Treasure maps and shaky floorboards

Triumph, scandal, all her name lends

Try to stay a little while

Trying to escape a whirlwind 

Tumbling sunbeams

Turn all the lights down

Under the moon and snow

Under the show of chaos

Up late, darin' fate, just to know

Waiting on a faint light

Wanted for love crimes

Watch the rockets reply

Watch the sands blow to wherever you are

Watch the sinking silver

Watch the stars swim through this ocean of air

Wave to the stars

We are like fire

We are momentum

We are the doomed ones

We are the stars hangin' up free

We can ride a road everwinding

We still share the same moon

We'll be the backbone

We're blowing the hurricanes down

We're pioneers

We're tearin' down mountain sides

We're the heat, we're the guns

We've been marked

When are ya waving my way, baby?

When the gates make way

When the leaves leave us

When the riots meet

When the sea grabbed me ahold

When the wind came a-knockin' 

When time just won't wait 

When your heart has been so bold

While the sparks danced up

While the sun follows you

Wield your wings for your own rhythm

Wisdom and a smile with a saber

With a touch of grace 

With the tidal burst

With the wrath of the red

Wolves among the shadow

Years and years of fighting here

You and me and the seven seas

You are a renegade

You can find me where the clouds part

You can plunge in anxiety so grim

You can survive on caution and foresight

You don't have a single flaw

You lived on with them, now they live on with you

You sing with the sounds of the seas sincere

You swore to win the war? I withdraw

You think you're a king

You think you're justice

You think you're the light

You're a bottle of lightning

You're dissolvin' the last straw

You're givin' me a little mania

You're not your demons

You've got a story 

You've got a window

You've got a window of time and air

Your heart beats so rhythmic and pure

Your leap won't lend you much leeway

Your lonely cell is waiting

Your silhouette sings profanity

Your soul is a bird