#‘yeah people on the bus are normal but sometimes i see people acting or dressing weird’

[gyusbambi]

humph; han seojun (pt 4)

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5

click here for humph masterlist!

story: frenemies to enemies to lovers, high school au

synopsis: seojun and you have known each other since kindergarten. you’re neighbors and even attended the same singing and piano classes. despite knowing each other for such a long time, you don’t enjoy spending time with seojun. even though you are aware of his unfairness, you keep spending time with him. when will you finally leave your childhood frenemy?

note: humph! is a story inspired by pentagon’s “humph! / 접근금지”. originally, this is a seungyeon fanfiction, which i posted on my wattpad. words: 3.8k

to claim that the cupid-team is surprised to witness han seojun getting along with his long term frenemy would be an absolute understatement. in fact, they seem completely and utterly dumbfounded as they watch you both laugh at a joke seojun pulled in the middle of the bus ride back home. needless to say, the childhood friends tease each other now and then like they’re used to it, this time without hurting any feelings. all of these observations, including the fact that you decided to sit next to each other in the bus, lead to several assumptions and without you knowing, rumors start to develop. 

for whatever reason, neither you nor seojun are aware of the gossip regarding both of you. perhaps it’s thanks to kim chorong, who’s apparently really skilled at being inconspicuous. 

_

it’s been one day since you arrived home and you find yourself sleeping in till two pm on a saturday. 

seriously, you should fix your chaotic sleeping schedule.

when you finally leave your room to get some food into your stomach, dressed in your favorite hoodie and sweatpants, your mum and juyeong are already eating lunch. like expected, they give you a quick judging look without interrupting their conversation. while you’re putting some rice in a bowl they talk about juyeong’s crush on some girl. soon their conversation moves to something related to seojun, and that's when you suddenly pay attention instead of playing with the cold food on your plate.

"y/n, is seojun’s mother in a better condition now?"

instantly you look up to react to your mum’s question. instead of looking at you, she puts more vegetables on juyeong’s table,

"it's been a few days since i last visited her, maybe i should do it again soon. i really hope she gets better."

"what are you talking about?"

"seojun hyung's mum is in hospital." juyeong answers, his mouth stuffed with food while pushing the vegetables away with a scrunched face.

"what?"

"hasn't he told you about his mum? i thought you guys would tell each other everything." my mum questioned with a small pout forming on her lips, finally meeting your worried eyes.

"they broke up.", your annoying brother fails the attempt to whisper.

"we're not together!"

displeased, you hiss at your brother, voice getting higher.

"you guys act like a married couple sometimes. it's annoying."

"shut up!"

"both of you stop now." your mother sighs while her hands move in the air in attempt to stop you from attacking your own brother.

"seojun’s mum is seriously sick and i'm going to visit her tomorrow morning. y/n, maybe you should do too? or talk to him a little since he's probably not doing so well."

"i will."

feeling upset that you’re just finding out about seojun’s mother’s condition, you can’t stop thinking about it for the whole day. besides that, you are worried and consider visiting them the next day.

even though their house is quite near to yours, you have to go through the dangerous part of your quarter. as you make your way to the han’s, your hand moves to your right pocket to grab the pocketknife, which seojun gifted you in your freshman year of high school. for defense reasons, he said.

"you need to be careful when you're walking down this street. here, have this."

however, instead of seeing a group of dangerous men, you spot han seojun himself, walking towards your direction with hands in his pocket. thinking of a casual way of greeting him, you clear your throat before taking a few steps forwards in order to greet him,

"hey!”

"hey, what are you doing here?"

surprised to see you in this area, seojun raises his eyebrows.

"well, i actually wanted to visit- what the hell happened to your face?"

rapidly, you interrupt yourself when the boy is finally close enough for you to spot the multiple bruises on his pale skin. this causes you take a few steps forward and reach for his cheek instantly, worry written all over your face.

he looks horrible. bruises all over his face, lip bleeding, knuckles visibly red.

seojun catches glimpse of your worried eyes and feels embarrassed for you to find him at this state. instead of making the attempt to explain the situation, he grabs your hand which rests on his cheek. the touch of your warm and soft hand causes a pressure building in this chest. seojun doesn’t dare to take his eyes off of yours.

suddenly your cheeks feel like they’re turning into the shade of a tomato. besides that, your heart starts acting all weird when you catch glimpse of his intense eyes.

"what happened?" you question once again, this time with even more concern.

"it's not important-"

"did you get into a fight?"

"that bastard lee seungyong was getting on my nerves again, it's not important." he sighs after running his hand through his hair.

"alright. come on, we need to clean those bruises before they get worse." you mutter after grabbing his right arm and pulling him towards your house.

_

seojun hisses with a painful expression as you attempt to clean the awful wounds on his cheeks. with a concentrated look crossing over your face, you focus on the terrible cut. however, you impatiently drop your hand on your lap when seojun can’t seem to stop moving, an annoyed sigh followed after. 

“could you stop moving the whole time? i’m trying to do something here.”,

positioning yourself closer to the boy sitting on the edge of your bed, you’re ready to treat his wounds for the third time. seojun only grins playfully despite the painful bruises,

“look at you acting like a doctor.”

ignoring his comment, you raise your hand once again to reach for his chin. fingers brushing on his skin, you are able to focus. this time seojun doesn’t flinch. quite the contrary, he’s like frozen on spot. the only thing he seems to be able to focus on are your features. 

nothing but silence dominates your room as you decide to clean the cut on his bottom lip. you fingers brushing over his soft lip, eyes completely focused on them, the poor boy’s heart is about to explode in front of you. he internally thanks to god that you don’t notice his chest rising up and down or his ears turning into a darker shade of red. breath taken away, his eyes linger on your lips, blinking frequently.

yet, his relief only lasts for a couple seconds when the silence eventually makes you look up to seojun, only to find him already staring at you, eyes gazing at your lips.

not aware of your slightly surprised eyes, he continues staring. clearly, your bodies are almost attached to each other. not to mention, you leaned in a little earlier, grip on his shoulder to prevent him from moving. the young boy practically prays that you won’t hear his heart racing in his chest.

aren’t you even a little nervous? it almost makes him annoyed how the closeness doesn’t seem to bother you at all.

little does he know that you feel the exact same way. in fact, you’re so bothered by the butterflies in your stomach that you suddenly wish that he would just continue making dumb jokes or rude comments.

pulling your hand away from his shoulder in a swift move, you blink. still, you’re not able to look away which seems so stupid and unbelievably odd. 

seconds after you catch glimpse of his hand getting closer to yours but that isn’t enough for you to look away.

why would someone look attractive with a beaten face? that doesn't make any sense.

seeing him in this state, bruises, messy hair, intense gaze, flushed face, makes you want to hug him, ask him what was wrong, tell him you were here for him.

however, right when you think he is going to say something or reach for your hand and hold it...

"guess who just ate two big delicious menus-"

juyeong.

the second your brother lays eyes on seojun sitting super close to you, his eyes widen in horror.

"o-oh adult business, i get it. i'll leave now. bye, hyung!"

yet, of course, before leaving your room he doesn’t miss the chance to make gagging noises.

"and y/n, sadly, there wasn't enough food for you."

his fake pout makes you want to throw your slipper at him but you just close your eyes for a second and exhale, trying to remain calm.

seojun only chuckles with amusement.

"mum! y/n and seojun hyung are a couple again. can she move out now?"

juyeong’s annoying voice can be heard all the way too my room. embarrassed, you glance at seojun, who is obviously trying to hold in his laugh.

"i'm sorry for my brother."

"you don't need to be."

"a-anyways, are you better now? i mean your bruises?" you stammer while pointing at his face, wanting to ignore what just happened.

"yeah, a lot better. thank you."

he trails off, eyes darting through the room,

"i-i should probably leave now."

right, your stupid self forgot to ask him about his mum.

"i heard about your mum. i hope she's doing better?"

“thankfully, she is. it's a little difficult for us but we’re going through this."

“hopefully she’ll feel better soon. i’m sure you’re taking good care of her,”

you’re always like that. caring about others more than yourself.

“if you need anything, i’m here.”

he smiles genuinely, “thank you.“

and that's when he leaves.

_

the sun shines outside the next day. but instead of going out and enjoying the nice weather like other normal people, you lay on your bed while thinking about the previous day. strangely, you couldn’t stop thinking about the way seojun made you feel. 

why did your heart race? why were you left speechless?

in the corner of your mind, there’s been an explanation for your weird feelings for your childhood friend. although, you’ve always tried to ignore it and distract yourself.

but now, thinking about all the times seojun made your heart flutter, it just made sense.

you like him.

“no!”

with widen eyes you swiftly stand up, not believing yourself.

it couldn’t be, right? everyone feels this way to their friend at some point of their friendship, no?

but the thing is: you’ve been feeling like this the whole time. 

letting yourself fall on your bed, you scream into your pillow.

you like han seojun.

and there’s no way your former frenemy likes you back.

_

it’s another school morning as you walk into your class. this time however, you’re nervous to enter the room. after all, you’ll have to be around the one person you now feel nervous talking to. what if he notices your odd behavior. praying that he won’t approach you in a way that made your heart flutter, you eventually enter the classroom.

however, it seems like the universe is making fun of you when you’re met with something hundred times worse the moment you step into the room. instantly, all eyes land on you and all you hear are cheers and screams from your classmates,

“congratulations on dating, y/n and seojun!”

“you’re so cute together!”

“y/n and seojun sitting on a tree!”

at the sight of chorong and his group wearing t-shirts with your shipname printed on them, your eyes widen in horror. they think you’re dating han seojun?!

“why didn’t you tell me anything? i’m your close friend after all!”

sua pouts, hitting your arm playfully while your eyes are still glued on the ridiculous t-shirts.

“is it true, y/n?”,

from the corner of your eye you see soojin giving you a teasing smile.

“listen, guys. there has been a huge misunderstanding.”,

when you can finally focus on your friends, who surround you with curious looks, han seojun enters the classroom, completely unaware of what’s happening right now.

the young boy frowns at chorong after setting his bag on his table. yet soon his confused face changes to a shocked one, as he eventually notices the t-shirts, everyone congratulating him with cheerful laughter.

turning his head to you, he notices your helpless look while you tilt your head to the side. totally surprised by everything, seojun has no clue how to act at the beginning. 

finally, both of you manage to stand in front of the class, facing your classmates as they continue asking several questions,

“since when have you been dating?”

“no way! did anything happen during the school trip?”

“tell us the truth!”

frustrated, you move your hands in the air, trying to speak with a loud tone so that everyone can understand you,

“i don’t know how you came up with this rumor but seojun and me are only friends, okay?”

hearing your statement, everyone groans at the same time, not believing you at all,

“it’s so obvious! just tell us the truth.”

letting out a sigh, you turn your head to face seojun with an annoyed look,

“could you at least say something?”

however, seojun only raises his eyebrows before taking his hands out of his pockets,

“would you hate it that much?”

his sentence makes you frown and multiple questions appear in your head. not quite understanding his point, you continue staring at him with furrowed eyebrows before he finally slams his hand on the desk in front of him, catching everyone’s attention,

“you guys better stop spreading all those rumors around. she’s only my friend...,”

disappointed, many students groan before going back to their seats while others still don’t seem to believe seojun and shake their heads in denial.

seojun bends down to your height so that his face is only a few inches apart from yours before whispering with one eyebrow raised,

“...right?”

nervously you blink, sadness starting to grow inside you after hearing his words. of course, he only considers you as his friend. there’s no way he would see you as something more.

_

friday nights are always the same for you: watching your current favorite tv show while snacking on whatever you have at home. whereas other people from your grade probably club somewhere.

that night your phone rings and an unknown number appears on the screen. thinking it’s a stupid prank, you pick it up with an annoyed sigh.

"hello?"

"hello. is this y/n?"

"yes. who am i talking to?"

there is a short silence before the unknown person starts talking again,

"look, i work at this club near your neighborhood and this dude randomly passed out here. i found your number on his phone so i thought of calling you. can you maybe come and get him? he's seriously wasted a– dude, what the hell, stop spilling all the drinks!"

"i'm sorry but who are you talking about?"

you heard the unknown man mumble before answering, "seojung? seung- seojun?"

"han seojun?"

"yes! that's his name."

a short silence takes over when you sit up in shock.

"so, are you coming?"

you sigh before replying, "i need the adress.”

_

the moment you enter that club, you want to return to your house. many people dance on the dance floor, totally wasted. everyone is pressing their bodies against each other's. the loud music makes you feel even more uncomfortable. you look around and let out a relieved sigh when you find a bartender with a phone on his hand.

"hello, i'm here for seojun. the guy who–"

"hey, finally! he's right here."

you follow the man to the other side of the club, where people are sitting on the couches and drinks were sold every minute. it doesn’t take you long to spot seojun sitting on the couch. his eyes are closed but his head is swinging from left to right. you can’t believe your eyes. you’re pretty sure you haven’t seen him in a state like this ever before.

"don't worry. your boyfriend didn't hook up with anyone." the bartender next to you said.

"he's not my boyfriend."

"what are you then?"

"i'm his..." you trail off before answering,

"neighbor! i’m his neighbor!"

seojun shouldn't know that you came to pick him up at this time.

without waiting any longer, you help seojun getting up and wrap his arm around your shoulder. before leaving the club, the bartender reaches you seojun’s phone and makes sure to call a taxi. after thanking him you leave with seojun’s heavy body.

while waiting for the taxi to arrive, seojun keeps rambling stupid things you can’t understand. it’s getting harder for you to stand with him by yourself every minute, so you decide to sit on the bench with him, which is a couple steps away from the bus station.

you let out an exhausted sigh after sitting down and then turn your head towards him. suddenly you grab his face and make him look at you. he smiles like an idiot after you brush his bangs away from his forehead. his cheeks are extremely red, his lips pouting slightly and his eyes struggling not to close. your cold hands hold his warm, soft cheeks while you analyze his expressions. you have to admit: seojun looks cute.

after a few seconds he suddenly frowns. he narrows his eyes and tilts his head to the side slightly, looks you up and down considerately before asking,

"who are you?"

“you don't know who i am?"

"hmmm..." he rubs his chin carefully, acting like he’s solving a mystery,

"no."

"good."

"you're telling me that that's fine?" seojun giggles and covers his mouth.

"yes, absolutely."

"alright! i'm han seojun. who are you?" he stretches his hand out for you to shake.

"does that matter?”

“of course! who are you, young lady?”

"that's not important right now. what matters is that you're extremely drunk. what were you doing here?"

"you're rude!" he pouts and crosses his arms,

"you won't even tell me your name."

"why are you acting so childish?"

"i-i don't know."

"never mind. that's fine."

"really?!"

"yeah, you're good."

you notice how his lips form a small smile,

"you're nice and then rude and then nice and then- you remind me of someone you know?"

yes, that's you.

"my friend y/n."

"oh, really?" you sarcastically laugh.

"yeah! she's like you. but prettier. like so much prettier. she’s pretty."

"that doesn't even make sense."

"huh?" seojun asks confused.

oh no, why do you have to be so cute.

"actually, it’s hard for me to be her friend." suddenly he’s all sad,

"sometimes i cross the line and don’t know my limits. but she's so dumb and stubborn!"

"and why is that?” frowning, you cross your arms in front of your chest, waiting for his response. 

he only sighs with tiredness, "never mind–"

and then he falls asleep on your shoulder.

_

finally you arrive at seojun’s house and fortunately all the lights are out. with his heavy body pressing to your small one, you struggle to carry him up the stairs. quietly, the door is opened by you before seojun falls into his bed. your head starts hurting, which makes you sit down next to him and massage your temples. however, you help seojun standing up and carry him to the bathroom carefully, in order to wash his face. he lets you take off his jacket and his shoes. finally he lays down on his back, with his face facing the ceiling.

"don't lie on your back." you demand.

"hm?" seojun’s eyes are firmly closed when he mutters with tiredness.

"lie on your side." you pull his body to the side, so that he could face you.

definitely, his facials expressions change. his lips are no longer pouted, his eyes extremely tired, his cheeks pale. from analyzing his face once again, you fail to notice him staring at you with his eyebrows drawn together. soon his confused expression changes to a sad one when you cover his body with his bed sheets.

"i'm sorry." seojun mutters suddenly. you expect him to continue, as he grabs both of your hands and slightly pulls you closer to him. a shiver goes down your spine.

"y/n, you deserve better."

he knows it’s you? 

"i know i treated badly but i need you."

his eyes are barely opened, his words barely understandable. your hands start shivering as his grip tightens.

"i-i should go."

"no! please stay here." he rambles drunkly.

you decide to stay a little longer, just until he would fall asleep and hopefully forget everything that has happened this night.

“i mi..."

you aren’t able to understand his quiet mumbling, so you lean in a little,

“what did you say?"

“i miss y/n."

silence takes over the room before you finally reply,

“i missed you too, seojun-ah.”

your words make him open his eyes immediately. with a surprised face he tilts his head slightly and narrows his eyes,

"y/n?"

instead of saying anything, you hold his hand while he’s still questioning your identity. all of the sudden his hands leave yours to grab your face. without waiting too long he pulls your face closer to his. instantly, your eyes widen when you notice the small gap between your noses. intensively, he looks into your eyes. so many emotions can be read from his look, yet you can’t figure out what he‘s feeling exactly. they have the most beautiful brown color you have ever seen. so deep, that you could get lost in them. only seconds pass, but it still feels like you were staring at each other for an eternity. you can even feel his soft breath on your face, which causes your ears to turn a dark shade of crimson.

seojun then glances at your lips before looking back into your eyes again. without waiting any longer he presses your lips together, one hand holding your cheek while the other grabs your waist. you let out a small gasp, your eyes remain closed, your whole body frozen. is this really happening?

when you’re finally able to kiss him back and hold firmly into his shoulders, he tilts your head, deepening the kiss. you feel your heart beating thousand times faster, almost exploding in your chest, as his soft lips press against yours. your face is glowing when you eventually wrap your arms around his neck to pull him closer, unable to resist the warm feeling. without doubt, you are sure that you've never felt something like this before.

seojun slowly pulls back when he feels your fingers softly tugging at his hair, leaving a small gap between your lips. you feel his breath on your face when he hums something before his lips meet yours for the second time, not giving you enough time to open your eyes,

“hmm, strawberries.”

feeling his lips forming a small smile, your heart is about to explode in your chest. seojun was insanly drunk but clearly enjoys the taste of strawberry lip balm, brushing his thumb over your cheek softly.

soon you break the kiss only to find seojun falling asleep on his bed seconds later. not believing what just happened you stare at him, admiring his features before panic takes over you and you rush out of his house.

would he remember any of this tomorrow?

_

to be continued...

(p.s: sorry for making you wait for so long🥺)

[butwhyduh]

The Farm

Damian Wayne x Jon Kent

Summary: just 2 boys in love but won’t admit it. I have the attention span of a butterfly so this is as close as I get to a slow burn lmao. I just think they are adorable and I headcanon Damian as demisexual. I did actually age them above 18 but this is sfw. Only a little kissing. There’s a bigot but he gets punched.

“I heard about the farm,” Damian said as they sat on a rooftop in New York. “Sorry.” They were drinking milkshakes after saving the city. Well Jon was as Damian had a vegan smoothie instead.

“Yeah, they foreclosed,” Jon said, his bright blue eyes uncharacteristically stony. “Thanks. Just wasn’t expecting it is all.”

“You know I could help you.. financially. If you need,” Damian offered carefully. Jon shifted in his seat and took a drink of his shake.

“It’s not your job. I’ll figure out how to keep it. Don’t worry,” Jon said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Congrats on vet school. Not that it’s a surprise. You were top of your class.”

“Oh thanks. But seriously, I have no problem writing a check right now, Jon,” Damian emphasized. Jon stared at him silently. It was so tempting to let Damian solve his problems but that wasn’t the Kent way.

“I don’t know,” Jon said shifting uncomfortably. Damian noted that it wasn’t a no.

“I will be going to school in Metropolis in the fall. The farm in Smallville is a lot closer to the university than my place in Gotham,” Damian said hoping to come off as casual. Apparently not as Jon almost fell off the roof in shock.

“Live- with me,” he asked, his eyebrows rose quickly.

“Oh, I suppose. Yes, that is what I would be proposing,” Damian answered. Jon looked at him with wide eyes before clearing his throat and softening the look on his face to more neutral. Damian definitely wasn’t meaning ‘moving in’ moving in. He was just being practical. He wasn’t in love with Jon the same way Jon was head over heels for Damian since he was like 13.

“It would be practical for us both,” he said and Jon relaxed. Yep, normal Damian not thinking of the social meaning of his words.

“I don’t have a butler,” Jon warned. “And I sometimes forget to do laundry or dishes.”

“Then I will make a chore chart,” Damian answered and Jon’s heart soared a little at the domestics of it all. Jon nodded with a grin.

“So when do I get my roommate?” Jon asked lightly. Or what he hoped was lightly. His farm was saved and Damian was moving in. He was surprised he wasn’t levitating yet.

“I need to sell my apartment first. And pack,” Damian contemplated. “Also I need to buy the farm. I’ll need 4 days.”

“4?!? I mean- that’s fine,” Jon answered. He began immediately imagining all the work he needed to do before Damian could move in. “You work fast.”

“Yes, money talks,” Damian answered as if it was normal for a 20 year old to say. Jon nodded and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

True to his words, a moving truck showed up 4 days later. Jon had cleaned and organized everything, even scrubbing the walls and sweeping the barn. The workers quickly set up everything in the spare room just as Damian arrived.

Damian arriving was a sight Jon would never forget. Damian wore a black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up and a tan pair of dress pants over shiny black leather shoes as he carried in a large paper bag of produce. Damian had grown so much from the tiny 13 year old Jon had first known. He was now a full inch taller than Jon and probably 10 lbs heavier. It was funny since Jon was the one currently running around as Superman.

Damian sat his bag on the kitchen counter and wiped sweat from his brow. Jon was much more casually dressed in old blue jeans and a white t shirt with a rolled up and open red plaid button down over it. An old blue baseball cap was thrown over backwards on his head and little curls stuck out.

“You brought food. You know this is a farm, right?” Jon said with a smile. “We’re kinda known for having food.”

“I brought food to cook tonight,” Damian said trying to be casual. He had actually taken far too long deciding on the perfect food for him and Jon to eat their first night as roommates.

“Are you cooking for me?” Jon said with a pleased smile. The moving company was leaving and it was just the two of them.

“Yes, I thought it would be a good start,” Damian said formally. “No need to be so happy. It’s just dinner.”

“Of course,” Jon said trying to straighten his face. But how could he when Damian was living with him and cooking for him? Impossible task.

Damian busied himself in the small kitchen, looking in every drawer and cabinet. He noted that in the dying evening light, it perfectly captured the sunset. That was something that people paid huge amounts to even glimpse from their place in Gotham and Jon got a 360 view everyday.

“Well I have to feed the animals but I’ll be back soon. Do you need anything before I go?” Jon said in the doorway to the kitchen. He had thrown on a pair of rubber boots.

“Tt, you dare care for animals without me?” Damian said with a frown.

“Well I just thought- I mean you can- but you’re cooking,” Jon sputtered and Damian smiled.

“I’m playing with you. I’ll see them tomorrow. Otherwise the meal will be ruined,” Damian said. Jon laughed and shook his head as he left.

Damian looked at the photos that lined the hallway, smiling as he saw pictures of Jon as a child. Jon holding a fish he caught. Jon swinging a baseball bat. Jon holding up one end of a tractor. Right above it was a young Clark Kent doing the same. Damian shook his head with a little smile. He would never admit it but he was head over heels for Jon. Had been for a few years now.

“That’s the first time I lifted a tractor,” Jon said beside him. “Dad was so proud.”

“I imagine,” Damian answered. Clark was such a sore subject for Jon. His father had only been presumed dead the year before. Jon took it hard. He didn’t speak but watched Jon from the corner of his eyes.

“He never wanted to force me to be Superboy. I practically begged him. He was scared it was too dangerous,” Jon said with a sad smile. They both walked in the kitchen and Damian finished the food. Damian brought it to the table just as Jon shyly brought out a bottle of wine.

“Mr Kent, where did you get that?” Damian said with a little smile.

“Actually there’s an entire wine cellar full of the good stuff. Your father is quite fond of giving wine as a gift and Dad never liked to drink. So he stored it here,” Jon said pulling out a wine opener. “I thought we could drink it for him.”

“That’s very illegal,” Damian said expertly opening the bottle. “We’re both technically underage.”

“Anything is legal with enough money,” Jon said with a little grin and Damian laughed.

I’m an awful influence,” Damian replied. They spend the rest of the night eating and drinking wine before both crashing in their separate rooms in the early morning.

Jon crawled out of bed only a few hours later to feed the animals and get started on his day. He thanked his Kryptonian DNA for the lack of hang over he worried Damian would have. He crept quietly past his roommate’s door on his way out.

Jon returned a few hours later, still rather early, and was surprised by the smell of coffee. Damian was cooking breakfast for him. For them, Jon reminded himself. Damian was just his roommate. Damian nodded and poured Jon a cup of coffee.

“I thought you would still be asleep,” Jon admitted.

“I don’t require much sleep. Plus I want a tour of the property,” he said. Practical Damian as always, Jon thought.

“Sure, I’ll take you around. The farm and then town,” Jon added taking a huge plate of scrambled tofu and fried tomatoes. Damian had anticipated that.

“That’s a good plan. I don’t want to stand out in town. Should I wear a plaid shirt,” Damian asked.

“Uh, yeah. If you want. T shirts and jeans are fine too,” Jon said.

“May i borough these clothing from you? Mine are not appropriate for a farm,” Damian said casually and Jon willed himself to not have any emotion that Damian was going to wear his clothing.

Damian was extremely handsome in Jon’s plaid shirt and a pair of jeans. His bright green eyes and tan skin popped in the shirt and he had brushed his black hair neatly back as it had gotten long enough to fall in his eyes. Jon couldn’t help but stare at his Damian in his clothing. Logic be damned.

“What?” Damian asked looking at himself. “Does it look bad? I don’t want to appear foolish,” he said about to pull off the plaid shirt.

“No! No you look good. Nice,” Jon said and Damian’s lip twitched towards a smile.

“Thank you. Would you like to show me town first? Before we get muddy,” Damian said.

“Sure, that sounds good. I need to pick up feed anyways,” Jon said. They loaded into Jon’s old pickup. Krypto hopped into Damian’s lap as if he always had done it and they set off to town a few miles away.

“Here’s the library and the best Waffle House in Kansas. Second only to Ma Kent’s,” Jon said as they drove around. He showed Damian all the important sights in town. Damian had a hard time believing that everything was so compact and so small. Even the diner that Jon said they would eat lunch because they had the best pie short of Ma Kent.

They both, and Krypto, got out at the feed store and they treated Jon like old friends. He grabbed a basket and pushed it to the back as he chatted about all the interesting animals people owned to Damian. The Ferguson’s owned a pair of alpacas and old Skipper Smith had a parrot and monkey as pets.

Jon didn’t pay any attention as he easily lifted 4 50 lb bags of feed and casually put 200 lbs of feed in the basket. Damian looked around to see no one near. Jon did it again.

“Should get us through the week,” he said with a grin.

“You do know that most people don’t pick up 4 at once?” Damian told him quietly as they moved to the register. Jon stopped before nodded and laughing.

“You know I’ve never thought about it. Let’s get going before the diner gets a lunch rush,” he said. Jon tried to act more normal putting up the feed bags but tossing them one handed like bags of bread into the bed of a pick up truck was far from normal. Damian couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

The diner had about 12 booths and a row across the counter like old times. It probably was an older restaurant with the light blue tile and actual jukebox. Damian didn’t know what rush hour could possibly look like with all 7 people he’d seen since entering town but Jon seemed pleased to be earlier than them.

An older lady laid down a menu between them both and offered them coffee with a big grin. Jon ordered a chicken fried steak and Damian ended up getting the waffles. It was the only thing probably vegetarian on the menu.

“Oh shoot, I forgot you don’t eat meat. Sorry. Should I change my order,” Jon said raising his hand.

“No,” Damian said grasping Jon’s hand and pulling it down to the table. Jon’s heart just about beat out of his chest. “It’s fine. You don’t have to change what you eat for me.”

“Okay,” Jon said and the waitress came back to the table with drinks and eyed Damian’s hand on Jon’s.

“This your new partner, Kent,” she asked and Jon noted the judge tone to her voice as she sat down their glasses. Homophobia was still alive in the country. Damian didn’t notice.

“Yes, I just moved in last night,” Damian answered and Jon was frozen in time. Damian doesn’t understand what he means, Jon thought. He can’t.

“Oh, is that right? Took off to the city and brought back a city slicker. Well, each to their own,” she said with a passive aggressive smile. Jon sighed as she walked away. He didn’t know how to explain that to Damian. Was Damian even gay? Too late now. The whole town thought he was.

After eating their meal, Jon asked the waitress for pie to go. The diner had filled up and far too many people were glancing at the pair. Damian assumed it was because he was new in town or possibly they recognized him as a Wayne. Jon knew it was that he had brought home a man. Damian also didn’t quite pass as white with his tan skin and Arabic features so probably a dash of racism too.

Jon drive down to the park at the edge of town and parked by the pond. He put on a nice face but worried that Damian wouldn’t have as easy time in Smallville as Jon hoped.

“Something on your mind, Kent,” Damian said, sitting on the back hatch of the truck watching, the ducks swim.

“Nothing. Maybe I’m a little tired. Should have gone to bed earlier last night,” he said with a laugh. Damian looked at him out the corner of his eye but said nothing and continued eating his pie.

“This pie is made with quality,” Damian said and Jon smiled.

“Better than Alfred’s?”

“Different. Alfred makes amazing meat pies but he never quite understood American pies,” Damian answered. Jon nodded.

“I have to work the rest of the week,” he warned Damian.

“I have plenty of paperwork to keep me busy,” Damian answered. Jon knew he never had to worry about Damian that way. He always kept busy. This was probably his longest break.

The next 3 weeks consisted of getting up early to care for the animals before Jon left to work at the local paper. Damian would jog 3 miles down the dirt road that the Kent farm sat at the end of. By the end of the first week, a few of the neighbors would even wave at him. Jon counted himself as having the will of a Green Lantern to leave before Damian returned every morning. Damian was a sight to behold in his post workout glow pre-shower. He would come home and most of the time Damian was cooking dinner for him. Jon was really falling for the domestics of it all.

“Don’t get used to it, Kent,” Damian warned after Jon complimented an amazing dish Damian made. “Once school starts I can not act as a housewife to you.”

“You aren’t- Dami, you’re far from a housewife,” Jon sputtered. “I know that Flamebird has been seen in metropolis a few times this week alone.”

“Well, I needed to keep busy,” Damian said with a shrug. “Eat your eggplant.”

“I’ve probably eaten more vegetables this week than I have since I would summer with Ma,” Jon said. “But this is pretty good.”

“You’re welcome,” Damian said with a pleased smile. After dinner they sat on the swing on the porch and swung as they watched the sunset like an old married couple. Damian looked at Jon more often than he needed to as they talked about nothing. Jon was so pretty in the golden light. His bright blue eye and freckles looked adorable to Damian.

“And then in August we harvest-“ Jon had been saying before Damian cupped his face and pushed his lips against Jon’s. It was rough and their teeth clanged together and Jon pulled back with an “ow.”

“Shit,” Damian said, moving to get up. “I shouldn’t have- forget I-“

“Wait,” Jon said and Damian froze. He looked so uncertain and Jon had never seen that before. “Can we- can we try again?”

“You don’t have to pity me,” Damian said curtly, getting up. “Forget I did that. I apologize,” he said going inside.

Jon sat for a minute in shock. He had been in love with Damian forever and Damian finally kissed him and he couldn’t even enjoy it. Jon went inside and stood in front of Damian’s door. His hand tentatively considered knocking but Jon couldn’t do it. Just as he turned to walk away, Damian opened his door.

“I have to go to Gotham,” he said suddenly.

“What? If it’s me, you don’t have to leave,” Jon said quickly.

“No. My brothers need me,” Damian said and Jon noticed he had his suit on under his clothing.

“Do I need to come?”

“No. It’s okay. I’ll be back later this week hopefully,” Damian said dashing outside. The screen door swung and slapped the doorframe loudly. Jon ran on the porch.

“Week?” He called as Damian’s car pulled out the drive.

Jon fretted and obsessively watched the news everyday. Krypto was getting anxious without his 3 mile jog every morning. Late on the fourth day after Damian left, Jon heard the front door open. He raced to the door. Damian looked weary and had a slight limp.

“Hi,” Jon said looking Damian over and Damian offered a tired smile. Nothing broken. “Do you need help?”

“No. I need to sleep and I will be fine,” Damian said stubbornly. Jon rolled his eyes and helped him to his bed.

“Do you need anything?”

“No thank you. I will probably sleep late tomorrow,” Damian warned.

“Sure. Of course,” Jon said slowly closing the door as Damian fell asleep. Jon barely slept that night and got up early and called out of work for the day. Damian got up uncharacteristically late around 10 am.

“How are you?” Jon asked, offering him coffee. Damian took the drink before sitting next to Jon. He had a black eye and that limp was still around. The sun shone in bright in the kitchen and Damian was once again reminded the vast difference between smallville and Gotham.

“I’m fine. Thanks,” he said quietly. Jon didn’t want to pounce Damian the first second he got home but it was very hard to not want to talk about the kiss.

“You got mail,” Jon said, handing Damian a big Manila envelope that had come in the day before. Damian wordlessly opened it as he sipped coffee.

“Oh it’s yours,” he handed it over to Jon. Jon opened it with a confused look.

It was a deed. The Kent farm deed. The Kent farm deed in Jon’s name. He looked up at Damian who had a tired half smile.

“It’s in my name. You put it in my name,” he said. “W-why?”

“It’s the Kent farm. There’s too many things with the Wayne name on it,” he shrugged. “Plus I’m far from a farmer. It should be yours.”

“God Damian,” Jon said with tears in his eyes. He pulled Damian into a hug who squawked a protest that Jon ignored. “Thank you. I can’t- thank you,” he said wetly. Damian ignored how Jon was quietly crying on him. His grandma and dad passing had affected him hard and Damian knew he was crying over more than a house and land.

“You’re welcome,” Damian finally whispered and Jon cried even harder. Damian softly pat his back awkwardly. Jon leaned back but didn’t let Damian go. He gazed at Damian with the softest look.

“God Damian,” Jon repeated. “Do you even know how much I love you?”

Damian froze and just blinked at Jon who had pulled back but not out of the hug. “What?” He simply said and Jon’s face started to contort in pain. “Hold on,” Damian said and Jon warily looked at him. Damian knew he had to lean in or Jon would take it back and Damian would be too scared to do anything until Jon did this again. And he wasn’t sure how long Jon would wait.

Damian gently cupped Jon’s face in his hands and Jon breathed in quickly. Damian was clearly nervous. Damian noted how his face was soft and his skin warm. This time he gently bent over and softly pressed his lips against Jon’s. Jon quickly reacted by leaning in toward Damian. Jon could feel the rough pads of Damian’s fingers and taste the coffee Damian had been drinking. After a short while, Damian pulled back but not away.

“I truly care for you too,” he said softly and Jon grinned. “I’ve cared for you for a long time.”

“Same,” Jon said before leaning in to kiss Damian again. Damian kissed for another few seconds before pulling back again. This time Jon tried to follow his lips before stopping. Jon’s breath was erratic and fast. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“No. It’s okay. I’ve just never- I’ve never“ Damian started a bit lost for words. Jon understood what he meant.

“You’ve never been with a man,” Jon said gently.

“I’ve never taken the time for relationships with anyone. I’ve always been too busy,” Damian admitted. He played with the edge of a napkin nervously. He would never openly admit to being worried that his lack of experience was a flaw.

“We can go slow. Whatever you want,” Jon said and he finally looked at Damian the way he had never let himself before: like he was in love with him. Damian nodded.

“I’ve just never found anyone that interesting. I mean, beside you. After a while. I wanted to throw you off a bridge at first,” Damian said and Jon smiled.

“I know. You told me,” Jon said. “We should go out to eat. There’s a place downtown that has vegan options.”

“I didn’t even know there was a downtown here,” Damian admitted and Jon laughed.

“It’s a small town. Not a hut in the woods.”

The place wasn’t ‘rush hour’ packed but had plenty of tables with patrons. Damian and Jon sat at a booth and Damian almost couldn’t handle the lovey way Jon was looking at him. Jon was staring at Damian like he was the moon, even though Damian stood out like a sore thumb in the rural town in his turtleneck and dress slacks. But that was his comfort clothing and he had given up on fitting in long ago.

“I’m going to the restroom. Order for me?” Damian asked and Jon nodded. As Damian walked towards the back of the restaurant, a man in a brown jacket and rubber boots purposefully shoved Damian with his shoulder as he walked by. Damian turned to glare at him.

“Sorry, didn’t see any fruitcakes around here,” the guy said and Damian bristled. Before he could make a scene, Jon moved over to them.

“Hi Tyler. Do we have a problem here?” Jon said uncharacteristically cold. That guy didn’t realize that he picked the worst pair to insult. Tyler looked between Damian and Jon before deciding the fight wasn’t worth it.

“Nothing worth it,” Tyler said turning around. “Bad enough to bring a fruitcake to town, it had to a brown one too,” he muttered and Damian stiffened. He knew that he got looks when he went into town. He was probably the only person that spoke more than English or Spanish in town and certainly the only one to speak Arabic.

But before Damian could do anything else but feel disgust, Jon had punched the guy in the face. Well it was more of a flick with his fist but the guy went down like a rock. Damian hid his smile as him and Jon were hurried out of the restaurant with their food to go by a worried waitress who apologized to the pair.

As they walked back to the pickup truck, Damian reached out and grabbed Jon’s hand who lit up almost instantly. Damian ignored the butterflies in his stomach as he walked. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Jon either.

“You know, it’s not everyday that a guy gets Superman to defend his honor,” Damian said quietly but playfully and Jon laughed.

“Can’t handle bigots. I’ll let you punch the next one,” Jon said with a shrug.

“I would have punched that one,” Damian answered. He turned and pulled Jon to face him before taking his free hand that wasn’t carrying a bag. Damian gently cupped Jon’s face to place a kiss on Jon’s lips before going back to walking. Jon had a stupid smile all the way back home.

[bbdaydreams]

Courage My Love// Semi Eita

Pairing: Semi Eita x Reader

Summary: You like Semi and come up with a plan to confess to him, unfortunately it takes a turn. You meet again a couple years later by chance.

Chapter Five: Old Friends

Series Masterlist•<previous•next>

—————

“Thank you all so much for coming out tonight!” Semi spoke into his mic, sweat dripping down his face from all the jumping around he’d done in the past thirty minutes. “We’re coming up on time so this next one is going to be the last one. Once again thank you so much!”

The boys were currently playing a well known venue in their area that offered a standing room for shows and seating towards the entrance for those looking to eat. It’s small but mighty, especially when it’s filled at max capacity at least once a week. The boys were regulars, performing at least once every other week.

When they finished the song, they all walked off stage and headed backstage to put away all their gear so the next band could play.

“God, I love playing here,” Subaru started.

“Yeah, we’re lucky to get to do this,” Jiro added on.

“Imagine if we played a bigger venue. I don’t know how I’d act,” Semi continued.

“Crazy, right?” Ranmaru and a strangers voice added on. The four young men turned to the source of the voice.

“Hi, I’m from Misfits Records. You guys have quite the following and I’d like to sign you guys. I’ve been to a couple of your shows and I think you guys have what it takes to make it.”

The boys turned to look at each other before looking at the man, Jiro being the first to speak. “Are you sure it’s us you want? There’s still more bands playing after us,” to which the rest of the boys responded by punching his arm.

“He means yes. We’d be honored,” Semi took over.

Fast forward two years now, your band has blown up and you now have listeners all over the world. You’ve had the opportunity to travel to 4 different continents, some tours lasting a week, the longest being three months. Getting to open for bigger bands was always becoming normal but being invited for guest vocals during sets and songs was even more frequent.

You’ve gotten the chance to perform at festivals and events like Warped Tour which is what really helped expose Courage My Love to even more people. The first time you were invited to join the run, the four of you spent the entire tour talking to people as much as you could, being kind to strangers, thanking fans for their support, and checking out other bands and complimenting their performances. All that wasn’t to promote yourself, even though that was the goal. Everything you did was genuine, and you four genuinely wanted to get to know others. This caught the attention of many passerby’s which caused them to check out your music. It made other musicians want to befriend you for being so honest which was something that was hard to find in the music industry nowadays. People were so hungry for fame, they weren’t above using others to climb higher. Your rise in popularity caused curiosity which made you guys get more interviews.

“Hey, hey, hey, we’re here in Courage My Love’s tour bus! Say hi everyone!”

“Hey!” You four greeted when the camera was pointed at all of you.

They asked general questions about your formation, how the tour was going and about the second album you just released months prior before deciding to ask more personal questions.

“We can all agree that dating is hard enough as it is, I can’t even imagine how it is for you guys since you’re on the road so much.”

“You’re right about that. We’re all happily single at the moment though, right?” Yui answered causing you and the others to nod your head yes.

“We definitely have tried to date but yeah touring definitely gets in the way,” Izumi added.

“We’ll have you guys ever thought about dating another musician? Maybe someone throughout the tour? Anyone caught your eye?” The interviewer asked suggestively.

With interviews, you always had to be careful with how you respond. You never want something to come back and bite you in the ass. You also had to watch out for suggestive questions like the one asked, those are just trying to fish out some drama.

“Personally, no. I don’t think I could simply because it’d be a lot of time away from your partner which isn’t fair to either of you,” you answered before looking at Haruka so she could answer the rest.

“We take everything we do pretty seriously despite how we can come off sometimes. Dating someone you’re touring with just seems like drama waiting to happen which is something none of us want to be a part of,” she finished with a smile.

“I see. Well, what is it like to be an all female band in the music industry?”

“You can just check out our newest single, Now You Know, for that. I think it explains itself pretty well.”

“Oh! Looks like we’re out of time, thank you so much for hanging out, see ya next time!” She thanked you guys personally for your time and you all did the same before her and the crew left.

“I can’t believe she tried us with that,” Yui spoke, stretching in her seat.

“It was pretty bold of them,” Izumi agreed.

“It’s sad. I just know they wouldn’t ask guys that. We’re here to make music just like them,” you added, getting up from your spot to go to the small kitchen to start dinner for you all.

“Being a woman sure is hard, and for no reason,” Haruka finished, grabbing her drumsticks to tap the table to get some frustration out.

-

Album release day! Courage My Love released their third album the following year, coincidentally the same day Semi’s band released their first album, whom unknown to you changed their name from Eagle Thorns to Won’t Regret. Courage My Love reached the number one spot in the rock category that week, a huge milestone. Won’t Regret reached top 20 which was a much better response than they expected. Both bands spent that day celebrating by having a small party at their respective label’s office.

The next day when you went into the studio your manager delivered you with the news for your next tour. “You guys are going to be touring with ONE OK ROCK in the US! You’re going to be the second act. Big things girls, big things.”

“We’re touring with them?” You asked, not believing the fact that you were going to be playing shows with one of your favorite bands.

After reassuring you, you reached out and grabbed onto Yui’s arms in excitement jumping up and down. While you were hyping yourself up, Haruka asked their manager who the opening act was going to be resulting in her eyes going wide.

-

“We’re touring with who?” The boys asked their manager, leaning forward in their seats with mouths wide.

“You’re gonna be touring with ONE OK ROCK and Courage My Love. Your latest single really blew up, the singer of ONE OK ROCK loved it so much he actually asked for you guys specifically.”

“No fucking way,” Semi spoke in awe.

“We’re not doing it,” Ranmaru announced, making the rest of his band members jump in surprise and disagree.

“Are you crazy? We can’t decline an opportunity like that!” Subaru started.

“Yeah! This is such a huge opportunity and you’re gonna say no?” Jiro added.

Semi stayed quiet, knowing he was the reason why Ranmaru said no. The two of them were pretty similar in mindset which made it easy for them to call each other. “I’ll do my best,” Semi said, looking at the bassist.

“Eita, we don’t need drama on our first big tour.” Ranmaru did feel bad for being blunt but he knew it was how he could get his point across. This tour could either help make them or break them. “I want us to succeed. I want us to keep playing music together.”

Subaru and Jiro stayed quiet, now understanding why Ranmaru reacted the way he did. They both had to agree with him. They’ve all put years worth effort into the band, it’d be a shame for it to fall apart after they had just made it.

“I know. I don’t want to ever not play music with you guys. I owe you guys a lot and I’m tired of holding us back. I swear I’ll be on my best behavior. I’ll apologize the moment I see them. Won’t Regret comes first, always has and always will.” Looking around the room he saw the small smirks on their faces, giving him comfort.

“Whatever you say, leader,” Ranmaru joked, pushing Semi’s shoulder so he wasn’t so stiff.

“We’re right behind you dude,” Subaru laughed.

“We’re gonna do it!” Jiro jumped bringing his band mates into a group huddle.

“You guys won’t regret this tour, I promise,” Semi said earning a smack on the back of his head from Subaru.

“Bad pun, Eita.”

-

Hey, this is Taka from ONE OK ROCK!

You guys are probably preparing for tour since it starts in a few days but I’d like to invite you and your band mates to dinner to meet you all!

Let me know if you can make it

-Taka :)

That was the text that you had received that led to you and the girls getting mildly dressed up to go eat at a restaurant the day before tour started. The tour was going to last six weeks and starting it off by having fun with everyone you were going to be performing with sounded like a great idea.

The four of you walked into the dimly lit restaurant together resulting in the hostess to escort you towards the table that had been reserved for your group. “Oh! Ladies you have arrived! Please have a seat,” Taka spoke, getting up to pull open the chairs so you all could sit.

Upon announcing your arrival, everyone looked up to face your group. Your face immediately grew warm when you saw the familiar faces, locking eyes with the one person you never thought you’d cross paths with again and even though Semi was fully aware this was going to happen, he still couldn’t believe it. Breaking eye contact with him, you gave a look to Haruka as if asking for help since Yui and Izumi already sat in their seats. Your actions didn’t go unnoticed by your old friend, reason being you used to give him those same looks all those years back. Haruka nodded her head and took a step towards the empty seat next to Semi before being stopped.

“Oh I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to come off as rude but I’d like your singer to sit here. I’d like to talk about vocal and stage stuff with them if you don’t mind,” Taka apologized. Knowing he was being sincere and understanding where he was coming from, you knew you shouldn’t argue and instead just suck it up. Haruka gave you a gentle smile before sitting between Yui and Jiro. Sitting down on the chair between Semi and Izumi, Taka pushed it in for you like a gentleman before going back to his own seat. “Alright, let’s order!”

A waitress came over to the table and gave her regular spiel of the specials as she handed out the menus which you unfortunately had to share with Semi since they were short on them.

“You can order first,” Semi spoke softly, letting you have the menu to look through. He wanted to tell you so much more. Apologize right then and there and try to fix things between you two but he couldn’t knowing he had to be professional right now. Ranmaru and Subaru kept glancing at him over their booklet as a warning to not fuck up the nice meal for them while Jiro chatted with your band mates. Semi just wished you two could talk like old friends.

Accepting the tall binded leather booklet, you gave a small thanks before opening it to look through it. This was going to be a long night.

—————

a/n: filler chapter but look!! They finally reunite!

Taglist: @pluviophilefangirl @yourstarvic @sunaswife @mynscorner @syaziahvg @discountkiyoko

[tyunniverse]

TXT x DISNEY Halloween Shorts 🎃 (3/5)

pairing: ot5 x reader

genre: fluff — college au

warnings: light swearing

synopsis: there's a halloween event at your uni and a few students are in the mood for misfit.

yeonjun | soobin | beomgyu | taehyun | hueningkai

BEOMGYU | Beauty and The Beast (2.2k)

“Careful with the hair!”

You hiss when Jinsung, your classmate and stylist for tonight, slaps your hand away after attempting to touch your hair.

“If I even see a single hair strand out of place, so help me I will shave your entire head.” He warns, tapping your shoulder with his brush. “Now go out there and get us some customers. The others said they'll have the food ready on time.”

“Alright.” You try to smile at him and he returns your smile with a sour look.

Your department was throwing a Beauty and the Beast style buffet right in front of your building. Canopies were set up, clothed tables lined around the vicinity, and classy decorations covered the area to add to the whole atmosphere. The dishes to be served are supposed to mimic the food found throughout the movie, with the servers dressed up as some of the minor characters. By some odd stroke of luck, you ended up being chosen as Belle and you were pretty sure some guy named Yeonjun from the other class was supposed to dress up as the Beast.

You got up from your seat and fetch the flyers from the table. The plan was to head up to where the crowds are and advertise your event there. You were all set to go, the only thing left missing being your partner.

Out of nowhere, a group of guys dressed as dwarfs appear. You can't make out what or who it was that they're carrying, but they were surely in a hurry, not caring a bit about their surroundings as they zoom past you, causing you to stumble back. Your heel catches the end of your gown and you start to fall backwards. Closing your eyes shut and bracing yourself for an awkward fall, you were pleasantly surprised when your back hit something soft instead— definitely not the concrete below— someone's chest you presume, their arms quickly wrapping around you protectively.

“Careful.” You hear the person say as they slowly help you on your feet. “Jinsung might throw a fit if you ruin your hair.” He chuckles, bringing his hand to his face.

You turn around and nearly got a scare when you're faced with the face of a beast, quite literally. Turns out your partner hadn't planned on being late after all. “Yeonjun, right?” You haven't actually met the guy but you've heard a few people talk about him. They say he had died his hair pink recently but you couldn't really see behind the terrifying full head mask he had on. You wonder how well he could breathe inside that thing.

“Uh, yeah.” The Beast replies, seeming somehow unsure of his own name. “I'm Yeonjun.”

“Nice meeting you then. I'm Y/N.” You don't bother offering him a handshake, knowing that you two barely had time to chat. “Let's get going. It's almost time.”

Beomgyu stays a few feet away from you as you handed out flyers to a bunch of costume clad strangers. Both of you were pretty busy right now, but he still manages to steal a few glances at you, admiring how beautiful you looked in that Belle costume. He almost wishes he could see you dressed like that everyday. Impractical, sure, but it was just a passing thought anyway. Thank heavens the costume had small peeping holes, otherwise you'd have caught him dead in the act of staring at you every few minutes or so.

“Try our buffet!” He greets two of the students passing by, handing them a flyer.

“What do you think, Soojin?” The student holding a tray of candied apples asks the other.

“I think not. We still have to visit that guy in the infirmary.” The friend replies. One of them gives Beomgyu an apologetic look before they leave.

Beomgyu watches the crowd pass by, his eyes naturally wandering to your side. He finds himself smiling when he saw you all focused on attracting customers, even going as far as to give them brief reenactments of their favorite scenes. Beomgyu loved that he was able to spend this time with you. He only wished that you knew it was actually him inside the costume and not Yeonjun, but he couldn't even find the courage to bring it up. He's not even sure why.

Yeonjun had asked him earlier today to be his substitute in handing flyers. Beomgyu had initially declined, but after hearing that you were going to be his partner for tonight— You, the student from across the hall that he'd been crushing on since freshman year— he was more than ecstatic to accept. This was his chance to actually interact with you without making things awkward.

“Why the fuck did I even say I was Yeonjun?” He huffs, only now had he found his costume stuffy. He really could have just told you before you started on your work, but he panicked and told you a lie instead. Great.

An hour had passed and Rina, one of your classmates, had come to inform you two that a lot of people were now dining at the buffet, and that you were allowed to rest for half an hour before your final wave of work.

You spot a bench nearby and walk over to Yeonjun. “Hey, let's take a rest over there.” You point at the bench. Yeonjun merely nods and follows you as you made your way to it. You take notice that he barely talked to you the entire time you were together. People said he was a chatterbox but apparently not tonight.

Just as you two sat down, Rina came back— this time, looking for someone. “Hey, have any of you seen Beomgyu?”

Hearing the name made you pause and blink. “Beomgyu?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

You glance at Yeonjun who kept shaking his head.

“Haven't seen him.”

Weird, you think. He was purposefully changing the pitch of his voice as he spoke to your classmate. You figure his throat was probably just dry from all the advertising he did earlier.

Rina turns to you, eyebrows raised with a smirk plastered on her face. “How about you, Y/N? I'm sure you've seen him.”

Eyes wide, you feel the heat rushing to your cheeks. Rina knew about your obvious crush on Beomgyu. The entire class knew. A few jokes were made, like how when someone from his class is looking for him, they'd ask if your Beomgyu radar was up and running. That joke was brought upon by your own little ability to somehow spot him easily within a crowd. That however, proved useless tonight. You hadn't seen him at all.

You spare Yeonjun a look. This was not a good time for Rina to be teasing you. He and Beomgyu are classmates and if he found out that you had a crush on the guy then who knows what'll happen. You didn't want him to think you were crazy when Rina ends up saying something stupid and overly exaggerated— you hope she won't. Your crush on Beomgyu wasn't even that big of a deal. Sure, sometimes you'd find your heart fluttering when you spot him laughing from the other side of the hallway, and maybe sometimes you'd wished you could just come up to him and pinch his cheeks but you've barely even spoken to the guy so—

“What are you talking about?” You laugh it off, patting Rina on the side while slipping in a few stink eyes. “I haven't seen him at all.”

“Is that so?” Rina sighs. For a second, you thought she would just let it go when she turned her back on you but the devil in her was in the mood to play. “Tell me when your Beomgyu radar picks him up then! We need him to help in the kitchen.”

Yeonjun turns to to you. “Beomgyu radar?”

You shrink in your seat.

Was Beomgyu hearing right? Did your classmate just ask you something about a Beomgyu radar? Your Beomgyu radar? Did she normally joke like that or was it intentional? Perhaps she knew he was the one in the costume and not Yeonjun, but he highly doubted that. Could you perhaps?

Beomgyu turns to you. “Beomgyu radar?”

Your face shifted into a mix of emotions that Beomgyu had trouble deciphering. “D-Don't mind her.” You stammer, waving your hands at him. “She's just joking as always. Ah, Rina, such an asshol— assertive joker.” You laugh.

“Right.” Beomgyu laughs along. He felt disappointed, thinking that he was probably just reading too much into it. “What are the odds of you crushing on Beomgyu, right?”

“Exactly!” Your reply was quick. Too quick for Beomgyu's liking. He observes your reaction and notices how red your ears were. Were you embarrassed? Was the idea of crushing on him too much for you? Did you not find him attractive in the least? At this point, he knows he was overthinking but couldn't help but succumb to it.

“Yeah..” He sighs, slumping his back on the bench. “He's probably not your type.”

You flinch. “What?”

“There's not really much to like about him.” Beomgyu shrugs.

“You're wrong.”

He sees you cross your arms, a frown present on your face. “I haven't really met him yet but from what I've seen in the past few years, I can say that there's a whole list of things one could like about him.”

Oh? Beomgyu certainly didn't expect this. “Like what?”

“He's one of the most considerate people I know.” You smile. “Sometimes I'd see him cleaning up after others, giving up seats on the bus, and going out of his way to help anyone in need. He even helped me out that one time I was late for our finals.” You chuckle at the fond memory. It was the day you made up your mind about him.

“It was pretty embarrassing though. I was running through the gates and tripped. I sprained my ankle and no one else was around except for Beomgyu. Turns out he was also running late but didn't even stop to think twice about helping me. He carried me to the nurse's office and stayed there until my friends arrived. I couldn't even thank him properly after that since I was pretty disoriented. In the end, we both had to take the finals at another time.”

Beomgyu blinks. He can't believe you still remembered that day, especially when it was the very day he himself started crushing on you. Though, he'd always thought you didn't know who he was when that happened. “Oh..” He couldn't bring himself to say anything else.

“You know what?”

Beomgyu turns to you.

You smile. “He's exactly my type.”

Beomgyu didn't know what to feel. His cheeks heat up and he's sure it wasn't just the mask making him that way. You talked about that moment so fondly that it almost made him think that maybe— just maybe his feelings for you weren't all that one-sided after all.

He chuckles. He's about to do something stupid.

“Y/N.”

“Hm?”

“Do you perhaps..”

“Like him?” Beomgyu watches silently as you take the time to think.

This was probably too much. What if you didn't like him after all? Could he live knowing that he tricked you into answering that, thinking he was someone else. His thoughts come to a halt when you nod.

“I do.” You chuckle. “No use in hiding that now, huh?”

Beomgyu gulps. “Then..” Then what?

“Hm?”

“What if I say Beomgyu liked you too?”

Your furrow your brows in confusion. “What?”

Beomgyu grips the end of his mask. “I like you.”

“Yeonjun, you're not making any—”

He doesn't let you finish, yanking the mask off his face and revealing his disheveled look underneath.

“Beomgyu?!” You jump in surprise, and he stands up, following you. “How—”

“I like you, Y/N.” Beomgyu says, no longer caring about the consequences that'll follow after. “I really like you. I have for a long time now.”

You stare at him, speechless. “I.. haha.” You cover your face in your hands, laughing. “This is a joke right?”

“I wish it was.” Beomgyu awkwardly shifts in his spot. “But it's not. I'm being honest. I really like you.”

You move your hands away, now looking at him. “You know, as much as I want to hit you right now for tricking me into thinking you were Yeonjun all this time and basically had me going off about how much I appreciate you,” You pause. “I just can't.” You say, your cheeks reddening.

“Y/N, I—”

“There you are!”

Before either of you could react, Rina appears out of nowhere and grabs Beomgyu by the arm, practically dragging him way from you. “We've been looking for you all night! Jin wants you in the kitchen asap.”

Rina flashes you a thumbs up and you couldn't do anything but smile. “Good to see that your Beomgyu radar's still working!”

Judging by the way he was being mercilessly dragged away from you, it looks like Beomgyu had his hands tied with no escape. He waves his free arm at you. And you get the message. You're gonna have to talk about this soon.

You look down at the flyers on your hands and couldn't help but blush. He likes you too.

[dannyphantom-rewrite]

What's "how to get to cracker barrel" ?

What's "how to get to cracker barrel" ?

Oh now that, that one isn't Actually a wip. It's a short story I finished ages ago that later ended up being inspiration for one of the plotlines in an anthology style audio drama podcast I want to make some day. There's 4 main characters:

The Mckellen sisters Jamie and Lady who aren't Actually sisters but pass rather well for twins since one of them is actually a changeling, Natalie Anderson, photographer and lady's GF, and Gavin Walker, a mage still haunted by the death of his fiance, Caleb Adams, mostly due to the fact that his fucking ghost won't leave him alone.

Art by @unded-bun (click image for higher quality)

I'm leaving out a lot of details, but I'd be happy to fill in the gaps if anyone asks.

I'll Also throw the story itself under a read more here, bc I'm still super proud of it even though it's a few years old now.

A small hotel on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia. There is a Sonic Drive-in across the busy street. Bright neon lights in the window state, “Open 24/7!” A Greyhound bus is idling in the parking lot. A man, Gavin Walker, climbs off and crosses over to the hotel. He walks easily, but not confidently. Approaching the hotel’s entrance, he spots a cat eating from a plastic bowl in front of the door. The feline is small, and feral. He is black, with white paws. He does not pay Gavin any mind as he enters, only continuing to crunch on dry cat food.

There's a desk on the left side of the lobby. The receptionist smiles kindly as he checks in. Her eyes are tired. Gavin gives her a knowing nod, and travels deeper into the building. There is a sign marked, “Out Of Order.” on the elevator. This is a good thing. Gavin takes the stairs, of which there are three flights. This is also a good thing, because three is a good number. He enters the hallway, which is old, and worn. The walls bear chipped yellow paint, and the floor, faded red carpet. Gavin continues down the hall after checking the time on his phone. It is exactly 11:59PM. He turns the device off and begins to count the seconds. At sixty he has stopped in front of the elevator. The fluorescent light above him flickers. The elevator does not have an out of order sign on it. It is the same elevator as before. Gavin enters.

He presses the button for the first floor. In the lobby the check in desk is now on the opposite side of the room. The lights are off, the receptionist is gone. It is daytime outside now. The bus is gone and the Sonic is closed. The road is vacant. There is a cat outside. She is white, with black paws. She looks up at Gavin as he approaches. They lock eyes, and he kneels in front of her.

“Hello, cat.” He says.

“Hello, Mage.” Says the cat.

She flicks her tail, “What is it you seek?”

“Direction.”

She nods and stands, before making for the road. The Sonic across the street is closed, but it was never empty. A Sonic is not a sit down restaurant. Customers are expected to pull into a parking spot and order over an intercom, and then a waitress delivers their meal directly to their car. Gavin’s pretty sure places like Sonic were more common in the 1950’s, and he knows that drive in diners are a dying breed now a days. The thought gives him a strange sense of nostalgia for something he’d never actually experienced, and he shudders involuntarily.

The cat sits down in the parking spot furthest from the building. She watches as he presses the the button on the intercom, listens, ears swiveling, as they are greeted with static. Looking out of the corner of his eye, Gavin can see something moving within the darkened restaurant. An outline of a figure, only vaguely humanoid. The thing moves like a deranged ape, long, long arms dangling to the floor and dragging it forward. Its back is hunched, legs short and stumpy. Gavin can not see its face, and he does not wish to. The intercom crackles to life.

“WhAt can aH’ do fER ya’lL?” Drawls The Thing in the Sonic. It’s got a southern accent thicker than congeling visera, and the pitch of it’s voice fluctuates wildly. Gavin glances uncertainly at the cat, and she nods.

“I’m looking for Direction.”

“Ahhhhhh……” groans The Thing, “WEll, watch’ Yer goNna wanna dO is hEad doWn the road, bout maybeEEee…..foUr, five miLeS, an’ yer gOnna wanna look fer’ weEl, watch yer gonna wanna fiNd is soMeTHing’ idEaliZed, ya knOw? Like uh, somethin’ kinDa romanticized, an’ a liTtlE faKe in sOme senSe but reAlLy true in anOther, ya follow?”

“Yeah.” said Gavin, even though he did not follow at all.

“Yep,” Continued The Thing, “n’ yer gOnna wanna gEt yourself sOme rasPberRy lemONade when ya get theRe, It’s some gOod shit, lemme tell ya.”

“Alright, I’ll uh, I’ll do that.”

“Good, GoOd, That’s Good. Y'all have a niIiiccceee daaaaaay nooooow.” And then the intercom crackled once more, and returned to spewing static. Gavin released the button and looked around for the cat, hoping, maybe, for some more guidance, but she had long since abandoned him. He started walking down the road, away from the Sonic Drive-In, and The Thing inside, and hopefully towards where he needed to be.

Gavin started to think as he walked, which was not something he liked to do often. He much prefered to act in the moment without much consideration for the consequences of those actions until they themselves became the moment. Gavin did not like to think because he often thought much too deeply, and it sometimes scared him. Gavin thought about a lot of different things in quick succession, he thought about the missing greyhound bus, and The Thing in the Sonic, and wondered if the disappearance of one had to do anything with the appearance of the other. It probably did. He thought about what The Thing had told him to do, and why he was doing it. He thought about why he’d come here in the first place, to this inverted little section of Georgia. And he thought about Liminal Spaces, about busted elevators and darkened hotel hallways and empty stairwells. The air shifted suddenly as a pickup truck speed past him, it had a faded confederate flag on the back window.

Liminal Spaces, simply put, were the areas between one place and another. The small spots in the middle of point A and point B where reality seems to be altered in such a way that the change is almost imperceptible, and yet, it is still enough to leave you feeling so impossibly strange.

Liminal Spaces can also be doorways, if one knows how to properly open them.

Gavin isn’t sure how long he’s been walking down this empty stretch of road, but it’s been long enough that he can no longer see the Sonic Drive-in behind him. It’s not even a dot in the distance now, just gone, as though it were never there to begin with. He keeps going. He walks until his feet hurt, and his legs ache, and keeps going even after that. At some point he sticks his thumb out towards the road, tired enough to risk hitch-hiking, but no cars have gone by since the pickup truck. And at some point he takes a moment to rest. He sits down on the shoulder, and just breathes for a while. And then when he stands again, he sees the Cracker Barrel just down the road. Exhausted as he is, he knows it isn’t possible for him to not have seen it earlier. Gavin decides it’s best not to dwell on that, though, because this is exactly the kind of place where Cracker Barrels can just pop into existence. (Although, as he enters the restaurant, he remains somewhat annoyed that it couldn’t have decided to do it a little sooner.)

The front of the Cracker Barrel is a store selling all manner of things. There's a back corner full of vintage candy, a small section of organic make-ups, and another full of knick-knacks like salt and pepper shakers, and dreamcatchers, as well as the usual crap that tourists like to buy, T-shirts and mugs and what not. Gavin has never actually been in a “regular” Cracker Barrel, so he’s not sure if this is a completely normal thing, but he’s certain that a “regular” Cracker Barrel would not also be selling such wares as bottled crocodile tears and Unicorn meat slim jims. There aren’t a lot of people in the store, and yet Gavin finds it impossible to get a good look at any of them. The people look normal, but they move like extras in the background of a film. The only person in the room with any notable features is the waitress standing by the back. She’s short, and her hair and eyebrows have been dyed a vibrant blue. As Gavin follows her into the seating area he can't help but stare at her hair, and he finds himself thinking that it can’t possibly be dye, it’s too bright, somehow. She smiles at him as he sits, and her teeth are a just little too sharp.

Once he’s seated, she says, “Can I start you off with a drink?” Her voice has a pleasant, lilting tone to it.

Gavin thinks back to The Thing in the Sonic, “A Raspberry Lemonade? If that’s something you have here?”

She nods, and goes off to get him one. Gavin leans back in his chair and takes in his surroundings, trying to relax. The decor in the Cracker Barrel has a sort of vintage, rustic feel to it, there’s things like black and white photos, and old advertisements on the walls. All the furniture looks antique. There are quite a few other customers present. Most of them look like the same nondescript folk from the front, but a few stand out. There’s a woman in the back corner, she’s dressed in black furs and her head is an ember eyed wolf skull. She’s sitting across from a man with the skull of a stag upon his shoulders, the antlers adorned with ivy. There’s something resembling a giant moth sitting two tables away, slowly crunching its way through a Caesar salad. Occasionally, there’s a figure leaning against the kitchen doors, they look as though they’re made up of television static. Gavin’s eyes start to hurt from trying to look at them, so he turns his attention to the menu instead. The waitress returns with his Raspberry Lemonade, and he orders the Country Fried Shrimp.

Gavin takes a sip of his drink and finds that he agrees with the Thing in the sonic. It’s definitely some good shit.

“Funny seeing you around here, Gav.”

Gavin looks up from his drink, almost spills it in surprise.

“Is this seat taken?”

Gavin manages to shake his head.

Caleb Adams pulls out the chair across from him and sits. Gavin stares at him. He’s wearing a T-shirt that reads, “NORMAL HOROSCOPES: Making your day a little more magic whether you like it or not.” Gavin’s not sure if it’s supposed to be advertising for a psychic’s shop or if it’s some strange indie band he’s never heard of. Knowing Caleb, it’s probably the latter.

He finally manages to speak, “You’re dead.”

“Yeah?” Caleb leans an elbow on the table, and props his head up in his hand, his smile never wavers, “And?”

“And- and I don’t know, Fuck, I don’t know.”

The waitress briefly interrupts his existential crisis by depositing his Country Fried Shrimp on the table. Gavin looks down at it and tries to focus on the smell of greasy seafood instead of the dead man sitting across from him.

“You seem confused.” Caleb’s voice sounds uncharacteristically sympathetic.

Gavin nods.

He sighs, frowning “Eat your lunch, and then we’ll talk.”

Gavin eats what he can, but it’s a large portion, and he’s somehow not that hungry. He takes a final bite, and pushes the plate across the table, silently offering Caleb the rest of the shrimp.

The barest hint of a smile returns to his face, “Thanks, but no.” And then he’s frowning again, “Why’re you here, Gav?”

“I just went where I was told to-”

He shakes his head, “No. I don’t mean the friggin’ Cracker Barrel, I mean Here.”

And Gavin doesn’t really know what to tell him. That he’s here because he felt lost and desperate? That he didn’t know what to do anymore? That it doesn’t matter anyway because he’s fine, everything's fine and he’s just tired?

But he doesn’t tell Caleb any of that, he just says, “I miss you.” And he can’t keep his voice from cracking.

“I know you do.” Caleb places a hand over his, “But this is damn near one of the dumbest things you’ve ever done. You knew this place wouldn’t be safe for you.”

He feels numb, “I didn’t really care.”

“Gavin,” Caleb grips his hand now, “Look at me, please. I mean, really look at me.”

So he does, he looks up at him, and finally, meets his eyes.

They have not changed. Death has not reduced the amount of compassion behind them, nor faded the sea blue color. Gavin stares. Eyes are supposed to be a window into someone's soul, a way to truly see into them, and Gavin just stares because Caleb’s eyes are still capable of conveying so much, and he can feel tears running down his face…..

“It’s time to go home, Gav, okay?” He gestures to the window, and the Greyhound bus has pulled up, “Your ride's here.”

And Gavin knows has to force himself to look away and loosen his grip, and he can’t bring himself to.

“It’s alright.” He says, “It’s going to be alright. I’ll take care of the bill, Please just let go.”

And Gavin finally, Finally manages to tear himself away.

He does not feel anything but relief as he leaves, as he boards the bus and settles into a seat. He leans back, and watches through the window as the world shifts and shimmers and is suddenly dark and starry once more. As the Greyhound pulls out of the Sonic parking lot, Gavin closes his eyes, and slowly falls into the comfort of a deep, dreamless sleep.

[timextoxhajima]

NCT One Shot Collection

Member: Taeyong

Genre: Fluff, a cup of angst, a beaker of intimacy

Word Count: 3.4k

How was it like, dating the school's most good looking student? Not easy. Not when every morning, dozens of letters spewed out when he opened his locker. Not when girls tried to stalk him home after school everyday. Not when you couldn't be seen around him. 

But it wasn't his choice. It was yours. 

Taeyong was perfectly fine with telling the world he was in love with you, his childhood best friend since you two were in diapers. The both of you never thought it could go past the best friend stage, but boy, were you both so, so wrong. 

However, when it came to university, you were an average girl, and Taeyong was crowned the school prince, sometimes also known as the school jock. He was popular, handsome, smart in his own ways; he was the perfect package, and you knew you had done nothing to deserve him. That was also the reason why you refused to tell anybody else besides both your families that you were dating him. Anybody else outside the family circle would ridicule you for having the insane opportunity of picking up such a gorgeous man, much less if anybody else knew that the both of you had already slept with one another. 

"Babe, when are we going to tell them? Everyday I get letters, wishing that I don't," Taeyong drew circles over and over again on your bare stomach. 

"Never, they can find out when you get married and they aren't invited," You groggily responded, turning away from him and laying on your side. Taeyong slid his arm around your waist, your back feeling the warmth of his chest press against your spine. He kissed your neck and along your earlobes, playfully biting on your earlobe. You opened your eyes and turned to him, who eyed you mischievously. 

"If one day, I take a pregnancy test and it comes out positive, I'm going to handcuff you to my basement and make sure you father my child the correct way," You squint your eyes and looked at him suspiciously. Taeyong grinned and tightened his arms around your waist, kissing your nose and on your lips.

"You can handcuff me to your sink and I'll still father our child the correct way," 

You roll your eyes, used to the way he used his words to melt your composure.

And how did one get so close to a God and a God himself? You and Taeyong grew up together, went to the same schools the last 23 years, had nearly a billion classes together, and fulfilled the idea of "first love magic". Though your parents were not surprised that you two finally got together after 20 years, it was a secret nobody else was to find out. Both of you were already living in the same apartment, away from your families. You were practically married to him, but for the sake of both your reputations in university (mostly his), it was your choice to keep mum about the relationship, and had him promise that he couldn't tell anybody about the two of you. It hurt, not being able to act like the person you are -- his girlfriend -- but you could ask for nothing more, since the person you came home to everyday was him.

"Are you cooking tonight?" Taeyong rolled over and grabbed your pillow, burying his face in it and inhaling the scent of your shampoo. You were already off the bed, but only in one of his over sized cotton pullovers and underwear.

"No, I have night classes. My finals are coming soon, don't really have the time to go grocery shopping and cook," You spoke as you walked into the bathroom, not even bothering to close the door as you begin brushing your teeth. You heard some shuffling before you gargled some water and spat it back out, looking up to see Taeyong behind you, still shirtless, wrapping his arms around your waist and leaning his chin on your shoulder.

"Then don't worry, I'll cook," He intentionally spoke in a voice higher-pitched than it normally was, tightening his wrap on your waist and gently kissing your neck, his breath hitting your skin and causing goosebumps to appear in waves.

"Tae," You huffed, watching him pull the neck rim of his own pullover down to your shoulder and carefully sucking on your skin. You rolled your eyes, knowing exactly what he was doing. Taeyong pulled away from your collarbone and looked at you in the eye through the mirror, flashing you a smile that was both gorgeous, yet taunting and intimidating at the same time. There was a patch of reddening skin on your collarbone, something he loved doing when he knew he wasn't going to be with you the bulk of the day.

"You know this is unnecessary, with the number of guys that fancy me?"

"Don't say that, you're beautiful in your own way and only I can see it. Exactly the reason why there's one, and one man only, who is a complete sucker for you," Taeyong turned you around by holding your shoulders, leaning in forwards to you by resting his hands on the sink by your sides.

"Sometimes I worry, about how you're so good with words when I'm the only girlfriend you ever had," You whisper, raising a brow mockingly. Taeyong laughed and kissed your forehead, then moved down to your nose before your lips.

"I'll drive you to school?" He asked, pressing his forehead against yours.

"The entire school knows your license plate. You can do that next time when we're both working," You pecked him on the lips again and got yourself out from between his arms.

"Babe--" Taeyong sighed heavily, frustrated and slightly annoyed at how conservative and protective you were of both your reputations.

"Look, just a few more months, okay? After my finals, we'll both graduate and then we can tell the world we've been dating for 6 years," You took off his pullover and pulled on your own hoodie, making sure the neck rim was high enough to cover the mark he made on your collarbone.

"Why do we have to wait until then? No matter what people think, it still shouldn't change the way we treat each other," Taeyong tugged on your hoodie and sat down on the bed next to you, disappointed that you weren't going to show it off, or at least, let other guys know that you were already taken.

"It's not about you, okay? I'm worried that if people find out we are dating and living together, can you imagine the kind of shit they'll give me for it and how much they will look down on you? I don't want to go out with you thinking that I don't deserve you, because for the last 25 years, that's how I've been feeling on the inside, okay? I have done nothing to deserve you, and I know I'm the luckiest girl on Earth to wake up next to you every morning," You regurgitated the hard truth you had always kept under layers and layers of feelings in your heart. "But if it's any way our relationship is supposed to go, I definitely don't want it to be because of some stupid girls who want to sit on your dick and I start to feel horrible about myself and I make the worst decision I can ever make about someone whom I feel like I've been married to all my life," You were fully dressed now, refusing to remove the hoodie and already had your bag straps around your shoulders. Taeyong was just staring intently at you, processing every single word you just said. He never knew you were so afraid of losing him, of making the wrong decision, of being afraid of your own judgements. He wanted to just hug you and keep you there until he could assure you that for the rest of both your lives, nothing about his feelings for you would change. But before he could even begin, you were already out the door.

"eMarketing is the process of marketing a brand using the Internet. It Internet. It includes both direct includes both direct response marketing and indirect marketing elements and uses a range of technologies to help connect businesses to their customers," You rubbed your face, placing your notes on your lap and reading them on the bus to school. Why in the world did you take marketing as a course in university? You closed your eyes, trying to remember what your lecturer had said about the outline of the lecture for today, but your thoughts were interrupted by a soft tap on your shoulder. You look up from your seat and see one of your classmates, Won Kyurim. 

"Oh, hi Kyurim," You pull out your earpiece and shift inwards to let him a seat since the bus was still relatively empty. 

"Hardcore," He smiled at you, watching you flip through your notes. 

"Yeah, well, my finals are really soon and I need to ace it to get the job prospect I really want so," You shrug and return to your notes. 

"Hey, I was thinking if you'd like to--"

"Oh, hey, get up," You interrupted him, completely ignoring him. An elderly couple had just gotten onto the bus, and nobody looked like they were ready to give up their seats. You shove him off his seat and moved out yourself, gesturing to the elderly couple to take the seats. They bowed in gratitude, smiling at the both of you as the both of you grabbed hold onto the handles from the bars above.

"Sorry, you were saying?" You turned to look at him, only realising now that he was standing pretty close to you. The stop that the elderly couple had gotten on was right outside a market, so the bus was now crowded. You quickly look away, uncomfortable with the stance you were in. His arm was right behind your head and the handle you were holding on was next to his head. There were no other handles available. 

"I was going to ask if--" His words were cut off again by a sudden halt of the bus, causing someone's bag to hook onto your hoodie and pull it sideways with the weight and force. On instinct, Kyurim wrapped his arm around your waist to catch you, but the pull from the bag was large enough to expose your collarbone, and only a blind man wouldn't have been able to see the thumb sized, now slightly purple, mark on your collarbone. Your face immediately flushed red, noticing other students from your school on the same bus caught sight of the mark, including Kyurim. 

"I... didn't know you had a boyfriend," He awkwardly spoke, removing his arm from its position. You pursed your lips and looked down, knowing that other students on the bus were staring at you, completely surprised that you of all people had a hickey printed on your neck. Kyurim didn't say anything the rest of the trip to school. 

"Dumb day at school, the world hates me I swear," You huffed under your breath, getting off at a secluded bus stop that nobody else from your school drops off at. "Some retarded-- damnation-- stupid-- ugh fucks’ sake!" You messed up your own hair in frustration. Within the next one week, the entire school is going to find out you have a hickey on your neck, and though you'd think people in their 20s would be much more mature, you could never be so wrong. 

"It's alright, as long as they don't figure out it's him," You comforted yourself, reaching the small bungalow you and Taeyong shared. The garage door wasn't shut properly. You walked over to the door and entered the garage from there, locking the door from the inside then making your way to the kitchen for a glass of water.

"Babe, you didn't close the garage door properly!" You kept your keys that were meant to open the front door into your bag, but then as you headed into the kitchen, the scent of grilled cheese chicken filled your nostrils. 

Taeyong was standing over the grill plates with two chicken breasts turning into a soft, honey brown color, a layer of cheese melting atop of it. The high table right outside the kitchen was nicely set up, with two small candle holders and a bottle of wine yet to be opened.

You put down your bag and rush up to him, not bothering about his slightly sweaty shirt and neck. Hugging him from the back, you rested your head on his right shoulder blade and kissed him on his back.

"Smells like heaven," You tiptoed and kissed his cheek. He had his apron on (blue with white checkers, because yours was pink with black checkers) and had beads of sweat forming on his forehead as the heat from the grilling plates floated upwards.

"Hey, how was school?" Taeyong asked, smiling from ear to ear without looking at you. You smile at his intense focus on cooking. It was never boring to see Taeyong multitask so well. 

"Oh," You shrug, not planning on telling him what happened in the bus. "Nothing much. Same old boring content."

"Go and bathe. Dinner should be done by then," He finally shifted his eyes to you, leaving the chicken on the grill plates to sizzle. His eyes scanned you from head to toe, unable to believe that he had you to himself for the last 25 years and for the next 75 years or so. You watched as he looked at you with the softest, most loving eyes you had ever seen in him.

"What?" You chuckle, laying your arms on his shoulders.

"Oh, I don't know, just the most amazing person in my life standing in front of me," His eyes folded into little crescents, leaning forward and pressing his lips onto yours and lingered there for a good minute. 

You pull away first and hug him tightly, moving off to bathe as he asked. When you came back out, the table was set and Taeyong was changed into a fresh new set of clothes -- just to get rid of the sweat. The table was beautiful and the wine had been poured, but Taeyong's face was a mile long, and that glimmer in his eyes from before was gone.

"Babe, you alright?" You frown, walking up to him bending down a little, trying to read his face since his head was tilted down towards the floor.

"'Unnecessary with the number of guys that fancy you', huh?" Taeyong looked at you, dead in the eye, an eyebrow raised.

"What?" You stood up straight, pushing your head back on your neck in surprise.

He pulled his phone off the table and placed it before you, showing you a video of an ever familiar scenario. You facepalmed and rolled your eyes. Someone had the audacity to film the entire thing between you and Kyurim, including his arm around your waist. 

"Babe, the bus, it--" You stopped the video and looked at him.

"We eat first. You haven't eaten anything since breakfast, so we should eat first," Taeyong interrupted you, taking his phone back and placing it facing down onto the table.

Dinner was so quiet, it pained you to even chew on the food. Your jaws were trying to open itself against a lock, and even your throat had a hard time letting food down into your stomach. You weren't hungry anymore, because Taeyong was obviously too bothered by the entire scenario today to say anything. It was so unsettling that as delicious as the food was, you couldn't bring yourself to clean the plate. Taeyong noticed your pace slowing down to an eventual stop, and picked up your plate, throwing the rest of it into the bin. You sighed, getting off your seat and into the kitchen as he washed the dishes quietly.

"Tae, it was an accident, alright? The bus jerked to a halt and he was just there--"

"And so, instinctively, he grabbed your waist?" Taeyong snapped without looking at you.

"Do you think I saw that coming?" You frown, now slightly annoyed that he was being petty and overly protective.

"Maybe you shouldn't have stood so close to him?" Taeyong turned and shot you one of his famous death glares, the kind that girls in school swoon over, but you of all people knew that his death glare meant nothing good in truth. You frowned and opened your mouth in disbelief.

"What-- Lee Taeyong! What in the world is wrong with you? You saw the video and you saw that he noticed your stupid territorial mark on my neck. Even if he was interested in me, he's not going to make a move now anyway, is he?" Your blood boiled at how unreasonable your boyfriend was being.

"So you do want him to make a move on you?" Taeyong finished washing the dishes and leaned sideways on the sink, flicking the left over water droplets off his hands and into the sink. He eyed you angrily, his left eyebrow twitching.

"You are unbelievable," You threw your arms up in the air and sped past him, pissed off and hurt that the thought of you ever replacing him even crossed his mind. You walk into your bedroom and slammed the door shut, locking the door and lying down on the bed, the large space only making his voice ring in your head even more.

The door knob was turned, but the one outside realised the door was locked.

"Jesus Christ, y/n, open the goddamn door," Taeyong banged on the door with his fist. You ignored him, shifting yourself under the blankets and hugging your pillow. Taeyong huffed and dropped his forehead onto the door with his arm above his head, before he walked away and rummaged the store room cabinets for the spare keys to the bedroom. Within a few minutes, the door clicked open and you could hear his feet shuffling against the floor.

"Babe," He called out, watching your figure curl up under the blankets.

"Go away," You grumpily respond, tightening your hug around your pillow. You heard him sigh.

"Babe, I'm sorry for yelling at you, okay? I just... I just didn't like the sight of someone else touching you," His side of the bed sunk. You turned away from his side, still under the blanket, refusing to acknowledge.

"I was thinking about what you said this morning and I just felt bad about myself, and... I don't know, it just snowballed into me being overprotective and possessive, and I'm sorry," He was shifting towards you. You closed your eyes, still in too upset of a state to respond. Before you knew it, your legs were being poked, and soon enough, he was trying to tickle you.

"Yah--" You pulled down the blankets and wanted to shove his hands away, but he only grabbed your wrists and held them down, immediately pressing his lips against yours. 

"I'm sorry. I really am. You're my everything and... if someone else were to have you, I would have nothing," Taeyong pulled away and whispered, pressing his forehead against yours as you felt his grip on your wrist loosen, his fingers intertwining with yours instead. You look him in the eye, and that glimmer of his love for you slowly seeped back into his gaze. His brown orbs were now softened, and there he was, the Lee Taeyong you knew and loved.

You took a deep breath and exhaled, scanning his eyes. Still somewhat pinned down onto the bed, you lifted your head and kissed him again, this time wrapping your arms around his neck, your thumbs caressing his ears and hair after he released your hands.

"Babe," He muttered between kisses, his fingers delicately pushing up your shirt.

"Hmm?" You hummed, trying to shut him up by continuously kissing him. 

"Please don't handcuff me to your basement," He smirked into the kiss, earning a small laugh from your throat.

The next day at school, the two of you walked into school with his arm freely draped over your shoulder, and how you wished you could've gotten your entrance on tape.

[writingforyourpleasure]

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Characters: GERARD WAY x Reader 

 Link to chapter four :   https://writingforyourpleasure.tumblr.com/post/616411340391759872/on-the-road-again

Warnings : None 

 Author’s note: Hello ! Hope you’re all doing okay during those strange times ? Sorry for not posting but I had my en-of-the-year exam, but it’s now done and , I only got a few homework to hand-over now and my second year in college’ll be done !Here you go thank you to keep reading .

5.      “ Pun-master “

  You woke up, feeling something or someone moving in front of you . You started to groan at the uncomfortable feeling not wanting to get up just yet.

“And what owe me the pleasure to be assisted by your presence tonight sir Way?” You said while looking for plates.

The mass finally moved away , listening to your complains .

You woke up what felt just five minutes later but probably was in reality hours after it. Your eyes fluttered slowly as if they were disconnected from your brain. A light shine from the outside was peeking through your tinted window as soon as you truly started to wake up , you realized that Gerard wasn’t here anymore.

“Right��” You breathed out to yourself. Honestly you didn’t want to wake up. You were scared , scared of overthinking this , and because of that you actually was overthinking it . Your brain wasn’t playing on your favor . You didn’t knew how you were gonna survive today. The worst was, you didn’t knew how to act with Gerard , what happened yesterday night wasn’t that big of a deal, really , but again ; you were overthinking it . You just wanted to act normal with him , and was prying your brain to not let you down once you’ll see him. You felt so stupid for having a crush on one of your coworker and friends. You got up and hoped for the best.

You got out of your nest , only to find that you were alone in the bus and that you already had arrived into the next parking’s venue . You went directly to the kitchenette and groaned realized that you guys were short on coffee. You finally resigned yourself and went for the shower.

You got out of the bus a dozen of minutes later to find the parking lot empty except for the security that was already keeping everything on check. You checked your phone to see that it was 3pm . You had enough time, to get yourself a coffee somewhere and not stressing about when to comeback since you didn’t had to repeat with Dex or anything. You put back in your , old black Green Day’s hoodie, pocket your phone . You’ve dressed yourself as unfashionable as it is socially allowed , your laziness was clearly reflecting itself through most of your actions today. You put your headphones on , listening to the last Fever 333’s album and searched on google maps for the nearest Starbucks, once again a reflect of your laziness you figured.

You arrived to the welcoming smell of dirty beans being ground and hot milk.

Once you got your order you looked around for a seat since the place was pretty full, luckily you got one in front of the glass and on both sides what appeared to be two couples . Great. You hope that you’ll be lucky and won’t have to witness the same amount of smooshing in both of them. The teenage one , on your right , were the ones all over each other, with the boy groping at every part accessible of his what-you-presumed-to-be his girlfriend. The one on your left were two men in suits holding each other hands while talking , you sat facing the widow and the other empty seat. You got out of your backpack your sketch book and a pencil starting to draw people passing by while music took you in other world. A tap on your shoulder took you of guard , you got off your headphones .

“Yes ?” you turned around your head to see who was trying to get your attention.

“Hey, is this seat taken ?” Dex was smiling down at you with a big smile.

You said nothing instead kicking the seat in front of you, back to the glass for them to seat.

“I feel like it’s been a while since we talked .” Dex said sitting and looking expectantly at you.

“What are you talking ‘bout we talked just yesterday.” You said not looking up from your sketch book.

“Don’t play dumb y/n , you know what I mean. Like just the two of us ?” Dex sighed , seeing that you decided to not play cooperative . This time you did look up to your friend with a blank expression . Watching their eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It’s true , lately you tried to somewhat distance yourself since you were trying to figure out what the hell was happening with Gerard and you knew that being close to Dex would not help one second . Your friend knew how to read you even when you tried to hide something as well as you could. You had thinked that if Dex was about to ask questions it would make it weird since you were all working together . If you fucked up at any moments , you’ll have nowhere to hide and sometimes it can be a great deal of pain . But apparently you didn’t succeed not to make it awkward since your friend was not so happy that you act a little colder than usual . You were already fucking cold to any strangers , so to be cold to them was shitty. You sighed and run a hand through your now greasy hair . You needed to take a shower quickly , maybe it could wait after the show .

“Hey earth to y/n, hellooo?”

“Huh yeah sorry I was gone for a few…”

“Yeah no shit .”

“Sorry… like for all of it it’s true I’ve been kinda avoiding you guys.”

“Meh it happens , I mean it’s okay we all got our own problems.”

Dex tried to stay warm inside of the Starbucks but you could sense that being against a cold ass window wasn’t helped them to get the warmth that provided the Starbucks.

“I’m so cold….” They whispered as they took a gulp from their drink.

“Well….then stand in a corner .” You replied taking a large gulp of your hot drink too.

“What-Why ?”

“Think..”

“No….. please tell me it’s not because of what I think dude.”

“Coz’ corners are 90 degrees.” You said with a smug smile.

“Ho god …. Ok you know what maybe it’s for the best to be socially distant haha. It is so bad please do not do that again?”

“You’re asking way to much to the pun master .”

“More like the master of fucking nothing y’mean .”

“What did you said peasant , I think I didn’t quite hear that ?”

“Ho nothing .” said your friend smiling like a fool.

“Y/N I’m still fucking cold !” Said your friend trying to warm themselves up by rubbing strongly their arms.

“And how is that my problem , my dear?”

“Someday I really am going to kill you , y’know?” Told Dex between their teeth, with a little grunt along the way.  

“Y/N , Can I borrow your scarf? I’m seriously freezing. ”

“Well I can’t turn into a heater for you now can I? So do you want me to set you on fire? Because, I mean it’s still an option? Like I have my lighter right here so….?” You joked while giving them your scarf.

They gave you a warning glance as if they believed you . Then on a very exasperate note they sighed and said :

“Why are you like this?”              

You both laughed at that getting some curious looks from other clients. Once both of calmed down you try to get serious talking about the elephant in the room .

“Hey , can I ask your advice on something?”

“Absolutely , but I only advise communication, homosexuality, or murder.” Answered your friend earning a smug know-it-all smile out of you.

You were about to start to get off of your chest the whole “Hey I think I may or may not like the lead singer of the band for which we’re working for.” They cut you off.

“WAIT!”

“Yeah ?”

“Are you absolutely positive this isn’t dangerous or something?” They looked very serious about this , which had the reflex to make you roll your eyes deep inside your skull.

“I’m 95% sure, but yeah, I’ve failed fourth grade math so…” You decided to answer her stupid question with a stupid answer.

“Ho okay then we’re good I failed second grade! So just before we start , how long will this take ? I got to pick up my dog at the salon. «You both laughed at that. «No but like seriously we’ll have to go back to the bus eventually . Maybe tell me along the way back?”

“Alright , alright” You both got up from your seats and finally got out of the Starbucks.

“So huh, you remember when we got the 1 week break , alright?”

“Right. “

“Well huh, me and Gerard started talking by text pretty often during this time.”

“Ho. Did you now ?” They said waving their eyebrows in a suggestive way.

“No not like that calm down, you demon fuck .”

“Always a pleasure to fill my responsibilities.”

“You weirdo….” You whispered under your breath.

“Ho do not act if you aren’t even weirder man ! “

“Anyway, I just , I don’t know . I think, I think I may like him y’know?”

“Well it’s pretty comprehensible , I mean he’s hot .”

“I’m not talking about this you twat!”

“Ho c’mon you can’t say he isn’t !”

“Haha ,He is , I ‘ve sight too I’d let you know. It’s just not the point here .”

“You do? Sorry it’s hard to tell when you dress yourself like that .

“You bitch!” You choked on your drink , coughing violently.

“I’m just kind of dreading to really assuming the whole ‘hey by the way I’m hitting on you’ I don’t want to make it weird during the tour , when we’re not even at the half of it. And I don’t wish for everyone to see that I am hitting on him. I’m not ready.” You explained to Dex , not really wanting to expose everything you and Gerard said or do , foremost because there’s not that much to say

“Maybe not hitting on him is a good call since if you do I’m pretty sure he’s gonna freak out hearing your lame puns.”

“May I recall to you that I’m the pun-master AND the master of pickup lines ?”

“You completely suck at pickup lines, bro.”

“No I don’t !”

“The last time you tried one of you’re pickup lines was on this poor cute girl in Louisiana when you said ‘Are you Google –“

“CUZ YOU’RE EVERYTHING I’M SEARCHING FOR !!!”

“Yeah no wonder it didn’t worked !”

“I’m a genius , you’ll miss me when I’m gone.”

“You wish . So why are you’re feeling attracted to the guy ?”

“Well you see my kink is when people actually care about my feelings and what I have to say. And Since I know him he seems to correspond to this criteria , so I find it pretty attractive and hot since it’s my main kink.”

“Yeah , too unrealistic. Settle for bondage like the rest of us.”

“Where you ever nice Dex ?”

“2012, worst year of my life.” You laughed at what your friend said . “No but more seriously y/n, just let it happen y’know? And when you have the feeling that both of you are having a moment then maybe hit on him but stay subtle y’know?”

“I just want him to take me out…”

“Like, on a date or with a sniper ?”

“He’ll have to surprise me .” You both laughed before changing the subject to the little surprise you’ve both had planned for Max, since he was spending all of his nights and days working on your band , you wanted to do something nice for him. You bought a cookbook a few weeks ago for him as a present for the occasion, he often baked pastries as a distressful way to exhale from work time. Even though the bus condition made it hard to cook anything big it already was a good start. And you bought some bottle of Irish hard cider, since he had said it was the best thing he ever tasted when you all took a vacation to Dex family house there. After getting back to the bus everything went pretty fast , but the talk with Dex about Gerard was still playing in your mind. Ames saw that you were lost in your thoughts most of the time and ask you several times if everything was okay, you tried to act like you didn’t knew what he was talking about and you all moved on with your day . Mikey, Frank , Gerard and Ray were already in your bus when you had come back from your coffee session, and they yelled at you for not texting them and taking them with you. You brushed it off saying that next time you would. Gerard had tried to share looks with you during the day but you were too much caught up into your head to notice.

The show this night was nice and almost too short even if you guys took a ten minutes on My chemical romance planning since you played a special song. Once you were backstage Ames and Billy started their routines taking everything off stage to let place for the boys. To go faster Max offered to help them. It gave you and Dex a chance to run to the bus to prepare your little plan. You took any cushions , pillow and anything fluffy you could find , when you were done the bunks were quite a mess but you didn’t want to think of it since you still had to prepare the hard cider and the cake you brought from the Mark & Spencer’s not having too much time to find anything else. By the time everything was served , you knew that My chem was done with their show too , so you decided to prepare them a part too , you made a point to serve a apple juice instead of the cider for Gerard , not wanting him to feel excluded or anything. Max had been held backstage by Billy and Ames who were your dearest allies as ever.

You installed yourself with every plates and drinks giggling between the two of you alone in the bus to stupid jokes.

A knock made itself hear through the bus and Billy appeared into the kitchenette area before being followed by Ames and Max , who where looking at you with huge smiles spread across their face and a snort from the three of them.

“What the fuck did you do with our beds ?” Asked Max between a laugh.

“Well we did a pillow fort !” Answered Dex.

“Isn’t that a little childish ? “

“Does it means you don’t want to join us ?” You asked Max.

A silence swept through the bus.

“…Move over .” Said Max entering your huge pillow fort and already going for the cake and drink.

“Wait there’s a party and you guys didn’t told us about?! “Said Frank entering your bus.

You handed a plate in his direction , earning a smile from him before he arrived by your side as well as everyone else too.

Frank was on your right while Gerard was on your right and all of you were in a cercle eating and joking about stupid stuff.

“Hey you look better than this morning it’s good to see.” Whispered at your side Gerard offering a sweet smile before readjusting a few locks behind his ear.

“Well It’s because in the end we migrate towards comfort , and I realized that I am most comfortable around you , all of you.” You said returning a bright smile to the man.The night went along before Frank spoke up .

“Guys how are you gonna clean this mess to sleep tonight ?” Painful groans made themselves heard from all of you.

[cherryyharryy]

Burning Words

Chapter Five: Regrets

WC: 7.9k

Previous Chapter

Songs for this chapter

Extra piece in Harry’s POV (I suggest reading this first)

I have to say my intuition is pretty decent. The only time it’s failed me, is when I’ve chosen to ignore it. There’s a fine line though, between me wanting to listen to myself, and the nagging feeling in my gut. I’m an easy person to dismiss. 

So when I spent all of last week brushing off the insistent aura of regret from my shoulders, I didn’t expect it to manifest itself in such a tame manner. My life is the embodiment of ‘when it rains, it pours,’ and I’m constantly trying to find a place to feel good within my own existence. 

And right now, I really regret being such a pushover. If there’s one moment I could do over again, it would be earlier today when I turned down the overtime my boss offered. Because Jessie is sick. She isn’t, but she says she is; I’ve known her for too long now. We’ve survived a lot together:

That’s three drunken nights, five catcallers, one early morning jog right after the New Year when we said we’d get healthy. Two fake Instagram accounts to spot a cheater, six tampons thrown over bathroom stalls, eight missed calls—then a hurried drive down Park Street to find yours truly in the midst of a panic attack. And now, nine minutes for me to figure out that she’s not ill. That’s like, 75 in women years. No wonder we’re so tired all the time.

I’d put money on a phone call from Anthony. She says she’s never had phone sex, but she does so with a smile, and I’m not an idiot. She’s not ashamed; I don’t think Jessie could ever feel embarrassed with the confidence she has. This only twists the ropes surrounding my organs, pulling tighter and tighter until… 

I hope to have secrets with someone one day, and then I can tell Jessie a sweet lie about how I’ve never gone skinny dipping, or Russian kissed, and she’d be content with my fib and cherry smile, because she’s my best friend. 

And because I’m her best friend, I’m zipping up the back of my black dress with a hanger, praying it doesn’t pop when I exhale.

“I promise, I’ll owe you,” Jessie whines. 

“No you don’t. Just tell me I don’t look terrible.”

“You’re gorgeous as always, babe.”

She’s curled up in her bed, such an actress, with a heating blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a phony stuffed nose that makes her words gel together in a tight knot. I thank her anyway.

“Don’t forget the book.”

“I know, I know.” I push off the threshold of her room to gather my things: a winter coat that looks somewhat classy, my purse, and Beowulf. I button up to my neck and yell my goodbye as I cross the apartment.

We have a small mirror that hangs against a brick wall when you first enter our home. I’ve watched Jessie nudge at her lashes and scrape tiny bits of strawberry lipstick off her teeth before we leave, dozens of times.  I usually pass by her while she’s doing her last touch-ups, but now I’m alone, and I have to make the quick decision to look or not. I hope Jessie’s right, that I don’t look terrible, because I close my eyes until I’m locking the door. 

***

The theater is frigid, and nearly empty when I arrive. I guess the majority of Jessie’s class isn’t as desperate to watch a reenactment of a book for extra points as she is. Tickets are five dollars, and the water I bought is warm. I am overdressed, and take out my diamond earrings after a girl in sweatpants sits at the end of my row.

At intermission I debate whether or not I should leave. I can hide in my room all night and finish Jessie’s assignment, in my pajamas, with a glass of gas station wine in hand. But I guess Jessie is in love, so instead, I wobble up to the concession in her borrowed heels to buy more junk food that can promise me a breakout by morning. 

“Y/n?”

Like an eruption; his voice triggers more physiological responses in my body than a lab rat. My senses have never crossed borders with each other, and yet I stand here, hunger clawing its way up my ribs, past my larynx, banging on the back of my eyes so I’ll open them. 

“Hey.” My voice is filled with saliva, and I pray he doesn’t notice. 

“Are you here for the extra credit, or to watch a bunch of middle aged call-backs try their hand at acting?”

My laugh is airy and sore. “Uh, Jessie. It’s her class. She’s sick, so I’m saving her.”

“Ah,” he nods. “I’m a life jacket too, tonight. Elliot’s visiting his cousin or something.”

The lights flicker above us, and he blushes like a cherry. “I uh, I guess we’d better head back.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you, would you like to sit together?” He holds up his copy of the book. “Compare notes?”

I nod. I respond, but I’m not exactly sure what comes out of my mouth. All I know is that he has me lead the way, and deciding where to sit becomes an insurmountable task, as if my seating choice is the determinate in how he will see me in the forthcoming days, weeks. Does he like to sit in the front? The back? Close to the aisle? Where had he been this whole time? Had he noticed me when I had my mouth stuffed with gummy bears?

“If you don’t mind,” he answers the questions in my head, “I don’t care for sitting close to the front.”

“The middle then? I think I read that, two-thirds back was the best seating or something.”

“Perfect.”

We settle into our seats, the theater now nearly vacant other than the two of us, and a few people tucked away in the back. 

It’s a bizarre group of words to use—the two of us—in reference to Harry and I. Technically, it’s sound. There are two in a pairing. I think it’s the us that plays my heartstrings like a violin. The vibrating in my chest escalates, echoing off the hollow of my bones, wrapping around the fibers of my muscles, weakening my nervous system like a dying light bulb. 

He flips through my copy of the book where I haven’t made as many notes as I should have, nodding along to my scribbles which outline the differences between the original story and this live adaptation. “We’ve got a lot of the same.” He’s smiling big when he hands my book back. “Guess we’re doing something right then.”

I feel his energy for the rest of the play. Every move he makes is somehow worthy of interest. The grip he holds on his knee, the tilt of his head, roll of his lips, bounce of his foot. He clears his throat at one point, and I turn back towards the actors as if they are the disturbance. Each time he flips through the book to scribble a note, the pages brush against his thumb, sometimes catching on his ring. When he pricks his skin on the edge of a page, he drives it straight into his mouth. I have to remind my heart to keep beating. 

“Y/n?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you hear me? Do you need a ride home?”

When had we walked outside? When did the sun disappear? When did his hair become such a mess?

“Um, no. That’s alright. Thank you though.”

“How did you get here?” His lenses are a pink champagne color, and I hope the filter makes me aesthetically appealing, as I never have been before. 

“The bus.”

“The b—you’re going to take this bus? But it’s late?”

I study his face, his eyes through the tinted glass, the lines across his forehead with his brows pushing them up towards his hairline. My intelligence is working overtime.

“I’ve taken the bus at night before. I’ll be fine.” I shrug and he frowns.

“But, I—if I give you my number, will you text me when you get home? Just, I mean, I just need to know you make it back. It’s nearly eleven. And it’s the bus.”

I stand there too long, contemplating the actions he wishes to pursue. His number, in my phone. He says my name.

“Uh, yeah, I can do that I guess.”

Vertigo and an imposture buzz seize my nerves. My hands shake; I always spend so much time waiting for things to end, so I can just live in the memory. Things are easier that way. 

And I’m more vulnerable under moonlight, so I hand him my phone. 

“You won’t forget?”

“No. no. I won’t.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Good.” He passes my phone back, clearing his throat. “Um, I enjoyed this. Tonight I mean. Was pretty pissed at Elliot when he asked me to go for him, but...guess things worked out okay after all.”

“Yeah, not bad.”

“You um, you look...you look very pretty.”

“Oh,” I’m caught off guard, and have to take a second to scrape the word liar off my tongue. “Thanks. Thank you. You, so do you.”

He snickers, but it’s lighthearted, like a feather was tickling his chin. “Thank you, love.”

“Yeah…”

“So um, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“O—okay.”

His lashes flutter against his glasses, and his tongue darts out to swipe over his lips. “Uh, I—do you—are you sure you don’t need a ride home?”

I nod. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” he sighs like he’s relieved, but there’s pent up nervous energy leaking out, that contradicts the lax drop of his shoulders and the fidgety hand scratching the back of his neck. “Well I’ll see you later then?”

“Okay.”

His lips are twitching when we say goodbye. He goes one way and I the other. He goes to his car, and I go towards the bus stop. My phone weighs heavy in my bag. How did I end up looking forward to admiring a sequence of numbers? I run through my options of what exactly I will text when I get home. What punctuation I will use, if I am warranted in picking an emoji, what he might respond with.

The bus driver gives me a funny look when the doors close behind me. I can’t find anything inside me to care enough though, as I normally would, and find a seat in the back. I’d give me a funny look too, if I was smiling so big at nothing in particular. 

***

I almost forget to lock our door when I hurry into the apartment. I’m out of my coat and shoes by the time I reach my room, flopping down on my bed with my phone in hand. 

Seeing Harry’s name at the top of the screen slows down my movements, making the moment more serious. My fingers hover over the keyboard, and I’m stifled on picking how I want to word my text. 

I made it back alive

I’m home, no need to worry

I’m here:)

I consider not texting him at all, but brush the intrusive thought that he was just being nice for show, as far away into the corner of my mind as I can manage. 

I’m home now

My teeth sink further and further into my lip, the skin stretching and pulling with the corners of my mouth playing tug of war. The three little dots of his incoming text seems to last forever. 

How many stops did you have to make? You know how to make a man worry. I’m happy you’re home safe xx

Without much thought, because I know I’d change my mind, I send a smiley face and lock my phone, then quickly make my way to Jessie’s room. Part of me wants to gush to her about tonight, about how he asked to sit together, and how he gave me his number. 

But I also have no reason to be so...giddy. His actions are easily explained if you look at them from a different angle. He didn’t want to sit by himself, that’s all. I’m a familiar face. And any decent person would offer a ride home to their...student. 

I freeze in the space between our rooms, trying to pick a lane for my mind to travel down. I know myself well enough to know that my first reaction is to dismiss the entire evening, and my brain is pulling on the reins in that direction. But a selfish part of me just wants to relish in tonight’s events. He didn’t have to sit by me, and no one made him give me his number. I need to stop assuming that my presence is so revolting 

When I knock on Jessie’s door she hacks a dramatic cough, and mumbles for me to come in. 

“How are you feelin’?”

“Oh I’m better, yeah, so uh, how was your night? Did you like it? Did you have fun?” The covers are pulled up to her nose, her big eyes wide and shining right above them. “You look happy? Why’s that?”

“It was good,” I sigh, leaning against the door frame. “I’ll type up your notes in the morning.”

“I’ll probably feel up to it tomorrow,” she nods and I roll my eyes. “So uh, what did you like about it?”

“Oh...just...it was a good play. Really good.”

“Yeah? That’s it?”

I shrug. “What were you expecting?”

“Nothing, you just came in here with a big smile on your face, thought maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

She clicks her tongue and shakes her head, sighing. “Nothin’, nothin’.”

“Alright, well, m’gonna go to bed then.”

“Okay...thanks for saving me tonight. Glad you enjoyed it.”

My lips twitch, but I manage to reign in a smile. “Yeah, I did.”

***

I’ll be at the Library this afternoon, so you can stop by. 4-ish. 

I read over his text and check the time again. It’s four o’clock now, but I feel early. Fashionably late, that’s a thing, right…that I should have done? He said ish. Does ish mean early or late? My poor brain.

I slip the continuing rewrite of my report from my bag, as if to say when I walk in: I’m here for help with school, that’s all, no assumptions, please. It’s cool outside, and when I walk in there is no relief, and yet my hands sweat. I swipe them over the back pockets of my jeans.

“Hi!” Harry’s not in his work clothes, not in his school clothes either. Faded, light-washed jeans are not something I like, but this day is starting to feel weird, so I might as well throw that out the window too. They’re nice. The t-shirt is nice too. How is he not cold? “You made it.”

“Are you sure this is a good time?”

“I’m free all afternoon,” he chirps. 

“Okay.”

He’s at the same table we worked at last time. When I sit down, he adjusts his glasses, and I notice his nails are painted black again. It’s just a color. Black. And yet he makes it look brand new, like he discovered it. 

“So what questions did you have?”

How do you always look so good? “Um, I don’t like Henry Miller.”

He chuckles. Everything about me is porous, and I absorb him. I can count his teeth, brow hairs, the depth of his dimple; weird how the lines deepening around his eyes are so divinely explicit. He laughs again. “Me too, love.”

When you laugh like that I wanna pass out. “But I don’t know how to write about him like that. Everything I come up with sounds...childish.”

“I think one of the best things you can do is provide examples. Scour the text—believe me, there’s plenty to choose from—that display his character. The whole book is his autobiography with a fictional twist.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I stay in my head, and he waits for me to speak. I feel like he is always waiting for me to talk. “Um, and then the issue of feminism.” I pause and he nods. “One of the things I kept seeing online is that, um, well people were saying that the book upheld women because the man, Henry, he uh…um...”

“Couldn’t get it up?”

It’s not cold in here anymore, oh God. “Uh, yeah...that part.”

“Okay then. Tell me why.”

“What!?”

“How does that make you feel when you read it?”

I shake my head. What I feel? “It’s...shit. A man not, um, performing, does not and should never, be attributed to the value of a woman. Um, some people think this scene gives her...some kind of power or hierarchy. Or that she is this automatic winner. He doesn’t get to...y’know...and all of a sudden there’s a shift. He fails as a man, so by default she wins as a woman. And that’s how she earns her value. That’s gross.”

“Write that down,” Harry says.

“What?”

“That’s very well put. You took reference of the source, gathered your feelings, and produced a well thought-out conclusion. You can clean it up later, but go ahead and write that down before you forget it.”

***

Our conversation veers off the path once the questions I came with are answered, my report pushed aside. I’m much more calm now, and at times forget that we’ve only known each other for a couple months. 

We talk about high school and then books and food. And he’s easy to talk to, I’m reminded. He laughs a lot and blushes a lot. 

At one point he jumps up like a child on Christmas morning, urging me to follow him through the aisles so he can show me a book he just finished reading. There’s something very boy-like about him...very cute and sweet and cuddly. I consider making up questions about my report just to see this again...see him again. 

Soon the sun starts dipping down, casting globes of shadows over the first floor. Ms. Bortnick flicks the lamps on and the room lights up, although there’s still a dark glow of evening around us. I’m busy flipping through Dickenson, looking for a poem I read years ago to show Harry. Once I find it and peer up, I’m frozen. 

He’s standing right below a window, weight leaning on one leg, while he slowly turns the pages of a book. It rests in his open palm, fingers splayed out across the spine and both covers. I gulp. His hands are huge. There’s peace in his reddened cheeks, an artistic contrast to the crease between his brows. Lips are in a content line, and I’m buzzed with the thought that I now know the different looks of his lips. How to others he may appear annoyed or disturbed, but I can tell he’s quite happy. 

He is serene, golden; a lighthouse beckoning me towards him. He picks up stray beams of light and swallows them whole, right before my eyes, without moving a muscle. Strikingly bizarre, his features. He’s one of those you don’t want to stop looking at. So I don’t, until he notices me and smiles, nodding back to our table. 

I keep my finger in place of the page I’m on, but close the book when I sit down. He follows suit after me. 

“D’you find it?”

“Mhmm.” I flip the cover open and spin the book around to face him. 

“Read it.”

It’s a gentle request, soft, with the hint of a question mark at the end. I clear my throat as quietly as possible. 

““Hope” is the thing with feathers 

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the Gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm 

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land 

And on the strangest Sea;

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.”

My heart beats wildly in my chest, and I have to take a moment before looking up at him. He stayed foggy in my peripheral while I recited, mouthing along with his hand lazily hung over his lips, pretending not to know the words. 

“I love that one,” he croons, “haven’t heard it in a while.” He slides the book across the table and starts flipping through the pages. 

I watch his nails dance, and after a minute I have to clear my throat and look away, like I’m watching something I’m not supposed to, and don’t wanna get caught. 

“Ah, here.” His face grows serious, lips sewn together. 

My heart somersaults, because I know I’m about to be gifted with strings of moments filled with his voice. I straighten in my seat and hold my breath. 

“Remorse is a memory awake,

Her companies astir, —

A presence of departed acts

At window and at door. 

It’s past set down before the soul,

And lighted with a match,

Perusal to facilitate 

Of its condensed dispatch. 

Remorse is cureless, — the disease

Not even God can heal;

For ‘t is his institution, —

The complement of hell.”

“I remember that one,” I whisper. There’s something about myself that I suddenly don’t like, and it’s how attractive I find sadness dripping off his tongue. In a much different way than his nails. 

“Yeah,” he sighs, lost in his head. I can practically see the gears turning behind his eyes. “How about something more...upbeat?”

***

We share more poems, and get back to a place where we’re smiling. Although, with each passing moment, Harry grows more and more fidgety. His hands can’t seem to stay still, traveling from his mouth to his neck to his rings. He’s the one who keeps starting new conversation topics, in between finding books, but I’m scared it’s me that’s got him anxious. 

“I uh,” he starts, after he closes one of Edward Lear's books of limericks. His voice has softened like butter. Smooth like whiskey when it’s 2 am. I forget what time it actually is when he looks at me, his eyes watery, and suddenly, I wish I was drunk. “Um. Can I—is it alright if we—” he shakes his head, eyes tired, tongue-tied. “I—”

“There you are!” 

We both jump when a tall, thin guy runs up to our table, out of breath and frantic, he starts tugging on Harry’s arm. 

“C’mon, we’ve got a gig. Last minute. Been tryin’ to call you for an hour. Let’s go.”

Harry’s stuttering, looking between me and who I assume is a friend of some sorts, while he eventually complies with the man’s actions and rises from his seat. 

“I uh, I’m so sorry...turned my phone off…” I can’t tell who he’s talking to, all I know is that he looks devastated for some reason. 

“It’s okay, Harry,” I urge, gathering my things. “We were finished anyway. Thank you for helping me. Again.”

The friend, now standing by the front door, calls Harry’s name repeatedly. Harry’s clearly reluctant in moving towards him, offering up more apologies. 

“It’s fine, really.” I push down the disappointment filling me up, and force a smile on my lips. “Go...do whatever you’ve got to do.”

“Right, right, uh—”

“Let’s go!”

“Well, if you need any more help, just let me know. Just text me whenever. Whenever you want.”

“Harold!”

“I will.”

“Okay. Yeah, I’ll see you then?”

“You’d better go,” I laugh, “he’s about to pop.”

“So am I,” Harry mumbles, and trudges off towards his impatient friend. 

***

Pickles. Pickles are everywhere. All over our counters, in the sink, the table, the chairs. Jars of pickles. On the couch, the floor, the window sill. 

Jessie broke up with Anthony. 

When she broke up with Charles, it was sour kraut. Devin was jello. Kaiden was black licorice. Brian was pomegranate. She should make a scrapbook. 

“One to ten?” I ask, opening a jar of kosher dill. My mouth waters when the salt hits my nose. 

“Five.”

“That’s better than yesterday.” The corners of my jaw tingle unnecessarily when I bite into the green spear. I twitch and wait for it to pass. 

She didn’t go into detail about what happened, or even who broke up with who. I came home from my evening with Harry at the library, to find her amongst a storm of soiled tissues on our couch. 

There isn’t much to a Jessie breakup. She cries, swallows her feelings emotionally, and whatever random food—physically, calls the guy on the phone to tell him he’s a bastard, and then starts looking for someone new.

In the meantime, I pretty much steer clear of her. With Anthony living so far away, I never had to worry about coming home to them undressing in the living room, or shoving my head under the pillow while I tried to fall asleep. But I’m sure it won’t be long until she’s gushing about someone again, so I need to enjoy my boy-free apartment while I can. 

“Y’know, he really pisses me off,” Jessie thinks aloud. She’s sprawled out in the armchair—my chair by the window, where I haven’t sat in a week—with her legs dangling over the side. She bites a pickle in half, and speaks through her chewing. “I mean, here I am, basically just waiting on him every day to call or text or send me a picture...like I really thought he was happy. He got a relationship without all the bells and whistles. Guys dream of that, right?”

I shrug. How the hell should I know?

“Bastard. I’m gonna call him.”

She caps the jar and springs from the chair, slamming the door to her room behind her. 

I just hope the next guy has his own place. 

***

I don’t know how long I’ve been here. New York, I mean. Sometimes it feels like forever, but then I remember my childhood existed elsewhere, high school sucked, and traffic had nothing to do with it. I’m pretty sure each time I leave and go back home, I’ve aged an extra ten years, like I’ve traveled to space and back. I keep finding traces of this city, in every nook and cranny of my life. 

Mom was worried about me when I left. But moms worry about everything. I worry about everything, too. So her not so restrained fears, that she kind of pushed out of her mouth with a hiss, like she wasn’t sure if I was capable of absorbing the truth, didn’t really help me. 

It’s a biiiig city. You’re not used to that. I just don’t want you to get swallowed up. 

She was right. Sort of. Because you don’t move to New York. New York moves into you. It has its own heart and bones and skin, separate from the rest of the country. And soon your own body starts to wrap around this. Your heart becomes more tolerable to grease-soaked dinners at three in the morning. Your bones strengthen like cement so you can stand still through a harsh stop by a train. Your skin grows so thick, any number of insults bounce right off until they hit the pavement. 

What New York hasn’t prepared me for, in the however long I’ve been here time-frame, is Harry Styles in my home. Using the words Harry and home in the same sentence makes me feel like I’ve jumped right into one of the chalk drawings from Mary Poppins. 

Right now he’s standing at the big window, in the exact spot where I like to stand, running his hand over his stubble. He adjusts his glasses, and then I think he sees me in the reflection of the glass because he smirks. I duck my head back down and continue on the dishes. 

It’s an odd string of events that places him here. Odd for other people—not so much me. Jessie apparently badgered Elliot while they were in class, complaining about her breakup, to the point where she convinced him to go out drinking. And then because Elliot doesn’t drink, and Jessie found that reason enough to drink more, I was awoken at midnight to Elliot banging on our door and Jessie singing her own version of The Way You Make Me Feel. And standing behind the two of them, after I swung the door open in my pajamas, while taking my retainer out, and swiping acne cream off my chin, stood Harry. 

Harry was not in his pajamas, and he didn’t have a string of spit connecting his mouth to a piece of plastic, and he didn’t have a giant volcano ready to erupt on his face. 

After Elliot dragged Jessie inside, he was left standing there, a quirky smile on his face while he did a kind of half-wave, short and dry in front of his body, and whispered out a soft hey.

Now it’s one am. I’m doing dishes because I’m nervous with this man in my space. Nervous that he’s going to pick up on details about me that I haven’t given permission to be leant out just yet. We can hear Jessie’s drinks making their way into the toilet, and Elliot encouraging her like she’s in a race. I didn’t know what to do with my hands or my mouth, so I filled the silence and busied my limbs with everything that had piled up in the sink the past few days. If they don’t leave soon, I may have to start washing clean forks and knives. 

“This is a nice view.”

“Yeah,” the word drifts off, mixing and popping with the bubbles in front of my face. 

“I like your apartment.”

“Thanks...most of it’s Jessie’s stuff.”

He nods. “Here, let me…” His face is stern, like he’s preparing to start working on a car engine, and not sliding the dish towel off the counter. He tosses it over his shoulder and starts rolling the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. I forget where I’m at and what I’m doing and even my name. 

“Oh you don’t have to…” Dear God his nails are still painted. 

“No, no, it’s the least I can do.”

The tendons in his hands pulse, rippling, like when you skip a stone into a calm pond as he dries the first plate. His fingers are long, and there’s generous space between his thumb and the rest of his digits that, for whatever absurd reason, I find attractive. 

We work in relative silence, only the slight sloshing of water and the clinks of his rings on the dishes. I regret not turning the tv on at least, and I can feel us both sorting out conversation topics in our heads. 

“Is that your report?” 

When I look at him, he’s pinching his glasses in his hand, and using a free finger to swipe a few suds that had found their way to the side of his nose. He nods to the coffee table where all of my school works lays in a mess. 

“Yeah, among other things.”

“Mind if I have a look? Have you worked on it since we last talked?”

“I haven’t done much...but go ahead. You may have to dig a little to find it.”

He dries his hands and strides around the counter, sitting on the edge of the couch. His sleeves are still rolled up—a blood orange sweater, and charcoal slacks that rise up to reveal matching socks. He picks through piles of paper and folders and flash cards until he finds what he’s looking for. A few of his curls fall and I can only see the bottom half of his face. 

I finish washing before he’s done reading. And on a random act of impulse—there’s that New York in me—I dry my hands and make my way over to Harry. 

“The quote you added, on the third page,” he sweeps his hair off his forehead when I sit down in the chair beside the couch, “brilliant.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you did an excellent job. And honestly, the entire thing, it’s incredible. It’s easy to talk about your opinion, but it’s difficult to actually back it up. You make it look easy.”

“I can assure you it’s not.”

He laughs without looking up. When he finishes and sets my paper down, he starts sifting through all the other work laid out before him. “How’s your chemistry class going? Didn’t you say you were having trouble?”

“Oh that was at the beginning of the semester. I think I was just overwhelmed.” I swallow and push my brows together. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“Well, yeah,” he laughs bashfully. His elbow rests on his knee, cradling his face in his hand with his mouth hidden by the heel of his palm. He blinks slowly, and his Adam’s apple bobs. “How about the homework for our class, the analysis on Slaughterhouse Five?”

“I finished that this morning, uh, I squint down at the table until I remember, “oh it’s in my bag.” I point to the space beside him where my school bag lays on the floor. “It’s right in there. You can look over it if you want.”

He slides my bag over and props it up on his lap, and I keep a hurdle of curses from leaving my mouth when my phone ringing beside the sink startles me. I hurry over to the kitchen only to see it’s just a voicemail from school, reminding me to register for next semester. On my way back, Harry’s face is set into a frown. 

“Are you—did you find it? I thought I put it in there?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he holds up a piece of paper, “I got it.”

When I sit back down it takes him a moment to drag his eyes off me, clearing his throat and straightening his glasses, then reading over the one page we were supposed to write. 

“Very good, well thought out,” he nods along to his comments, “I like your comparison to Ubick...you made really insightful connections.”

“So...I’ll get an A, right?”

“Yeah,” he laughs, slipping the page back into my bag. After he zips it up, we’re sitting in silence again, but not for long. “So, I’ve been wanting to ask you,” Harry clears his throat, and shifts on the couch to better face me, “would you—”

“Oh my God, don’t ever let me drink again.” Jessie hobbles through the bathroom door, Elliot right behind her as he helps her to her room. 

“What were you saying?” I ask once they’re gone. 

“I—”

“That was intense. Horrific, actually.” Elliot bounds into the living room, plopping down beside Harry with a dramatic sigh. “And she only had like, four drinks!”

“Yeah she’s a lightweight. She doesn’t think she is, but I’ve spent many long nights holding her hair back for hours because of a shot or two.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Elliot asks. 

“No I’ve got her from here. Thank you for getting her home, Elliot.”

“Anytime,” he chirps. “Okay, well,” he pats Harry’s thigh, “we’ll get out of your hair.”

“Uh, yeah,” Harry adds, pushing up from the couch with his friend. “I’ll see you in class Monday, y/n. 

“I’m sorry you spent your night drying dishes.”

“What are you talking about? It’s basically a hobby of mine.” The words are cool when they slip out, but it takes me a second to register the joke before I laugh. 

“Thanks again,” I say while opening the front door. 

“No problem,” Elliot assures me. “Hey, tell Jessie I like her tattoo.”

“She showed you her tattoo?”

“She showed the whole bar her tattoo.”

All I can do is shake my head and laugh. 

“I’ll see you.” Harry’s movements are much more collected than Elliot’s. When I look past the threshold of the apartment, to the pair of them standing there, I have to hold back a smile that I don’t want to have to explain. It seems like Harry and Elliot are just...altered versions of me and Jessie. A bit opposite—Harry’s hands are stuffed in his pockets while he rocks on his feet, and Elliot pulls a miniature Rubik’s cube from his jacket. 

“Bye, Harry.”

When he nods his dimple grows, and I know he’s fighting a smile. 

***

The bell over the door jingles, and I force my eyes to stay focused on the menu hanging over the counter, and not acknowledge the attention I’ve drawn to myself. In a few strides, I’m across the room and waiting behind a short, bald man to order a sandwich. 

My foot taps impatiently on the sticky floor, and I second guess my decision in coming here. It’s a little everything shop on the street corner by my dentist. And by everything, I’m including the line of ants crawling up the wall. It’s one of those places where layers of paint and wallpaper disguise the previous month’s investor. A seafood diner, an El Salvadoran bakery, pawn shop, and most recently—and with a wash of baker-miller pink slapped on—Don’s Place. 

It’s eerie and unnerving inside, but cheap, and I didn’t want to eat all day before my teeth cleaning, so I’m kind of desperate at the moment. Light chatter fills the space, until someone starts coughing, and the strident atmosphere this place held disappears. When it’s ready, my order is nearly tossed to me over the counter. I grab the once frozen sandwich and fries before they hit the floor, and find a cramped two-seater booth in the corner of this place. I’m right below an air vent, so I keep my jacket on. 

I pick the lettuce, that I asked not to have, off before taking a bite, and it doesn’t take long, now that I’m settled and still, for my mind to drift to Harry. He’s really set up camp in my brain—but I’m not complaining. My daydreams are stirring, a little less innocent than I’m used to, and at times I have to catch myself from drifting too far off. Even when he’s right in front of me in class, I wander, practically drowning in my own imagination, getting washed away in him. And I think he notices...I’m not sure if he knows what I’m thinking about, but judging by the smirk he gives when he calls my name, I think he might

Jessie keeps teasing me too, and it’s getting harder to keep my composure. All she has to do is stare at me for a few seconds after I come back from class, and I break. I’ll tell her what he was wearing, what words sounded particularly better from his accent, what questions he asks me in class. I don’t ever answer, just mumble out a come back to me, which spares me until the next class. 

I’m rapidly finding a reason for addiction in every minuscule movement he makes. How domestication and carnal activity fuse together under his touch. Pushing his glasses up his nose is both endearing and erotic. The way his tongue hovers over his teeth when deciding his words is hypnotic and wholesome Quickly, he is turning into an adoration. He’s really almost too good to be true, and not the arrogant son of a bitch I pegged him as when we first met. 

“Hey.”

I jump. This time his voice is not in my head. I force the bite down my throat and smile. “H—hi.”

“I uh,” Harry starts, eyes glistening, “saw you come in. Just thought I’d say hi.”

“Oh—yeah, hi, um—”

“Can I sit?”

“Yeah, sure,” I squeak.

He sits himself across from me, and I notice the flush creeping up his chest. His fingers dance all around each other, and his energy alone makes me nervous. 

He gulps in a breath and smiles awkwardly. “How are you?” He asks. 

“I’m good, just,” I nudge my half-eaten sandwich, “stopped for lunch.”

“That’s good, uh, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

“Okay…”

“You—I mean I—” he clears his throat. “Would you like to go out sometime? Just...nothing fancy, the two of us? Not school related? Is that something you would like?”

If I’m being honest, I have many regrets in life. Too many to count. Most too personal to share. If there’s one moment I could do over again, it is this one. I don’t know it yet, though. 

I don’t know it as I scramble out of the booth, as I blurt out something about how I have to go, as I weave through this disgusting place, my feet sticking to the floor, plowing through the door. 

I run all the way home. He only calls me twice, and when a third never shows up on my phone, I start to cry. 

It’s such a weird place to be in. When you know you’re right in the middle of a mistake. 

If there’s one moment I could do over again, it would be the night he came into the bookstore. 

*******************************************************************************************

Thank you for beta reading for me!!! @cosmospy @aileenacoustic @afterstylesmadeit

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[shawnsorangeglasses]

Better Conversations - Part 8

3.7k words

Look who finally decided to post!

Synopsis: Another assistant AU, you’ve known Shawn since the beginning but you don’t really become friends until a label party in New York. Then he offers you a job as his assistant.

Some after show tension occurs.

warnings: mild woes

...

Six hours until showtime. It is all hands on deck for everyone in the stage crew. Busy bodies move about the arena, putting together final touches for tonight’s performance. The tour is a little over thirty shows in. Since joining in the middle of it all, (Y/N) is finally starting to get the hang of things. Andrew made it clear that Shawn was her only priority, but with the new extra hours in the day, she tries to do for anyone on the team whenever she can.

She’s coming back from a local deli in the area with three paper bags full of food for Shawn and the band. Sandwiches for the band and salad for Shawn. A singer’s diet, though sometimes he’d cheat and get a small something dairy or doughy. They hardly ever request anything for lunch, but she always picked up something for them anyways, knowing they wouldn’t eat until much later.

As she walked down the sidewalk, she took note of the growing line of bubbly fans waiting out front. Every single one of them looked so sweet and pretty. A few girls wave to her as she passes by and she waves back.

After some time, she became closer and more at ease with the Mendes Army. A majority of them demanded that she make an account on Instagram to see her and Shawn interacting behind the scenes. Eventually, (Y/N) caved and made one separate from her personal profile one after about three days of them pushing Shawn about it. The account gained 100,000 followers in roughly two hours.

She cut through the alley to find the back door that leads to the main stage. It was really interesting to see the crew slowly build the set from the ground up every night. Earlier in the day, the sounds of metal barriers clanging and loud machinery filled the arena from top to bottom, but now it was mostly quiet aside from the well-practiced sound check from the band. Shawn and the guys were onstage doing last minute rehearsals. (Y/N) jogged across the general admissions floor, squeezing through the barrier to meet them stage left.

She hoisted the bags up onto the stage, peering over in silence as the guys practiced. Shawn was sat on the edge of the stage next to one of the larger amps, kicking his boots to the beat Mike was drumming. (Y/N) could tell from the baby blue guitar on his lap that they were running through “Nervous” again.

The musicians drop everything and run over to her in a huddle to claim their food. “I got you guys the fresh stuff. Fruit salads and some sub sandwiches.”

“Thank you, (Y/N)!”

“Yeah, thanks (Y/N).”

They each disperse to their own little corners. Shawn is still hunched over his guitar testing chords. (Y/N) saunters over to him, jostling a separate bag near his feet. “No tomatoes this time, Mendes,” she sings.

Shawn snaps back into reality again. The first thing he sees is (Y/N)’s proud, squinty smile. Last time she brought him a salad with the tiny tomatoes in it and he still hasn’t forgiven her completely. It’s become an inside joke for them.

He crosses his arms at her, giving a new definition to the muscle shirt he was sporting. “You sure there’s no tomatoes?”

“I’m absolutely positive. I checked six times on the walk back here. It's like 50% avocado.”

He slides his guitar safely behind himself and holds his hand out to her. (Y/N) takes secure hold of his wrist as her hauls her up on the stage with him in one swift motion. She watches intently as Shawn empties the contents of the paper bag. He briefly bumps his head into her shoulder, giving (Y/N)’s hand access to the tufts of hair falling on his forehead.

“Y’know, you don’t have to get us lunch if we don’t order anything,” he reiterates. “It only comes out of your pocket then.”

“I know, I know, but you guys workout in the morning and then keep moving, so you should all eat something. Besides,” she pinches his cheek, “you’re still a growing boy.”

“You sound like a mom.” Before he takes a bite, he asks, “What’re you going to eat?”

“Oh I filled up on free samples at the deli.” (Y/N) pats her belly. “I should be good until dinnertime.”

“Nice,” Shawn chuckles.

(Y/N) looks past his shoulder at all the guys chatting over their meals near center stage. “Don’t you want to eat with the other boys?”

“Ah, I’ve been around them all day. I haven’t seen you at all.”

(Y/N) refrains letting that last part go to her head. He didn’t mean it like that, even if a teensy part of her wishes he did.

“Well there’s always the time in hotels.”

Oddly enough, most of their hours were spent apart now. Shawn was either hard at work with the band and writers or catching up on sleep. (Y/N) often had errands to run when she wasn’t tending to Shawn. Even on the tour bus and flights, he needed those hours to rest.

Time in the hotels was the saving grace of this whole journey, Shawn always unabashedly requested to have the room next door to (Y/N) now. “For proximity purposes” he claimed, so that he might have her nearby in case he needs something. And although it may have started out that way, it quickly turned into late night talks and occasionally eating whatever singer-safe snacks (Y/N) could buy from local stores. It became their own little tradition.

“That reminds me,” Shawn says through a mouthful of sandwich, “what are we doing tonight?”

“Whatever you want to do,” (Y/N) mutters. She wasn’t really paying attention. Cez just sent her a text about the next flight details. She sort of zones out looking at the emails. Words become letters. Letters become squiggles. It’s hard to concentrate since the brush with Jason a few weeks ago. She was used to his empty threats but that was when she had leverage. Now she has nothing to hold him, not even shame.

Then Shawn nudges her elbow, but she hardly looks away from her phone.

“Huh?”

“We’re doing dinner later this evening. I know you don’t normally join but- hey are you okay? You look really pale.”

(Y/N) takes her time to meet his eyes. They appear to transition to a darker, more intimidating shade of brown. Her stomach does four backflips.

“Yeah just thinking. You know, assistant stuff. Listen, I gotta go.”

“Oh. Already?”

(Y\N) gets to her feet and dusts off the seat of her pants. “Yes, already. Is there anything else I can do for you before I go help set up the Q&A, sir?”

Shawn wags a finger at her. “What did I say about the ‘sir’ thing?”

“Sorry. Force of habit.”

He gets up too, wearing a smile so bright it’s blinding. A bright red blush tears through the pigment in his cheeks. He just wanted to keep talking to her as long as he could, waste no time. Unfortunately, he ends up thinking of the most basic question of all. “Thanks for the sandwich.”

She shrugs. “Just doing my job.”

...

Parents and young adults filed into the room, filling it with conversational buzz. (Y/N) peeked through a slit in the curtain at the little community that gathered there. One group of girls in the very front started singing “Never Be Alone”, prompting everyone else to join in. It was amazing to see the love and devotion among so many different looking people.

(Y/N) goes to collect Shawn from the green room. The clock on her phone read about ten minutes before he had to go greet everyone again. He’s in the middle of pulling up his jeans when she walks in.

“Oh you’re- I am so sorry.” She turns around and brings her hand over her eyes. Blood furiously rushes to her cheeks and ears.

“No no, you’re fine, come on in. Sorry, I’m almost done.”

She steps in with caution and focuses on the upbeat country track faintly pouring from Shawn’s phone. Travelling so closely together, (Y/N) was bound to see a few people at their less than decent. With Shawn though, it was starting to feel like he was doing this on purpose or just stopped caring altogether. She had no choice but to get comfortable with him.

“God, Shawn. Maybe put a sign outside next time so I know you’re naked.”

“I am not naked.” He glances at her. She’s propped herself  against an end table, still shielding her eyes. “Geez, you act like you’ve never seen me in my underwear.”

“Don’t say underwear to me.”

“Would it help if I sang it?”

“No it would not-”

“Underwear,” he riffs. “Underwe-e-ear, yeah.”

“You’re so annoying,” she chuckles nervously with a slight shake of her head. He beams, proud of himself for yet again finding a new way to gently embarrass (Y/N).

He’s referring to the time she accidentally walked on Shawn in his dressing room. It was weeks ago, early on in a completely different city, but it was also burned into the back of her brain. That definitely broke some of the initial ice between them.

(Y/N) chooses the brick wall as something else to focus on. She hears his footsteps getting closer. Out of her peripheral, she can see Shawn’s shirt is still very unbuttoned and his chest is very exposed. He’s almost closed the space between them, leaving only a few inches of air between their bodies.

“You’re standing in front of my cologne,” he mutters.

“Oh.”

(Y/N) side steps out of his way. Shawn takes the bottle and sprays his neck and wrists, not once taking his eyes off of her. That is until he has to return to the other side of the room to button up his shirt. He leaves a couple buttons free at the top like always, then pays special attention to her reflection in the glass, holding his arms out. “How do I look?”

(Y/N) looks over at Shawn. He’s looking at her through the full length mirror mounted on the wall. She rolls her eyes.

“You know how you look.”

Shawn peers at her reflection, then bites his lip. (Y/N) pinches her wrists behind her back.

“Except for one thing,” she says. She takes notice of his lopsided collar and quickly adjusts it for him. Shawn’s breath hitches just barely. His hands are idle at his waist, not really doing anything, but clearly so desperately wanting to touch her. (Y/N) actively pretends to not notice the effect she seems to have on him.

But Shawn captures (Y/N)’s hand in his right before she pulls off, resting it on his shoulder. The fabric is hot underneath her palm. His whole body has become a furnace. He’s about to say something bold. Or stupid.

“(Y/N) I-”

A knock at the door propels Shawn and (Y/N) away from each other. Cez appears in the doorway.

“Oh you’re both in here,” he says with a playful smile. “You ready, Shawn?”

“Y-yeah,” Shawn makes a few more unnecessary tucks of shirt into his jeans. He turns back to (Y/N), “D’you want to come watch?”

“Uhm, I’ll be behind the curtain. I can see everything from there.”

Shawn understood, but he couldn’t help but feel a little dejected. (Y/N) tugs at his shirt around the waistline to loosen the fit again right before he goes out. “I’ll be right behind you, I promise,” she assures him. “If you need anything I will bring it to you.”

"Anything?"

"Right, almost anything."

Shawn smirks. "Just checking," he purrs.

They venture down the hall to the common area that was built in less than an hour. (Y/N) stops just short of where the dimly lit hallway ends and a room full of people begins. Screams and cheers replaced the chatter the minute Shawn set foot in the room. He can barely be heard greeting them over all the excitement. (Y/N) peeks through a sliver in the curtain.

“Before we start,” he begins. “What am I calling this city tonight?”

The room erupts again with all sorts of answers. Shawn singles out one girl in the front and everyone agrees.

“Okay then, um just one thing, if someone’s asking a question please don’t speak over them and speak loud so I can hear you. This is a big group today. Other than that, go crazy.”

Hands go up instantly. Shawn chooses from the back then from the left middle. On and on this goes for a few minutes and the fans ask the usual questions, fun or otherwise. (Y/N) allows herself to relax. Her mind just goes elsewhere.

She’s imagining the last day of the tour, sad as it makes her. Will she still be an assistant when it’s all over? What will have changed by then? She looks at nothing in particular down the makeshift hallway the team has made in the arena. Connor's messing with his camera settings. Cez is talking to a lighting tech. And like she always does in her free time, she zones out.

“Where’s (Y/N) right now?”

The voice, though small, came with a level of conviction that could only be from a small child. That was the demographic of (Y/N)'s fans. They liked seeing her on the street. She's even received a few drawings in past weeks.

Shawn wrestles with himself to give a straight answer. Then he makes the mistake of looking back at the curtain. People start to become restless.

“Guys, guys, I’m sure she’s busy right now. I don’t want to bother her.”

“I’m not that busy,” (Y/N) blurts impulsively, much louder than she meant to. Everyone erupts in chatter. She looks back at Connor, who has the camera aimed at her now. He was getting a shot between slit in the curtain but now the focus has shifted. She peeks her head out at all the fans and Shawn. A collective gasp captures them and they begin waving so she waves back. All the bright happy faces are reassuring enough.

“Do you want to come out,” Shawn whispers as quietly as he can. A few girls in the front overhear and squeak.

She widens her eyes at him. He knew what she was saying. You really want me to come out here? And the answer was a resounding yes, as indicated by a brisk wave of his hand. (Y/N) peeks her head out and all but recoils at the enthusiastic and sudden attention she receives. Then it all died down just as it quickly came.

“Hi, (Y/N),” says the same little voice that asked for her. Everyone in the aws.

“Hello,” she replies. “I remember seeing a few of you outside in the line. Sorry to interrupt.”

“She actually bought everyone lunch today during rehearsal even though I told her she doesn’t have to,” Shawn adds. Someone in the back goes “whoop” and the whole room is brimming with laughter and applause again.

“Okay I better go,” (Y/N) says immediately. “That’s enough fun for me.” She slips behind the curtain again, waving behind her as a few more people say goodbye.

Connor's snapping his viewfinder back into place behind her. He shares a look with her that can only be that

"Can I use any of that?"

"Sure, dude. It's your footage."

She says so each and every time he asks. Connor always made very sure to protect (Y/N)'s privacy when it came to recording her. If she was in the background of any video, he'd make sure to ask. It's what made him a great videographer.

He scurries away to whatever room holds his editing equipment. (Y/N) slides down to the floor, resting back on her heels so she can still see through the partition. Shawn's still somewhat rambling about her to his fans. It's interesting to hear what she is to him through his eyes. Often times she leaves the Q&A as soon as it's been set up. Under these special circumstances, she stays a while, hoping to learn something new.

…

It's evening. The hotel room is the neat chaos (Y/N) left it when she comes back. She learned several cities back never to spread out too much in these rooms after leaving a few chargers in the walls and drinks in the mini fridges.

"We'll go back and get it," Shawn said the first time it happened. "Can we turn around," he politely asked the driver.

"I'll answer that, no we will not," (Y/N) said firmly. "It's like two little bottles of kombucha. I'll live Shawn." It was never mentioned again.

He was always going out of his way for her. Everybody found it endearing, but (Y/N) didn't want him doing any special favors for her. Their relationship was special enough without grand gestures.

She fishes her planner out of the messenger bag on her bed to go over the next week at the hotel desk. Her sister's birthday is today. (Y/N) checks the timezone on her phone. There was still time to call.

The line rings for a while then cuts into an excited voice.

"Hey girl! Mom was wondering when you'd call. She's sleeping now."

(Y/N)'s heart drops to her stomach. "Bea I'm so sorry, I haven't said happy birthday to you all day. I feel awful."

"Aw you know I don't care about that shit. But bitch, Mom made this cake, you are missing out. I'm trying to save you some."

"I don't know if that slice will be edible by the time I get back, but thanks for the effort."

"You know I'm looking out for you around here." Bea sighs. "Girl I wish you were here. It's boring as hell with no one to tell my jokes. Or argue with."

(Y/N) smiles to herself. Bea always got bored by herself. They were lucky to grow up close in grade school, so they always had a playmate at recess or someone to talk to at lunch.

"What're you up to?"

"Same thing I was up to yesterday. Watching these Game of Thrones episodes."

"Did you make another fake HBO account?"

"Yep, but honestly a week is not enough for a free trial. Netflix gives you a whole month."

She goes on about her other temporary subscriptions. A knock comes at her door, the one joining her room to Shawn's.

"Hold that thought Bea. I think Shawn is going to ask me to come to dinner again."

"He what now?"

She swings the door open. "Not that kind, dumbass."

Shawn smirks at the little nickname, knowing right away it wasn't meant for him. Sure enough, he's dressed to go out.

"Your sister," he whispers. (Y/N) nods. "Hi Beatrice."

"Hi Shawn! I swear, only that man can make my full name sound good. Bitch, if you don't want him, I will gladly have some."

"I have never been more glad that he can't hear you," (Y/N) mutters. Shawn smiles downwards. He's only talked to Bea once before, so he can definitely imagine what she's saying.

"You're selfish, is what you are. The man clearly wants you and you're being your usual self."

"I'm ignoring you." (Y/N) directs her attention to Shawn's hopeful face. He’s propped himself against the door frame too, hands in his pockets. Between her waiting on his question, and him waiting for her to say no was a deafening silence.

"I know what you're going to ask,” she starts. “You know how I'll respond."

"Well in that case, I’m not going either," he says, undoing some buttons.

"He said what?!"

"I'm going to hang up on you," (Y/N) warns. She leans on the door frame as he sheds his shirt and shoes. "Shawn, you don't have to stay for me."

"I'm not," he says calmly. "Honestly, I’m doing this for me."

"If you don't let that man love you right now, idiot sister of mine-"

"Bea, I'll call you later. Happy Birthday."

(Y/N) taps the end call button. One last text comes through, almost too vulgar to read, so she shuts her phone off before Shawn can see it. He’s milling around his room, looking for comfortable clothes among the scattered ones.

“Shawn you don’t have to stay here on my account.”

“Well I’m not going to have any fun without you there.”

Shawn pulls his undershirt off over his head. Muscles in his back flex and relax as his arms go up and down. (Y/N) clears her throat, to which he doesn’t react. Tour life has made him so comfortable with clothing changes, he doesn’t always think twice with another person in the room. At the very least, he warns somebody when his pants are about to come off.

“That’s really unfair to everyone else, isn’t it?”

“Not in that way. I mean I’ll just be there the whole time wondering why-”

He stops himself short, ending with a mumble.

(Y/N) crosses her arms. “If this is your way of guilt tripping me or tricking me into saying yes-”

“It’s not,” he says, almost in a corrective way. “I wouldn’t do that to you. Don’t you know that?”

She doesn’t. She wasn’t sure of anything at all when it came to her employer’s intentions. People often cross you because that’s the nature of the business. Trust wasn’t something she gave so easily to someone with that much power over her. Normally, (Y/N) knew when to leave a job that no longer suited her, but Shawn has yet to give her a reason to run.

Shawn picks up a white t-shirt from his suitcase and slips it on. He doesn’t normally wear a shirt to sleep, but he wanted (Y/N) to feel as comfortable as possible. Although she’d never admit it out loud, he’s noticed how she gets around him shirtless. He sits down on his bed and beckons her to sit next to him. (Y/N) takes baby steps to his bedside and sinks into the soft sheets.

“You should at least tell Cez you’re not coming,” she insists.

“I already did.” Shawn waves his phone then sets it on the nightstand. “Right now, I need to talk to you.”

...

TAGLIST:

@spider-mendes @sebsdreamboat @innositer @sauveteen @sauveteen @sinplisticshawn @sohani02 @yourkidsfavbabysitter @matchamendes @gxccicoffee @daisychains4 @nervousaroundmendes @st3p-hani3 @rulerofnocountry @darloing-shawn @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 @cheerfulmendes @imaginesofdreams @thesmutpeasant @enchantingbrowneyedgirl

[artificialqueens]

Little Lights [Chapter 1] (Trixya) - mrgtmcs

A/N: Hi pals, this is a first time post from a longtime lurker.  This will be a canon-compliant multichapter because now I have invested myself.  I fully wrote this on my flight to Israel and was half asleep so apologies in advance.  Also also, I promise 

The music in the venue started to fade, and Katya had already walked offstage, holding heels in one hand.  He tiptoes back to the dressing room, sliding past the propped open door.

“Hello,” Trixie practically sang as he spun around in one of the chairs. 

“That was awful,” Katya responded, grabbing at his curly blonde wig and sliding it off his head. “No.  Worse than awful.  Deplorable.”

Trixie tried to stifle a laugh.  “Alright, drama queen, calm down.”

Katya was rapidly de-dragging, back turned to Trixie.  “I didn’t know any of the lyrics.  None of them!” he shot back in rapid fire, tugging at layers of tights.  He turned around to face Trixie again.  “And it’s a song I’ve done FOR YEARS! But today of all days my brain went, ‘No Brenda, we are not going to give the people what they PAID to see.”  Katya took a breath and stuck a baseball cap on his head. 

Trixie gasped and said, in mock horror, “Oh no, not a sequel to Glamazonian Airways!”

Katya laughed wildly.  “Shut up, you cunt,” he shouted, reaching past Trixie to pick up a pack of cigarettes from the table.  Gesturing towards the door, he asked, “You coming?”

“I will watch you from the door,” Trixie said.  Katya extended his hand to Trixie, and as he stood up, Katya pulled him into a hug. 

“I love you, bitch.”

“You too, incompetent whore,” Trixie laughed.  He kissed Katya’s forehead quickly.

Katya pulled out a cigarette from the pack and held it between his fingers.  “Mother, I’m going to increase my chances of lung cancer again.”  He squeezed Trixie’s shoulder and Trixie followed him outside.

It was pitch black outside the club, Katya’s face, still fully painted, illuminated only by the momentary flicker of his lighter.  “Do you ever think,” he started, pausing to take a drag from his cigarette.  “About, like, changing your name and getting a full face transplant and, like, starting over as an ER nurse or something?”

Trixie was watching him from the doorway, a smile appearing across his face.  “I don’t think you can just go get a face transplant,” he said.  “Isn’t that just for, like, burn victims?”

“Dollar bills, mama,” Katya responded. 

“Also do you personally believe you have an aptitude for a medical profession?” Trixie started.  “Because I’ve seen you try to do math and I don’t think you’d be much of an asset.”

Katya laughed loudly.  “You know what I mean, Tracy Martel, now answer the question!”

Trixie looked directly at him and smiled.  “Sometimes,” he said. 

Katya paused, taking another drag.  “We should, you know,” he said.  “One of these days.  Just be Brian and Brian, ER nurses.  Or Stanley and Charles, or whatever.”

“Who are you? Charles?” Trixie asked incredulously.

“Obviously,” Katya responded as he walked closer to Trixie. 

“Excuse me, please keep your fumes over there,” Trixie said, placing a hand on Katya’s shoulder.  “I enjoy my clean air.”

“I just wanna stand next to you, bitch!  Is that such a crime?” Katya shouted.

“When you’re infecting me with your toxins, yes,” Trixie retorted

Katya dropped the half-finished cigarette and smashed it beneath his shoe, making sudden eye contact with Trixie when he looked up.  “Better?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Trixie responded.

Katya sidled up to him and rested his head on Trixie’s shoulder.  He felt fingers gently grip the side of his waist, and he could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears.  They stood in silence for a moment, staring out at the empty lot.  “Guess we have to do this all over again tomorrow,” Katya said, breaking the silence. 

“Yeah, Maria, not like it’s our job or anything,” Trixie said, gently bumping Katya with his hip.

“I know,” Katya said, letting out an exasperated sigh.  “Just let me complain a little longer.  If I don’t get to bitch about my amazing life sometimes, I think I’ll go crazy.”

“Oh, it gets worse?” Trixie laughed.

“You are a rotted bitch, Trixie Mattel,” Katya said, shoving him lightly.  He took Trixie’s hand and asked, “If I’m bored later, will you come over?”

Trixie feigned exasperation.  “How far will I have to walk?”

“Several doors perhaps, and I’m offended you would even dare ask,” Katya said, pulling Trixie’s hand close to his chest, fingers intertwined with his.

“In that case I will consider it,” Trixie said. 

Katya stepped in closer to Trixie.  “Can I have a small kiss, mama? For old time’s sake?” Katya asked.

“What old times are you referencing?” Trixie laughed.  His hands had already migrated to Katya’s waist, and Trixie pulled him in slightly until their lips met for a brief moment.  It was nothing they hadn’t done before, but Katya felt suddenly like the wind had been knocked out of him. 

They suddenly heard the voice of the tour manager, Andrew, a few feet away, and Katya felt the moment get yanked away faster than it could begin.  “Everyone’s already on the bus, guys.  We’re trying to head out.” 

“We’re coming in a second,” Trixie shouted back, shooting Katya a knowing grimace.  “Oops,” he whispered. 

Katya quickly kissed Trixie’s cheek while he still had the chance.  “To the bus we go.”

 -

Once they got on the bus, Katya fell half asleep, head in Trixie’s lap.  He could feel Trixie’s hand lay haphazardly on his shoulder.  He was afraid that moving even an inch would disturb the delicate placement of Trixie’s hand, his fingertips a comforting presence against Katya’s bare skin.  Katya didn’t want anything to upset the fragility of the moment.  He didn’t want anything to jolt Trixie back into overthinking, didn’t want him to wonder if this was okay.  He just wanted to stay there in that moment, no words needed, time suspended.  Eventually, though, the bus came to a sudden halt in front of the hotel, and the spell was disrupted.  Katya opened his eyes and rolled over to look up at Trixie.

“Hey sleepy,” Trixie said softly. 

Katya was in love with the way Trixie’s hand lingered on his chest.  He took a breath and paused for a moment.  “Brian?” he whispered.  Trixie looked at him and grabbed his arm to let him know he was listening.  “Promise me you’ll come over tonight?”

Trixie laughed a little.  “Alright,” he said. 

Katya stood up and started to walk towards the door.  “Okay, well I’m holding you to it.”  As they both went inside and got in the elevator, Katya scanned Trixie’s face for some clarity.  Blank.  Nothing.  The elevator came to a sudden halt on the fourth floor, and Katya poked Trixie’s ribs.  “409 bitch,” he said.

“See you in thirty?” Trixie asked.

“I will be anxiously awaiting your arrival.”  Katya turned down the hallway and heard Trixie’s footsteps trailing away in the other direction.  When Katya finally got to his room, he was on autopilot, standing in the bathroom immediately waiting for the shower to warm up.  His makeup had smeared, leaving trails of black on his cheeks.  As he undressed quickly, he stared in the mirror for a little too long, regretting his decision to forego a tan this weekend.  Prodding at the contours of his pale abdomen, he felt suddenly out of sorts. 

He and Trixie had hung out in each other’s’ rooms countless times.  They always had a more or less open-door policy, and Katya had shown up to Trixie’s apartment more than a few times unannounced.  Trixie was always up, sitting on his couch, and he’d always motion to Katya to sit down next to him, and he’d slide over and put his head on Trixie’s shoulder.  What are we watching?  Katya would ask, like he was home.  Trixie would hand him the remote and say, Your choice.  Eventually he’d fall asleep on the couch, and Trixie would cover him with a blanket and go to bed.  He’d let himself out as soon as he’d become sentient again, awaking suddenly to a dark room on a too-familiar couch alone, calling an Uber home at 3AM like a pseudo walk of shame. 

Katya’s stream of consciousness was interrupted by a sharp double knock on the door.  He quickly turns to shut off the shower, frantically looking for a towel.  “Uh, just a second,” he shouted, struggling to dry off as quickly as possible.  How long had be been in there?  Katya shuffles towards the door, t-shirt only halfway on, and emerges to see Trixie completely de-dragged in an ex-white merch t-shirt. 

He took a look at a dilapidated Katya and, already walking into the room, said, “You’re shirt’s on backwards, bitch.” 

“Well, I’m sorry that you require perfection, but some of us have been a little too busy with our shower thoughts to pay attention to these details,” Katya said, sliding his arms out of his t-shirt and flipping it around to the front. 

“Shower thoughts? Anything particularly sordid you’d care to share with the class?” Trixie asked, tossing himself onto the bed.

“Oh, I wish,” Katya responded, rubbing his soap-irritated eyes.  He looked over to see Trixie eyeing him expectantly.  “No, no.  Nothing interesting.”

Trixie was already messing with the TV settings as Katya sat down next to him, his tense, upright posture a juxtaposition with Trixie’s relaxed sprawl.  He suddenly didn’t know how to act normally.  “Do we have Netflix capability? Or is it gonna be a cable TV infomercial night?”

“Uh, probably the latter unless you can figure it out—”

Trixie’s phone buzzed and she interjected.  “Oh, Alaska’s staying in 412.  I told her she could come over. That’s cool, right?”

Katya’s shoulders sunk a little.  “Y-yeah, yeah that’s fine.”  His entertainment of the idea that maybe there was a hint of something else in the air tonight was promptly smashed to pieces.  He was suddenly feeling very antisocial.

Trixie was still flipping through channels on the TV, and Katya, now devoid of the pressure of expectation, flopped onto his back.  He felt Trixie’s fingers grab his shoulder suddenly.  “Bitch, look at what’s on in two minutes!” he shouted with much more energy than Katya could muster at that point.  Katya sat up a little.  “Heathers, Brenda.  We have won the late-night hotel cable TV lottery.”

Katya smiled.  “Alright, well you know what to do,” he said, gesturing at the TV.  He popped up for a moment.  “I’m going to retrieve a Red Bull from my stash.  You want one?” he asked, already across the room digging through a drawer.  “I have multiples,” he said with affectation, a dumb grin on his face.

“It’s almost midnight,” Trixie protested.

“And when have you let that stop you?”  Katya asked, tilting his head and flashing a smile at Trixie.

“Alright.” Trixie responded, and Katya danced back over to the bed, placing a can gingerly in Trixie’s hand. 

“You’re welcome,” Katya said sarcastically.  Trixie bumped him with his shoulder.  For just a moment, Katya let himself think about those nights at Trixie’s. 

Then Alaska knocked at the door, and Trixie paused the movie.  Moment over.  Trixie got up to answer the door.  “I really hope I wasn’t interrupting any hand fun between the two of you,” Alaska said in a long, overdramatic drawl.  Katya watched from the bed awkwardly.

Trixie laughed.  “You awful cunt.” 

He walked in and eyed Katya.  “Alaska Thunderfun, what ever are you doing here?” Katya asked in a theatrical voice. 

“To relieve my dreadful boredom, of course,” he responded.  “How was your show, mama?” 

“She said it was awful, and I don’t believe it,” Trixie interjected. 

For a fraction of a second, Katya shot him a glance of rare sincerity.  He hoped that Trixie got it.  “It was awful.  Point-blank, period.  No exaggeration.”

“Well why? I’m on the edge of my seat,” Alaska asked, sitting down on one of the armchairs. 

“Okay, well one, I didn’t remember a single word to the song.  Which was horrifying and bad because I don’t think I even managed to sell it. And two—”

Trixie cut her off.  “It’s a song she’s performed for years, and then tonight for some reason—”

Alaska jumped in.  “Oh my god, my favorite married couple.  Are kids on the way?” he said mockingly.

“SHUT UP!” Katya squealed in, thrashing his hands around in the sheets.

“I can’t help it that you two are disgustingly adorable, just casually finishing each other’s sentences.  Gross.”

“Girl, don’t be jealous of me and my work wife.”  Trixie said.  Katya poked his leg and for a brief split second, he could have sworn he saw something in Trixie’s eyes that was different.  It was something; it had to be.

“Oh speaking of which, girl, what ever happened to that gorgeous man from last night?” Alaska asked.  Was it nothing?

“Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much—” Trixie started.

“Oh my god, you did?” Katya asked, attempting to find the right tone to mask his jealousy.

“No, we didn’t.  Well, I mean, not that.”

“Oh, so you—” Alaska holds up her fist and mock-fellatiates the air. 

“Maybe.” Trixie said quietly, pulling his chin in closer to his chest.  “But you know that I’m not about to go all the way with a man from the club in the same night.  I am not that kind of girl.”

“Okay, Miss Mattel, thank you for the shade,” Alaska said.  He looks at the TV, the semi-blurred opening scene of Heathers still paused.  “So what are we watching tonight?” 

“The magic of Heathers has graced the hotel TV this evening.  We just started it before you got here,” Trixie said.

“Well onwards, ladies, let’s get it going,” Alaska said.  He stayed in his armchair while Trixie climbed back into bed with Katya.  “No funny business, you too.  Mother is watching,” Alaska joked.

As Trixie unpaused the TV, Katya became distracted by monitoring Trixie’s presence out of his periphery.  Trixie and Alaska would ever so often interject commentary during the movie, but Katya was uncharacteristically silent.  He waited to see if Trixie moved closer, if he turned his hips away, if he was looking back.  Slowly, Katya attempted to inch closer.  He figured if it was done at glacial speed, maybe Trixie wouldn’t even notice.  Maybe it would seem like an accident.  So she counted every few minutes and slid another inch or two closer.  The neurosis of it was pure agony, and with every passing moment of Trixie’s signals failing to provide relief, Katya was beginning to feel like a petulant child. 

The credits rolled, and Alaska got up.  “Alright, I should be heading out.  I have got a major early morning tomorrow,” Alaska said, rising from the chair.  He walked towards the door and grasped the handle.  “See you guys at breakfast tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yes, girl, for sure I have to get those pancakes from downstairs,” Trixie said.  Katya just nodded.  Alaska shut the door behind him. 

Katya had the sudden realization that he had fully migrated probably an entire foot.  So much for subtlety.  Their arms were close enough that they would be touching if either of them moved a millimeter.  Katya turned on his side, and Trixie started to sit up. 

“You don’t have to go,” Katya said softly.  “I mean, if you don’t want to.”

“You sure you don’t wanna go to bed?” Trixie asked.

“You should know by now that your presence does absolutely nothing to affect that,” Katya reassured, gently grasping Trixie’s wrist. 

“Well lucky for you, I am completely wired from your Red Bull from earlier,” Trixie said, sliding back underneath the covers. 

Katya laughed and said, “Then my plan was successful.” 

Trixie passed the remote to Katya.  “Your turn,” he said.

Katya started scrolling.  “So who was the guy from the other night?” he asked, realizing it came out sounding a little more controlling housewife than he was intending.

“Oh him? I have no idea.”  Trixie’s tone luckily didn’t seem to imply he had read this as accusatory.  “His name was Dan or Dave or something like that.  Very much what I’d classify as a drunk decision.”

“Gotcha. Well that’s fun, I guess,” Katya responded, a little too seriously. 

Trixie paused for what felt like an eternity and looked at him.  “What?” he asked.

“What do you mean, ‘what’?” Katya asked.

“What is this reaction you’re having? ‘Well that’s fun, I guess’? That’s not how you talk and you and I both know it,” Trixie pressed. 

Katya felt exposed, all of a sudden.  With no rehearsed heart-bearing statement, he said, rather anticlimactically, “No, no, sorry, I just was reading something on the TV and wasn’t paying attention.”  He took a breath and tried to sell it further.  “No reason to panic, Mother,” he said in a jokey cockney accent.  Trixie seemed to accept this response, but Katya secretly wished she’d pushed more.  He just needed another moment to think of how to frame what it really was.  He wasn’t even sure he could put it to words right then.  It was all too much feeling and too little logic to relay.  Katya tried to change the subject.  “Cops?” he asked.  “I think it’s as good as we’re gonna get this time.”

Trixie seemed distracted.  “Uh, yeah, it’s your call.  Whatever you want.”

Katya put it on and relaxed back into the bed, sliding a little further away in a weak attempt to conceal his motives.  Almost without missing a beat, Trixie moved in closer, so much so that their arms were suddenly touching.  Katya felt his breathing get faster, it was all too much and he almost couldn’t function.  He resounded to not react, taking every bone in his body and willing himself to not move one way or the other.  He wanted to see what Trixie would do without any of his own influence. 

Katya was nearly stressed by the inaction.  They remained like that for minutes on end, nobody making a single move.  He tried to watch Trixie from the corner of his eye, but he was watching the TV.  He felt his palms sweating, wondering how he could be so overwhelmed and Trixie could be watching TV with the inner calm of a monk.  But before long, Katya felt fingers running along his wrist.  The touch was tentative devoid of any reason or context.  This was a sign, right?  Katya took it as encouragement enough to lean her head into the space between Trixie’s shoulder and his jaw.  “Wait, sit up for a second,” Trixie said.  Katya felt a sinking feeling.  Did he cross the line?  Was this too much?  He thought he was just following Trixie’s lead.  Trixie moved his arm so it hooked around Katya’s waist.  “Okay, all good,” he said reassuringly.  He pulled Katya in closer, and Katya felt his cheek brush against Trixie’s.

There was always a line they never seemed to cross, even though it seemed to get blurrier and blurrier with time.  They never went beyond the point of no return, beyond the point where they’d actually have to talk about it, where it couldn’t just be chalked up to a platonic intimacy.  Katya was never really sure where this line was, but Trixie always seemed so sure of it.  His boundaries were always so defined to him, even if they seemed unclear to Katya most of the time.  But from experience, Katya learned.  They could snuggle in the same bed all night as long as they didn’t sleep together, and they could share quick kisses if it was mandated, but they never, ever lingered.  Anything beyond that could upset the delicate balance of not having to talk about it.  Even Alaska’s comments could make Katya jump, like he’d just peered at the X-ray of his innermost thoughts that he didn’t dare voice.  Katya always assumed Trixie didn’t have any questionable thoughts that Alaska’s jokes would threaten to illuminate, since he always managed to seem so collected.

Katya wasn’t even pretending to watch the TV anymore, his eyes enamored with studying the contours of Trixie’s face.  Trixie remained seemingly oblivious.  “You know, if I were running from the cops, I don’t think I’d bring my crack pipe with me,” he said, laughing a little.  He looked over at Katya, his lithe body practically melted into Trixie, and his face was so close that Katya could feel the warmth of his breath against his skin, making his stomach flip over.  Trixie raised his eyebrows at him. 

“Yes, yes, totally agree,” Katya said absently.  He traced the perimeter of Trixie’s jawline with his index finger, then ran it along the bridge of his nose.  “You have a cute nose, you rotted whore.  Just thought I’d tell you.”  He whispered it so gently that it was almost too intimate. 

“You are a strange one,” Trixie said.

Katya traced the curve of his bottom lip.  “Brian, uh—”  Trixie was looking at him again.  “Would you, uh, get mad if I kissed you right now?” 

Trixie laughed again, but Katya was dead serious, his face almost concerned.  So Trixie didn’t answer immediately.  He turned onto his side and place his hand on the side of Katya’s face.  “I’d get mad if you didn’t.” 

Without a moment’s hesitation, Trixie brought his lips to meet Katya’s.  But this time was different.  He didn’t pull away instantly, didn’t make a joke to diffuse the tension, didn’t stop it before it began.  They lingered, Trixie’s breath hot and heavy against Katya’s face.  Trixie’s tongue brushed Katya’s lips, and it instantly intensified until the weight of Katya’s body was pressed on top of his.  Hands wandered underneath t-shirts, feeling warm skin against skin.  Trixie’s fingertips raked across Katya’s back until he reached towards the waistband of Trixie’s jeans.  “Wait,” Trixie said, near-breathless.  “Don’t.”  Katya looked up at him with wide eyes, half-surprised, half-disappointed.  “This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have let it happen.”  Katya rolled off Trixie and flopped onto his back, facing a separation that felt like it could’ve spanned oceans.  Still fully clothed, he felt more naked than ever before.  He wanted to crawl into the shower and wash the feeling off.

Trixie was already up and heading for the door.  He didn’t even try to diffuse the situation, his words just sat there with their jagged edges, cutting into Katya with every moment he still stood there.  Katya didn’t even try to come up with a response.  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Trixie said as he closed the door behind him, his inflection at the end making it seem more like a question than a declaration that things would go on as normal.

[verus-veritas]

Senior Picture

By Cris Kane

Shawn had looks. He had a killer body. He had mad skills on the football field.

What he didn’t have was a lot of money.

So while other members of his class were hiring top-notch photographers to take their senior pictures, Shawn had to search for whoever could do it cheap. Around here, the cheapest shutterbug was “Navajo Joe”.

That’s what all the kids had been calling the short, skinny Native American kid from tenth grade since he and his family moved to town a few years back. Navajo Joe’s real first name was indeed Joseph, although no one knew if he was a Navajo or even bothered to ask what his background was. In general, he was just ignored, although behind his back, many of the jocks referred to him as “Nava-homo”. Not only was he small, thin and frail, sometimes staying out of school for weeks at a time for unspecified illnesses, but raised suspicions by excelling at anything artistic. While he never did anything overtly gay (besides being artistic), he did show up with his still camera at nearly every sporting event held at the high school and he seemed to focus his camera most intensely on the handsomest, hunkiest boys. At every football and basketball game, every swim or track meet, every wrestling match, Joseph could be found, hovering on the periphery, zooming in for the best angles. He used a vintage camera that still took photos on actual film and, after he developed the pictures, he would bring them in to the school newspaper for publication.

Shawn didn’t know much about art – or about much of anything besides football, to be honest – but he did know that, whenever his photo showed up in the school paper credited to Joseph, Shawn looked really cool in it. Not that any photographer could mess up terribly when taking a picture of the well-built senior with his shaggy brown hair, intense eyes, boyish upturned nose, firm lips and strong chin. But Joseph seemed to have a knack for snapping his shutter when Shawn was at peak awesomeness. Shawn’s girlfriend Madison had started keeping a scrapbook of all the photos of Shawn that appeared in the paper, so she could feast her eyes on Shawn during those rare waking moments when she let him out of her sight. Her favorite was probably one of Shawn at quarterback during the homecoming game, his facial features in perfect profile against the stadium lights, his right arm cocked back to throw, revealing just how pumped Shawn’s biceps were. Further down, Shawn’s spandex football pants embraced the bulging curves of his glutes and did nothing to hide the generous endowment lurking behind the laces on the front.

Madison was the one who urged Shawn last week to ask Joseph’s services for his senior portrait. When Joseph returned from one of his frequent absences on Monday, Shawn tracked him down in the hallway between classes. At first, Joseph acted afraid he was going to get beaten up when he saw Shawn walking quickly toward him in the hallway. Shawn grabbed Joseph by the arm so tightly that the skin indented and turned white, not returning to its natural cinnamon brown shade for a full minute after Shawn let him go.

“What do you want?”, Joseph mumbled, casting his worried gray eyes up at Shawn.

“Chill, Nava…Joe.” Shawn grinned disarmingly, but Joseph looked suspicious. “I just wanted to say I liked the pictures of me you’ve been taking for the school paper.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks.” Joseph indicated relief that a jock was actually being civil to him, but he still stood with his limbs tense, ready to bolt if necessary.

“My girlfriend loves the pictures too, and she was wondering…well, I was wondering too…if you’d be willing to take my senior picture for the yearbook.”

Joseph’s body relaxed and he smiled with relief. “Why, sure, I’d be happy to.”

“I can’t afford to pay you much. Both of my folks are out of work right now, and I don’t have much saved up, but…”

Joseph waved off his apologies. “I’ll do it for free. It’d be a great opportunity.”

Shawn’s grin widened, revealing a movie-star smile. “For serious? Awesome! When?”

Joseph started to get excited. “How about after school today?”

Shawn shook his head. “Nuh-uh. I got football practice.”

“We can do it after practice is over. We can go out by my house. There’s some great scenery we could use as a backdrop.”

Joseph’s extreme eagerness was starting to give Shawn second-thoughts. He looked down at what he was wearing: a long-sleeved plaid shirt with jeans and work boots. “I’m not sure I’m dressed right for photos today.”

“Are you kidding? You look fabulous!” Inside his head, Joseph was kicking the shit out of himself. Fabulous? He never said that word, but suddenly it fell out of his mouth as soon as he found himself talking to the school’s number-one stud. He knew the jocks’ secret nickname for him, and knew how accurate it was, but he didn’t want to blow this chance by acting like a cliche. He backpedaled. “What I mean is, you don’t want to be in the yearbook looking like some douchebag in a suit and a tie with your hair all fussed over. You want to look normal. You want to look the way you really look. Like you do right now.”

Shawn couldn’t argue with that. He didn’t want to look like some pretty-boy model posed in a studio. “You promise I’ll look bad-ass?”

“How could you not?” How could you not??? Way to go, Joseph, you’re sounding less and less like a regular guy the more you blather on. Just shut up before it gets any worse. “So, after practice tonight?”

“After practice tonight.”

---

Not wanting to be taunted by the jocks, Joseph didn’t hang around the football field or the locker room, but waited in the parking lot until Shawn was done with practice. When Shawn finally emerged, his hair was tousled, his shirt untucked, its top two buttons undone. As Shawn unlocked his rusty 4x4, he asked Joseph, “I don’t know the way, so I guess I’ll need to follow you.”

Joseph looked sheepish. “I don’t have a car. I take the bus.”

Shawn had forgotten how young Joseph was. He unlocked the passenger door and said, “Okay, hop in.”

Shawn swung by his house to grab a few cans of Bud from his dad’s mini-fridge in the unfinished basement. He offered one to Joseph, who politely declined. Shawn chugged two beers as the truck bounced along the dusty backroad that led to Joseph’s place. Shawn had hoped the beer would loosen him up, since he was self-conscious about the idea of posing for pictures, particularly for someone who was probably a fag. Not that he had a problem with gay people. At least not as much as some of the other jocks. Hey, maybe fags take the best pictures because they like what they’re seeing, Shawn thought. Although if that was the case, then Madison should be able to take the best pictures in the world, because she couldn’t keep her eyes or her hands off Shawn whenever they were together.

Shawn liked Madison a whole lot. With her wavy blond hair, big green eyes and porn-actress lips, she was definitely the hottest of the cheerleaders, and she worked just as hard to keep in good shape as Shawn did. She wore her cheerleading sweater to school as many days as possible because she knew just how spectacular it made her boobs look, and it never failed to get him hard when she would leap in the air and her skirt would fly up to reveal her panties and her great ass. It was true she could get clingy sometimes. For the past couple of weeks, it was like she wanted to be with him 24 hours a day. Fortunately she had mellowed out in the last day or two. Musta been her period or something. But mostly, he was happy to be her boyfriend and he knew how jealous the rest of his teammates were that he was the guy who Madison pursued.

They finally reached the top of the hill, where Joseph said meekly, “This is my place. It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the outside keeps you from seeing how bad it looks inside.” Poor as his family was, Shawn suddenly felt like a millionaire compared to anyone who had to live in a dump like this. It had a sagging roof, a ramshackle porch, windows repaired with duct tape and a front yard consisting of dirt and rusty car parts.

A haunted scarecrow of a man with long white hair and the skin of a brown elephant opened the squeaky screen door and stepped onto the dilapidated porch. He eyed the strange truck with suspicion until Joseph leapt out of the passenger door and shouted, “It’s okay, this is a friend of mine from school.” Joseph smiled over at Shawn. “That’s my father. He’s scary at first, but when you get to know him…he’s terrifying.” Shawn had no doubt. “I’m gonna run in and get my camera. Be back in a minute.”

Joseph dashed swiftly across the pitiful “lawn” and into the house. Shawn was impressed by Joseph’s speed, especially for someone who’d just been so sick he couldn’t go to school. Maybe he should encourage the kid to join the track team next spring. Clearly he needed something positive in his life, and if Shawn vouched for Joseph, he was sure he could get the other jocks to lay off on the razzing and the mean jokes.

Shawn waved to Joseph’s father and called out, “How you doing today?” The old man merely stared, coolly appraising the young man and his truck. As a wind swept through, creating a cloud of dirt between them, Joseph stepped back outside carrying his camera and a tripod.

He sprinted over to the truck and told Shawn to follow him. “Bring your football.” Shawn jogged back to the truck and grabbed a ball from the cab, then cast a look back at Joseph’s father, who remained stern and unhappy.

Joseph scrambled easily up steep paths, increasing Shawn’s admiration for the wiry kid’s athleticism. He had assumed Joseph was just a wimpy art geek, but get this kid in a weight room and give him a year or two to grow, he might even be football material.

When they reached the top of the hill, Shawn was amazed by the natural beauty of the valley around them. “Shit, it’s awesome up here.”

“Yeah, I like to come up here and stare at the horizon and think about my future. The sunsets up here are spectac…they’re awesome.”

“I bet. So what should I do?”

Joseph pointed Shawn toward a rock outcropping near the edge of a cliff. “Stand over there. I can get all the hills and the trees behind you.”

Shawn set down the football, walked over and stood stiffly, facing directly at Joseph, arms hanging awkwardly at his sides. Joseph placed the camera on a tripod and looked through the eyepiece, then frowned. “No, I need you to relax. Be natural.”

Shawn tried but he was still too self-conscious. He fidgeted with his arms, having no idea where to put his hands. Joseph realized the problem and grabbed the football. “Here!” He gave the ball a wobbly toss more or less in Shawn’s direction. Shawn easily snagged it with one hand, although it sent him slightly off balance. A lesser athlete might have toppled over the edge. “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!”, Joseph yelled.

“No problem,” Shawn grinned back. Okay, maybe Joseph wasn’t football material.

“I want you to grip your ball and stare at the horizon like you’re looking downfield.” Shawn did as he was told. Giving him a prop to hold had made a world of difference. “Turn a little to your right.” Better still. Joseph risked making another suggestion. “Could you maybe unbutton a couple more buttons of your shirt?”

Shawn hesitated. Was this all part of Joseph’s plan? To get him out here and have him take off his clothes so he could have pictures to jack off to? Wait, he was the one who asked Joseph to take the pictures. Stop bein’ such a dick, Shawn thought. He loosened two more buttons, offering a peek at the pecs he’d spent so much time perfecting in the gym over the summer.

Joseph grinned approvingly. “That looks awesome. You ever thought of being a model, Shawn?” Shawn laughed off the suggestion. “I’m serious. I don’t think you appreciate all you’ve got going for you.”

Shawn was starting to feel uncomfortable again, and the buzz from those beers was really kicking in. He just wanted this over with. “Quit stalling and take the pictures, okay?”

Joseph nodded and looked through the viewfinder. “Did you ever hear that old story about how when the first Native Americans saw cameras, they refused to let anyone take their picture because it would steal their soul?”

“Yeah, I think I heard something about that. I always thought it was just bullshit.”

“Yeah, me too. Funny thing, though. I asked my father about it. And you know what? He told me it was true.”

Joseph snapped the shutter on the camera and the clicking sound reverberated in Shawn’s ears, repeating and repeating like it was caught in a loop. Shawn’s skin tingled all over while his muscles stiffened. Inside, he felt panicked as he realized he couldn’t move any part of his body. It was as if he had become frozen in time at the moment Joseph took the photo. His eyes remained fixed on the horizon and he couldn’t move them in any direction. He suddenly felt an incredible desire to itch his nose, to lick his lips, to scratch his balls, to do ANYTHING physical, but he was powerless. As if that sensation weren’t disturbing enough, he suddenly felt as if he were drifting out of his body – almost as if he were seeping out of his pores and becoming a vapor. Eventually, when he felt his entire being had escaped the confines of his body, he seemed to coalesce, his spirit – his soul – shrinking, becoming denser until it seemed to converge into a single particle that zoomed at light speed toward the lens of Joseph’s camera. He was disoriented as his very being was warped through the heavy glass of the camera’s lens until he was finally trapped inside the camera itself as a shapeless entity.

“Can you hear me, Shawn?” The voice was booming and echoey, like Joseph’s voice but heard from a long distance away in a deep canyon.

Shawn’s trapped being, or whatever you wanted to call it, could somehow hear the voice, and he discovered that he could psychically “speak” back to the voice, despite no longer having a tongue or a mouth. “What did you do to me?”

Joseph’s camera remained on the tripod, while Joseph sat beside it on the ground, eyes closed in a meditative state so he could communicate with Shawn’s trapped soul.

“My father taught me how to capture the souls of others in my camera, then teleport my own soul into their bodies.”

“Are you shitting me?”

“You’re stuck in a camera, Shawn. Does that seem like I’m shitting you?”

Although his soul had no eyes, Shawn could somehow look out through the lens and perceive his body, still standing frozen in position on the cliffside. “Why are you doing this?”

“First of all, because I can. I mean, if you had a choice to be either me or you, wouldn’t you choose you? Second of all, so that I can support my family.”

“Doesn’t look like you’re doing a great job of that so far,” said Shawn’s snide disembodied voice.

“I’m still only learning. But I’ve been on the lookout for a body that I could really do something with.”

“So all those pictures you took at the games, you were stealing people’s souls?”

“No, I have to concentrate to make it happen, so I only steal the souls that I really want. Like Madison’s.”

“What? You did this to Madison?”

“Yeah. A couple of weeks ago. I got her alone after cheerleading practice and asked if I could take her picture. And, zap, she was trapped in the camera just like you are now, while I took over her body.”

If Shawn’s soul had a head, it would be swimming. "So, wait, for the last two weeks, Madison…”

“Has been me, that’s right.” Shawn could hear a wicked smile in Joseph’s voice. “Every time you kissed her, every time she jerked you off, every time she blew you, that was me.”

Holy shit, Shawn thought. He had wondered why Madison had been so eager to give him blow jobs lately. “That’s sick.”

“I got the impression you enjoyed it at the time.”

“You did that just so you could have sex with me?”

“Not exactly. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed being so close to you, but being stuck in a straight girl just felt…icky. No, I had to use her to convince you to let Joseph take your picture. You would never have asked ‘Nava-homo’ to take pictures of you if your girlfriend hadn’t said how hot you looked in his photos. Once I – well, Madison – had planted that idea in your mind, Madison’s soul went back into her body, with no memory that anything unusual had happened to her, and I returned to school in as my dumb old self.”

Joseph’s body began to shake violently, as if something were escaping it at a rapid speed. Instantaneously, Shawn’s body began to vibrate. Joseph felt his spirit overtaking Shawn’s frame, his lifeforce oozing its way through Shawn’s bones, his muscles, his brain. The transition from his own scrawny body into Shawn’s was overwhelming to Joseph. While his training period had allowed him to enter other bodies that were larger than his, including his own father’s, none had previously possessed the strength, the poise and the confidence of Shawn. As Joseph acclimated to his new shape, the body began to move, balancing itself quickly before it could topple over the cliff. He clutched the football in his hands and had a comforting sense that Shawn’s body mechanics and agility were still intact even without Shawn’s soul. He glanced down at the gap in his open shirt and admired the well-honed musculature underneath. He lifted a mighty fist and appreciated how the folds of fabric stretched and strained over the pumped biceps. Taking over Madison was a means to an end. Taking over Shawn was Joseph’s wet dream. Shawn’s cock expanded to a rock-hard eight inches just from Joseph’s thoughts about what he would be able to do in this body.

Joseph looked over and saw his body collapsed on the ground beside the camera on its tripod. He walked over, enjoying the swagger that came automatically with this body, and spoke softly into the camera. “Shawn, I can’t hear you any more, but you should still be able to hear me. I’m not sure how long I’ll be in here, but don’t worry, my father will make sure nothing happens to you until I return. And I promise, I would never let anything bad happen to this body.” Joseph placed one of Shawn’s hands under his shirt and rubbed his smooth tanned skin.

Joseph, as Shawn, easily flung Joseph’s inert body over one shoulder and grabbed the camera and tripod with the other. He walked back to the house and left the camera and his old body with his father, then strode manfully back to the 4x4. He got into the driver’s seat and roared the engine to life. He had driven in enough other bodies by now that he could practically take a driver’s exam if he wanted to. He waved goodbye to his father, who could psychically make out the muffled screams of Shawn’s soul inside the camera.

Shawn did not show up for school the next day, and his parents told the school that he had never come home the night before, although his father did note that some cans of Budweiser had gone missing. No one had seen Shawn when he drove off, and his 4x4 was missing. Shawn’s girlfriend was questioned but she couldn’t think of anything that might have caused him to vanish, although the police found it suspicious that her memories of the past two weeks appeared to be astonishingly vague.

Joseph also did not show up for school the next day, but nobody noticed much. People were so used to him being out sick that this attracted no undue attention. He wasn’t a very memorable kid.

About a week later, Joseph’s father received a letter from California, in which Joseph described his adventures so far. He had ditched the 4x4 fairly quickly, to avoid being spotted, and with the help of family members scattered across the country, had made his way to the coast via various forms of transportation. He had already had meetings for possible representation as a model and hoped to be able to start sending checks back home soon. (There were other things Joseph planned to do with this body to make some extra money – things that Shawn would never have done and which Joseph’s father never needed to hear about.)

Just in case the police ever connected them to Shawn’s disappearance, Joseph’s father burnt the letter as well as a photo that Joseph had enclosed. It showed “Shawn” lying on a California beach in white shorts, hair clipped into a buzz cut and newly bleached to platinum blond, his softball-sized deltoids and biceps practically bursting through his golden skin.

In the photo, he was staring at the horizon, pondering the bright future ahead of him.

Source: “Senior Picture” by Cris Kane on Gay Spiral Stories

[yrpspiritsintheshadows]

Imaginary Friends

Imaginary Friends

School was out for Geistville Elementary. As students hurried to the bus or for their parents’ cars, one student was left to wait in the playground as he always did.

Ken, honestly didn’t mind waiting to be picked up from school. It was extra play time as far as he was concerned, getting the full run of the playground and not have to share the area with anyone…

Except for one person. 

He had met her back when he still went to the preschool that was attached to the building. She was around his age and was always there waiting to play with someone. The other kids couldn't see her of course but Ken didn’t mind.

“Weeee! C’mon, Ayami, catch me!” Ken giggled, ducking under the jungle gym as his friend chased him, floating just off the ground. 

Her laugh echoed around them, the glow around her body illuminating the area.

Ayami, didn’t dress like the other ghost kids Ken had seen over the years. She wore a set of black and white armor,with flower like designs and crystals embedded into it. Her hair was pure white and one of her eyes was a bright green color, contrasting to her other eye, which was a pale blue color.

“I’m gonna catch ya!” She phased through the jungle gym, floating upwards as Ken bounded across the top. 

“Nya!”

She giggled before tackling him as the two children rolled across it, laughing up a storm, one having to catch his breath.

“That was fun! We haven’t rough housed in a while! It’s been too long!”

Ken sat up, grinning.

“Way too long.” He giggled, leaning back. “We gotta play more often.”

Ayami fiddled with her hands, unsure.

“I dunno… I’m not normal.”

“But you're my friend!” He insisted. “We never play except during school days and then during summer I never see you!” 

“But…” She looked down. “Would your parents be okay with a ghost friend?”

That was the problem she was worried about. For a while, she looked and acted very much like a human child. Ayami had been deceased for a long time. Ken never asked her about what happened and she didn’t bring it up either.

It was an unspoken kind of rule. Don’t ask about the things that would make either of them upset.

Ken poked her forehead, getting her attention.

“My daddy was like me when he was little. I’m sure he’d be okay with it… and you’re a nice ghost. Pleeeaaase?” He gave her the puppy eyes.

Ayami squeaked, covering her own eyes.

“Kennny!!! That’s not fair!”

“Please? Please? Please?”

“Ooohhh bother…” She giggled, lowering her hands. He was still making the face. “Okay, okay!”

“Yippee!” Ken threw his arms around her. “You know where my house is? I can tell you where it is or you can sneak in and hide with me and my brothers!”

“I can find you easily.” She winked. “That’s the cool part of being a Ghost Guardian.”

“Right! Maybe I can meet more of your ghost friends too?” He tilted his head. “If you're okay with it.”

“Maybe. Oh! If you ever come to where I stay, you can meet Dree Dree! And Jackie and Aggie too!”

“Oooo… Yeah! Yeah!” Ken giggled, holding out his pinky finger. “It’s a promise!”

Ayami giggled, looping her finger with his.

“A secret promise!”

“A secret play date!”

oooooo

Around early evening, when the sun was still high in the sky, Ken had a knock at his window.

He looked up from his game system, grinning at who he saw. Ayami was floating just outside of his window, her white hair blowing in the wind.

“Is it a bad time?”

He pushed the window open, leaning out a little.

“You’re good! Wanna come in?”

“Hm…” She furrowed her brow, looking down to where she could see through the window to the rest of the Miyamoto family. “Not yet. Wanna come outside and play?”

“I can! Hikaru helped me with my homework!” 

“Cool! I got done training early too.”

The two children laughed before Ken hurried to grab his coat, grabbing one of his toys too.

“Daddy?”

Eiji looked up, adjusting his reading glasses.

“Yeah, Kiddo?”

Ken smiled, giving him a bit of a puppy eyed look.

“It’s still daytime, can I go outside for awhile?”

Eiji hummed in thought, glancing outside. It would still be about two hours before night fell.

“Only an hour and a half. I want you back just before sunset, okay?”

“Okay, thanks!”

Ken hurried outside, meeting Ayami at the backdoor… This time, however, Okami was wary as she stared at the ghostly child.

“Um… Is she okay?”

“She’s a nice doggy, don’t worry. Okami, c’mon! You can sleep while we play.” 

Okami huffed but followed after anyways, not wanting to let Ken out of her sight.

The children didn’t pay her much mind, since she kept up with their pace easily.

“I brought my bouncy ball. We can kick it around or something! See?” Ken pointed to the pale green designs around the black ball. “It glows in the dark!”

“Ooo, like me!” Ayami giggled.

“Yeah!” Ken moved back several paces, once he was sure they were a bit out of sight. “Ready?”

“Ahuh, ahuh!” Ayami got into position, bouncing in place. 

Ken grinned before kicking the ball her way, the girl jumping into the air a bit to kick it back.

“Nice!”

He ran a bit further in before kicking it as hard as he could.

Ayami squeaked as it barreled right towards her, turning her body intangible as it flew right through where her stomach would’ve been.

“Eeek! Sorry!” 

Ken ran up to her.

“You okay?”

“Yup!” 

Both children looked to where the ball had gone. They couldn’t see it anymore, having lost sight of it in the brush.

“... Uh oh.” They murmured in unison. 

“... I’ll go get it-”

“I’ll go with you!”

Okami whined, watching them leave. Her ears folded before walking after them. 

Ayami phased in and out of the brush, looking for the ball, the leaves lighting up as her essence phased through them.

“Hm… Not here…”

Ken looked around, humming in thought. He peered down the hill, seeing a faint glow from the paint.

“Found it-”

His foot slipped, as he started to tumble down the hill. Ken yelped, bracing himself for a hard impact… only for Ayami to grab his jacket’s hood, pulling hard to keep him from doing just that.

“Oof!”

He sighed in relief as she set him down. Okami whined from the top of the hill, pacing back and forth.

“I’m okay, Okami, promise!” He turned to Ayami, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Ayami shook her head.

“Don’t. You okay?”

“Ahuh!”

Ayami smiled before floating off retrieving the ball. 

“I got it!”

Ken smiled, bouncing in place a little. “Wanna play here?”

“Hm… I don’t think so. It’ll take a bit to get you home.” Ayami offered her hand to him. “Hold on tight.”

Ken blinked, doing so… squealing as she floated upwards for a moment, going higher than the boy thought possible, rising over the treetops.

The entire forest was revealed to them as Ken looked around in wonder.

“Wow…” He breathed. “This… Wow.”

“Not too much?” Ayami asked, smiling sheepishly. “Not scary?”

“No way!” Ken laughed. “We’re FLYING, Ayami! Really flying!”

She looked to the ball and back to Ken. “Wanna forget catch for a bit?”

“Yup!”

She dropped it before getting a better hold on Ken, keeping him close.

“Ready?” 

Ken gave her a thumbs up.

Ayami grinned, her green eye glowing brighter before she flew off at a rapid speed, the children laughing up a storm the whole way.

Dipping up and down back through the tree branches as Ayami made them both intangible, even through the earth itself as they popped back up.

Ken squealed as they flew through a particularly large tree, spotting a family of owlets before they phased out of it and onto the next branch.

“THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!”

“And this is what I get to do all the time!”

After a while of flying like this, Ayami came to a stop in a particularly large oak tree that looked over the property. The two sat next to one another on one of the thicker branches, gazing out at the view before them. Ayami was a little tired, leaning against the trunk of the tree, while Ken was still bouncing a bit excitedly.

“That was… Seriously, you can do all kinds of amazing things and…” Ken rubbed the back of his neck, going a little red. “And I’m just the kid who can see ghosts…”

“Aww Kenny…”  Ayami pouted a little. “But you can do a lot of really neat things too. You can see what others don’t… and you aren’t afraid of those things either.”

“Not true… I have lots of bad dreams about bad things that happen to people…” Ken rubbed his arm. “I see people too that wanna get my attention because they can’t get anyone else’s. Like my big brothers’ first mommy and daddy. They haunted me all the time until Daddy was able to save Hika.”

“And I kept ‘em away from you at school, remember?” Ayami squeezed his shoulder, prompting a small smile from Ken. “Kenny, you just gotta practice. You’re still little.”

“Yeah… I wanna be just like my daddy when I grow up. I just… get scared sometimes… but Daddy says that this stuff happened to him too when he was little… same for my Auntie Naomi.” Ken fidgeted with his hands a little. “And I don’t have as many bad dreams anymore. Sammy helps me sleep better with Dreamster’s help. We play a lot when things get scary so I can sleep again.” He smiled a little. 

“What kind of dream stuff do you do?”

“Well…” Ken perked up. “Last night, I conjured up my oba-san’s house! It’s really, really huge!” Ken held out his arms as wide as they could go without causing him to lose balance. “And we played around the garden with her koi fish! The garden’s super, super big! It’s like a mini forest too!”

“Wow…” Ayami smiled. “And you did that.”

“Ahuh… and Okami helps me in my dreams too.”

“That’s cool!”

Ken smiled, looking down, seeing Okami at the base of the tree… giving him a disapproving look. 

“Yup. She loves me a lot. And I love her.”

Ayami smiled, closing her eyes as she leaned her head back. “So, you’re not just the kid who sees ghosts. Your daddy wouldn’t have known what to look out for with your brothers if you hadn’t seen their parents first.”

“Yeah… I guess so, huh?” Ken fumbled with his hands, frowning a little. “I just… hope no one’s in really big trouble, because of my new nightmares.”

Ayami squeezed his hand, taking it into her own.

“If they are, then we’ll get them out of it.” She gave him a grin. “That’s the job of a Ghost Guardian, to help people!”

“And… Memoria Coven members, can create Remembereds… or get spirit companions of our own when we’re old enough.” Ken smiled, a hopeful look coming to his eyes. “I wanna be that cool too.”

“And I have no doubts.” 

“Ayami…”

Ken hugged her tightly, startling her for a second before she returned the embrace, her glow brightening.

“Kenny...  I wanna help every step of the way. I promise.”

“And I know you will. It’s a promise… Okay?”

Ayami smiled, hugging him tighter.

“A secret promise.”

“A ghost promise!”

They giggled a little before Ayami helped him up, floating down to the ground.

Sunset was coming and they both knew Eiji and Carmen would NOT be pleased if Ken wasn’t home soon.

“Can we do this again tomorrow?” He asked as they hurried off for the house.

Ayami grabbed onto a tree branch, swinging down as she sprinted alongside him. 

“We sure can! More playtime, lots more play time!” 

“Yay!”

[kileyrose-2003]

Snakebite Andi x Fem! Reader: Part 1

A/N: Hello lovelies! This request was made by @wendyfuckintorrance I'm sorry if it's a little long of a write but I love writing Andi so I can't resist. Lol. Next on my to do list is Part 2 of this which will be up tonight or tomorrow. I used all the blocks allowed for one post trying to make it all in one. Request are open if anyone does want to submit anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

Warnings: This one has alot. Violence against children, domestic violence, implied child abuse, implied sexual harassment/abuse,(Andi's father will be mentioned but not seen in this fic), mentions of child death, implied sexual content, alcoholism.

Key: Y/F/N- Your father's name

Y/b/n- Your brother's name

Y/m/n- Your mother's name

Y/f/c- Your favorite color

Arizona, 2001:

"Aww look at you! My little girl! All dressed up on her first day of kindergarten!" Your mother doted. "Y/F/N, doesn't she look pretty?"

"Like a princess!" He yelled out from the other room. "See?" Your mom smiled and caressed your cheek. "Yeah.." You held your tiny hands together and looked down at the hardwood floor in your doorway.

Your mother's smile faded and she held your hand gently. "What's the matter?" You refused to meet her eyes and stared off into space.

"I'm scared," You whispered softly and your mom cooed softly. "Aww sweetie. It's going to be okay! You'll be there until lunch time then-"

"It's not that," You interrupted. "Then what is?" You pouted and sighed. "The other kids, they're not going to like me. They're going to think I'm a freak."

"Hey, hey." She forced you to look at her. "Don't say that. You're not a freak."

"Yes, I am." You insisted. "Y/b/n said so. He said normal kids can't talk to others in their hea-"

"And if Y/b/n told you to jump of the bridge, would you follow?" You furrowed your little eyebrows. "No, that would be silly."

"So wouldn't it be silly to believe everything he says?" You thought about it for a minute and smiled. "Yeah."

"Yeah?" You nodded and your mom pulled you close. "I don't want to ever hear you say those things about yourself again, alright? You're not a freak. What you have is a gift. How many other kids do you know that can tell good from bad and talk in their head?"

"I don't know anyone else who can." You shrugged. "See? It's a gift. You're so special, Y/n." You smiled and nuzzled closely to your mom. "Thanks mama."

"Of course." She pulled away from you and kissed the top of her head. "Do I hide it from the other kids or-"

"You do whatever you feel comfortable with, okay?" She smiled softly. "Okay mama." The school bus pulled up infront of your house and you gulped nervously.

"I'll see you later, okay?" She kissed the top of your head. "Okay mama." You skipped out the front door. "Bye sweetie! Make good choices!"

"I will!" You promised and hesitantly got on the school bus. Your mom waved to you and blew you a kiss before stepping back inside.

The first few hours of kindergarten were pretty uneventful. It was the basic find your name on the desk thing and coloring sheet which you didn't mind but most of the kids seemed mean.

When you'd look at them they'd narrow their eyes at you or not bother to speak to you unless they have to.

When it came time for recess you sat by yourself for a little while on the swings, enjoying your own head space. You began to question what your mom told you and had doubts on just how 'good' this Kindergarten thing was going to be.

"Stupid." You kicked the ground and just as you were about to take off on the swing, you felt someone tapping your shoulder.

"Excuse me." You turned to look behind you and found one of the other girls in your class standing behind you. She had short, curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her clothes were a little tomboyish but you didn't mind or judge. "Do you mind if I take the swing next to you?"

"No, go ahead." The girl grinned and say down next to you. "Thanks."

"I'm Y/n. What's your name?" You greeted. "Andrea, but I don't like it. You can call me Andi. That's what most people call me anyways."

"I like your name. I think it's pretty." The other girl blushed and giggled. "Thanks. It's nice to not have someone say my name is a boys name."

"Why would they say that?"

"The boy from Toy Story is named Andy."

You shrugged and smiled. "Still though, I think it's pretty. Who says it can't be for a boy or girl?"

"True." Andi smiled and swung back and forth. "I like you, Y/n. You're nice." You giggled and smiled. "Thanks! So are you! You're the only one here who will really talk to me."

"They won't talk to me either." Andi met your eyes. "Why won't they talk to you?"

"I-i shouldn't really say. You might get scared."

(Is it because you can do this?)

You heard her voice clearly in your head and your face went blank.

(I always thought it was-)

(Just you? Me too.)

(How did you know I can..? You know..)

(I don't know. I got the feeling you could when I looked at you. You're the first person I've ever met besides me that can do this.)

You smiled gratefully as if to say 'thank you for not letting me think I was crazy,' and Andi returned the gesture.

"Friends?" Andi held her tiny pinky out towards you. "Best friends." You grinned and pinky swore with her.

When it came time for you both to go home you gave each other a quick hug before going your seperate ways.

You were so excited. You finally had a friend. A real friend, and they were exactly like you. When you got off the bus at your house you immediately ran inside.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" You screamed excitedly and looked around in the kitchen for her. "Mommy had to run out to the store, Y/n. She'll be home in a little bit."

You could hear your dad walking downstairs. He had a beer in his hand and set it down on one of the higher steps that way you couldn't knock it over. He held his arms out to you and you eagerly ran into them.

"How was your day?" He asked softly and kissed the top of your head. "It was amazing! Daddy, I made a friend!" You beamed.

"See? We told you the other kids would love you. What's their name?" He asked. "Andi! She's so pretty! And she's like me, daddy!"

Your father felt his mouth go dry and he desperately wanted to take a sip of his beer. "L-like you?" He asked softly.

"Mhm!"

(She can talk to me like this.)

Your father looked boggled at hearing your voice in his head. "Well..that's uhm..that's very nice, sweetheart. I'm glad you have a friend with such similar gifts."

"Isn't it cool?" He grinned and kissed the top of your head. "Oh look, I think mommy's home." He patted your back.

"Ooo! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!.."

It didn't take long for you and Andi to become inseparable. Every day you'd sit next to each other in class and instead of passing notes you'd talk in your heads and it seemed like every weekend you'd be having a sleepover at the other one's house.

Andi's mother was always very nice to you but there was just something off about the family dynamic, her father in particular. At first when you met the man he seemed pretty decent, smiling and putting on the whole happy family act but he began to change slowly over time.

When you'd come over to see Andi he wouldn't seem as happy and that pit you had in you for good or bad would drop at the very sight of him.

Why, you didn't know but you knew something was wrong. You mentioned something about it to Andi the one time she was staying your at your house over night, the summer before 3rd grade.

"I'm worried about you," You whispered softly and reached your little hand out to her equally tiny ones. "Why?" She asked, turning over in her sleeping bag that way she could hold your hand.

"You seem quieter lately and your dad seems..off." Andi overted eye contact. "Do you want to tell me something?" You asked gently.

"I-" Andi had tears brimming in her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it. I'm not allowed to talk about it. My mom will get mad."

"You don't have to tell her you told me." You sat up crossed legs and squeezed her hand as reassuringly as any near 8 year old could.

"I-i can't." Andi started crying and you pulled her into a hug. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"No, it's not your fault. I just wish I could say but I can't." She held onto you tightly and cried into you. You noticed a little bruise on her neck but said nothing, not wanting to upset her more.

"I-it's okay, Andi. I get it." The other girl tried to wipe her tears away and pulled out of the hug. "Y/n?"

"Yeah, Andi?" She smiled appreciatively at you. "Thanks for being my friend," She sniffled. "Best friends forever right?" You held your pinky out to her's. "Yeah," She giggled and pinky swore. "Best friends forever."

The next morning when Andi left, you mentioned something to your mother about the bruise. "..she was crying when you asked?"

"Alot, and I felt really bad because I want to help her but she won't tell me what's wrong." Your mother sighed. "Yeah well, people are different behind closed door sometimes, you know?"

"Yeah..like you and daddy?" Your mother tensed and looked at the clock on the stove. 11:30 and still not back from the bar.

"Y/n, if I tell you something will you promise to keep it a secret? Because you're special and I don't know if you already kn-"

"I won't tell," You promised. Your mother sighed and gripped the counter. "Y/n, mommy and daddy aren't going to be living together anymore."

"W-what? Why?" Your mom turned to look at you. "You know how daddy likes to drink beer?" You nodded. "Yes, but what does that have to do-"

"He pays more attention to beer than he does our family. When's the last time he tucked you into bed at night and read you a story?"

You had to think about it. "I don't know. Maybe a few months ago." Your smiled sadly. "That's too long. We all know your father loves us but he's sick and he's got to get help, okay?"

"Okay," You hummed softly, trying to suppress your sadness. "Will he come back home when he's feeling better?"

Your mother bit her lip. "I don't know, honey. Maybe. Either way though, it's going to be okay. Uncle Jeff that you like, is going to come stay with us while daddy's gone. It's all going to be as normal as I can make it, okay?"

"Okay, mama." She pulled you into a tight embrace and kissed your hair. "You're a good girl, Y/n. Stay as sweet as you are, promise me that?"

"I promise." You hugged her tightly, trying to brush off that feeling of bad.

Once your dad left for rehab in Colorado, you didn't have to beg and plead with Andi anymore to find out what was wrong at home. You knew what was wrong at home because you were also living it, except with your uncle.

The second you would get off the bus from school you'd go straight up to your room and only come out to eat dinner, hoping you'd avoid Uncle Jeff's wrath.

As things began to worsen at your house, Andi's house was near its all time low. Her mother, who you originally adored, you slowly began to despise.

"I don't want that girl in our house, anymore!" Andi's mother screamed while you were over the one night. "Why? Because you know she knows the truth as to what going on here?"

The sound of a slap radiated through the house to where you could hear it from upstairs. You didn't have to see it, to know what happened to Andi.

"There is no truth to your words! That poor girl actually has issues in her home. You lie! Your father has never done a thing to her. You polluted her mind with lies!"

"It's not lies, it's the truth!" Andi defended. ".."

The next morning when your mother came to pick you up Andi's mother stood at the door, arms crosses defiantly and Andi stood next to you. Anger ridden all over her face.

"..so you see, it's not your daughter that's the issue. It's mine," Her mother explained. "I see," Your mother said. You didn't have to be in her head to know she thought the woman talking to her was out of her mind.

"So if they want to continue seeing each other on the weekends, it'll have to be at your house since my child can't be trusted." Andi's mom wrapped an arm around her shoulder but Andi shoved it away.

"That's fine. I'll keep her every weekend. Y/n, say by to Andi. I've got to go home and make lunch."

"Okay." You turned and hugged Andi. "Bye," You hummed softly. "Bye, Y/n." As you grabbed your bag you could hear Andi's voice in your mind.

(You're going to be okay? Going home?)

(I don't really have a choice, do I? If you can make it, so can I.)

Her eyes widened as if she had something she left unsaid but she made no attempt to voice them. "Love you, Y/n/n."

"Love you too." You waved by to her and walked out to the car with her mom. "How's Jeff?" Your mom laughed and opened the driver door. "How do you think?"

It was hard growing up in the situation you did, but you and Andi managed. Your father, after months and months of rehab finally began to rekindle your once close bond.

You'd tell him everything but never about your Uncle. You knew if you did, he wouldn't hesitate to kill the man.

Around your freshman year of high school, the things with your uncle got worse and you tried to find other outlets besides venting to Andi.

You met what you thought was a 'nice boy' at your high school but after your first date the unthinkable happened and there you were, sitting in the bathroom at your house with your mom wiping the tears from your face.

"I can't believe it," You whispered in disbelief, looking down at the little white stick in your hand. "Y/n-" Your mom rubbed your back. "Two days. Two fucking days in your menstrual cycle is the window for a girl to get pregnant and he-"

"I know, I know." Your mom wiped your tears away. "Mama, what am I going to do?" You sobbed. "I don't know baby, but I'll think of something. Don't cry."

She wrapped her arms around you and you sobbed into her. "I'm scared.." You whimpered. "I know but it'll be okay. I'm going to talk to your father, see what he says to do. Because I don't want you have around Jeff longer than I have to."

She kissed the top of your head and patted your hair. "Andi coming over today?" You nodded and wiped your eyes. "Yeah, she's staying over the night."

"Good. How about I give you girls some money and you go see a movie while I figure out everything with your father?"

"Okay mama." You nodded. She grabbed the pregnancy test off the bathroom sink. "I'll put this in the dumpster that way Jeff doesn't see it." She stood up and squeezed your shoulder. "Hang in there honey, okay?"

"Okay." She kissed the top of your head. "Start getting ready for when she comes over." She shut the bathroom door, locking it behind her that way you could have some privacy.

You looked at yourself in the mirror for a few seconds and rubbed your face. "God, I'm a fucking mess." You stripped yourself of your clothes and got in the shower, trying to take your mind off stuff. When you got out of the shower you had a text notification on your phone from your dad.

'I talked to your mom. Don't cry. It's not your fault. What you went through is traumatic. Are you going to be okay to even have this baby?' You thought about it before answering. 'I mean, I think I should be. It's not like I have much of a choice.' You threw your bathroom on and walked over to your room to go get dressed.

You got changed into a cute pair of jeans and y/f/c blouse. You heard your phone vibrating on the dresser and turned to check it.

'Okay. I just wanted to check. Because you know if you weren't your mother and I wouldn't judge you, right?'

'I know.'

'Good. Love you, Y/n. I'll text you and let you know what's going on when you're out later.'

You swiped the message off the screen and flipped your hair other direction, lathering some moose into your hands and scrunching your hair. There was a knock on your door and you didn't look up. "Hey."

"Hey, Andi." You finished styling your hair and looked up at her, hoping she didn't notice the puffiness in your eyes from all your crying did earlier. "You look cute." She grinned and gave you a gently hug. "Thanks, so do you." You hug her back.

There another knock followed by the opening of the door. "Hi, Andi." Your mom smiled. "Hi, Y/m/n." She greeted. Your hand you her credit card. "Eat whatever you want, watch whatever you want, spend whatever you want. I don't care as long as you both don't get arrested."

You giggled. "Thanks mom." She kissed your cheek. "You're welcome, sweetie. You got the text about-"

"Yes." You nodded. "Good. You girls have fun and I'll see you when you get home, okay?" You smiled. "Okay mom. Love you."

"Love you too." Your mom shut the door behind her and Andi turned to look at you confused. "What was that about?" She asked. "It's nothing. Anyways, ready to go?"

"Yeah, lemme just plug my phone in." You raised a brow. "You're not going to bring it with you in case your mom calls?" Andi narrowed her eyes. "You think I really care what my mom has to say to me?"

"You're right. Dumb of me to say." Andi laughed and held your hand. "Come on, let's go." She dragged you down the stairs and the two of you walked to the movies together, hands intertwined together.

"This is nice," She hummed. "Just you and me. I know we see each other every week but I feel like it's hardly ever just you and I."

"Yeah.." You nodded, staring ahead ahead. "What's the matter?" Andi looked you up and down. "Nothing..just feeling a little off."

"Well everyone at school has had the sniffles and stuff lately so it's to be expected." You nodded absently. "Just need a good movie and thing of popcorn to lighten you up."

You laughed and shook your head. "Yeah..maybe I do." The two of you ended up seeing 'Gone with the Wind together.' You liked it but Andi couldn't be interested in the slightest. She laid her head on your shoulder and fell asleep about half way through.

Near the end credits you seen your notifications flicker blue on your phone out of the corner of your eyes and you swiped open.

'Talked to your mom. We're going to have you take a train to Colorado around Christmas and you're going to stay with me and I'll help you take care of the baby.'

'What about Uncle Jeff?'

'She's just going to tell him you refused to come home that way he doesn't suspect anything.' You sent a quick 'K,' and looked down at Andi. How were you even going to tell her? You shook her awake and Andi jumped. "What did I miss?"

"The entire second half," You laughed and Andi shrugged. "Eh, wasn't that interested anyways." She sat up. "Well, I went to Ulta Beauty the other day and I have facial and makeup stuff for you to try if you find that more interesting."

"Anything is more interesting then this." She wiped her eyes and you stood up holding your hand out to help her up. Andi took it without hesitation and took her back to your house.

One box of pizza and two face mask from Ulta Beauty later, you sat on the floor with Andi. Playing with blonde your hair you adored so much, talking about school stuff.

"..I just think it's stupid you know, shutting down the bathrooms for smoking of all things." She sighed frustratedly. "Yeah well, doesn't matter to me I guess. Won't be around that much longer anyways." You shrugged and went back to brushing her hair, not even realizing you slipped up at first.

"Wait, what?!" You mentally cursed yourself and Andi spun around to look at you. "What do you mean you're not going to be around much longer? Are you sick or something?" Her eyes went wide and she kneeled so that she was facing you.

(I'm pregnant, Andi.)

"The fuck did you just say to me?" She whispered.

(You heard me.)

(W-what? How? Why, I mean-)

(You know how.)

(Don't be a wiseass..Is it, you know..)

(Yeah.)

Andi's face softened and she wrapped her arms around your waist. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

(Don't be. It's not your fault.)

(I know but he hurt you.)

(If it wasn't him. It would of been my Uncle.)

"I was going to wait to tell you but my mom's too afraid of how my uncle will react so she's sending me to Colorado to give live with my dad."

Andi's already fair face went pale. "B-but that's not fair! How am I supposed to be able to see you then?"

"Andi, I-"

"It's not fair." She held your hands tightly in her's.

"I know." You squeezed her hands gently. "I need you, Y/n. I really do." She buried her head in your lap. "You're the only thing that really keeps me grounded at this point."

"I know but you have to be strong for me. Once this baby comes, I will find you and we can be together. You, me, and the baby." You kissed the top of her head.

"I don't know if I'll make it that long without you." She started crying and held onto you tightly as you rocked her. "I love you! I love you more than a best friend. I love you like you're my everything."

"I-i know. I love you too..I'm sorry Andi. I really am but I have to protect this baby."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault that motherfucker is a pig and forced himself on you. Just like I can't blame this kid because it's not the kid's fault either. I just-i'm scared for me and you." She took one of her hands away from you and gently rest it on your stomach.

"What will we do if the baby is a boy?" You asked with slight fear in your tone. "I don't know..just teach him right, I guess. To respect women and how to treat them. I don't think it's a boy though. I feel like it's a girl."

You nodded and wrapped your arms around her. "You're not mad?"

"No. How can I be? It's not your fault. I'm just mad they're taking you from me." Tears welled up in your eyes and you held onto Andi tight.

"I'm scared," You whispered softly and she held you close. "I know but once you have this kid and everything is more normal, I'll find you and don't worry about all that for right now. Just focus on today."

"It's so hard though when I have so many unanswered questions I don't know what will happen in the future." Andi held your hand tightly in hers. "Well either way, you have me and your family for support."

"Thanks Andi." You wrapped your arms around her and hugged her tightly. "This doesn't change our friendship?"

"Bitch, you know it doesn't." She grinned and held onto you tightly. "When do you leave?"

"A little before Christmas," You answered. "I'll help you pack and get ready to go or if you need your space, I'll give that too."

"Thanks Andi." She rubbed your back. "Of course."

(Andi?)

(Yeah, Y/n?)

(I love you.)

"Love you too, Y/n. I love you too."

Over the next few weeks Andi you spent the most time with Andi you had in a while, either going out to eat or just hanging out. She became your unofficial girlfriend in a way and you loved her more than ever.

The day it came for you to leave she snuck through your bedroom window late at night in an attempt to see you. Your mom said she wanted to spend the day with just you around but you knew you had to at least give her a proper goodbye.

She ran her fingers through your hair as she took in your features for the last time. "I'm going to miss you," You whispered so quietly you didn't know if Andi even heard you. "I-i'm gonna miss you too." She wrapped her arms around you and you both cried into each other. "I'll find you. I promise, Y/n."

You hicupped and buried your head in her chest. "I know. I'm just afraid of how long it'll take. Because what if you're too late-"

"No."

"And then something bad happens to one of us with our luck and by the time I see you-"

"None of that is going to happen. Alright? Our lives are going to get better. It has to. Because I don't think it can get much worse than this." Andi lifted your face up and wiped away some of your tears.

"But it always gets worse, before it gets better." Andi said nothing and pressed a kiss to your cheek and held your hand tightly in her's as she pulled away from you. "You're a badass bitch. You take good care of that kid, okay?"

"O-okay," You rasped and squeezed her hand for reassurance. "Maybe try not to make the kid as fucked up as us? Though if we're not trying to make them a fuck up, it'd still be cute to dress them up in little leather jackets."

You cracked a small and giggled even though your heart still ached inside. "I'll try my best."

"Y/n?! Are you coming? We have to leave for the train station soon," Your mother called out from downstairs.

"I'm coming!" You turned your gaze back to Andi. "I guess this is really goodbye then."

"Yeah.." In an unexpected gesture of affection, Andi leaned forward and kissed you on the lips. It took you by shock at first but once you felt how relaxed she felt and how nice her lips felt on yours, you relaxed and melted into the kiss.

What felt like an eternity later, Andi pulled back and ran a hand through your hair. "I love you," She hummed softly and took in all your features one last time.

"I love you too." You picked up your bag and walked towards the top step. "Goodbye for now, Andi."

The look she gave you sent a pang of sadness through you like no other. "Bye Y/n." She snuck out through your window and you both went your seperate ways....

[quicksilversquared]

Lost Heart Ch. 16

Uphill

Magic can be a dangerous thing to play around with, particularly when that magic is tangled up in a curse. When Nathalie Sancoeur experiments with magic that she doesn’t fully understand, it sends her on a path to become Paris’ most dangerous supervillain and tips the balance between superheroes and supervillain.

But which way will the balance fall?

links in the reblog

Adrien picked Marinette up at five-thirty on the dot on Saturday evening, dressed in a button-up and nice slacks, with a smart coat over the top. He grinned when he spotted her dress.

"Is that one you made yourself?" Adrien asked curiously, leaning forward to take a closer look at the embroidery working its way across the dress. "It's gorgeous."

Marinette smiled, trying to ignore the sight of her parents hanging around the door, clearly spying on her and Adrien. They were ecstatic at the news that the two of them were dating, which- well, Marinette really wished that she didn't have to lie to her parents. But it was for a good cause. "Thanks! Yeah, I made it myself. It was last summer's project, actually- the embroidery took forever."

"It was well worth the time, I'd say. The detail is fantastic." Adrien leaned closer, then clearly realized that he was really in her space and staring at her chest to boot. He hopped back with a yelp. "Sorry! I was just admiring your work. Did you embroider before you put the pieces together, or after? I see it goes over a seam there."

"All after," Marinette admitted with a wince. "Which I regretted a lot, honestly. I should have done most of it before, then the parts over the seams later on. It was a lot of extra fabric to wrestle with."

"Ooh, yeah, I can see that."

Marinette nodded, unsure what else to say in response to that. After the silence had stretched on for a few seconds, her father finally decided to stop pretending that he wasn't eavesdropping and bustled in, wiping the flour off of his hands and onto his apron.

"You two have fun on your date," he told them, beaming. "Marinette, your mom and I will probably be in bed when you come back. You have a key, right? You'll need it to come in. And remember to lock up."

"Lock up and send a text to Maman when I get in," Marinette said, nodding. Her mom had made sure to talk her through her nighttime check-in several times already. She had groaned and protested that I'm not going to forget, Mom, really after the second time, but Mrs. Cheng had just laughed and patted her arm, asking if Marinette was so certain that she would remember everything if Adrien gave her a good-night kiss.

It wasn't going to happen, Marinette knew that. At most, Adrien might press a quick kiss to her cheek before he had to take off to- well, to whatever it was that took up his evenings. Marinette would have to find a spot to transform and jump up to her room to grab the treatment bag, then get back down to the park before Chat Noir spotted her.

But that was later, and she would handle it as it came.

Her dad nodded. "Exactly! And if you need anything, text us. Otherwise, have fun."

"We will," Adrien assured him. "And we'll stay safe, too."

Mr. Dupain smiled. "I know you will. Now go on, you don't want to end up in a huge line waiting for dinner, that's no way to start a date. "

"Thanks, Papa!" Marinette bounced forward to hug her father, then joined Adrien again. "Shall we?"

Adrien grinned at her. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Marinette thought about it, then frowned. "Uh..."

"It's cold outside?" Adrien prompted. Marinette yelped- how could she have forgotten about her coat, that was so dumb- and hurried back to the stair banister to grab it and her purse from where she had hung them. Both Adrien and her dad were grinning at her when she turned back, coat zipped up and purse slung over her head.

"Stop laughing, I was excited," Marinette grumbled at her father, looping her arm through Adrien's and tugging him towards the door. "Okay, now I'm ready, let's go."

"Wait, so if your parents are going to be asleep, why do you have to text your mom when you get back?" Adrien asked as they walked down the sidewalk. "They won't see it until morning, right?"

"Mom usually wakes up at least once during the night," Marinette told him. "She's going to check her phone then. If she wakes up and I haven't texted, then they know to check in on me. If I text, then she can just roll over and go back to sleep."

"Oh, that's smart," Adrien said, nodding in understanding. "Otherwise you would have to go home pretty early, right? Since they go to bed super-early as bakers?"

Marinette nodded as they rounded the corner. "Yeah. I mean, before this year they always required that I come home before they went to bed, which- well, fair enough. But they didn't want us to have to rush."

Adrien grinned. "And I thank them for it."

They had decided to not go anywhere too fancy, since there was no reason to break the bank over a cover story. Still, they could tell from a block away that there was already a line of people waiting to be seated.

That wasn't the only thing they noticed.

"We have a tail," Adrien murmured, sliding his hand around Marinette's elbow and ducking down to speak directly into her ear as they headed up the block. "Nino and Alya and several of the other girls. They aren't being nearly as subtle as they think they are." He paused. "Hey, I thought that Nino was supposed to be playing video games with Max! Alya must have dragged him out."

Marinette groaned, trying not to blush bright red. She had told Alya not to follow her and Adrien, and clearly she hadn't listened. They would probably justify it as oh, at least it wasn't your FIRST date, but that didn't make it better.

Besides, no matter what they had told their friends, it was their first date. A fake first date, but it was a start.

"We'll have to put on a show for them," Adrien said, pulling Marinette closer. She could feel him hesitate for a moment. "Uh. What- how close should we be acting?"

Marinette resisted the urge to suggest kissing. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to do that unless Adrien actually meant it and besides, this wasn't exactly the place for that. Instead, she tried to think back to when Alya and Nino had started dating. "Uh...cuddling? I think Nino and Alya were doing a lot of that early on."

"Cuddling and giggling," Adrien agreed with a nod. "We can do that. I was thinking that it might be a good idea anyway, honestly, since my fans tend to take pictures of me when they spot me out and then post them online." He cringed. "Which you knew already. This isn't exactly the first time you've been called my girlfriend."

Marinette nodded with a wince of her own. It was hard to forget that particular incident. Chased across the city in her pajamas- at least Adrien had said that they were cute- by Adrien's too-excitable fans, an interrupted movie not-date, followed up by a nerve-wracking akuma battle that saw Adrien almost killed.

Hopefully tonight would be a little less exciting. A lot less exciting, really.

They joined the line, and from her new position, Marinette could clearly see Rose and Alya peering over a bench. They were getting some pretty funny looks, but funny looks had never bothered her friends.

"They won't be able to follow us inside, hopefully," Adrien pointed out, wrapping an arm around Marinette's shoulders and pulling her close. Marinette huddled closer, a little giddy at the contact and more than happy to huddle with Adrien against the cold. "And we'll have to lose them before eight-thirty."

Marinette sighed. "Hopefully they'll get bored. Otherwise, we're going to have to shake them. A little chase on the subway might throw them off, but I don't..." She glanced over at Adrien. He had only had his first ride on the subway that year, he had told them, and he had only been on the city buses once, too. "I don't know how well you know the city. I don't want you to get lost."

Adrien smiled at her. "That's nice of you to be worried! But maybe we can do subway one way and then take a bus back? Or we could start on the bus, because they wouldn't be able to get on without us noticing and they would know that."

"I like the way you think!" Marinette held out her free fist and Adrien bumped it. Then she perked up. "Hey, the line is moving forward!"

"I think we might be able to get inside- yep, there was a huge family holding up the line." Adrien held open the door for Marinette to get in, then followed her. "Hopefully there'll be less of a wait for us, since we just need a table for two."

As it turned out, Adrien was right. The wait wasn't bad at all, and then they were being led to a table by the window.

Marinette groaned internally, and one glance to the side told her that Adrien felt the same. Their friends could definitely spy on them if they were sitting at the window. But there was no way that they could ask for a different table without looking seriously stuck-up and picky and besides, most of the small tables for two were either at or near the windows.

"They could still get bored of watching us talk without being able to overhear," Adrien suggested as he pulled out Marinette's chair for her. "And watching us eat. Speaking of which- want to split an appetizer?"

Even though the date was fake and the people around them probably couldn't care less about a couple of teens out together, Adrien was playing the perfect boyfriend. Marinette tried not to become a blushing pile of goo.

It was fake, she had to remember that. She and Adrien were good friends now, and so she had to act normally. Besides, Adrien was going to have his life flipped upside down sometime soon, with his father and Nathalie going to jail and his mom mysteriously reappearing out of thin air. He would need all of the friendly support he could get, and if Marinette was reading Adrien right, if he was dating, he would get stressed out feeling like he had to still be a good boyfriend during that fallout.

It wasn't a good time to get into a relationship. It could wait.

Even though it wasn't a date, Marinette was having a fantastic time. She and Adrien split a lovely appetizer- some sort of spinach-artichoke dip that Adrien had recommended- and then tasted each other's dishes once they arrived, chatting the whole time. Adrien knew a lot about fashion, so they spent a good ten minutes talking about the trends. At one point, they wandered a little too close to the topic of Gabriel and Adrien visibly stiffened up. Hastily, Marinette changed the subject to fashion trends in America, and Adrien slowly relaxed again.

Clearly he still suspected that something was up at home. Marinette had to wonder how much he suspected, or if it was just a nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right. Maybe he had seen Nathalie and noticed that something was very wrong, or maybe his father wasn't quite doing as good of a job as he had intended at hiding his stress from Nathalie seizing his Miraculous.

From there, their conversation wandered. They chatted about school and classes and friends. Adrien brought up fencing, and Marinette managed to slip in a question about where Kagami went to school. They touched on the upcoming holiday party and their plans for picking up the party supplies that Ms. Bustier had ordered on their request, and then wandered off into talking about anything and everything and nothing, all at once.

By the time they finished their meal and paid, Marinette's cheeks hurt from smiling. She and Adrien had finished off their meal with a round of punning, puns getting increasingly more ridiculous until they collapsed in giggles and the other diners started giving them dirty looks. They were still snickering as they headed out the door and towards a fro-yo shop that Marinette knew about.

"I never knew that you were such a punner, Mari," Adrien said with a laugh, looping his arm through hers again. "We gotta pun more often. Nino hates it, I swear. I wanna see if he'll actually start whacking his head against the wall, like he always threatens that he's going to do."

Marinette laughed. "We'll have to. It'll- it'll make things look more real."

"Speaking of which- apparently our friends have no life." Adrien gave his head a small jerk back and to the side. "They're still following us."

"Head to the bus station after we get our fro-yo, then?"

Adrien checked his phone. "Is it almost eight already? Where did the time go?" He flopped face-first down on Marinette's shoulder. "But I was having fun."

Marinette laughed. "We could always do this again sometime. Everyone is probably going to expect it, after all."

"And maybe we can make reservations somewhere next time so we don't spend so much time waiting to be seated." Adrien made a face. "I honestly wasn't expecting that. I thought five-thirty was a perfect time to go to dinner, early enough to beat the rush and get our meal at a good time."

"At least we didn't have to wait out in the cold the whole time," Marinette pointed out. "That was only a couple minutes."

Adrien laughed. "At least you had your coat." He grinned when Marinette swatted at his arm. "And now, when it's cold outside, we're getting frozen yogurt."

"But it's so good! And we can eat it inside."

If Marinette weren't already in love with Adrien, the way he threw his head back to let out a free, wholehearted laugh would have had her falling for him all over again.

Still, no matter how fun the evening had been, it needed to come to an end. Adrien had some sort of commitment, and Marinette...well, she had to go take care of her Ladybug duties. There were the potions to give to Adrien's mom, and then Master Fu had contacted them to let them know that the potion was almost ready and they could come over after they came out of the catacombs to learn it. So once the last bit of yogurt had been scraped from the bottoms of their cups, they hopped on a bus to ride the handful of blocks back to their neighborhood. Outside of the windows of their bus, Adrien and Marinette watched as their friends' faces fell as they realized that they couldn't follow the two of them any longer. As the bus started up, Adrien made eye contact with the group of stalkers and smirked, making it clear as anything that they had been caught. Marinette couldn't help snickering as she watched the shock spread across their expressions.

Busted.

"Will you be all right getting home?" Adrien asked as they hopped off the bus. He was checking his watch. "I should walk you there, I feel-"

"Adrien, I live literally a block away. I'll be fine," Marinette assured him. "Besides, I have something to do before I go home."

Adrien relaxed and nodded. "Right! Right, I knew that. Okay, then, uh..." He stuck out his hand, suddenly awkward. "Good night?"

Marinette laughed, grabbing his hand and using it to tug Adrien towards her so that she could press a kiss to his cheek. "Good night, Adrien."

Adrien flushed red but grinned as he returned the gesture. He took a step back, waved, and then turned to head off down the road. Marinette watched him go until he rounded a corner, unable to resist wondering what Adrien was up to. She hoped that he was safe and not taking any risks, but she wasn't going to pry. After all, Adrien hadn't pried into what she was going to be doing or why she needed to have a cover story ready. And he was smart, Marinette had to remember that. His father was ridiculously strict, too, so Adrien might be up to something entirely innocent.

Sighing, Marinette turned and headed for the park to transform behind a tree. She couldn't worry about Adrien right now. After all, she had another Agreste to go focus on.

  "Girl, I want deets!"

Marinette laughed as Alya pounced on her in the park, the other girls not far behind her. She had known this would happen when they came out to do some caroling near City Hall, but since there was no point in pushing it off to Monday (or risking having Alya storm her room), Marinette had decided to just bite the bullet. "I know you were following us the entire time, Alya. You saw how it went."

Alya groaned. "We couldn't get close enough to overhear anything! So, like I said- deets?"

"I feel like I should be alarmed by that statement," Marinette said dryly. "Considering that it implies that you tried."

Alya only shrugged. "Hey, you hadn't told me about the two-possibly-more dates it was that you had before this one, I thought it was only fair. And it wasn't just that there were only minimal details, there were no details. We didn't even know that these date were happening, and what kind of thanks is that when we spent so much time trying to get you and Adrien together?"

Marinette's cheeks flamed as she tried to discretely glance around to make sure that Adrien wasn't in earshot. She really didn't want him to find out about her crush and think that she had been taking advantage of the situation or anything. But Adrien was with Nino several meters back, peering at something on Nino's cell phone, completely oblivious to the interrogation that Marinette was about to undergo.

At least he had been able to stick with her for the first round of interrogation.

"I told you before, we were trying to keep it low-profile because of his father and fans," Marinette tried weakly, wishing more than ever that she and Adrien had claimed that it was their first date instead of saying that they were several dates in. Adrien hadn't known how invested Alya would be, though, so she couldn't blame him too much. "And we wanted to make sure that we were, y'know, actually compatible as more than friends before we told the class and had them rooting for us." She crossed her arms and gave Alya a dry look. "Besides, you never told me any details about how you and Nino got together. And I didn't interrogate you about any of your dates."

"Okay, fair enough," Alya admitted. "I'll let you off on the first dates. But I gotta know what went on on this one. It seemed like you two were having a lot of fun."

Marinette smiled at the memory. "We were! We ended up in a pun-off at the end of dinner-"

Alix groaned. "Okay, okay, we don't need to know about that part, that's boring. Also weird."

"Not if you see it for what it is- flirting!" Alya grinned. Then she leveled a look at Marinette. "Though I gotta ask- who was humoring who?"

This time, Marinette blinked, puzzled. "Who was- what do you mean?"

"Don't tell me that you both happen to like punning- oh, there is no way," Alya complained when Marinette grinned and nodded, utterly amused. "Oh, come on."

Alix gagged loudly.

"But what else did you do besides the punning?" Rose asked eagerly. "What happened during dinner?"

"What did you eat?" Juleka chimed in.

After a moment's consideration, Marinette decided that it would be best to just tell the truth- to an outsider, it would sound like a date. And since Marinette's friends were eager to see anything and everything in a romantic light- even the pun battle!- it would easily be enough. She started with the appetizers, and the fact that they had split it had Rose cooing. When she mentioned that she and Adrien had sampled each other's dinners, her friends started awwing.

...Marinette had thought that it was pretty normal, honestly. That way, they got to try more dishes without buying a sampler platter. It wasn't as though they had been feeding each other or anything.

"Okay, I'll admit, I was ready to do some hardcore judging of that food question, but I'm glad you did ask," Alix told Juleka. "That's cute."

"Did you share your fro-yo, too?" Rose asked eagerly. She squealed when Marinette nodded. "So cute!"

"He was curious about the combo I had," Marinette told them, smiling as she remembered the surprised face Adrien had made when he tried her salty-sweet combo. He had clearly expected it to taste awful. "And then it was only fair that I taste-tested his, too."

"Soon you'll be graduating to sharing one ice cream cone," Alya told her with a grin. "Without using a spoon to eat it."

Rose clapped her hands together eagerly. "Or with spoons, but using them to feed each other! That would be super-cute!"

Marinette let herself giggle and relax. "It's a little too cold for ice cream right now, I think. Adrien was already teasing me about the fro-yo last night."

As her friends went into another round of cooing over that, Marinette let herself sit back and enjoy it, pretending for a minute that she was a normal girl with a completely normal life, no fake relationships or worries about supervillains weighing her down. She would have to come back to reality soon enough- after all, she couldn't forget herself around Adrien and Ladybug always needed to be on the lookout for akumas (and she had to visit Master Fu later in the afternoon for more spell training)- but for now, this was nice.

  Jade Turtle was with them again, for the first time since their very first visit.

"You know your parts of the spell, right?" he checked as they walked down the now-familiar tunnels. "Everyone is ready? No one is going to mix up this spell with the defensive ones I was teaching you earlier?"

Chat Noir nodded, and he could see Ladybug's sharp nod next to him. He couldn't deny the nerves that were building up in his stomach now, twisting and turning and making him feel ill.

They were going to be waking up his mom tonight. At least, they would be if everything went to plan.

Like usual, the cavern was empty except for Mrs. Agreste. That didn't stop them from glancing around warily as they approached, knowing that the Purple Lady could very well be only a short elevator ride away. Jade Turtle started setting out the candles with practiced ease as Ladybug started administering the potion, one to two drops at a time. Chat Noir let out a breath, trying to focus and center himself like Master Fu had told him to do.

He had to focus on what the likely outcomes were and the truth of the situation, and it didn't look bad at all. His mom was gaining strength and wasn't in the danger zone. If the spell failed this time, they would run through a few more times before giving up for the night. They would make more of the potion- which wouldn't take long at all, now that they had all of the ingredients and in excess- and try again as soon as they could. They wanted it to work sooner rather than later, sure, but it wasn't the end of the world if their first run-through tonight was a failure.

Chat Noir's nerves calmed at the reminder.

"It will probably take another ten minutes for Ladybug to finish up," Jade Turtle told Chat Noir, lighting up one last candle before coming over to join him. "And then we'll try the spell. As soon as it works..."

"Minimal explanations as we get her out of here," Chat Noir finished. "In case Nathalie feels the magic pulse and comes down to investigate. And if she does, Trixx will be down here to make illusions to make it look and sound like nothing's changed."

Jade Turtle nodded. "Precisely."

Chat Noir couldn't help but feel tense as he watched Ladybug drip the last of the potion into his mom's mouth. Her focus and determination was a steadying force for sure, but- he could have his mom again. Maybe he wouldn't get to see her as Adrien right away- or maybe she would demand to see him and his father would give in- but she would be alive and moving and not in which might as well be a glass coffin underground. He watched as Ladybug checked the vial to make sure that it was empty, and then she turned around.

"We're ready. Let's go."

Later on, Chat Noir would have to admit that he didn't remember most of the spellcasting. He had kept his eyes trained on Ladybug in order to not get distracted by any movements that his mom made. He had clicked into autopilot, reciting the words that he had practiced so many times until he reached the end. He and his partner had stood on either side of the coffin-bed with their hands linked together, and Ladybug hadn't complained about how tight his grip no doubt was. Blue magic swirled around them in the corners of their vision, casting the entire space in a eerie blue glow.

And then it condensed around his mom, and she glowed for several seconds before the light vanished all at once.

There was a gasp, and only once Ladybug looked down and loosened her grip on Chat Noir's hands did he allow himself to look down, too. His mom was stirring properly now, groaning as she stretched and opened her eyes.

Chat Noir did his best to not collapse in relief.

And then Emilie Agreste blinked and absolutely bolted upright. Ladybug and Chat Noir had their hands out in a flash to stabilize her if needed, but she seemed steady enough.

"What happened? Where-" Her head whipped around, landing on the three of them. "Who are you?"

"It's all right, Mrs. Agreste," Ladybug said immediately, and Chat Noir couldn't help but be relieved that he didn't have to talk right now. He wasn't entirely certain that his voice would work properly. "We'll explain everything fully later on, but we need to get out of here first. How are you feeling? Are you able to get up?"

Mrs. Agreste accepted Ladybug's hand as she slowly slid down to the bottom of the bed. She paused when she met the bottom, and Chat Noir hastily moved over to lift her up and over, gently letting her feet down to the floor before stepping back. She wavered for a second, but held up a hand to stop them from helping her. "Why do we need to get out of here? This is my hideout. My house is just- it's over here, there's an elevator-"

"I'm sorry, but you can't go back there right now," Ladybug said firmly, and Mrs. Agreste's eyes snapped to her. "There's been some incidents while you were asleep."

"How long-?" Mrs. Agreste glanced around, then back at the bed where she had laid. She gasped. "Oh my. None of that medical stuff was there before, and my plants were smaller, I know that. How long was I out for?"

Jade Turtle stepped forward with a small bow. "Around a year and a half, I'm afraid. I'm sorry that I wasn't aware before that the Peacock was out and being used while under a curse, or I would have come before."

"A year and a half!" Mrs. Agreste looked like she was on the verge of fainting. "And it's dangerous to go up now- did the demons come back? And my son- he doesn't know anything about all of this- is he okay?"

"You did a fantastic job pushing the demons back before you collapsed," Jade Turtle assured her, removing his shield-shell-hat from his head and letting it hover in midair. "There's not been any sign of them since. But there's another situation, and they could have noticed the magical pulse, so we need to evacuate and explain on the way."

Mrs. Agreste nodded as she let him help her into the shell. It dipped down a little lower for Jade Turtle to climb in, and then he led the way towards the back entrance. Ladybug followed them, and Chat Noir brought up the tail of the group. As they headed down the walkway- quickly, before Nathalie could come- Chat Noir looked back in time to see Trixx winding his way back to the little grove. He spotted Chat Noir watching and winked before a puff of orange smoke moved into the box, taking the form of Mrs. Agreste. The faint beeping started up again, so quiet that it was only because of his enhanced hearing that Chat Noir was able to hear it at all. Presumably it would get louder once they left and it wouldn't stir any more questions in his mom.

Just as they left the cavern and Chat Noir swung the door shut behind him, he heard the faint mechanical whirring of the elevator as it descended into the lair. He hastily shut the door, hearing it click as the lock slid into place. As an extra precaution, he shoved a few loose chunks of rock up against the door before sprinting after the rest of the group.

The rest of the group, where Ladybug was filling Mrs. Agreste in on what was going on, though he noticed that she wasn't sharing quite all of the details yet. They didn't want to overwhelm his mom, after all, since she had only just woken up.

Still, his mom had been a superhero and she was as smart as Ladybug. Chat Noir could see her picking up on where Ladybug was leaving gaps in the information, and he could see her frowning in thought as she tried to fill those gaps in with the knowledge that she had.

Her frown got deeper as she put together the dots and realized who was behind the akuma attacks and Mayura's appearance.

"I spent a huge chunk of my life dedicating myself to being a superhero, and what does my husband turn to to get me back as soon as I collapse? Supervillainry!" Mrs. Agreste exclaimed as soon as Ladybug finished talking. Ladybug, who hadn't quite gotten around to explaining who Hawkmoth and Mayura were- or at least, who they had been- looked startled. "He'll be getting a piece of my mind for sure. I can see why we couldn't go back upstairs. And Nathalie! I thought she was better than that."

"She's more dangerous now," Ladybug said quietly, as though she was trying to lessen the blow from her words. "She started out using Body when she used the Peacock, but then she switched to Heart."

Chat Noir could see his mom's eyes close as she mouthed no.

"Also if it helps, Mr. Agreste turned himself in to us as soon as he overheard us mentioning that we knew how to break the curse and also a cure," Ladybug offered, though it sounded a little weak. "He's been working with us ever since. But, uh, Nathalie noticed that he wasn't doing a very good job and she, uh. Took the Butterfly Miraculous."

This time, Mrs. Agreste's wince was a lot more obvious.

"She hasn't tried using them together yet, at least," Chat Noir chimed in, finally feeling confident enough that his voice would sound normal now. "But we have to keep an eye on the situation, of course, because it could change at any moment."

Mrs. Agreste nodded. "Understood." She glanced around at them, and Chat Noir could tell that her energy was starting to flag already, though she was doing her best to hide it. With a jolt, he remembered her doing the same thing before she vanished. She would come into his room to talk to him for a bit or play piano with him, then leave for a "meeting" or a "phone call" for several hours. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time because that had been his normal, but now, with the information that he had...

"I made reservations in a small hotel for tonight and tomorrow night," Jade Turtle said before Mrs. Agreste could ask any more questions. "With instructions for them to not come in during the day. I'm not a huge fan of their security or their location, so I was thinking that for the longer term, we might try to move you to the Grand Paris during the second night."

"But that's so expensive!" Mrs. Agreste exclaimed. "I mean, I like the Grand Paris, the rooms are so nice and large, but I don't exactly have my credit card on me."

"We have connections at the Grand Paris," Jade Turtle told her before turning around to face a puzzled Ladybug and Chat Noir. They hadn't heard this part of the plan yet. "Queen Bee is there. With the right incentive, I believe that she could set up the room and bring meals, so we can keep the news of your return from getting out."

Chat Noir perked up. Oh, that was so smart! Chloe had been a bit better recently (well, at least after Ladybug had made a special trip to the Grand Paris several months prior to tell her in no uncertain terms that Chloe would not be helping with any of the akuma that she played a role in creating and she would get her superhero privileges revoked if she didn't stop behaving in a way that upset people), and she had loved his mom. She would 100% help and probably set things up so that his father wouldn't get charged until later on, when they could be sure that Nathalie wouldn't notice it.

"And for meals for tomorrow?" Ladybug asked. "I mean, I'm sure Mrs. Agreste is hungry right now."

"I have some food packed," Jade Turtle assured them. "And I brought money, if one of you could swing down to a take-out place to pick up dinner for tonight."

Chat Noir's hand was up to volunteer in an instant. He knew his mom's favorite place and her favorite thing to order there. He was sure that if Ladybug went she would pick out something good, but he wanted to give his mom the best possible welcome back. "I can do that!"

Jade Turtle smiled. "Thank you, Chat Noir." Then his attention slid back to Mrs. Agreste. "Now, we heard some information about how you ended up where you were, but we were lacking a bit on the specifics. You said something about demons?"

"It was what we called them, yes," Mrs. Agreste said, hiding a yawn. "Every so often, it would seem as though a hole tore across the sky, and these- these things would come out. And I would transform, and Nathalie would accept the feather, and the being that came from her would fight back the demons. When they were back through the hole, it would close…for a time, at least. And I would use a spell to- to make Paris forget. We didn't want people to panic."

Jade Turtle nodded, and Chat Noir did, too. He remembered Master Fu mentioning something similar before, a portal or sorts between worlds. It still sounded odd, like something that would never happen in their world, but, well…

He could have said the same thing about akuma attacks once upon a time, too. Maybe it was just a matter of getting used to the strange.

"I wanted to find a spell to close the portal for good, because with every transformation, my energy got drained a little more. We…" Mrs. Agreste started, before cutting off with an alarming wobble. They all reached out to steady her.

"Okay, story time can wait until later," Jade Turtle said quickly. "Guys, let's focus on getting out quickly now."

The rest of the trip back up to the surface took almost no time at all. Pollen popped out of the manhole cover to make sure that the coast was clear, and then they all clambered up.

"Oh, it's chilly," Mrs. Agreste said almost at once, wrapping her arms around herself. "It's winter, isn't it? Which means I've been gone for closer to a year and a half. More, even."

"I did pack a jacket!" Ladybug announced, pulling her yo-yo off of her hip and opening it up. "Chat Noir and I had talked about getting trench coats so that we would be less visible going down into the drain and, well, I never found one in my size, but I had bought a larger one. And- ah-ha! Right here!"

Mrs. Agreste blinked as Ladybug pulled a very long trench coat out of her very small yo-yo with all the flair of Mary Poppins producing a coat rack from a carpetbag. "I- uh, thank you."

"That will help you blend in, too," Jade Turtle announced. "All right, Mrs. Agreste. Let's get you into your hotel room so that you can get some food and a bit of sleep. We can get you fully caught up with as many details as you want tomorrow."

"All right," Mrs. Agreste agreed, settling the coat across her shoulders with all the ease of a practiced supermodel. "That sounds fabulous. Lead the way."

[ecofinisher]

The Adventures of Super Nathan 3 - Chap 18

Chapter 18

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13531960/18/The-Adventures-of-Super-Nathan-3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23301076/chapters/58146259

https://www.wattpad.com/884038032-the-adventures-of-super-nathan-3-chapter-18

On the next day, Adrien sat on the back of the car together with Kagami as the bodyguard was driving them through the city.

„Jin and Rory texted me saying they would help me out, during this month. So at least I would just do good at the school and with the time I come back what it was before,“

„Won‘t this be a little too much to handle?“ Kagami questioned the boyfriend.

„It takes more of my free time, but I‘ve got no choice“ Adrien answered. „I make sure to set after work an hour first to relax or clean up my head before I go back to learning“

„That‘s going to be a long month“ Kagami stated earning a nod from the blonde.

„As long as my friends and you are with me, it‘s bearable“ Adrien claimed seeing the girlfriend turn pink on her face and lean her head on his shoulder. „About this here I can‘t say the same,“

„Maybe you find there a friend“ Kagami mentioned making Adrien shrug his shoulders.

„Who knows, “ Adrien said and the bodyguard stopped in front of a bus station, where two police agents stood along with a few men and women dressed in their daily outfit, additionally an orange vest over it. „Those must be the others“ Adrien mentioned, then recognized on the back his old school colleague Kim Chien Le. „Hey isn‘t that Kim?“

„Uh yes, it is“ Kagami answered. „At least you got there someone, you know“

„Yes“ Adrien replied picking up his bag, then he gave Kagami a goodbye kiss. „See you tonight“ Adrien left the vehicle to approach the group, then the agent ticked off on his list Adrien‘s name as he spotted him.

„Welcome Mr. Agreste,“ The police officer announced, then looked at his partner. „Only three haven‘t arrived yet. Bring the group into the station, I will see if the remaining convicts appear“

„Sure, ladies and gentlemen, follow me“ The second policeman ordered walking along with the group into the station.

„Hey Kim, I wasn‘t expecting you here, “ Adrien said giving the Vietnamese man his hand to shake.

„Hey Adrien, what a surprise,“ Kim answered. „You were the last person I expected to encounter here“

„It‘s a stupid story. I had with Kagami and an old friend of her dinner and he tried to frame me making me look like I had pulled him under a car“

„What?“

„Also no one saw, what really happened and we both got punished,“

„That‘s mean“ Kim confessed.

„What about you?“

„I drove around 160km on the highway, where it‘s supposed to be 130km/h and got caught by a police officer“ Kim answered. „Including for two months, I‘m not allowed to drive“ „Oh….and how long are you here?“

„I‘ve been here for three weeks. This is my last week“

„Oh I got three weeks“ Adrien recounted. „Are we always going to the train station to clean or also somewhere else?“ „It variates“ The former classmate answered. „Be glad, if you don‘t have to remove the cigarette butts from the railways. That‘s the worst job to do“

„I remember seeing the staff from the train station doing that“ Adrien mentioned. „Yeah I believe that it is annoying“

The group walked across the hall at the railways of the trains, that had departed to the outside of France.

„Hmm if I had come earlier I would have seen Max‘s his mother, “ Kim said looking at Adrien, which nodded.

„So this will be a long morning for us all. You all were assigned in a quartet to remove all the trash and cigarette butts from between the stones at the railways,“ The policeman announced making notes on his sheet. „I will make the groups and if there‘s a problem between some of you, you‘re all old enough to solve it, I will only interrupt if necessary. There‘s no need to escape, cause if you do your punishment will take longer and I believe all of you want this to be over as soon as possible“ The policeman recounted earning a nod from a few of the offenders. „So railway 1-3 will be taken by François Hérbert, Paul Van Dirk, Léonardo Dinozzo and Vasco Cavalo“ The policeman read watching the group walk to the first railway and stood there. „My partner will soon give you the necessary tools for the job…..next group is Florentina Rexha, Karl Kastner, Evangeline Dupont and Lauren Fitzpatrick for railways 4,5 and 6“

„I think those are the rest for the group“ Kim mentioned pointing at three guys coming towards the group and Adrien widened his eyes as he saw Raiden was there too.

„What is he doing here?“ Adrien asked earning a confused look from the old classmate.

„Is that the guy, who tried to frame you?“ Kim asked, then the Japanese man stopped by the two.

„Wow I wasn‘t expecting to see you here, “ Raiden said a little less surprised as Adrien. „And is that your friend Jin?“

„No that‘s Kim“ Adrien corrected. „Kim‘s Vietnamese and Jin is Chinese,“ „Okay I didn‘t really want to know the difference, but thanks,“

„Why would you anyway?“ Adrien asked making Raiden shake his head.

„I know I acted like an idiot the other day, but I can assure you to make it better“

„As if you could“ Adrien crossed his arms.

„The next group is Z…...Tsaynep?“

„It‘s Zeynep“ A tan-skinned girl corrected.

„Zeynep…..Emre?“ The policeman asked earning a nod from the girl. „Leon Carlson, Kevin Hofferson and Pete McCallister,“

„I bet we‘re going to be in the same group“ Kim mentioned seeing only eight of the group, that weren‘t called.

„I wouldn‘t be surprised, “ Raiden and Adrien said at the same time, then the policeman looked at the rest of the group and called out the next four persons.

„Adrien Agreste, Kim Chien Le, Raiden Soto and Fernando Maga…...magalhais?“

„Just say, Fernando. I know, not everyone knows how to pronounce it“ The raven-haired man said walking forward along with Adrien, Kim and Raiden.

„Okay, railway 9 and 10. The last four take 11 and 12“

„Okay after the work you two owe me ten euros, “ Kim said as a joke walking between Adrien and Raiden, which glared at each other

„Don‘t worry you two. When this is all over, you can hate each other so much you want but as long as you two are here you should at least be able to act normal with each other,“ Kim suggested the two, then stopped all by the 9th railway and watched the policemen share the utensils for the job. „Or just ignore each other, while you‘re all cleaning the railway. If it makes you two feel better“

„There you go, four long pliers for you to grab the trash and one bucket per Group. One has the garbage bag for everyone to disposit the full bucket“ The policeman informed earning a nod from the quartet.

„We‘ve got the best sight here to the street“ Fernando mentioned looking at the streets, where a few cars passed by.

„If this was Monaco, I would believe you“ Kim added getting down at the rail followed by Adrien.

I haven‘t been there yet, is it great?“ The blonde asked making the raven-haired man shake his head.

„No, but I‘d like to if I get time one day“ Kim answered. „Mostly to go on the car spotting“

„Ah yes, I‘d love to see a Noserati for real“ Fernando mentioned. „Mostly the Noserati TransTour“

„There are better cars out there, “ Raiden said using the plier to try to pick a cigarette butt from between the rocks.

„You know, what I want to see one day?“ Kim asked seeing the guys shake their head while Adrien was the only one collecting the trash. „A Bullatti Voyage“

„I knew you were one of those Bullatti fanboys“

„I‘m not only a Bullatti fanboy, but I‘m also a GTS fanboy“

„Eh a GTS can‘t even compete with a Noserati“ Fernando stated picking with his plier the trash from the rail along with the raven-haired Asian.

„Lean the car out to a tuning shop in Japan and let it race one time towards a Noserati or a Bullatti and you‘ll be surprised to see the results, “ Raiden said earning a nod from the South European man.

„I know what you mean“

„I don‘t know all the car‘s speeds, but for me another car beats your favorite“ The Japanese man noted earning a nod from Kim.

„I know one too, but people keep forgetting, that it exists“ Adrien pointed out earning an interested look from his former classmate.

„Wow must be a rare one“ Raiden joked sarcastically making Adrien frown at the comment. „The best vehicle is the Küngsëgg,“

„I like the Küngsëgg….“ Adrien said at the same moment as Raiden said his opinion, then both looked at each other surprise. „What?“

„Yes I like the Küngsëgg. What‘s so bad about it?“

„I like it too“ Adrien mentioned. „I was just surprised about it“

„Not only you…..and which Küngsëgg model is your favorite?“

„The Aqua RS“ The former model responded. „Yours“

„Also that one and the Venera ST“

„Cool“ Adrien agreed. „Do you have any racing games or aren‘t you interested in video gaming“ „I‘ve got GTV, Need for Velocity 1-3, Fast and Turbo Kyoto Drift and Extreme Racing 2 and 3, “ Raiden told making Adrien smile a little.

„I‘ve got Kyoto Drift and Extreme Racing 3“ Adrien pointed out. „Both completed“

„Nice, how long did you take?“

„I don‘t know“ Adrien responded. „Also I haven‘t played a lot since I entered university and my little sister was born“

„I haven‘t played a lot, only with a cousin of mine online“

„Okay“

„Hey this is just an idea and if you got time, we could have a few little matches with each other online,“

„I don‘t know if this will work out for me“

„It‘s okay, it‘s just an idea“

„I can have a match with you on Extreme Racing 3. I sometimes have one with my friend Max, we could the four play together in a team mode or against each other“

„I kind of enjoyed playing with Nino capture the flag“ Adrien confessed making Kim smile.

„Yeah, you, me, Max, Nino and Raiden could be a team. With me and Max, our team will turn into legends“

„Really?“ Raiden asked curiously. „How so?

„We‘re in France at the top 100 and if we‘re all good enough and play often we could reach it to the top ten or up“ Kim answered earning a nod from the Japanese man.

„I don‘t know about your skills, but I was the best one from my school friends back in Japan“

„I was better than Nino“ Adrien answered making Kim chuckle. „But I can race in the game without crashing….unless it‘s provoked by the other gamers“

„Then we got our dream team,“ Kim announced. „We just need a perfect name“ „We got time for that“Adrien advised.

„Someone needs to explain to me, why people throw their cigarettes into the railway when there are trash cans all over the place“ Fernando complained earning a nod from the trio.

„I feel bad for the others, that have to do it“ Kim mentioned. „Another time I saw someone throw his cigar into the railway and he stood right next to an astray. I think those kind of people are just jerks“

„Some of those people need free samples of condoms or a large sheet on their back pointing out of their behavior“ Fernando added while picking another cigar up, then she got annoyed as it felt down again. „Come on!“

„What‘s are you talking about the condoms?“ Adrien asked bewildered at Fernando‘s sentence, then Kim placed his arm around Adrien.

„That‘s a dick-poncho you use to put it down there to prevent any of your boys to leave and make a new wonder in your girl‘s body“

„I know, what it is. I just wanted to know, why he said it like that. I didn‘t get it“

„It‘s like stupid people should use that to stop reproducing more stupidity, got it?“

„Oh okay“

„Also this doesn‘t work out, cause mainly stupid people reproduce, because they didn‘t use it and that‘s why I and my future kids exist“ „That sounds weird“

„It‘s not weird I and Chloé are becoming parents because we didn‘t use it“

„Oh“

„Well Chloé has her parents and some of the staff from the hotel like Jean the butler. They will help us out. I mean one baby can‘t do so much work for all“

„With my little sister it was okay, but she usually cried a lot during the night,“ Adrien mentioned earning a nod from Kim. „But hey you‘re a cool guy, your kid will like it to have you as a dad“

„Thanks Adrien,“ Kim said continuing his job along with the rest of the quartet.

[missmarrypotter]

Ok my dear @you-gonna-break-my-heart-covey , i just finished the society and there is sooooo much to process. You probably did not expect this whe you said you were interested in my opinion but .. sorry i had to get my thoughts off my chest.

First things first - this show is complex and i like that.

Did anything happen like i wanted and expected it!? No. Hell no.

My thought to on the characters..

Allie. I do not partucularly like her - but i liked the way she handled things. She never wanted that kind of power but she did the best she could for a teenager!! She tried to be fair. She tried to be objectively. She did what she thought was best for everyone and not just for her and her friends. She even put Will aside for her duty. She loved and supported Cassandra even though she was dissapointed by her and like she said herself had always been in her shadow. I respect that.

Will. I really like him. He is quiet, does think before he talks and acts. He is so loyal and thoughtful. I do not really have any bad thoughts about him. Being torn between two people is a normal thing to happen. So no shame in that.

Kelly. At first i did not really like her. But when she left Harry she became such a great person. I love how caring she is. She even cares for Harry who clearly is some spoiled asshole. She did everything for everyone. She safed lifes! She noticed Beccas "condition". She is such a strong girl and an Angel.!

Harry. I hate him. He did not get shit about their situation and still thought he was something better. Because of what!? Because of the money his parents had!? Like i said, for me he is just some spoiled fuck. He never achieved anything on his own and clearly he's not planing on it. He is just weak. But to be fair he was quiet nice to Allie sometimes.

Campbell. You can hate me for that but .. i actually did not hate him. There are people there who made terrible decisiouns while having ectual feelings and empathy. He doesn't. I don't know how it is to be like him so i'm not in the place to judge him and his actions. Sure for a normal thinking and feeling person what he does is terrible and i'm so sorry for all the people he makes suffer but he does not know it better. Sometimes i think he is just bored and curious how people arw going to react like the time he almost drowned Elle. And sometimes i think he actually means well but he is just not able to do it right because he just can't be like a normal person. Ofcourse he knows somethings he does are not right because his parents told him but he does not know why because he just does not feel this way.

Elle. First i thought she was kind of boring. But god help me she is so strong. Yes she tried to kill Campbell and then herself but getting your butt uo to do something is some hardcore shit. I think she sometimes even feels sorry for Campbell. And i totally love her for trying to keep the others safe even though they weren't even friends in school. She is really strong and dealing with Camp just to safe others and trying to stop him makes her a real fighter. You go girl. You can do it.

Gwen. I hated her for being kind of a bitch and telling her girlfriends she met someone new while still being with Clark. And the relationship faking thing .. but i liked that she went with Grizz to find land. And i even kind of like her reaction to him coming out. It was natural and she handled it pretty good. She has two faces - one i like and the one that annoyes me so fucking much.

Jason. He's not the brightest but i really liked him. He treated his friends and his girlfriend really good in my opinion. He was loyal to Allie and tried to do his best. And even after he joined Harry and Camp to bring down Allie .. i hates that but i think he is still a good person. Easy to manupulate but yeah ..

Clark. Same as Jason. Not bright but actually a nice guy who treated his girlfiend and friends good. Even though he said that about Grizz in episode 10.. but i forgive him. He did his job well. Like Jason sadly easy to manipulate but still not a bad person in heart . And he's a low key movie nerd - which i find rather cute.

Helena. Like Elle she bored me but became one of my faves. She was strict i what she believed and i respect that with all my heart. She's really good to Luke and so faithful. When Allie made her defend Dewey, she was so good. She was so neutral and did everything a Lawyer should do. She surprised me in so many ways. I love how quiet and straight she is. She is the most grown up in my opinion

Luke. A really good boyfriend and friend. He is loyal and soft, i like that. I love how patient he is. Not much guys would have waited for their girlfriend to be ready to sleep with them so long. AND THE WAY HE GAVE HER THAT RING WAS GOLDEN. Well the decision to help Harry, Lexie and Camp.. debatable. Not a good one but actually maybe better than what could have happened to him if he denied.

Lexie. No. Just no. I don't like her. I get that what Jason and Clark did to her was horrible for her. But who the fuck does she think she is to think she could do anything better than Allie!? I think She recognized that it was a shitty idea but well .. we will see how she manages her self made debacle

Grizz. Babyboy is my light. I love his friendship with the guys - he clearly is the smart one but he still does not make his friends feel dump. He is such a great friend and support. He thinks before he acts. He is rather quiet. He is friendly. He does not judge and he is willing to give and not just take. He knows how important it is that they can feed themselves by farming and he does have some balls to lead the expedition after what happened the last time. He is so precious.

Sam. He is so pure. He tries to do everything right. He grew up with Campbell and he still turned out perfect. And isn't he the best friend ever!? He puts Beccs wellbeeing and happiness before his even though it had not so nice consequences for him. I love him so much.

Bean. This girls is smart, funny, beautiful and just so awesome. Nothing more to say. Respect girl.

Gordie. He is such a pleasant person. He is smart and uses his knowlege helping wherever he can. I really like him, lovable fella.

Cassandra. I did not like or hate her. She was a good leader in my opinion. She was the most grown up athe the time she was still alive. She startes something great that sadly not everyone apriciared ..

Jessica. Just a minor character but when she showed up to the meating in her prom dress .. damn girl you are awesome! I like her!

Becca. I really respect her for beeing such a good friend to Sam and making the best out of a situation that would have been the most horrible thing for me. She is brave and smart. I really love her even though i think it's not fair to keep the fathers baby to herself. I mean .. Sam is her best friend, does she really think he would judge her!? I don't even think he would if itbis Campbell but everybody makes mistakes now and then.

Erika. She seems sweet and soft. She does not say much but i liked the few words she said and she seems to be a good girlfriend.

Looooong story short. I love the societ. I kept me interested and that's not easy.

The theory that they are all dead .. who knows!? Maybe. Maybe not.

A memorial wall seems kinda normal after not seei g your kids for month. Hard to not think they are all dead. Abd .. the bus driver .. was obvious. Kinda bugged me that they just realized him in the last episode but hey.. the had a society to build.! Or better drivers he couldn't have habdled all buses alone.

I have major maze runner feels!

I'm so happy Charly is alive!

Uhgh i'm so hyped i need a season 2 .. NOW 😭😭