#<- sorry I didn’t answer this yesterday!! and I’m hoping you didn’t watch a whole season in a day

[radiant-reid]

I'm re-watching criminal minds (again) and really i can't help myself to burst of laughing when our sweet boy EXPLODED by answering the phone, saying "Son of a bitch" in 7x04. I'm kinda chuckles like a teenager thinking "woo Spencer, so rebel 🤭"... In french he says "Bordel de merde" which means "bloody hell" i think. I don't know I really think that season 7 is the start of his new confidence and i love that so much! (also can i claim 🐙 for the anon emoji?)

this always makes me laugh so hard. I love it when they act like a family and Morgan is so much like an older brother. I think he surprised Morgan and Rossi so much and then Hotch is just standing there like wtf happened ??

[leeknowlover99]

Hihihii can you do stray kids reaction to reader wearing something very short for the first time can be nsfw 🫦 Thanks

sure! sorry it took so long :(

that was so much fun to write! hope you like it ;)

warnings: fluff, suggestive and explicit content, nicknames, tiny bit of angst, slight mention of insecurities

masterlist

chan

you and chan were going for a fancy date tonight to celebrate your promotion at work. you were meeting in the restaurant so you were getting ready on your own. yesterday you went shopping with your best friend and she persuaded you to buy a short red dress. the type you would never buy on your own. but when she make you try it on you thought it looked good on you. however now you felt a bit unsure, you thought that maybe it was a bit too much. but since you were running out of the time the only thing you could do was leave in that dress. you hoped Chan will like it. when you entered the restaurant he was already there waiting. you saw his gaze slowly slide down your body as you were approaching your table. this already made you blush. maybe it was a good choice after all. Chan stood up to greet you and kissed you, hands resting a bit lower on your waist than usually. “you look gorgeous.” he whispered in your ear before pulling out the chair for you. you noticed that he was a bit distracted through the whole dinner. you only realized why when waiter asked if you wanted a dessert and chan answered “no we’re good thank you”. and after you looked at him confused he whispered “we’ll have dessert at home baby” and winked at you.

minho

minho was sure you wore this skirt for the sole reason of pissing him of. after the argument you had last week you did not speak a word to him. and now you were both at Chan’s party, all evening you didn’t give him one look. but everyone’s eyes, including Minho were on you. tight black skirt hugged your butt perfectly. oh you knew how much Minho loved your ass. you also knew how possessive he was.he watched you have fun and flirt with others all evening but when some dude started to get too touchy with you he finally snapped. “execuse me, we need to talk” he barged into you and grabbed your arm. you did not even manage to react before he dragged you to an empty bathroom and pressed against the door. “what the fuck?” you frowned. “don’t ask stupid questions y/n. i know the game you’re playing” you gulped at intensity of his gaze. “i’m sorry, i really am. and i’m ready to commit. but right now you’re really pissing me off” so many emotions were mixed in his voice. you couldn’t find the right words to respond so instead you laced your arms behind his neck and pulled him for a passionate kiss. his tongue immediately found yours and hands started exploring your body. he quickly focused on your ass, grabbing, squeezing and spanking. “you call this funny piece of poliester a skirt, your ass was begging to be touched all night baby girl.”

changbin

you and Changbin started seeing each other in the winter time when it was absolutely freezing most of the time. it did not give you chance to wear skirts or dresses. but now when spring was around the corner you could finally dress better for your dates. today you were going to watch cherry blossoms, so you opted for a short white tennis skirt and blue sweater. you wanted to take some cute pictures. you saw Changbin eyeing you up when he picked you up but he didn’t say anything. you enjoyed the date and talked non stop. “Binnie look a photo booth! let’s take a pic!” you jumped excited. you couldn’t miss a chance to get some new shots with your handsome boyfriend. he agreed and you entered the small space. the booth was really tiny so you sat on a Changbins lap and started posing. however you noticed Binnie being tense. “hey relax, let’s do a hug” you prompted him and moved more towards him on his lap. “oh” that’s when you realized as you bare thigh rubbed around a very prominent hardness in his pants. “why are you hard?” you laughed. Changbin looked at your lap where your skirt was bunched up around your hips almost exposing your panties, he slowly rubbed circles on your thighs. “i just love your outfit princess, that’s all.”

hyunjin

it was your boyfriends birthday and you decided to surprise him. he loved your body, even when you couldn’t say the same. but with his help you were slowly becoming more comfortable and accepting with yourself. you still were far away from letting him paint or photograph you naked but you decided to take a next step. you’ve never worn anything short around him but now you bought a new mini skirt and wore it to your date. he definitely noticed greeting you his eyes wondered around your hips a little bit longer than usual. “ you look beautiful love” he whispered in your ear now. you came back to his place and you were making out on the couch. your mini skirt now hiked up as you straddled him. his large hands gently massaging your ass. “your body is so sexy, i was so hard when i saw you in that dress.” he hissed and you rocked your hips against his erection. “just like i am now. god what did i do to deserve such a pretty girl like you” he mumbled against your neck, licking and sucking on it. “i’m glad you enjoyed your birthday gift Hyun”.

jisung

you and Jisung had been dating secretly for about six months. since you were both idols you didn’t want any dating scandals and people getting into your business. sometimes you had to interact in music shows or award ceremonies. today was one of this days when both your groups attended same award show. it wasn’t a first time but you were super nervous. stylist decide to give you a sexy outfit today, short black dress hugging your body perfectly. you weren’t used to wearing clothes like that, your group’s concept was more boyish. you’ve never worn sexier clothes with Jisung either, when you were hanging out you usually tried to blend in and cover yourself best in the crowd so no one would recognize you. so now you were nervous for his reaction. you knew that he wore revealing clothes himself on the stage. maybe he won’t even notice you thought. however he definitely noticed. he kept staring at you, eyes wide and dark. he was being so shameless that you started to get worried that someone will notice. you excused yourself to go the bathroom and rest from his burning gaze a bit. as you were reaching for the door you heard his voice calling your name. “Y/N!” you turned around and saw Jisung running towards you. “Ji what are you doing? we’re not supposed to be seen together” you whispered. “i just can’t contain myself, you look so good, i’ve never seen you in a dress like that before” he mumbled pressing you against the door lightly. his eyes shined with both adoration and lust. you blushed. “someone will notice” you tried to protest. “i don’t care” he said and pulled you in for a deep kiss, his hands already playing with the hem of your dress.

felix

you and your boyfriend were invited to his parents house for dinner tonight. they wanted to celebrate their wedding anniversary. you decided to dress a bit more fancy than usual. Felix put on a nice shirt and a tie. you recently found your old black dress. it was short but very elegant so you decided it is still quite appropriate for the occasion. Felix entered your bedroom and started looking around. “are you searching for something?” you asked. “yeah i can’t find my watch.” he said finally looking at you. “oh” he blushed. “what?” you asked checking yourself out in the mirror. you looked fine. your boyfriend approached you slowly eyes gazing at your exposed thighs. “i’ve never seen you wear such a short dress.” “is it too short?” you asked worried now. maybe you should change in something longer. “nah it’s fine. just a little bit distracting” Felix responded hugging you from behind. you chuckled and he leaned down to kiss you. at first his lips were sweet and gentle but after a while he became more desperate. his hands started roaming your body and pressing you against his hard on. “Lixie stop” you said a bit breathless from all the kisses. “we’ll crease our clothes and we need to leave soon” you tried to think rationally despite your boyfriend tempting you. “are you going to leave me like that?” he pouted pointed to his erection. “yes, we’ll have fun when we’ll be back, come on!” you protested.

seungmin

you met Seungmin in the dog shelter this summer, you were both students volunteering. you slowly started to get to know each other working long hours together. attraction was there from the beginning, in shy smiles and long conversations, although both of you were rather timid. after two months Seungmin finally gathered enough courage to ask you out. you agreed with pure joy in your eyes which made him a bit more confident. however you have never imagined that on your first date you’ll end up pressed against the cafes restroom door panties to the side, his bare dick deep inside of you hitting your sweet spot. “fuck Seungmin i’m gonna cum” you moaned clenching around him. “cum pretty, cream my cock” he grunted in between of messy wet kisses. and all of that happened because of that damn dress as he said. he could not resist you. after months of seeing you in dirty sweats and overalls you wore the flimsiest little sundress to your first date. and suddenly he did not have any willpower left, dragging you to the restroom in the middle of the date cause he just needed to have you.

jeongin

“look at that dress, it’s stunning” you boyfriend showed you a short sparkly piece of material. “it’s way to short for me and you know that” you dismissed it immediately. “come on, at least try it on. it will look great on you.” he insisted following you around the store. “fine” you agreed finally taking few other pieces with you to the fitting room as well. Jeongin followed you like an excited kid. it was so cute it made you smile. he patiently waited for you to change and gave his opinions on each piece. you left the dress for the end. surprisingly it actually fit you like a glove. yes it was dangerously short but you definitely liked how it looked on you. you must’ve been staring at yourself for a bit too long because jeongin peeked from behind the door and joined you. “wow y/n” he gasped eyes traveling down your body. “i told you it will look good.” his hands found their way around your waist as he was watching your figure in the mirror. “yeah i actually like it, should i get it?” you asked feeling brave now. “hmm” your boyfriend pretended to think about it while his hands rubbed your hips. “i’m not sure if i’ll be able to control myself if you will wear that in public” he whispered in your ear and nipped at your neck. you arched towards him and replied “is this such a bad thing?” slowly guiding his hand down your body between your legs. “no it’s not” he responded grinning and giving you exactly what you needed.

[bbina]

after spending the whole night with the guys, it was time to go home

“are you riding with us?” you hear sungchan ask, referring to him and eunseok since you guys did carpool on the way to the place the guys decided to meet

you glance at wonbin who was busy chatting with shotaro. wonbin feels your gaze and turns to you with a smile. that was the only answer you needed

“i’m gonna go with wonbin” you say absentmindedly

“ah, okay” sungchan says, patting your shoulder before he going to eunseok to probably tell that you wouldn’t be going home with them just yet

from your peripheral vision you see wonbin holding his hand out and just like a magnet, you instantly gravitate towards him.

“another late night date i assume?” shotaro teases, nudging wonbin with his elbow. wonbin laughs, pushing shotaro away as he blushes a bit. (he’s legitimately down bad im ctfu)

“hope you don’t mind i steal him again” you poke your tongue out at shotaro before wrapping your arms around wonbin’s, snuggling to his side as you patiently wait for them to finish chitchatting

shotaro laughs, before shooing wonbin away.

“you can keep him all you want”

you grin at shotaro before he says his goodbye to wonbin. he was probably gonna ask to ride with the rest of the guys, most probably ask eunseok to drop him off but you didn’t care as long as you were with wonbin

“sorry bout that, we were just talking about random shit as if i don’t live in the same building as him” wonbin chuckles, fishing for his car keys (more like shotaro’s) as you two walk to the parking lot.

wonbin clicks the unlock button on the keys. before you could grab the car door, wonbin himself opens it for you.

“my baby should never open her side of the door on her own” he jokes, winking as you sit down on the passenger seat with a laugh.

“god you’re insufferable” you giggle, watching him jog over to his side of the car before he turns the ignition on. you feel your cheeks start to hurt with the way you’re smiling so widely. who knew you and wonbin would ever be like this

“but you like it” he claims. which was true, you do like this side of wonbin that only you get to see. to the others he may seem a little mysterious and nonchalant, but to you? that’s a whole different story

“so, where to?” wonbin asks, as he backs up on the parking lot. his other hand on your head rest as he turns around to see where he’s going. you feel yourself blush at the sight. one hand on the steering wheel and the other on your seat as he meticulously gets out of the tight parking space.

there goes the butterflies in your stomach again. they’ve been at it for a while now. ever since that one date where he got you ‘just because’ flowers. you try to ignore those weird fuzzy feeling you get whenever wonbin’s around but lately, it seems to be impossible

“anywhere really” you say, not caring where the road takes you two. the night was still young

“i’m glad i met you, y/n” wonbin starts softly, a smile creeping up his face. stealing glances here and there as he once again drives you around the streets of seoul

“we met during freshman year” you point out, holding in your laugh as you remember how you initially met the boy beside you.

it was just like yesterday when you all were just freshmen in highschool. all fresh out of middle school as you all adjust to the new life of being a highschooler.

that year you weren’t classmates with neither eunseok and sungchan. they were classmates in another section so that meant you were alone during your first year.

that’s how you met wonbin. you were in the same class at him and you two got paired for a research paper in science together. a subject you weren’t really the brightest in

it was after school when wonbin first approached you. you were waiting for eunseok and sungchan to come pick you by the hallway when wonbin approached you for the first time.

“hi” he said so softly that you almost didn’t hear it. you looked at him in surprise, is this the first friend that’s not sungchan that you’ll ever make?

“i’m your partner–”

wonbin wasn’t able to finish his sentence when eunseok and sungchan arrive. the first thing eunseok heard out of all things was “partner” and instantly, his overprotective brother mode just switched on

“partner?” eunseok raises an eyebrow at the kid who seemed to be around his age in front of him. “you and my sister?” he pushes on, using his height as an advantage to press on the poor boy in front of him

wonbin visibly gulps and turns to you with nervous eyes. a little call for help as you’d like to think. even if the situation was funny, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for your new… friend

“eunseok quit being a dumbass he’s my partner for a paper we’re doing in science” you roll your eyes as you pull your brother away from the now shaking wonbin. poor boy must’ve been shaken up from the sudden interrogation from a guy he didn’t even know, who seemed to be in a different class in a new environment

“science? oof. good luck with her, kid” sungchan makes a sour face, teasing you. you let out an irritated sigh before smacking him and eunseok.

“hey!”

“what was that for!?”

wonbin can only watch the three of you in amusement. you, his classmate having this power against the two twin towers from another class

“anyway kid, i was just joking around back there. i’m eunseok, what’s your name?” eunseok brushes his wrinkled uniform before holding his hand out for wonbin to shake

“i’m wonbin” he mutters, shyly taking his hand

“nice to meet you wonbin! i’m sungchan!” sungchan greets, also holding his hand out

“don’t mind them. they’re practically my brothers and we’re all attached by the hip.. anyway! about our paper, we can talk about it tomorrow or i can give you my number and we can talk about it later tonight?” you suggest options since you can’t really do much now that eunseok and sungchan has arrived

wonbin hears sungchan mumbling about already giving out numbers on the first meet, earning another smack from you

“or he could join us to eat right now. i’m starving and i’m craving for ramen” eunseok proposes, having enough of prolonging the after school meal you three had planned all day.

even if wonbin wanted to decline initially, who could say no to food?

“that sounds better! that way we can get to know him too!” you cheer as you throw your thumbs up in front of wonbin

“what do you say, wonbin?” you ask, waiting for his response

“i’m cool with that” wonbin smiles at the three of you. you all cheer as he tags along with your group for the first time. who knew during the first day of classes he’d already find himself a group of friends (or acquaintances for now)

and after that, the rest was history. your little friend group, backstreet boys was formed.

who knew the same boy you were partners in for a class back in freshman year would turn out to be your partner again a few years later.

“i’m serious! who knew you’d be this important to me..” wonbin mutters the last part hoping you wouldn’t hear it but unfortunately for him, you heard it

“awweee is this wonbin finally admitting he likes me?” you jokingly coo, reaching over to pinch his now blushing cheek.

wonbin scrunches his nose as he leans towards your touch

“so what if i do?” he banters, turning his head to look at you with lovestruck eyes before turning his attention back at the road ahead.

“of course everyone likes me, it’s me, the song y/n. the one and only”

“that’s not what i meant” wonbin interjects and it made your stomach drop

your eyes widened as you retract your hand from his cheek. does he mean it like that?

“.. oh” you laughed awkwardly, caught off guard at the sudden shift in the conversation.

“yeah..” wonbin murmurs. of course you’re song y/n. the song y/n that ultimately stole his heart amidst the chaos and uncertainty of your arrangement

the song on aux suddenly plays k. by cigarettes after sex. the soft, slow mellow ambiance of the song changing the atmosphere inside the car. it was now a silent car ride heading to who knows where. wonbin then reaches his hand towards yours, intertwining them as he rests his hand on your thigh

“think i like you best when you're just with me and no one else”

wonbin sings along to the song. stealing glances here and there til the song finishes.

you’re not dumb. there was a nagging feeling at the back of your head on where this was going and you didn’t like it one bit. you thought about this for a while now. sure, you’d be beyond happy that you and wonbin would become official. disregard the whole fake dating set up and make it real once for all but it’s just unfair for wonbin.

it’s so unfair.

you both knew what you two were getting into and the last thing you wanted was to actually catch real, genuine feelings for each other.

unlike with sungchan, the feeling of being with wonbin was just different. so different that it genuinely scared you to try anything real. maybe it was the close proximity during the trip that made you daring back then. knowing that by the time the trip was over, you and wonbin were also over. like you two didn’t share those quiet moments, those kisses, those lingering touches, intimate moments with wonbin that are now a distant but fond memories

what you didn’t expect was the arrangement to continue on. you didn’t have a back up plan when you initially made this pact with wonbin and now you’re seeing the consequences.

it’s not like you didn’t fall for wonbin along the way. you definitely did at some point, but to refrain yourself from making the same mistakes you did with sungchan, you chose to suppress the feeling. the feeling wonbin makes it feel like you two are missing puzzle pieces, the feeling wonbin makes you feel so secure in yourself, the feeling wonbin makes you feel that it’s him that you want and no one else

you can’t hurt wonbin. you couldn’t hurt wonbin. you can’t be with wonbin

with a fake smile, you gently squeeze wonbin’s hand. as if it’s a sign that everything will be alright. you’re hoping that wonbin wakes up from his little dream with you in it soon. it can’t end like this.

not like this.

between the lines ★ long way home

⤷ from what started as a simple arrangement to hide your feelings for a certain someone by getting into in a fake relationship soon turns into a tangled mess. in which some things are hard to tell when you can’t read between the lines

 ˗ˏˋ prev | next  ˎˊ˗

★ notes .ᐟ im pissed the fuck off bc my plane just left me so enjoy the next two chapters because i know i will

★ taglist .ᐟ @callanton @annswwa @renjuneoo @pinkraindropsfell @lecheugo @ilovejungwonandhaechan @ahnneyong @haechansbbg @snowyseungs @sseastar-main @odxrilove @leeknowarchives @onlywonb @wonychu @leehanascent @jaeyunsb @au-ghosttype @revehosh @keilovr @kyusqult @dreamyyyz @ether-yeol @yangasm @qwonbani @starwonb1n @ffixtionista @daegale @scrumptiousloser @seunghancore @marksluvs @wonbinfiles @ohmykwonsoonyoung @reenfluffmarshmallow @bunni @artstaeh @yizhoutv @sie17136 @koeuh @07yujin @poollabug @vernonburger @dutifullyannoyingfox @000rpheus @wccycc @sunus-sun @highhjime @chweverni @toosspicy @heartlvrrss @s9nwoo @yoursyuno

[steddieas-shegoes]

For the requests: traumatized steve & eddie going to a wolf sanctuary and eddie watching steve basically live with the wolves in their area. And the one wolf,the one that hated everyone, the one who meaner and didn't get along with anyone to its cruel abusive situation (perhaps it was raised from puppyhood and onwards by people who used it in dogfighting, before it was rescued, that wolf, goes right up to Steve and sits by him. Giving him comfort. When Steve has bad nightmares he goes to that wolf's pen and they sleep cuddled together bc that wolf also has nightmares. (It can also be a wolfdog)

AS ALWAYS YOU COME THROUGH WITH SOMETHING FUN AND CREATIVE AND AS ALWAYS I MAKE IT EMOTIONAL AS SHIT!!! I was feelin' some type of way yesterday and started on this at peak emotional upheaval, which is really something I don't recommend. As many things tend to do, this got away from me and I think I could've still let it keep going, but I had to cut it off. Hope you love it!!! - Mickala ❤️

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

It was Robin’s idea.

She knew therapy wasn’t working. She knew firsthand that the nightmares, especially Steve’s, were impossible to handle some nights.

She stayed with him enough after the Russians to know he was averaging four hours of restless sleep on a good night.

And now that he’d seen the horrors of the Upside Down, and Eddie almost dying, and Max almost dying, and the guilt of just existing, they were worse.

Eddie had them, but he was usually able to calm down relatively quickly, usually even fall back into a dreamless sleep after.

His problem was just seeing the bats everywhere, even when he was awake. A large bird would fly by and he was ducking for cover like a bomb would be dropped on him. He’d hear screeching, sometimes even just kids yelling at the park, and he’d have a panic attack.

Drastically different problems, but Robin said this could help with both of them.

So Steve and Eddie stood outside the wolf sanctuary, staring at the front office entrance where they were told to check in.

They glanced at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

It’s not that they were scared. They’d been told about the process on the phone in great detail, the sanctuary director answering all of their questions in a friendly tone.

She’d said that the wolf sanctuary had been used as a form of therapy for people for years now, though many psychiatrists didn’t consider it an appropriate treatment.

Considering Steve and Eddie had been seeing a professional psychiatrist for months now with no progress and serious weight loss and migraines from their prescriptions, they were willing to give this a fair shot.

But their fear that it wouldn’t work kept circling through their minds.

If this didn’t work, they weren’t sure what else they could possibly try.

That was terrifying.

They were supposed to stay for a month, with the option of extending the stay if they felt they needed it.

It was expensive.

But this was on the US government, and Eddie was always quick to spend their money for his benefit.

Steve was just along for the ride.

They walked in together, both nervously looking around at the chairs and desks, bookshelves, pictures of wolves and mountains on the walls, and one small, gray-haired woman at the front desk.

“Oh, aren’t you two precious! Which one’s Steve and which one’s Eddie?”

“I’m Steve,” Eddie smirked as he held out his hand.

Steve smacked his arm.

“He’s Eddie, and he’s probably gonna be this way the whole time. Sorry in advance,” Steve told the woman.

“This is wonderful! You’ll be fun to have around. I’m Fran, I run the front office. I spoke to you the other day on the phone a bit about the check in. Are you boys ready?”

They both nodded.

She clapped her hands together in excitement.

Steve could tell Eddie loved her. She was full of theatrics like he was, every word punctuated by an exaggerated movement.

“First, the boring part. We did some of the first part over the phone, but these packets need to be filled out completely and given back to me. You can have a seat anywhere to do those. When that’s done, I’ll show you where to bring your bags so you can unpack and get comfortable. We can do a tour before dinner.”

She placed the packets on the desk in front of her, then took two pens out of a mug and placed them down too.

“If you have any questions, let me know. You two are just the cutest!”

She walked through a small doorway a few feet behind her desk and they grabbed the packets to start filling them out.

The first page was basic personal information, which had been filled out already. The second page was emergency contact information and how they were referred. But the third page is where it got difficult.

It has questions like “What is your worst memory?” and “Who is the person you would most expect to protect you in a life or death situation? Why?”

And while Eddie and Steve could probably answer those easily from terrible experiences, there was a lot they weren’t allowed to say.

So they just stuck with the official government stories for any and all Upside Down related parts, which was most of them.

Fran bustled back in, two steaming mugs in her hands. She set them on her desk carefully and then walked over to where Eddie was sitting.

“How’s it going?”

“Good. Almost done,” he smiled up at her.

“And you, dear?” She asked Steve.

“Good. I’m sorry I write kind of slow.”

Steve’s face was red, like he was embarrassed. Eddie watched as he focused on the paper in front of him, his hand moving slowly across the paper.

Steve’s concussions had a lot of lasting effects; migraines and one ear that was barely working, the occasional speech delay, and an inconvenient struggle with writing, especially if it was answering questions about himself like this.

Eddie distracted Fran as he wrote his last answer, talking to her about her favorite part of the sanctuary and how long she’s been working here.

He handed the packet to her when he was done, glancing over at Steve to see he was just starting on the last page.

“Hey, Fran, would it be okay if you helped me get our bags from the car while Steve finishes up?”

Steve sent him a grateful smile as he continued answering the questions on the paper.

As he walked with Fran to the car, she touched his arm.

“He’s got a lot going on, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. He’s been dealing with this a lot longer than I have,” Eddie smiled sadly at her, touching her hand to accept the comfort she was giving and give some in return. “I hope this works for both of us, but I’d be happy as long as it works for him.”

“You care a lot about him.”

It wasn’t a question, and her tone wasn’t judging, but Eddie could just tell. He should panic, he should tell her it wasn’t like that. And it wasn’t for Steve.

But he’d been hiding it for so long, and somehow successfully, he couldn’t lie to her.

“I love him. He doesn’t know how much. I did this for him, mostly. I mean I want it to help me too, but I know he wouldn’t have tried this if I didn’t come and he,” Eddie sighed. “He needs this. He can’t keep going like he has been.”

Fran pulled him into a hug and he did all he could not to start crying.

“He’s lucky to have you on his side no matter what, darling. And I’d bet anything he thinks the same of you,” she said softly.

“I don’t think it’s quite the same. He loves me like a friend, but he’s not…not like me.”

Gay. He wasn’t gay. Or even a little into men. Eddie was sure of that.

Fran pulled away and just smiled at him.

“Okay, then. Let’s get these bags inside.”

They managed to bring everything in in one trip, and by the time they made it back inside, Steve was done with his packet.

“Alright!” Fran clapped her hands together in excitement. “To your room!”

Eddie’s eyes widened.

“Room? Like, just one?”

“Yep! The other room we have for long-term residents is already taken for the next few weeks. Will that be okay?”

She was smiling innocently at Eddie, who knew she knew why he was suddenly panicking.

“That’s fine. We end up sharing a room all the time, right, Eds?” Steve asked as he grabbed his own bags from the floor.

“Uh. Yep. Totally fine.”

“Great!”

She led them out the back of the front office, down the sidewalk that led to a row of small buildings.

“This first building is storage. The next one is the short-term stays, usually people who donate frequently to keep us running, staying for a night or two to see where their money goes. This next building is for long-term stays. That’s you two. It’s split into a duplex, so you’ll have basically a studio apartment in there. Kitchen, bathroom, living area with a sectioned off area as the bedroom. You each will have a key, but keep in mind that the director also has a key for emergencies. The janitorial staff only goes if requested, so let me know if you feel it needs a sprucing up or you need new sheets or anything. Fridge is stocked and gets restocked every two weeks.” She paused as they made it to the steps to the building. “Oh! We don’t technically have a curfew for the guests. You’re adults and we trust you on your journey here. But we do ask that you try to be back no later than 11, as we often shut off many of the trail lights by midnight to ensure the animals have the closest replica of the wild as possible.”

Steve and Eddie nodded, eyes wide at all the information being thrown at them so quickly.

“Your room has a phone of course. You’re free to use as often as you’d like. Pressing 1 gets you in touch with the front office, 2 is for security, 3 is for the director’s office. I recommend calling the front office unless it’s an emergency so we can get in touch with the right people for you. After your tour, you’ll have free reign over the entire sanctuary except for anywhere marked employees and volunteers only. That’s for your safety, of course. We encourage you to be a part of some of the educational tours and seminars that we offer to the general public as well as enjoy time on your own with the wolves. Volunteers are here every day from 9 to 5, and the employees who help care for the wolves stay until 11. We have security here 24/7, but the director usually has a couple people on staff remain after regular hours in case of an animal emergency.”

This felt a little overwhelming, but he could already tell Steve was more relaxed here than he’d been anywhere else since he met him.

“I work when they need me, but my home number is by the phone in there for you just in case you need a chat. I retired a couple years ago so I spend a lot of my time at home with my dog. You’re never a bother, okay?”

They both nodded.

She hugged them both, handed them their keys, and started to walk away.

“Your tour will be in about an hour. James is running it today. You’ll love him!”

She was gone before they could even respond, so they looked back to each other and shrugged before heading inside.

The main door was unlocked, but the door inside marked with a “2” was locked. Steve unlocked it and pushed the door open.

The apartment was nice, but small, smaller than either of them had expected.

“Guess we’ll be getting pretty close for the next month, huh?” Steve joked.

Eddie’s heart was in his throat.

He could see the “bedroom” from where he stood. It was one queen sized bed. One.

“Um. Yep. Guess so. I can take the couch,” Eddie rushed out.

Steve clearly hadn’t seen the sleeping arrangement yet or he would have probably offered. He’s a self-sacrificing idiot, so Eddie had to rush to offer before he could.

“What? Why?”

Eddie gestured towards the bed.

“There’s plenty of room for both of us, dude. A month on the couch isn’t exactly gonna help with the nightmares.”

“It looks pretty cozy.”

Steve just stared at him, brows raised like Eddie was an idiot.

He was an idiot, but he didn’t need Steve thinking it.

“Eddie. Seriously. We can share a bed.”

Steve wouldn’t let him win, it’s just not who Steve was.

“Okay, okay! Let’s just unpack so we can go see some wolves or whatever.”

They unpacked in silence, Steve taking the spot closest to the door without Eddie having a choice.

Self-sacrificing idiot.

—--------------

James knocked on their door at exactly 4:00, like he’d been standing there waiting for the clock to change over from 3:59.

“Hello! I’m James. You’re Steve and Eddie?”

They all shook hands and James started explaining things quickly.

James was only a bit older than them, wearing a volunteer shirt that had seen better days, and had the energy of Dustin.

“So! I’m gonna show you the lay of the land, you can ask me questions, I can try to answer them, and then I can drop you off back here so you can eat. The first night can be a bit of an adjustment, so feel free to give me a call if you have trouble. My number is under Fran’s,” James spoke rapid-fire, but not so fast they couldn’t keep up. They were used to that, anyway.

“So to start, everything you guys really need is along this main trail.” He pointed the way they came earlier and then the other direction. “That way leads to our nutrition area for the wolves, which you are welcome to visit anytime during the day to help or feed some of the rehabilitated wolves in the building nextdoor which is the hospital. The hospital is only open to the guests staying here and employees from 12-5, just because much of the mornings are spent performing surgeries or checkups. You’re encouraged to spend time with any of the wolves there in recovery as it helps their spirits much like a person. But if you take the left at the fork in this trail, you’ll be led to other trails. The first one is the wolf enclosures, which I’m taking you to now.” He kept walking as he spoke, moving his hands constantly, big smile keeping Eddie and Steve enthralled.

“We have one specifically for the ones we’ve rescued who are still healing from injuries, and that one is off limits to everyone between dusk and dawn. Many of these wolves are relearning how to be wild and part of that is using the night to hunt. Being in their cage during those times could be dangerous. They wouldn’t necessarily eat you,” he paused to laugh. “But they may take a bite. Now! The second enclosure is where we keep Herald. You can laugh at his name.” Eddie let out a small laugh.

“Herald had a rough upbringing. He was rescued about six months ago from a traveling circus that had abused him for at least a few years. We think he’s about 5 years old, but can’t be 100% certain. He’s hesitant around all people, even the director. He can be very unpredictable, so only the director, vet, and head nutritionist are allowed in there. You’re welcome to visit from the outside anytime you’d like though! He’s shy, but it can’t hurt having people talk to him.”

James was walking pretty quickly, and if Steve wasn’t so in shape, he’d be struggling. He looked over at Eddie. Eddie was struggling a little, but didn’t want to stop or slow down.

“And the last enclosure is for the rest of the wolves. These are ones that may be reintroduced to the wild soon or who may have been rescued without injuries, but just aren’t ready to go yet. This enclosure has a few areas for public access. The first being the feeding area, the second being the petting area. The petting area is only able to be accessed when employees or volunteers are present. The third area is only for guests staying long term such as yourselves.”

James walked them through a gate off to the side of the enclosure.

“This area is my favorite in the whole sanctuary. It’s their den area. It’s not recommended to come alone, and you should always go to the petting area to meet them first, but this area is nice for anyone who wants to feel like a part of the pack.”

“We can go in there?”

“Again, it’s definitely recommended to meet the wolves in the petting area first, maybe feed them a few times to show them you’re a friend, but yes.”

“Huh.”

Eddie watched Steve’s reaction.

This was much more involved than they expected to be.

“So that’s the enclosures! The next part of this trail leads to a walking and biking trail that is a great way to see some nature without having to leave the area. It’s snake season, though, so make sure you know your snake safety beforehand and bring the provided whistle with you in case of an emergency. Volunteers and employees are always within hearing distance during normal hours and can usually respond within 3-4 minutes.”

“Could we go back to Herald?”

Eddie’s head snapped to Steve, who was looking at James with a kind smile.

“Oh. Well, sure. The only other thing I needed to show you was the trail leading to the lake, but we can go back after.”

So James backtracked, Steve and Eddie close on his heels.

They got to the enclosure with Herald, but didn’t see him.

“He likes to hide. Especially if it isn’t close to meal time, he doesn’t usually come close to the fence. His den is hidden away.”

Steve kept walking up to the fence as James spoke, Eddie watching and trying to figure out what was going on.

“Herald? You there?” Steve called gently into the fence. Wolves had excellent hearing, and he’d probably already heard them approach. “You can come say hi if you want to.”

Eddie stood next to Steve, looking out at the area in the enclosure. There was a good mix of forest and empty area, with plenty of things that were probably used as toys scattered around. He watched for any sign of movement, listened for any trotting over.

Nothing.

Steve looked incredibly disappointed, but James walked closer and gave them both a smile.

“Like I said, Herald isn’t very social and it’s nothing personal. He doesn’t even seem to like the director and all the wolves love her.”

But Eddie knew Steve. He knew that he wasn’t gonna let that shit go.

“Alright! Shall we head to the trail by the lake?”

Eddie watched as Steve sighed, but nodded.

—--------------

Steve cooked them dinner that evening, said it helped him relax and that he would feel more at home if he got into a routine.

Eddie wouldn’t complain; He loved Steve’s cooking.

He made a basic spaghetti dish, even toasted some bread and sprinkled some garlic powder on it to make garlic bread.

They sat at the small table by the front door and ate in silence.

“It’s really quiet here.”

Eddie looked up to see Steve staring down at his plate, biting his lip nervously.

“It’s kind of nice though. Peaceful.”

“Yeah.”

Eddie knew what he was worried about.

He was worried the silence would make him have more nightmares instead of less, that he’d be left with nothing to help him if this failed.

“Hey,” Eddie reached over and patted Steve’s hand that rested on the table. “I’m here, alright? You won’t be alone.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, only slightly relaxing back into his seat.

—--------------

The next day was relaxed.

They walked along the main trail after breakfast, happy to see Fran again and meet some new people.

They stopped at Herald’s enclosure, but still didn’t see or hear him.

Steve was disappointed, but it was hidden away when they were able to feed and pet some of the other wolves before lunch.

The wolves were all beautiful, clearly well taken care of, and even the ones still in recovery were cleaned, well-fed, and cared for by the team.

Eddie quickly had a favorite: Mabel. She was an “old woman” as the employee at the feeding area said. She was 12 years old, had been brought in from the side of the road after being hit. She had had a broken leg and many broken ribs, along with cuts that needed stitches. Not the worst they’d seen, but due to her being nearly 11 at the time, they didn’t expect her to pull through. She did though, and had quickly become known as the leader of the group. All the wolves respected her, it was clear even to Eddie and Steve. She was the first to the feeding area, the first to the petting area, and would often stand guard over the others as they went into the shared spaces.

She was light brown with gray speckled throughout, her scars visible, but mostly covered with hair.

Steve loved Mabel, too, but he still had his heart set on Herald.

Eddie wasn’t stupid. He knew why Steve was so fixated on him.

Someone who was abused and hidden away and expected to perform every day for crowds of people? Yeah, Steve and Herald had quite a bit in common.

He just didn’t want him to get his hopes up for nothing.

After lunch, they decided to walk over to the nutrition center, maybe learn something new.

It was educational, and fun, and Eddie said multiple times how much he wished actual school had been like this.

The nutritionists let them help set up all the wolves’ dinners, showing them portion sizes for each of the wolves, telling them what the wolves’ favorites were. How they celebrated birthdays for them.

It was fun. Steve even cracked some smiles throughout.

—--------------

That night was rough.

Steve had fallen asleep quickly, much to Eddie’s delight, but it didn’t last long.

Eddie was woken up not long after he fell asleep by whimpering. He glanced at the alarm clock by the bed. 10:38. Barely an hour.

He knew from experience that waking Steve up would just make things worse for him, so he gently set his hand on Steve’s side, the best support he could give right now.

It physically pained Eddie to watch Steve’s face tighten in fear and sadness, whatever his nightmare was this time painting a horrifying picture he couldn’t escape.

Steve had mentioned once that his worst nightmares weren’t even about reliving anything that happened. They weren’t anyone dying, though he had those too. They weren’t even him dying.

They were everyone turning on him, finally seeing he wasn’t worth their time or effort, leaving him alone in that big empty house just like his parents did. He said the worst part was when Robin and Eddie left in the nightmare. When they looked at him with disgust and said he wasn’t good enough for the kids, and he damn sure wasn’t good enough for them.

No matter how many times they told him that would never be true, he still had them.

Ten minutes went by, agonizingly slowly, tears falling down Steve’s face. Eddie was whispering words of comfort, hoping that somehow Steve could hear him, but knowing he probably couldn’t.

But finally, Steve’s eyes opened, the whimpering stopped, and he was no longer hearing and seeing what hurt him the most.

He sat up and wiped his eyes, but the tears kept coming and his breathing was still labored.

Eddie sat up with him, hand on his arm, thumb rubbing back and forth to keep him present.

“I think I need to walk it off,” Steve said, voice wet with tears still to come.

“Okay. Do you want me to come with you?”

Steve shook his head.

“No, go back to sleep. I’ll only be out for a few minutes.”

And as much as Eddie knew that was a lie, and knew he should probably go with Steve, he had to trust him.

He’d be safe. He had to be.

—--------------

Steve walked aimlessly up and down the main trail for 10 minutes, trying to breathe in the fresh air, focus on his surroundings.

It wasn’t working as well as he’d hoped, but it was better than staying in bed and letting Eddie see him like this.

Eddie was too kind, always. He was bright, like the sun and the stars and the moon on a clear night. He was everything. And if Steve let himself be too vulnerable, too much, Eddie would take that light.

He lost track of where he was going, his breaths coming in sharper pants now as he let more tears fall.

A noise made him freeze.

Leaves rustling.

He looked up to see Herald’s enclosure in front of him. And…

Herald.

Herald was huge, much bigger than any of the other wolves they’d seen so far. He was beautiful. Scars along his legs showing that he had been abused awfully before coming here, but the rest of him glowed with health. He was standing about eight feet from the fence, trying to hide some of his body still behind the bushes along the forest line.

Steve slowly made his way to the fence, his hands up to show he wasn’t going to cause any harm.

Herald didn’t come closer, but he didn’t back or run away either.

Steve counted that as a win.

He instantly slumped to the ground at the fence, his hands and head resting against the chain links like they were the only thing keeping him upright. Maybe they were.

Steve closed his eyes.

He was so focused on staying calm, he couldn’t hear Herald approach. But he suddenly felt a cold, wet nose against his head.

He didn’t panic, he didn’t want to scare Herald, but he realized suddenly that his fingers were very much easily accessed by sharp teeth.

He let Herald sniff him, then slowly looked up.

Herald was tilting his head at him, almost as if he was asking if he was okay.

That made Steve sob.

Herald jumped slightly, but then moved so he was completely against the fence, laying down so his warm body could be against Steve’s.

Steve slowly let his hands fall, reaching through the fence slowly to let them rest in Herald’s fur.

He felt the wolf sigh, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, I get it. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone care, huh? You’re so soft,” Steve whispered, knowing Herald was still not completely relaxed around him.

“You tired?”

Steve felt a little silly for asking a wolf a question, but he felt even sillier when he realized Herald had just moved his head up and down. It was probably a coincidence, but the timing was crazy.

“Me too. We should get some sleep.”

Herald huffed and rolled his head back against the fence.

“Want me to stay?”

Herald huffed again.

“Okay.”

So Steve stayed.

He sat down on the ground, back against the fence, and listened to the crickets and the steady breaths of Herald.

He was woken up by Eddie shaking him and a growl coming from behind him.

“Steve! Jesus, I thought you’d got lost or died or something.”

“How long have I been out here?”

“It’s nearly two in the morning!”

Herald was growling behind him, protectively pacing behind Steve like he would find a way to get through the fence if Eddie tried to hurt him.

“Hey, Herald, it’s okay. This is Eddie. He’s here with me. He’s my friend,” Steve said calmly, holding his hand through the fence so Herald could sniff him and see he was okay.

“Steve! Get your hand out of there. He isn’t friendly, remember?”

“Oh, please. He just slept by me for hours and let me hold his fur like he was a stuffed animal. He’s plenty friendly.”

Eddie just stared, jaw slack, as he realized Steve was right.

Herald was licking Steve’s hand, leaving his scent on him like he was trying to provide as much protection as possible.

“You made friends with the only wolf here who hates people. Unbelievable.”

“Hey, be nice. He just needs some love is all.”

Eddie nodded. Yeah, him and another person with a name that started with S and rhymed with sleeve.

Eddie’s heart had been racing for the last 15 minutes since he woke up and realized Steve wasn’t in bed next to him or anywhere in the apartment.

He finally took a deep breath, balling his shaking hands into fists and stuffing them into the pocket of his hoodie.

“We should head back inside, Stevie.”

Steve seemed to notice Eddie wasn’t doing so great.

“I’m alright, Eds. Hey, look at me.” Eddie looked at Steve’s face, the way he seemed more relaxed than when he first left after his nightmare. “I’m okay. I must have fallen asleep.”

Eddie took a deep breath, resting his head against Steve’s shoulder as he let it out.

“I thought you were gone.”

“Nah, you can’t get rid of me now.”

“No?”

“Nope. Herald and I are just good friends, but you’re still-” Steve cut himself off, but Eddie wasn’t going to let that pass.

“What?”

“Nothing. Not important.”

“Yeah it is. Tell me.”

Steve seemed nervous, and Herald must have sensed it because he let out a low growl.

“It’s just that you mean a lot to me. Kind of everything, actually.”

Eddie couldn’t breathe.

What did that even mean?

Steve’s hand was suddenly in his hair, playing with the ends the way Eddie did when he was nervous.

“You’re just. I mean, how could you not mean the world to me? You dropped everything to come here with me because you knew I wouldn’t do it alone, Eds. You bring me candy at work even though I literally have access to all the candy I want at the counter. You let me find reasons not to watch the scary movies on movie nights when Dustin picks because you know I can’t handle them. You swim in the pool with me alone so no one knows how much I still hate it. I…you’re just…”

Eddie didn’t let him stutter any more, knowing what he was saying without actually saying it.

He knew what Steve was afraid of, and he wasn’t going to let him be scared anymore.

“Steve. I love you. That’s why I do all that. I love you. I’m in love with you. You deserve more than what I can give, but I can keep giving you all of the love I have, and hopefully that will be enough.”

Steve’s lips were on his before he finished speaking, teeth clacking together at the force of it.

Herald huffed, but they didn’t stop. Eddie didn’t know how he was supposed to now that he had Steve’s lips on his.

He never wanted them gone.

His hands reached up to Steve’s neck, cradling his jaw between them as if he was holding something precious. He was.

“I love you so much,” Steve said against his lips, melting against Eddie.

“I love you, Stevie,” Eddie said back. He planted another soft kiss to his lips before resting their foreheads together. “Let’s go back to bed, okay? We can come see Herald after breakfast.”

Steve nodded and turned to Herald.

“I’ll be back. Don’t hide from me, okay?”

He reached in to give Herald’s head a scratch, and Eddie shook his head in disbelief.

It took less than 48 hours for Steve to have the one wolf in this sanctuary who didn’t like people completely wrapped around his finger.

But Eddie could relate.

Steve’s charm was damn near impossible to resist and now he didn’t have to try.

[mari-the-bimbo]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…………….Ex Husband Gojo……???? 😩 Also you have amazing writing!

Ex husband Gojo: solutions

A/N: Let’s gooooo bitchesss

⚠️Warnings: Language, themes of obsession and yandere

He suddenly pulls away to unbuckle his belt. You take a shaky breath, ready to embrace his length and whatever consequences will come with tonight’s confession.

He kisses your cheek as he sits bare in front of you expectantly.

“Take all of me?”

—-

That’s all you could recall from the night before as you rubbed your tired eyes, forcing them to adjust to the morning light that peeled through the curtains.

Hmm those definitely weren’t your curtains, is this Gojo’s house?

Millions of thoughts suddenly hit you now that you were conscious. What was last night about? Where is he now? Wait where are the kids?? Shoko picked them up yesterday but she must’ve had to babysit them last night after the whole fiasco.

You sigh as you remove the duvet from yourself only to find yourself in your underwear and a white shirt that smelt like Gojo, confirming one of your thoughts. But you had no more time to ponder about. You needed to check on your children.

You quickly scavenge for your phone, dialling Shoko’s number while making a mental note to send her a thank you gift. Taking care of Gojo’s mini me’s was not an easy job.

“Sorry, your call could not be connected, please check your signal or try again later”

You frown at the absurdity. No signal?

“You’re awake” came his voice from behind.

“Gojo?”

The ex husband sat quietly on the edge of the bed, watching your dishevelled state in the bed. He wordlessly reaches out and brushes through the knot in your hair.

Your frown deepens, not only were your millions of questions left unanswered, Gojo was unusually tame.

And Gojo Satoru was never tame, so God help anyone witnessing his calm before the storm.

“What’s going Gojo? What the fuck was last night about? Where are my children and why the fuck isn’t my phone connecting calls?” You say frustrated, holding up your phone to him.

His large hand grabs your own, making you drop the phone. “Last night was nothing but the truth, and our children are downstairs having breakfast. As for your phone, you won’t be needing it”

“Excuse me?”

Suddenly you were pulled into his lap, your elbows being pulled behind you by the tight grip of his hands, preventing you from struggling against him in the dirty looking, compromising position.

“Listen to me baby doll” he rasps in your ear. “Everything I said yesterday, I mean it. But you know why this is gonna be difficult right?”

You think momentarily about what he Hm said last night before mumbling an answer. “Because I’m a non curse user?” You say unsure.

You feel him smile against your ear “such a smart girl” he coos before kissing your ear.

“So you understand right?” he continues. “There are curse users out there who will do anything to get to me, even if it means hurting innocent non curse users” he says, and your eyes widen as you connect the dots to his reasoning. “You, my son, my daughter, these are things I can’t risk and-“

“Is that why you divorced me?” You interrupt. You watch Gojo pause in shock, as if he didn’t see that question coming.

You take a shaky gulp, ready to ask again. You never found out why the love of your life divorced you, you doubted yourself every night, wondering where you went wrong. It was time you had answers to the long lasting question that plagued your mind daily. And how you hoped that this was the reason he divorced you and not because you lacked anything in yourself.

“Gojo, is that you di-

“Yes”

You felt a pit drop in your stomach. The answer was supposed to make you happy but instead it made you feel sick. What was the threat so dangerous that the strongest sorcerer felt threatened?

He grabbed your hand to catch your attention once again. “It kills me having to pretend I don’t care about you to the rest of the world, but what kills me more is the more desperate I grew for you, the more my enemies caught on. I have to protect you like I originally swore to when I divorced you y/n”

Suddenly your intuition kicked in as you realised something weird was going on here.

“Y/n, if I can’t have you, then no one can”

Your fight or flight kicked in as your ripped your hand out of Gojo’s grasp and ran towards to window, quickly opening the curtain to see where you were.

And your suspicions were right.

You stare mortified at the masses of trees and green life that surrounded the house you stood in, no roads, no buildings, no city life for miles.

You were deserted.

You back away from the window and look back at Gojo in shock. “Gojo.. where are we?”

The white haired man stood against the door frame now, hands in his pockets, looking like he was ready to gaslight you into believing it was no big deal.

“This is one of my properties in a rural area. I’ve surrounded the house with my cursed energy, you and the kids are safer here” he said calmly.

You feel your blood boiling as you stare at the control freak. You angrily grabbed Gojo by the collar, tugging the 6’3 man downwards. Gojo let out a sigh, but obliged nonetheless, allowing you to pull him down to your height, where his face was now inches from yours.

“Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME? YOU THINK KIDNAPPING US IS THE RIGHT WAY TO PROTECT US?”

He quickly shoved his hand to your mouth and pushes you against the wall. “Be quiet. You’re going to scare the children. And I don’t care what you think, if this is the only way to protect you and my children then so be it.” He scolds in a hushed whisper.

He watched you stumble as he pulls away from you. “Come downstairs and have some food honey, you’ll feel better” he suggested, stroking your hair patronisingly before leaving the room.

Half an hour later, you defeatedly head downstairs in the foreign house. Catching the eye of your eldest.

“Mommy you’re awake!! I missed you” he says as he hugs your legs, you couldn’t help but smile at his naivety before picking him up and kissing his cheek. “I miss you too angel”

“Do you like daddy’s holiday house mommy? We’re gonna have so much fun!” He says, his legs flailing excitedly.

You turn your attention towards Gojo, who sat with your daughter in his lap, braiding her hair, pretending he wasn’t listening.

You look back outside the window wall, staring out into the well maintained but secluded land, wondering where the obsession ends.

[worseforwords]

Manchester Memories (Ona Batlle x Reader)

Part two to this fic, I recommend you read part one first.

Did you really just pull an Amy? As if on cue, your phone started ringing: FaceTime, Amy. 

“Hey Ames, how’s Par-” “Y/N What the fuck!?” She cut you off. You looked at her questioningly. “What, are you like, eating truffle stuffed golden oysters for breakfast?” She yelled at the screen. You realise she must have noticed your excessive spending on her creditcard. “Yeah, sorry about that.” You started, suddenly looking away from the camera. “I figured I deserved it though, given you just ditched me last moment.” “Hm.” Amy took a moment to consider your argument. “Okay, fair enough. But it has to end here!” “Fine, I’ll stop.” You chuckled. “Seriously though what did you eat?” She asked. “I may have ordered breakfast for two.” You mumbled. “Were you that hungry?” Amy started, before noticing your cheeks starting to flush. “OH MY GOD, you had a guest! You should’ve just started with that. I’d love to financially support your love- and/or sex life!” Amy shrieked. “Amy, Jesus, calm down. Yes I had someone over. It was fun. Now let’s move on, how’s Paris?” You quickly changed the subject. “How’s erm, I feel like his name is Logan, or Levi?” “It’s Lewis, actually. Paris is beautiful, so is Lewis, formidable guy, great in bed, blah blah blah.” She quickly summed up. “Now we’ve gotten that out of the way: TELL. ME. EVERYTHING! Spare no details.” Knowing very well she wasn’t going to drop this, you told her the whole story, starting at the coffeeshop.

“Oh my god Y/N/N.” she said when you had finally finished your story. “What?” “You’re in looove!” She teased. “Wha- no I’m not. I just met her yesterday.” “Doesn’t matter, you are sweet for the Spaniard, mad for the Mancunian, lovesick for lobster-girl, enamorado de la chica española!” As much as you wanted to hang up and hide the smile on your tomato-red face, you couldn’t help but laugh at her quickly devised alliterations. “Shut up, Ames.” You mumbled in between laughs. “Oh man, I’ve only once seen you this flustered before, you’re in deep mate.” She said. “Whatever,” you answered. “I’m only here for a few days anyways.” “Now don’t be like that Y/N/N, you can always move to Manchester. Do it for looooove.” “Okay calm down. I have a life to go back to remember? I’m not like you Amy.” “Well, I’m not so sure about that anymore.” She chuckled. “Anyways, I have to go. Lewis is taking me to the Eiffel Tower. At least promise me you’ll make the most out of the time you have together?” “Yeah, I will. Have fun Ames!” “You too babes, talk to you soon!”

The next two days were spend on cloud 9. Ona had a busy training schedule, but made an effort to text you in between sessions whenever she could. As soon as she was done you’d meet up and hang out the rest of the day. You went on many walks, talked about anything and everything, visited random places in Manchester Ona had never even heard about and just enjoyed each others presence. You were pretty sure you were already gaining abs from all the fits of laughter you two shared. By the evening of the second day, neither of you felt like going out for dinner anymore, and Ona offered to cook for you at her apartment. Her roommate was staying at her girlfriends house, so you had the place all to yourself. You filled up on the Ona’s dinner (which was delicious by the way), before cuddling up on the couch to attempt watching the Lion King again. You actually finished the movie this time which you then, as Ona stated, had to celebrate. You happily obliged, and you spend the night there, leaving your luxurious hotel suite empty for the night. 

You woke up to the sound of keys rumbling and the front door opening and closing. You turned around to discover your human pillow was no longer there. You found a note saying: “Off to get us some breakfast. Back in a bit.” You decided to stay in bed, hoping to persuade Ona into coming back to bed. “Ona!” A voice called, that clearly didn’t belong to Ona herself. You panicked, desperately grasping around you in search of something to cover up your nakedness. As you heard footsteps approaching the room you were in, you quickly picked up the nearest shirt you could find, which was the one Ona wore yesterday. You had barely put it over your head when the door flew open. “Ona have you seen my shin p- Oh. You’re not Ona.” The blond girl in the dooropening stated. “That is correct” The both of you were quiet for a second, whilst her eyes scanned over your messy hair, the clothes scattered on the floor and Ona’s shirt you were wearing, which you now realised was on backwards. “You erm, want some coffee or something?” She asked. “Yeah, sure” you said quietly. The blond girl, which you assumed was Ona’s roommate, finally closed the door, giving you some time to actually put some clothes on. You went to the kitchen and she handed you a cup. “I’m Millie by the way.” She smiled. “Hi, I’m Y/N” “So,” she started “you must be the reason Ona has been so absent these past days.” She chuckled, seeing your cheeks flush in embarrassment. Before you could answer you heard the jingling of keys. “Thank god.” You thought to yourself. 

“Millie!” Ona shouted, also turning red immediately. “What are you doing here?” “Forgot my shin pads. Good morning to you too by the way” She was now grinning, clearly very amused about what she walked in on. You and Ona exchanged some looks as she mouthed “I’m sorry” to you. “Oh I love this. Everyone is going to hear about this at training later.” Millie teased, winking at you. “Are you bringing her tonight?” She asked, turning to look at Ona. Ona didn’t answer, instead just looking at you with a bittersweet smile. You both knew you had to leave this afternoon, so this was your last day together. “All right then, guess I’ll leave you two to it” Millie said when no one answered her question. After she shut the door you both burst out laughing, letting out all the tension from before. “Sorry about that.” Ona said once she recovered.

You plopped down on the couch whilst Ona started unpacking the breakfast she got you. “We are having a small party tonight. You could come if you want to?” She asked. You hesitated for a bit. “Ona, you know I-” “Please Y/N, one more night?” She now stood in front of you, handing you a plate and looking at you with a shy smile. You’d already skipped your plans to go to Birmingham to extend your Manchester stay, but you had promised to meet up with a friend in London, and you didn’t want to become a true Amy by ditching them. But damn the puppy dog eyes staring into your soul at that very moment sure made becoming an Amy very tempting. You gathered all your self-control: “I can’t, I- I don’t even have a place to stay and-” “Stay here, with me, por favor Y/N I-” She was practically jumping up and down at this point, when her hopeful expression suddenly changed. “I’m sorry, I’m being way to pushy. You don’t have to stay.” She hastily left to grab some cutlery, missing the pitiful expression in your face. “Ona” you said softly, following her into the kitchen. She didn’t look up from the drawer she was rummaging through. “One more night, but I leave in the morning. Bueno?” She turned around, dropping everything she had in her hands and ran towards you. She embraced you as her strong arms easily lifted you up in the air and you wrapped your legs around her waist. “Thank you thank you thank you” she said and you felt her smile into your neck.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Ona went to training, where she’d presumably be interrogated about the discovery her roommate made this morning. You went back to your hotel to gather your stuff and pack your suitcase. After checking out, you decided to do some shopping. You went to a thrift store for a bit, but grew tired of it quickly, remembering you don’t actually enjoy shopping. When you walked back out, you noticed an adorable little jewellery store in the alley across the street. You walked in to be met with the friendliest smile you had ever seen from the elderly woman behind the counter. You looked around for a while, until you laid your eyes on a golden necklace with a little lion on it. “The perfect souvenir.” you thought.

“You ready?” Ona screamed through the bathroom door. “Almost” you answered, putting on your new necklace before opening the door. “You look great. I like the necklace” Ona said upon seeing you. “Thank you, so do you.” You smiled. “You ready?” She asked again, making sure you're okay with going out to meet all of her teammates. “They can be quite intense, just so you know.” She looked ay you questioningly. “I will be fine, Hakuna Matata, no worries.” You smiled softly. She smiled back. “Hakuna Matata.”

“Hi! Nice to meet you, I’m Alessia.” Said the girl opening the door for you. “Hi, I’m Y/N.” You held out your hand but she quickly pulled you into a tight hug. You walked into the apartment to find that chaos had already erupted. Girls screaming random things at each other left and right. “See, I told you, intense.” Ona chuckled at your at your stunned expression. “Now come on, I’ll introduce you”. The following hour she dragged you across the room, introducing you to basically everyone there. Some teasing happened, but for the most part everyone had been really nice. As the night progressed everyone started getting tipsier. The music was turned up and people started to dance. Some of the girls you met earlier dragged you onto the dance floor and you danced with them for a while.  When you walked into the kitchen for a drink, Alessia was already there, preparing some snacks. “Enjoying yourself?” She asked. “Yes, everyone is being so nice to me.” You smiled. “Of course we are. We wouldn’t dare be rude to a girl Ona speaks so highly of.” She grinned. “She does?” You blushed. “She does. She really likes you Y/N. She couldn’t stop talking about you at training today.” You smiled softly at her words. “I really like her too.” You said, staring at the ceiling in thought. “But you’re leaving tomorrow, right?” Alessia’s words put you right back down on earth, you felt a knot in your stomach and the soft smile disappeared from your face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up. Forget I ever said anything.” She put a reassuring hand on your shoulder. “It’s okay, really, you’re not wrong.” You said, quickly looking away as you felt your eyes starting to water. “I’m just going to get some fresh air.” You hastily turned around, hoping she didn’t notice.

“Y/N?” You heard a familiar voice coming from behind you. The cold air on your skin actually helped, slightly numbing your sadness, as you sat on a bench outside. “Are you okay?” She asked, slowly approaching you. “Here, put your coat on, you’ll catch a cold.” Ona handed you your coat. The cold was no longer numbing enough once you looked into the beautiful eyes that now seemed to be looking into your soul. It simultaneously soothed you and broke you down, ultimately causing you to release a single tear. Ona quickly sat down next to you wrapping both arms around you. “Can you tell me what’s up?” She asked softly. “Tomorrow, I have to go.” You spoke quietly. She hugged you tighter, putting her head in the crook of your neck. You sat in silence for a bit, enjoying her embrace, when you felt something wet in your neck. You pulled away from the embrace to see she was now also getting teary eyed. You cupped her face and you both stared at each other. There was no point in trying to hold it in anymore, and both of you started sobbing uncontrollably. Then, somehow, the sobbing turned into laughter. You sat together laugh-crying for a while before you took a deep breath and said: “Come on, let’s have some fun while we still can, okay?” You finally said, standing up and reaching out your hand. “Yes, let’s do that. Hakuna Matata.”

You went back inside and Ona immediately dragged you to the dance floor, ignoring all the stares from her teammates at your tear-stained faces. The both of you danced like there was no tomorrow, and the rest of the girls joined in. Ona was about to attempt the worm, when the song suddenly changed. You immediately recognised it: Can you feel the love tonight, from the Lion King.

You turned around to see Millie had taken control over the phone connected to the speaker, smirking at the two of you. “You told them?” You chuckled. Ona blushed as you grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to you. You put your head on her shoulder as slow danced together for the whole duration of the song, not noticing how everyone had left the dance floor to leave you two be. When the song was ending you lifted your head back up, but you didn’t break the embrace. You gazed into each others eyes for a bit, before slowly closing the space between you for a slow, passionate kiss. It ended rather abruptly however, when the Spice Girls sudden blasted through the speaker. “No no no, stupid autoplay” Millie sprinted back to the phone to turn it off as fast as she could. “Sorry about that. Don’t mind me, please continue.” You both giggled as she sprinted away again. “Want to get out of here?” Ona asked. “Yes please”

You woke up to the sound of soft snores. You lay there looking at the beautiful girl in front of you for a while, taking it all in one last time, before quietly leaving the bed. You decided against waking her, instead you left a note on her nightstand:

“Thank you for everything, I had an amazing time with you, you made Manchester magical. I will never forget it.

Adéu Ona, Te echaré de menos.

Love,

Y/N

PS: Hakuna Matata”

You put your necklace with the little lion on it next to the note and placed a small kiss on Ona’s forehead. As you opened the door to leave the room, a small ray of light fell on her face. You glanced at the scene a little longer than intended, until you noticed her eyelids had slightly started to tremble. You quickly made your way out, taking a deep breath before closing the front door. 

As you walked towards the busstation, you smiled at the sun starting to rise and suddenly, Amy’s words came to mind: “Make the most out of the time you have together.” That you did. 

Part 3 out now

[baxteravenue]

been waiting for you to post your jack drafts since you don’t write for him anymore 🥺 love your writing!!!

here you go, these are VERY unfinished and unedited lol... hope you enjoy or not <33 not sure where I was going with this one

Jack had been in Denver for about a week now, feeling shittier than ever. He was not even sure what the hell he was even doing there, maybe getting away from things... Things he couldn’t even pinpoint.

You on the other hand were in Denver because you lived there and went to school there. But besides that, you were on his same page. You didn’t know what the hell you were doing with your life. You weren’t even from Denver, you just had gotten a full ride to a small school. 

You were just trying to get through the days, all of them moving in a blur that meshed together.

“Have you tried any of the coffee here?” A random voice broke you out of your daze. 

You shook your head a little, your head feeling like it still wasn't in your body.

“No?”

“Huh?” You still felt like you were in a daze.

The curly haired man gave you a confused look, “The coffee? Anything worth recommending?”

“Oh…” You nodded, “Uhm I like the tea. I don’t really drink coffee if I’m being honest.”

He gave you a soft smile, “I don’t drink coffee either I was just... pondering I guess.”

You laughed, “Yeah that’s a way to put it.”

“Cherry-Hibiscus Iced Tea for Y/N!” 

“Well, whatever you get I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Have a nice day.” You smiled at the stranger before grabbing your tea and walking out the door heading down to the record store right next door. 

Y/N… Jack had thought that was a nice name. 

“Next in line!”

“Um yeah, can I get a Cherry-Hibiscus Iced Tea?”

You loved Saturdays just like any other person, the one day of the week where you knew yesterday was yesterday and tomorrow would be tomorrow. The only day of the week were days felt separated. 

You usually spend it doing all your favorite things. Today you allowed yourself to wander into the record shop that you hardly ever went into for the sake of your wallet. 

Today would be a good day, you just knew it. 

“Crystal Castles?” A familiar voice speaks from beside you. 

You look up at the stranger from the coffee shop, “Yeah.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever listened to them.” 

“I’m sure you have, just without knowing it. They’re having a moment on TikTok right now.” You shrug.

“Is that where you found them?” 

You shake your head, “No I just watched a lot of Skins growing up and had a damaging amount of internet access at twelve.”

You expect this to be the last of the conversation but it’s not because he proceeds to introduce himself. 

“I’m Jack by the way.” 

You nod, “Nice to meet you Jack. I’m Y/N.”

Now you really expect it to be the last time the two of you talk but he’s still standing in front of you and now you feel nervous, but not in a way were you want to tell him to fuck off.

“Do you live around here?” Jack asks and you give him a questioning look, making him retract his words, “I’m sorry that sounded creepy as hell, I’m just asking because I’m not from here I’m just like visiting… Tryna get my head straight. I’m from Louisville by the way.”

His nerves somehow ease yours and you find yourself answering his question. “Mhm, I go to school here. The small one in the next town over.”

“Cool, you like it? Is this where you’re originally from?” Jack browses next to you, keeping conversation. 

You look down at his hand, he has the exact same drink as you and you smile. “No and no. What about you?”

“I think that you’re probably the coolest person I’ve met in this state in a whole week.” Jack says.

You look back up from the vinyls, staring him straight in the eyes. “Have you ever tried chocolate shrooms?”

[kjack89]

hope it never ends

Started writing this back when it was, y'know, timely. Then had to get stitches in my hand and have struggled with the whole typing thing. So even though it took me longer than reasonable to finish, have whatever this is.

Established E/R, modern AU.

Enjolras pressed Joly and Bossuet’s doorbell with his elbow since he was holding a coffee in each hand. Joly answered the door, blinking blearily at him. “You know, I really thought these days were over,” he said with a yawn, stepping back to let Enjolras in.

“So did I,” Enjolras said, a little grimly. He hesitated, realizing for the first time he should’ve brought more coffee. “Sorry, I didn’t think—”

Joly waved a dismissive hand, yawning again. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’m going back to bed anyway.”

Despite the circumstances, Enjolras couldn’t quite stop his smile as Joly turned and revealed that the hair on the back of his head was sticking straight up. “What about Bossuet?”

“There wasn’t even a break in his snoring when you rang the doorbell,” Joly said sourly, giving Enjolras one more wave over his shoulder as he shuffled back to his bedroom. That left Enjolras with nothing to do but head into the living room and the conversation he was already dreading.

As much as Enjolras loved to watch Grantaire sleep, he was glad that the man was already awake and sitting up, scrolling through his phone when Enjolras walked in. He wasn’t in the mood to sit around waiting for Grantaire to wake up, not when his own sleep had been disturbed by not having the other man there. “Here,” he said gruffly in lieu of a greeting. “I brought you coffee.”

Grantaire lit up. “My hero,” he said with no small amount of enthusiasm, dropping his phone in his lap to reach out with both hands for the extended cup of coffee. 

Enjolras hesitated before asking, “Can I sit?” When Grantaire just arched an eyebrow, he clarified, “Next to you?”

Something softened in Grantaire’s expression. “Of course,” he said, and Enjolras jerked a nod before sitting down next to him on the couch.

For a long moment, both men sipped their coffee in silence, Enjolras glancing at Grantaire and trying to determine how this conversation would go. But unlike most times that had preceded heart-to-heart conversations in Joly and Bossuet’s living room, they hadn’t (to Enjolras’s knowledge at least) had a fight. Or a disagreement. Or even a joke that didn’t quite land right.

To Enjolras’s knowledge, everything between them yesterday had been fine.

Up until the point when he had gotten a text from Grantaire at 1 in the morning letting him know that he was spending the night at Joly and Bossuet’s.

Which invariably meant Enjolras had missed something.

“So what’s going on?” he said, cautiously breaking the silence.

Grantaire glanced at him and away again. “Nothing,” he said, a little too quickly.

Enjolras didn’t buy it for a second. “And yet you slept here last night,” he pointed out.

Grantaire shrugged. “Well, I was a little drunk,” he said.

“That’s never stopped you from sleeping in our bed before,” Enjolras said, trying very hard not to sound accusatory.

Grantaire made a face. “Fine, so I was drunk, and a little in my feelings, and being ridiculous, and I thought for the sake of the longevity of our relationship, it might be a wise idea to crash here.”

He said it all in a rush, and Enjolras took a moment before responding. “When you say you were in your feelings—” he started cautiously, and Grantaire barked a humorless laugh, running a hand across his face.

“That’s probably a mild way of putting it,” he muttered.

Enjolras frowned. “Oh?”

Grantaire took a swig of coffee before admitting, “I was in a self-deprecating panic spiral.”

“Ah.” Enjolras knew the type of panic spiral Grantaire referred to all too well, though it had been awhile since he had witnessed one himself. “About what?”

Grantaire flushed. “I don’t want to tell you that,” he mumbled.

Enjolras stared at him, dumbfounded. The one and only time Grantaire had ever been embarrassed about the words coming out of his mouth was when he had confessed his feelings to Enjolras. “Excuse me?”

“It’s just…you’ll think it’s stupid,” Grantaire muttered. “Like, not just me being slightly irrational stupid. But me being, like, really fucking stupid.”

“Ok, well now you have to tell me,” Enjolras said, aiming for teasing to try to lighten the mood, but it seemed to have the opposite effect, as Grantaire’s flush darkened. After a long moment, Grantaire huffed a sigh and stared up at the ceiling as he mumbled something so quietly that Enjolras couldn’t catch it. “What?”

Grantaire cleared his throat. “Taylor Swift,” he said, still staring determinedly at the ceiling.

Enjolras blinked. “You were freaking out about…Taylor Swift.”

He didn’t mean it to sound as derisive as it inevitably did, but Grantaire’s expression still tightened. “See,” he said grimly. “I told you it was stupid.”

Enjolras reached out automatically, resting a light hand on Grantaire’s knee. “I didn’t say it was stupid,” he told him. “I’m just not sure that I follow. Or see what Taylor Swift has to do with the longevity of our relationship.”

“Well, not just Taylor Swift,” Grantaire amended. “Mostly her, y’know, break up.”

“I still don’t follow,” Enjolras said slowly. 

Grantaire fiddled with the lid of his coffee cup. “Well, you have to keep in mind that I was very drunk.”

“Sure.”

“So, uh, we started talking about it, and I came to the drunken conclusion that if even Taylor Swift can’t make true love work, then there’s no hope for the rest of us,” Grantaire said. “Including, mainly, you and me.”

The leap in logic was so immensely vast that Enjolras was left actually speechless for perhaps the first time in his life. “You – what?”

Grantaire shrugged almost blithely as he took another sip of coffee. “In fairness, I warned you it was stupid.”

Enjolras shook his head slowly. “More batshit insane than stupid.”

“Pretty sure that’s ableist,” Grantaire said, cracking a smile.

But Enjolras wasn’t deterred. “I’ll figure out some kind of progressive act of contrition later,” he said impatiently. “Why on God’s green earth would you think—”

“Did you miss the part where I was incredibly drunk?” Grantaire interrupted.

Enjolras scowled at him. “Yes, but need I remind you of a little phrase known as in vino veritas?” he asked sharply.

Grantaire smiled again, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Actually yes, my Latin isn’t quite what it used to be—”

“Grantaire.”

Grantaire sighed, his smile fading. “Fine,” he said, looking away. “But then I’d counter that alcohol isn’t truth serum and sometimes you say shit just to say it, especially when you’re emotional.” 

“Seemingly deliberate use of second person aside,” Enjolras said, his voice still sharp, sharper perhaps than intended, “that still doesn’t explain the apparent kernel of truth there, that you somehow think there’s no hope for us.”

“That’s not quite what I said,” Grantaire said, though he couldn’t seem to meet Enjolras’s eyes.

“And I think we’re getting into splitting hairs territory,” Enjolras returned.

This time, Grantaire’s attempt at a somewhat weak smile seemed genuine. “Yes, and there’s nothing you and I love more than parsing semantics.”

Enjolras exhaled sharply. “Under normal circumstances, sure,” he said, trying to reign in his impatience. “But this isn’t exactly normal circumstances.” He paused, trying to determine how to refocus the conversation in the least accusatory way. “So why don’t we instead focus on what it is about Taylor Swift’s break-up that has you feeling this way.”

He said it as a command more than a question, and it worked – Grantaire never was very good at ignoring a direct order, and now was no exception. Grantaire traced a finger along the seam of the couch, his expression troubled. “It’s just…Taylor and Joe were, by all accounts, very much in love, right?” Enjolras guessed it was a rhetorical question but nodded anyway. “With, like, a dozen songs about their love on best selling records to prove it. And now they’re just – not.”

Something about the way the last word caught in Grantaire’s throat gave Enjolras pause, and he nodded slowly, understanding beginning to dawn. “And you’re worried that one day, you and I will just not love each other.”

Grantaire’s eyes darted to his and away again. “Well, less that we’ll just not love each other, and more…”

He trailed off, and Enjolras’s heart clenched. “You’re worried that one day, I’ll just stop loving you.”

He said it flatly, and Grantaire jerked a shrug. “I wasn’t before,” he said. “But now…”

“But now just because Taylor Swift and her boyfriend broke up, you suddenly doubt everything about us?” Enjolras asked, unable to temper the sharpness in his tone.

“No,” Grantaire said, equally sharp. “But it put the idea in my head, and after one too many drinks last night, I couldn’t get it out of my head.” He met Enjolras’s eyes, something of a challenge in his expression. “Besides, you can’t tell me it’s out of the realm of possibility.”

Enjolras didn’t rise to it. “I could,” he said quietly. “But even if I did,  I don’t think promising you that it’s not going to happen will help.” He paused before adding, somewhat pointedly, “Especially to someone already disinclined toward belief.”

Grantaire managed a weak smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s not that I wouldn’t believe you, per se,” he said, “it’s just that I don’t think it’s something you can really promise.”

“Why not?”

“Because love doesn’t work that way,” Grantaire said, almost impatiently. “You can’t control who you fall out of love with any more than you can control who you fall in love with.” He gave Enjolras a look. “And don’t try to deny it, because I know you never would have chosen this.”

Enjolras just shook his head. “Didn’t I?” he said quietly. “Aren’t I still?”

Grantaire made a small noise of dissent. “Be serious.”

“I am,” Enjolras told him. “I don’t think you can control lust, or attraction, and those are the things that can fade. But being in love is hell of a lot more than either of those. Being in love is choosing to build a life with someone, and choosing to stay if those things do fade. Being in love is choosing not to walk away when things get hard, or—”

“Or if your boyfriend decides to panic spiral about Taylor Swift?”

Enjolras half-smiled. “Or that.” He reached for Grantaire’s hand, squeezing it gently. “Love is an emotion, and one that you don’t have a lot of control over. But being in love is an act, and it’s an act that you have to choose every single day.”

He said it definitively, but Grantaire just made a face. “Now I think you’re the one entering into splitting hairs territory,” he said dismissively.

“And I don’t think I am,” Enjolras said. “I just don’t see being in love as something you fall out of, as if it’s some kind of accident. I think it’s a decision, conscious or otherwise, to stop putting in the work and doing the actions that sustain a relationship, sometimes for very good reason.” He squeezed Grantaire’s hand again. “Right now, I don’t have a reason, good or otherwise, to decide against choosing you and choosing this. And that I can promise you.”

Grantaire shook his head slowly. “You really believe that?”

Enjolras nodded. “I do.” He nudged Grantaire with his shoulder. “As much as you believe that the Donald Trump animatronic at Disney’s Hall of Presidents was originally Hillary Clinton and they had to super quickly swap them out.”

Seemingly despite himself, Grantaire barked a laugh. “Ok, but that’s, like, practically verified fact at this point.”

Enjolras rolled his eyes affectionately. “It’s decidedly not, but…” He gave Grantaire a pointed look. “Since that’s what you consider verified fact for me to compare my beliefs to…”

Grantaire let out a low whistle. “Wow.”

Still, there was something in his expression that told Enjolras this wasn’t resolved by any stretch. “And yet you don’t seem convinced,” he observed.

Something tightened in Grantaire’s face. “I want to be,” he said, his voice low. “You have no idea how much I want to be.” He laced his fingers with Enjolras’s. “You have spoken some truly beautiful words, and obviously I know firsthand what a gifted orator you are, but still…”

He trailed off, and Enjolras waited a moment before prompting, “But still.”

Grantaire just shook his head. “But as beautiful as they are, they’re just words. And even though the only thing I’ve ever believed in is you…”

This time, Enjolras didn’t need to prompt him to know what he was thinking. “It’s not enough to believe in just me,” he said, his breath catching in his throat. “Not when it comes to this.”

“Again, I want it to be,” Grantaire said softly.

“I know,” Enjolras said, equally quiet. “But the only way I can prove that they’re more than just words is with time. Which means you have to believe me enough to try.”

Grantaire half-smiled. “I’ll try.”

“You’ll try to try?” Enjolras asked, mostly teasing, and was rewarded with Grantaire rolling his eyes, his smile widening.

“I’ll try to believe you,” he amended, before adding, in a clear effort to head off any of Enjolras’s protestations to the contrary, “It’s as good as you’re going to get.”

Since Enjolras hadn’t planned on making any protestations, especially about this, especially knowing how delicate of a line they sometimes walked, he just leaned in and kissed Grantaire’s forehead before asking, “Then can you promise me something else?”

“What?”

“Next time, can you at least believe in me enough to come home and have the conversation with me there?”

Again Grantaire laughed, but it was as close to his usual laughter as Enjolras had heard all morning. “In fairness, who knows when there will be a next time that Taylor Swift breaks up with someone?” Grantaire asked innocently, though his grin was wicked.

Enjolras just rolled his eyes. “I mean it,” he said. “The next time you have doubts, or are in your feelings about us. Come home to me.”

Grantaire’s expression softened, but before he could say anything, Joly called from the bedroom, “Seconded,” followed by Bossuet’s sleepy shout of, “Thirded.”

Enjolras arched an eyebrow at Grantaire, who rolled his eyes. “The ayes have it, I guess,” he groused, before leaning in and kissing Enjolras. “And yes, I believe in you enough for that.”

“Good,” Enjolras said, standing and holding a hand out to Grantaire to help him up from the couch. “Then let’s go home before I decide to sell our tickets to Taylor Swift’s tour for the sake of our relationship.”

Grantaire’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t fucking dare,” he said, mock-scandalized

Enjolras laughed lightly, turning to press a kiss to Grantaire’s temple. “No, I wouldn’t,” he agreed, taking Grantaire’s hand once more. “I promise.”

[justagalwhowrites]

Holly Jolly - Ch. 2: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

You and Joel get the girls together for a playdate. A continuation of Holly Jolly, a modern no-outbreak TLOU fic found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: None really!

Length: 4.1k

AO3 | Main Master List | First Chapter | Next Chapter

Sarah, it seemed, had become president of the Sharon fan club. 

She talked about her the whole ride home. She talked about her as Joel got Sarah ready for school the next morning. She talked about her all through dinner. 

“Hey Dad,” she said as he read her a story and tucked her into bed. “Can I play with Sharon tomorrow maybe?” 

Joel sighed. 

“Wouldn’t you rather go play with Mackenzie?” He asked. “Or maybe we can watch a movie, just you and me?” 

“But I like Sharon,” she said, whining a little. “Please?” 

He sighed again. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “But you have to go to sleep, OK?” 

“OK!” She said quickly, snapping her eyes shut. Joel laughed a little. She opened one eye ever so slightly to make sure Joel was watching and closed it again. 

“Alright, Kiddo,” he laughed again. “Sleep tight.” 

“I’m trying to, Daddy, but you keep talking,” she scrunched her nose. 

“Sorry,” he smiled and kissed her forehead before turning out her lamp. “Goodnight, Baby Girl.” 

“Night, Dad!” 

He closed the door quietly behind him and went to the living room, all but collapsing on the couch and pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Joel really didn’t want to text you. He wasn’t exactly eager to talk to you just after meeting you let alone after you saw his card get declined and decided to take pity on him to buy the fucking picture. And then he was a bit of a dick about it. Something else he wasn’t exactly proud of. 

But he didn’t want to disappoint Sarah more. So he gritted his teeth, found your text from yesterday, and typed out a message. 

Hey, it’s Joel, Sarah’s dad. She’s been talking about Sharon non-stop, would you like to try to get them together this weekend? 

He almost hoped you didn’t respond. If you didn’t, it wouldn’t be Joel’s fault that Sarah didn’t get to see Sharon again. She’d be disappointed but she’d understand and Joel could feel like he’d done his job as her dad. 

But you responded almost immediately. Because of course you did. 

Hey Joel! Sharon’s been talking about Sarah a ton, too! Does tomorrow work? There’s a playground at our apartment complex and I can make lunch. 

Joel gritted his teeth. Were you trying to feed them because you didn’t think he could feed his kid? Or were you just being nice? He sighed. Sarah liked Sharon. He had to at least try to be nice.

Sounds great. What time?

Again, an almost instant reply. 

Noon OK? 

You added your address. 

Sure. See you then. 

Sarah was damn near giddy when he told her the plan the next morning. He’d never seen her run to brush her teeth quite that fast and she immediately went to her toy box to start trying to find things she wanted to bring over. 

“You can pick three things,” Joel said. “And it has to be stuff you want to share, OK?” 

She nodded seriously. Joel put her curls into springy pigtails and let her pick her clothes for the day - Sarah carefully selecting pink pants and a purple shirt with a lot of glitter before insisting on adding the ponytail holders with the pink, plastic balls to her hair. 

Joel stopped at the HEB on the way to your place and picked up some juice boxes and some cookies so he wasn’t showing up empty handed. The check and finally cleared so he pulled out cash to give you, too. There was a bright green wreath on your door and a doormat with a snowman and Joel tried to not cringe as he knocked. 

You answered quickly, smiling like you had been before but not completely covered in Christmas shit this time, at least. 

“Hi,” you said. “It’s good…” 

Sharon careened around the corner and almost fell into Sarah, eyes wide and excited. 

“You’re here!” She said, giddy, before grabbing Sarah’s hand. “Come on, I want to show you this sticker…” 

The two girls tore into the apartment and you laughed a little before stepping to the side and holding your arm out, welcoming Joel in. 

“Come on in!” You laughed a little. “Lunch is almost done. I decided to do something pretty basic, I hope that’s OK…” 

“Sure it’s great,” Joel said, holding out the juice boxes and cookies like an offering. “Thought we could contribute.” 

“Thank you,” you took them and headed inside, Joel trailing behind you. 

“Also, here,” he held out the money. “For the picture.” 

“Oh,” you looked at the cash for a second and then back up at him. “Really, don’t worry about it. Lord knows people have helped me out enough over the years. Just pick up the tab for someone next year or something.” 

He wanted to fight you on it but you were already headed to the kitchen, putting the juice boxes in the fridge. 

While you weren’t covered in Christmas stuff, your house sure as shit was. Paper chains hung from every doorway he could see, a Christmas tree in the corner twinkling with a small pile of gifts below it, a collection of wooden snowmen on your coffee table. It definitely made the four foot tree that was older than Sarah with nothing below it seem lacking. He tried not to resent that, too. 

You pulled something out of the oven as Joel hovered awkwardly in the entry to your small kitchen. 

“Oh, you can have a seat if you want,” you nodded to the breakfast bar. “We’ll give them a few minutes to check out the new stickers. Sharon’s school holiday party was yesterday and the kids all got goodie bags and she traded like everything in hers for as many stickers as she could get her little hands on. I don’t know what the obsession is…” 

“Thanks for havin’ us over,” Joel said, watching as you cut up the bread you’d just pulled out of the oven and he realized that you’d made little sandwiches. “I appreciate it, especially since I wasn’t exactly the friendliest the other day.” 

You looked up at him from the pan and he realized he could see your cleavage down the v-neck of your impossibly soft looking sweater, a sweater that looked like it was made to play off the color of your hair and skin and eyes. 

“Oh, it’s fine,” you waved him off and went for the fridge. “I’m sure you just had a long day. Why else would you be in line to see Santa at 8:30 on a Thursday night?” 

Joel laughed a little. You weren’t wrong.

“Yeah,” he said. “Fair enough. Still. You were being nice and I should’ve been nice back.” 

You shrugged and pulled some cut up vegetables and fruit out of the fridge and put them on the counter. 

“The holidays are hard,” you said. “Really, it’s OK.” 

“Don’t look like they’re hard for you,” he said, looking around. 

Your eyes looked a little wide. 

“Really?” You asked. “Oh, thank God. This is the first Christmas I’ve had a kid in my house, I keep worrying I’m not doing it right…” 

“Looks like you’re doin’ good to me,” Joel said. 

“Thank you,” you said. “Really, that means a lot.” 

Joel looked at a picture on a nearby wall, you with Sharon and a woman who looked a little like you. 

“Is that Sharon’s mom?” He asked, nodding at the photo. You leaned over the breakfast bar to see where he was looking and he resisted the uncomfortable urge to get a better look below your sweater. 

“Yeah,” you nodded with a sigh. “My sister. She was a single mom and she died in February.”

“Shit,” Joel said. “I’m sorry, that’s… that’s hard.” 

“It really is,” you said, eyes a little wide. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Sharon. That kid is my whole world. But I was only ever supposed to be the cool aunt who took her to Europe when she turned 16 and went with her for her first tattoo because her mom would hate it and she wanted support. I’m not supposed to be a mom.” 

“Is it just you?” Joel asked on impulse before he realized that he was prying into the life of a virtual stranger. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer…” 

“It’s fine,” you waved him off. “And yeah, just me. Before wild child in there I wasn’t really interested in much tying me down so I haven’t had a real boyfriend or anything in years. Our parents died a few years ago and we didn’t have any other siblings so it’s just me and Sharon. She’s a great kid, though. So much like her mom, it’s all so worth it. I just hope I’m doing right by her, you know? 

“Her mom would go all out at Christmas,” you continued. “Like that house looked like Buddy the Elf went to town on it every year. Meanwhile, I had like three ornaments I’d gotten as gifts before this year. I always went to her place for the holidays, it seemed silly to decorate mine.” 

“Looks like you’ve got it down already,” Joel said. “Just bought a house a few months ago, haven’t had the chance to really decorate anything yet. I just keep hoping she doesn’t really notice.” 

“Seems like you’re the kind of dad who spends a lot of time with her,” you said. “That’s the important part.” 

You called the girls over for lunch and you and Joel just watched as the two of the chattered about Frozen between bites of carrot sticks and sandwich. 

At one point you made eye contact with Joel when Sharon talked about trading for all the stickers yesterday at school and Joel had to fight not to laugh when he realized that he actually liked you. When he wasn’t in a shit mood and having his card declined by the mall Santa, you were just a kind person who, for some reason, wanted to be kind to him. Even after he’d been rude to you. He hadn’t thought you’d be his kind of person but he liked you.

“So ladies,” you said as plates were cleaned and leftovers put in the fridge. “Playground?” 

Sarah’s face lit up and the two of you got the girls into their jackets before walking over to the park, the kids immediately running for the slide, giggling manically. You sat on a bench and Joel joined you, the two of you silently watching them play for a moment before you glanced over at him. 

“So,” you said. “When you’re not shepherding a five-year-old girl through the mall Santa line, what do you do?” 

“I’m a contractor,” Joel said. “Mostly small to mid-sized jobs, just wrapped up one and I’ve got something small to run through the holidays before the next bigger one starts… You?” 

“I’m a teacher,” you said. “Physics, at the high school down the road.”

Joel smiled a little. 

“I went to that school.” 

“Really?” Your face lit up. “It’s a small world!”

“Or I just never made it far from where I finished school,” Joel said, looking back at the girls. “You like it there?” 

“I guess,” you shrugged. “I’m still getting the hang of it. I never planned to be a teacher, I was an architect before but I needed something that would work better for Sharon schedule wise so I got my teaching certification.” 

Joel frowned. 

“That’s a hell of a sacrifice.” 

You shrugged again. 

“She’s worth it. Besides, the kids are really fun. I have juniors and seniors and they’re so dramatic at that age, it’s like every little thing is the end of the world, and they care so passionately about things. It’s like living as an extra in a soap opera. That’s actually why I was dressed so crazy on Thursday, we had our holiday parties for the a-block classes but one of my kids was having some issues so I just stayed late and the next thing I knew I was late getting Sharon from daycare and everything was a mess… Anyway…” 

“You’re doin’ a good job,” Joel said, watching you, and you looked at him. Actually looked at him. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” he said. “Trust me. Been doin’ this on my own since Sarah was four months old. You’re doin’ a good job.” 

The girls played for almost two hours before they wore themselves out and you all walked back to your apartment. 

“So, I hope I’m not overstepping by asking but… where are you at with Christmas shopping?” You asked. Joel just blinked at you for a moment but you kept going. “I’m only asking because there’s a thing some of the other teachers do where we take turns watching each other’s kids so we can run errands or go Christmas shopping and I’m dropping Sharon off tomorrow afternoon. They’re cool if I add another kid to the mix so if you need to get out for a few hours and cross some things off the to do list…” 

You looked worried and Joel, for a moment, wondered just how much of an asshole he’d been to you that you thought doing him a favor would piss him off. 

“That would be great, actually,” he said. “You’re sure they don’t mind?” 

“Not at all,” you smiled. “I’ve covered for some of the others a few times when stuff comes up with their other kids like sports tournaments and things, it’s really no problem. Besides, something tells me that Sarah’s a good kid. Don’t think she’s going to give them much trouble. If you text me your address, I can pick you up around 10 tomorrow morning? Drop the kids?” 

“Uh… sure,” Joel said, surprised that he was actually looking forward to it. “Thanks.” 

When he tucked Sarah in that night, he told her that she was going to see Sharon again the next day. She was giddy, kicking her little feet under her blankets. 

“I really like her, Daddy,” she smiled, that gap in her teeth one of the cutest damn things Joel had ever seen. “And her aunt is really nice.” 

“Yeah,” Joel said, tucking the blankets around her. “Yeah, she is.” 

***

“But can we ask them over to make cookies?” Sharon asked as you French braided her hair. 

“Maybe,” you said. “But it’s the holidays, girlie pop, they might already have plans. It would be very rude to try to monopolize their time.” 

“But I really like Sarah!” She said. “And she said they only do the cut out cookies and I told her about the peanut butter ones I made with you and mom last year and…” 

You still got a little choked up at the thought of your sister. You didn’t know it was going to be her last Christmas at the time but, in hindsight, it was like part of her had known she was going to be gone a few months later. 

It had been a picture perfect Christmas, filled with movie marathons and cookie baking and a Christmas light drive with a thermos of hot cocoa and extra marshmallows. You’d loved every second of it, loved that it felt like the three of you against the world. 

And now it was just you and Sharon and you were trying desperately to fill the massive shoes your sister had left behind while not replacing her. 

“We can make the peanut butter ones again,” you said, swallowing the tears that tightened in your throat. “And it will still be fun if it’s just you and me and not you and me and Joel and Sarah. Right?” 

“Yeah,” she sighed dramatically. 

“I know,” you tied off her braid and kissed the crown of her head. “I’m such a let down.” 

You made a face at her in the mirror and she giggled. 

“Come on,” you said, giving her shoulders a squeeze. “Let’s go get our new friends.” 

You tried to not be nervous about spending at least part of the day with Joel without the girls. You were pretty sure he didn’t like you much. You’d been positive about that at the mall. You knew you tended to come on a little strong and you’d been so flustered when you’d met him that you were sure it was worse than usual. You hadn’t expected him to actually reach out and you certainly weren’t going to text him unless Sharon was particularly eager to see Sarah and you felt like you had to. 

And then he texted you. 

Yesterday had gone better, at least. He was kinder than he’d been before and you’d enjoyed talking with him while the kids played. He was clearly such a dedicated father. Sarah fell off the play structure at one point with a small shriek and he jumped to his feet with a look of sheer panic on his face. But he stayed by the bench, giving her a second to get herself up before Dad rushed in. She did just that, brushing wood chips off her knees before immediately climbing the ladder to the slide again. 

It wasn’t something you were used to seeing from men. Sharon’s father hadn’t been anything like that. He’d stuck around for a few months after he’d proposed to your sister when he knocked her up. But by the time the baby shower rolled around, you could tell he was getting cold feet. Sharon wasn’t even a day old yet when he pulled you aside at the hospital and asked you to tell your sister to leave him off the birth certificate. You didn’t even get a chance to respond before he turned and left and that was the last time you’d seen him. 

Joel, clearly, had done the opposite. 

When you rang the door bell at the small house with peeling paint on the trim, it took almost a minute for Joel to answer the door. 

“Sorry,” he said quickly. “Come in, we’re havin’ a bit of a morning… Sarah didn’t sleep great so she didn’t want to eat breakfast and now we’re behind and…” 

“It’s fine,” you smiled. “We’ve got time.” 

You nudged Sharon in ahead of you and followed behind Joel, his dark curls wet. You sat down in the living room and peered around. There was a small artificial tree in the corner that looked a little threadbare and stockings held by push pins by the fireplace. A chunk of drywall had been cut out near the back door and there were some tools in slightly organized disarray on the floor nearby. 

“What’s that?” Sharon frowned, looking at the exposed pipe. 

“That is the current project,” Joel said, guiding Sarah into the room. “Some stuff in the house doesn’t work quite right…” 

“Hi Sharon!” Sarah waved frantically and Sharon’s face lit up. 

“Hi Sarah!” She waved back. “Sarah, I brought my favorite Barbie! The one with the red hair, it’s in the car!” 

“Cool!” Sarah said. “I asked Santa for a Barbie Dream House for Christmas! When I get it, you’ll have to bring your dolls over and they can be friends, too!” 

You caught a glimpse of Joel’s face at the mention of Barbie Dream House, almost like a wince. 

“You promised to sit still if you got to sit in the living room while I did your hair,” Joel said. “Sooner we do that, sooner you can go see that Barbie, let’s go.” 

Sarah sighed dramatically and flopped on the loveseat. Joel stood behind her and quickly gathered her hair into several small buns while Sarah did her best to hold still while talking animatedly to Sharon. 

It didn’t take long and soon, the four of you were piling in your SUV, Joel putting Sarah’s carseat in the back alongside Sharon’s. 

“I really appreciate this,” he said after you dropped the girls off and headed to the Target in town with the biggest toy selection. “I had no damn clue when I was going to try to get any Christmas shopping done…”

“Tell me about it,” you said. “If it wasn’t for this whole kid watching exchange, I was going to have to take a day off work. I’ve never had to try to do this before, it’s her first Christmas without her mom and I really can’t mess it up, you know?” 

“Can I ask what happened?” Joel asked after a moment. 

“Car accident,” you said. “On her way to get Sharon from daycare in February. Thank God she wasn’t in the car, too, or they’d both be gone…” 

“Jesus,” Joel said. “I’m sorry, that’s… that’s hard. Seems like you’re handling it well, though. Sharon seems to adore ya.” 

You shrugged. 

“I think I’m still just the cool aunt in a lot of ways,” you said. “Part of me thinks she still expects her mom to come back eventually. I don’t know. This isn’t how life was supposed to go for either of us.” 

Joel just nods slowly. 

“I get that. S’not what I expected for mine, either. It’s all worth it for Sarah but if you’d asked me what I was gonna be doing at 27 years old, shopping for a fuckin’ Barbie Dream House wouldn’t be it. Oh shit… crap, sorry. I try not to swear in front of Sarah or people I don’t really know, I don’t…” 

You laughed a little. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’m a big girl. Think I can handle a little adult language.” 

You parked at Target and the two of you headed inside, each grabbing a cart. 

“Did you want to split up or…” Joel asked. 

“Well, if you wouldn’t mind me tagging along?” You asked, a little sheepish. “This is the first Christmas and her birthday was just before her mom died, I’ve never done a big gift day with her. I could use some help. If you’re up for it, I don’t want to impose, it’s totally fine if you just don’t want…” 

“It’s fine,” Joel smiled just a little. “At this point, know a lot more about little girls’ toys than I have any right to. May as well put it to use.” 

The two of you started in the girls’ clothes section before heading on to the toys. Joel went straight for the Barbie aisle and he stopped in front of the Dream House, just staring at the box. You picked a Barbie for Sharon and stood next to him. 

“That thing is huge,” you said after a moment, glancing his way. “No way there’s room for it in my place. No one has room for something that big…” 

You chewed the inside of your cheek a bit, hoping that giving Joel some kind of out wasn’t too awkward. 

He didn’t take it, though. 

“It’s just outta my price range this year,” he sighed. “Keep tryin’ to do the math and I want to get it for her. I want to get everything for her. But shit, I’ve got maybe that much for all of Christmas. Can’t spend that on one toy.” 

You saw him tense his jaw for a moment when you had a thought. 

“What if you made her one?” You asked, looking up at him. He took his eyes off the box for the first time in more than a minute to frown at you. 

“Make a Barbie Dream House,” he said, skeptical. 

“Yeah,” you shrugged. “I mean, it wouldn’t look just like that but… I’m an architect. Or I was. You’re a contractor. I bet, between the two of us, we could come up with something that would cost like $50 in materials. I’ll design it for you and then you can build it and…” 

“You’d do that?” He asked, brows raised. “Just plan out a toy for my kid?” 

“Sure,” you shrugged and smiled. “I mean… it’s Christmas. Besides, it’ll give me a chance to practice at drawing up plans again. I could use the excuse, I miss it.” 

Joel looked at you for a moment and you thought - not for the first time - that he was one of the most beautiful people you’d ever seen. You’d thought it when you first saw him in line for Santa, you’d thought it when he’d showed up at your door the day before, you’d even thought it as you watched him style is daughter’s hair earlier that day. 

You looked at the box for something else to focus on. 

“We can do that,” you said. “Piece of cake.”

Next Chapter

[xylerray]

Wandarer and Reader seeing each other for the first time again

Game: Genshin Impact

Character shown: Traveller, Paimon, Wanderer/Scaramouche, Reader

Authors note: OKAY OKAY HOLD UP SO I JUST READ A FAN FIC AND THE AUTHOR SAID I COULD USE IT FOR SMTH OWN AND I WAS LIKE „FUCK HELL YEAH“ SO IMMA DO THAT NOW. I WILL ALSO REPOST IT SO YOU KNOW WHATS GOING ON LMAO. And if I give you a gender or smth I am very sorry and also very sorry for grammar mistakes.

Inspiration from: @fruityvegetable THANKS A FUCKING LOT FOR THAT I JUST AHHHH CANT RN PLSSSS (can I get ur dc pls?)

„It‘s okay.“ the Traveller said. Then they explained to you in great detail who he was. Your eyes widen with every story they told. But then they said one thing „He is the son of the Raiden Shogun. A failed puppet.“ with just that it hit you. You jumped up from the seat on the bench. „MY LOVE THAT IS MY LOVE“ you screamed, already rushing after him. „Their what now?“ Paimon asked confused and in the next moment all three of you were looking for him. But you sadly couldn’t find him. After a whole day looking for him and not finding him you broke down. „How could I be THAT stupid. I didn’t even remember him. The one that tried to protect my little brother. The one that showed me the world.“ tears running down your face as your voice broke into many pieces. „This is all my fault. I am so sorry Traveller.“ The traveller answered:“it’s okay. He erased himself from the world. It is a wonder you remembered him. And when he finds out he‘ll cherish it I’m sure of that.“

In this night you hardly could fall asleep. Wanderer always crossed your mind and you judged yourself for not remembering him even more. „But I still love him… I will always do so…“ you whispered.

The next morning went sloppy for you. With almost no sleep you tried to get into your clothes somehow but didn’t quite manage to do that. You stepped out of your small apartment. The sun shining directly into you face, the sunshine’s feeling like the sun is screaming for the day to be good but for you nothing was good. You lost your one and only love. You did not remember him. How could you??? Why?????? You went to the meeting spot from yesterday hoping the Wanderer would cross this way once again. And after 2 hours waiting he did. But as soon as the little puppet noticed you he turned around and made a run from it. But this time you won’t let that happen. With the low energy you had you sprinted after him and pushed him down with you landing on him.

„What the hell? What are you thinking?!“ shouted the little man beneath you. You sat up and let him breath a bit. „I wanted to apologise, my love! I was so stupid! You are the most important person in my life and I just forgot you! I am for real a big disappointment. I am very sorry again.“ you stated, staring straight into his eyes. The failed experiment in front of you just sat there not even breathing. He admired you in the moment. „My love“ you still called him that. You…still loved him… „Dear?“ you tilted your head with a worried look on your face.

The next second was blurred out of you memory and your lips were one. Shocked you sat there until you gave in. Even if Scara seems to be bad at a lot he certainly gives the best passionate kisses. When you pulled away you only had eyes for his angry expression. „I thought I had lost you. Don’t give me such a freaking fright again ,understood moron?“ Scara scoffed. „Yeah sure my dear.“ you giggled

The Traveller and Paimon staring from far:“ if they won’t watch out, they will make children on the street.“ „TRAVELLER“

Hehe this is a lil rushed now I hope you still like it! Thanks for reading! Requests open!

Bye<3 Good morning/evening/night/day<333

[stephstars08]

Still Alive ~ Chapter Three

Ethan Landry x Reader

Warnings: Adult Language, Alcohol, Fighting, Physical Fighting, Some Angst but also some Fluff, and Anxiety (Sorry if I forgot any)

Word Count: 2,697

Author’s Note: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. Sorry for the longer wait. I didn’t realize yesterday was Mother’s Day. I promise the chapter schedule will continue with every release on Friday and Sunday so chapter four will be posted this Friday! I ALSO WANT TO MENTION THAT THIS CHAPTER INVOLVES THE PARTY SCENE FROM THE MOVIE SO THIS WILL INCLUDED THE SCENE WHERE TARA ALMOST GET’S TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF SO IF THAT MAKES YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE I SUGGEST YOU EITHER SKIP THIS CHAPTER OR JUST SKIP THAT WHOLE PART! I ALSO WANT TO MENTION THAT I DID PICK OUT A COSTUME FOR THE READER BUT IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT YOU CAN JUST USE A DIFFERENT COSTUME! Anyways I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

Y/N was at the Halloween frat party sitting on a couch with Mindy and Anika. Y/N was dressed as Rosie the Riveter. She had the costume left over from last year when she played Rosie in a musical for school. Mindy wasn’t dressed up since she said it wasn’t her vibe, says the horror fanatic. She just had on a sweater and a pair of jeans. Anika had on a pumpkin tank top with blue jeans and an orange bucket hat with a knife design on it.

 Y/N wasn’t going to lie, she felt like a third wheel sitting next to Mindy and Anika, so she looked around for Tara, Ethan, or Chad. Suddenly she saw someone dressed as Ghostface which quickly made her blood start to boil. It angers her how people dress up in that stupid ass costume acting like it’s just another Halloween costume. “Hey Y/N.” She heard Mindy say which broke her strong glare away from the jackass. “You good?” Mindy asked her with concern noticing how tense her best friend is. “Yeah, I need a drink.” Y/N said as she got up and walked away.

 She walked into this one room with flashy lights and people dancing. She spotted a table full of different kinds of shots, so she walked over to the table. She grabbed one of the shots that was whiskey and downed it fast. She winced at the burning feeling in her throat. Y/N isn’t the biggest drinker but tonight, she really needed to get wasted. She wants to get wasted. Before she could grab another shot she spotted Ethan with Chad. She watched them take a shot together. She giggled a little bit after seeing Ethan spit the liquid right back into the shot glass. He’s not the biggest drinker either. Another thing they both have in common.

 Y/N couldn’t help but scoff at Chad’s costume. Chad had on a cowboy hat on, no shirt, and a pair of jeans on. However, Y/N couldn’t help but think Ethan looks so damn adorable in his costume. She noticed he also had cardboard cuffs on his arms that he hadn’t shown her before. She knew Chad was trying to get Ethan to score with the girl wearing a Harry Potter costume. The girl just laughed at Ethan and turned back to her friends and continued to dance. Y/N couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Of course, Ethan had that shy and nerdy type of energy but he was still so fucking hot. But, besides his looks, he’s such a sweet and caring guy. Any girl would be lucky to have him as their boyfriend. But, of course hoping that one day she’ll be that lucky girl.

 Y/N was about to walk over to the boys till she spotted a familiar girl wearing a pirate costume making her way to the staircase with a random guy. “Shit!” Y/N hissed and quickly made her way over to Tara. “Hey! What’s going on?” Y/N said getting Tara’s attention. “I’m taking Tara upstairs.” The guy answered for Tara which already sent a red flag to Y/N. “You wanna come too, cutie?” he asked her with a flirty smirk. Y/N wanted to slap that fucking smirk off his stupid fucking face. “No thanks, fuck boy! Not interested.” Y/N snapped as she sent a dirty glare towards the asshole. “Tara, why don’t you stay down here.” Y/N said to Tara, but she shook her head. “Y/N, it’s okay.” Tara told her with a reassuring smile. Y/N knew that Tara was completely wasted, and this dick was trying to take advantage of that.

 Mindy and Anika noticed what was going on so they both quickly got up and walked over to them to help Y/N out. “Hey, wanna call it a night?” Anika asked with a fake smile on her face. While Mindy and Anika were trying to talk Tara into staying downstairs Y/N walked back into the other room to get Chad. “Hey, big guy.” Y/N said tapping Chad on the shoulder which got his attention and Ethan’s. “You’re needed.” Y/N told him with a serious look in his eyes. Chad and Ethan didn’t even ask questions. They just followed Y/N back towards the staircase where Mindy and Anika were arguing with the guy.

 “Hey partner.” Chad said stepping in front of his sister and Anika. “Tara, she’s good down here.” Chad told the guy. “I’m sorry, what was that?” The guy asked playing dumb. “You are such a fucking idiot!” Y/N snapped with annoyance making sure everyone heard what she said. Mindy and Anika laughed at Y/N’s comment. “What was that cutie?” The guy asked giving her that stupid ass smirk again which made her more annoyed if that was even possible. Before Y/N could snap back someone else did.

 “Don’t call her that!” Ethan snapped as he stared at the guy with a furious look in his eyes. Y/N was in shock by Ethan taking up for her. She’s never seen this side of Ethan before, and she really liked it. She’s never seen the look he has in his eyes right now. She’s never heard him use that tone before.

 “Guys, it’s okay.” Tara said finally speaking. “I want to.” Tara told her friends which made the guys confidence shoot up even higher. “See, she wants to.” The guy said in a taunting way. “C’mon.” The guy said roughly, grabbing Tara’s arm and started to drag her up the steps which made her fall because of how intoxicated she was. She ended up falling on her ass. “Tara!” Y/N said with worry as she quickly ran to Tara’s side.

 Chad grabbed the guy and threw him off Tara and down the steps. “Why don’t you get your fucking hands off her!” Chad snapped with anger as he glared at the guy. “Get the fuck off me!” The guy snapped back pushing Chad off him. “Guys!” Tara said as she let Y/N help her stand back up. “Guys! Stop it!” Tara said, raising her voice a little bit. Y/N would try to break it up but to be honest, she wanted Chad to beat the fuck out of this asshole. “Fuck you!” The guy snapped pushing Chad again. Before Chad could retaliate someone stepped in front of him.

 “Sorry to interrupt.” Sam’s voice rang out. “I’m just going to tazze you in the balls real quick.” Sam said in a calm tone as she took out her taser from her back pocket. Everyone watched Sam tazze the asshole right in the balls. The guy groaned out in pain as he fell to floor holding his groin. Y/N couldn’t help but laugh watching the guy role around groaning in pain. She’s definitely going to have to give Sam a high five for this later. “Don’t ever lay your hands on my sister!” Sam hissed staring down at the guy with a death glare. “Fucking bitch!” The guy hissed out in pain. Tara was fuming at what her big sister just did.

 “Sam, are you fucking kidding me?” Tara snapped letting go of Y/N’s hand and walking over to her sister. “You’re stalking me now!” Tara added very upset. Tara walked out the front door before Sam could say anything. The group started to hear people referring to Sam as that psycho girl thanks to the stupid rumors that are flooded online. “We should go.” Mindy said, moving Sam out the door. Anika and Chad followed behind Sam and Mindy. Before Y/N met Ethan outside the door she kicked the guy in the knee which made him hiss in pain. “Take that, cutie.” Y/N mocked him and walked out the door. Ethan looked at her with a proud smile. “Nice one!” Ethan complimented her as he took off his cardboard helmet. “Thanks!” Y/N said giving him a wink as they followed behind their friends. Ethan’s cheeks turned a bright red from the wink she gave him.

 Tara was walking faster than anyone else. Sam was trying her best to keep up with her because she wanted to talk to Tara but clearly Tara didn’t want to. Ever since moving to New York Sam has been very protective over Tara, which Y/N understands why but she mentioned to Sam to not go overboard because that’s what her mom did and look at where they are.

“Tara, will you stop.” Sam called out to her. “I cannot believe you did that! You embarrassed me!” Tara called back out as she kept on walking. “That guy was a dick!” Sam told her in a stern tone. “He was going to take advantage of you!” Sam added trying to get through to her suborned sister. “So!?” Tara hissed as stopped walking and whipped around to face Sam making her slam on the breaks. “So?” Sam said in a confused tone. “If I want to hook up with an asshole that’s my decision. My decision!” Tara explained with frustration in her tone as Y/N and the rest of the group finally caught up to the sisters. “Okay.” Sam said still confused on why Tara was acting like some asshole taking advantage of her was okay. “It’s not about you!” Tara said is a harsh tone. “I mean you-you’re out of my life for five years and then you can’t leave me alone for five minutes.” Tara said stumbling over her words because of how angry she was and the buzz she had because of the alcohol wasn’t helping either. “Because you’re not dealing with what happened to us.” Sam said starting to get frustrated with Tara. “Have you even gone to see the counsellor once?” Sam asked in a stern tone. “No! I’m not going to!” Tara told her in the same tone her sister just used. “Why not?” Sam snapped, starting to lose her patience.

 “Because I’m uninterested in living in the past like you.” Tara snapped, striking one of Sam’s nerves. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Sam asked taken back by what Tara just said. “Hey guys- “Chad said trying to stop the tension that was growing more and more but Tara cut him off. “It means that I’m not gonna let what happened to us for three days define my life.” Tara explained to Sam. What Tara just said really struck Y/N hard. She feels like she’s holding more of a grudge from what happen than Tara and Tara had a lot more happen to her. Tara got attacked way worse than Y/N did but she’s not having nightmares. Yeah, Y/N got stabbed by Amber in the side but that’s it. Y/N doesn’t understand why she’s still so angry. She killed Amber. She got revenge for her father.

 “Hey!” A voice called out breaking Y/N out of her deep thoughts. She saw a group of girls walk towards Sam. One of the girls splashed their drink all over Sam leaving her shirt soaked. “Murder!” The girl hissed at Sam making her friends laugh. Sam shoved the girl back as her blood was boiling hot. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!” Sam yelled as Chad and Tara held her back. As the girl and Sam screamed at each other one of the girls said something. “You guys should stay away from her. She knows what she did.” The girl warned the rest of the group. “I didn’t fucking do anything!” Sam snapped full of anger and frustration. “She killed your dad!” The same girl said to Y/N which made her start to get worked up as well. Thanks to her mother’s stupid fucking book, the whole world knows what happened to get dad. “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet you dumb bitch!” Y/N snapped as she glared at the girl with fire in her eyes. Ethan put one of his hands onto her shoulder which quickly made her calm down. “WALK AWAY!” Mindy yelled at the girls, and they did just that.

 “I’m so tired of this shit!” Sam said with a heavy sigh as she tried to wring out her soaking shirt. “I-I have some tissues.” Ethan said taking his hand off Y/N’s shoulder and dug through his jean pocket. Ethan took out a small amount of tissues. “I have like, three tissues.” Ethan said counting them and handing them over to Sam. Sam grabbed the tissues and started to dry her neck and chest off from the sticky liquid. Y/N noticed everyone but Sam was starting to walk away so she grabbed Ethan’s arm and followed the group.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N was at Sam and Tara’s apartment with everyone. Y/N was sitting at the dinning table by herself. Chad went to bring Tara some medicine for her hangover. Y/N knows they both have feelings for one another but they are both too shy to admit it to each other which Y/N obviously knows that feeling. Mindy and Anika were in the living room sitting on the couch eating popcorn and watching TV. She didn’t know where Sam was.

 “Hey.” Y/N heard someone say in a soft tone. When she looked up she saw Ethan standing in front of her with a soft smile. “Hi.” Y/N said returning a soft smile as she pulled the red bandanna out of her hair. “Can I sit with you?” Ethan asked sounding nervous which made him cuss at himself, but Y/N let out a giggle since she thinks it’s adorable. “You never have to ask.” Y/N told him. “Ha, yeah, right.” Ethan said with a nervous laugh as he took a seat on the chair next to her.

 “Where’s your costume?” Y/N asked in a curious tone noticing he wasn’t wearing the cardboard suit over top his long black sleeve shirt. “I threw it into the dumpster before I came up here with you all.” Ethan answered her. “Didn’t help me get with the ladies.” Ethan added. “Yeah, I um saw you strike out with that Harry Potter chick.” Y/N said as a frown appeared on her lips. “Of course, you did.” Ethan said with frustration as he ran both of his hands down his face. “Ethan, it’s okay.” Y/N said pulling his hands away from his face. “It’s her loss, not yours.” She told him. “Really?” Ethan asked in a surprised tone.

 “Ethan, you are such a sweet guy. You are a great and amazing friend.” Y/N told him as she put one of her hands on top of one of his. “If she doesn’t want a guy like that, then fuck her.” She told him as she stared deep into memorizing brown eyes that shinned in the light. “Thanks, Y/N” Ethan said has he stared deep into her eyes as well. Her eyes were his favorite thing about her. He always gets lost in them. “Ugh, will you two just make out already!” Mindy called out to them with a groan which startled them.

 When they looked over into the living room, they saw that Chad and Quinn had joined Mindy and Anika in the room. They were so deep into conversation that they didn’t even notice Chad and Sam and Tara’s roommate walk in. “Forget that we are here?” Chad said with a teasing smirk on his face. “Here we go!” Y/N mumbled letting go of Ethan’s hand to hide the redness of her cheeks. Ethan’s cheeks were glowing red as well.

 “Um, guys.” Anika said pointing to the TV. “Oh shit.” Mindy said as her mood quickly dropped after looking at the TV. “What’s wrong?” Y/N asked with worry as she stood up and walked into the living room. Ethan got up and followed her. When Y/N looked at the TV she felt her heart drop all the way down to the floor. It was a news report about a Ghostface attack.

 “Oh my gosh!” Y/N said as she stared at the TV with wide eyes. “Hey guys wh- “Tara started as she walked into the room wearing regular clothes but cut herself off after seeing what was on the TV. “Go get Sam.” Mindy told Chad in a stern tone. Chad just gave his twin a nod and quickly walked out the door.

*Tags*

@sweetirilly @aqellano @igotmajordaddyissues @athenalive @hotweeb @ghostlyboiii

[harufluff]

Hi! I’m not sure if you’re taking requests, but could I request…

It’s the middle of the night and you and Sunghoon are bored laying on his bed so he suggest going to the park and playing at the playground but then one of the maknaes asks to join but hoon gets jealous because he wants to spend time with you?

Thank you ❤️

♪°○「 late night park trip 」○°♪

warnings - none! just sad hoonie :((

genre - fluff and angst, bf!sunghoon x gender neutral reader

requested - yep! thanks anon! requests are open!

a/n - so. cute. idk how you came up with this but i’m doing it no question. i hope this is ok anon! ily! (also fyi i’m working on requests right now. i’ll post them soon!)

laying in bed is the only posible option when your bored, right? well regardless if it isn’t that’s what you’re doing with your boyfriend. almost 11 o’clock at night, still brain storming what to do to spend some time together before you have to go back home.

your head in his chest, arm around his torso tightly and his hand playing with your hair.

“uhh…we could…go to the grocery store?” you offered.

“nope. jungwon and jay went to the store yesterday. we don’t need anything.”

“we could…make a cake?”

“at 11 o’clock? nuh uh.” he shook his head.

“are you just gonna keep shooting my ideas down or are you gonna come up with one yourself”. you looked up at him and glared.

“sorry sorry”. he looked down at you and sweetly kissed your forehead.

“OH I GOT IT!!” you sat up with wide eyes. sunghoon was confused at your sudden remark, so he sat up with you.

“what’s your idea?” he asked putting his hand on your thigh.

“let’s go to the park!” your eyes lit up as you looked at him. he could feel his face heat up at your sudden excitement.

“wait that’s a great idea!” his eye lit up with yours.

for the next thirty minutes you spent preparing for the park. he got his jacket, took one of jungwons jackets because they are smaller for you. you grabbed a bag and stuffed it almost full with snacks for the both of you and finally a picnic blanket.

while sunghoon was sneaking in jungwon closet he felt someone come behind him. thinking it was you, he didn’t stop.

“hyung what are you doing with my jackets?”

“h-huh? oh jungwon. nothing just letting y/n borrow one”.

“why? where are you going? and why do you need my jacket?”. jungwon asked.

“uh. the park. just to hang out together and stuff”. just at that moment you came around the corner to check on him.

”sunghoon? you got everything?- oh hi jungwon. sorry did we wake you up?” you asked worried. jungwon was about to answer when you head a voice from around the corner where you just were.

“did i hear you guys are going to the park? can we come?” riki says as if you just offered to go to disney land. “yea sure! we’d like that!”

sunghoon glared at jungwon and riki as if telling them to back off, but did they or you notice. sadly not.

-

you finally made it to the park with sunghoon, riki, jungwon, a bag full of stuff, and yourself. you were messing around with jungwon and riki acting like the kids you are.

riki would say something, you and jungwon would laugh, and so on. and while all that happened sunghoon hung back behind you carrying everything down to the car. you all drove in one car, again, sunghoon driving and the three of you in the back, all the stuff in the shotgun, sunghoons mood still not changing.

-

ahh finally at the park. you set up everything, trying to navigate while it’s basically the middle of the night. the whole night you had been picking up on your boyfriends weird behavior although he though otherwise. when everything was set up, he sat down on a public park bench and watched riki and jungwon play.

“hoon”. he hears from the right side of him.

“babe are you ok? you’re acting kind of distant”.

he looked at you and his eyes softened. “yea yea i’m fine. i just…actually never mind.”.

you looked at him with puppy eyes, knowing what they did to him. “oh stop looking at me like that.” you smiled “i just…i wanted it to just be us tonight.”. “awww hoon. you’re adorable”.

you sat down next to him and placed your hand on his thigh. you looked at him with a smile, but he still didn’t make eye contact with you. you leaned up and kissed his jaw. that got his attention. he looked at you and saw all the love in your eyes. he kissed you lips sweetly.

“let’s hand out ALL day tomorrow. ok? just you and me, a bowl of popcorn, and a movie. deal?”.

“deal”

“i love you, ok?”

“yea. i love you too.”

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Hello! I really love your meta (especially your addition in the one regarding Victor and empathy), they are really well thought out! I read your edit to the episode 12- episode 4 meta yesterday, and I really would like to hear your thoughts about the ending as a whole. I personally felt that it was a bit off to me with Yuuri not winning gold (and the scoring) but I do understand what they were going for. Viktor's return to skating surprisingly was something I kind of expected to happen, but I would love to hear your interpretation of it! (Also I must say that viktor-yurio scene before yurio's fs being called as Viktor asking yurio to get the gold or whatever is a take I disagree SO much with (it just seems like it isn't something Viktor will do at that particular time...or ever tbh) so I was glad to see that being addressed in the post! I kind of felt that Yurio's monologue and pushing himself to win by a difference of .12 was just his own desperation to keep Yuuri on the ice (or even simpler: to just somehow convey to yuuri that he is capable of more and more and quitting at that point was not the best decision after all)) anyway, sorry for rambling away :') I really thought this is something interesting to discuss with you, have a great day/night!

Thanks for your Ask! I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I hope you’re still interested in my thoughts on the ending!

Generally (and this might be controversial), I think that episode 12 wraps up the story quite nicely and comprehensively, although I think it could have been 5-10 minutes longer. As much as I believe that a good story should require the audience to use their brains, I’m under the impression that episode 12 subjects the answer to too many open questions to the subtext, stirring a feeling of lacking closure as a result. With a few minutes more airtime, this could have been avoided.

To me, Yuuri finishing in second place was more satisfying than Yuuri winning the GPF. Episode 1 raised the expectation that by the end of the series, Yuuri would hold a gold medal in his hands and throughout the series we are led to believe that this is Yuuri’s ultimate goal. However, when we go back to the very beginning of episode 1, we see Yuuri yearning for becoming Viktor’s equal and it’s implied that he also yearns for Viktor as a person (I discussed some of this here). If Yuuri had won gold, he wouldn’t have been motivated to continue and thus would have denied himself the fulfilment of his greatest dream aka skating on the same ice as Viktor and competing against him—a desire he has nurtured since the day he saw Viktor skate for the first time. So, while the ending doesn’t fulfil Yuuri’s want, it satisfies his need with a promise of the future he envisioned. To me as a viewer, this is more rewarding, but it’s absolutely a matter of taste.

When I watched Yuri!!! for the first time, I personally didn’t anticipate Viktor’s comeback as I was too caught up in the story (and the fear he and Yuuri might break up—I made some bad experiences in this regard). While his return to skating was sufficiently foreshadowed through Yuuri’s unreliable narrator, Viktor’s story arc contradicts this notion. By episode 12, he has settled into his life as Yuuri’s coach and partner and is happier than he has been in a long time. Yuuri fulfils his unmet need for love, which is expressed through Viktor’s free programme and his participation in Yuuri’s gala programme. However, like Yuuri, he lost his passion for skating and is incomplete without it as it is a significant part of his personality (just like Yuuri). His need to regain his passion is met when both Yuris smash his world records at the GPF, but I highly doubt Viktor would enjoy his comeback without Yuuri as his love for skating and his love for Yuuri are intertwined. And for Yuuri, it’s the same. To me, that’s the perfect ever after.

Some more thoughts about the conflict between Yuuri and Viktor, Viktor’s reaction to Yuuri’s retirement plans, Yuuri’s intention, and whether they break up or not, I detailed in this old post.

I feel like I should point out that I don’t see Viktuuri as a couple who would conform to the “let’s break up because our paths of life diverge”-trope as I see them as too mature for this and I’m glad the creators didn’t let the story end like this. (This trope is one of my romance pet peeves.)

I agree with what you said about Yurio! In Yuuri, Yurio has the kind of rival who motivates and pushes him, and whom he likes and admires to some extent. In this sense, their relationship resembles the one Chris and Viktor had and it stands in stark contrast to Yurio’s relationship to JJ, who would be Yurio’s only rival if Yuuri quits. For a character like Yurio, I think, that’s reason enough to keep Yuuri in the sport. I even go as far as saying that stopping Yuuri from retiring is Yurio’s agape.

The scoring at the Grand Prix final is pretty wild to me. I read in an interview that the creators consulted a figure skater to ensure realistic scores, but for the GPF, they went completely off the rails for plot reasons. Without knowing the protocols from the competition, this is difficult to explore, but it seems that to ensure a certain outcome the creators ignored several basic rules about how mistakes play into GOE and PCS and which of these are reasonable for the world’s best six athletes. I did a quick and dirty calculation based on the ISU rules from the time Yuri!!! was created and broadcasted. It's the same system the creators used to calculate the base score of the athletes' programme. I came up with a significantly lower score for JJ and a score for Yuuri that is well above the 100 mark (his hand down on the 4F only gives -1 GOE and limits his PCS to 9.5 maximum in each category). In Yurio’s case, I assumed maximum GOE in all elements and maximum PCS and still didn’t get his score of 118, which means his score in the series is technically impossible. (I actually ended up with around 113.) I’m planning a post that explores the scores in YOI in more detail. For now, suffice it to say that the creators could have achieved the same with reasonable scores.

Given the mistakes he made, JJ was blatantly overscored. Especially in a competition like the GPF, judges tend to be exceptionally strict as all skaters are incredibly skilled and their programmes are of similar difficulty. While I understand that the creators intended to give JJ a strong comeback in the free skating, realistically, his performances would have only put him on the podium if other skaters had made more mistakes (unfortunately, the free skating is a black box as quite a number of elements are executed off-screen). Regarding plot choices, I don’t think the story needs two skaters making a strong comeback in the free programme. If JJ had finished the GPF in last place, this would have made the plot of episode 12 more realistic and better balanced and would have been a fine parallelism to Yuuri’s situation one year ago. Personally, this would have gone his ego good and I would have preferred Phichit, Chris, or Otabek in third place. That said, I don’t understand the reasons for this choice, but that’s okay.

I hope I was able to answer your questions. Feel free to ask if you want to know anything else! Anyway, thank you again! This was my first Ask on Tumblr and I was super thrilled when I saw it!

If you enjoy my meta posts, please consider giving my blog a follow or checking out my works on AO3(link in bio). You will find the results of my meta musings in there!

[endy-the-anxious]

Taking a break

Summary: Roman overworks, Logan helps him.

Word count: 768

Characters: Roman, Logan

Notes: I wrote this in one go, so, sorry if it isn't that good. Also this is vaguely inspired by Bojack Horseman.

Tagging: @lost-in-thought-20

----------

It was already late in the evening when Roman heard three careful knocks on the door of his room, followed by an uncharacteristically soft tone of voice calling out to him.

"Roman..? May I come in?” 

It was Logan’s voice, and in response Roman muttered a quick ‘yeah’ without taking his pen off of the paper in front of him. Behind him, the door opened and closed behind him, and the creative side heard soft footsteps coming up behind him, before a hand was placed on his shoulder.

“..you’re tense. How long have you been sitting here?” Logan asked, voice laced with concern.

Roman huffed, not looking up, “Not that long, probably.” he said.

He heard a sigh, and then the sound of Logan grabbing a second chair to sit beside him.

“We both know that isn’t true.”

Not answering again, Roman let the sounds of pen on paper fill the silence as he continued writing. He could feel Logan’s gaze on him, but stubbornly refused to meet his eyes.

When Logan realized he wasn’t getting an answer out of Roman, he continued, “..it’s been hours. Almost a whole day. You haven’t come out of your room once, not even for dinner. And you were like this yesterday too.. and the day before that. I think it’s about time you take a break.” he said, keeping his voice soft.

Roman shook his head, “I can’t, not right now. My writing isn’t finished yet.” he explained, hoping the logical side would leave him alone now, and yet knowing that wasn’t going to happen.

“It doesn’t have to be finished,” Logan said, “You can take a break, and continue after, but you have to stop now. This isn’t healthy for you.”

“..you’re one to talk..” Roman muttered, seeing Logan’s expression turn into a frown from the corner of his eye.

“That is exactly my point, Roman. You remember how I was, locking myself in my room all day. Working on schedules, writing papers, not even noticing how tired I was. You and the others literally dragged me out of my room to talk some sense into me.” Logan recalled. It hadn’t even been that long ago. A year at most. But Logan was proud to say that he’d gotten better at managing when to take breaks.

Roman managed a soft chuckle when he remembered that time, “..yeah.. you were really stubborn.” he said with a small smile.

“Mhm.. and guess what you're being now?” Logan asked, returning the smile, hopeful that Roman would see the similarities between how Logan used to act, and how the creative side was acting now.

Roman’s smile disappeared slowly before he answered, “..stubborn. But.. this is different. I know that if I stop writing now.. I won’t have the motivation to start again, and… I won’t finish this..”

“So?” Logan spoke, his tone almost growing a bit passionate, “So what if you don't finish this? It can’t possibly be more important than your wellbeing. Your work can never be more important than you. That’s what you told me. Don’t tell me you’re going back on your words now..”

Caught off guard, Roman’s writing faltered for just a second, “I-.. no, of course i’m not going back on my words-! I just.. I'm creativity..! If I'm not being creative, then what am I?”

Logan reached forward and cupped Roman’s cheek, “You’re Roman. You’re the charismatic, energetic, and passionate prince we all know and love. So please, put the pen down. Come join me, and we can have some tea, maybe watch a movie, take a break. If you want, I can even help you get back to work later, but right now, you need to listen to me.”

Feeling Logan’s warm hand on his cheek, Roman didn’t have the strength to resist anymore. He was starting to feel how tired he was, how dry his mouth was, and he could hear his stomach growling from hunger, now that he wasn’t ignoring it anymore. He looked away from the paper, and finally met Logan’s eyes, “..okay. I’ll-.... I’ll take a break. Can I just finish writing this paragraph..?” he asked quietly.

Logan nodded, and removed his hand now, “Of course. I’ll wait in the living room for you. Promise me you’ll join?”

“I promise..” Roman agreed, seeing Logan smile a bit, before walking away.

He continued writing for a bit, until the paragraph was done. Part of him wanted to keep writing, but he didn’t want to break his promise to Logan.

So, with a sigh, and after some slight hesitation, he put his pen down, and-

[likeshipsonthesea]

want

coda fic for 6x07 Cursed a.k.a. the episode where we all heard way too much about buck’s baby batter (blame @somaybeamystery for that one). i had a lot of feelings about that episode and the way they handled it--mostly it being for comic relief--so here’s a more serious, introspective look at buck’s donation arc, and what i hope happened after 6x07

warnings for infertility references and references to the buckleys/daniel

“What’s with the sand?” Buck sweeps a hand toward the light dusting of sand Eddie’s created by taking off his shoes on Buck’s welcome mat. 

“Ah, shit, sorry.”

Buck rolls his eyes. “I own a vacuum cleaner, don’t worry.”

Eddie elects to ignore their usual argument over Buck’s stupid-smart vacuum cleaner and answer the question anyway. “I just dropped Chris at Andrew’s house for a sleepover and didn’t have time to change after his surfing lesson.”

“Is Andrew the one with the ridiculous video game set-up?”

Eddie smiles but shakes his head. “No, that’s Ricky. Andrew’s the one with the gerbils.”

“Ricky gerbils, got it.” Buck nods slowly and goes silent, continuing to nod at nothing slower and slower until Eddie’s nearly forgotten why he’s nodding at all. He puts the six pack he brought down on the counter and the sound makes Buck snap his head back up, eyes refocusing on Eddie rather than somewhere in the distance.

Eddie lifts his eyebrows. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Buck says, belated. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

Eddie can tell by the way Buck’s jaw twitches that he’s worrying the inside of his lip. He’s been doing it so often lately that he even refused Eddie’s tomatoes over lunch during their last shift—he didn’t say it, but Eddie knows it’s because he’s broken the skin and the acidity of the tomatoes would sting.

“What do I do about it?” Eddie asked Frank, during their last session.

“What do you want to do about it?” Frank replied, infuriating as always.

“Ask him what’s wrong.” Eddie shook his head. “But if he wanted to talk about it, he would.”

“Then you have to choose,” Frank said sensibly. “Either don’t ask and stop worrying about it until he brings it up, or ask and deal with the consequences.”

Eddie hates when Frank doesn’t give him an easy answer. Not that Frank’s ever given him an easy answer. Honestly, Eddie hates almost everything about therapy, except the getting better part.

Eddie takes a deep breath. “You tell me to shut up, I’ll shut up and we’ll drink and watch the game and I won’t say another word about it,” Eddie says, and almost doesn’t continue when Buck looks at him with his big dumb eyes, so lost Eddie wants to do something stupid like invite him home or kiss his freaking forehead. “But I know there’s something wrong, and if you want to talk about it, I want to listen.”

Buck stares at him for several long seconds. Yeah, Eddie’s surprised with himself, too.

“I, uh.” Buck ducks his chin, looking down at his kitchen counter. He has both hands curled around the edge of it, his fingers spread wide, the skin going stark white with the pressure he puts on them. “I had my donation appointment today.”

Eddie’s face does something drastic at that, but he has an extra second before Buck looks up to school his expression into something neutral and open. 

“Oh?” Eddie says, because he’s not sure what else to fucking say and it works well enough for Frank when he’s trying to get Eddie to keep talking.

But Eddie must not have done it right because Buck looks back down at the counter and nods again, just saying, “Yeah. Yeah.”

“So.” Eddie tries to think of the appropriate thing to say when your best friend (and the guy that several therapy sessions would indicate you’re stupidly in love with) tells you he’s donated his sperm to a couple you’ve never met. “So, uh. It’s all done, then?”

Buck’s shoulders tense as he presses even more weight into his hands. Fuck. Eddie probably should’ve just gone with “congrats.”

“It’s not,” Buck says without looking up. Eddie winces. He didn’t know about this whole thing until yesterday, but if he did, he might’ve seen this coming. It would be hard for anyone to father a child and then just not be involved in the kid’s life, let alone Buck, who clings to everything in his life like it’s going to be taken away if he loosens his grip. Eddie’s pretty sure that’s why he eats the way he does—like someone will take away the plate if he doesn’t finish fast enough. Knowing there’s a kid out there with a part of him in them but not being allowed to see them, raise them, love them—Eddie could’ve guessed that would kill Buck.

But it’s not Buck’s kid.

“It is over,” Eddie says as gently as he can manage. “You did your part, and now it’s over.”

“No, I didn’t—” Buck’s jaw clenches and releases. “I rescheduled.”

“Second thoughts?” Eddie asks, trying not to sound hopeful. If he knew the couple, he might feel a pang of sympathy for their situation, but he only cares about Buck, so he can’t manage anything but relief.

Buck shakes his head abruptly and Eddie’s relief fizzles in his chest. “No, no—not—not like that.”

“The moon wasn’t in the right position, then?” Eddie tries for a smile and grins when he gets one, accompanied by a soft huff of laughter and the slight loosening of Buck’s shoulders.

“No.” Buck glances up, smile still playing at his lips. “Not anything like that.”

“Then why reschedule?”

Buck sighs deeply, his shoulders falling further. “When Connor and Camryn asked me, I did all this research.” He gestures aimlessly with one hand as he speaks. “What to eat, how much to exercise, how involved people tend to be, how donor-born people feel about the whole thing. I wanted to do it right, you know?”

Eddie nods, smiling faintly. He’d expect nothing less from Buck.

“Well, uh.” Buck rubs at the back of his neck with his gesturing hand. “One thing they recommended was to abstain from, uh. Giving your own sample. Before the appointment.”

Eddie nods in a totally casual and not incredibly controlled way because he’s a normal friend that’s not going to be weird about his best friend’s ejaculations. Mhmm.

“Well. I was supposed to have my appointment a month ago. But stuff kept getting in the way. The tech fainted, the power went out.” Buck gestures dismissively. “All this stuff.”

“So it’s been a month since…?”

Buck smiles tightly. “Yup.”

“So you’re…”

“Pretty pent-up, yeah.”

“Ah.” Eddie imagines a small box with a lid and puts the thoughts and feelings he has about this information into that box, then puts that box into another box, and repeats that process until he can take a deep breath without wheezing. It’s a neat little trick he learned when he was a kid. He calls it the box method. Frank calls it repression. “So, how does rescheduling help with that?”

Buck doesn’t answer for long enough that Eddie considers just offering to turn on the game, but the little wrinkle between Buck’s eyebrows keeps Eddie from speaking. Finally, he says quietly, “My Jeep broke down on the way to the appointment. Between the pressure of doing it for Connor and Camryn and the whole thing at the station yesterday, and the frustration of saving up for so long, I just. Wanted to get it over with. So I ran. I ran through the streets, almost knocking people over, got there with four minutes to spare, and the nurse gave me a cup and a magazine and left me alone in the room and I just.”

Buck screws his mouth to the side.

“I was sitting there. Sweaty, breathing hard, looking at this cup. And it just—didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel—I wasn’t—I forgot. With all the secrecy and special diets and whatever, I forgot why I was doing it in the first place.”

“Why are you doing it?” If Eddie were Frank, he wouldn’t have asked. But Eddie’s not an impartial party, he’s half in love with his best friend and he has no fucking clue why he’s agreed to this whole thing, and he just really wants to know.

The tension in Buck’s face releases slowly until he’s got a faint smile sitting on his lips, eyes firmly on his kitchen counter. “It’s awkward, unbelievably awkward, to ask someone for their sperm. The whole thing—wine and dining me, explaining to someone you haven’t seen in years this seriously intimate thing, talking about sperm count and donation appointments. Most people, you get pregnant, it’s easy. No awkward conversations, no third parties. This whole thing is awkward and stressful and takes five times as much work.” Buck looks up, meeting Eddie’s eyes. “Even if I wasn’t sure they’d be awesome parents, and even though I don’t know if I’m going to deal with the whole “having a kid without being a parent” thing well, I’d still do it. Because I know without a doubt that they want this kid more than anything in the world, and this kid is going to grow up knowing that.”

Just like that, Eddie gets it. This is probably the furthest thing you can get from having a kid for spare parts. That comprehension must be evident in his face because Buck looks away again. Clears his throat.

“I know it’s dumb,” he says, self-deprecating and minimizing, and Eddie could just shake him and yell you matter, you asshole, but he doesn’t. He thinks Frank would be proud, though, both for having the thought and restraining himself. “But I was sitting there in that room and I knew that if I donated in that moment, it wouldn’t be because I wanted this kid for Connor and Camryn, it would be because I was frustrated and stressed. So I rescheduled.” Buck worries at the inside of his lip for a long moment before adding, “Every part of this kid’s existence should be because they’re wanted.”

Eddie loves him. It surges in him at random moments, overwhelming and sweet. It’s happened more and more often since he’s been working with Frank. He’s never said it aloud, but he thinks dealing with all his other shit has left more room in him for love. Different flavors of it—pride and joy when Christopher talks about his newest science project, contentment and warmth when he’s squished between Hen and Chim on the firehouse couch, delight and surprise when he listens to his dad’s misadventures in retirement. Buck’s somehow all of those flavors in one bite, bursting across Eddie’s tongue like a well-executed recipe.

“I didn’t think I could feel like that anymore,” Eddie told Frank once, stilted and embarrassed and probably too honest, but pleased anyway.

Sometimes it hurts. Hurts with how big it feels, hurts with how much it is, hurts because this person he loves so much it’s stupid doesn’t see how much he’s loved—or how he should be loved. All the shit Buck’s been through with his parents and his near-deaths and his unlucky love life and he’s still so fucking kind. Reckless and impulsive and self-destructive to the point that he blows up everything within the blast radius, sure. But still so unrelentingly kind.

“It’s not dumb,” Eddie finally manages to say through all the cresting emotions in his chest. Buck looks at him, surprised, wide-eyed. “I don’t think it’s dumb at all.”

Buck cracks a smile, the one Christopher pilfered from him, the one Eddie gets when he relents to “five more minutes” of video games. A smile of victory and surprise. A smile of gratitude.

“Thanks, Eddie.”

Too honest, Eddie says, “Anytime.”

Eddie only lets Christopher have another five minutes half of the time he asks for it, but Buck? Eddie would choose that smile on Buck’s face over almost anything else.

[lesbianmaxevans]

Max & Liz from Roswell, New Mexico (2019-2022) || Nick & George from Nancy Drew (2019-2023) [part I] happy birthday @helloyona

[Image Description: Nine stacked gifs, each one divided vertically in half. On the left is a scene from Roswell, New Mexico. On the right is a scene from Nancy Drew. Each gif also has capitalized, blocky text overlaying the images in the center.

THE GUARDED, CLOSED OFF ONE: Liz says, “I don’t trust people. I’ve been burned too many times. I use facts and evidence to build a cage around my heart. I can’t help it, I can’t change it. And, honestly, I don’t think I would want to. It’s my armor.” // George says, “ I have a mother who is a neglectful alcoholic, and I’ve had to raise three little sisters on my own. It was really hard, but I adapted, and life hasn’t made me nice. It’s made me vicious.“

THE PROTECTIVE, RUNS INTO DANGER ONE: Max runs into a building as Liz calls after him  // Nick quickly runs into a lake after a friend (offscreen) while George watches, visibly scared

TOP-TIER LOVE CONFESSIONS: Max stands in front of Liz and says, “But you’re not perfect. I see your faults. And I love you. Easily. You believe in the good in me when I can’t see it. So, is it so crazy that I believe in you too? Without evidence. I just… know.” // Nick gently tucks a strand of George’s hair behind her ear. She stares at him in shock as he says, "I love you. You take care of everything and everyone, and I know you don’t need anyone to take care of you, but you need to know you’re loved. Okay, you asked me before what changed from yesterday to today, what do I stand to lose, and… It’s us.”

LIFE-ALTERING FIRST KISS: (this is pretty self explanatory)

DEATH & RESURRECTION: 1 - Liz cries over Max’s lifeless body. 2 - Rosa uses her new ability to restart his heart. // 1 - Nick stares helpless at George after she’s been impaled. 2 - George gasps for air after Nancy uses a magical shroud.

AMNESIA PLOT: Liz looks relieved as she hugs Max, when she pulls away Max says, “I’m - I’m so sorry. Have we met?” // George rushes to Nick, saying, "Nick, you’re okay!” He recoils from her and responds, “Uh, who are you? Wait, you know me?”

FATAL ILLNESS POST RESURRECTION: Max, clearly not in a healthy state is talking with Isobel. M: "The heart is what’s the matter.” I: “No. You’re better. Valenti did a transplant. It’s better.” M: “Yeah. And my body’s rejecting it.” // George is talking to her grandmother’s spirit, and she tells George, “Your life line is beginning to merge with Odette’s. Your original line had a rocky start, but ended up happy and long. Odette’s life line is violent and brief. If you do not find a way to sever your connection, your life line will be greatly shortened.”

 SABOTAGING NEWLY-FOUND STABILITY: After Max learns of her experiments, Liz says, “I’ve discovered something that could be the key to curing people who have no hope otherwise. I can’t walk away!” Max angrily responds, “So you’re gonna turn my family’s stem cells into the hottest commodity?” // George says, "[Dating other people is an] option that I never got to explore when I had an expiration date. I want us to be together for the right reasons, not because we just settled for each other.” Nick, in disbelief, responds, “Oh, you -- you settled for me?”

DOUBLE PROPOSALS: 1 - Max seems very emotional as he says, “What I want to say is that meeting you and being with you elevated my life. When you moved in, you did something I didn’t think was possible. You taught me that I can grow so much more.” 2 - On another occasion, Liz smiles as she holds a ring box behind her back. // 1 - George stands in front of Nick and says, “No more delayed gratification. No more waiting... Ned Nickerson… Will you marry me?” 2 - Nick kneels as he holds a ring box and says, “My answer’s yes. It’s yes. It always has been, with my… with my whole heart... No matter what tries to get in our way, I am never saying goodbye to you. In this life or the next.”]