#[yesterday was disaster. she sat to watch one of my classes as i taught them and then she took over like i dont exists there

[convxction]

[looks into my blogs. inbox is full of good things to get my brain motivated to write. thanks chris and pelleas for always sending chef kiss content. you can also send me chef kiss content if you want. the inbox is always open ~

today i will try to figure out a way to make a better interest check page thing for my multi since the one i have is .....................not good. and see to have a proper q on blogs weee

[jwillowwolf]

Magic and Miracles - Chapter 8

Sanders Sides Big Bang fic, Chapter 8!

< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter > | Masterlist

Summary: “Not a morning person?”

“Does staying up until five am count?”

“Wh- no! That’s actually a bit concerning. Please don’t tell me you were up until five then only slept two hours before we started walking.”

“I won’t tell you that then.”

Warning/s: food mention.

Characters: Logan, Virgil, OCs, Roman, Remy, Remus, Patton, Janus, Emile.

Tag List: @theimprobabledreamersworld @remy-please-come-back

Read on AO3

8 | Fondness

Logan stared at the ceiling above him. It seemed like just yesterday he had been doing this out of boredom, waiting for when everyone was supposed to tour the manor. He’d been so anxious about what studying here would mean and how he would socialise with his classmates. Now though, they were all his friends, and he found himself mildly amused that he’d ever been nervous about getting to know them.

This room that had seemed so strange before had become home. Everything from the view outside his window to the softness of the bed was as familiar as his room at the bakery. Soon though, this would no longer be his home.

With the upcoming license test, he would officially become a wizard, and therefore no longer need to remain a student. He’d miss being here and having his friends so close. Come to think of it, he would miss his friends greatly too. After the test, they would be returning to their far off homes. Virgil didn’t live very far off, but Logan felt that it wouldn’t be proper for someone like him to be visiting the prince.

In a couple of days, all of Logan’s dreams about being a wizard would come true, yet he would lose the dreams he never knew he had…

“Rise and shine, witches! You’ve got a big day ahead!”

Logan shook his head, as if that would clear it of any unwanted thoughts, and got out of bed. Today he couldn’t be distracted by silly emotions. Remy was sending them on a huge quest to refine their skills before the big test.

At breakfast, everyone seemed excited for the quest. It was going to be an overnight kind of thing and they were doing it on their own. They had all been taught to teleport and a special spell that would summon Remy if the need arose, but they were still going to be doing this entirely independent of any other adults.

“Hey, you okay L?” Virgil asked as they were walking down the hall.

“Hmm?”

“You look like you’re trying to solve the meaning of life.”

“...What?”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “You look broody, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is… wrong, per se.”

“Per se?”

“I’m probably just feeling tired from staying up last night studying the notes Remy gave us.”

“Well, hopefully, breakfast lifts your energy, because we have a long walk ahead of us.”

Logan didn't have time to even respond to that as he was tackled to the ground by a hug. "Everleigh? What are you doing here?"

"I came to wish my friends good luck of course! Your dad is here too."

Sure enough, Emile was there in the dining room waiting on everyone else with a special spread of pastries for breakfast.

"Hey kids, I figured you'd want something good to start your big day."

"It's not even test-day yet Mr Picani, but thank you! Your pastries are incredible." Willow declared.

"Well, thanks kiddo. Today isn't your test but it's still a pretty big day. I will be sure to make pastries for test day too though."

"It's not that big a quest really," Remy said. "It's just a longer trip than I usually send them on for ingredient collecting."

"Considering it's a two-day journey to retrieve a rare fruit from a cave, I doubt calling today big would be an exaggeration." Virgil pointed out.

"Back when I was learning magic, we didn't even get teleportation spells for coming back. We'd have to walk there and back, and as quickly as we could too." Remy stated.

"Whatever you say, old man."

"Old? Did you just call me old?" Remy said in a greatly offended tone.

Virgil smirked. "Yup."

Remy turned to Emile. "See what disrespect I have to deal with? You know what, I'm not even going to miss you, sassy little ankle-biters."

The teens all snickered at Remy's dramatics and then dug into their breakfast.

“So, are you guys excited?” Emile asked.

“For the quest itself, not so much. But for the afterparty,” Roman said.

“Yeah, Remy promised us that we’d even get the next day off school, so we could stay up as late as we want!” Remus added.

“I have a feeling I’m going to regret that deal,” Remy whispered to Emile, who nodded with a giggle.

“Can I come to the party?” Everleigh asked.

“Of course,” Remy replied. “They seem to get into less trouble with you around. I’m half tempted to ask you to join them on this quest of theirs.”

“We’re not that accident prone, thank you very much. We’ve kept ourselves out of trouble all month,” Janus pointed out.

“Yeah, and I’m worried you’re due for a disaster,” Remy sighed.

Logan nodded. “Statistically speaking, it’s odd that we’ve gone this long without something happening.”

“That’s comforting…” Virgil muttered.

Janus shrugged. “We’re just getting better at self-preservation. We’ll be fine.”

---

“I retract my earlier statement,” Janus declared as they were walking. “We’re all going to die of exhaustion.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Jan, that’s my job,” Roman stated.

“And we’ve barely been walking for half a day now,” Willow pointed out.

“Half a day, mainly uphill,” Janus reiterated.

“Perhaps if we all talk about something, our minds won’t be so concentrated on the tiredness,” Patton suggested.

Logan nodded. “Yes, doing something else should distract our brains from any pain or exhaustion. Either with a stimulating conversation or some kind of sing-along.”

“I know a good song!” Remus declared. “She’ll be coming around the mountain when she comes-!”

“No! You are not starting that nightmare up again,” Roman interrupted with a stern glare at his grinning twin.

“Oh, come on, Roro. You love this song!”

“I passionately despise that song.”

“All I heard was ‘passionately’, do you want to marry this song, Ro?” Remus asked. “Or do you just want to--”

“Shut up!” Roman shouted, his face turning as red as Remus’s eyes.

“What do you have against that song?” Willow inquired.

“It’s the way she sings it,” Roman explained. “It’s not appropriate.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “All I said was-”

“No! You have lost speaking privileges.” Roman declared.

“Well then, is there anything else we can talk about?” Janus asked,

“We could play a game,” Patton suggested.

“But not eye spy or word chain,” Virgil immediately added.

Roman huffed. “Alright then, how about you suggest a game, stormcloud?”

“A race.”

Janus stared at him dumbfounded. You’re kidding, right?

Virgil shook his head. “Nope. Let’s all race to… that archway, the winner gets first pick of the treats Mr Picani gave us for lunch.”

Everyone, despite their tiredness from walking, exchanged looks of determination.

“Let’s go!”

---

Once it was close to sunset, the seven finally halted their walking and made camp with the supplies they’d been given. They had two tents, a good amount of firewood, plenty of food to go around, and sleeping bags for each of them. Janus started the fire and began heating up a pot of stew for dinner.

Remus laid himself flat on the ground. “Gods, everything hurts.”

Patton sighed. “I told you not to jump through that bush.”

“I didn’t know it was hiding a steep incline.”

“I told you it was hiding a steep incline,” Roman huffed.

“Well, when have I ever listened to you?”

Roman just sighed in exasperation, too tired to continue arguing.

“The healing spell should only take a little longer to complete,” Virgil said. “So the pain will eventually fade.”

“Eventually?!”

“Remus, you basically jumped off a cliff, please stop complaining about the consequences of your actions,” Willow said.

Remus looked at her with a raised brow. “Someone’s in a bad mood.”

“They’re hangry,” Janus stated. “And so am I, when is this thing going to finish heating up?!”

“I still have some pastries from lunch to snack on,” Patton offered.

“Oh, Patty, you’re a saint!” Willow declared joyfully.

Logan watched his teammates with a faint smile. These interactions were starkly different from how they used to treat each other in the beginning. Well, Remus and Roman still bickered, but they were siblings. Janus and Roman no longer acted like they wanted to kill one another. Willow spoke with confidence to everyone instead of their meek tones. Virgil became more social and even laughed and smiled along with the group now. Patton was still his kind-hearted self, although now he was a lot more appreciated for it.

It was a far cry from the dysfunctional class of misfits that they had been. And in Logan’s opinion, it was a real improvement. He couldn’t believe that he’d once been so set on looking out only for himself when now he was so determined to help his team. His friends…

“-gan? Logan?”

“Hmm?”

Virgil gave him a small smile. “You spaced out, I was asking if you wanted your stew now.”

“Oh, um, yes, thank you.”

Virgil handed him one of the bowls in his hands and then sat beside him. “Mind if I ask what’s got you so deep in thought?”

“I was just thinking... about how much I’ll miss all of you,” Logan admitted. “Once we’ve all passed the test and can move on with our lives, the twins will sail off to their island, Janus and Willow will go back to Evergreen Valley, Patton will return to his parents and brother, and you’ll- well, you know…”

“Do you really think after all we’ve been through together, we’d abandon each other that easily?”

“It’s possible.”

“So is the end of the world, but tomorrow is just as possible as that.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“Well, look at it this way. If you throw a coin up in the air, there’s an equal chance of it landing on either heads or tails, right?”

“Yes.”

“So there is a chance that we’ll all grow apart, but there’s a bigger chance that we’ll stay friends despite the distance. We’ve got magic to take us back and forth anyway. Staying in touch will be easier than you think.”

“Well, what about your whole secret identity thing?”

“After the test, I’m going to finally show the kingdom who I am.”

Logan paused. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, I feel like I’m finally ready to take on the responsibility of having a public image. That means I’ll need to surround myself with the right kinds of people, and you all are exactly the kinds of people I want by my side.”

“Even me? The non-noble?”

“Especially you, Logan. I mean, titles, they’re nothing more than titles. Just words that give a person a position. You, despite the position in life you were given, worked hard to become the first-ever non-noble mage. Title or no title, you are an incredible person Logan, and I’m grateful to have even met you.”

Logan searched Virgil’s face for any hint of insincerity but found none. Those stormy grey eyes held no dishonesty. Only… Fondness? Logan wasn’t good enough at understanding emotions to know exactly what Virgil was feeling, but he felt that it wasn’t anything malicious.

“Thank you, Virgil.”

“No problem. So, do you have any specific plans for what you want to do after the test?”

“Well, I wanted to open up a medical practice.”

“I thought you specialised in air magic? If you’re going into doctoring, why not take up healing magic?”

“I planned on specializing in helping people transition for an affordable price.”

“Oh? That sounds interesting.”

“It was the whole reason I got interested in studying magic. I remember that one day some people came into the bakery, talking about transitional magic. I knew then already that I wanted to do something about my body. The dysphoria was… difficult. So I looked into having someone do the spell for me, but even the cheapest of mages charged far too much for my dad or me to afford. So I took matters into my own hands and decided I would learn magic myself and help others like me to be comfortable in their own skin.”

“That’s a noble cause. It’s almost like what I wanted to do with having a magic school.”

“Oh?”

“I always felt like it was unfair that so many people missed out on the chance to use magic. Being half-fae, I was surrounded by it for my entire life. The council keeps track of who can use magic and is worthy of using it, but the only people able to use it are the rich nobles with all the access to tutors and stuff. It’s like having only certain men be knights, instead of allowing anyone who wants to fight to take up arms. There are so many people out there with the potential to be great, but because of how they were born, they will never have a chance to reach that potential.”

“You care a lot about people.”

“So do you.”

“I suppose that’s a good thing.”

The two sat silently as they ate, but the silence between them felt comfortable. However, Logan found himself once again questioning what he felt towards Virgil, whenever he glanced over at him. His heart seemed to both beat faster and sometimes skip beats altogether. Especially since they were sitting so close together at the moment. They were so close that their knees kept on brushing against each other.

"Uh, Logan?"

"Yes?"

Virgil tugged at his cape's hood. "Can I… ask you an important question?"

Logan tilted his head to the side curiously. "Sure."

"W-"

“Hey, do you two want seconds?” Remus yelled, interrupting the boy’s conversation. “Or can I have the rest?”

“Remus, if you eat all that you’ll get a stomach ache,” Patton warned.

Ignoring his boyfriend’s worry, Remus asked, “Who bets I can finish this in five minutes?”

“You’re an idiot,” Janus stated blankly.

“And a coward. Aim for three!” Roman encouraged.

Logan shook his head. “Well, hopefully, Remus’s antics are the worst things we’ll have to worry about.”

Virgil shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

---

The next morning, after an unpleasant wake-up call from Roman screaming, because Remus had drenched him in water, everyone got up and continued their trek to the cave where the special fruit Remy wanted, grew. Janus and Roman were taking the lead, bickering about something between themselves, with Willow, Remus and Patton walking close behind them, and Virgil and Logan tailing everyone. Willow and Remus would dash away from the group every now and again to grab flowers for Patton so that he could make them all flower crowns. Which was hard to do while walking but he seemed to be managing.

Logan noted that Virgil still seemed very tired. “Not a morning person?”

“Does staying up until five am count?”

“Wh- no! That’s actually a bit concerning. Please don’t tell me you were up until five then only slept two hours before we started walking.”

“I won’t tell you that then.”

“You need sleep, Virgil.”

“I’ll be fine. I have a bit of midnight elixir from Remy that should wake me up.”

Logan shook his head. “What on earth kept you up so late?”

Virgil shrugged. “Thoughts. My mind was feeling really busy last night. Thinking about… everything.”

“Are you worried about what’s going to happen when…” Logan trailed off.

“Kind of, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. After all, I’ve got both my parents to support me through it. Plus all of you… if the others are as accepting as you.”

“Your race won’t change how they see you, Virgil.”

“You can’t know for sure.”

“Perhaps it’s not a guarantee but the chance of them being loyal is infinitesimal.”

“So small.”

“What, no. That would be the chance of them rejecting you.”

“Then why would you say infinitesimal? It means extremely small.”

“Wait, what?”

“Y-yeah… Logan, did you not know what infinitesimal meant?”

“…”

“Oh my gods, you didn’t.”

“Don’t laugh at me! I don’t know everything and that’s perfectly normal.”

“Well, yeah, but you’re like a super genius.”

“You think I’m a genius.”

“Of course. You’ve proved it time and time again. You’re incredibly smart. In fact, the chances of you not knowing something are… infinitesimal.”

Logan glared. “How dare you use a compliment to tease me, you… sparkly-eyed jerk.”

“My eyes sparkle?”

“When you’re happy, yeah. They look kind of like stars.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you were such a romantic.”

Logan froze. “I didn’t mean to cross any boundaries-”

“You can say I have nice eyes, L. I only meant the poetic kind of romantic. I’m sure you weren’t trying to flirt. Unless you were?”

“I- uh, no. I mean you are quite attractive and I-” Logan stopped himself before he could accidentally confess anything more.

“So you do think I’m attractive at least.”

“...Yes.”

“Well, thanks. I feel the same way about you.”

Logan blushed. “O-oh… thank you...”

The rest of the walk was silent as Logan tried to calm his heart rate down. He was concerned with how fast it was going considering the casual pace they were travelling at. Subconsciously though, he knew that it was what Virgil had said that made him feel like this. He could pretend all he wanted, that there was something else wrong, but he knew that the cause of all this was his feelings towards a certain grey-eyed boy.

The fact that they had almost just flirted with each other was really not helping him. Especially since he wanted so badly to actually flirt with him. He wasn’t exactly sure of his full attraction to Virgil but he liked the idea of flirting with him. Exchanging compliments and maybe holding hands or even… kissing him? That idea made his heart skip a beat.

So basically he was having a gay panic all the way up to the cave. The one thing that distracted him from completely freezing was looking at his surroundings and categorizing all the plants he saw. Beside the cave entrance, he noted there were some berry bushes growing. Then, he saw a pebble fall from above the entrance and glanced up to see what had pushed it.

Time seemed to slow down when Logan saw the boulder perched there. It looked like it was about to fall and crush Virgil, Patton and him before they got into the cave. He grabbed Virgil’s wrist and pushed Patton ahead of them as quickly as possible to get inside of the cave before the boulder came tumbling down with a bunch of other large rocks that now sealed the entrance.

“Holy- are you guys okay?!” Willow asked.

“Pat!” Remus ran to Patton’s side immediately and helped him up.

“I’m okay, I’m okay. Logan saved us.”

Virgil stared wide-eyed at the rocks. "By Ysla’s bow, that was close. Are you alright, Logan?”

“I’m fine. Just glad I saw what was going to happen before we got squished.”

“How the hel did that even happen? There’s no way that was a coincidence,” Janus commented.

“Well, I don’t know what else it could have been. Maybe that was the big trouble that Remy was worried we’d get into,” Roman said.

“Good thing we have the porthole spell to get home then. I don’t think that there’s any way we could get back through here without it taking half an eternity,” Willow declared.

After that scare, the group continued on deeper into the cave. They knew the tree grew in a central chamber surrounded by glowing moss. There was some of this glowing moss on the walls, illuminating their path so they didn’t have to use a light spell or anything.

Soon enough, they reached the chamber. From there they just had to get the fruit from the tree, make a porthole, and go home for their after party. Except there was one problem.

A giant mole.

“I think we’re cursed.”

---

A/N: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. I'll be posting two chapters a day until the full fic is up, so if you want to be tagged, you can just ask.

I'd love to hear what you thought about the chapter if you wouldn't mind commenting. Thanks again for reading! Here's hoping you have a magical day 💜

[miraculousmarifan]

Felinette Month 2020 - Day 11: Ballroom Dances

Sorry for the delay on day 11 of the @felinettenovember​ prompts! I found out my spouse had the night off yesterday, which throws my after work plans out the window, since he wants to spend time with me (crazy right?). Add in writer’s block for the entirety of my remaining writing time and a complete change in idea 0this morning and you’ve got this. If the motivation ever returns (after November ends) I might try to finish my original plan for this (more of a throwback to when my high school included a short unit about dancing during gym) and give you another Felinette dancing fic.

So here’s some fluff and accidental reveals.

Chat!Felix and definitely taking place near the end of their high school time. 

Around 1900 words

Patrols were Felix’s favorite part of the week. Not only did he get to run across the rooftops as Chat Noir, pushing himself to move faster and grow stronger, but he also got to see his partner. After the akumas started getting stronger, the two agreed that they should get together once or twice a week to spar. Ladybug was light on her feet and surprisingly strong, but he had raw mass on her and was using the patrol to build up his stamina. Modeling didn't cut it. Afterwards he would sneak out to find some extra food to supplement his diet and avoid dropping weight. Doing this for a few years had really improved his fighting and he felt this helped the pair stay in tune better during battles. He noticed they fell under an akuma's influence less than when it first began (him especially) and the battles seemed to be more contained. 

Tonight was different from their usual sessions though. Ladybug seemed too distracted during their sparring and he had the upper hand for too much of it.

"Something on your mind, L?" Felix asked, backing out of their chalk-drawn ring to signify his ending the exercise. He grabbed his water bottle and sat near the edge of the roof. Her quiet steps marked the approach and she sat next to him.

"Yeah. Civilian life problems." She sighed out, slouching slightly. 

"Same. Would you like to share some general parts? If you don't want to, is it alright if I do?" Felix didn't want to pry. A few months into their partnership, they had a serious talk about his crush and the way his actions and words were making her uncomfortable. He took it to heart, examining where the line was, and worked to be better. It also helped their battle chemistry to know they could trust each other to listen and respect. It hurt Felix’s heart a bit to be rejected but if Ladybug's belonged to someone else, there wasn’t anything to do about it. 

"You can go first. I'm not sure how much I want to share yet…" she took another deep breath and pushed it out through her nose. Relaxation techniques. Both of them had learned a variety to try preventing either from becoming akumatized.

"As you've known for a while, I've been trying to move on from you since you told me you liked someone else a lot. I actually have a girl in my school that is pretty extraordinary. She's smart, very kind, and rather talented. Even my father likes her and he doesn't like anybody. I'm considering asking her to a school event that's coming up, as a date. However almost every guy in her class has had feelings for her and she declines everyone that gets the courage to ask her out, sweetly of course. Because that's how she is. Kind but firm," he couldn't hold back the sigh or keep his shoulders from the weight of his worry. Ladybug reached over and rubbed his upper back gently.

"Why not give it a try? She might just be waiting for the guy she likes to ask her. I would in her shoes… Plus you're a great guy, Chat! It could even be you!" she supplied encouragingly, turning to give him a smile. He knew she was probably correct about the first part, especially given how often she was right about Marinette. Every piece of vague advice she gave worked in his favor and actually was the reason he had managed to befriend her and started to view her differently.

"Yeah. You're usually right," the first word more of a sigh than actually spoken. He still felt nervous but her support eased it just a little. He wouldn't know unless he asked.

"Actually I’m worried about something kind of similar. I'm planning on going to a dance coming up and I want to ask the guy I like to a slow dance at it, if he comes. But I don't know how to dance and, based on a conversation with one of his friends, he was taught to ballroom dance… plus I always get weak-kneed around him so it makes me a little clumsy. So he probably wouldn’t want to dance with me anyway…" a blush spread across her cheeks as she spoke. He couldn’t help but laugh internally at the coincidence that her school would have a dance coming up too. He guessed it must be the season for it though. 

"I can help you out with that, if you'd like. Part of it at least. I have taken some waltz lessons for different events my father forced me to attend." Felix slowly climbed to a standing position and offered a hand to his partner. She accepted and rose.

"I forgot that your family attends formal events like that… I really appreciate your help!" A little of her usual shine came back. Amazing how much hope can light up someone's eyes.

With her assent, he began explaining and demonstrating the basic steps, positioned her arms in the air before her so he could correct posture, then had her practice without a partner initially. Then he began explaining leading and stepped in to demonstrate what it was like having a partner.

She was not great at the start, however with her focus and already light feet, she picked up on the dance relatively quickly. By the end of this lesson, she at least could hold up with the basics.

"Would you like to practice this again in the next week or two?" He offered, proud at the progress she made in such a short time. She affirmed that she wanted to practice more, the two deciding once a week for the next three weeks would be ideal. Before parting for the night, he reminded her to practice the steps on her own each night if she really wanted to be confident in them, especially in her dress and shoes once she had them.

Over the next few weeks, Ladybug was dutiful in her practice and lessons and improved drastically. Felix couldn’t help but wonder if her transformation helped or if she really was this graceful in her civilian life. If she was, it would seem like a dead giveaway to him.

Felix, on the other hand, had not built up his courage enough to ask Marinette to be his date to their school dance. She seemed so busy helping the student council prepare for it, just another responsibility of class representatives. He only had one more week to ask her as his school dance took place the next Saturday.

"I'm confident that you're good enough for a simple dance, L. I'm pretty sure you could even handle it if he threw in some turns. You don't have any reason to worry!" Felix assured his partner after their last practice session. It seemed her nerves weren't any calmer than his. 

"Thanks. I'm sure it can't be more of a disaster than some of the other things that have happened around him… Did you ask that girl out yet?" She looked expectantly and he couldn't help but avoid eye contact.

"Not yet… she has been rather busy so I don't want to bother her. As far as I know, she isn't going with anyone though," he answered reluctantly, running his hand from the back of his neck forward.

"Oh Chat, you can do this. It's just one moment of courage and then the two of you either move on with your lives or go on a date and decide where to go from there!" Ladybug clearly was excited for him, completely confident that the results would be fine. Felix wished he could tap into that enthusiasm. 

"I'll do my best… maybe I'll visit her and ask outside of school…" he tried to sound assured. Maybe I'll feel less pressure asking outside of school. He also began planning to himself how he would ask too. It hadn't occurred to him until then that he might want to do something more than just say it. He should probably bring her something she likes when he asks.

"Good luck!" Ladybug shouted to him as they parted ways again.

At school on Wednesday, Marinette was surprised when Felix asked if he could stop by the bakery that evening. She agreed and asked if he wanted her to have anything ready. He assured her she didn't need anything for him and that he likely wouldn't be there too long. This didn't relieve any of her confusion at his sudden request. 

She was even more surprised when Felix brought her a bouquet of flowers and a spool of nice silk ribbon, and asked her to go to the school dance with her. She readily agreed and, pulling up a photo of the fabric she had used for her dress, asked if he minded the color scheme she had chosen before having a date. She even offered to make him a tie to match, if he wanted. He assured her he had one that would match well and she didn’t need to worry about anything else regarding the dance. They set a time for him to pick her up the following week before parting. Felix kissed her hand gently before walking to his car, hoping the small flirtation would be acceptable and indicated his sincerity. Marinette blushed and watched until his car had pulled into traffic. 

When Felix arrived at the bakery to take Marinette to the dance, he was unprepared for all of the pomp that accompanied it. First her parents took pictures of him before she came downstairs, (apparently they had been taking pictures of her preparing and gotten a few of her alone upstairs), and then there was the moment she came down.

She looked fantastic, hair done up in a single bun, with the flyaway pieces curling around her face and the ends of the pulled up strands curled slightly around the bun. The main body of her dress ended just above her ankles, however the sheer fabric layer on top hung to her toes in her 8 cm heels. The top was tighter around her waist and dropped down in a fashion that complimented her thin frame but didn't hug it. The scoop neckline was high and flat and the sleeves covered most of her bicep. Her necklace and bright smile completed her look.

Felix's mouth may have hung open but he was more focused on her than how he looked right then. When she hesitantly walked towards him, blushing beautifully, and asked what he thought of the dress she had designed, he's sure he said something coherent and complimentary beyond a single uttered "wow," no matter what her parents say. They took more photos of the pair posing together before letting them leave. Her parents decided that their favorite picture was very possibly the one catching the look on his face when he first saw her.

Felix was in for another surprise after he asked her for a slow dance, expecting Marinette to simply wrap her arms around his neck and sway, when instead she shyly asked if a waltz was okay, as that's the only slow dance she knew. He was thrilled by the coincidence and they became the center of attention with their perfectly timed waltz. If either was reminded of their costumed partner’s dancing, it was unconsciously. At the end of the night, he surprised her by asking if she would like to continue dating him. She said yes.

The next joint patrol between Chat Noir and Ladybug ended with excited and more detailed updates on their respective situations. Both were surprised at the accidental identity reveal.

[oddsnendsfanfics]

Unraveling at the Seams Pt 2

Genre: Fan Fiction Pairing: Alex Høgh Andersen/OFC, Henry Cavill/OFC Warnings: Language, Sexual Innuendo, Possible NSFW Rating: M Length: Multi Disclaimer: a strict work of fiction, I own nothing except the original characters and the plot line. In no way am I affiliated to any of it.  

A/N: Well this is going over better than I thought it would. For that, I thank you all :)

thank you @flowers-in-your-hayr for the header :D

Catch Up Here 

“Momma,” The voice stirred through the sea air, rolling in off the Channel like a faint whisper. Nell scrunched her nose, her toes in the cool sand,  surrounded by the tiny grains. “Momma.”

This time of year the bay was beautiful, she remembered her first time seeing it, France to the East and England slightly to the North West. It had to be one of the most beautiful places Nell had ever...

“Momma!” The voice raised, accompanied by a violent shaking. “Mum! Mum!”

“Wha---” Nell groaned trying to roll away from the brutal wake up. Ivan could have at least waited until her alarm went off to wake her. “Ivan, stop.” she held her arm over her face, trying to block out the sunlight from the bay window.

“I need a new bag.” Ivan halted the attack on his sleeping mother. His dark curls a mess of bedhead, his blue eyes bright.

“Why? What happened to the one that you have?” Nell tried to find the time. Blindly grabbing for her phone, she gave in to defeat. Her alarm was due in five minutes, though there was no chance in getting those last five minutes of sleep. Her hair in it's own state of bedhead, she sat up and stretched her arms.

“I can't use it.” Ivan shrugged, standing beside her bed with the blue and red bag in his hand. He'd managed to get dressed, at least. Nell grunted, unable to form any more words at the current second. How she wanted to be back on that peaceful and quiet bay. “Momma.”

“What ever is the problem, my dearest boy?” She was awake now.

“I need another bag.” Ivan huffed. How many times did he have to tell his mother this? She was hopeless before he first cup of coffee. “I don't like this one, anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because nobody at school likes Superman any more. It would be so uncool to have it.” Ivan's eyes were wide and his voice serious. Nell chuckled, kids.

“Then go to your cupboard and get your old one, for today.”

“Okay, but we need to get rid of this. I can't be seen wearing this, ever!”

“Tell your father, he's the one who gave it to you.” Nell scratched the back of her head. Ivan dropped the bag and dashed down the hall. It was too early and Nell was too tired to remind him not to tear his room apart looking for something else.

Finally, the Superman drama causing book bag was replaced with one from the previous year. Nell assumed that since Superman was out, it would be cooler for her son to roll up to his class toting an old Peppa Pig bag. She would never understand kids and their crazes.

Breakfast. Check. Thanks to the blueberry muffins made by Bridie.

Lunches. Check. Shepherd's Pie, apple slices, a granola bar, and orange juice box for both of them.

Work bag. Gym bag. Keys. Coffee. Ivan.

And Nell was out the door.

Mornings like this were hectic to say the least, but they were Nell's favourite. Going into work later was always a bonus, though the real treat was getting to spend the early morning with Ivan. Nobody else there to interrupt them or tell them what or how to do things. It was the best part of the week, aside from Sunday, when Nell had the full day off and they indulged themselves in a late breakfast and an afternoon full of never leaving the couch.

At work Alex hadn't intended to wait for Nell, his schedule had been pushed back, which meant he had a little more time to hang out in the studio. It wasn't as if he had planned to be lingering when she walked into the department.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Alex greeted her before she could register what was going on.

“Uh, yeah. Hi.” Nell gave him a curt nod. “Rayna, can you help me unload those costumes we packed yesterday? I think there are one or two that need to be restitched.”

“Finished, sweets.” Rayna replied with a knowing smile and a wink.

The young actor had been following Nell around for too long, it was about time he got his due. At the very least, Rayna could help him get in a proper conversation with her colleague. It was less than a minute to her break, handing Alex a box of pins, Rayna instructed him to wait for Nell.

Settling into work, Nell ditched her bags and grabbed the folder she needed to begin mapping out the next round of costumes. Damn Rayna. Nell heard her tell Alex that she was leaving. Smooth on her friend's part. Taking her sweet time, Nell moved at a glacial pace. Small talk and nosy people were two things she wanted to avoid at all costs.

“Nell?” Alex poked his head around the door. “Ray said...”

“I heard.”

“Oh. Do you need any help?” He leaned against the door frame, his smile doing the best to charm the designer. His hair twisted into a bun, waiting for his hair and make up call, to transform him into whatever version of Ivar that they wished to create today.

“No thanks.” Nell shook her head. “You don't have to stand here, you know. I'm sure you have better things to do.”

Resting against the door, as if holding it upright, Alex's nose crinkled. “I am waiting for the call, I really don't have anything else to do.”

“Huh.”

On a typical day Alex would be nowhere to be found, while waiting for a set call. Like the other actors sleeping, reading, or generally goofing off was how he tended to spend his time. As of late he was choosing to spend more and more time in the costume department.

He watched Nell move around, gathering this piece or that, piling them up on a table at the end of the room. Whether she was conscious of it or not, her hips swayed to the music in her head, while she began to work. Her full attention set on the task at hand, she did an excellent job at ignoring Alex.  

The drawings on the paper before her had Nell's full attention, it was one of the bigger pieces, taking weeks to create and it still had fine details to be finished. It would be worn in the second half of the season, the actress it had been made for would look even better than Nell had imagined when this piece had begun. Her nimble fingers worked over a piece of costume, checking the stitching inch by inch. Alex had never sat and watched all the detail going into the clothing he wore day after day, while in character.

Such effort and care.

Nell could feel the steel blue eyes following her around the room.

He was tenacious, to say the least. There weren't many men his age who would stand that quiet and patiently. As awkward as Nell should find this, having Alex watching her felt familiar in a way. His presence reminded her of another time in her life, when another young actor had worked this hard to gain her attention.

This time she was going to be smart. Humor Alex with some chatting, rewarding him with a smile,  and nothing more. No longer was Nell going to swayed by gorgeous blue eyes and a flashy smile.

Alex was never quiet this long, strangely Nell liked him this way. His chatter was too much sometimes, despite him meaning well by it. She knew that he assumed she hated him. Yes, he annoyed her, never intentionally. What annoyed her was what he reminded her of, not him directly.

Shifting to prevent his leg from going to sleep, Alex stayed quiet and watched. He'd never noticed that Nell moved with absolute grace or that she had a small tattoo behind her left ear. At that he began to feel a tiny bit creepy.

“I may go get a drink, would you like anything? Coffee?”

“Uh,” Nell glanced up, catching Alex's eye. He was rather cute, standing there in half in his costume, looking like a lost puppy. “Scotch?” Nell's laugh was easy.

“I don't have any of that here, otherwise I would gladly share.” Alex winked. He liked her laugh. Was it too bold to tell her that?

“Unfortunate for us.” Nell joked. “Since there is no scotch, I'll take a coffee. Please. Black one sugar.”

Mock saluting, Alex grinned widely. “One coffee, black, one sugar on the way.”

Hearing that Alex and Nell had some easy interaction would surely please Rayna all while fueling her imagination.

She had told Nell more than once to enjoy the attention. He was young, handsome, generous, and could still be taught a thing or two where it would count. Each time, Nell would laugh trying to escape the conversation. Alex would soon move on, the second he found someone else to fawn over. He was young and handsome, women his age would eat that up in a second.

A handsome, sweet nature, generous actor was a recipe for disaster. Nell learned that first hand and would not, under any circumstances, go back there. She had been down that path and while it had left her with Ivan, she wasn't up for a second round.

“Coffee.” Alex held out the cup. “And!” he held out a package of chocolate chip cookies, tearing open the top he offered the first choice of the two cookies to Nell. “I grabbed these right before Marco, lucky score.”

“Well now I feel bad, poor Marco. What is he going to do?” Nell bit into the cookie.

Snickering, Alex shrugged. His friend would get over it.

“Don't you hate days like this?” Nell wondered out loud. “The slow days where nothing is happening, I hate waiting.”

“It's not my favourite, it's part of the job I guess.” Alex replied sipping his coffee and taking a bite of his cookie. “I'm not patient.”

“Neither am I,” Nell admitted. “Though being a mom has helped that.”

Alex swallowed his cookie and took another sip of coffee. After yesterday, he didn't want to step on any toes by discussing Nell's son.

“I don't...I don't know if I could do that.” Alex gently moved the conversation along. “Parenting must be a tough job. I can barely look after myself, it's why Marco lives with me.”

“I felt that way, at first. Especially after...”

“Right,” Alex wiped the crumbs of the cookie off of him. Sheepishly grinning at Nell. “I have to go find out what is going on for my shoot. If you're around later, how about we get together for another coffee?”

Saving her from going down a road that seemed rather personal for work, Alex crinkled the cookie package in his hand.

“Hmm,” Nell wrinkled her nose. “Not going to happen, sorry. Ivan will be here after school and I am off early.”

“Maybe tomorrow? Or Monday?” Alex was wishful that she would take his offer. He felt as though Nell had chatted with him to be polite or because she was bored, whatever he would take this as a personal win. If he had balls, he'd ask her for coffee over their days off.

“We'll see.” Nell smiled softly, her eyes creasing gently in the corner. She had stunning eyes.

“Until then, enjoy your shitty coffee. And good luck with all this work.” Alex waved backing out of the door.

He had accomplished a nearly impossible task today and it left him feeling invincible.

Lost in her work, time began to slip away. Deep in her element, Nell hadn't bothered to look at a clock since Alex had left. She knew it would soon be time for Ivan to come, a excitement began to bubble. Her son loved hanging out at work with his mother, his mood would change the older her got. Until then, Nell would take full advantage of the time he wanted to spend around his mother. Even if he did it because of how cool  it was to see people battling one another with swords?

“Nell, visitor.” One of the ladies who worked as a various runner knocked on the door. Nell's head jerked up, a smile on her face.

“Thank you,” Nell dropped everything she was doing to meet Bridie and collect Ivan.  Thanking their nanny and waving her off, the duo headed back inside. The afternoon warmth was welcomed on the other hand, the air conditioning was nicer.

“How was school?” Nell ruffled Ivan's hair and hugged him to her side.

“Long.” Ivan rolled his eyes, leaning into his mother. “Can I play with your phone?”

“Slow down, wild boy.” Nell eased. “You can, but if there is any school work it has to be done first. Go on, I will clear a space for you.”

“No school work.” Ivan beamed proudly. “I got a gold star today and don't have any.”

“Such a smart boy.” Nell held open the door for her son to pass through. “Give me a second, I will get you a spot to hang out and play games.”

“Okay.”

Ivan's quest for a game to play was sidetracked, when he stepped inside to find the familiar man hanging out, waiting like every one else seemed to be today. Bouncing the rest of the way across the room, Ivan greeted his friend. Calling to his mother. “Mum, I don't need to play a game right now.”

“Ivan!” Jordan cheered, his laugh coming in a growl. “How've ya been, buddy?”

Jordan and his girlfriend lived in the townhouse across the courtyard from Nell and Ivan. Having met Jordan at work with his mother; Ivan would sometimes join the actor in games of basketball on the small court behind their complex. On Saturdays, providing there was nothing else going on, Jordan would invite Nell and Ivan over to watch whatever football match was on. Jordan and Ivan would sit in front of the tv yelling and cheering, while Nell and Sophie ignored the chaos and spent time gossiping about this and that.

“Good, I guess. Ms. Inglewood has been giving a lot of homework.” The seven year old groaned, flopping down on the chair next to the actor. “Mountains of it!” His eyes were wide. “But not today.”

“Ah, all part of the school game, little man.” Jordan clasped a hand over the boy's small shoulder. “Tell me what you've been learning about.”

Nell snickered, pulling a rack of pants from the large cupboard behind the chairs, Ivan had been complaining for the last two weeks about this very subject. Jordan had opened a can of worms.

“Vikings.” Ivan replied in discontent.

“Well, look at that!” Jordan's enthusiasm was about to be squashed. He nudged the boy in the arm, smiling. “You must be at the top of the class, then?”

“No.” Ivan mumbled, folding his arms across his chest. “Ms. Inglewood has it all wrong and when I tell her that, she gets mad at me.”

“What do you mean?”

“She knows nothing about Vikings! It's all big and hairy men, wearing hats with horns, and how they were big bullies.” Ivan huffed, turning in his seat, he grasped the armrest, leaning over into Jordan's face. “She's crazy and not a very good teacher!”

“Hmm,” Jordan pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. “Do you tell her that she's wrong, often?”

“Every day!” Ivan nodded firmly. He'd sat back a few inches, giving Jordan room to turn and face him.

“Maybe that's why she's always mad?”

“But she's wrong!” Ivan argued. “Wrongggg, Jordan, wrong!”

“So, the next time she is wrong, try being nice. Rise your hand and politely explain how what she is saying, isn't true.” Jordan offered the solution.

“Ugh.” Ivan sat back on his chair. “She won't listen to me, but...” He smirked. “She might listen to an adult.”

Nell listened to the conversation, no matter what Jordan said Ivan would try his best to get his own way. The little boy had a charming smile and those dazzling blue eyes, it was difficult for adults to deny him. A charm his father had as well. If he grew up to be like his father, the world was going to need some help handling them both.

“Buddy, I'm not sure that I'm the right guy to talk to your class. I don't now much about Vikings, I just pretend to be one.” Jordan shrugged, standing to finish putting on his costume. He had spent enough time with the boy to know how to deflect that charm. “Why don't you see if your mum can't help you find someone else?”

“But you're my best friend. And adult girls like you.” Ivan continued to argue. The various people in the room getting a chuckle, as the little boy tried his best to convince the actor. “Please.”

“Okay, Ivan, enough.” Nell cut in, running her hand through his hair. “Jordan has to get to work. We can discuss this later, let him go.”

“Mummm.” Ivan whined, ducking away from her. “I need someone to talk to Ms. Inglewood. Otherwise, she's going to produce a bunch of morons.”

“Ivan! Language!” Nell scolded her son. “Lets give this a rest, why don't you go see what they're doing in make up? I'll be right over with the rest of today's costumes.”

“Fine.” Ivan grumbled, sliding out of the chair. “But someone needs to talk to this woman. Where's Mr. Peter? He knows a lot about Vikings right?”

“Go and leave him alone, too!”

@funmadnessandbadassvikings​ , @kawennote09​, @smutgoblin​ , @nickysurfer28​ , @peaceisadirtyword​, @igetcarriedawaywithyou​ , @lif3snotouttogetyou​, @akamaiden​ @angelaiswriting​, @neeadinghugs​, @thoughtsmeander2tumblingblindly​, @ilvebeenabad​ , @naaladareia​, @imgoldielikehawn​ @tephi101​, @sdcyumyum​ @unacceptabletatertots​, @sparklemichele​ , @titty-teetee​ , @smolasianwinterbean​ , @capitanostella​ , @captstefanbrandt​ @bloodyivar​  , @normanallthewayforever​  , @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme​ , @imyourliquor-youremypoison​ , @nikky-the-writer​  , @seremedyxiii​ , @laketaj24​ , @deleteidentity​ , @tornupandbored​ , @hoeghfabulous​ , @ateliefloresdaprimavera​  , @mydarlingwhim​ , @kenzieam​ , @jar-of-love​ ,  @angelswannawearmyredshooz​ , @manuugxlvis​  , @lost-in-my-thoughs , @ivars-snowflake​ , @lisinfleur​ , @fumblingthroughchaos​ @pebblesz892 , @nelson-and-murdock​ , @nothingeverdies, @bluearchersstuff  @itsspecial-itsnotforeveryone, @ivarlothbroks, @badassbaker  @cris101071 @fucktrucks @ohjules @mrsadrianraines  @angelic-kisses13 @marthasantos95 @atlanticowe @hows-my-hair @omgshuddupmeg @moviegirl50 @havenoffandoms @gearhead66 @happydaysandersen @rekdreams-fandom @lovemylife2618 @supernaturalvikingwhore @heavenly1927 @zoe-rachel-crisp @blogandreea11 @shileen91 @geekandbooknerd @mzliterarydreamer @youbloodymadgenius @ainatirb-j @carlya65​

- if you want to be added?removed, please let me know

[sufferthesea]

Hi sweetie I have one more ask.. Could you do another one with Genma with a shy reader that's not a ninja that's turning 21 maybe the reader knows one of ninjas from the leaf and they decide to ask their fellow shinobi friends to help celebrate reader Birthday but it's the readers first time meeting everyone else?

So after the disaster that involved me permanently deleting my 1st draft of this story on accident (*sobs*), I wrote this all yesterday, edited it today and now I’m posting it way earlier than I thought! I was going to wait until December since that’s your b-day month, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting! And you’ll notice I made this a prequel to one of your other requests! I hope you like it! 

The Best Birthday Gifts Are A Surprise (aka how many names can I make up for Genma before it’s not funny anymore?) 

Words: 2.542 Pairings: Genma x Reader Also on AO3 Prequel to TheBest First Date Ever - Considering It’s Flu Season (Tumblr) (AO3)

If there was ever atime when you wished to disappear, it was now.

Kurenai,one of your friends, had spent all day with you for your 21stbirthday. She picked you up at your apartment early in the morning(too early for you, but you managed to get enough caffeine in youbefore she arrived so you didn’t look toodead), took you out to breakfast, and then walked you through thevillage to do some window shopping. A little before noon, Kurenaiexcused herself to run into a shop to “pick up a few items” sheneeded. You waited outside for a while before she reappeared with tworather high-end shopping bags on her arms and a happy smile on herface.

“Do you want toget lunch?” she suggested.

“Sure! Where didyou have in mind?”

Kurenai guided youdown the street, the bags swinging on her arms as she took the lead.“There’s a nice little place just up here. I think you’d reallylike it.” Kurenai walked you towards a small building and steeredyou into a casual-looking cafe. The walls were full of large, clearwindows without curtains or blinds, letting in the afternoon sun; thecafe was filled with sleek wooden tables and bright yellowupholstered chairs. It was surprisingly busy and there was already alarge group of people in the cafe, sitting at a row of tables in themiddle of the room that they had pushed together. The tables werelittered with cups and sake bottles, but no food. You tried to edgeaway from the loud group and towards a window seat but Kurenai seemedoddly drawn to the people and she grabbed your shoulder, smiling assweetly as ever.

“Where are yougoing?” she asked.

“O-Over here? Ithought we could sit … uhm, no?”

Kurenai shook herhead and pushed you forward towards the large group. “I think weshould sit over here.”

“But why?”

A few of the peopleat the tables looked over and perked up, waving at Kurenai.

“Oh,”you said, voice thick with dread, “you knowthem.”

“Yes, I do. And Ithink it’s about time I introduced them to you. Don’t you want tomeet my friends?”

“Not really … Imean, no offense!”

Kurenailaughed softly and nudged you forward. “This’ll be good for you.They all want to meet you. And I’m pretty sure there may be one ortwo you’d love tomeet.”

“Right …”

Kurenaistood before the tables and proudly announced your presence to thegroup. Then she went about introducing them all to you - handfuls ofdifferent names you barely had time to remember, one thrown at youright after the other. You realized they were all ninja, and it putyou on edge a little bit; you were the only non-shinobi in the cafeat the moment. Would you even have anything to talk about with them?You knew nothing about weapons or fighting or the politics of keepingthe village safe. Would they like you? Would you even be able tospeak to them? Therewere so many of them … and they were all total strangers. All theireyes on you, watching you, taking you in.

Suddenly in a chorusof a dozen voices, there was a loud cheer (some more enthusiasticthan others, you were pretty sure some only grunted) of, “Happybirthday!”

Yeah, you definitelywanted to disappear.

Turning to Kurenaiin horror, you muttered, “You planned this!”

“Ofcourse I did,” she said, still smiling as she guided you to yourseat between herself and the silver-haired ninja she called Kakashi.“It’s your 21st birthday and I wanted to do something special foryou. Now sit down! We’re going to order you lunch and then we canall get to know each other. I mean, youwill be getting to know them.”

With as muchbetrayal on your face as you could manage, you sat down reluctantlybetween the two ninja and folded your hands in your lap.

“So … what doyou like to do?”

You looked up to seea ninja with shoulder-length hair and a bandanna on his head staringat you. What was his name? Genna? Gamma? He chewed on a long needleand narrowed his eyes at you. Your face flushed red at the attentionand you stammered.

“Uh, th-things.”

“Things?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay. What kindof things?”

You shruggeduncomfortably and pressed into the back of the chair, wishing youcould escape. “Just … things.” Quickly you looked away, afraidof what kind of judgmental gaze he was giving you. Instead you metthe sparkling eyes of the ninja dressed in a green jumpsuit; youremembered his name - Gai. Not like you could ever forget someonelike him. He gave you the brightest smile you’d ever seen in yourlife and a big thumbs up.

“Happy birthday!”he bellowed, but his cry didn’t bring any attention which surprisedyou. He must’ve done stuff like that quite often. “I hope youhave a truly joyous and youthful day! You deserve only the best! Weappreciate you spending this most special time with us! You have awonderful friend in Kurenai!”

“Yeah …” youmuttered, momentarily reconsidering your friendship with thekunoichi.

“How’d you meetKurenai?”

Youturned back to see the same needle-chewing ninja as before, staringat you intently. He leaned his elbows on the table and folded hishands together. Drat, what washis name? Gebbo. Ginkgo.

“Oh! Uh …w-well, I actually hold private dance sessions. She asked if I’d doa few lessons with her students to teach them different moves andstretches that could help them with their, er, ninja training. Youknow, m-many athletes take dance classes!”

“Is that so?”

“Y-Yes.”

He nodded as ifthinking it over and rolled the needle to the other side of hismouth. “So you dance? You any good?”

“I-I think I’mfair. I … make a living teaching other people how to do it. So …yes?”

He nodded again.“Okay, so you dance. That’s something you like to do. Right?We’re making progress. What else do you like to do?”

You looked toKurenai like a child seeking its mother for help but she was busytalking with Asuma - the only other person who you knew at thisparty. Admitting to yourself that you weren’t going to get anyhelp, you turned back to Grab Bag or whatever his name was and rackedyour mind for what you liked to do. “I … like movies.”

“Yeah? Whatmovies?”

Crap. “Uhm … youknow, like … the ones they show in the movie theater here.”

“Huh. Descriptive.Do you read?”

“Mhm.”

He pointed beyondyou, “You read that?”

You looked over toKakashi who was holding a bright orange book and seemed unperturbedat being a reference point. You tried to glance over his arm at thecontent but he seemed to sense you and shifted away. “I … don’tthink so.”

A waiter appearedand you realized you hadn’t even given the slightest glance to themenu. Scrambling to look it over, you frantically tried to choosesomething inexpensive and easy to make.

“It’s yourbirthday,” Kurenai said gently, touching your shoulder, “don’tworry about it, okay? I’m paying for you.”

“You can’t -”

“I can and I willand I’m going to. Just choose what you want. You only turn 21 once.You should enjoy it.”

Through your guilt,you decided on a menu item and ordered alongside the other ninja atyour table. The conversation shifted among the small groups aroundyou, but Goku (Gazebo? Godzilla?) continued to try to get answers outof you. How long have you taught dance? Did you like this cafe? Howoften do you hang out with Kurenai? Do you know any other ninja? Thequestions weren’t too invasive but they came at such a rapid speedyou were having a hard time processing what was happening, but youmanaged to reply nearly as quickly - though you couldn’t quiterecall what you’d said. It was almost like he was trying to sizeyou up to see if you were a suitable addition to their friend group.

Halfway throughlunch, a ninja with a burned face - you remembered him to be Raidou -turned to the ninja with the bandanna and said, “Are you up fortraining later, Genma?”

Youslammed your hand down and shouted, “Genma!” Thatwas his name.

Five people turnedto look at you, including Genma. He quirked one eyebrow and rolledthe needle over his tongue.

“Yeah? What do youneed?”

Was it possible tohave this much blood rushing to your face? You shrunk away and lookedat your plate. “N-Nothing! S-Sorry, I just wanted to say I - I alsolike … music.”

A playful smirkcrossed his face and he looked at Raidou. “Yeah, that’d be fine.”

Feeling foolish, youstuck your fork into your food and mashed it until it wasunrecognizable. Lunch ended, most of the people paid and left with afew parting words of “happy birthday” or “happy 21st” andscattered into the village. Soon it was just you, Raidou, Genma,Kurenai, and Asuma. The atmosphere of the cafe seemed to changeimmediately and Kurenai stood, placing the two bags on the table.

“Here you go,”she said.

“What’s this?”

“It’s yourbirthday present, of course. You didn’t really think I wouldn’tget you one, did you?”

Stuttering out athanks once you realized it was useless to refuse it, you tried tobow but hit your elbow on the table and the dishes clattered againstthe wooden top. Genma and Asuma laughed not unkindly and you coveredyour face in shame. At least you hadn’t faceplanted into yourplate.

“Asuma and I aregoing now. Will you be alright …?” Kurenai’s eyes shifted tothe two men sitting across from you and a knowing look settled on herface.

“I think so …thank you, really! For breakfast and - and lunch … and my gifts! Ireally don’t deserve so much kindness!”

“Youdo,” Asuma said quickly, “and now if youwould be so kind, we have our own date.” He ushered Kurenai out ofthe cafe, leaving you alone with Genma and Raidou.

Raidou cleared histhroat and stood from the table. “I should be going too. I’llmeet you at the training grounds?”

“Mhm,” Genmareplied.

Raidou gave you aquick nod and a soft “happy birthday” before leaving as well. Youclutched your gift bags to your chest and rose suddenly, bumping intothe table again.

“Well I better begoi -”

“Why are you insuch a hurry?” Genma reclined in the chair, arms behind his head,smirk on his lips. “Do you not like me?”

“H-Huh? N-No -”

“No?”

“I mean - no, I …I … d-do?” You weren’t really sure what you were saying anymoreand you weren’t sure if it mattered.

Genma sprang forwardand jumped to his feet, nodding towards the door. “You want to go?”

“Are … Are you …telling me to leave?”

“No, I mean didyou want to take a walk with me?”

“Aren’t youmeeting your friend?”

Genma chewed on theneedle some more and shook his head, walking around the table. “I’llmeet up with him in a bit. But I want to talk to you first.”

“Why?”

“Jeez, you’redifficult aren’t you?”

“I - I don’tmean to be! I’m sorry!”

Genma eyed you for abit and when you decided to look away he pulled the needle out of hismouth and said, “How about dinner?”

“What?” youmumbled, unsure if you heard him clearly.

“Dinner? You andme?”

“R-Right now …?We just had lunch.”

“No - what? Notnow.”

“Later? Today?That’s n-nice of you but I don’t think I can accept anything morefor my birthday.”

Genma’seyebrows pulled together and he stared at you with a serious look ofconfusion. “Not today.”He took a deep breath and said slowly, “I want to take you out todinner - like, a date. How about in two weeks? I’m pretty busyuntil then.”

Youreyes widened in shock and you stared at him in silence, hands shakingand bags trembling against your chest. Was this really happening? Youhad barely said three words to the guy (okay, more than that butrepeating “Mhm” and “Yeah” didn’t really count), and now hewas asking you out? This didn’t seem right. What was his deal? Youweren’t even a ninja, so why would he bother? It’s not like you’dengaged in a rousing conversation during lunch; you merely spat outsingle-word answers to his version of 20 Questions. HadKurenai set this up? You made amental note to passive-aggressively get back at her for this.

Genma must have readthe confusion and apprehension on your face because he quickly said,“You know, you’re really cute when you act shy. And I figured ifI didn’t ask you out, we’d never get anywhere.”

You? Cute? Were youhearing things? The cafe suddenly felt warmer than a sauna and youwere sure you looked like a tomato. You forced yourself to speak, aspainful as it was.

“Y-You want to goon - on a date? With - with me?”

“Yeah. Is thatalright?”

You nodded, movingto cover your face with your hands but hitting yourself in the chinwith your bags instead. “Ow! Uh … y-yeah, that’s f-fine! I mean… it - it’s great.”

“Good. How aboutthis curry shop outside of the village? It’s kind of small andpretty far removed, so there shouldn’t be a lot of people there.You … don’t strike me as the social type.”

You would have beenembarrassed if it wasn’t so true. You bit your lip and slowlylowered your arms to your sides. “That … That sounds w-wonderful.I … I’d r-really l-lo-love to … to do that.”

“Alright.” Genmapopped the needle back into his mouth and smiled. “Two weeks fromtoday. Meet me at the village gates and we’ll walk together to theshop. Does that work?”

“Mhm.”

Genma huffed throughhis nose in a sort of laugh, “It’s a date then. I’ll see you intwo weeks.”

Totallyflabbergasted that you’d been able to make such plans with such acute guy with such few words, you merely nodded and watched him headtowards the cafe exit. When he reached the doors, he turned aroundand gave you another smile. “By the way - happy birthday.” Thenhe left the cafe and strolled down the street.

You collapsed backinto your chair and squeezed the bags in your hands. Had that reallyjust happened? You pinched yourself to make sure - yep, it had. Youcouldn’t believe it, but it was real.

Barelycontaining a squeal, you hurried out of the cafe and back to yourapartment. Your date wasn’t for another two weeks but you had toget home and scour your closet immediately.It’d take you at least fourteen days to decide on the perfectoutfit - and maybe go over a few imaginary conversations in yourhead. Maybe Kurenai making you meet all her friends wasn’t such abad thing after all.

Maybe,just maybe, when you saw her again, you’d thank her.  

[seokjinstopit-blog]

Maybe It’s You (1)

Word Count: 8.2k

Genre:Fluff and other things I don’t know what to call…. Synopsis: You meet a boy at the park one day….

(Sidenote: Plagiarism is a crime punishable by law, don’t do it kids, this is my original work, so I worked really hard on it, don’t make me sue you haha.) 

(Author’s note: AHHH THIS IS MY FIRST STORY, I’M SO NERVOUS, please tell me if you guys liked it or didn’t…😭. Whatever it is I would love to hear some feedback! Oh this is also going to be part of my school project haha, but I truly hope you guys enjoy it! Part two will come out when I have time to write it and when people ask for the next part so I know you guys want to see more hehe, anyways enjoy! Please..? 💙~Ace)

                                                          You

Under the harsh radiant sunlight your eyes are engulfed by a blinding light causing you to shuffle in your bed contained within your ebony enclosed room. You pulled the large warm grey blanket over your messy tangled hair hoping it would keep you protected from nature’s wrath. Before you know it you’re rising from your warm queen sized bed, rubbing your eyes intensely, causing some slight pain. You stretched your pajama covered arms out feeling the cool air around you. The sound of birds chirping fused with your wind chime reminded you of some Princess movie. Remembering that food was still left in the fridge from ordering takeout again yesterday, you stood up from your bed examining the room, well organized and put together, just the way you liked things. As your feet created a rhythmic beat with the floor below, you couldn’t help but realize how cold the tiles of your apartment floor was. Your focus was quickly diverted however when you started to wonder how you were going to spend your day. The park perhaps, or maybe visiting a friend’s house? Your thoughts went on into the endless possibilities, and various futures of your day as you made it into the restroom. The laid out wool carpets could be felt under your feet, highly contrasting from the tiles with it’s warmth. After a few seconds your gaze was transferred onto the framed bathroom mirror which caused you to smile, you didn’t look too tired and you felt slightly more confident in yourself today. Normally you would look more like a hot mess who’d been drinking for too long, that was hilarious to you considering the fact that you never touched alcohol in your life. You reached for your electronic toothbrush, adding on some Colgate toothpaste before brushing away, the buzzing sound filling up your restroom. A few moments later you were in the kitchen reaching for the leftover fried chicken and French fries you had. You lifted the crispy oiled chicken thigh up taking a huge bite out of the center, allowing the delicious unhealthy flavor to melt in your mouth. Junk food wasn’t something you’d normally eat but yesterday was special. It was to celebrate the completion of your 2 month project for English class.  Your friends had thought that ordering takeout while watching, “White Chicks,” was the way to go so you just agreed. You weren’t the type to argue back anyways, and besides it was quite fun. After the celebration hangout session your friends had helped you clean before leaving. You snap out of your entranced thoughts, appalled that all of the fried chicken that was present mere seconds ago were mere bones. You turned your head rapidly silently pleading that the French fries were still safe but to your dismay the French fries were only remnants of what they once were. It was tasty while it lasted, you sighed standing up to put away your trays into the sink. It was a weekend today so you didn’t have any classes. Spending the rest of the morning relaxing and watching YouTube wouldn’t be such a bad idea. By the time you were finished with that it was already noon. - You closed the door to your apartment locking it carefully, before you placed the keys inside your pocket. Already clothed in winter fitting clothing you began to make your way to the park. Your grey faux fur jacket was keeping you warm, from the cool breezes that were surfing across your skin. Glancing down at the floor you admired your cute tennis shoes, grey and simple. The black sweats you were wearing contrasted with your beige t-shirt hidden under the coat. You’d normally dress a lot more fashionably but it was the weekend, it’s not like anyone would see you anyways. Today would be great for a little stroll to the park you thought. Despite the countless amount of times you’ve been on this path to the park, you were always left in awe at the beauty of your neighborhood. You loved nature, and life itself, if something appeared ugly, there was always some sort of beauty in it. That’s what your mother had taught you. You turned your head taking in a deep breath, the air was fresh provided only by the variety of trees that decorated your neighborhood. From pine trees to oak trees, the city had planted them during Earth day and you were glad you had volunteered to help. Cars zoomed by you, while birds flocked through the clouded gloomy sky. Perhaps it was going to rain, that’d be nice considering it hadn’t rained in almost a week. Your friends had teased you before for being such a “hippie,” as they called it but you didn’t mind. It wasn’t your fault they couldn’t cherish the very home they lived on. You’d try to lecture them about it but doing that was like talking to a wall. And you’re pretty sure the wall would’ve listened better. They were college kids just as you were, what could you do? Kids at this age just wanted to party and do the dirty. You weren’t a nun per say but you certainly didn’t go around hooking up with other guys. All your life you only had one boyfriend, Xavier. He was your boyfriend all of high school until he changed. He became addicted to alcohol, and at his age that was dangerous. Countless times you’d try to convince him to quit, sadly it always led nowhere. He wasn’t the man you’d fallen in love with anymore. He reeked of alcohol all of the time, and was always tired when you saw him. It didn’t matter to you if he drank ever so often but he didn’t, it was every, single, day. You decided that breaking it off with him was the best thing you could do. If you couldn’t save him, at least you could save yourself as selfish as that sounded. By distancing yourself from him, you found a sort of peace. But at the same time your heart was broken, it was too late, Xavier was never going to be the man you fell in love with again, and you were never going to be the same again. After Xavier you grew skeptical of trusting people, if you couldn’t trust them at least you could trust the world. The beauty of the world was a comfort to you. You weren’t ignorant to all of the cruelty and disasters of it of course. It’s just you’d rather not focus on that, you could of course do the same for people, which you did. But it was difficult when it came to people becoming a potential love interest or a close friend. To sum it up you were a complicated girl, you’d probably end up being single until death and own 70 cats. Honestly you didn’t mind that, having cats wouldn’t be so bad, they would keep you company, and unlike people. They wouldn’t break your heart. You broke from your memories when you noticed you’d made it to the front of the park. The park looked like any park, simple and usually peaceful. With your eyes fixated on a bench in the corner, you quickly shuffled towards it, your shoes clattering  with the hard cement below. You placed your hands in your pockets before you sat on the clean polished wood. Your irises darted around picking up the landscape surrounding you. The green slides were unoccupied, while the rusty black swings blew gently in the wind. Saturday’s were never popular days at the park, in fact most days weren’t popular, kids nowadays were always so glued to their devices. You let out a loud sigh examining the rest of the park. The empty sandbox, check. The lone water fountain in the corner? Check. The unused monkey bars, and check. Everything else? Exactly the same. You didn’t hate the park, in fact you loved it. It was a great place to relax and admire the sky. Without warning, your attention was suddenly caught when a sound of a pigeon cooing rang in your ear. That’s strange, pigeons barely ever showed up to the park. At least not when you were here. Maybe you were just scary looking. You stood up, following the amusing sound. The sound led you to a person sitting on the park’s grass hill a few meters away from you. On top of the grass hill, you spotted a pale, pink haired Asian boy, around your age you assume. He doesn’t spot you yet thankfully. Your vision was glued on the beautiful boy in front of you, the wind sweeping his light pink bangs upwards. He chuckled, causing you some slightly confusion, before your attention briefly transferred onto the pigeon on his sweater covered arm. His other hand was directly in front of the pigeon’s beak, filled with some type of seed. The boy seemed unfrightened as the single pigeon pecked into his palm rapidly causing him to chuckle again. Your eyes returned to the boy once more taking his features in. He wasn’t in any way masculine looking, he looked rather boyish in your opinion, kind of like one of those K-pop guys your best friend always obsessed over, claiming she would have “Oppa’s babies.” If you had to describe him he looked pretty, you’d never thought you’d be the person to call a boy pretty, but there’s a first for everything, right? He’s dressed in a grey plaid pullover sweater, paired with some distressed black skinny jeans. His shoes were tennis shoes just like your’s but instead of being grey, his were black and white. You stepped closer as if you had a magnetic attraction to him, and for some reason the pigeon flies away. Probably just finished its meal you thought. His eyes met your’s now, despite being approximately two meters apart you could feel his gaze piercing through you, as if questioning your very being. He rose dusting off the grass from his jeans and sweater. You took this as a signal to step closer to him, your feet sinking into the grassy terrain. You left about a feet of distance between you and him before you spoke, “Um hey there, I noticed you were feeding a pigeon,” you add in a small chuckle at the end as waves of regret washed over you. What were you even saying? What were you doing? Attempting to flirt? Or just a bird enthusiast, yes that was totally the reason. A girl who can’t trust in people is suddenly a bird enthusiast. His cheeks flushed a light pink, made even more evident by his pale skin tone, he opened his mouth as if to reply, but nothing comes out. It’s in this moment that you notice a small scar on his neck. It looked like a tiny slash indented into his skin. He quickly covered the spot, his expression darkening, “It’s from a fall,” his tone a lot harsher than you had expected, “I’m sorry but I have to go now,” he fakes a smile before turning his back towards you. What the heck….what happened? Did you somehow offend him unknowingly? You were always a good if not a decent to talk to, why had he just marched off like that. A sudden feeling of angst consumes you, who was this pink haired boy? And what did he go through to get that scar? Why did you even care? Endless questions began to form in your mind as the boy’s figure shrank with the distance, an ominous aura following him as rain suddenly begins to fall.

                                                        Him

As he walked away from you, cold raindrops trickled down his cheeks, tracing his face as if he were a canvas, which he’d been before. His face turned facing the dark sky filled with gloominess. A feeling of melancholy presented itself to him, as he recalled a day like this. The day he ran away from her. Strangely enough, the boy had forgotten that he’d met you just a few seconds earlier, falling into his past memories once more.

                                                   1 year ago

She raised her hand up, prompting him to flinch slightly, before she quickly slapped him across the cheek causing the sound to echo through the empty dining room, “I told you not to buy me these pathetic useless things didn’t I?!” his girlfriend threw his present onto the floor without a care, letting her high heels click against the tile floor as she walked away. He fell onto the floor, as if his body had collapsed from disappointment. His cheek still burning as his arms reached out, wrapping his arms around the white teddy bear with the words, “I love you,” written on the red heart the teddy bear held. After a few hours of staying on the floor the boy’s body was growing even colder, he tightened his hold on the bear, his eyes glossed over as he fights a sob, “I’m sorry Stella….I’m sorry,” were the only words uttered by him that night. He didn’t sob, nor did he cry, because if he did, Stella would abandon him forever. About a week had passed since the incident and the boy was still as disappointed as he’d been a week prior. He went through his life mindlessly, school became a nuisance to him, even eating became unnecessary, and his love life began to slowly crumble. His mind was eating away at him, everything he had believed once morphed into inner demons ready to destroy him. One particular night, Stella came home very intoxicated, her heavy leather coat shifted from side to side as her heels stumbled loudly against the tile floor. She started screaming for her boyfriend as if she was in intense pain, and instantly he came running out to her, his face filled with panic. However when he truly saw what was happening his heart broke, he could tell straight away what was happening noting his girlfriend’s smeared makeup, her unbalanced posture, and her bloodshot eyes. She was drunk yet again, this had been the fifth time in a row this week. Stella had been drinking her heart out at the bar every night with her friends from what he knew, he’d been extremely worried about her. Was this perhaps his fault? She suddenly straightened up her stance, a evil smirk plastered across her face, “You’ve been cheating on me with some b**** haven’t you?!” The boy backed away slowly, feeling the cold tile floor against his bare feet, he was startled by how upset Stella was, but she was wrong, he’d never cheat on her, why would he? His face morphed into a state of panic, chills running through his body, when he noticed that she was holding an extremely sharp piece of glass against her acrylic nails, she laughed as her heels got closer to the boy, who’s body had collapsed on the floor from the shock. His heart was palpating so quickly that it was all he heard for a while, everything else she said to him became muffled. The boy wanted desperately for someone to save him right now, anyone, he begged hopelessly for some sort of miracle. But that miracle never came. He couldn’t move, the fear instilled in him, but he was beginning to hear her voice again, hoarse from the alcohol, “Now be a good boy and accept this and I’ll forgive you, oh and don’t scream, it annoys me,” she lifted the shard of glass bending down slightly so that she would reach him. The boy’s voice was stuck in his throat, he wanted to scream, to run, to disappear, but he couldn’t because he was too broken to. After what felt like forever to the boy, he realized that there was a sudden intense stinging on his throat, he moved his pale fingers, trying to cover the intense feeling of pain. All his fingers did however, was worsen the stinging, his fingers coating in the warm blood while a new color began spreading across his t-shirt, the color of regret. He pulled his hand away from his neck, taking a glance at it, it was painted over with the color of crimson blood. The boy’s gaze turned upward only to be welcomed by the horrified look on his girlfriend’s face, as though she’d seen a ghost, and perhaps in this instant she did. Perhaps this was his ghost, bidding her farewell. He was too lost in the pain and onslaught of thoughts that he couldn’t think straight. The shard of glass, coated with his blood had been dropped on the floor, mere inches away from his reach. The boy pushed himself off the coldness of the floor, his body heavy and his vision blurring. His eyes darted to the sharp piece of glass and again to her, Stella saw this and screamed loudly, her voice echoing through their empty apartment. This shocked the boy, that she would imply such a thing. Did she really think that he would do what she did to him? How horrid. The boy started to run towards the door, his neck in agonizing pain, as drops of his blood painted the white tile floor. His cold hands began to fidget with the door lock, while Stella sat on the couch in a state of stasis, when he had finally managed to unlock the door, he pushed it open, running outside. His bare feet new to the feeling of the concrete floor full of pebbles which he felt under his toes. The cold night air, blew against him, causing his cut to burn prompting a loud hiss from the boy. The bright moon, greeted him, and for a second he felt a tiny part of himself relax to have been able to escape from her, until suddenly a burst of pain ran through his head, his body falling against the floor with a loud thud. His black hair was soaking up the blood that was gushing out of the boy’s head, while his neck kept its constant stream of blood, now dripping on the dark concrete floor. Above him, against the light of the moon stood Stella, her face resembling a demon, as she clung onto the broken glass beer bottle tightly. The other half broke when she hit the boy on the head, he wasn’t dead, she just wanted to knock him out. That’s all. He was going to hurt her if she didn’t, yes that’s right he’s a jerk. Stella’s mind began to fill with toxic thoughts, supporting her actions, but that didn’t last very long when the sound of a siren pierced through the night. The boy later awoke several days later in a hospital bed, his entire body bandaged and wrapped, to be informed that Stella had been arrested, the nurse had said that someone in the neighborhood had called the police after hearing a scream coming from the apartment. She furthered explained to him, but her words became inaudible to the boy as he was taking in the reality. Stella was gone, the person who had been with him for all of those years (3), she was truly gone. Now he had no one, he knew how foolish he was, how dumb he seemed, how broken he would forever be, but he couldn’t stop the stream of tears from rushing out from his reddened eyes. And before he knew it, he was sobbing hard, as the nurse comforted him. She thought however that he was sobbing because of what had happened to him, and not Stella. The boy stayed in the hospital for a total of 9 months, recovering from the near death experience as the doctors described it, it had been a miracle he survived they said. During his time in the hospital, the boy confessed many things to the doctor, how Stella would usually hurt him physically, and never apologize for it. The doctors were mortified listening to his interactions with her, his experiences which he described calmly. The doctor’s one day asked the boy if he knew that he was being abused, to which he replied he did although he didn’t let it bother him, because Stella was all he had. Another patient who overheard his conversation with the doctors one day asked him why he didn’t tell his family, “I don’t have one anymore,” the boy would answer, his voice shaky as if he’d burst to tears any second. When he finally left the hospital after 9 months, the boy was a new person. He finally after all of those years acknowledged that he had been abused for the 3 whole years he had spent with Stella, and that she was a horrible person. Despite his gratitude for Stella for taking him in after his parents had passed, he could never forgive her for what she had done, or for shattering his heart. He wasn’t going to be her canvas anymore, he wasn’t going to let anyone paint his body with pain anymore. He wasn’t going to die foolishly every single day anymore, he wouldn’t need to hide the bruises on his arms, or body anymore, he was going to live every single day as if it was his last.                              

                                                Present day

By the time the boy had snapped out of his entranced state, he was already home in his apartment, drenched from the rain. He quickly headed into the restroom, showering and changing into a new pair of clothes before he sank down onto his king sized bed. The clothes that he left in the laundry basket messily for a week now, should’ve been folded sooner, the sink full of dishes needed to be washed, and he also was in a dire need to buy more groceries. When he lived with Stella, he would always finish any housework that needed to be done as soon as possible, but now that he lived alone, he was a different person. He was still somewhat shy as always, still as kind and caring, but what he wasn’t was trustful. His thoughts drifted to the park where he met you, an innocent like beauty radiating from you unlike anything he had ever seen. It was much different from Stella who always had more of a femme fatale aura about her, while you seemed so pure and innocent. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was about you that made him so curious, he blushed when he first saw you looking at him. You reminded him of the innocence he had back then, and lost in that small fragment of time it felt as if he had fallen in love with you in that very instant. That is until he was reminded of his scar, he didn’t blame you of course, many before you had questioned what it was before, and the boy would always say it was from a fall. But for some strange reason, when you asked him, he couldn’t lie, a feeling of remorse arose inside of him as his memories brought up past pains, regrets, and destructions something he had wished to bury deep in his heart. The boy’s thoughts trailed back to you, and for some reason he desperately needed to see you again, even if for a tiny bit, perhaps seeing you once more would heal his heart a little. The boy laid on his bed, his eyes closing as he muttered a silent prayer, hoping this time someone would perhaps save him.

                                                       You

You pulled out the key to your door, from your pocket desperately, as you tried to escape from the rain, even if you loved the rewards rain brought to the world, you weren’t exactly a fan of getting sick or freezing from the rain. A click alerts you that you’ve successfully unlocked the door, you stepped in drying your feet on the mat below you. For a few seconds you stomped and scraped your tennis shoes against the black mat before you took them off placing them in your well organized shoe rack. You skim the rack, as you take off your white socks, only 3 pairs rested on them, a pair of sparkly silver high heels, your grey tennis shoes, and a pair of snow boots. These had all been gifts from your friends excluding the tennis shoes you purchased yourself. They said you needed more shoes, comparing you to the girls at your school who had around a dozen pairs each. You were quite amused when one of your friends had purchased snow boots for you since it only snowed during winter here, and when it did you rarely left your house. It was winter break and you’d rather stay warm. Although you started to realize that it was actually quite helpful when you felt like taking walks to admire the neighborhood covered in white snow. Christmas for you wasn’t really that special, it was as a kid but as you grew older it didn’t hold as much meaning. Maybe if you had someone to spend Christmas with then perhaps it would mean more to you, and by someone you meant a love interest. It’s not like you didn’t have people to spend Christmas with, you did. Your friends always wanted to come over to watch chick-flicks,gossip about their crushes, and finally stuff their faces with your food. But you wanted something more this year, but who were you kidding, you were a girl with trust issues who had more chances at getting plowed by a snow plower than falling in love again. You shake your head at your foolish hopes, psshh, love, you? Not anytime soon. You jogged into your bedroom, heading towards your closet, you paused as you looked for an outfit. When you had found it you started to strip yourself of your clothing and began changing into another one of your warm pair of pajamas. When you finally did, you looked at yourself in the black framed mirror resting on the floor of your bedroom, your cute Easter bunny pajamas looked childish but you didn’t mind, it had been a gift from your Mom. She was always worried about you so she sent you gifts as much as she possibly could. You had asked her to stop, feeling bad that she had to spend so much money on you for these gifts, but she didn’t care, she told you that she needed to take care of her only child and that it made her feel happy to buy them for you. You couldn’t argue with that, you wanted the best for your Mom who had worked so hard for you all of her life, she was a single mom who lived with 3 dogs, and was the friendliest lady anyone would ever meet. For some reason the word friendly brought another person to mind, a person who wasn’t exactly friendly at the park…that boy. What had happened to him exactly, you were curious to find out, but you don’t think he would just randomly spill all of his life stories to you. You would need to somehow befriend him, maybe tomorrow again at the park you thought as you sank down onto your comfortable bed. You weren’t in Iove with him but he somehow attracted your attention. And you wanted to find out more about this boy. Like what was his name, how did he get that scar, who was he as a person. You couldn’t stop coming up with various questions and played out scenarios of how your encounter would go until your eyes finally drifted shut. You wake up to the blaring sound of your alarm, ugh, it was morning again and you still felt tired. You turned on your bed feeling the warmth of your blanket, maybe a little more sleep wouldn’t hurt. “BEEP BEEP BEEP!” Your alarm scares the living daylights out of you once again, you reach for it turning it off before checking the time on your phone. What?! 11:30 A.M.? You slept that much? You quickly hopped out of your bed, rushing to eat and get ready to head to the park once again. - You felt a burst of excitement surge through your body as you stood in front of the park’s gate. Would you see him again? No, this wasn’t for him…you um…had to go look at the grass on the hill! Which the boy sat on…No! This was for the pigeon you saw yesterday! That the boy fed…Okay so what if this was about him? You were a strong independent women, as your once single friend once wisely said, “I’m am an independent women! I ain’t need nobody in my life! I ain’t need no man! You don’t either!” Until she wasn’t single anymore. You felt yourself chuckle at the memory, as your feet began to create a rhythm with the sidewalk pavement of the park. Again today, there was no one present, no kids, no adults, just you and the sunny sky, and hopefully him as well. You didn’t fully trust the boy yet considering how he reacted last time but your interest in him guided you to the grass hill once more. You were a few meters away, standing in the same spot you were before when you first laid your eyes on him. And there he was, at the same location he had been last time. He was wearing a white oversized pullover sweater with black distressed skinny jeans, his features as gentle and friendly as you remembered as he laid on the grass hill sprawled out on his back, as if attempting to make a snow angel. He didn’t notice you, instead he seemed to be staring at the blue cloudy sky, you suddenly see a smile form on his face, causing you to admire how cute he looked. You turned your head towards the sky to see if there was anything which had caused his smile, and then you saw it. A cloud shaped like what appeared to be a sheep, maybe he had a thing for animals?

                                                         Him

The boy felt himself smile once more, as the sheep cloud passed by. Goodbye Mr.Sheep, he thought. He always found a fascination with animals after he’d been in the hospital. During his time there, doctors would let him visit a therapy room full of animals, usually filled a variety of dogs. They always comforted him and he felt warm when he got to play with them. Soon after when he was released from the hospital, he visited a petting zoo. He met a sheep there which he really liked, the sheep’s name was Henry, and the boy loved petting Henry. The wool against his palm felt calming somehow, so soft and gentle. He realized how childish his fascination for animals was, so he usually kept that fascination to himself. If he ever had enough free time after college and work he would visit a pet store, sometimes even a petting zoo. His main reasons for visiting these places however were to comfort his loneliness and to cope with his past. Even if he hated to admit it, without Stella he got extremely lonely, but thinking of her only made his heart ache even more. He was slowly recovering from the hell prison he escaped, but it would take a lot more time for him to slowly become normal again. A thought occurred to him remembering the girl, he did show up to the park again after all hoping he would see you. And at that like magic, you stood over him, causing a shadow over his face. “Hello, there pink haired boy..” you said nervously, as you clutched onto your navy blue backpack tightly which caused the boy’s eyebrows to furrow. The boy propped his arms as he pushed himself up to sit, his pink bangs falling messily against his forehead, “What’s in the backpack?” the boy couldn’t hide his curiosity as to why you were holding onto it so tightly. At that the boy started to blush, he hadn’t realized how open he was being with you when he dismissed you last time so harshly. He felt bad about it, so he hoped that he would be able to apologize today. The boy’s gaze caught sight of your outfit, again today you were dressed extremely casual, with an oversized black zip up sweater and a pair of black sweatpants, paired with the same tennis shoes you had yesterday. You looked away nervously when you noticed his staring, but the boy responded with a smile. He loved how casual and comfortable you looked, it made him feel closer to you somehow despite being strangers. If you had dressed fancy, he wouldn’t have been able to look at you properly without being a nervous wreck. The boy’s cheeks heated up, which prompted him to avoid staring at you for too long, he was a shy person in general so he didn’t have the confidence to say much to you until he felt comfortable enough. You noticed his shyness immediately because it was so different from your ex, his shyness was adorable for some reason, but it’s not like you would admit that to him. You took off your heavy backpack placing it beside you, as you sunk down next to the boy. The grassy texture could be felt even in your sweatpants, but you didn’t seem to mind as much as the boy did as he scooted a few inches away from you. He felt his heart starting to beat faster you were so close to him, he was going crazy, his heart was fluttering over a stranger. “So umm, what’s your name?” you began the shakiness in your voice apparent, as if you were giving a speech to your entire class, something you hated. The boy slowly looked back at you, now that a few inches were separating you both, he felt less shy, “My-my name is  J-Jimin,” instantly his cheeks flared up, embarrassed by his nervousness and stuttering. He noticed your bright smile as you nodded, your simple action only intensified the heat he was feeling on his cheeks, “That’s a nice name,” you responded intrigued by the boy’s adorable shyness, “my name is (Y/N).” The boy hugged his legs with his sweater covered arms hesitant to respond, a few seconds passed before he finally cleared his throat to respond, “T-that’s a pretty name..” he hid his face burying it in his arms. Why were you making him so nervous? Was it because you complimented his name? Or maybe it was because you were so close, or may-  “You know you’re really handsome Jimin,” you said interrupting his thoughts, sounding confident for the first. His heart raced in his chest, as Jimin heard the loud drumming of his heart against his chest. Why were you so nice to him, he wondered. You were only strangers after all, “T-thank you,” he lifted his head from his arms, a rosy pink color decorating his squishy looking cheeks. You suddenly remembered the pigeon from yesterday, “Hey Jimin, what was happening with you and that pigeon yesterday, do you feed pigeons often?” the boy’s head quickly snapped in your direction his eyes widened slightly as memories of his harsh response to you came back to him. “I-I’m sorry about yesterday,” his eyes were glued to the floor, as his index finger began drawing tiny circles on the grass, “I just had bad memories come back to me.” You laugh loudly, startling him, “I wasn’t mad or anything don’t worry,” Jimin exhales loudly your response easing him, “Are you okay now?” The boy  simple nods his heart feeling lighter now that you’ve told him your feelings, he’d been nervous about it coming to the park, afraid that he perhaps rubbed you the wrong way. “And yes I do feed pigeons,” Jimin smiled brightly, his nervousness less apparent now, “The one you saw yesterday was my favorite pigeon, his name is Mr. Pigeon.” Your head turned slightly looking into his dark obsidian irises, he held his stare with you for a second before his head turned looking downwards, “That’s so cute, how you name animals and all,” you noticed his ears getting slightly pink at your remark, which caused you to feel warm inside. Perhaps he was a nature lover like yourself?-Both you and Jimin’s conversation went on for about an hour before he had to go home to do his chores he claimed. As his feet felt the warmth of his carpet floor he thought of you again, you made his day today, and he secretly hoped to see you again tomorrow. You felt special somehow, and spending time with you today mended his broken heart slightly. He wasn’t in love with you just yet, but he was sure that if he kept seeing you he would eventually fall for you, something he was afraid of, but also excited about.

                                                         You

You: Are you coming to the park again today? You wrote the text smiling to yourself, as you placed your phone back in your pocket, locking the front door to your apartment. You and Jimin had been meeting at the park for around 3 months now almost every single day, some days you had homework to do while other days he was busy with work or school. But seeing himself everyday somehow became a common thing, your friends had found out about it and teased you for having a crush on the boy, which you admitted you were starting to develop but it’s not like he returned your feelings so it didn’t matter, you just enjoyed his company. Although it would be nice if he felt the same way about you. You also somehow managed to convince him around 2 months ago to give you his phone number to you, he was hesitant about it but finally gave in when you constantly bugged him about it. You giggled remembering the incident.

                                                 2 months ago

“C’mon give me your number..” you whined, a puppy eyes look plastered on your face. He blushed looking away, as he scooted further away from you on the park bench. After one month of meeting him you were a lot more comfortable now, he was different from all of the guys you’ve met before, he slowly earned your trust with his kindness and you never regretted meeting him for a second. You scooted closer to him trying to get a better response from him, you felt the coldness of the bench against your thighs, today you stupidly decided that booty shorts were the way to go. The weather was cloudy this morning, you assumed it would get hot for some reason which prompted your decision but instead it didn’t, it stayed cloudy the whole day. You shivered against the wooden bench catching the boy’s attention, without saying a word he removed his black zip up jacket handing it to you, “Put it over your thighs or you’ll catch a cold,” his eyes avoided you as his ears reddened.” You smiled at his kindness and cuteness retrieving the jacket and placing it over your thighs, “Thank you for that,” he simply nods trying his hardest to fight back a smile. “So can I have your number now?” your straightforwardness surprised him, causing him to look in your direction. You looked beautiful again today, but he was to shy to tell you that despite how close you two had gotten in the past month. Jimin finally nodded, reading his number to you at lightning speed. Your mouth drops open as you unlock your phone heading to the contact page, “Wait wait! Slow down, say it again…”“I don’t wanna..” he responded mischievously as if he was a child, Jimin felt his heart warm up as he admired how less nervous he’d gotten around you. “Please..! What if I get stranded somewhere and I need you to come help me from getting eaten from a pack of hyenas?” At your exaggerated lie he slowly reads his number to you, feeling nervous that the impossible future you just named could be possible, he cared about you after all. You added his number smiling to yourself, “Done, thank you!” He nodded once again, his heart fluttering slightly as pulled out his phone reading your text, “Just added your number, Hi!” Jimin turned to smile at you, and you returned the gesture, as you both felt the cool breeze of the afternoon. Maybe Jimin was going to be even more special to you in the future somehow, but as for now you were happy being by his side. You two chatted for a while after that, watching the sunset together before the night came to a close, which meant that you had to part ways with him. Both of your least favorite part about spending time together. “I’ll see you again tomorrow alright?” you smiled back reassuring him, he nodded giving you a thumbs up before you both head your separate ways. Maybe someday, you would both head the same way, maybe someday you would not have to part any longer, maybe someday you would fall in love with him, maybe someday he would tell you he loves you too, and maybe someday he would be your’s.

                                                   Present

You shook your head, snapping out of your warm memories, you shouldn’t be so delusional right? Your weren’t even if saw you that way, for all you knew he saw you as a close friend. You began pacing down the street in your grey tennis shoes paired with some blue skinny jeans and a white flannel. Today for some odd reason you didn’t want to look like a hot mess, maybe something big was going to happen if you dressed to impress. Maybe he would finally confess to you! You cackled loudly, as you continued making it to the park entranced by your crazy fantasies of Jimin. A thought suddenly occurred to you, his scar, you never did find out what it meant. Judging from his first reaction you didn’t bring it up, but maybe now that you were closer to him, maybe he would react differently.

                                                      Jimin

The bitter alcohol burned down his throat, causing him to cough slightly. He felt the grass under his fingers as he shuffled backwards slightly on the grass hill. The cold air brushed his pink bangs upwards, before it slowly fell back into place. His dark irises embraced the sky’s sadness, it’s features painted over with a coat of darkness. Clouds decorated the sky, as the bright moon glowed above the boy, allowing him to be comforted slightly. But that wasn’t enough, he felt lonely, Jimin took another gulp of the alcohol, placing the bottle beside him as he exhaled loudly. Tears began to stream down the boy’s face as memories flowed back to him. Today was suppose to be another anniversary with Stella, but that wasn’t the case anymore. He’d been through so much, so much time has passed, he’d met you and slowly became closer to you. Yet, it ached so much, his heart felt the void that hadn’t left him. He didn’t want to be with Stella again, he wanted someone like you, someone so kind and pure. Someone who could save him this time, someone he wouldn’t be afraid of, someone, perhaps fear someone would be you. Even if it was the alcohol speaking, he didn’t care, he wanted to be your’s even if for a little, he wanted to experience your love for him. Just hearing you tell him you loved him would’ve been enough, he never heard those words from Stella for more than 3 months. In the beginning she was kind, she seemed like she actually loved him, but suddenly she changed. The boy clasped his hands together as he broke into a sob, his voice breaking into an emotional cry for help. Help from his past, help from himself, help from his fears. Maybe you were going to be like Stella, maybe you would also change, but he was willing to risk that. Because maybe he loved you, and even if he was foolish, he wanted to be truly happy again. The days he had spent with you were the happiest in his life, it made him feel special, it gave him everything he never had. So he would give you something you never had, his story, his life, himself. And the boy wished with all of his heart that you would accept him, all of him. The boy’s sobbing was interrupted by a gentle patting he felt against his back, he turned to a warm face greeting him, a smile so warm and precious, a person so special and dear to him. That person was you.

                                                    You

You continued patting Jimin, making sure to stay silent, his sobs growing weaker now that you were here. You were really confused when you saw him on the grass hill, he didn’t reply to your text, so you assume he wouldn’t be here. But on top of that Jimin had been sobbing when you saw him, you couldn’t stop your feet from running towards him, as if you desperately needed to comfort him. You suddenly noticed the alcohol beside him, causing your heart to break slightly, you knew Jimin was never the type of person to drink, he even admitted to you before that he never had before. So why so suddenly? Why was he drinking? Why was he crying? You had so many questions, but you were hesitant to ask him in his state. You bent your knees down, sitting beside him on the grass hill. Your black scarf blew with the wind, sending a slight chill down your entire body. The black trench coat you had chosen to wear today kept your body warm, while the black leggings accompanied by your grey tennis shoes kept your lower body warm. Your head turned to him slowly, your gaze fixated on the fragile boy in front of you. His navy blue pullover hoodie was paired with his usual choice of distressed black skinny jeans, he also wore black tennis shoes, but what you noticed most on him was not his clothing choices but rather the sadness he was wearing. It cloaked him in a dark aura, a mysterious tragedy, the boy remained silent, his reddened eyes embracing the moon. Jimin’s tears were beginning to dry up slowly, but you couldn’t help but feel saddened by the tear stains still painted on his pale face. The moon’s light revealed the contours of his face to you, his soft and gentle features captured you. “Hi there…” the boy whispered, keeping his gaze away from you, the sadness in his voice was unfamiliar to you considering he was a usually bright person. “Hey..” you responded, taking in the awkward atmosphere between the two of you, you looked away from the boy’s face trying to not make him uncomfortable. Jimin quickly turned his head towards you, his bangs blowing word with the gentle wind, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d be coming today,” his tone more casual now, “I left my phone at home because I wanted to be alone.” His gaze dropped to the grass, as he traced small circles into it, something you picked up was a nervous habit he had. “It’s okay,” you began, feeling yourself smile, “I didn’t think you’d be here either honestly.” The boy opened his mouth as if to respond, but shut it, quickly as he kept his gaze on the floor, his fingers drawing endless circles onto the terrain. “Are you alright?” was all you could say, your voice felt constricted somehow as if you were asking a forbidden question. Jimin nodded noticing your nervousness, he looked up at your face, his irises gently piercing into your’s, “Now that you’re here I am,” he paused sighing as his gaze returned to floor below, “It’s just that today is a bad day for me.” His voice grows solemn as he fights his aching heart, trying his best to tell you his story, “Today was the anniversary of Stella and I.” He paused looking for a reaction, but you were completely clueless to the pain he had experienced. His gentle cat like eyes captured you seeking a response, for a signal for him to continue. You knew about Stella being his ex, but he never spoke of her much which led you to assume that it had just been a bad breakup, “Oh I’m sorry,” you responded, unsure of what else to say as you felt a strange sadness radiating from the boy. “Don’t be, it’s not your fault, I’m sorry you had to see me like this,” Jimin looked at you regretfully, afraid that you would hate him, the boy knew how much you hated alcohol but despite that he couldn’t stop himself from attempting to numb the pain. You rubbed his denim covered thigh reassuringly, the boy jumped back slightly, this was the first time you had ever touched him physically. As strange as it was, you both never even hugged before, despite how desperately you wanted to. “Jimin can I tell you something?” the boy simply nodded, a curious look in his eyes awaiting what you wanted to ask him, “Will you let me love you?”

[teasoundsgood]

(Artichoke) Hearts Chapter 1

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Read here or on 1DFF

You UV Blue me away

***

If I had to pinpoint the root of all my problems it would be the YogaWorks Brentwood prenatal yoga class of 1994.

Now, in their defense, Janet Cleveland, Laura Adams, and Heather Franklin (now Heather Baranoski) had no clue the havoc their actions would reek on my life at the time. They were all just hormonal pregnant woman who wanted to tree pose and breathe and whatever else you do in prenatal yoga class. But after meeting in class and bonding over vomiting on yoga mats and the whole having unborn children in their wombs thing, these four mothers became the best of friends and simultaneously caused all of my problems for the past 21 years and probably for the rest of my life.

John Quincy Adams was born at 7:41PM October 31, 1994

Grover Cleveland was born at 3:15AM November 2, 1994

And finally Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born at 10:52PM November 4, 1994 followed 9 minutes later by his twin sister Teddy Roosevelt. Me.

Why, you ask, did 3 severely pregnant women decide that naming all of their children after dead US presidents was a good idea? Well, that you’ll have to ask them because I have no clue. All I do know is that being the youngest—no matter if its only weeks, days, or mere minutes—of a group of boys who don’t understand that just because you’re all named after some dead guys doesn’t mean you have to be together all the time was a recipe for disaster.

And I’m a cook so I should know.

Not a professional cook though. College took up way too much time for that, but I did have a food blog that was doing pretty well. (Artichoke) Hearts was organized by season (fall, spring, summer, winter, and holidays), meal time (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks), and type (meat, vegetarian, vegan—my mom wanted me to add a kosher section, but that would mean I would have to actually cook kosher). It wasn’t hugely popular—like say, I don’t know, an up-and-coming currently touring band with two #1 singles on iTunes—but BuzzFeed Food used a good number of my recipes and I had a solid following of moms who appreciated my organization, food photography skills, and my clever analogies in my pre-recipe articles.

Oh, the recipes were pretty good too.

Not that anyone in my family would know. They were all terrible besides Isabelle, but I’m not at all related to her so she didn’t count. Holly was getting pretty good at being my kitchen assistant, but she was eight and technically only related to Isabelle (and a sperm donor with an IQ of 167 and no family history of medical problems). But my father, brother, and mother were still learning how to boil pasta. How I was born into a family of non-cooks I would never know, but it was probably the reason I was so good at cooking.

At seven I was tired of take-out, frozen food, and PB&Js so I learned to make eggs and pasta.

At ten I was making snacks for my brother and the boys after school.

At twelve I was making dinner every night (except for Wednesdays and Saturdays when my brother and I stayed with mom and Isabelle), even though my dad insisted I didn’t have to.

At sixteen I catered the Dead Presidents’ Society Sixteenth Birthday Bash (JQ still says it was his birthday party because we threw it on Halloween and I’ve stopped arguing with him at this point).

And at eighteen (on February 9th at 10:08PM), under the influence of a little too much wine and the encouragement of Pia and Astrid—who were under the influence of a little too much wine and my fried mac-n-cheese balls—I started my blog.

It took awhile, but with consistent posting, a pretty and easily navigated layout, and solid recipes, soon enough (Artichoke) Hearts had become one of the most successful food blogs out there.

Which, as the youngest member of the Dead Presidents’ Society—and the only one who doesn’t play an instrument—gave me just a bit of leverage over those absolute eggheads.

“C’mon Ted, I’m starving,” FDR complained, the WiFi connection a little slow so his voice came through before his pout did.

“We’re starving,” I heard Grover call somewhere off screen.

“We’re starving,” FDR repeated. “C’mon sis, you can’t let us starve to death. You’d be the only Dead President remaining. You’d have to take over all of our jobs to keep the society alive.”

“You can’t play any instruments, it would be very difficult,” Grover added as he sat down on the couch next to my brother, both of them with well-practiced pouts on their faces. But I’d been a main recipient of those pouts from all three of them for the past 21 years so I was completely desensitized.

“I highly doubt that me catering your welcome home pre-show party in three weeks will help with your current starvation problem,” I told them.

“The human body can survive three weeks without food,” Grover pointed out.

“You make an excellent point. But you can still get literally anyone else to do it.” I hummed with a self-satisfied smile on my face. “Oh don’t give me that…” I scolded as the pouts deepened. “Based on Quinn’s most recent report, you boys haven’t done anything that would warrant me cooking for hours for you and your friends.”

Quinn was the Dead Presidents’ Society’s manager extraordinaire and, even though I wasn’t a member of the band, I was her favorite. It might’ve been because I was the first one she met or because I was the one who convinced the boys to pick her over the three other companies who wanted them, but it was probably because I was her secret weapon to get the boys to do whatever she wanted them to.

Or, more specifically, my food was.

“But you love cooking,” FDR whined.

“I cook for people not pigs,” I stated, getting confused frowns in response. I rolled my eyes and blew out a puff of air before continuing. “Your tour bus stinks, you haven’t done laundry for the past month and a half, and you haven’t been eating any of your vegetables,” I listed, recalling my chat with Quinn yesterday when she called to enlist my help in keeping the boys of The Dead Presidents’ Society alive.

“Not true,” FDR argued. “JQ and I had mashed potatoes with dinner last night.”

“Potatoes are nutritionally a starch not a vegetable,” I corrected him.

“Well…um…you’re a starch not a vegetable,” FDR said. It seemed that his time on the road really hadn’t taught him any new comebacks from when we were seven.

“Good one,” I deadpanned.

“How can I be clever when I’m starving to death?”

“If you’re really that desperate for food then go eat some carrots,” I told them both sternly. I might be the youngest of the group (and constantly reminded of it), but I’m really the only responsible one. “And an apple or two.”

“You’re no fun,” FDR pouted.

“Well how can I be when I have to take care of the three of you from LA?” I asked. “Speaking of, where’s the other one?”

I didn’t even know why I still asked about JQ on these Skype calls, it’s not like he’s been present for any of them. But I wasn’t able to completely stop caring about someone I’d known my entire life (unlike him), so I still had to ask.

“JQ’s working on a song down the hall—”

“No, Q was flirting with that bartender,” FDR corrected and I wasn’t surprised at all.

“Yeah, but you went to pee and he left her to go work on a song,” Grover told FDR then turned back to me. “He’s written like five just this week for the next album. I think we’re going to test a couple out at the welcome home show.”

“Another reason you should cater it,” FDR added.

“Not going to work,” I sang.

“You’re the wor—”

“Hey, can we meet early to work on a few new songs?” I knew it was JQ’s voice from the first word.

He might not’ve spoken to me in months, but I’d watched all of their interviews and listened to every song the band had released since last fall. Not to mention I’d heard his voice almost every day of my life growing up.

“Yeah we just have to finish up with Ted,” FDR replied. “Say hi to JQ, Teddy!”

“Hi to JQ, Teddy,” I mocked because actually saying hi to him like a normal adult was too much to ask.

“Hey Teddy,” he replied, but the camera was still facing FDR and Grover so I had no clue what JQ was doing. “I’m going to go tune my guitar.”

I guess he was leaving.

“I should tune mine too,” Grover added after the door clicked shut behind JQ and pushed himself up off the couch. He grinned broadly and waved at the camera. “Bye Teddy.”

“Bye Grover.” I waved back and watched as he disappeared off my screen.

I guess he was going too.

“I should get going anyway,” I said after I heard the door click shut on the other side. “Pia just got back and roped us all into helping her move in.”

“All six of you?” FDR asked.

“Rose isn’t back yet, but yeah pretty much. Pia’s got a lot of stuff you need more than one person to carry. Plus she bribed us with free Indian food.”

“How much do you want to bet the Kapoors just didn’t want to help Pia move in and the food was their idea?” FDR smirked.

“Oh one hundred percent,” I agreed and smiled at my brother. “Ajinder and Rajpreet Kapoor would never give out free food unless they got something out of it.”

“You on the other hand…” FDR trailed off and suddenly the pout was back.

“Look, if you all clean up your act for the last few weeks of tour and stop making Quinn think she’s wrangling pigs not managing a band, then yes,” I gave in and FDR’s pout was immediately replaced by a shit-eating grin. “But final word comes from Quinn!”

“Thanks Teds, we won’t let you down!”

“You better not, mister,” I narrowed my eyes. “I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Talk to you later,” He replied. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

FDR hung up with a final cheesy grin and wave, leaving me alone for approximately 30 seconds until the familiar sound of a door opening and two collars jingling signaled two dogs and a dad (mine, to be specific) had come back from their walk.

“You just missed FDR,” I told my dad as he rounded the corner and knelt down to let the dogs off their leashes. Fairbanks was a perfect gentleman (obviously) and patiently let Dad take off his leash before trotting over and sitting in front of the couch, next to my feet. Cactus Jack was too busy swinging around a large stick he found because, even though my brother hadn’t been here for months, his dog still behaved exactly like him.

“Eh, I talked to him yesterday,” my dad shrugged after he finally got Jack’s collar off.

“Glad to know you really care about your only son,” I snorted and Fairbanks thought it was a weird sneeze so he jumped up on my lap and put his nose in my face to investigate. Despite how much I loved him, I didn’t really want to french kiss my dog so I pushed him back down pretty quickly.

“John Nance Garner pooped four times today so I’d much rather spend the night with my lovely daughter and her even lovelier dog who only pooped once,” he said as he sat down on the other side of the couch. I could tell dad and CJ weren’t on speaking terms by my dad’s use of his full name. When Dad used his kids’ (or his kids’ dogs’) full names, you knew he was annoyed.

As if to prove a point, Cactus Jack jumped up on my dad’s lap and proceeded to chew his stick from his new perch.

“While I’m honored I’m the favorite, I’ll need to take a raincheck on daddy-daughter time tonight. Pia is moving her stuff into her and Astrid’s apartment today so we’re all going over to help.”

“She promised you all food, didn’t she?” he asked.

“Free food. From Tandor,” I answered.

“Well I can’t argue with that. I’d ditch you for the night if the Kapoors bribed me with food,” Dad stood up—causing Cactus Jack to flop to the floor, but he was too busy with his stick to look upset for more than a few seconds—and kissed me on the top of the head from behind the couch. “Have fun with everyone. Do you need me to watch the pups tonight?”

“I mean, I can bring them with me if you want, but it would probably be easier. I think I might sleep over at Pia’s tonight.”

“You planning a wild party?”

“I’m not, but I’d be surprised if Reese wasn’t,” I answered honestly.

“Well then make sure to take a shot for me and the dogs then,” he said. “But only one. I’d rather not hear about my daughter getting shwasted and running through campus.”

“Dad, I thought you knew me better than that. You’d never hear about it.”

***

“Astrid, you know you’re the one who actually lives here. You could, oh I don’t know, help,” Dom huffed after he and Cole put the couch down in Pia and Astrid’s new living room.

“I carried a box in before you got here,” Astrid said through a mouthful of Chana Masala.

“Well I’ve carried a couch, a table, and two boxes and I haven’t even gotten any food yet,” Dom threw back with his hands on his hips. His face was getting red and I was pretty sure it wasn’t because of carrying a couch in the L.A. heat.

“That’s not my fault,” Astrid shrugged and had another mouthful of food. Dominic’s face was getting redder and it definitely wasn’t because of the heat.

“Okay, why don’t we all take a break,” I interrupted the fight that was definitely about to happen and put down the box I’d carried up behind Cole and Dom.

“Reese is carrying up the last two chairs and there’s only two small boxes left that I can get later so let’s just call it a night,” Pia added in and put down her box next to the door before collapsing on the couch the boys just brought in. “Cole, bring me a tub of chicken korma, will you?”

“Yeah, want anything else?” Cole asked over his shoulder as he walked to the kitchen where the Kapoors had put all of the food they brought us before quickly making their escape.

“Rice and naan would be appreciated. Did my parents bring samosas? If they did I’ll have one of those too,” Pia replied.

“Coming right up.”

We all (excluding Pia who was examining her nails because she decided it was a good idea to get a manicure the day before she moved in to her apartment) watched over the counter top separating the kitchen and the living room as Cole carefully loaded everything Pia asked for onto a plate and what he wanted as well.  As Cole came around the counter with two plates of food, Astrid and Dom made a whip sound at the same time, but—after the numerous times at least one of us has done this to Cole over the past few years—they barely earned a glance from him. Out of our group of seven, Cole is definitely the push-over, but when it comes to Pia that trait is definitely pushed to the extreme.

Cole put his and Pia’s food down on the coffee table Astrid brought when she moved in a couple days ago and I went to the kitchen to get my own food just as Reese came up with the last two chairs.

“Are we taking a break?” He asked and sat down in one of the chairs.

“Nope we’re done,”Astrid replied, not even looking up from her tub of food.

“Well it must be because of how much you helped, Astrid,” Reese commented sarcastically as he stood up again and made his way over to me in the kitchen. “What a team player.”

“Slow your roll, my little theater nerd,” Astrid looked up and squinted at him, following his path across the room with her fork. “Dom already tried to pull that shit and I can’t fit both of you up my ass.”

“Don’t have a lot of faith in yourself then, do you?” Reese joked.

“Hardy-har-har,” Astrid deadpanned. “I’ll have you know—”

“I don’t want to know this,” Cole piped in because he’s both the pushover and the sweet, innocent cherub of the group. He just wants to study rocks and pine over Pia from afar.

“I’ll have you know,” Astrid repeated without sparing Cole a glance. “I have it on good authority that I have an excellent ass—a direct quote from one Jason Graham: ‘that was the best anal I’ve ever had.’”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to know that either,” I commented and scrunched up my nose in disgust as I came back into the room with my food and joined Cole and Pia on the couch.

“Too bad neither of us like your genitals,” Dom said. “Right, Reese?”

“Correct, Dominic.”

“An ass is an ass is an ass is an ass,” Astrid said dramatically.

“You know, I love you Astrid, but I don’t actually want to hear about your ass while I’m eating dinner,” Cole said and Pia snorted in response.

“Only while you’re eating dinner?” She laughed. “Maybe you should live with her instead of me.”

“No, I’m fine with boys plus Rose,” he replied.

“Speaking of boys plus Rose,” Reese interrupted and glanced between Dom and Cole. “Rose gets back tomorrow and the semester starts the next day and her reign of fun-sucking will begin so we have to have a party tonight.’’

“I don’t think Rose would appreciate knowing you called her a fun-sucker,” I pointed out.

“Teddy,” Reese looked over at me with his hand to his chest. “You know I love our dearest, sweet Rose, but do you know how many parties we could’ve had last year if she didn’t have to study?”

“It’s true,” Dom piped in. “There were at least six parties that should’ve been.”

“At least,” Reese repeated for emphasis. “We have to have one to make up for all of the lost parties last year. We owe it to ourselves—”

“To the UCLA students,” Cole interrupted.

“Dare I say, the entire world,” Reese finished and I knew they had rehearsed this speech. Cole may be a geo major, but Reese was theater enough for the two of them.

“Stop being so dramatic, Reese,” Astrid rolled her eyes. “It’s just a party.”

“Just a party,” Reese gasped dramatically. “We bought a banner, Astrid. A banner.”

“It says ‘Happy Retirement’ on it,” Cole added.

“Okay that’s cute—dumb, but cute,” I said. “I’m in.”

“I don’t know why y’all are making such a big deal. It’s not like any of us wouldn’t go,” Pia said. “You literally could’ve just said we’re having a party tonight. None of us are going to argue with that.”

“Fine,” Reese huffed. “We’re having a party tonight and you’re all coming.”

“See? Simple.” Pia shrugged. “Now let’s finish this food quickly and get alcohol because I refuse to take room temperature shots.”

***

Pia and I were splitting a handle of UV Blue and I felt like we were back in freshman year—which was exactly what Reese had intended.

Reese had decided that, in honor of our last first party of the school year, we should all drink the alcohol that defined our freshman year. I thought it was adorable and reminiscent until Reese said mine was definitely UV Blue because I drank it the night that I sucked Reese’s freshman year roommate’s dick then vomited off of their 4th story balcony.

Then it wasn’t cute anymore.

But then I had six shots and we started talking about how that was when Reese and I became friends and how our whole group followed shortly after, which meant my dick sucking and vomiting story was a key moment in the making of our friend group. And then it was cute again.

“You know, I’m so glad we did this,” I said, mid-group hug in the middle of Rose’s empty room. Since she couldn’t be here tonight we decided it was only right to pregame in her room.

“You doubted me, Theodore Roosevelt, but I’m always right. Y’know, I should’ve been president instead of you,” Reese replied and I knew he was getting drunk because he was breaking out the dead president jokes.

“Reese, you would be a terrible president,” Dom said. “Actually, I’m pretty sure we’d all be terrible.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Reese stepped back from our group hug to go grab another shot.

“Maybe you should slow down, babe,” Astrid said as she took the shot glass from him. “You took one like two seconds ago, maybe wait like five minutes?”

“Yeah, Niall and two of his friends are coming and they should be here soon. You could take it when they get here as a welcome to our home shot,” Dom added in, looking up from his phone.

I’d met Niall a few times through Dom because they’re both film majors and he was nice enough. He was Irish and I could barely understand him sober, let alone drunk, but everything that I could understand was always nice.

“That sounds good. I’m such a good host,” Reese said mostly to himself.

Despite his insistence that he’d wait until Niall & Co. got here—because that’s what a good host would do and he was ‘practically a ninteen-fucking-fifties housewife level host,’ Astrid kept his shot glass because Reese had a habit of sneaking shots. Which is funny when we laugh about it the next day, but not funny when you have to leave the person you’ve had your eyes on the whole night and are finally hooking up with to rub Reese’s back while he pukes. It’s a little ridiculous the number of times that’s happened to one of us.

“Which roommates?” Cole asked.

“Liam and Harry, I think?” Dom replied. “He was going to bring some girl he was seeing, but I don’t think she could make it.”

“Good. I don’t want any competition,” Reese said.

“There’s no competition, Reese,” Astrid said. “Niall’s straight.”

“So is spaghetti until it gets wet,” Reese replied easily and wiggled his eyebrows because he’s dumb.

“Who’s Harry?” I asked to change the subject.

I definitely knew Liam—a little too well because Pia doesn’t understand what TMI means—but I didn’t think I’d ever heard of Harry before.

“He lived with Niall in the fall last year while you were abroad and then went abroad when you came back in the spring so you probably haven’t met him,” Dom explained. “He’s cool though, you’ll like him.”

“You don’t have to suck his dick and vomit off the balcony again though, we’re all already friends,” Reese said because he’s probably the biggest shit I know. “Also I don’t think our landlord would appreciate someone vomiting off the balcony.”

“Gee thanks for the advice,” I deadpanned. “I’ll try but there’s no promises.”

“That’s all I ask,” Reese shrugged with a smirk on his face.

“They’re downstairs, I’m going to buzz them in,” Dom said, looking up from his phone again.

“Astrid!” Reese called even though she was only a few feet away. “Make the welcome shots. I’ve got to be ready to serve my guests.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that, right?” Astrid asked.

“You’re just jealous that I’m a better host then you,” Reese replied.

“It’s not even my house, Reese,” she said. “I’m not the host.”

“You’re both dumb to me,” Pia said and sipped a glass of wine because apparently she’d given up on our bottle of UV and gotten wine at some point. But I was six shots in so those details were lost on me.

“Hey! What did I do? I’m your roommate, you’re supposed to be nice to me!” Astrid complained.

“And I’m your favorite, you should be even nicer to me,” Reese added in.

“Her favorite?” Astrid turned to look at Reese. “That’s such a lie—I’m her favorite over you.”

“This is why I think you’re both dumb,” Pia said. “And I’m blatantly my own favorite.”

“Honey, we’re ho-ome,” a familiar Irish voice called, announcing Niall & Co.’s arrival and putting an end to Astrid and Reese’s bickering—at least for a little while.

“My guests!” Reese exclaimed excitedly as they appeared in Rose’s doorway. “Come take a shot with me!”

“What do you have?” Liam asked.

“Not even going to say hi then, Liam? Really?” Pia asked.

“Sorry P,” Liam laughed and hugged her. “How’re you then?”

“Good,” she shrugged and pushed him away playfully. “That’s all I needed. Now go get your alcohol.”

As soon as Liam replied with a flirty laugh and some dumb response, I found myself tuning out. I absolutely love Pia, but listening to her flirt with anyone—which meant flirting with them and anyone else with a dick so they knew they’d have to work for it—didn’t interest me in the slightest. Especially knowing that I’d have to spend at least an hour in a post-hookup debriefing with Pia tomorrow and then another hour listening to Cole complain about Pia hooking up with someone while pretending it’s not just because he’s completely in love with her.      

“Hi,” an unfamiliar voice said and suddenly some boy I’d never seen before was standing in front of me. “I’m Harry, I don’t think we’ve met.”

“I don’t think we have. I’m Teddy,” I replied and shook his outstretched hand.

I took a second to look him over quickly without being too obvious—even though I probably was because there’s no discreet way to check someone out when they’re right in front of you. But he smirked and looked me over a second later so I assumed it was cool that I did it. And I’m glad I did because he was much more attractive than any of the guys I’d been around this summer. His jeans were a bit tight and would probably be a pain to take off—okay, slow down there, Teddy.

“We definitely haven’t met. I would’ve remembered you,” he said and the amount of vodka I’d had really hadn’t prepared me for this.

“Madame President,” Reese called. “Stop distracting my guests. I’m trying to welcome them into my home.”

“Madame President?” Harry quirked an eyebrow at me.

“It’s a long story,” I replied.

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to find you later so you can tell it to me,” Harry smirked and, even though I’d spent most of my time with my dad and dogs (and sub-par men, but they really aren’t important at this moment in time) this summer, I knew he was definitely flirting with me.

At least I’m pretty sure he was.

“I guess you will,” I smirked back in what could be a flirtatious manner, but could’ve also looked really fucking weird.

“Harry, stop flirting and come drink with me.”

So I guess he was flirting.

***

“Wait so you and your brother and two of your friends were all named after ex-presidents?” Harry asked and took the joint we’d been passing between the two of us for the last few minutes.

He’d found me in the kitchen stealing Reese’s Hot Cheetos from the cabinet about ten minutes ago and wasted no time reminding me that I still had a story to tell him. In the two hours since he’d gotten here, pretty much every other senior that I knew (and a lot of whom I didn’t know) had crammed into Rose and the boys’ apartment, making it a lot hotter and louder than before. Which prompted me to suggest we go outside. Which then prompted Harry to take the joint out of his pocket so we could smoke it while I told him my entire life story.

Or at least the interesting part—which revolved around being named after a dead president.

“Yep,” I nodded. “Pregnant women are weird and very hormonal.”

“I just don’t understand how three women, all with the same last names as ex-presidents, ended up in the same prenatal yoga class.”

“Divine intervention,” I deadpanned.

“You think?” Harry asked in awe and I wasn’t sure if he was an idiot or just high. “Like you were chosen or something?”

“What the fuck?” I laughed. “Chosen?”

“Wow, I’m definitely higher than I thought I was,” he giggled.

“I think I’ll have to agree with you there,” I nodded. “Pass me the joint.”

He held out the joint for me and I took it from him, our hands brushing as I grabbed it.

“Y’know,” he said, looking up from our hands to see me taking a drag. “If this was a RomCom that would’ve been a pretty big moment there.”

“What?” I laughed.

“We had an adorable bonding moment of you telling me the origin of your name. Then I said something dumb, but hopelessly endearing,” he lifted one side of his mouth when he said that and he probably thought he was being cute. He was right. “Which made us both laugh. And then our fingers brushed,” he explained.

“Well then,” I said and took a second drag because I didn’t know what else to do.

“But if this was a proper RomCom—I assume we’re going for genre accuracy, correct?”

“I’d be upset if we weren’t,” I confirmed.

“Then this would be the part where I take your hand,” he took my hand. “And—”

“Have either of you seen Pia?” Cole asked and leaned his body out the doorway, holding it with one hand.

“Not for awhile,” I frowned. “She’s probably around here somewhere. Have you checked Reese’s room? He always makes at least one of us shit talk with him at some point.”

“Yeah he’s got Astrid with him, but no Pia,” Cole said because he’d probably spent the last twenty minutes wandering around the party looking for her.

“She might be with Liam,” Harry interjected and looked at me. “I was with him when he was getting them both drinks when I saw you.”

“Cool,” Cole replied shortly and turned around to leave. I could tell he didn’t think it was cool at all, but he was the idiot who refused to tell her how he felt so I didn’t feel anything sympathy. “I’ll see if I can find them.”

“Oh wait,” Harry said, looking down at his phone, and Cole paused. “Liam texted me like 5 minutes ago. He left with Pia and just wanted Ni and I to know so we wouldn’t look for him.”

“Oh,” Cole said. “That was thoughtful of him. I’ll see you two later.”

Cole turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

“I should go check on him,” I said because even though I said I had no sympathy for Cole, I definitely did. Because I knew first hand how much finding out the person you like just left to hook up with someone else sucks. “He…um…he…”

“Likes Pia?” Harry finished for me. “It’s pretty obvious—does Pia know?”

“No, she’s pretty much the only one who doesn’t,” I said. “Which means moments like this aren’t too uncommon.”

“You’re a good friend,” Harry said. “And I admire that—even if it’s stealing you away from me.”

“You’re a shameless flirt, you know that right?” I commented because the alcohol and the weed (and the compliments) were making me a lot more confident.

“What’s the shame in flirting?” He threw back with a smile and I laughed before turning around to leave.

“Oh, Teddy?” He said and I turned around. He kept eye contact with me and took my hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of it. He pulled back and smiled in a way that momentarily made me rethink leaving to go talk to Cole. “Couldn’t let you leave without finishing our RomCom moment. What a cliffhanger that would be?”