#((I actually opened my game to test; you can jump on the strawberries but they don't bounce that way;

[missduplicities]

Chapter 58

Eunha woke up feeling very ill, knowing instantly that it was due to the wine she had drunk the night before. As soon as the smell of fried eggs got to her nose, she jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, feeling sick.

“Everything alright?” she heard Midori ask from the other side of the door.

“Yeah,” she said as she flushed the toilet, a bit embarrassed someone heard her get sick.

“Do you need anything?” Midori insisted. Eunha opened the door to let her see she was ok, brushing her teeth already. “Did you vomit?”

“Yeah,” Eunha sighed.

“You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“As if!” Eunha laughed nervously for some reason, which made Midori a bit uneasy.

“Anything you want to share with the class, unnie?”

“Actually…” If there was anyone she could talk to about this, that was Midori, so Eunha took the chance. She dragged her friend into the tiny bathroom and locked the door behind them.

“Unnie?” Midori asked, getting nervous about her behavior.

“Have you and… when did you know…” Eunha stuttered. “How do I stop being nervous around him?”

“Around whom?” Midori’s concentrated frown appeared on her face.

“Taehyung, of course,” Eunha sighed, feeling her ears start to get red.

“Getting nervous in a specific scenario?” Midori’s frown slowly transformed into an impish smirk that made Eunha regret opening her mouth. “In a horizontal scenario, probably?”

“Shut up, it’s not like that!” Eunha slapped her friend’s arm, even though it was exactly like that. “I mean, we’re not having… we’re not doing anything,”

“Yet…” Midori laughed. “Unnie, is not like you’re teenagers!”

“Believe me, I know,” she sighed as the image of her boyfriend appeared in her mind. “And it’s not like I’m scared of… intimacy,”

“Can you please just call it sex?” Midori was getting uncomfortable for some reason.

“Well, yeah, I’m not scared of doing it. I just don’t know if I want to start my sexual life right now, you know?”

“I wouldn’t know, actually,” Midori laughed. “I mean, we make out a lot, but we haven’t actually done any more than that,”

“Really

“Really,” Midori laughed at her unnie’s disbelief. “If you’re looking for advice, you came to the wrong roomie,”

Eunha laughed, thinking this was another one of Midori’s jokes, however, the other girl didn’t laugh.

******

“What are your plans for today?” Jungkook asked Taehyung from the couch where he was playing video games, still in his underwear.

“I have to study for a test,” Taehyung sighed, unamused of his duties as a student. “You?”

“I have a bunch of teenagers at my disposal for a hip-hop class,” he grunted. “I’m already tired,”

Tae-Jun opened the door of Jimin’s room, where he had spent the night, and came out still half-asleep with a puffy face and messy hair. He walked straight to the kitchen to grab a banana and drink a full glass of milk. They were definitely a mess without Jimin and Hoseok to cook proper food.

“Don’t you have work or something?” Taehyung asked his younger brother, who glared at him as usual.

“Not until 5 pm,” Tae-Jun said with his mouth full. “Where is Noona, still sleeping?”

“Noona is here?” Jungkook asked, pausing his game and grabbing a pillow to cover his naked torso.

“No, she’s not,” Taehyung glared at his brother, who smirked triumphantly before grabbing another banana. “She left last night; early,”

“You could’ve told me. I had to sleep with headphones,” Tae-Jun decided to keep bothering his brother, and now Jungkook seemed to understand what he was implying.

“What’s going on?” Jungkook asked, looking from one brother to the other. “Did you walk in on them or something?”

“Something like that,” Tae-Jun said.

“He’s lying!” Taehyung rolled his eyes, throwing a strawberry at the youngest guy. “We were not doing anything,”

“They were right in that couch, actually,”

“Gross!” Jungkook jumped to his feet at once. “Hyung, at least do it in your room!”

“I hate you both!” Taehyung’s neck was getting red, and he felt his cheeks start to blush. “What my girlfriend and I do or not is none of your business,”

“Uuuuh, my girlfriend!” Jungkook teased; his bunny smile spreading on his face. Tae-Jun seemed to be having a great time, seeing his brother this uncomfortable. “Not in front of the kid, though,”

 “You mean Yeontan, right?” Tae-Jun said with a frown.

“Hey, stop it, both of you! I don’t want you making her uncomfortable with your stupid jokes,” he seriously said, which only made Jungkook and Tae-Jun smile wider. “We’re just starting to get comfortable around each other,”

“She didn’t seem too comfortable,” Tae-Jun earned a smack from his brother this time, but he wasn’t sorry.

“If you need any advice,” Jungkook proudly said, putting his arm around the youngest Kim. “I’m here for you, hyung,”

“It took you ten years to realize you liked Midori,” Taehyung glared at him. “Besides, I don’t need your advice because we’re taking things slow. We’re in love, you know? We’re not in a hurry of getting to fourth base or anything,”

“Getting to fourth base? What are you, twelve?” Tae-Jun mocked his older brother; Taehyung only let it pass because this was the closest to having a good time together. Jungkook laughed really hard, which made Tae-Jun feel a bit proud.

“I’m going to kick both your asses if you don’t stop,” Taehyung warned them, though a small smile appeared on his face. “Do I need to remind you I’m your hyung?”

“Speaking of hyungs,” Jungkook said. “When is Jimin getting back from his honeymoon or whatever?” “Either today or tomorrow morning,” Taehyung said. “Sooah has school on Monday,”

“Can I use his room until he gets back?” Tae-Jun asked.

“Only if you promise to clean it,” Jungkook said. “And, while you’re at it, you could clean the living room and kitchen,”

*******

“Isn’t this nice? Just the two of us, the road, our music,” Jimin said, taking Sooah’s hand in his as he drove around the streets of Incheon. “We should do this more often,”

“I bet mom would love it if I came more often,” Sooah said with a bright smile.

“I love your mom, but I wasn’t necessarily talking about coming here. We could go anywhere,” he looked at her over his sunglasses, unaware of how nervous she still got when he did that.

“We can go to Busan next time,” she proposed in a tiny voice. “I’d love to meet your family,”

“They already love you,” he said, stroking her hand and kissing it.

Ever since they started dating, things felt very natural to them, just as if they knew each other from another lifetime. Even stuff like this, meeting each other’s families, wasn’t as scary as they thought it would. This sudden trip to Sooah’s home for her mother’s birthday confirmed that there wasn’t anything about the other that felt unknown. As expected, Sooah’s family instantly adored Jimin. He was happy to be included to the family with ease; even Eunha’s parents, who were very close to Sooah’s, made him feel very welcome.

“How did you guys meet?” Eunha’s dad asked, putting them in the spotlight during dinner.

“We met through Eunha, actually,” Jimin said with a polite smile. “She’s one of my closest friends,”

“Unnie works for one of Jimin’s oldest friends,” Sooah added.

“Yeah, and she’s dating my best friend, so it’s like we’re family -ouch!” Sooah failed to telepathically tell Jimin to stop talking, so she ended up kicking him under the table. He didn’t know Eunha hadn’t told her parents about Taehyung.

“She’s dating now?” Eunha’s mom asked in disbelief. “Thank God!”

“I told you she was going to find someone,” Sooah’s mom told Eunha’s. “Nothing to worry about! She’s a great girl!”

“Auntie,” Sooah interrupted, trying to change the subject. “How is Dae-Hyun?”

“Oh, he’s great!” Eunha’s mom proudly said.

“Unnie told me she saw him last time she was home,”

“Yeah, he is living with us for a couple months,” Eunha’s dad said. “He had an injury, but he’s recovering fast,”

“Eunha’s brother is a pro baseball player,” Sooah explained to Jimin, who was trying to keep up with the conversation.

“Oh, that’s great!” He said enthusiastically.

 “You must meet him,” Eunha’s mom said. “He’s finishing some errands, but he should be here soon,”

“So, Jimin,” Sooah’s dad interrupted. “Sooah said you’re a dancer, too,”

“Yes, sir,” Jimin nervously said. “I studied Dance, and I am one of the instructors at Hope Studio with Sooah,”

“How is the studio going?” Sooah’s mom asked. “Pretty good, actually,” Jimin said as he cleared his throat. “We’re partnering with some training agencies and labels to help them develop a specialized program for kids who are considered for debut,”

“That sounds very interesting!” Eunha’s mom added. Sooah was glad her boyfriend was interesting enough to the adults, feeling like she could relax from leading the conversation. Her mom occasionally gave her a knowing look, telling her without words “He is great, which she already knew.

In the middle of Jimin’s monologue about the success of the studio, a familiar laugh filled up the entire place. Sooah stood up at once and ran to hug her sister before she got to say hello.

“No hug for me, booger?” the guy who walked in with Sooah’s sister said, messing Sooah’s hair in a friendly way. Jimin stood up to greet them, getting a bit shy.

“This is Park Jimin,” Sooah said proudly. “This is my sister Su-Jin,”

“Nice to meet you,” Jimin bowed respectfully.

“Is this the Prince Charming you can’t stop talking about?” Su-Jin said, looking lovingly at her younger sister, who was still hugging her. “Told you he wasn’t a catfish!”

“Well, we can confirm he’s just as handsome in person,” the guy next to Su-Jin said. Jimin assumed this was her boyfriend, maybe even his husband. “I’m Dae-Hyun, by the way,”

“Eunha’s brother,” Sooah added. Jimin took a better look at him and, without much effort, he saw the similarities between the siblings.

“Oh, nice to meet you,” Jimin bowed again. “I’m friends with your sister, too,”

“She’s mentioned,” Dae-Hyun said with a smile.

After spending another hour with the adults, the younger adults went to Sooah’s house, which was just around the corner. Jimin was too shy to walk hand-in-hand with Sooah, especially since the other couple wasn’t doing it. Sooah, on the other hand, was just happy to be with him in the streets she grew up.

“When did you get home, unnie?” Sooah asked Su-Jin. “Yesterday,” the oldest said. “I almost didn’t make it; the flight got delayed twice,”

“Where did you fly from?” Jimin asked with curiosity.

“Bangkok,” Su-Jin said. “I’m living there until the end of summer. I can’t wait til’ I get back!”

“As if you’re not enjoying being there,” Dae-Hyun said, giving her a knowing look that made her nudge him.

“What are you two hiding?” Sooah asked in a whiny voice that made Jimin smile.

“Nothing,” Su-Jin laughed. “He’s just being an idiot, as usual,”

This time it was Sooah who led the conversation while Jimin happily listened to the sisters catch up. Dae-Hyun occasionally made questions or complemented the conversation with a silly joke, which reminded Jimin of Eunha. Su-Jin and Sooah were similar in particular ways, but Jimin found more and more ways in which his Sooah was unique. Sooah spoke with her whole face; her eyebrows always matched the conversation, her eyes smiled with her mouth, and her hands accompanied every word she said. He didn’t know how long he had been staring, he just wished he could do it forever.

“So, why isn’t my sister with you?” Dae-Hyun asked Sooah. “I was kind of wishing to see her,”

“She couldn’t come,” Sooah explained. “You know how demanding her work is,”

“By work do you mean boyfriend? Because she looked to be having a great time at a museum with him,” Dae-Hyun said, getting his phone out to show them the pictures he’d seen earlier.

“So, is it or not a secret?” Jimin asked confused.

“Do your parents know she’s dating Taehyung, then?” Sooah asked the older guy, feeling relieved.

“We know she’s seeing him, but they don’t think it’s serious,” he explained.

“Why?” Su-Jin asked.

“Well, you know how things have been in the past,” Dae-Hyun casually said, though Jimin didn’t know what he meant. “She goes out with guys, it doesn’t work, she ends up in a crisis,”

“This time is different, though,” Sooah said firmly.

“I hope so,” Su-Jin sighed. “She was a mess for years after that Seojoon guy,”

“No, but seriously, they love each other,” Jimin said, finally joining the conversation. “Taehyungie is one of the best guys I know, he totally adores Eunha,”

“Thanks for the references,” Dae-Hyun chuckled. “Are you going to be Best Man when they get married, then?”

“Of course I am,” Jimin said, not even joking. “Speaking of marriage…” Sooah casually dropped, making Jimin very nervous. “How are things with Jonathan, Unnie?”

“Here we go again,” Su-Jin rolled her eyes. “We’re in no hurry to get married,”

“Come on, you guys have been together for what? Three years?” Dae-Hyun said.

“Five this year,” Sooah corrected.

“Mind your own business,” Su-Jin scoffed. “You’re starting to sound like mom,”

“You know how Americans are,” Dae-hyun said as he stretched casually, putting his feet on Su-Jin’s legs. Jimin liked how close the Choi and Seong seemed to be. “Very liberal and all that,”

“Says the guy who lived with his girlfriend,” Su-Jin said, pushing his feet off her.

 “We all know I’m the rotten apple of the family, noona,” Dae-Hyun laughed as if that wasn’t the saddest statement said this evening. “Didn’t your parents warn you not to be like me growing up?”

“He’s being dramatic,” Sooah explained to Jimin. “He was always a model kid, which was a bit of a pain in the ass,”

“Model kid?” Su-Jin laughed. “Please, he was always getting in trouble,”

“And you were always there for me, noona,” Dae-Hyun got close to her, pretending to kiss her cheek. “Maybe we should get married,”

“Wouldn’t you love that?” Su-Jin pushed him.

“Did you guys ever date?” Jimin asked, too curious to stop himself.

“Hell no!” Su-Jin said. “Though he didn’t mind going out with some of my friends,”

“That’s before I realized I am meant to be a lone wolf,” the older guy dramatically said. “My only mission in life is to meet new people, expanding my horizons,”

“So, go back to being a slut, you mean?” Su-Jin said.

“I’m thinking of moving to Seoul, you know?” Dae-hyun continued.

“What about the team?” Sooah asked, unaware of the recent change of plans for Dae-Hyun.

“There’s baseball in Seoul, too, right?” he said.

“My hyungs are planning on renting one of their rooms, actually,” Jimin casually said, making Sooah’s neck snap as she turned to see him.

“No, they’re not,” she said.

“Yeah, Namjoon told me just yesterday. Since they’re never at home, they think they can rent one of the guest rooms to balance the expenses,”

“I’m sure there’s a waitlist already. We know other people who need a room,” she said, but Jimin didn’t catch up. “Tae-Jun, for example?”

“Oh, I don’t think Junie would be able to pay rent at the Hyungs'” Jimin said.

“Well, let me know when you have the details,” Dae-Hyun chuckled, getting to his feet as he made his way to the kitchen. He acted just as if this was his house, which was a bit unsettling to Jimin; he wondered if this massive guy was always spending time at Sooah’s place. “When are you going back to Seoul?"

“Tonight,” Sooah sighed, secretly hoping she could spend more time with her family.

“Do you have a spare seat?” Dae-Hyun asked; neither Jimin nor Sooah knew if he was joking.

*****

“What do you think of this one, Ms. Yang?” Kim Namjoon asked Ji-Eun as he held an emerald tie in his hands. “Is it too bright?”

“Remind me what color is the suit?” Ji-Eun asked. She didn’t exactly know how she’d ended up in this situation, helping Namjoon and Yoongi on their second consecutive day of tuxedo hunting for Hoseok’s sister’s wedding.

“Black,” Namjoon said, fixing his glasses on his face.

“We don’t know that yet,” Yoongi said, joining them in the aisle. “You can also go for the brown one,”

“Which one are you wearing?” Namjoon asked his hyung.

“I think black,”

“Maybe we should all keep it classy, black tux with black tie,” Namjoon suggested. “Let Hobi-hyung wear something different,”

“Or maybe a black suit but different ties,” Ji-Eun suggested, taking the emerald tie from Namjoon’s hands.

“What about a bow tie?” Yoongi asked, frustrated with all this.

“I don’t want to look like a teacher,” Namjoon sighed.

“Hate to break it to you, but you are a teacher,” Yoongi said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah but as soon as I walk with that suit and a bowtie they’re going to know I’m a teacher,” Namjoon explained, gesticulating a lot with his hands as he did when he talked about something serious.

“Just buy the damn tie then,” Yoongi grunted, walking away from the youngest guys.

“Isn’t there still a lot of time until the wedding?” Ji-Eun asked, walking behind Namjoon to the nearest mirror, where he tried different ties.

“Two weeks,” Namjoon said, struggling to tie a blue navy tie around his neck. “But Hobi is already stressed, and he said If we don’t show them what we’re wearing this week he will uninvite us,”

“Here,” Ji-Eun said, getting close to him so she could help him with the tie. She had to stand on her tiptoes to reach behind his neck to fix his collar. “I always thought it was easier for you guys. I figured you only had to pick a suit and that was it. The girls are driving me crazy with all the dress choices they have,”

“Do you already have yours?” he asked, turning over the mirror again to see how this tie suited him.

“Yes,” she said, also turning towards his reflection to get a better look. “It’s an olive one,”

“What color is that? Like green?”

“Yeah, greenish,” she said, looking over the selection of ties to show him. “Close to this one,”

“Oh, it’s a pretty color,” Namjoon said with a smile. “Thank you for coming, by the way. I know it was short notice, but noona just told us she wanted us to extend the invitation,”

“I get it, and don’t worry, it’s my pleasure!” Ji-Eun said with a bright smile. “It’s been a long time since I went to a wedding,”

“Ji-Eunnie!” Yoongi called her from the register, apparently in a last-minute dilemma. Ji-Eun happily walked to where he was and helped him choose between the long green socks and the dotted burgundy ones; a very important choice to him. Namjoon looked down at the ties again, now undecisive between the silky black one or the olive Ji-Eun had shown him. He glanced over the register, where he saw his friends paying. Ji-Eun glanced over at him, meeting his eyes and flashing her warm smile. He grinned back and put the black tie down.

******

Taehyung: what are you doing?

Eunha: seeing the agenda with Han

Eunha: say hi

Taehyung: hi hannie

Taehyung: where are you?

Eunha: at the office, wym?

Taehyung: I miss your pretty face

Eunha: hi

Taehyung: hi!!! wow hi!! ❤️ I miss you so much

Eunha: I miss you too

Eunha: what are you doing? 👀

Taehyung: photography practice

Eunha: I adore you, look at your face!!

Taehyung: :))

Taehyung: Am I seeing you tonight?

Eunha: I’m coming home late 😔

Eunha: Around midnight, probably

Taehyung: :c

Eunha: Let’s have lunch tomorrow!

Taehyung: c:

Yoongi: hi

Eunha: hello

Yoongi: are you in the office?

Eunha: where else would I be?

Yoongi: I need your help!

Eunha: what is it?

Yoongi: I locked the keys inside the trunk of the car

Eunha: hahahah

Yoongi: it’s not funny!!

Eunha: it’s a bit funny

Eunha: Where are you? Han and I can come pick you up

Yoongi: I have a copy of the keys in my bedroom

Eunha: Is someone home?

Yoongi: Probably Seokjin hasn’t left

Eunha: I’ll call him and get back to you

Yoongi: thanks

Yoongi: hurry

Yoongi: please

Yoongi: thanks again

***

“Do you have any allergies?” Seokjin asked Tae-Jun casually as they scraped the floor of the soon-to-be restaurant. They were finishing the last details of the construction, hoping to open the week after Hoseok’s sister’s wedding.

“Not that I know of,” Tae-Jun said out of breath. “Why?”

“I just like to know,” Jin said, taking a break to drink from his almost empty bottle of water. “I like to keep a register of my friend’s allergies so I don’t accidentally poison them with my food,”

Tae-Jun was still in denial about his boss considering him a friend. They had spent almost every day together for the past month, and he was very friendly to him, but he knew Seokjin only saw him as his friend’s brother. Still, in the time they had spent together, both had opened up about personal stuff. Seokjin told him the reason why he wanted to open the restaurant, and how determined he was to make it work. Tae-Jun struggled at first to tell Seokjin about his current worries, but once he did, he immediately felt better; this was the first time he felt someone listened to him.

“Should I start the inventory?” Tae-Jun asked, secretly hoping his duty of scraping the floor was done.

“No, let’s practice making some basics,” Seokjin walked over to the new fancy open kitchen, washing his hands as Tae-Jun drank some water. The oldest guy set different size knives on the counter, as well as some onions, tomatoes, and cabbages. “Which one of these is the vegetable knife?”

Tae-Jun sat on a stool opposite Seokjin, took a quick look over the tools, and pointed at a big knife.

“This is a straight-edged Japanese Nakiri Bocho,” Seokjin said, taking the knife. “Ideal for cutting, chopping, slicing, and dicing vegetables,”

“Nakiri Bocho,” Tae-Jun repeated.

“The chefs will handle all the complicated stuff, don’t worry,” Seokjin assured. “But you will need to know the basics for the coffee hours. This means, learning how to make an avocado toast, prepare the salad, slice the salmon,”

“When will I actually learn to make drinks?” Tae-Jun asked, getting impatient.

“James and Eunha will help us next week to learn to calibrate the espresso machine and prepare basic drinks,”

“James as in… the Aussie dude?” he wasn’t able to hide the resentment in his voice. “Why?”

“Because he is an experienced barista,” Seokjin said, putting the knives back in the corresponding drawers. “There’s a chance he starts working here, you know?”

“No! Why?” Tae-Jun wasn’t aware of how childish he sounded, but he couldn’t help it. Seokjin was about to give the younger guy a lesson in manners when, thankfully, his phone started ringing in his pocket.

“Wash the vegetables and put them in the fridge. I need to take a call,” Tae-Jun obeyed, still upset about the mention of James. Seokjin decided to deal with it later, going outside to answer the phone.

“Joon-ah! What is it?”

“Are you home?” Namjoon asked.

“No, at the restaurant, why?”

“Yoongi-hyung locked his car with the keys inside,” Namjoon explained. “He says he has a copy in his room, but we’re far to ask for a cab,”

“Give me the phone,” Jin heard Yoongi’s voice as he took Namjoon’s phone. “Hyung?”

“Hi,” Seokjin chuckled.

“I know you’re busy, but is there a way you give Eunha the keys?”

“The keys to our place?” Seokjin asked, already rummaging his pockets, looking for said keys.

“The copy of my car keys. She can come by the restaurant to pick them up,” Yoongi explained.

“Alright, I’ll call her,” Jin saw the time on his watch, knowing his day was going to end sooner than he’d expected. “I’ll let you know when she has them,”

“Thanks! I owe you!”

“Bye, hyung!” Namjoon said.

“Bye, Chef Kim!” he heard Ji-Eun say.

“Bye you idiots,” Seokjin laughed as he hung up the phone, getting back inside to let Jun know they were leaving.

“I think we forgot to buy the kimchi containers,” Tae-Jun said as he cleaned the fridge.

“It’s okay, we’ll get it tomorrow,” Seokjin sighed. “Pack your stuff, we’re leaving,”

“But…” Tae-Jun checked the time on his phone, realizing it was still early.

“I need to pick some stuff at my place and deliver it to Eunha,”

“Taehyung’s girlfriend?” Tae-Jun asked, a bit confused.

“Yup,” Seokjin said, grabbing Jun’s bag and carrying it for him as he walked towards the door. The youngest did his usual routine of checking every light was off and every door was locked, then he met his boss in his pick-up truck. “Did you check everything?”

“Yeah, twice,” Tae-Jun said, putting on his seatbelt. Jin’s place wasn’t too far from the restaurant, about a 10-minute ride with no traffic. After he filled in Tae-Jun with the missing information from the call, Seokjin passed him the phone and asked him to call Eunha, which made the younger guy a bit nervous.

“Seokjinnie-ssi!” Eunha’s voice was heard through the speaker. “How can I help you?”

Tae-Jun was waiting for Seokjin to answer, but he didn’t, instead, he pointed to the phone with his head, letting him know to give her the message.

“Hi, it’s Tae-Jun,” he said.

“Oh, hi, honey! What’s up?” Tae-Jun’s cheeks rapidly blushed; he wasn’t close to many girls, except from his sister. “Are you okay?”

“We are picking up the keys and taking them to you, so you can deliver them to your boss,” Tae-Jun said in a serious voice that made Seokjin smile.

“Oh, great! Thanks a lot,” Eunha said. “See you here then,”

“Alright,” Jun awkwardly said and hung up.

“You don’t have a crush on your brother’s sister, do you?” Seokjin asked, half laughing.

“No! Of course not!” Tae-Jun defensively said.

“Then why did you get so nervous?” Tae-Jun had his reasons; one being the image of her startled the night before as he walked inside the apartment when she seemed to have been busy with his brother.

“I didn’t get nervous,” he lied. “I just don’t like phone calls,”

“Alright,” Seokjin said with a knowing smile.

Once they arrived, Seokjin gave Tae-Jun a quick tour of the house, letting him know he was always welcome. The youngest guy couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes as he walked inside the fancy home.

“Wow, your kitchen is bigger than Taehyung’s apartment,” Tae-Jun said.

“Let’s go, kid,” Jin said, getting a bit awkward as usual with the comments about his comfortable way of living.

It took them another 15 minutes or so to get to Eunha. On the way there, Tae-Jun was suddenly very talkative, which was a bit of a surprise to Seokjin. The younger guy was telling him about how he wasn’t doing great at the evaluations this term because of everything he had to do, but how he was determined to do better, wanting to secure a place in the debuting team. Seokjin told him a bit about his experience as a trainee, and how he wasn’t as confident as his other friends with the decision of being an artist.

“I think there are people who are born for that lifestyle, and I’m not one of them,” Seokjin said. “Jimin and Hoseok were never scared by the stage or the spotlight, it’s like they become different people up there; their real selves. Namjoon, Yoongi, and I liked to be in the shadows. They produced and wrote a lot, and I managed to get through it all, but I wasn’t particularly good at any of it,”

“What about the others?” Tae-Jun asked, wanting to know about one person in particular.

“Jungkook is a star. He was just born with a talent for everything. I’m sure if he had wanted, he would have been a major star. Just like your brother,” Seokjin dropped the last part casually. “Taehyung was our secret weapon; his problem was that he never believed that. He has a great voice, he’s a great dancer, he even has great looks, but he struggled a lot believing in himself,”

 Tae-Jun didn’t say anything, so Seokjin continued.

“He went through a hard time when we left the company. I think it affected him the most. He just… he lost his light for a long time,” Seokjin seemed a bit melancholic as he spoke, which let Tae-Jun know it was better not to interrupt. “But then he found it again, and I truly think I’ve never seen him happier than he is now that he is doing what he likes to do the most?”

“What? His girlfriend?” Tae-Jun scoffed, but Jin threw him a dirty warning look. “I’m joking,”

“You need to respect your elders,” Seokjin said firmly. “Especially your family,”

Tae-Jun remained silent, not wanting to get into an argument with his boss about how he didn’t understand how complicated his family was.

“And I don’t necessarily mean your biological family,” Seokjin added. “You need to respect your chosen family,”

Through Tae-Jun’s mind, the only thought was how he didn’t have what Seokjin meant. He saw how all the guys, and even the girls, were very close and loyal towards each other. He knew who Seokjin was talking about, knowing his chosen family. But he didn’t have that. He didn’t need one.

“You know who my best friends are?” Seokjin interrupted his thoughts, but Tae-Jun remained silent. “The guys I tried the hardest to push away for many years. I wasn’t like them, I didn’t speak their language. Yoongi had Joon to talk about production, Hoseok had Jimin to talk about dance, and Taehyung had Jungkook to talk about music, but I spoke a whole different language. I used to think I was better off alone, not because I could do it on my own but because they could do it by themselves; they were better without me. But I let them adopt me as their friend and brother, and now, almost ten years later, I’m here, driving across the city to get my stupid brother his car keys,”

This was probably the longest Tae-Jun had heard Jin speak without stuttering or making a joke, so he listened carefully.

“Sometimes you don’t get to choose your family, but there are people who choose to have you in their lives, who enjoy having you around,” Seokjin said all this without taking his eyes off the road, which Tae-Jun thanked since he wasn’t used to people talking to him like that. The younger guy felt an intense need of crying, but he fought against it with all his might until they arrived at Eunha’s office.

“Can you give her the keys? There’s nowhere to park,” Seokjin said, passing him the infamous car keys. “She must be on the third floor,”

“Okay,” Tae-Jun took the keys and his bag and opened the door of Seokjin’s truck. “I think I can go home from here, I know the way, don’t worry,”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, there’s a coffee house nearby that I want to go anyways,” he said, closing the door behind him. “Thanks for the right. See you tomorrow, boss,”

“Call me hyung,” Seokjin said, knowing the guy wouldn’t do it yet. “Or just Jin,”

“I’ll try,” Tae-Jun waved at him and ran inside the building, not really knowing where he was going.

***

Ji-Eun via Twitter: Please help, their brains are melting!

Namjoon: Help, she's losing her mind!

Seokjin: I wish you the best, but you guys are really stupid. ANy WaYs, help is on the way 😘

@chimchim95:

"Soo saying goodbye to Binnie 😭 "

@seokjinniehyung: Whoever that dog is, please bring him with you!!!

@its-sooah:

"You dont understand how much I love you!!"

@chimchim95: I love you ❤️

@justtaehyung: cheekies!!!!!!!

@94junghoseok: that looks soooo good 🤤

***

Succeeding at saving her boss and friends from possible dehydration, Eunha and Han managed to get the car keys to Yoongi so they could leave. By the time they arrived, it was only Yoongi who was waiting in the parking lot; he had sent Ji-Eun and Namjoon inside the mall.

“I owe you, seriously,” Yoongi said, finally starting his car.

“It’s nothing, boss,” Han said, giving a friendly arm squeeze to Yoongi.

“How is the agenda for the day?” Yoongi asked, going straight to work-mode.

“We only have to finish the master of the track that’s due on Wednesday,” Han confidently said. “But I can do that overnight,”

“Great, because I need a good bath, so I’ll work from the home studio,”

“I have to meet the director at HQ for the shooting we’re doing on Friday,” Eunha sighed. “But everything’s ready, don’t worry,”

“Alright,” Yoongi let out a sigh of relief.

“If you want, we can wait for the guys so you leave,” Eunha suggested.

“Cool,” Yoongi didn’t need to hear it twice. “I’ll call you tonight,”

“Sure,” Eunha said as Yoongi left. Not even a minute after, Namjoon and Ji-Eun came out of the mall with ice cream cones in their hands. “Hi there,”

“Unnie!” Ji-Eun was happy to see her friend. “Finally!”

“Where is hyung?” Namjoon asked, just realizing the car was gone.

“He had to go, but we’ll take you,” Han said. “I don’t know if we’re properly met, I’m Han Hoseok,”

“Oh, yes! The other Hoseok!” Namjoon said, shaking hands with the guy. “I’m Kim Namjoon,”

“Ji-Eun,” Ji-Eun said with a smile and a small bow.

“Should we go then?” Eunha said, opening the back door for them. Namjoon waited until Ji-Eun got inside, holding her shopping bag until she sat, then he closed the door and went over to the other side of the car to join her in the back seat.

“How was the tuxedo hunt?” Eunha asked conversationally.

“Well, we narrowed it down to three choices,” Namjoon said, taking off his glasses to rub his eyes. “I think I still have to get mine tailored; it’s a bit lose in the shoulders,”

“Do you know if Taehyung already has his suit?” Ji-Eun asked, eating her ice cream.

“There are more suits than t-shirts in his wardrobe,” Eunha laughed. “But yeah, I think he’s going for a three-piece black tux,”

“Did you pick the dress already?” Ji-Eun asked.

“I’m still between the black or the flower print,” she sighed. “I’m waiting for Sooah to pick one so I know the etiquette,”

“When is she getting home?”

“I think tomorrow early,” Eunha yawned, feeling already exhausted even though it wasn’t that late. “Is Midori home?”

“She had an important meeting today. The publisher wants her to illustrate a whole series,” Ji-Eun proudly said. “She also said something about getting a tattoo, but I think she was joking,”

“That’s what I thought when Jungkook told me,” Namjoon chuckled, looking at her over his glasses. “Every time I see him he has a new tattoo,”

“Would you get one?” Ji-Eun asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” Namjoon said. “You?”

“No, I’m a bit scared of needles,” Ji-Eun said very seriously.

Taehyung: what are you doing now?

Eunha: missing you

Taehyung:

Taehyung: My hair is a mess, I can't go to the wedding like this

Eunha actually malfunctioned as she saw the picture. She quickly locked her phone, hoping no one saw her boyfriend’s exposed chest. For a moment she thought she had imagined it, so she unlocked her phone only to confirm. Yes. The picture was still there.

Taehyung: Should I dye it again or something?

Taehyung: Go back to brown, maybe

Eunha: I think it looks very good on you

Taehyung: My hair is literally fried

Eunha was having trouble concentrating on his hair. She was having trouble thinking about anything, actually.

Eunha: Are you already home?

Taehyung: I came to pick Yeontan up, he was alone all day

Eunha: Poor baby

Taehyung: He's with daddy now

Eunha locked her phone again. Then she got another message.

Idiot: hi dork

Eunha: hi idiot

Idiot: where are you?

Eunha: working

Eunha: you?

Idiot: liar

Idiot: you're not here

“No way!” Eunha let out loud.

“What?” Han asked, getting a bit scared.

“Unnie?” Ji-Eun asked, but Eunha ignored them both, she was too busy calling someone on the phone.

“What are you doing at my studio, idiot?” Eunha asked; the rest of the passengers turned to her with worried looks.

“Hello, baby sister, I missed you too,” Dae-Hyun said. “Where are you sneaking to when you’re not in the office, huh?”

“I’m working,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t answer my question?”

“Well, since you didn’t come home for auntie’s birthday, I decided to pay a visit,” her brother said. “You don’t mind if I stay at your place tonight, right? Sooah already showed me the place,”

“Do I have a choice?” she sighed.

“Damn, you really don’t sound happy to see me,”

“Of course I am! I just can’t believe you’re here,” Eunha felt a bit bad for giving her brother the wrong impression. “How did you get inside, though?”

“The receptionist let me in, I just said I had a meeting with you,”

“I do have a meeting at the other side of the city, so I guess I’ll see you later at home,”

“Okay,” Dae-Hyun said as he hung up.

“So, turns out my brother is here,” Eunha finally explained to the rest.

“Yey!” Ji-Eun said with happy tiny claps. “We’re finally meeting him!”

“Is it ok if he stays only for the night at our place? I’ll lock him inside my room,” Eunha said.

“Sure, no problem with me,” Ji-Eun said.

“How long will he be staying?” Namjoon asked. “I can discuss with the hyungs to see if he can stay at our place,”

“I don’t know,” Eunha sighed. “But I’ll ask him and I’ll let you know, thank you,”

“No problem,” Namjoon smiled and finished his ice cream.

***

Taehyung had been staring at his face in the mirror for at least 40 minutes, having a full crisis about his hair. He even considered shaving his head, wondering whether Eunha would still like him if he did so. Defeated, he decided to leave the crisis for later, going to his room to do a bit of exercise.

He had never worried too much about his image, specifically, about his strength. He wasn’t as disciplined as Jungkook at practicing a sport and he rarely hit the gym, but he enjoyed going for a walk with Namjoon, swimming whenever he would, and he tried to do at least an hour of workout, mostly for his mental health. He had the tendency of getting anxious if his body wasn’t busy.

Taehyung: do you think I should start practicing boxing?

He sent the next in the middle of his set, already out of breath.

Eunha: do you want to?

Eunha: I thought you didn’t like contact sports

Taehyung: idk, I could give it a try

Taehyung: are you still working?

He checked the time, it was about midnight. He really hoped she was home, getting rest.

Eunha: I’m omw there

Taehyung: how was your day?

Eunha: busy, but I can’t really complain

Eunha: yours?

Taehyung: not as busy as I’d liked

Taehyung: I missed you a lot

Eunha: I miss you, too

Taehyung: Am I seeing you tomorrow?

Eunha: yeah! Lunch, remember?

Taehyung: alright <3

Eunha: wyd

Taehyung was a bit ashamed of telling her he was struggling to do pushups, not really knowing why.

Taehyung: about to go to bed

Taehyung: I wish you were here

Eunha: Me too, believe me

Deciding he was done with his routine, he walked out of his room to see if Yeontan was sleeping, finding his brother reading in the living room with the little dog in his lap.

“Hello,” Taehyung said with a smile.

“Hi,” Tae-Jun said, not lifting his gaze.

“When did you get here?”

“Like three hours ago,” Tae-Jun said. “I have a lot of homework,”

“You do homework?” Taehyung wasn’t trying to be mean, he was just surprised.

“Only the necessary,” Tae-Jun said.

“Did you have something to eat?”

“Yeah, salmon toast,”

“I didn’t know we had salmon,” Taehyung said, impressed. “Or toast,”

“I bought some,” Tae-Jun casually said. “There’s some in the fridge,”

“Thanks,” Taehyung couldn’t help worry about his brother; he was being too nice compared to his usual self.

“I saw your girlfriend,” Tae-Jun casually said, still reading his book.

“You saw Eunha?” Taehyung beamed at the mention of her. “When? Why? Where?”

“At her job,” Jun said. “Seokjin-ssi and I gave her something her boss needed. I saw a guy I know from my old company, Han Hoseok,”

“Yeah, he’s her assistant,” Taehyung said. “You know each other?”

“We never talked, but he produced great beats. He once gave us a masterclass in production,” Tae-Jun explained. Taehyung was waiting for a mean comment to come, but it didn’t.

“You need a haircut,” Taehyung casually said; he had been looking at his brother in silence. “I’m planning on fixing my hair before the wedding. I can make an appointment for both,”

“Sure,” Tae-Jun simply said, taking his brother by surprise once more. “I was actually thinking of dying it, but maybe later,”

“So, did Eunha say something about me? Did she ask about me or anything?” Tae-Jun laughed at his brother’s sudden change of subject.

“You’re head over-heels about her, aren’t you?” Tae-Jun asked, finally closing his book and putting it on the side.

“You’ll fall in love one day and understand how I feel,” Taehyung said with a grin on his face.

“I’ve been in love,” Tae-Jun casually said. “Well, I think so. I had a girlfriend in Cali, she was older than me. It wasn’t great,”

“I thought you were not allowed to date,” he said, referring to his company contract.

“I’m not,” the youngest guy said. “Which is why it was a secret. Or so she told me, I don’t know. Thing is, I’m not crazy about love. I’m good on my own,”

“You say that now,” Taehyung said with a smirk. “But one day, you’ll be sneaking a girl in, and I’ll have to pretend to get mad,”

“Speaking of sneaking a girl,” Tae-Jun said with his mischievous smirk. “Where is noona?”

“It’s not like she sleeps with me always,” Taehyung defended himself. “Besides, I told you, we don’t do anything. Anything other that kiss, I mean. Why am I even giving you an explanation?”

“Are you sure you were not just about to sneak out,” he wasn’t but now that he had the idea, it was hard to fight against it.

“Well, I was just considering paying a visit,” Taehyung said, looking over the kitchen counter to where Jimin’s car keys usually were. “When did Jimin arrive?”

“He’s here?”

“His keys are here,” Taehyung said, walking over to the counter to take them.

“I guess I’m sleeping on the couch again tonight,” Tae-Jun sighed.

“You can use my room,” Taehyung said, already walking to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow,”

Tae-Jun only smiled; he couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of his brother for surprising his girlfriend.

***

By the time she got home, Eunha was surprised to see that all her roommates, their boyfriends, and her brother were still talking in the living room. Jungkook, Midori, and Dae-Hyun were discussing sports, while Sooah and Jimin filled Ji-Eun in on the details of their trip to Incheon.

“There she is!” Dae-Hyun said, standing up as he saw his sister enter the room. “Why are you getting home this late?”

“Unnie! Your mom sent food,” Sooah let her know, running to greet her with a hug.

“What, are we having a sleepover?” Eunha asked, knowing that Jungkook never left this late, and assuming Jimin had plans to stay, too. “I could have let my boyfriend know, thanks for gatekeeping,”

“No, they’re actually leaving,” Midori said, looking over Jungkook, who frowned at her, not pleased to be kicked out. “You have a test tomorrow!”

“I don’t need to study, I’ll pass,” Jungkook protested.

“Let’s go kid,” Jimin said, getting to his feet and walking over to Eunha and Sooah. “I’ll cover your class tomorrow, don’t worry,”

“Are you sure?” Sooah asked.

“No problem,” Jimin said, giving her a tight hug and a kiss on her head. “Get some rest, okay?”

“You too,” Sooah said.

“We need to catch up,” Jimin told Eunha, still holding Sooah in his arms. “Coffee next week?”

“Sure,” Eunha said, too tired to say something else.

The guys finally left after saying goodbye to their girlfriends for about 10 minutes. Ji-Eun left for her room, saying goodbye to her roommates and Eunha’s brother. Midori disappeared, too, while Sooah insisted that Eunha should sleep with her in her room, leaving Dae-Hyun Eunha’s room for the night. In that agreement, Eunha took her brother to her room, showing him the bathroom he could use and what he definitely shouldn’t touch.

“Please don’t sleep on my bed wearing sweaty or dirty clothes,” Eunha said.

“Alright,” Dae-hyun yawned. “Don’t worry, I’ll find a hotel to stay tomorrow,”

“You can stay here,” Eunha insisted. “It’s only a couple of days, right?”

“A week, so don’t worry, dork,” he said with a genuine smile. “I’ll leave tomorrow very early. Thanks for letting me crash,”

“It’s good to have you here,” she sincerely said.

“Go to sleep, we’ll catch up tomorrow,” he demanded, pushing her out of her own room. “You look exhausted,”

“Don’t touch my stuff!”

Dae-Hyun looked at the time, feeling very tired suddenly. Eunha didn’t say anything about not wearing a shirt to sleep, so he stripped into his underwear and locked the door from the inside, jumping to Eunha’s bed to finally relax. He closed his eyes and let out the longest and loudest sigh, feeling content with his decision to come to the city.

He was falling asleep when he heard grunting coming from outside, which didn’t make sense, since the house was protected by a tall fence. He thought he was too tired, probably imagining things, but then he heard panting again. Sitting up in bed, wishing he had his baseball bat with him, Dae-Hyun tried to fix his sight, rubbing his eyes, and looking over the balcony. Just then, a hand appeared in view, scaring the shit out of him.

“The hell?!” Dae-Hyun jumped, ready to beat the person climbing the wall. He opened the door, getting outside, holding Eunha’s desk lamp as a bat. The climber landed on the balcony, and was just as startled as him.

“Who the hell are you?!” Dae-Hyun asked, already swinging the lamp.

“Me? Who the hell are you?!” Taehyung avoided the swing. He seemed very confused as to why a guy wearing only boxers was coming out of his girlfriend’s room. They both recognized each other at the same time, having met only through Instagram posts.

“Taehyung?” Dae-Hyun asked, lowering the lamp.

“You’re Dae-Hyun?” Taehyung asked, feeling very embarrassed to have his girlfriend’s brother caught him sneaking into her room in the middle of the night. This was definitely not a great first impression.

(Previous) (Next)

[butteerfly]

— Dating haikyuu!! boys ♡

headcanons 🦋

this was really difficult because in haikyuu all the boys are characters that you can't help but love, at least it's like that for me. So choosing a few was quite a challenge, anyway if you want a specific character that I didn't mention let me know ♡♡♡

kageyama tobio; tsukishima kei; nishinoya yuu; kozume kenma; ushijima wakatoshi (my boys) — fem!!reader

KAGEYAMA TOBIO

(I'm so in love with this pretty boy)

he is very sweet with you

The best part is that he doesn't realize this

Contrary to common thought, I think tobio is an excellent boyfriend

He always makes sure you get home safely after school, even ask the coach for a few minutes to say goodbye to you (I'm just crying as I imagine this)

You can't spend a lot of time together after school because he has his practices, but he always makes sure you sit next to him in class and have lunch with him.

always has your favorite strawberry milk in his backpack, just for you

He doesn't want you to go to practice because he's secretly a little jealous and he knows that as soon as they see you, Noya and Hinata are going to jUMp at you

The kind of boyfriend your parents love and yet he still gets nervous when he's with them

definitely bad for cuddles

He doesn't know how to hug or kiss you, he doesn't know if that's going to be okay for you or if you're uncomfortable, he never had a girlfriend before you

You always tell him what to do but it doesn't matter, he always blushes after all

forehead kisses are his favorites

He loves when his head rests on your lap and you play with his hair, he instantly relaxes

When you go to see him at one of the matches, his smile and blush never fade.

He loves to see the sparkle in your eyes when he sets the ball for the spiker

and when is he going to serve...

he knows that you know that's a direct point

You raise his ego a lot, it is inevitable 😔💕

You simply give him unshakable strength when he is more demoralized than normal.

always hugs you after a match, it doesn't matter if he lost or won, the others don't matter, only you in his arms

TSUKISHIMA KEI

dating him is amazingly fun

You are the couple that always teases each other in some way and is not bothered by this

Since you know each other you never stop laughing together and this is something he is aware of, he appreciates you very much despite not showing it so often

ok but no matter what your height is, he always teases you

The fact that your hands don't even cross behind his neck makes him laugh a lot

he's actually good for cuddles

He's the type of boy who always has a smirk on his face before kissing you

hands on your waist every time he hugs you

when i said he was good for cuddles i meant cuddles in the privacy of his room

because if you hug him or kiss him in front of the team or his family he BLUSHES

spoiler alert!!: you do it on purpose

if you wear his hoddies with dinosaurs he will die

He made a playlist with songs that remind him of you and songs that are important to both of you, but he named it "ant" because according to him, you are similar to them, small and insignificant 💀

he's good at killing romance

Despite that, he is the person who listens to you the most and pays attention to details.

When he sees you cheering for the team with one of his shirts he can't help but be a bit surprised, even though he doesn't want to accept it, you know that volleyball is important to your boyfriend

At first he is a bit distracted, but after thinking more clearly his blocks become the strongest iron wall

his favorite moment with you is in the afternoons when you both return home from school with the sunset in the distance and he holds your hand tight

You give him the peace of mind that he sometimes needs when his thoughts don't leave him alone.

NISHINOYA YUU

please let's talk about this man

he can't believe you love him

you are too perfect

you are his pretty girl

HIS pretty girl

whenever he thinks about it he CRIES

he takes you to practices and matches just so everyone knows he has a girlfriend, a very beautiful one

whatever you do (art, writing, sport, acting, singing, etc) he is very proud of you

dating Nishinoya is actually an adventure

he is a very effusive person and never stays in his comfort zone

he will try to do whatever he likes and catches his attention, nobody can stop him

This also applies to you

your dates are weird

he invited you to his house just to cook and taste sour food -u both almost set the house on fire-

he took you to TOKYO just to go to Alice in Wonderland's cafe

You still remember the day you asked him for your notebook and he handed you his backpack, but when you opened it, many bags full of gummies came out everywhere

you don't know what to expect from this boy and that's why you love him

he is a very loving person by nature

his hands will always be on your waist, always wants to feel you close

the warmth in his chest that you make him feel no one else does

he loves when you kiss him surprisingly, he will follow the kiss immediately

even when all he wants to do is rest, he lets you sleep on top of him

when you call him super libero he really feels like one, even if he is very tired

you are one of the biggest pillars of his motivation and the best person he could meet ♡

KOZUME KENMA

Before dating, he was very shy with you and could never talk to you if Kuro was not with you

not because he didn't want to, the words got a lot on his tongue and he didn't know what to do in front of you

kuro clearly helped this boy

you had to confess first but that doesn't really matter because from that day on you are both very happy

You don't know how to explain it, but you both have a strange telepathy, you always know what the other is thinking or going to say.

You can't lie to him, he always ends up finding out

your dates are in the arcades and buying a lot of rare KitKat to test them with Kuro

and you only have dates when you make sure you have all your homework done because sometimes you forget about school 💀

you always try new dyes in your hair and he always helps you

he knows that you don't do it to like him

however he likes you a lot no matter what you do

you are the only person with whom he seeks physical contact very often

He doesn't know why but kissing you always feels very good for him

when he kisses you, his whole body relaxes

kisses you whenever he can

love to see the blush on your face

you love when your boyfriend talks to you about a new game, he looks so excited it makes your heart melt

If you are not very good at playing a video game he will help you without hesitation

you can never beat him, after all he taught you

you guys always end up playing until 8 in the morning on weekends, please get some sleep 💀

He loves when you sit on his lap and he can cross his arms around your waist, he would stay there all day because there is no more calm and peace than that moment

USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI

he is a big teddy bear

whenever he can and has time, he listens to you carefully

Every time he doesn't understand something you say to him, he will ask Tendo with genuine confusion in his voice.

You are one of the few people that he really pays attention to and cares

he is not good at interpreting the feelings of others and the way he does not understand everyday things between your friends makes you laugh

he is a big baby

you are his wallpaper

Whenever he hugs you from behind, he leans his chin on your head, he saw it in other couples and he found it cute

He loves to see you with his shirts because they fit you better than him

He is struck by the way you dress, he says it is very striking and cute

The kind of boyfriend who would take you out to eat at restaurants

always makes sure you eat really well and exercise because he says the body needs it, even if he is away

The best thing about dating him is that he does not feel embarrased if you kiss or hug him in front of someone, he does not care what others think at all

He feels embarrased of the fact that he always thinks about kissing you, and that never happened to him with anyone

He does not think about it too much either, if he wants to kiss you, you want to and you are at the right time, he will simply do it

No matter what your personality is, he is attracted to you, he always says things that he never thought he would say to someone who is not Tendo

The truth is that you are as important to him as volleyball, and when you go to see him at matches without notifying him, he just freezes for a second.

Your stuning smile and the euphoria on your face makes his whole body go beyond his capabilities, he feels unstoppable when you are there smiling for him

He does not understand much even about his own feelings, but the hours after the game, when you are next to his tired body, lightly caressing his face, make him feel very happy.

🦋🦋🦋

well ... I didn't like this headcanon so much, but I didn't hate it either, I hope you like it more than I do ;)

[butteraway]

when time runs out | iii

⋆ summary:  A young girl has fallen deeply ill with an unknown disease in her, so with all her free time spent in an empty hospital room, she spends it online playing video games. That's until she meets her cousins friends, one spiking her interest with his extremely vulgare language.

pairing: bakugou katsuki x reader

word count: 1.4k

warnings: none

authors note: I just wanna say thank you for the support on the recent chapters!! I think I'll also be able to post another chapter today to look out for that heheh

Y/N didn't know how long she had been up for, nor how long she had been looking at the white, bland wall in front of her, but one thing she knew was that she felt uncomfortable. For all her time that she had spent in the hospital, she never really paid much attention to her room, almost always on her console and computer.

Of course she did online classes every now and then, but that was just another distraction for her, if she was being honest. A distraction that would make her forget of her situation. It didn't make her feel at home, though living in a hospital wasn't very homey either. Y/N could only sigh as she slowly got up from her bed, stretching to loosen her tense muscles.

Popping her neck, she thought about her bedroom back at home, remembering how safe she felt then. Her soft bed, the stuffed animals that were given to her, the colorful walls-

An idea flashed into Y/N's head as she stopped scratching her cheek in thought. Grinning, she quickly walked towards the little microphone that sat in the corner of her room. Turning it on, she spoke into it.

"Hello? Doctor Receen? You there buddy?" She waited for a moment until she heard the cheerful voice of her doctor speak. "Hello Y/N! How are you today?"

Y/N grinned as she watched the once mirrors turn into windows, giving her access to see the doctor. She waved at him.

"Haha, I'm fine, just fine! I actually just wanna ask you something." Y/N chuckled nervously as Doctor Receen raised an eyebrow in question.

"And that would be?" Y/N shifted to fully face the window, smiling timidly as she shifted her weight on her left leg.

"I was just wondering..." Her voice trailed off, hesitant about what she wanted to ask. Playing with her fingers, she looked up and saw Doctor Receen giving her a smile, urging her to continue.

"I was wondering if I could p-paint my room? Cuz, like it's a little um, not roomy here? I just want to feel more at h-home, y'know? Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it doesn't sound safe. Sorry, p-please forget what I said, it's nothing-" Right as she was about to put down the mic, she heard laughing fill up her room, eyes wide as she looked towards the man as he wiped his eyes.

"Y/N, you don't have to be nervous around me. We've known each other for almost 2 years." Y/N vigorously nodded her head as Receen chuckled at this.

"And about painting your room-" Y/N waited in anticipation of what he was going to say as he looked to be thinking about the question. He smiled as he looked back at the excited girl.

"I don't see any problem with it." The girl jumped as she cheered with happiness, making Doctor Receen laugh at her reaction.

"Though, we will have to run some tests on the paints so it might take a day or so to get you your things. But we'll just give you the equipment to get ready for your paint job." Y/N hadn't felt so much happiness in a while, besides that night she played with those guys online. And her strawberry cheesecake. She thanked the doctor and jumped around in her room quickly turning on the TV to put some music on.

Walking away from the girl's room, Doctor Receen headed towards his office, a grim expression on his face.

Doctor Receen rubbed his tired eyes, rolling the bottle that held the product of intense research done for the sick girl in her room. His eyes stared blankly at the open space in his office, thinking of how he should explain to the young girl's parents that his team and him had found a temporary way to let their daughter out into the world. A lot to take in, if you ask him.

He sighed, gently placing down the bottle of pills on his desk and reaching for his phone. He faltered though, unsure if the parents would even allow them to let her take the pills. He dialed their phone number though, waiting patiently as the line rang.

"Hello Doctor Receen? Has something happened?" Y/N's mother’s voice rang through the phone, urgently asking the dreaded question she didn't want the answer to.

"Good evening, Mrs. L/N. I hope you and your husband are doing well." Doctor Receen calmly greeted. Have to ease them in before breaking the news. The woman chuckled nervously, unsure where the conversation was heading.

"We're both doing well, thank you." The doctor hummed and slowly inhaled before letting it out. She heard this and a shiver went down her spine, only thinking the worst of what he was going to say.

"I am pleased to inform you that my team and I had finally found a way Y/N could go outside." There was a short silence, Doctor Receen running a hand through his black hair.

"What?" There was a tremble that came from the other line, not believing what he had just told her. Her baby could finally get out of that hospital and she'll be able to hold like she used too? That was impossible.

"H-how is that possible? Are you sure the way you found will work? How do you know if it works if you never tried it? Have you already? Oh my God please don't say you're lying!" Her frantic cries were heard loudly in Receen's ear, causing him to slightly move away from the phone. As he told the mother to calm down, he continued.

"Indeed we found a way for her to see the outside world. And as for knowing it works, we had specialists come and help us with the pills, meaning that there is a 97 percent chance they will work. That three percent is highly unlikely though, so you mustn't worry." M/N wasn't sure about what the doctor had said, but decided to trust him since after all, he had helped them so much already.

"Though, unfortunately, you know very well how much time she has left." A deafening silence sat in the air, making it seem as if time itself had stopped. The atmosphere was grave, almost depressing.

"I know." Her voice was so soft, so quiet, he almost didn't hear what she said if it weren't for the silence in the room. It hurt him to know how long Y/N had left until she...

"That is why I am asking for permission to allow Y/N to take the pills whenever she would like to go outside. There are only 15 pills since we had reached our deadline, but-" Receen was cut off by M/N, her voice shaking.

"How long do the pills last?"

"10 hours." M/N sighed in relief, a tear slipping out of her eye. It had taken a long time to finally create something so complicated and for it to last so long. She was overjoyed and extremely thankful.

"Thank you so much Doctor Receen. Thank you so much, Hiroki and I are forever in your debt." M/N sobbed, clutching her phone as the tears fell at a rapid pace. Doctor Receen smiled as she tried to hold back her choked sobs. He was happy for the family.

"Please Mrs. L/N, it's been such a pleasure helping your family. I could only hope we could've done more, but I hope you shall rest slightly more peacefully. But are we going to be able to allow Y/N to take the pills?" M/N vigorously nodded her head, forgetting that Receen couldn't see her.

"Oh! Yes, of course! But-" M/N paused, her thoughts getting doubtful. "Are there any bad side effects to taking the pills?" Receen was silent for a few seconds, pushing up his skewed glasses.

"She might be slightly dizzy when she first takes the pills and when the effects wear off. She also might be a little weak because of all the medicine in the pills, but besides that, nothing that we don’t know of." M/N let out a sigh of relief, a small smile stretching across her face.

"Thank you so much, Doctor. I can never be able to repay you for everything you've done for all of us." After a quick goodbye, Receen let out a sigh, rubbing his eyes again. Receen grinned, picking up the bottle and inspecting the pills inside.

"She took that in better than I expected. That's cool." Receen put the bottle in the pocket of his coat, and began walking away from his office, a slight skip in his steps.

[yuta-nakamots]

santa tell me - l.yy

Pairing - Yangyang x Reader

Genre - Fluff, Angst

Warnings - None

Summary - Growing up, your wishes to Santa were always things like a doll set, a pretty outfit, or a Nintendo gaming system. You didn’t know if he would answer to a wish that was not tangible, like wishing for a person, but it didn’t hurt to try.

Word Count - 4.2k

Taglist - @danishmiilk @dearyongs​

A/N - bolded phrases are song lyrics taken from the songs listed in the prompts. special appearance by @orange-nimon-cross​. 

Written for the Walking In A Winter Wonderland Collab hosted by @suh-insane​ and @neocitybynight​. 

Prompts:

“Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe” - Ariana Grande (Wit it This Christmas)

“Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year.” - Ariana Grande (Santa Tell Me)

When you had first started off in university, one of your biggest worries was not being able to make new friends and fit in with them. Granted, you chose to stay home and go to one of your local schools meaning that some of your high school friends would still be with you but you also wanted to meet new people so you’re not stuck with the same idiots for the rest of your life.

Such idiots being Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno who had stuck with you all through high school. Both of them had told you that they too would be staying at home and would be going to school with you, which you were secretly extremely thankful for, though you knew they too were probably itching to make new friends.

Luckily, you three were all majoring in the STEM field so many of your classes coincided with each other. You stuck with Jaemin as biology majors on the pre-med track while Jeno majored in engineering. Somehow, Jeno, one of the most quiet and intimidating people at first glance, had managed to connect with the other freshmen, introducing you to Yangyang and Renjun, both of whom he met in his calculus class.

Yangyang was majoring in bioengineering, a quite daunting major to say the least, while Renjun was going into computer science. Much to your surprise, Yangyang was actually local. It's just that he had gone to one of your rival high schools which was why you hadn’t yet met him unlike Renjun who actually flew in from a different city.

Like this, your little friend group was complete for your first year of college. With all of you being in the STEM fields, group study sessions were a must, especially for Renjun who felt the need to be over prepared for every quiz or exam though he claimed that the rest of you were just ‘underprepared’.

“So who can tell me what the values of N(0) and N(9) are?” Renjun asked, standing in front of the whiteboard in the study room you all booked to prepare for your calculus exam the next day.

Everyone was silent as they analyzed the problem. “Oh, N(0) is 41 and N(9) is 325, right?” Yangyang answered.

“Correct, they’re simply the values given to us in the problem,” Renjun explained as he wrote the numbers on the board, “and so from here, what do we do if we want to find the unknown relative growth rate?”

“Is that the equation with all the letters and stuff?” Jaemin chimed in. “You know, the one with all the P and the t and the-”

“The exponential growth equation.” Jeno interrupted, playfully rolling his eyes at Jaemin who proceeded to throw his eraser at the former.

“Hey, we’re here to study, not for us to babysit you two,” Renjun scolded, “anyway, which values will we be plugging in?”

“9 for the t, 325 for the P(9), and 41 for P(0),” you stated, pretty much unphased by the antics of your friends, “then you divide the 325 by 41 and multiply both sides by the natural log to get rid of the e.”

“Very good-”

“Wait slow down-”

“I don’t get it-”

Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin all spoke at the same time, shooting each other looks as they fought to decide who should speak though Yangyang beat them all to it. “We’re trying to find the growth rate which is why we divide the final value by the starting value, it’s like finding the rate of change, you know?”

“God, at least I know three of us won’t fail the test,” Renjun muttered.

“Hey,” Jeno complained, “I understand it, I just need more time to write it all down, don’t be so mean.”

“Yeah okay, whatever, let’s just finish up this problem already because I’m hungry and I swear, if we don’t end before the cafeteria closes-”

“Multiply both sides by 1 over 9 to isolate the k constant and from there plug it into a calculator and solve to get the unknown relative growth rate,” you commented, your own stomach growling the tiniest bit at the mention of food.

“Oh my baby is so smart! I’m so proud of you,” Jaemin exclaimed as he reached over to try to squish your cheeks though you were quickly pulled out of his reach as someone moved your chair, “hey! Don’t take my baby away from me.”

“She’s not a baby, she’s already 18,” Yangyang reasoned.

A loud sigh came from the front of the room, effectively interrupting all conversation. “Jaemin, can you at least try to put in some effort?” Renjun whined.

“I did! Look, the k constant is equal to 0.23003 and I have everything written down here,” Jaemin defended, sliding his paper closer to Renjun who was struggling to see it from a distance.

Renjun made a noise of both content and confusion, “then why did you say that you didn’t get it?”

Jaemin shook his head, “oh no no no, I didn’t say that I didn’t get it, I was going to say that I don’t get how our y/n is so smart already. She’s going to be such a good doctor!”

“That’s your goal bro, not her’s.” Yangyang interjected.

There was a loud sound of a book shutting and everyone looked over at Jeno who was packing up his stuff. “What?” He questioned, when he noticed everyone's eyes on him. “Aren’t we going to get dinner?”

The rest of you started following suit after doing one last check that everyone was good on all of the material for the test tomorrow. “What score do you think you’ll get on the exam?” Yangyang asked as the group of you headed over to the cafeteria.

You let out a hum as you thought to yourself. “Maybe like an 85 or something around there.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure you’ll hit at least a 90, or even a 90 exactly,” he responded with a cheeky giggle.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Because I’m the 10 that you need.”

Sure enough, you scored 90 points on the exam, prompting Yangyang to excitedly treat you for lunch that following weekend. One small date became two and eventually three which was when he asked you to be his girlfriend.

When you told the rest of the guys that the two of you were together, Jaemin let out a whoop before turning to the others, “you both owe me twenty.”

You raised an eyebrow at them, asking for an explanation. “We made a bet on when Yangyang would finally get the guts to ask you out. Turns out it was a lot faster than we thought,” Renjun explained dryly as he opened his wallet to hand Jaemin the bill.

The rest of your first year in college went by in the blink of an eye jumping from spending Christmas with Yangyang, Jeno, and Jaemin, to submitting your registrations for the next school year, then to finals to wrap up the term.

If there was one thing about freshman year that you’d keep dear to your heart, it would be the little Christmas party the four of you had at Jeno’s house. You had each brought a gift as each other’s Secret Santa, yours was a cute pair of pink socks with strawberries on them for Jaemin who you knew hated strawberries though he’d wear them anyways because they’re from you.

Supporting your predictions, Jaemin changed his socks right then and there with a smile on his face because “they’re so cute, just like my baby” causing your boyfriend, who was in fact your Secret Santa, to jokingly make a gagging sound at Jaemin’s affection towards you.

The gift Yangyang gave you was a thin bracelet with a single little sheep charm dangling off of it. “In Korean, yang means sheep so I thought it would be cute to give you something that could be a reminder of me when I’m not with you.” Now it was Jaemin and Jeno’s turns to make the sounds of disgust as you kissed Yangyang’s cheek to thank him.

So I think you should give your love to me. Baby, let me know

Sophomore year was when things started to change starting with Yangyang leaving to continue his studies in China where he was accepted into one of his dream universities. He had told you about his plans beforehand and you celebrated every milestone with him like when he first submitted his application, when he got his acceptance letter, and then a scholarship. Here you were finally, sending your boyfriend off at the airport before the beginning of fall semester.

“I love you so much, stay safe and don’t get sick,” you told him as you held him in a tight hug, not wanting to say goodbye just yet.

Yangyang laughed as he felt you trying to nuzzle into his chest. “I’ll be back sooner than you know it. Just four months and I’ll be back for the holidays.”

Even as your tears began to fall, you still smiled, not wanting his last moments with you to be sad ones. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He locked pinkies with you, sealing the deal.

It was difficult to be in a long distance relationship, especially when it seems like the time zones are working against you. When you’re awake and going about your day, Yangyang is winding down and finishing up his work, about the head to sleep. There was never a good time for you to call each other, especially as the semester progressed and your workloads only increased.

“I really miss you, you know. I miss getting to hold you in my arms and mess up your hair only to have you hit me all the time.” You paused the voice recording he had sent you a few days ago, wanting so badly for time to go by faster and for Yangyang to return home sooner.

You sent him a voice recording back. “I passed that test I was talking about last week! I didn’t really do too well but it’s okay because apparently Jeno and Jaemin didn’t do all that great either. I miss having you here to help me study and tell me that I’m doing well. How did your ochem lab go? I’m sure you aced it.”

Sending each other voice recordings was the next best thing after calling because you could still hear each other’s voice while also still doing it at a time that was comfortable for you. It was like texting but with your voice instead of typing out words. Though sometimes it left you anxious because it wasn’t like a call where the other person is responding in real time. Yangyang would often leave you on read and would take a few days to respond so you inadvertently began doing the same thing.

It wasn’t until one weekend when both of you had free time that Yangyang finally snapped during a call. “It’s like you don’t want me anymore.”

“What? No, what do you mean?” You questioned.

“You don’t respond all the time and it’s like I’m not a top priority anymore,” he rambled.

“To be fair,” you began, “you don’t respond to me all the time either-”

“Yeah because I’m busy.” Yangyang interrupted.

You let out a sigh. “I’m busy too. We’re both college students majoring in some of the hardest fields, we know how hard we have to work for our education.”

“I know but like, you can still text me back. You don’t have to send voice recordings so often if you’re really that busy-”

“No, don’t make it sound like I’m exaggerating how busy I am. You are a top priority, but you’re not my number one and that should be common sense.” You tell him, feeling your own temper starting to go.

You could practically see Yangyang rolling his eyes at you. “I’m not trying to downplay your work at all. I’m just saying that it’s not that hard to put effort into our relationship.”

“Then how about you give me something to go off of first instead of making me change for you. You barely respond to me either so I can say just the same thing for you,” you argued.

“Look, I think we need some time away from each other to clear our heads and figure this out when we aren’t being weighed down by all our other problems,” he reasoned.

You let out a laugh. “You say that as if we haven’t already been separated from each other for two months already but okay.”

“Goodnight, y/n.” You heard the line go dead. He didn’t even end with an ‘I love you’ or anything like that though you chose not to think too hard about it because he was probably just as tense as you.

When Yangyang came home in December it felt like everything was right once again. He got to be reunited with the original group along with meeting the two newest additions, Haechan and Shotaro who were both business majors and were roped in by Jeno who had a shared class with both of them.  

Yangyang had gotten you a second charm, the number 10 to go on the bracelet he had bought you the year before which you still wore almost constantly. “Ten because I’m the ten you need, remember?” You nodded as you smiled up at him, glad to finally have him back in your arms.

He had to go back to school sooner than the rest of you so your time with him was short-lived and things went back to the way they used to be, except even more distant this time around. Normally Yangyang would be sure to call you back if he ever missed a call from you, but he didn’t. He’d go days without responding to you, opening your messages but never sending anything back.

But it’s hard to tell if this is just a fling or if it’s true love that he thinks of

That semester, the two of you decided to break things off after yet another fight in hopes to preserve the friendship that you had before things got any worse. It was like a breath of fresh air for a moment, getting to finally focus your energy on your work and not worry about having to respond to messages from a boyfriend who didn’t really seem like one. Only when you slowed down did things really start to hit you.

When Yangyang came back during summer, your group was torn on how to handle the situation, wanting to hang out with both of you but not wanting to make things uncomfortable knowing how rocky things were between the two of you. You ended up pulling yourself back and encouraging them to go out with Yangyang since they could see you during the school year whereas he was in a different country and it only seemed fair.

That was really the last you saw or heard of him as you chose to bury yourself in work for the next year, not wanting to let yourself fall behind in school because of your emotions. It was, by far, one of your most productive years. Not only did you take some of your grad school tests and applied for many scholarships, you also earned yourself a spot on the Dean’s list and took part in a notable marine biology study done on the effects of pollution on the local animals.

Between balancing all of your current works and goals along with things to prepare you for your potential future careers, the mere existence of Liu Yangyang slipped your mind for just that short time. It was only a year later, during the summer before your senior year, did you hear from Jaemin that Yangyang was planning to come back.

“Yeah he was asking Jeno what we’re planning on doing for housing next year and if he could join us.” Jaemin informed you as the two of you were running an experiment and working on tracking the carbon output of the little plants in front of you.

“So what did you say to him?” You asked as you placed the oxygen gauge inside the chamber of the first plant.

Jaemin paused to see if the gauge was sending data to the computer. “I told him that the six of us were looking into getting one of the campus apartments in the fall so we might not be able to accommodate him.”

“Wait, six? Aren’t there five of us?” You started listing the names of your friends in your head.

“Haechan is going off-campus and Jeno’s girlfriend is joining us,” Jaemin corrects, “so next semester it’s us, Jeno and Yunha, Renjun, and Shotaro. Six. We probably won’t have space for him unless someone backs out.” You stared at the rising and falling of the line on the computer graph, not really sure if you were happy or sad at this. “Would you have liked it if he were to join us?” He questioned after seeing your silence.

“I don’t know, it’s not that I’m ‘uncomfortable’ around him…” your voice trailed off as the computer finished collecting data and indicated for you to reset and move on to the next plant, “it’s just that we didn’t really have a clean end to our relationship, if you know what I mean.”

Jaemin nodded in understanding as you moved the gauge to the second plant. “Would you like to get back together with him if given the opportunity?”

“Well, yeah but not if we’re both as busy as we are right now.” You explained, looking over at the screen to see if the oxygen was tracking.

“Try inserting it a little further,” Jaemin instructed when you both saw that the line was running a bit low, “but anyway, you guys are both going into the medical field, there’s no escaping being busy.”

“Yeah that’s exactly wh-”

“No, listen. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to both see each other all the time. Think about it. There’s tons of people out there who don’t even understand their partner’s job but they still make it work-” He rambled

“And who’s to say you can group me in with a majority?” You interject.

Jaemin looks away from the screen to roll his eyes at you. “That’s not the point. I’m just saying that maybe you should think about giving him another chance whether he lives with us or not.”

“I mean, I’ll think about it. That doesn’t mean I will.” You decide, wanting to get back to the experiment.

Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year

Truthfully, you hadn’t really gotten over Yangyang, you had merely forgotten about him for a while with all the stuff you were doing, which was what you had planned to do. A part of you wanted to see if things could still work out again but the other part of you didn’t want to put yourself in that same situation again, especially now that both you and him would probably be even more busy than before.

You didn’t know if he’d be coming back for good or if he’d be leaving again to go somewhere else and you didn’t want to take the chance of falling for him only to lose him shortly after. Thankfully the other guys didn’t ask too much about it seeing as how the housing situation was already settled.

It was just your luck and misfortune that you went in to work on a research assignment on the day you did. As you walked down the hallways of the lab building, you heard that one familiar voice ringing throughout the halls from an open door. You paused in your tracks, diverting from your course through the building to see if your suspicions were true as you peeked into one of the labs.

As you looked in, you saw his back towards you while he talked animatedly with one of your colleagues about how different it was to go to a university in China. You quickly ducked away when your colleague waved in your direction, not wanting to be seen by Yangyang.

“Who was that?” He asked, his voice getting fainter as you sped away from the room. You heard your name mentioned followed by an “oh” but that was about it as you got into the elevator to head to the archives.

And I’m trying to play it cool but it’s hard to focus when I see him walking around the room

Senior year progressed just like any other year, though you were glad that you got to live with your closest friends and at least see them for meals when you were all too busy to actually hang out. If anything, it was just the slightest bit more calm since there was no longer stress about passing general classes now that you were in more specialized biology courses that were actually enjoyable.

The annual Christmas party came up much faster than you expected but now that the six of you shared an apartment, it was only that much more convenient and because it would be your last year all together, Jaemin insisted that it be an actual get-together for your friends.

He invited Haechan and some of the guys he was now living with, though they were all older too. Renjun brought over some of the other computer science grad students that he had gotten close to recently, similar to Jeno in the engineering field.

As more people showed up and you worked on keeping all of your guests entertained, you hadn’t managed to keep track of everyone who set foot into the door, trusting Renjun to not let anyone in who had no business with you guys. It wasn’t until dinner started that you saw a face you hadn’t seen in a while.

“Hey,” Yangyang began as he almost ran into you exiting the kitchen with a plate full of food in his hands.

“Hey,” you said back, startled and unsure of how to actually react.

After you had gotten your food and returned to the living room, you say that he had taken up a seat next to Jeno and Jaemin as some Christmas movie started playing and you opted to sit on the sofa next to Jeno’s girlfriend Yunha, who gladly scooted over to make room for you. “Who’s that?” She asked, nodding over to where her boyfriend was.

“That’s, uh, Yangyang. He was one of our close friends during our freshmen year but he left to study at a school in China,” you inform her, glad that she accepted the simple explanation.

You successfully avoided him for almost the rest of the night, not because you didn’t like him but because you were scared of talking to him after so long. It was nearing the end of the night when Renjun had yelled for everyone to “sit your asses down in a circle” with the present they brought for the white elephant game gift exchange game.

The apartment was filled with laughter and cheers as the game progressed and people opened the gifts they chose, finding things outrageous as a whisk or backscratcher or even a bag of clothespins. The best one was the gift Jeno, a cat lover opened, pulling out a box of dog treats.

“Aw, our big samoyed!” Jaemin cooed. “Do some tricks for us!” Jeno shot him a glare before allowing the game to continue on.

The gift you decided on keeping was a small red envelope sealed with a shiny golden sticker. When you opened it, you pulled out a postcard from Shanghai and you felt a wave of emotion hit you. You held it up to show the people around you what it was before quickly slipping it back into the envelope and placing it on the ground beneath your crossed legs.

Once everyone had opened their gifts and a few people were starting to leave, you decided to get a head start on cleaning up in the kitchen as your roommates bid everyone farewell and wished them a safe drive home.

“I think it’s kind of funny how you got my gift,” a voice said from behind as you transferred the leftover dumplings from the plate they were on into a tupperware container.

You shrugged your shoulders. “The minimum price requirement was $5 and I’m sure you couldn’t have spent more than $2 on that.”

“The envelope and the sticker made up for the other $3,” he stated, his playful attitude ever so present, “so how have you been lately?”

“Pretty good, I guess. Got accepted into grad school, finishing up my remaining courses, just normal college stuff, how about you?” You finally make eye contact with him as you have to nudge him out of the way for you to open the refrigerator. He looks nearly exactly the same as when he first left but somehow more handsome and less boyish.

“Oh, I’ve been doing just about the same I could say. I decided to stay home for this school year, though I suppose you already knew that seeing as how you were spying on me at the beginning of the semester.” He shot you a wink as you returned back to the counter to start working on another dish.

You let out a gasp, “I was not spying on you.”

“Then why did you just peek into the lab and leave before I got to see you?” He inquired.

“Because I had other things to do,” you respond quickly.

“Well what if I told you that I actually wanted to see you and was disappointed that you ran away?” He took a step closer to you.

You secured the lid on a container of fried rice. “Then I guess you’re not the only one.”

“Hm, so you really did miss me then,” Yangyang chuckles.

“Will the two of you stop talking and just kiss already?” Jaemin shouts from the hallway.

Yangyang lets out a laugh. “You heard the guy. Come here.”

You gave in to your heart as you closed the refrigerator again, turning to face him and taking only two steps until you were in his arms once again as his lips met yours.

Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe

[anxiousstark]

S2 07 | Restraint

BIG MASTERLIST | TW REWRITE

Stiles Stilinski x Reader! Half-sibling!Mccall

Word count: 

Warnings: Mentions of injuries, murder, swearing (always).

A/N: This is more likely a filler chapter. I swear as chapters go on they get better! I’m so excited for those ones to come out!

↪ PLEASE RESPECT MY WORK. DON’T COPY, TRANSLATE OR CLAIM THEM AS YOURS. NOT ON THIS WEBSITE OR ANOTHER. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.

"You will not go within 50 feet of Jackson Whittemore. You will not speak to him. You will not approach him. You will not assault or harass him physically or psychologically." Noah Stilisnki glanced at us with deception. It broke my heart to see him feeling so ashamed of us. If only he knew everything that was going on.

Jackson had told his father about us, and now Scott, Stiles, and I had a restraint order.

The Hazel-eyed boy gazed around. "What about school?"

"You can attend classes while attempting to maintain a 50 - foot distance."

"Bu-. Okay, what if we both have to use the bathroom at the same time and there's only two stalls available and they're only right next to each other?" Mr. Stilisnki, Melissa, and Jackson's dad sighed, crossing their arms over their chest. "I'll just hold it."

Stiles was bickering with his dad. "Move," Melissa pushed Scott and me slightly. She focused her gaze on her son. "It's not just this. Although, a restraining order is a new low that I didn't think that you would reach quite this soon. It's everything on top of it. The completely behaviour, the late nights coming home, having to beg Mr. Harris for you to make up that chemistry test that you missed." She now looked at me. "I truly didn't expect you to follow whatever these two had in mind while preparing such a stupid joke to Jackson." I felt a pang on my chest, biting my lower lip, deciding that it was better to remain silent.

"I missed a chemistry test?"

"Really, Scott? Really? I have to ground you. I am grounding you. You are grounded." Her eyes again on me. "That goes for you too, young lady. I have to ground you too." I nodded.

"What about work?"

"Fine.Other than work. And no TV."

"My TV's broken." And I didn't watch TV.

"Then no computer."

"I need the computer for school." True.

"Then no, uh, no Stiles."

"What?!" Stiles and I snapped at the same time.

"No Stiles?!" Said boy came closer to us.

"No Stiles!" She shouted, making me and the boy back up. Damn, Melissa was quite scary when she yelled. "And no more car privileges. Give me your keys. Give 'em to me!" Her hands shook a little as she tried to take the car key. "Oh, for the love of God."

"Mom, you want me to-"

"No."

"Mom, come on, let me just, mom. Mom!" He grabbed her trembling hands.

"What is going on with you? Is this about Allison?"

"Do you really wanna know?

"Yeah. Is this about your father?" Stiles nodded in the back, telling Scott to lie. I was too distracted by the mention of our sperm donor. "It is, isn't it? Okay, you know what, um-. We'll talk about this at home. I'm gonna go get the car." It made me think. Why did he leave Scott and Melissa?

"So did you guys get into much trouble?" Allison asked me, her right hand tightly clutching her bag. "Melissa seems like a woman who has a strong attitude."

"She does." I nodded. "She took Scott's car keys, TV, my radio, and no Stiles." I pouted. I opened the door of the library, motioning for her to go first. She grinned at me.

"Woah, no Stiles." She winked while I looked at her confused. "Must be hard for you."

"Uh? What do you mean?" She didn't answer, gazing at the camera that was installed on the top of the wall, walking directly to a determined place. I wanted to ask her again, but if the Argents knew that she was talking to me, hell would break. That is why when we entered the library, I walked away from her, finding Scott and Stiles.

I smiled at both boys, Allison separated from us by a big shelf. From one of the spaces between the books, she slid a tablet. "It's everything Lydia can translate. And trust me, she was very confused."

"Yeah, what'd you tell her?"

"That we were part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures." She replied, making Scott chuckle.

"I am part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures." He gazed at both of them, feeling insulted.

"I-I do too." Stiles's head turned towards me as he heard my confession.

"You do?" I nodded. "Want to come to my house and play together? We could complete all the missions, I'm already on the second part of the new event that finishes on-"

"No way!" I interrupted him. "It started one month ago! How did you get so far?"

Scott grinned, interrupting our passionate talk about our online community. "Okay, does it say how to find out who's controlling him?"

"Not really. But Stiles was right about the murderers."

"Yes!" His aggressive gesture celebrating that he was right almost hit me on the face.

"It calls the Kanima a weapon of vengeance. There's a story in there about this South American priest who uses the Kanima to execute murderers in his village."

"All right, see? So maybe it's not all that bad." I nodded along.

"Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to."

I groaned, punching Stiles's arm playfully. "Why did you have to talk so soon?"

"All bad, all very, very bad."

"Here's the thing, though. The Kanima's actually supposed to be a werewolf. But it can't be-" Allison couldn't finish her sentence as the person in charge of the library got closer to her, trying to organize some books.

"Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it." Scott finished fo her. A chill ran through my body, I knew what was in my past.

"Okay, if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, I could've told you that myself." If I was the same as Jackson, a Kanima. Would I be a werewolf after discovering what manifested this all?

"What if- It has something to do with his parents? His real parents." That could be me too. Jackson and I could have ended up being this monster for similar reasons.

"Yeah, does anybody actually know what happened to them?"

"Lydia might."

"What if she doesn't know anything?"

"Well, he doesn't have a restraining order against me, so- I'll talk to him myself." That wasn't a good idea. Jackson wouldn't be able to control his instincts if he was mad. And yeah, Allison was a pretty great hunter, but she could still get killed.

"Okay, what do I do?"

"You have a make-up exam, remember?" She grabbed his hand. "Promise me."

"Are they going to have sex right now? Here?" Stiles chuckled after my comment, grabbing my hand, taking me away from them to give privacy.

Scott was trying to past the chemistry test that he didn't attend, and I hoped that he would pass it. Stiles had spent the night before it helping him as much as possible, without Melissa knowing, of course. Remember, no Stiles.

Allison went to talk with Jackson and Stiles with Lydia. Allison didn't let me go with her, saying that she could protect herself, but I felt like something was going to be wrong. Stiles decided that Lydia would shy away if we went in a group to talk to her, so I was resting my back against the lockers while he followed the strawberry blonde girl.

I heard the ticking of a clock inside my head, I groaned. "Y/N?" Scott? Was I hearing Scott inside my head? "Allison needs me. Go get Stiles, he is in trouble. Keep an eye on him?"

"What about your exam?"

"They need me. She needs me, please."

"Go get Allison," I whispered aloud. I started walking fastly, trying to find Stiles. I did, and he was following Erica.

"You can't tell Derek, okay? There's a lot more to this that you don't know about. And just because you got the Alpha bite makeover doesn't give you a license to go around destroying people."

"Why not? That's all anybody ever used to do to me. I used to have the worst crush in the world on you. Yeah, you, Stiles. And you never once even noticed me. Exactly how you're not noticing me right now." Her hand rested on his chest, and I could feel hot all over. I didn't think twice, walking fastly to them, grabbing her wrist.

"I told you," I growled. "Don't touch-"

I was interrupted when the boy's locker room opened, Scott flying in the air, falling brutally into the ground, groaning. Jackson jumped on him, not being able to control himself. I ended up jumping on top of Jackson, trying to free Scott from him. But Whittemore punched me on the chin. Still, I continued fighting until Erica grabbed Jackson, and Stiles grasped me, lifting me from the floor. His arms were tight around my waist, mouth near my ear, letting me know that my eyes were ice blue. "Close them. Close your eyes. Breathe with me." He whispered.

We all ended up getting detention, Jackson had gone out of the room. He was pale and crazily sweating. When he came back, he still looked like he was going to pass out. Mr. Harris had left us on our own, letting us know that we needed to organize the library. I hated that dude.

Erica had let us know that Jackon's parents died in a car accident. Her father was the insurance investigator. Every time he sees Jackson drive his Porsche, he makes some comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's 18. During all this, Stiles was sitting next to her, and she tried to lowkey flirt with him.

Ugh.

"It means he was born after his mom died by c-section. They had to pull him out of her dead body."

"So was it an accident or not?" Allison and I were staring at Jackson while organizing some books. The sooner we finished, the sooner we could get the hell out here.

"The word all over the report is inconclusive."

"Then his parents could have been murdered?" My parents weren't killed. My mom was a murderer, and my dad was an asshole who didn't have the heart to take care of any of his kids.

"If they were, then it falls in line with the kanima myth. You know? It seeks out and kills murderers."

"Then what about me?" I whispered.

"You aren't a kanima," Hazel-eyes peered deep into mine. "I told you before. We would have known that you were the Kanima like we knew that Jackson was." His hand rested on my back. "Don't worry about that. We will continue investigating."

After comforting me, Scott decided that we had to talk to Jackson. They continued talking, but I decided to ignore them. I felt dizzy, so I continued grabbing books, placing them where they belonged. My eyes went to read the title of the book 'Close your eyes, Y/N'. I blinked, a couple of times until those words disappeared, and the real title of the book appeared.

I grabbed another book, glancing at it. 'Obey or they die.'

"Stiles," I grabbed his arm, but he was trying to talk to Allison and Scott, deciding what to do with Jackson. "Stiles," He finally looked at me, a questioning look on his face. "W-What is the title of this book?"

He grabbed the books from my arms, still confused. "To kill a mockingbird." I nodded after his reply, smiling and placing the book where it belonged. I walked around, trying to find Jackson. But I found Matt, laying on the floor, blood dripping from the back of his neck.

"What the heck?" I heard Scott behind me when I turned around to look at him, glass shattered from above us, books falling. Scott threw his body on me, trying to shield me from the glass. "You okay?" I nodded my head, then he called for Erica. We heard her scream, and then, a thud.

We both quickly got up from the floor. We had to check on Erica, Allison, and Stiles. Stiles, was he okay?

Scott ran to Allison, and Stiles asking both of them if they were alright. I took a step to go to them but was stopped by Jackson. Half of his face was squamous, yellow eyes. He pushed me with incredible strength, my back hitting something, making me groan in pain.

Stiles clutched my hand, moving me to them. "Hey, hey. You okay?" His worried eyes examined every part of my face.

"Hurts like a bitch." I answered, grinning to lower his anxiety. Jackson was now acting odd, he was acting like the kanima. He was being controlled. He began writing on a blackboard "STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU." Then he flew out of the library, smashing his body against a window.

We got into our feet, Stiles and I running towards Erica while the other two were too focused on the board. "Whoa, hey, hey, hey, hey! I think she's having a seizure." Stiles took Erica into his arms.

"He's alive." Allison checked Matt's pulse.

"Hey, we need to get her to a hospital."

"Derek - only to Derek." Even if her body was shaking, she just wanted to go to Hale.

"When we get her to the hospital-"

"To Derek. To Derek."

"Go." Allison looked deeply into my- Scott's eyes.

"I'm staying here with you."

"He can't take her alone. Not like this. And Matt - I've got to call an ambulance for him, just go."

"Guys," I interrupted. "Take Erica to Derek, now. I will stay here with Allison," I gazed at Scott, who was utterly anxious. "We will be alright." I felt other eyes on me when I turned my head I was met with Stiles's eyes. "Taker her to Derek, okay? Then, come back to me." He nodded.

.

.

TAGLIST: @og-baby-ob14 - @savemypostcards - @cas-loves-pizza - @used-avocado - @mvrylee - @bilesxbilinskixlahey - @honeydoll-stark - @arieltheworldisamess - @softpeteparker - @kit-kat-katie99 - @thatsuperherosidekick - @bexbetterxthanxwords - @big-galaxy-chaos - @littlemiss-forgotten - @enchantedcruelsummer - @coldfreakeggsexpert - @merla123 - @sammypotato67 - @weirdowithnobeardo - @maggiesblogsblog - @itskindyl - @bobo-bush - @moongoddesskiana - @multifandxm353 - @irwxnhugsx - @xoprincessmel - @iclosetgeek - @andreagf956 - @niawoods - @anerroroccurrrrred - @perrytheplatypus11 - @trustfundparker - @nmriia - @steve-harringtonnn - @trustfundparker -

People in bold means it doesn’t let me tag them.

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - Amalia pt.2

For @artsymeeshee​. Thank you so so much for being you and for always brightening up my day! Sorry for the wait, but I hope you like it.

pt.1

~~~~~~~~~~

“Dipper, come on! They’re ready!”

The thirteen-year-old boy quickly joined his sister on her bed, lying on their stomach so they could see the laptop comfortably. Yes, they texted their grunkles at least three times a day and constantly sent emails and usually got to have a video call once a week, but that didn't make their interactions any less exciting and enjoyable. Dipper and Mabel’s parents were busy working so the twins had the house to themselves and could talk freely.

The laptop ringed a few times and soon they were graced with two nearly identical faces with distinct differences, both smiling widely at the young teenagers. “Hey there, kiddos!”

“Hi, guys!” Mabel returned, waving and grinning. “Did you get my package, did you, did you, did you?!”

“Yes, I have it right here.” Ford chuckled warmly and placed the package on the dining room table, where the old men were located.

“Well go ahead and open it!” Mabel squealed and Stan used his pocket knife to cut through the tape and they opened the box to find a large, brand new knitted blanket.

“Oh, wow! Mabel, sweetie, this is… wow.” Stan admired with shining eyes as he pulled the blanket out of the box.

“This might be your best work yet, my dear!” Ford complimented as he grazed the yarn with his fingers. “It’s so soft, and how on Earth did you manage to make it so big?”

“Big knitting needles!”

“She used her arms to knit it, like she had it looped around her actual arms.” Dipper answered honestly with a small, proud smile while Mabel blushed furiously.

“That’s very impressive.” Ford said.

“I’ll say! It’s beautiful! I love it!” Stan wrapped it around his shoulders and hummed; he could distantly smell his niece’s shampoo and cheap strawberry perfume. “Thank you, pumpkin.”

“You’re welcome, I just don’t want you guys to be cold or freeze to death up there.”

“Mabel, for the millionth time, I swear we’re fine.” Stan assured, unable to keep the laughter in his throat down.

“I know, but as the professional knitter in the family, it is my sworn duty to ensure you two stay warm and cozy, despite the challenging environment!” She said victoriously with her hand pointing upward, like she was pretending there was a flag behind her or something. “Anywho, what’s new with you guys?”

“Oh, nothing out of the abnormal.” Ford said casually, rocking his hand side-to-side in a painfully casual manner. “Iceland was interesting, we’re planning on heading back up North shortly to make it to Gravity Falls in time for summer, but we have about a month to spend exploring the United Kingdom until we have to start our way back.”

“Great!” Dipper commented. “See anything cool in Iceland? Any mountain trolls?”

“No, no trolls.”

“Although we did see this big smelly guy in a bar that looked half-troll to me.” Stan added in.

“But… we…” Stan gave Ford a dark look, so the eldest twin corrected himself quickly. “I… I did something.”

“Oh boy, did you burn a hole into the counter again, Grunkle Ford?” Mabel guessed.

Ford chuckled warmly and shook his head. “No, nothing like that. It’s… well, I’ll show you, hold on one minute.”

Dipper and Mabel watched one uncle get up and leave while the other held his head and rubbed his temples. “Grunkle Stan, what did he do?” Mabel asked.

“Something a certain pumpkin once did to me and I don’t appreciate it anymore now than I did before.” Stan mumbled.

Ford sat back down next to his twin, resulting in Mabel screaming and then quickly covering her mouth, her eyes wide and shining like stars. Dipper just stared, smiling, but mostly confused at the tiny furry thing on his grunkle’s chest. Ford couldn’t keep the dopey smile off his face as he petted the anomaly’s back and she licked his cleft chin. “This is Amalia.”

“OH MY GOSH, YOU GUYS!” Mabel squealed, making Amalia jump a little and start looking around the boat for whatever was causing the sudden noise. “She’s so cute! I didn’t know you guys were gonna get a pet!”

“Neither did we.” Ford chuckled as Amalia sat on the table, still looking around. “She came aboard in Iceland and never left. She’s quite gentle and well-trained, very well behaved.”

“She’s a cute, furry jerk.” Stan growled.

“Stanley’s just mad at her because she knocked over his favorite mug this morning.”

“Daw, she probably wanted your attention, Grunkle Stan.”

“Well, she has it now.” Stan sneered and pointed his fingers from his eyes to the pet, still curiously on the hunt for the mysterious noise.

“How interesting.” Dipper muttered with a smile. “Do you know what species she is?”

“Not quite sure.” Ford answered. “She has many cat-like behaviors, but obviously she’s more than some exotic breed of a domestic feline. I’ve run a few tests, simply playing games with her to test her intelligence and watching her through the day, but so far nothing too abnormal has come up.”

“Well, as much as she doesn’t look like any breed I know of, she might be a hybrid we’ve never seen before, a mixture of two breeds of cat. I could do some research to see if she resembles any cat breeds.” Dipper pulled out his cellphone while Amalia looked at the scream, her eyes big at the teenagers.

“She’s looking at us, she’s looking at us!” Mabel whispered excitedly. “Hi, Amalia! Hi! I’m gonna knit you a cute sweater, yes I am!” She cooed.

Amalia pawed at the laptop, getting closer to it, and eventually walking on the keys.

“OY! Get off!”

“Stanley, don’t hurt her!”

“She’s gonna…”

And suddenly Dipper and Mabel were faced with a blank screen, making them laugh and quickly send snarky text messages to the old sailors.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stan’s eyes slowly opened, lying on his back, and therefore first seeing the ceiling of the bunker of his beloved boat. He was stiff; his whole body was stiff and his eyes were crusty and he wanted to go back to sleep, but his body had had enough of sleep and it was time to leave his bed for the day.

Taking in a sharp breath to brace himself for the pain of first moving his old back, Stan sat up and placed his feet in his slippers. He reached for his glasses, surprised to find a note by them. He slipped on his aid of vision and immediately recognized his brother’s neat cursive writing.

Stanley, We needed a few supplies and I felt like going on a small walk early this morning, so I left you alone to sleep. I’ll be back by lunch. Please look after Amalia while I’m gone. Stanford. 6:18am

Stan swore under his breath. Not only had Sixer probably not slept well, Stan was willing to bet money on it, he was stuck babysitting the stupid animal. Who, by the way, was playing with a fluffy ball on the floor, silently amusing herself and leaving Stan alone. Well, fine then. He could work with that.

The younger twin stood and slipped on his bathrobe over his pajamas, making his way upstairs for coffee and maybe some breakfast. The clock over the stove read two minutes before ten, so coffee should tie him over until lunchtime. Stan filled the machine with a filter and grounds and turned on the pot after filling it with water, but he was disturbed from his work when he heard tiny footsteps and saw Amalia climbing up the steps and walking up to him.

“Whatcha want?” He growled sleepily.

Amalia, of course, didn’t answer, but instead sat next to where Stan stood and rubbed against his bony legs, purring her strange purr; it wasn’t normal like a cat’s but there was no other way to explain the sound she made. Stan snorted.

As the coffee pot filled with the caffeinated breakfast beverage, Stan fished out an apple from the fridge and bit into it. Okay, a small snack would be okay. His eye caught the small stacks of canned tuna Ford had put there, claiming Amalia preferred her fish cold, and he shrugged and decided to go ahead and feed the weird thing so he wouldn’t have to get up from the couch to do it later. At the sound of the can opening the little cat-like beauty sprung up on the table and tapped the surface with her little beanie paws, a bad habit Ford had installed early because “Amalia is too lady-like to eat on the floor,” the aged scientist had cooed as he placed the can on the table and scratched his pet.

Stan rolled his eyes and decided not to fight it. He sat Amalia’s breakfast on the table and she happily indulged in the cold fish while Stan poured himself a mug of coffee. He watched the anomaly eat peacefully, her tiny face almost completely engulfed in the food. The old conman couldn’t help but smile as he sipped his black drink. “You’re quieter than the pig. I’ll give you that.”

Amalia sat up, a bit of damp food on her face, but she licked it off and then began to clean herself by licking her paw and rubbing her face. Stan accidentally found himself watching her as he sipped his coffee, a small smile on his wrinkly face.

Really, the main reason why he was being the bad guy was because someone had to be in this type of situation. Someone had to try to be reasonable, someone had to oppose a potentially bad idea, and with Stan’s tough-guy persona and Ford opting out of being the cold, realistic, mad-scientist in order to be a big marshmallow for a weird cat, Stan was the perfect candidate. With that being said, Stan reminded himself of an incident he was faced with over fifty years ago.

“Stanford, please!”

“Stanley, I’m sorry, but he’s a wild animal. Don't you think he’ll be happier out in nature? And what will Ma and Pa say?”

“They… They don’t have to know…”

“Stanley!”

“Sixer, please! C’mon! I’m begging you! I’ll do anything! Just please don’t rat me out!”

“Whoa, whoa. I’d never tattle on you, I… I won’t tell, but I really think you shouldn’t keep him as a pet.”

It was only a week, but by the time Stan re-introduced the animal as Shanklin the Stab-Possum, Ford’s appreciation for the strange pet was much stronger and he even used him to help free the Jersey Devil. Plus it was easy to keep the possum a secret when they were grounded in their room all summer. Ford never did tattle and he loved that possum almost as much as Stan loved Shanklin. So, okay, if a couple of weird nine-year-olds can have a possum for a pet, then a pair of eccentric old sailors can have an unknown cat for a pet.

Stan left the kitchen-area for the couch and pulled out a newspaper he had snagged yesterday to finish. He opened it with a rustle and sat comfortably, but not long did he feel something join him on his right side and then two little paws land on his leg. Stan lowered his reading material and raised an eyebrow at Amalia, who just looked at him with sparkling eyes. “What?”

Of course the anomaly didn’t answer, but she did climb across his legs for his lap and sat in a curled-up ball for a mid-morning nap. Stan sighed with a smile, scratched her behind the ear, and rescued his reading.

~~~~~~~~~~

Three weeks later and the Stan O’ War was harbored at Ipswich, UK. Having traveled through the Irish Sea and around England, the ship was about to head up north, beginning the journey for home. But Mabel had given the twins another city to be in for another package, and so with Amalia in Ford’s hoodie and Stan holding two bags of groceries, they stopped by the post office and picked up their mail.

Cushioned in a new baby-blanket for Amalia were two small sweaters just perfect for the little anomaly. One was purple with a golden six-fingered hand and a golden crescent with each symbol having an ‘s added to it, and beneath all of this the word “pet” was stitched on in colorful letters. The second one was fluffy white with a baby-blue paw-print on it, each sweater big enough to not squeeze Amalia and with the designs on her back so the humans could see them easily.

While Amalia was never shivering or actively cold, Ford ignored Stan’s laugh-filled orders not to torture their pet and the fluffy-haired twin had Amalia try on the white sweater, who loved it so much she refused to let Ford take it off of her for a few hours. Stan, of course, had to end a picture to their niece, who may or may not have cried at the sight and at the caption her uncle sent it with, “Amalia loves Auntie Mabel’s sweaters.”

[puckyess]

4 Times His Teammates Said “I Love You” + 1 Time He Did | Ryder Donovan

S/o to @penaltbox for being my favorite brainstorm partner and encouraging the hell out of me. Inspo: @that-fandom-stuck-in-your-head 

I found the one TikTok that was deleted, so now all TikToks are linked!!

** FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED **

Words: 7.5k

Shay Donovan 

You weren’t allowed to have favorites on the team outside of Ryder, but if you did it would be Shay hands down. The relationship you had with him was like that of a brother. He watched out for you and you for him. You’d play the part of his best wingwoman and he supported your relationship with his brother. You’d fight like siblings too. He knew exactly which buttons to press and you knew how to get under his skin. You knew each other well and this is what made you two Ryder’s worst nightmare. You constantly ganged up on him with his brother. You were able to get Ryder to do/fall for just about anything and that made you Shay’s favorite secret weapon.

The boys had some free time this weekend and wanted to make the 5 hour drive to Duluth to spend it on their boat since it would probably be one of the last times they would get to do so with the season ramping up. Ryder’s annoyance for you and Shay began promptly at 6 a.m. He was not a morning person and you definitely weren’t either, but Shay insisted you both get up early so that you get to the boat at a decent time in the day. He did not however, set his alarm for 6 a.m., rather 6 p.m. and was awoken by his brother’s shouts to get out of bed. You, on the other hand, were just running late because you thought you could get ready in a shorter amount of time than was realistic. By the time you and Shay make it down to Ryder, who already has the car packed and ready to go, he’s huffy. “You guys know I hate when you tell me a specific time and then you show up late”.  “Well this should be a fun trip, right Rizzer?”, Shay speaks up with fake enthusiasm. You shoot Shay a look from the front seat as a signal to shut the hell up, to which Ryder appreciates.

The first hour is pretty smooth, not a whole lot of talking going on in the car. Everyone just appreciating the sunrise, or at least that’s what you thought until you glanced in the backseat and saw Shay sound asleep. At your “awh” Ryder moved his eyes from the road to the rear view mirror. “So that’s why it’s been so peaceful”. Even though you laughed you gave Ryder’s hand that was on your thigh a light squeeze. “Don’t be so grumpy Rydes. This is going to be a fun weekend, I just know it”. He can hear the smile in your voice without even looking over and he knows you’re right, flashing you his signature bright smile of his own.

As if he knew he was being talked about, Shay begins to stir. The quietness is disturbed immediately upon his awakening. He takes over the AUX and the road tripping can finally begin. Him and Ryder argue over music, whether to play alternative or country and which has more of a summer vibe, until finally a summer playlist, containing both is chosen. You pick up your phone, scrolling through some Tiktoks when you find one you just have to send to Shay. You watch as he gets the notification and opens it immediately. The music is broken up, replaced with the voice of a guy saying, “Send this to someone you don't like. You look like a rat, and you are so fat. I would be so sad, if i looked like that”. You’re dying laughing in the front seat at the offended look on Shay’s face and the death glare he’s receiving from Ryder. “I hate you” is all Ryder spits out, as this is a regular occurrence in any car ride. You love how you can get Shay in trouble without even really trying and how Ryder only yells at his brother when you’re the one who sent it to him.

The rest of the ride is spent on the highway and though you love the singing of the boys in the car with you, you’re getting pretty bored just watching the trees pass by so you say, “Let’s play a game!”. They both look at you like you’re 12.

“What? It’ll be fun I promise”. They shoot you skeptical looks, but ask what the game is anyway.

“It’s like license plate bingo kind of. You see the type of car first, you call it out and then you get to punch whoever you want”, you say with a shrug.

“Ooo, I like this game”, Shay says rubbing his palms together as he studies the list of “rules” you sent him: Slug bug, no punchbacks. PT Cruiser, get a bruiser. Tacoma, put you in a coma. Kia, wouldn’t wanna be ya, could be substituted with kia kick. Big truck, no luck. Subaru slap. Jeep jab. Honda hit. Train, feel the pain. You read them out loud to Ryder so that he can play too while he drives. Ryder shakes his head as you continue down the list, clearly not as impressed as Shay was.

“Where do you come up with this stuff, Y/N?”, but he agrees to participate nonetheless.

The rest of the ride is now much more exciting, everyone on high alert for a vehicle that would allow them to inflict pain on a passenger. You and Shay are admittedly better and much more active in the game since Ryder has to also pay attention to the road. As a result, he also ends up taking most of the hits, both from you and his brother. Everytime you would excitedly jab him, he’d give you puppy dog eyes. He was easy pickings, as he was right next to you, but the sad eyes did make you choose Shay as your target a little more often.

After Shay slugs Ryder in the arm for about the fifth “Kia, wouldn't wanna be ya”, his personal favorite, Ryder expresses his annoyance for the game. “This is abuse. I can’t even play right since I’m driving. The only person I can hit is Y/N, and unlike some people”, he says, shooting you a look, “I don’t enjoy hitting my significant other”.

You just roll your eyes at him, but Shay is quick to jump in, unhappy that Ryder is squashing his fun. “Awh can widdle brudder not take a few punches? You’re going soft, Ryder” Shay says with his fake baby voice.

You know it grates on Ryder’s nerves like no other so you call the game quits before they engage in an argument in the small space. Luckily, you were just pulling into the drive leading to where the Donovan’s call home. Getting out of the car Shay throws an arm around you, “I liked our game, Y/N. Very fun. We should play it more often”.

You all enter the house long enough to drop off the bags and pack some snacks for the boat. Shay leans over to you. “Want to see something funny?”, he asks with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. You raise your eyebrow at him in response. “I’m going to get Ryder in trouble with only four words”, he promises. You use your hand to gesture him on to whatever it is he has planned.

“OW, Ryder! Ryder, stoppp!” He suddenly yells. Ryder, who was digging through the fridge, turns around, giving Shay a confused look as if to say “Wtf”.

“Ryder, seriously! Stop!”, he continues yelling.

“Knock it off!”, their mom calls down from upstairs. Ryder’s clued into what’s happening now, giving his brother a little shoulder check as he passes him to drop the strawberries on the island, just in time for his mom to come around the corner.

“Ryder stop!”, Shay yells at his brother one last time for good measure.

“Seriously, Ryder? You two are home for not even two minutes and you’re already trying to test my patience? And with a guest in the house. Did I teach you boys nothing?”, she reprimands her sons and you have to hide your smile as Shay’s plan plays out accordingly.

She’s bringing you in for a hug then and eventually her two sons the same. She catches up with the boys for a few minutes, but knows they’re impatient to get to the boat so she doesn’t chat for long.

Once she leaves the room you turn to Shay, “I have to say, I’m impressed. I didn’t think it would be that easy.” Shay has a very pleased smirk on his lips.

“I used to do it when we were kids, all the time. Good to know it still works now too, isn’t that right, Rydes?” he says nudging his brother.

Ryder looks back and forth between you and his brother, shaking his head. “You were in on this? You two are the worst. I’m about to drive back to Wisconsin and leave you both here”, he says with a huff.

Unfortunately for Ryder, your antics with Shay weren’t finished yet. While he was driving the boat, Shay had found a Tiktok that he wanted to make, but he needed your help to do it. You were lounging at the front of the boat when Shay brought it to you, explaining his plan.

“Okay, so I’m going to sit over there and just act like I’m on my phone, but I’m actually going to be filming. You’re going to put your fingers like this”, he says showing you  his thumb and pointer finger touching like in the ok sign, “and then tell him to do that on his chin, but put it on your cheek. “I want to see how many times it’s going to take him to get it right. My bet is 5. You in?”.

You felt bad goading your boyfriend like that, but you knew he was the perfect victim for it. You loved Ryder, but he was a little slow to catch onto things sometimes. The punchline of jokes? Not his thing, he’d get it a few seconds after everyone else and even then, sometimes you weren’t really sure if he even got it then. It was a wonder how he played such a fast paced game and came up with chirps on the fly. Mulling it over once more, you finally nodded your head. “Yeah, I’m in, but $10 says it’s going to take him 8”, you say with a wink.

Shaking on it, he says, “I like the way you think. You have a deal”.

Getting up you go over to your boyfriend, trying not to feel guilty. “Babe, I have a test for you”, you say as innocently as possible.

“And what is that?”, he asks, giving you his full attention.

“Put this,” Showing him the same sign Shay showed you, “on your chin”, demonstrating for him, placing the ok sign on your cheek.

He narrowed his eyes at you. “Is this a tiktok or something?” he asked, looking around for your phone. Your eyes widened with fake offence as you pointed to your phone over on your towel. “Babe, do you see me filming? My phone is way over there. It’s fine. Just put this on your chin”, you said, once again demonstrating for him.

He looked around, still suspicious. “You’re not going to hit me right? This isn’t another one of your ‘beat up on Ryder games’?” You shook your head, promising him you wouldn’t even touch him. Satisfied with that, he gave in to your request, like he always did and copied your actions. Meanwhile, Shay was trying his hardest to remain camouflage but his brother’s predictable actions were making it very difficult to not start laughing behind his phone.

You repeated your phrase again, “Put this on your chin” and he again mirrored your movements, putting his ok sign on his cheek and looking at you expectantly. You tried again, enunciating the “this” as you watched him. He again put his fingers on his face.

You tried not to laugh, repeating the phrase, trying to clue him in as you said the words slowly this time. “Put this on your chin.” He studied you real hard this time, but copied your placement exactly with his ok sign on his cheek.

You tried again, “Put this,” showing him your ok sign in front of his face and speaking slowly, “on your chin”. This time the poor boy grabbed your wrist, bringing your ok sign to HIS cheek and waiting for your approval. This time you had to let out a little chuckle and as you glanced over at Shay he was ready to bust a gut trying to hold back his laugh. You tried to compose yourself, as you tried to get your boyfriend to do the simple task.

“Put this on your chin” you practically yelled at him. Even though he was frustrated with what you were saying, he had a big smile on his face because you did. “I’m not fucking stupid” he said through laughs and grabbed your hand with two hands this time and put it on his cheek.

You were really laughing now, pulling your hand away and trying one last time. “Ryder. Put this. On your chin”, you said hoping this time would stick. But nope. The boy really put that okay sign on his damn cheek and really had the audacity to look at you to say he did it right.

You took a deep breath, trying to catch your breath from laughing so hard. “On your chin”, and he just looked at you, processing what you just said and then finally his hand shot to his chin and he started laughing again. “Oh shit”. You started cheering for him and Shay practically exploded from his spot as he fell to the floor laughing.

“Oh my god. That was too good. I’m so posting this”, he said between laughs.

“I believe you owe me 10 bucks, Shay. Pay up”, you responded with your hand out.

Ryder once again was stuck looking between you and Shay. “You set me up!” he accurately accused. “And you BET on it? You bet against me?” he said, turning to you. Seeing the hurt look on his face you felt bad.

“Rydes I didn’t bet against you per say, I just guessed how many times it might take you to catch on to what I was saying. I love you though”, you say as you run your fingers up and down his arms at an attempt to get him to forget your tricks. He’s not pleased with your answer though.

Now you’re pouting and sticking your lip out at him, throwing Shay under the bus. “It was Shay’s idea!”.

“Dude!” Shay exclaims.

You roll your eyes at him, “Oh like he didn’t already know”.

The slight frown on Ryder's face had turned into a small smile as he spoke to Shay. “I can’t believe you turned my own girlfriend on me. You guys are being extra annoying today”.

“It’s all for the tiktok, bahd” Shay answers with a shrug, unbothered by his brother’s annoyance.

You, however, spent the rest of the afternoon trying to suck up to Ryder.

“I hate you,” you said as you passed Shay to get to the cooler to fetch Ryder a drink for the fifth time as part of your penance. Shay just grins up at you, shooting you a wink. “I love you too, my little partner in crime”.

---

The following weekend you’re out with the guys, walking down State Street and a car passes your group. Shay glances at you and then Ryder and an ear splitting grin takes over his features. Lightning fast he hits Ryder, yelling “Lamborghini, hit you in your weenie!”.

You stop in your tracks as your boyfriend doubles over in pain and you double over in hysterics. The guys, as well as the few passerbyers who had heard Shay’s outburst look on in confusion.

As you finally catch your breath you move to help your still struggling boyfriend. You crouch down so you can see his face as you ask if he’s okay, but his grimace tells all. There’s nothing you can really do for him but let him breathe it out so you stand back up, high-5ing Shay. “That was pretty good,” you say shaking your head at the memory of what just happened and your road trip from last weekend.

“How long did it take ya to come up with that one?”.

He proudly announces that he’s been thinking of new ones to add to the list all week.

“Whoever introduced you two was a real idiot and is 100% regretting that decision” Ryder says from his still bent over position. You only offer your hand to help him stand straight in response.

Shay’s animatedly trying to explain the game to the boys, who all seem very excited to play. They spend the rest of the walk to KK punching each other and calling out the phrases as they search the cars lining the sides of the road. You walk a few steps behind them with Ryder leaning on you for a little support and maybe some protection.

“You’ve really created a monster now” he sighs, watching the boys.

All of a sudden he strikes your arm. “PT Cruiser, get a bruiser!”, he hollers and takes off down the street, suddenly fine. He looks back at you with a big grin.

You shake your head, “Smooth, Ryder Donovan, smooth” and you chase after him.

Mike Vorlicky

Being in a group chat with a bunch of hockey players meant that you were no stranger to your phone blowing up with nonsense, but you knew the boys were at practice, as Ryder had left for it 15 minutes ago, so when you heard more pings from your MacBook- 4 in a row to be exact -  all from Mike, you knew something was up. Quickly checking your phone, your brows knit as you read the succession of messages, confirming your suspicion that something was definitely up.

“Y/N! SOS.”

“I know you have your phone, I NEED YOU”

“Come on my ass is about to be shipped back to Edina”

“Y/N! I hate to do this, but Ryder got hurt on the way to practice. I mean like really hurt”.

The messages didn’t make sense, but the last one had you calling Mike immediately.

“Oh, thank God-'' he answered, but you cut him off, wanting to know about the status of your boyfriend.

“What happened? How is Ryder? Where are you?”. The pause on the other end of the line had your heart beating in your ears, filled with anxiety and worry for your boyfriend, at least for a moment.

When you heard “Dude she’s gonna kill you” from Cole in the background, a different emotion filled you.

“Mike Vorlicky, what the HELL is going on?”

Despite the anger and annoyance in your voice, Mike still let out a smug chuckle. “I knew that last one would get you to answer your damn phone. But listen-“

“So he’s fine? Nothing happened?”, you asked just to be sure.

When Mike lets out a nervous chuckle you release the breath that you had been holding. “I should hang up on your ass right now, Vorlicky. You can’t just-“

“No seriously, Y/N this is important. You can yell at me later, but will you pleaseeee, pretty please with a cherry on top please bring me my practice jersey? I was serious about coach shipping me out. This is like the third time. He’s gonna bench me next game and my parents are coming to this one...”.

Even though you were extremely pissed off at him for even speaking into existence your boyfriend getting hurt, you also couldn’t deny him or any of the boys when they needed your help and he knew that. After letting out a groan you asked him where the jersey was and made your way over to his dorm. Getting into his building was scarily easy and the jersey was surprisingly right where he said it would be, laid out on his bed. It’s a wonder how he forgot it.

Minutes later you were pulling up to the practice facility and walking through the glass doors that led to the rink. You were met with cool air and smiling faces. As the boys noticed you began to head your way, but not before Mike rushed over. He was coming so fast he barely had time to stop before he hit the boards and wrapped you in a hug, “I love you so much right now I could kiss you” he said, taking the jersey from your hands.

“Don’t even think about it, Vorlicky” Ryder called to him as he made his way through the boys to give you a quick kiss before the whistle blew signifying practice starting, just in time for Mike to slip the jersey over his gear.

Owen Lindmark

Cooking had never been your thing, still having never really gained that skill even after living on your own. But as much as it was not your best quality, it was even less so for the boys that were about to come crashing through your door any minute. Dating Ryder was amazing and equally as amazing were the 20 other boys who’ve you’ve come to call close friends that came along with him.

You had just gotten an air fryer and were excited to test it out. You’d been promising the boys you’d cook for them for weeks and figured what better time to do so than now. They had a big rematch coming up that weekend against PSU anyway so you had told Ryder to invite some of his teammates over for a mini team dinner.

You were pretty impressed with yourself you had to admit. Not only had you planned a full meal and dessert, you had timed it perfectly so that everything was just about finished as you heard the door unlock.

“Honey, I’m hooommee”, Shay called out as he dropped his bag in the pathway of the others behind him.

You shook your head as you stirred the marinara sauce one last time, knowing that the pet name bugged Ryder even though it was a movie line and he was so obviously joking.

“Dude it smells amazing in here”

“What’re we having?”

“I’m starving”, and curses could all be heard as the crew continued to pour into the apartment, the noise and chaos level instantly rising.

You cleared your throat and very dramatically tapped your spoon on your wine glass to gather the boys’ attention.

”First of all, everyone is to wash their hands before eating, please and thank you. Salad is already on the table. You guys can grab yourselves a plate, the pasta is over by the sink, the sauce is right next to it and then the chicken’s already been cooked in the air fryer so it follows your guys’ diets (kind of) and parmesan melted on it so you can just put that on top of the pasta. I have bread in the oven that I’ll bring out when it’s done. Oh and dessert for when everyone’s ready”. You barely finished your spiel before the boys were shoving each other to get in line.

Shay of course had battled his way to the front of the line, claiming seniority, Mike unsurprisingly behind him, followed by Lex, Owen, Cole and Dylan. For being as large as Dylan was, he had been easily bullied to the end of the line. Ryder stuck around, wrapping you in a hug and placing a sweet kiss on your forehead.

“You’re amazing for doing this. The boys haven’t shut up about it all week. You really went all out didn’t you, babe?” He asked with a proud smile on his face. His little acknowledgment coupled with how proud he looked made you blush. You knew he wasn’t lying about the boys obsessing over this meal either, as you had been receiving daily texts from each of them about it.

“Don’t get too excited, you haven’t even tasted anything yet. What if it’s the worst Chicken parm, you’ve ever tasted in your life?” You asked pouring on the dramatics. It was your first time using the air fryer after all, you had no idea how it would turn out and you were a bit nervous, but had warned the boys ahead of time that they may be ordering pizza instead.

Your disclaimer was countered by moans coming from the living room, a chorus of them actually. You and Ryder share a look before busting out laughing. “I guess there’s your answer for ya.” He replies, followed by a “No one better be having sex out there”.

You shoo him along so that he can eat with his friends and you can grab the bread out of the oven. After slicing it and putting it on a plate you deliver it to the vultures in your living room and prop yourself on the armrest of Ryder’s chair, rubbing his back as he eats.

The boys don’t stop gushing about your cooking as they continue to shovel food in their mouths. “This is seriously- the best meal- no, scratch that- food- I’ve had in months”, Cole says between bites.

“Hey, I just made you that really good burger and Mac cheese thing last week and you gave it 5 stars!” Dylan protests.

You and Owen lock eyes and instantly start laughing. “Dyl, did it come in a red box with a glove on the front?” You ask, still giggling. His eyes light up, happy that you recognize it and he nods.

“Dude, that’s Hamburger Helper!” Owen howls.

“And an insult to Y/N’s cooking”, Alex chimes in.

”Even this salad is more gourmet than Hamburger Helper, sorry bro”, Cole adds.

At this point everyone’s laughing at Dylan’s expense, yourself included. He’s immediately apologetic, hoping he didn’t truly insult your cooking, which just eggs the boys on assuring him that he did in fact insult you.

“Yeah, that’s like comparing Wayne Gretzky and Shay in hockey, but for cooking”, Mike chirps, feeling the need to get involved.

”Nice one Mikey. Dylan fucks up, but let’s roast Shay”, Shay retorts.

You grin, loving being a part of the relaxed banter that’s going on but wave them off. Dylan attempts to grumble out his weak defense, claiming that he’s from Canada and didn’t know about Hamburger Helper, just making you giggle harder.

“Okay, okay okay,” you say in an attempt to calm yourself and the room down. You were wiping tears from your eyes. “I’m going to go get the dessert so you clowns can get out of my apartment”.

Once in the kitchen you opened the cabinet by the fridge and felt around for the plate of brownies you knew you’d hidden up there so that the boys, specifically your boyfriend, wouldn’t pick at them before dinner. You felt a pair of hands on your hips. You had expected it to be your boyfriend, but with his body slightly pressed against yours you knew it wasn’t him.

“Need some help?”, the voice confirmed your thoughts. It was Owen.

“Please”, you said, accepting his offer.

He grinned once he pulled the plate down and saw the perfectly proportioned brownies. You had used one of those baking pans that had individual brownie shapes so that every piece had four edges, the best part and Ryder’s favorite.

“I love these, my mom makes ‘em like that. Smart to keep these hidden from Ryder”, he says with a wink. Though his tone is light toward the end with the little chirp at Ryder, you don’t miss the hint of sadness that laced his voice in the beginning. And he doesn’t miss the look of concern on your face either.

He puts the plate down and leans against the counter. “I love you for doing this tonight. I really can’t thank you enough. I needed this, the laughs, the home cooked meal”, he confesses, running a hand through his hair.

“Missing home a little extra?” You ask, knowing exactly how he feels.

”You could say that. I know the guys and I don’t say it enough, but we love you and appreciate how much you take care of us and keep us sane. What you do for Ryder is obvious, but stuff like this that you do extra for us, making a really good dinner and dessert, always letting us hang out here, and come to you with our problems. It means a lot”.

Not really having words for all that he’d just told you, but wanting to show him you really did care for him too, you wrapped your arms around him and gave him a good squeeze.

“Awh, O. I don’t know what to say. You and the boys are like family to me. You always have a second home here.” The sentimental moment is broken up by Mike shouting about dessert and someone telling him to shut up and stop being rude.

“I guess we better get this dessert to the boys so they can get out of your hair”, he says grinning.

Before letting him go you pull back and say, “Tell your mom I said hi when you call her later”. He picks the plate of brownies back up and you make your way toward the rowdy group occupying your living room.

“You know me too well. But I surely will let her know. I’m sure she’ll appreciate you keeping me alive”, he says with a chuckle.

Dylan Holloway

Everyone was huddled close together in the dimly lit booth as it came down to just Roman and Dylan, each with two fingers on the full pitcher in the middle of the table. The two boys were half out of their seats staring each other down. Roman had a smug smirk on his face as he watched Dylan sweat it out across from him, his mind clearly going a mile a minute.

The guys had just swept PSU and were definitely feeling themselves tonight. They decided to opt for the usual celebratory tradition of KK and Fingers, a game that Dylan was historically terrible at.

It was Dylan’s turn and he was still shaking his head, both at himself for overthinking a simple drinking game and at Roman who was continuously chirping him, which was not helping him decide. He only hoped the winning luck of the night would continue as he began counting down, “Three, two, one - two!”, Roman yanked one finger off the pitcher as Dylan left his two on, for a total of three fingers.

The team erupted as Dylan threw his hands in the air, “Fuck! I always lose this stupid, fucking game”.

“Drink up, bud!”, Roman chided him, pushing the pitcher closer to him on the table.

Dylan just groaned and stared at the full pitcher of unknown alcohol with a grimace.

“Come on, Dyl, you know the rules. Or at least you should, you’ve lost enough times by now”, Shay chirped from behind him. You felt bad for the guy because Shay wasn’t wrong. Of the handful of times you had watched and played the game, Dylan had lost all but maybe twice.

“You’re right Shay, maybe we should spice it up this time, eh? What do we think boys?” Mike suggests with a devilish smile and a rub of his palms. You don’t miss the look that he shares with Roman and your eyes narrow in on the boy who suddenly has a mischievous look in his eyes.

“Dylan, I dare you to go ask that girl for her number”, he challenges, nodding toward a blonde who had been looking over at the group.

Following his gaze you notice who exactly it is that he pointed out and you choke on your drink. You want to stop Dylan before he makes a fool out of himself, but he easily gulps down the pitcher and quickly makes his way over to the girl waiting for him. You can’t get your words out as you’re sputtering and coughing from your drink.

When you finally catch your breath you give Roman a shove and hiss “Fuck you Ro. What’re you doing? Aren’t you talking to that girl?”. He doesn’t answer, just shrugs as he watches on with a smirk plastered on his face, as if he knows exactly what is going to happen. Ryder nudges you in confusion at your little interaction with his teammate. Moving closer to him you filled him in on the unknown drama that was going on. “I played wingwoman for Roman a couple weeks ago so that he could pick up this same girl. Of course with my 90% success rate, he got her and I guess kept her. He’s been texting me about her all week”.

Suddenly understanding, he said “You have to go save D. The guys will never let him live this down” and you knew he was right. A freshman hitting on an older guy’s girl? Even if it was on a dare and even if her and Roman were just talking, it would still be embarrassing on Dylan’s part and chirp content for the team for the weeks to come.

So with a flip of your hair and a pat to Roman’s head you strode over to where Dylan was flirting with the blonde. He was really pulling out all the stops trying to earn this girl’s number, you had to give him that. You would even say that it actually appeared to be going well, but judging by the look that was on Roman’s face, you knew it wouldn’t end well.

“Excuse me, mind if I borrow him real quick? No? Ok great, thanks! I’ll give him back in just a second!”. You gripped his wrist with both hands and all but yanked him off the barstool until he was stumbling toward you, very confused. Once you were a few feet away, you steadied him with your hands. He was clearly annoyed with you.

“What the hell, Y/N? what’re you doing? I need to get back there. Things were actually going well”.

“And you will, D just listen to me for a second. I’m trying to help you here”.

“Help me? What’re you talking about?”.

“Dylan, Roman’s been talking to that girl for weeks now. He’s just trying to set you up because he knows she won’t actually give you her number because she’s with him so you end up coming back to the table empty handed and the guys can chirp you for weeks about trying to get with Roman’s girl”.

Realization washed over his face as he took in the situation. He glanced over at Roman’s now displeased but confused face and back at the girl who was seemingly waiting for him to return to the empty seat next to her.

“Whatever you have to do to get that number Dylan Holloway, do it. You can’t come back to that table empty handed, got it?”. He nodded furiously. “Good boy. Now go charm her pants off!” And with that you sent him on his way and returned to the group, all of whom were looking at you with quizzical faces.

You just shrugged it off saying, “He just wanted me to check if he smelled like beer. I guess she hates that stuff, only drinks Claws.” With that, Roman shoots you a look, knowing that was a load of shit and a jab at him. Her hatred of beer and love for white claws had been one of the many “fun facts” he had shared with you over the week. His attention turns as the guys erupt once again in cheers as the girl plants a kiss on Dylan’s cheek and sends him back to your table. He smiles victoriously as he stops in front of Roman. “I hope you don’t mind sharing your girl, she seems pretty into me”, he says and drops the napkin with her phone number on it on the table in front of Roman. The “ooos” and hollers from the boys are golden, but pale in comparison to the look on Roman’s face. Ryder fist bumps him and Dylan leans in to give your hand a squeeze, “I love you so much for that. The look on his face? Totally worth it. Really saved my ass. I owe you”.

+1

Ryder wasn’t one to overuse the phrase “I love you”. He held great value in those three words and reserved them for times when it was just the two of you or for when the moment deemed necessary. Today was one of those moments.

He had gotten home from practice early to find you out on his balcony wrapped in a blanket and your computer on your lap. He hadn’t thought much of it as he shed his bag and went to wash his hands and make a snack, but the door was cracked and he could hear a familiar laugh that wasn’t yours. He stopped what he was doing and listened for it again. As if right on cue, his baby sister’s laugh found his ears. He debated with himself whether or not he should make his presence known. Curiosity eventually winning out, he decided to wait it out and see what his two favorite girls were talking about. He’d be lying if he said his heart wasn’t ready to burst at seeing you voluntarily FaceTiming his baby sister.  

His snack forgotten, he sat himself on the couch out of view and just listened and watched. He watched the way your hair fluttered with the breeze, how you focused your attention on the girl on the screen, and nodded your head in agreement with whatever she was saying. He watched the way you interacted with his sister and couldn’t deny the feeling that was consuming him.

Even more so he watched the way Clara’s face lit up as you spoke to her, a look he’d seen before, one she reserved for her big sister. It was one of idolization, respect, and love. He watched her smile and her head tip back as she laughed with you like you were her best friend. Mostly he watched as the two of you had become part of each other’s lives in a way he hadn’t even known.

He listened to the beautiful sound of your laugh mix with hers and to the way both of your voices were so animated with each other. He listened as you spoke naturally with her, your kindness genuine instead of just treating her as some little kid. He knew she hated that but had unfortunately had her share of heartbreak by girls who only used her to get to him. He hated that he had caused her any kind of pain, but loved that you had somehow found a way to right his mistakes. He knew right then and there that he’d never take you away from her and she wouldn’t let him.

His thoughts were broken up by you reentering the apartment.

“Having a stalker moment there, Rydes?”, you ask him with eyebrows raised.

Deflecting the question, he clears his throats and instead asks what you guys were talking about. “Didn’t you hear the whole conversation already?”, you tease him. He just rolls his eyes, so you divulge as you pull stuff out to make dinner.

“We were just checking in. She was making sure you were still alive, taking your vitamins, treating me right, our usual. She had some drama stuff, but V is busy getting stuff ready for the baby so she didn’t want to bother her. Oh, and we’re planning your sister’s baby shower! Well, Clara’s in charge but she wanted my opinion on some details”.

The feeling he had before as he watched you two only intensified as he discovered what you had actually been talking about.

“What do you mean your usual?”

You’d stopped adding ingredients to the pot as you looked up at him, realizing you had just let Ryder in on something you hadn’t planned on. “Um. You know how you FaceTime Clara every week? Well uh, I do too...that’s ok right? That’s not like weird?”

He processed the information you had just told him. You actually took the time out of your busy life to get in touch with his sister every single week and were asking him if that was ok? He hadn’t even imagined you doing that, but you continued to amaze him. The smile he gave you was so warm and full of love. “Of course that’s okay. I love that you do that and I’m sure she does too. I saw the way she looks at you, you know. The same way she looks at V.” Your heart swells at his comment and you almost start crying on the spot.

“So she’s coming to you with drama huh? Anything I should know about?”. You laugh and default to “girl code” aka Ryder doesn’t get any deets. Despite his best efforts, including puppy dog eyes, he doesn’t get anything out of you.

“You’re MY girlfriend, you can’t let my sisters convert you to their side already” he whines.

You laugh and respond with “Well would you rather I convert to your brother’s side? I’m sure Shay could pitch a good argument.” He looks offended that you’d even say such a thing and grumbles out a “no”.

After he’s decided he’s done pouting he comes around the counter and wraps his arms around you from behind, nuzzling his face into your hair. “You told Clara I treat you well, right?” He questions, still thinking about your conversation with her. You’re surprised to detect nervousness in his question and that he’d even ask that. Turning in his arms you answer him, wanting him to see the conviction in your face when you say “Of course, Ryder. You don’t ever need to doubt that, baby”. He looks relieved and surprises you again with a confession.

“Good. I want Clara to see how she should be treated. What good love looks like, a healthy relationship, ya know?”.

Tears start form in your eyes and it takes you a second to find your voice. Eventually you do and you gently pull his face down to yours, running  your thumb over his cheek. You melt over the way he leans into your touch. Even though your voice is barely above a whisper, it’s strong as you tell him, “You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been. You show me what love is everyday and inspire me to be better for you and for me. You are such a role model to her Ryder. When she looks at us, I promise you all she will see is genuine, pure love.”

His heart is beating so hard as he absorbs your words. He takes your wrist and pulls your hand to his lips. He kisses your palm then cups your face in his hands, bringing your foreheads together. His own eyes are glassy and throat thick as he tries to put what he’s feeling into words that will convey the same amount of strength and emotion. “Every time I think ‘she can't get any better’ you surprise me. Well not surprise me because I’m not surprised you get better, but- fuck! I can’t get my words out right now.” He can feel you smiling and takes it as a sign to keep going.

“What I’m trying to say is you keep loving me and showing me that you love me in new ways that I didn't even know existed. You’re always taking care of me before games, after games and practices. Even just asking about practice and my day and coming to my games, waiting up for me after road trips. The highs of winning and you right there with me are amazing, but what I love most and what are even better are when you sit there and watch us lose, me lose and you just know how to deal with me afterwards. I can’t tell you how much it helps me to have you hold me after a game or offer dessert or just let me bitch about it. The lows are better because you still want me after. Like even if I couldn’t play hockey anymore, you’d still want me. You still believe in me to do better next game. You inspire me to be better. Off the ice especially”, he takes a deep breath then and as badly as you want to say something, you don’t interrupt him knowing he still has more to say. 

“You’ve shown me what it feels like to be loved. Really, truly loved. You take care of my friends, regardless of what they need and you do so out of the goodness of your heart. Watching you with my family, I can’t ever imagine you being anywhere else but a part of my family, Y/N. The fact that my favorite people in the entire world love you makes me so happy I can’t even describe it. You’re FaceTiming my baby sister of your own free will, planning a baby shower with her for my other sister? You keep up with Shay and get Boden out of his shell. I couldn’t dream it up better if I tried. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but somehow I was blessed with you and I swear to you, promise you I will never stop loving you, ok? I love you with my whole heart and then some, Y/N”.  

The tears are absolutely streaming down your face and into his hands and his into yours. The moment had gotten so intense and so fast. These were rare between you two, preferring to keep the relationship light and fun, but occasional moments like this where you attempted to pour your whole heart and soul into each other would occur and you were left breathless every time. But of course, you couldn’t resist a good chirp.

“You’re gonna have a hard time topping that for a proposal, Donovan”.

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Love, Maybe? {38}*

Chris Evans X Reader OFC Vixen Giovanni

Warning: Cursing, Plot, Heavy Angst, Mild NSFW

Word Count: 4.1K

Summary: After a night of drunkenness you wake up next to warm, hot as hell body, a migraine and no memory of the night before. When you come to realize that the hot body belongs to none other than Hollywood’s golden boy Chris Evans you freak out. As events unfold you become even more panicked to find out you got married in your drunken haze. What else is there to do but get it annulled, right? Before walking away, you share one more night of molten kisses and passion. Three years later you are still living with the repercussions of your brash decisions, but the surprises don’t stop there. The past has a way of coming back and have you questioning is this fate that you’ve been running from, hell could it have been love, maybe?

NOTE: **Italic texts is an inner Vixen thought. Bold Italic texts is an inner Chris thought. 

**Loosley Edited/Proofread**

**Slightly Interactive***

Thank you guys for reading!!!! If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG. 😊❤❤️

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 38: Reality Check

-Chris-

 “No, don’t do that sweetheart, you’ll fall in.”

 From what he knew about her already he knew she wasn’t going to listen. Sure enough, she leaned forward over the wooden path trying to reach something in the water and sure enough, she tumbled headfirst into the water. He couldn’t help but laugh as he ran to her.

 “Really Christopher, you laugh at your daughter?”

 “I told her not to do it.” She popped her head up laughing up a storm. “See, she finds it funny.” When he looked at you, you were shaking your head.

 “Not funny, she could have drowned.”

 “Oh stop it, she can swim.” He plopped her onto the blanket on the shore and sat.

 “I otay mama.” She grabbed two strawberries and munched them as he wrapped her in a towel.

The three of you sat and ate the picnic lunch you’d so expertly made and enjoyed the sunshine and the beauty of the day. When he’d brought up showing Ella the lake you reassured him it was a great idea. The way she loved water it would have been a waste not to show her. She loved it. She splashed and was even able to swim around thanks to the calm waters. They’d played together, and she climbed all over him having him pretend to be a tree then a giraffe and finally a water horse. It was great being with her.

 With each passing day, she gave him more and more confidence with his parenting and let him get closer and closer. Now she didn’t just run to you for comfort or when she was feeling shy, she ran to him and asked for him. It overjoyed him. He hoped she could tell how much he wanted her, how much it meant to be her dad.

 After she ate, she whined for the whole thirty minutes she had to wait to get back in the water. Once the time was up she ran away heeding your warnings to not go too far. He watched you lean back onto your elbows then look to him.

 “What?” He shook his head and continued eating his apple.

 “Uh no, that was a clear something look. What is it?”

 “It’s nothing. You just—I like what you’re wearing.” He really liked it. The two-piece wasn’t skimpy but it wasn’t modest either.

 “You like what I’m wearing?”

 “Yeah, orange is a good color on you.” He wasn’t lying, it was true. It complimented your skin and made you even more gorgeous.

 You snorted and smiled. “Thanks.”

 “No, thank you.” He looked to Ella in the water and he could feel your eyes roam his body. He decided to give your moment to gawk. When he looked to you, you were laid back with the sun beaming down on you. The sun loved you.

 “Come pway mama, da-da.”

 “Coming baby.” You stood and walked toward the shore where she sat but he didn’t move.

 “You’re not coming?” You looked back at him. He was enjoying the view too much to get up.

 “No, I am, just—enjoying the view.” Your jaw dropped as you looked at him making him smile.

 “Watch it.”

 His laughter was loud. Tossing the apple to the side, he ran to you and wrapped his arm around your waist and carried you the rest of the way to Ella.

 The three of you played in the water and laughed and screamed to your heart’s content. He used his muscle to manhandle you and Ella and she loved every second of it.  Every time he tossed Ella into the air he could literally see your heart leap into your throat. It was hilarious. You had to know he would always catch her.

 When Ella got tired of playing with the two of you she went off to the shore and played in the mud and collected rocks. She could easily entertain herself. It left the two of you slightly alone a few times. He knew you didn’t want to give Ella any confusing visuals so for the majority of the time your interactions were flirtatious but never overtly inappropriate. He tested boundaries by slyly touching you here or there but always remained respectful. After a little while, it was like a game of who could touch the other without being obvious. He was wining, you were still a giant ball of mystery with how you held yourself reserved all the time. It drove him insane. He wanted to know how you felt.

~~~~~~~~~~~

 -Vixen-

 You opened your eyes to see both Chris and Ella peacefully sleeping. A little after midday the three of you took a nap in the boathouse. You were the first to wake evidently. Chris was laying on his back with one arm across his forehead and of course, that was the position Ella was in. you smiled at yet another similarity. He couldn’t deny her if he wanted to. It was clear he didn’t want to. Rather than running from any responsibility, he was steadily piling more and more on. He wanted her. if he was to be believed he wanted you too.

 Sighing, you stood and carefully walked out and onto the wooden planks and gazed out over the water and the orange glow of the sun on the water. This place was beautiful, and you were going to miss it when you went back to LA, and then San Francisco. You sat and dipped your feet into the water and for the first time thought about going back to reality. It was easy to mistake LA for your reality, but it wasn’t, San Francisco was. How was this little family thing going to work then?

 When you felt him behind you, you didn’t jump or feel any alarm, your body was used to his presence. You took a deep breath when you felt his lips press to your neck then your shoulder and you couldn’t suppress the moan that escaped.

 “Do you know that you two sleep just alike?”

 “We do?” You nodded and again he kissed your neck.

 “It’s cute. You have an actual mini you. She looks, laughs, sleeps and eats like you. Her sweet tooth is uncontrollable another thing you share, and God her eyes. Kristella was the right name for her.”

 “It’s surreal,” he responded then kissed your shoulder. “Today was great, right?”

 “It was. She loved it. Good call.” He began tracing lazy patterns in your skin and you settled back into him and enjoyed the perfectness of the day.

 The silence between you stretched as did the comfort.

 “I’m so happy and grateful to get a second chance not only to be Ella’s father but with you. Thank you.”

 Looking over your shoulder you met his eyes and searched them trying to find any hint of a lie, any hint that he was lying but once your eyes met you knew he wasn’t. Your heart fluttered yet again forcing you to take a deep breath.

 “Why couldn’t you have been this way three years ago?” Chris shook his head and a look of remorse washed across his face.

 “I was stupid, a dick who couldn’t see what was right in front of me.”

 “Which was?”

“The woman of my dreams. Everything I didn’t know then I wanted, everything I wasn’t ready to see. I’m ready now Vixen. I know it might be too little too late, and reap what you sow, and I agree. Honestly, I deserved to lose you back then. As much as it hurts to accept; you were right. I wasn’t ready, not for this or—you. I would have screwed it up, I would have hurt her.”

 His candor shook you. it shook you so much that you had to look away or else you’d say something you couldn’t take back. His hand on your chin stops you forcing you to not only keep contact with his eyes but to also full on face him. When you were fully turned sitting on his lap with his arms securely wrapped around you holding you against him you knew what was going to happen before it did.

 “I’m sorry for hurting you. I regret it on my long list of regrets. I’m ready to be her father, I’m ready to be in her life, ready to step up in any and every way you want. After seeing your world in San Francisco, I know you don’t need me, you don’t need my money, my influence, my connections or lifestyle. I know you can honestly take me or leave me, but I am ready for you and everything I opted out of three years ago, everything I felt and saw but ran from. I want to be in your life.”

 He took a breath and searched your face before he continued.

 “You’re so hard to read all the time it really gives me anxiety. I have no idea what you want, how you feel, if you feel anything. Tell me, please.”

 You crash your lips to his and kiss him with every emotion you felt. You didn’t want to talk, not with your mouth as least. There had to be a way to answer him, to show him. as you kissed him he kissed you back. You kept your moan low while your hands traveled down to his swim trunks. You unlaced them and freed his straining cock. When your eyes met he saw your intention, he knew what came next and he didn’t protest, he just pulled you down onto his need and laid back onto the wooden planks. Hopefully this was enough for him, hopefully he could hear what your mouth didn’t say.

  -Chris-

As he looked out over his backyard he smiled at his family and yours. This was a long way from the first time they got together. Now everyone was laughing, talking and genuinely looked to be enjoying themselves. As he flipped the meat on the grill he smiled and finished his beer. He found you in the crowd laughing with his sisters at the same moment you looked over to him. your smile turned bashful before you bit your bottom lip. That bottom lip drove him crazy and would probably be the death of him. You looked away and went back to your conversation.

 “How’s everything over here, son?” your father approached him and looked at the meats on the grill.

 “Good, sir. Another few minutes and they’ll be ready to come off.”

 “All right sounds good. How are you doing?”

 “Good. Are you doing okay sir?”

 “I’m good, just wondering when you’re going to tell my daughter you’re hopelessly in love with her.”

 He nearly choked on his beer. What’d you say to that?

 “Uh, well sir,” he cautiously began.

 “You can call me Carmine, we’re family.”

 He smiled and nodded. “I appreciate that Si—Carmine.”

 “So talk to me. Why haven’t you told her yet?”

 “It’s complicated.”

 “Why? Yes I know she can be intimidating and appear cold and closed off but I assure you, it’s an act.”

 He smiled because hearing that made him feel a lot better for some reason. It meant that you weren’t that way with just him. if your family saw it too you were this way with them too.

 “How uh, how exactly do I work around that?”

 “Simple. Trust. Show her she can trust you. if you get that squared away then the rest comes easy,” Carmine assured.

 “I think I already fractured that trust.”

 “What’re you doing about it?”

 “Trying to rebuild it. I have no idea it’s even working. She’s still so distant,” he confided.

 “I’m sure it’s working. The thing with Vixen is she has the best poker face, but with every poker face, there is a tell.”

 “What are her tells?”

 “Her actions. If her words say one thing or nothing but her actions are clearly speaking then I’d follow her actions. Like with her giving you more and more freedom with Ellie Bellie shows she trusts you with her. you found a way to lower her fierce mama bear exterior and let you in for her. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. what is meant to be will be.” Carmine leaned back and groaned as if he had not one care in the world.

 “Just remember, I don’t own any guns, but I know how to kill a man with my bare hands in twenty-nine different ways if you ever hurt her.”

 “Got it, sir.”

 Carmine nodded and walked away leaving him with his thoughts once again. He was so lost in them he didn’t hear you come up.

 “You wouldn’t last a minute in my kitchen gazing off to nowhere while precious meat was on the fire.” He smiled and looked you over.

 “Precious meat huh.” You snorted and shook your head.

 “You’re such a horny teenager.”

 “Enjoying yourself?”

 “I would be enjoying myself a ton better if you would hurry up and feed me.” Again he smiled and stepped closer to and went to your ear.

 “Follow me upstairs and I’ll feed you,” he whispered. You smiled.

 “You got yourself a date—later. Until then hurry up, we’re hungry.” You walked off to join everyone else.

 Fifteen minutes later he brought the meat over to the table and everyone helped themselves. You made Ella a plate and he made you a plate. Conversation never died down and the laughs kept coming, it was great that everyone got along, it was what he wanted when he brought you here. He wanted his family to love you as much as he did.

 The vibrating in his pocket had him groaning. He’d tried to ignore it for the last hour, but it kept buzzing and buzzing. He ignored it again and looked up to see you looking down at your phone with a confused expression.

-Vixen-

As you stared at the message from Kassius confusion filled you.

 Kassius MSG: Is it true?

MSG: Is what true?

 You drifted off to the side as you waited for Kassius’ reply. When his message came in it was a link. You clicked it and immediately the cover of a tabloid magazine popped up and it was you and Chris on the cover. You were sitting together in a restaurant laughing together, it was the bakery from San Francisco. The headline read “Chris Evans Bombshell, Secret Life Exposed.” Your jaw dropped and you looked up to see Chris digging his phone out his pocket with his eyes on you before he looked down to his own screen.

 When you looked back to your phone you scrolled through the article. They’d uncovered your identity and even had pictures from Vegas three years ago. There were pictures of the two of you at the altar, pictures of your marriage certificate, pictures of a still from your wedding video with both of you showing off your rings. When you saw pictures Ella you freaked out.

They had it all. As you continued to skim the long article they broke the news that he’d been married for the last three years and that it was a secret. The more you read the more your confusion and alarm rose. They’d dug up where Ella was born, tried to speak to nurses and the hospital. This was invasive as fuck and you weren’t down with it.

 You looked up and saw a freaked out look on Chris’ face. you saw him take a step to you, but you got another message. You were so confused as to why the article was speaking in present terms. They didn’t mention the divorce papers at all.

 MSG Kassius: Channel sixty-one, right now.

 You walked toward the TV that was mounted in the corner and that was when the staggered beat of TMZ came on. They were running the same exclusive.

 “Again, exclusive breaking news. Chris Evans, Captain America, the man everyone loves is off the market ladies. You heard it right. These pictures that were taken a few days ago show him on an apparent date with a beautiful mystery woman. The two appear to be having a great time, but she’s not a mystery, Chris knows her well. She’s his wife. You heard right, Chris Evans is married and has been for the last three years.”

 “What!” It was Lisa who shot to her feet first. All eyes went to Chris then to you and back to Chris.

 “We’ve uncovered the wedding pictures, the marriage certificate, and the lady’s identity. She is Vixen Giovanni, she’s a local San Franciscan who owns a successful restaurant there and is in the works of opening the anticipated Giovanni’s here in LA. The two also share a daughter, you got it a love child who is around two years old. The timing lines up with their wild Vegas wedding.”

 The only thing you heard was the blood pounding in your ears but you saw the chaos unfold around you. the parents were on their feet and the siblings were looking around and between you and Chris waiting for an explanation. You saw their lips moving and knew they were speaking but you didn’t hear any of them. You looked back to the TV and just zeroed in on the images of Ella they were plastering all over the screen and pictures of your restaurant and you through the years. It was a major invasion of privacy. Suddenly the narrative changed and the images on the screen were of the two of you in the dancehall in San Fran. 

Images of you dancing together and laughing with your faces close together than kissing were everywhere. Through all of that, there was no mention of your divorce. You looked to Chris who looked stressed as fuck. When your eyes met you saw something in his eyes that didn’t sit well with you.

 “Chris! What the hell are they talking about? It’s all lies right?”

 When neither of you made an effort to explain they became more livid.

 “Okay look wait, everyone calm down,” Chris began. Nexus took up Ella and rocked her hoping to keep her calm.

 “Calm? Christopher Robert Evans, if you don’t explain!”

 “It’s true.”

 That was all he got out before all hell broke loose. His mother gaped at him and your mother’s jaw dropped.

 “Vixen!

 “Chris, I wasn’t there. We weren’t there, none of us were there to see it. how could you do this!?” Lisa looked hurt but furious.

 “Chris--,” she began before she stopped.

 “Maw I know, I know. I’m sorry. It was a spur of the moment thing, we were both drunk and just did it. we didn’t think about it or anything. It wasn’t a conscious decision either of us made,” he explained.

 “So you married my daughter on a whim when you weren’t in your right might? She wasn’t worth a sound decision?

 “Dad--,” you began attempting to smooth things out but he held his hand up to you stopping you.

 “No sir, it’s nothing like that. You know what I think about your daughter. This was three years ago, we both were—look we know there’s no excuse for it and we’re sorry.” He looked to you no doubt pleading with you for help, but again you saw something in his eyes.

 “Nothing to say Vixen? You got married without me there, without your mother. How could you do this?”

 “Mom, everyone. Let’s take a breath. Yes, we did this and I understand how you feel. You have every right to be angry. What we did was stupid and irresponsible, we both know that, right Chris.”

 He nodded.

 “We should have told you guys the same time we told you about Ella. For me I knew you guys would be mad, I knew neither of you would understand and I really didn’t want to disappoint either of you because I got drunk and did something reckless. Back then you guys know I did reckless things for fun and I knew you both wouldn’t like it.”

 “Same here, I should have told you. I’m sorry.”

 “Wow, you married a complete stranger, then had unprotected sex with them and produced a child. My god Chris,” Lisa said as she paced the floor.

 “The thing that they aren’t revealing, and I don’t understand why. We’re not married anymore. A few days after we got married we filed for divorce. We both signed the papers and handled this,” you explained.

 The silence around you was the calm before the storm.

 “What!” There were several voices that screamed it. It looked like that nugget made them even angrier.

 “What do you mean?”

 “I went to LA shortly after and we filed with Chris’ lawyer. It was taken care of.”

 “So first you irresponsibly get married, irresponsibly have sex, then get a quickie divorce and decide to lie about it for three years?”

 They way they said it made it sound like the two of you were children and made questionable decisions. Across the way Chris rubbed his forehead.

 “Vixen, I don’t know how you could do this. You were married and you threw it away. You had a husband and now it’s all wasted.”

 You were confused. She was pissed you got married and now pissed you were divorced. You couldn’t win with her.

 “Actually,” Chris began. All eyes fell to him, but he avoided your eyes as he looked to be thinking about something. When his eyes met yours, you had a bad feeling.

 “The reason why they didn’t break the full story is because that is the full story.”

 “What?” Chris slowly walked to you, but you stepped back cautiously.

 “You’re right, we signed the papers and I thought they had been filed, all this time I thought it went through but Sherman called me a few weeks ago and told me that because of some things he was going through he didn’t end up filing the papers. He went to rehab and then left LA for a while. They sat in his desk all this time. I didn’t know Vixen.”

 As he spoke he kept trying to get closer, but you didn’t allow him to. A plethora of emotions filled you, shock, confusion, disbelief, hurt, anger, disappointment and a slew of other things. The one that was prevalent was hurt. He’d lied to you and kept something super important from you. something that you had every right to know. The last few weeks flashed through your head, every moment with him, every kiss, every time you slept together. It all felt manipulative now.  You began to wonder if he had an agenda this whole time.

 You didn’t know what to say, so you didn’t say anything. You walked away inside and upstairs. There you found Nexus and Ella in your room watching TV and laughing together. The minute you walked in Nexus went on alert.

 “Is everything okay?”

You pasted a smile on your face and nodded. “Perfect.”

 You walked to the closet and pulled out your bags and began packing them. You didn’t bother folding anything, you just threw things in not caring if they wrinkled or got ruined. you went through the room like a hurricane and just dropped everything in your bags. After twenty minutes you were done then you walked into Ella’s room and tried to keep your tears in. you packed her things and pressed the button you had that made you able to push things to the side.

 When you finished you walked back into your room and scooped Ella up. “Nex, when you are leaving can you bring the rest of her things?

 “What happened? What’s going on?”

 “I have to go, please don’t make this a thing.” She nodded understanding you were trying to keep this as calm as possible. You walked out and down the stairs and out the front door.

 “Wayo we go, mama?”

 “On a trip princess.”

 “Da-da come?”

 “Nope, it’s just you and me, like it’s always been.”

 You put the bags in the car and when you shut the trunk there was Chris coming toward you.

 “Vixen wait, don’t go. Please. Please let me explain.” You ignored him and walked around the car the opposite way then opened the door and put Ella in the car seat. Throughout the whole action he continued to plead.

 “You can’t just leave. What about the last few days, the weeks we’ve worked to get here. Don’t I deserve a chance to explain?”

 Sliding into the passenger side you tried to shut the door but he held on to it.

 “Vixen, don’t do this, I’m sorry.” You pulled it free and slammed the door then took a breath and drove off.

 You had no idea where to go but you knew you couldn’t spend another minute there with him. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***If you want to be tagged please SEND AN ASK SO IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO KEEP TRACK OF. Thank you for reading!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[captainlilyuniverseworld]

Happy Birthday Sam

Title: Happy Birthday Sam

Square Filled: CEO AU

Ship: Sam Wesson/Dean Smith

Tags: CEO AU, Smith/Wesson AU, CEO!Sam, HR!Dean, Sick!Dean, Based on It’s A Terrible Life with a few changes. 

Summary: It’s CEO of Sandover Publishing, Sam Wesson’s birthday. Dean’s home sick and Sam got a few fires to put out at work, but they still manage to spend some time together. 

Word Count: 2115

Created for: @spnaubingo

AN: I went over this thing about five times so any mistakes are mine. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Sam

“Happy birthday Mr. Wesson.” 

Sam jumped startled as Becky appeared in front of him with a card. “I took the liberty of having everyone in the office sign a birthday card for you.” 

“Thanks, Becky…” Sam awkwardly took the card from her. 

“Hard to believe you’re turning thirty-six today, you hardly look a day over twenty-eight,” she added. 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “...How do you know I’m turning thirty-six?” 

She blushed and tapped her headset. “Sandover Publishing House. How may I direct your call?” She gave Sam an apologetic smile before she hurried off back to the receptionist’s desk. 

He shook his head and walked down the hall to his office. He flipped on the lights as he stepped inside and went over to his desk with the intention of turning on his computer and paused when he saw the flowers on his desk. It was a mixed bouquet and lavender and orange roses tied together with a bow in a clear vase. 

Sam picked up the small card attached to the vase and read the small note. Happy Birthday was written on the card in neat calligraphy. He tucked the card back in amongst the flowers and looked up at the knock on his door. 

“Morning Rowena,” he smiled at the older woman. “No Dean this morning?” 

“Poor dear’s at home sick as a dog,” she answered. “He wanted to make sure you took a look at the candidates for the assistant head of IT position. Though we both agree Miss Bradbury is the best choice for the job.” 

“Well at least he took his sick days this time instead of trying to work through it like before,” Sam told her. 

He flipped through the files Rowena had given him and then handed them back. There was a green tab sticky on the second file, usually Dean’s indication who would be the best fit. Red was ‘No way in hell’ and yellow meant ‘with a little work they’d be good’. 

“If Dean says she’d be a good fit, then give her a call and schedule a drug test and background check,” Sam told her. “I trust his judgment. He hired me after all.” 

“Wonderful, we’ve already got her scheduled for next Monday,” Rowena told him. “Oh, and before I forget. I left you a little something in your second drawer. Happy birthday Sam.” 

He started to protest but she was already gone. He sighed and opened the second drawer of his desk and saw a gold gift bag. He peeked inside and saw an assortment of various candles. He made a mental note to send her a thank you card. 

Sam reached for his phone as it started ringing and leaned back in his chair 

“Wesson speaking,” he answered. 

“I can’t do it.” 

Sam rolled his eyes. “Can’t do what Chuck?”

"I can't do it. Speak in front of all those people, what am I supposed to say?" The man asked. "What if I say the wrong thing? What if they don’t like the new book?” 

"You'll be fine Chuck," Sam told him. "It's a simple interview. Answer a couple of questions, announce the publication date for the new book. Take some pictures with a few fans, you'll be home by 9 pm to chat with Mistress Magda." 

"Okay," the man took a deep breath. "Okay. Thanks, Sam...and Happy Birthday. I uh, I forgot to get you a gift." 

"Don't worry about it," Sam answered. 

He hung up and turned his attention to be his email to get started on work. He was tempted to shoot Dean and email and see how the other man was doing. Even if he was home sick, Dean was a workaholic at heart. 

He grabbed his phone as it started ringing again. 

“You’ll be fine Chuck, ” Sam said by way of greeting. 

“...It’s Cas..” Castiel replied. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Sam apologized. “Chuck called about his interview, but that’s not important. What’s up?” 

“There was an issue with the printers,” Castiel answered. “The book covers, they’re uh…” he trailed off awkwardly. 

“I’m on my way,” Sam told him. 

He hung up and made his way down to the receiving bay. Castiel was at one of the tables with one of the large boxes of books open, a few stacked next to him, and packing peanuts on the floor. 

“What’s the problem Cas?” Sam asked 

Castiel wordlessly handed Sam one of the books and Sam snorted as he looked at the cover 

“...At least it’s tasteful?” Sam added. 

“We can not put these on the shelves, no matter how...tasteful,” Castiel replied. “Adler would have a fit. He’s still upset about that petition that went around a few months ago when we announced the reprinting of books 1-5.” 

“Adler can suck on a lemon,” Sam said bluntly. “How many were printed?” 

“Just a couple hundred for Chuck’s book signing on Saturday,” Castiel answered. “I tried to call the printers, but there was no answer.” 

“Of course there wasn’t,” Sam sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “Just...put these in my office for now. I’ll go over to the printers and see if I can’t give Lucifer a kick in the ass.” 

Castiel nodded and started to put the books back in the box. “Oh, and happy birthday Sam. Did the flowers survive the night okay?” 

“The roses? They weren’t delivered this morning?” Sam asked. 

“Last night,” Castiel answered. “I saw them outside your door, so I put them in your office before I went home last night. Someone must like you.” 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked. 

“Well, lavender roses usually mean that someone has a crush on you. And Orange means that they’re proud of you. So whoever got them for you must like you and the man that you are. Or they just liked the color combination,” Castiel answered. 

“Thanks...I think,” Sam nodded and went back to his office to grab his keys.

He drove to the printers and followed the sound of loud rock music to the offices on the second floor. He turned off the stereo and dropped one of the books on Lucifer’s desk. 

“Real mature Lucifer. What’d you do? Find some fan art online and switch out the real picture we sent over?” Sam crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Like it’s that different from the actual cover photo,” Lucifer smirked. 

“You know this is illegal right? What if these had made their way to the bookstore instead? Sandover could’ve been sued by the original artist,” Sam told him. 

“Cas would’ve caught it, don’t get your panties in a twist,” Lucifer rolled his eyes. “I’ve already got Crowley printing out the books with the right covers. You’ll have them tomorrow afternoon you fuddy-duddy.” 

“You are a monumental pain in my ass you know that?” Sam said. 

“Who? Me?” Lucifer smiled innocently. “By the way, this is for you.”

He set a wrapped bottle on the table and Sam picked it up cautiously. “What is it?” 

“Just open it would you,” Lucifer told him. 

Sam tore off the paper and raised an eyebrow at the bottle of tequila. “If you find your new age hard to swallow just add some tequila.” He read off the note that was taped onto the bottle. 

“Consider it a birthday gift from me and Crowley,” Lucifer added. 

"Thanks," Sam smiled a bit. "...and it was a little funny. But please refrain from trying to get my place of work sued." 

"Yeah yeah yeah," Lucifer waved his hand dismissively. 

Sam turned the stereo back on, on his way out, and drove back to work. 

"Happy birthday Sammy." Gabriel thrust a small wrapped package into his hand. "Don't open it till you're alone okay." He winked and walked off. 

Sam shook his head as he walked back to his office and set the tequila and Gabriel's present on the coffee table. He turned his computer back on and pulled up the website from the café that was down the street to order his lunch. 

He looked up at the knock on his office door and saw one of the delivery people from the café. 

"Turkey BLT and medium Caeser salad with a strawberry banana smoothie?" The guy asked as he read off the receipt. 

"Uh...yeah…" Sam stood up and went to meet him. "But I didn't, I haven't even ordered yet." 

"Looks like someone bought you lunch," the younger man said. 

Sam took the food and tipped the guy before he went back to his desk. He looked at the roses, and at his lunch. He wasn't sure if he should be flattered or weirded out. He was too hungry to care and he dug into his lunch. He picked up Gabriel's gift and unwrapped it. 

From the man that brought you Casa Erotica, the novelization comes a new series set in the steamy world of office romances. Featuring Dan Hanson and Sean Blythe. 

Sam grabbed his phone and called Gabriel. 

"Did you write an erotic novel about me and Dean?" Sam asked when the line picked up. 

"Don't flatter yourself, Sam. Sure Dan's got your build and maybe Sean's got Dean's boyish charm, but that is where all similarities end," Gabriel told him. 

"You realize if Dean sees this he is going to massacre you," Sam replied. 

"Guess it’s a good thing Deano’s home sick today,” Gabriel mused before he hung up. 

Sam hid the manuscript in the bottom drawer of his file cabinet and locked it for extra measure. He’d get rid of it later...after he read it. He pulled up the highlights from the previous night’s football game and used it as background noise as he ate his lunch and finished going through his emails. 

He was getting ready to throw the trash away when he saw a message typed out in the notes section of the receipt for his lunch. 

Enjoy the rabbit food Rapunzel. Don’t work to hard, it is your birthday after all.  

He smiled and knew exactly who’d gotten him the flowers and his lunch. 

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

Sam hoped it wasn’t too late as he rode the elevator to the third floor. He had a bag of takeout in one hand and a few movies in the other. He stepped off the elevator once it reached the third floor. He shifted the movies to his other hand as he knocked on the apartment marked 3F and smiled when Dean answered the door. 

He was wearing an old Led Zeppelin t-shirt with a pair of sweats and a large thick comforter wrapped around him. 

“Sam?” He asked hoarsely. “What are you doing here?” 

“I wanted to say thank you for the flowers, and for lunch,” Sam answered. 

He couldn’t tell if Dean blushed or if his face was red because it was sick. 

“Although you didn’t have to do that,” Sam added. 

Dean shrugged a little. “I wanted to do something nice for your first birthday together...I would’ve baked you a cake but vertigo’s a bitch.” He broke off with a cough. “I’m glad you liked the flowers though. I almost went with red but it seemed a bit to cliché, and I didn’t want you to think Becky got them for you.”

“Shockingly Becky was pretty tame today,” Sam told him. “I went by that deli you like and picked up some of their chicken noodle soup. I also rented us a few movies, I would’ve liked to use the gift certificate Adler gave me for a way too overpriced steak, but we can go when you’re feeling better.” 

“Sam...you really don’t want to spend your birthday night with a sick person,” Dean started to protest. 

“Well, considering it’s my birthday, you don’t really get a say of who I get to spend it with now do you?” Sam asked. “Now get your ass back on the couch.” 

“Don’t make me laugh, my throat feels like sandpaper,” Dean told him. 

Sam walked into the apartment and shut the door behind him while Dean tried to clean up around the couch. Sam got one of the movies set up and grabbed a bowl for the soup, and joined him on the couch. 

“Happy birthday Sam,” Dean told him. “I promise next year will be a lot better.” 

“You know? All things considered, this one turned out to be pretty good,” Sam replied as he got comfortable. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know why Gabriel asked me to pick between Sean and Sheene would you?” Dean asked as he ate his soup.

“Nope, no idea,” Sam answered. 

“Such a weird little man,” Dean mused as Sam wrapped an arm around him. 

[swanqueeneverafter]

Sins of the Past Pt.4

Kingdom of Valencia. Main Square. Present. (Gareth and Catrina prepare for a ride.) Catrina: "What a charming idea this is, Gareth." Gareth: "Yes. A ride before breakfast always gives me a healthy appetite. I’ve had the kitchens prepare something special." (Catrina looks revolted when she sees the display of food, but puts on a smile.) Catrina: "Oh, how sweet of you." (Chef Vincenzo watches Catrina suspiciously as she and Gareth leave.) Dun Broch. Forest. (Merida and Mulan arrive to confront Anhora.) Merida: “Here. This is where the unicorn was slain.” Mulan: “So how do we contact this ‘keeper of the unicorns’?” Merida: “I don’t know, he just appeared. (Calling out:) Anhora! Show yourself! Anhora!” Anhora: (Appearing behind them:) “You wanted to talk with me?” Merida: “I’ve come to accept your challenge. My people are starving.” Anhora: “You must believe me when I say it gives me no pleasure to see your people suffering.” Mulan: “If it pains you, put an end to it.” Anhora: “It is not in my power to lift the curse.” Merida: “Then tell me what I must do. As Queen it is my responsibility, and I will prove myself worthy and lift the curse.” Anhora: “You must go to the Labyrinth of Gedref. There, you will face a final test. If you fail, there is no hope. The curse will destroy Dun Broch.” (Anhora begins to disappear.) Mulan: “Wait! What kind of test will she face?” Anhora: (Fading out of sight:) “That is for Merida alone to discover.”

Storybrooke. Granny's Diner. (Regina and Emma are finishing up breakfast at the diner when the Charmings arrive with baby Maria.) Snow White: (To Maria:) "And there they are, there are your mommies." (Emma smiles as Regina rolls her eyes.) Granny: (Walking towards Snow:) "It's about time you got here. (Holding out her arms:) Let me at her. (Everyone looks on bemusedly while Granny takes Maria into her arms and takes a deep breath:) Ah! That's the stuff. The fountain of youth. I just can't get enough of that newborn smell." Emma: "Kinda makes you wonder when we'll get a chance to hold her again, huh?" Regina: "Indeed. Still, it beats the alternative I suppose. Back when it was just Henry and I, there were times when I would've given anything for someone to take him for a few hours." Emma: "Now you've got more friends and family than you know what to do with." Snow White: "So, you guys ready to see some houses? You know if I had realised Henry would need a place of his own so soon, we could've kept the apartment for him." Regina: "Well thankfully for Alice and Robin, you didn't." Emma: "Yeah, besides I don't think Henry would want to go from his parents house to his grandparents house." David: "That's a fair point." Emma: "So, where to first? Mom, I'm sure you have some- (Sees Snow pull out a ring binder:) suggestions." Snow White: "Oh, just one or two." Regina: "Of course she'd bring a binder." Emma: "Just relax and think of Henry and Ella's happiness." Snow White: "And don't forget, it's the second Thursday of the month so you know what that means." Regina: "Oh no." Zelena: (Bursting through the diner door, proclaiming loudly:) "Game night!" Regina: (To Emma:) "Remind me again why I stopped being evil?" Camelot. Past. Lower Town, Market. (A young boy, Mordred, walks through the market with his father, Cerdan.) Cerdan: (To a vendor:) “Do you have my supplies ready? We must leave the city without delay.” Vendor: (Handing him a pouch:) “Everything you asked for, it’s all here. I’m sorry.” (Cerdan tenses and looks up at the vendor, as Mordred sees guards approach. Mordred and his father duck under the merchant’s table to run through the market.) Guard: “Seize him! Stop there!”

(Mordred and Cerdan are forced to run into the palace grounds. A guard jumps at them and slashes Mordred. The boy lets out a scream and Cerdan uses his magic on the guard. The spell throws the guard into the rampart wall. Mordred can’t run far, so he and his father are stuck on the drawbridge.) Cerdan: “Abannan átí. (The spell shuts the drawbridge gates:) Run! Run, run!” (Mordred runs through the gates before they close while Cerdan allows himself to be caught. Holding his wounded arm, Mordred continues running, into the castle and up the large stairway.) Guard: "In there. Quick, down there. We’ve got ‘im." Morgana's Chambers. (The boy bursts in while Morgana and Guinevere stand talking.) Guinevere: "You can't be in here." Mordred: (Telepathically to Morgana:) "Please. You have to help me. They’re going to kill me." Morgana: (Shocked at being able to hear him:) "It's alright Guin, he's scared." Guard: (Knocks:) "My Lady? (Knocks:) My Lady?" Morgana: "Take him in there." (Morgana waits until Guin and Mordred are behind the curtain to open the door.) Guard: "I’m sorry to disturb you, My Lady." (Mordred collapses into Guinevere's arms.) Guard: “We’re searching for a young Druid boy. We believe he came this way.” Morgana: “I haven’t seen anyone. It’s just me and my maid.” Guard: “Best keep the door locked till we find him.” Morgana: “Of course. Thank you.” (Morgana closes the door and runs to check on the boy. Guinevere’s hand is covered in Mordred’s blood.)

Wonderland. Present. (Having climbed the tree, Ella walks carefully along one of the large branches.) Ella: (Spotting the house in the distance:) "I can see it! The Hatter's place, it's not that far! Will? (Ella turns at the sound of purring and watches as the Cheshire cat materialises before her eyes:) Oh, you scared me." Cheshire Cat: "Yes, scary... and strange. Seems to sum this place up well doesn't it? Wonderland has grown stranger. I'm stranger, you're stranger. Together we are strangers." Ella: “Well, then how do you do? My name is Ella. Now that we're friends, you wouldn't want to eat a friend. Would you?” Cheshire Cat: “Mmm, certainly not without pepper. The pickings are slimmer these days. These woods used to be full of food, but now the only thing it's full of, is you. (The cat lunges at Ella who leaps out of the way, reaching for another branch but falling from the tree. Getting to her feet quickly as the cat lands beside her on the ground, Ella backs away. Taking a swipe at her with his claws:) You look like you’re going to be the sweetest meat I’ve ever tasted. Let’s see shall we?” (Before the cat can lunge at Ella again, Will appears and stamps on the Cheshire Cat’s tail.) Will: (Breaking off a piece of nearby mushroom:) “Oi! (Will hurls the mushroom at the cat just as he roars causing him to swallow it. Immediately the Cheshire Cat begins to shrink:) Now then, go pick on somebody your own size.” (The Cheshire Cat gives a meek meow before running away into the bushes.)

Ella: (Getting to her feet:) “Where were you?” Will: “Oh Will, thank you for being so brave! So daring! (Ella folds her arms:) Look can we focus on the part where I came back and saved your life?” Ella: “This place really freaks you out, doesn’t it?” Will: “I happen to be the consort to the Queen of Wonderland.” Ella: “But no one out here knows that, do they? The people around these parts still think that... what was it... the Red Queen is their ruler?” Will: “Wonderland is large and expansive, far larger than most people realise. So naturally there are areas where Tiana’s messages of peace and prosperity have yet to reach. It pays to keep on your toes out here so that’s where I was, checking our perimeter for any surprise attacks. It’s not my fault you got yourself into trouble without me. Now, did you find the Hatter’s place?” Ella: (Not believing a word of it:) “Yes.” Will: “Good, then let’s get going.” Labyrinth of Gedref. (Merida and Mulan arrive at the entrance to the labyrinth.) Mulan: “Let me come with you. You don’t know what form of test will take. I might be able to help.” Merida: “No, I can’t ask you to do that. Thank you for getting me this far, but this curse upon Dun Broch is my responsibility. I’m gonna be the one to lift it, or die trying.” Mulan: “Alright, how does you dying help anyone?” Merida: “I’ll die knowing I did everything I can.” (Merida enters the labyrinth. After waiting only a few moments, Mulan enters, taking a different path.) Storybrooke. Past. Granny's Diner. (On a dark, stormy night, the diner appears closed as Regina sits alone in one of the booths. It is a few days after Cora's death and Mayor Mills has been keeping a low profile. When the door behind her opens and closes, Regina doesn't need to turn around to know who's standing there.) Regina: "I reserved the diner for my mother's wake, Sheriff Swan. The very least you can do is respect my wishes." Emma: "That's what I came to do. Pay my respects, I mean." Regina: (Scoffs bitterly:) "Well I'd invite you in but as you can see, there's no room." (Glancing around the empty diner, Emma walks further inside, towards the seated woman.)

Emma: "I mean it, Regina, I'm sorry for your loss and I'm sorry things had to end the way they did." Regina: "Thank you. Now would you please let me grieve in peace?" Emma: "Actually I thought we could talk?" Regina: "Well, Miss Swan, as I've come to expect from the Sheriff's department these days, you thought wrong." Emma: "I'm not leaving until you talk to me." Regina: "Then you're in for a long wait." Emma: "That's fine, I've got time. (Swinging her arms around awkwardly for a moment, she heads towards the counter:) Do you like pie? (Silence:) Of course you do, you're always baking. Well I love pie. I've never made one myself but, I love all kinds. (Moves behind the counter:) Sometimes when I can't sleep, I take out a slice of pie from the fridge, warm it up in the microwave. That and a cold glass of milk? Beats counting sheep every time. (Regina continues her silence:) Now let's see, we've got apple pie. (Smirks:) Of course. Then there's strawberry rhubarb. Then, ooh, lemon chiffon, very nice. Ah, here we are, my favourite (Pulls out a plate:) cherry berry berry." (A thunderclap rumbles overheard and causes Regina to jump out of her chair.) Regina: "God dammit!" Emma: "Regina, relax, it's just a thunderstorm." Regina: "No, you relax! Lightning scares the hell out of me, alright?" Emma: (Standing, mouth agape:) "You're kidding?" Regina: "No. I mean yes, obviously it doesn't scare me... the storm's just another reminder of...” Emma: “Cora?” (Regina nods, then slowly moves over to the counter and takes a seat.) Regina: (Sighs:) “Growing up, my mother was never the warmest of people, but whenever there was a storm, she'd always let me cuddle up with her until it had passed." Emma: "That's sweet. (Moves to place her hand on Regina's but the Mayor pulls her hand away:) Well, I've never been afraid of lightning." Regina: (Scoffs:) "Does anything scare you?" Emma: (Walks around the counter:) "When I was little, sure, growing up there were plenty of things. (Takes a seat beside Regina:) Then I got older and the fear just sort of went away. But now that I have people in my life, a family, friends, people I care about? The thought of losing them scares me more than anything."

Regina: “I’m not going to kill Mary Margaret if that’s what you’re worried about.” Emma: “It’s not.” (They stare at each other for a long moment.) Regina: (Shaking her head:) "You know I was expecting you? Back when I first adopted Henry, I knew who his mother was and what that meant. That somehow you'd find your way here to Storybrooke, find a way to break my curse. I just didn't expect you to be so beautiful. But I knew, if I waited, that one day you'd show up in my life. Now here you are, the woman fated to end my evil schemes. (Reaches for Emma's hand and holds it:) Turns out she's the woman of my dreams." (Ever so slowly, the two women close the distance between them and share a soft, lingering kiss.) Emma: (Softly:) "So what now?" Regina: "Maybe you could keep me company, at least until the storm passes?" Emma: (Nods:) "Until the storm passes."

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #288

“i never believed the devil was real, but god couldn’t make someone filthy as you”

When was the last time you drove or travelled for over an hour? Where did you go? Around a month back, I rode with Mom and my sister to my mom’s doc appointment. When you get old, are you going to let your hair go gray or dye it instead? Haha, I don’t see my desire to dye my hair wild colors ever fading. What genre was the last book you read? Was it any good? Fantasy. It was very good. Did you ever wear braces on your teeth? Yes. What’s your favorite condiment to have with sausages or hot dogs (or the vegetarian equivalent)? I just have ketchup and mustard. Which fictional character can you relate to the most? Is this a character from film, TV or a book? I dunno, there’s just so many to dig through. I’ve never felt a *strong* connection to any. Do you groom your eyebrows? If so, how? Not really anymore. Do you own any photo albums? Are they dedicated to special occasions or just a random selection of photos? We have old ones stored in a cabinet somewhere. I haven’t looked at them in a long time, but I think they’re loosely bound by time periods. What’s your favorite meal of the day - breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Breakfast, for sure. Who was the last person you texted? How do you know that person? Sara. She’s my best friend. What was the reason behind the last time you shouted or raised your voice? It wasn’t severe at all, but I raised my voice to tell Roman to stop clawing at the carpet. Are you a citizen of more than one country? Would you ever use that advantage to move abroad? No. Have you ever read any of John Green’s books? If so, which one is your favorite? I barely started The Fault in Our Stars, and that’s it. I’m quite sure I would if I actually read them, though. Are you a protective person? UM ONLY JUST SLIGHTLY. Have you ever experienced an earthquake? No. There’s been very, very mild ones here, and the one “big” one (which, mind you, was only big enough to make the pool water barely tremble) that’s happened in my lifetime I wasn’t even home for; I was hours away at the zoo. According to Facebook outrage much more recently, my area experienced a teeny-tiny one, but I sure didn’t feel it. Are you a fan of penguins? Omg yes, such darlings. So intelligent, too. I particularly love emperor penguins. Has anyone ever sang to you? Yes. Are you a good painter? I’ve been told so. Before buying a car, do you usually test drive it? I’ve never been in this position. When was the last time you met someone for the first time? Ummm I dunno. Maybe Nicole’s ex? Have you ever cooked with crab or lobster? Could you ever bring yourself to kill a live lobster/crab? No and no. I hate the taste of both. Squishy and just… ew. Which fast food restaurant do you go to the most? What do you tend to order when you go there? Being the cheapest, probably McDonald’s? I usually get a double cheeseburger and small or medium fry. Does it bother you when dogs jump up at you? Does it bother you less if it’s a smaller dog? Nah. I mean their claws can hurt, but it’s all worth a dog’s love, haha. What kind of animal did you touch last? Was this animal one of your pets? I pet my cat Roman last. How would you describe your sense of humor? Have you ever offended someone when you were only joking? Seeing as I don’t even find myself funny, idk how to answer that. I don’t believe I’ve ever offended anyone with a joke. When was the last time you cried - what caused it? It was literally last night when I was really deeply thinking about stuff I’ve been running from. What’s your favorite flavor of potato chip? You can’t beat the original ruffled kind, imo. Do you prefer fruit or vegetable juice? What kind of flavors do you like? I love fruit juice, but you’ll never see me even try vegetable juice. I enjoy lots of fruit ones: mango (my favorite), pineapple, strawberry, watermelon, orange, apple… Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? How did you meet this person? If you mean via a call and not texting, that would be my psychiatrist. I met him during my partial hospitalization. He helped save my life. Who was your first celebrity crush? Which celebrity do you like now? Jesse McCartney /swoons. Now I’m a l l about Mark Fischbach like jesus fucking Christ lord- Do you usually sleep with your closet door open or closed? It’s closed. What’s your favorite love movie? The Notebook. Afraid of heights? Kinda, yeah. Do you take a vitamin daily? Not daily, no, but I have to take Vitamin D once a week. Wal-Mart, Target, or K-Mart? Wal-Mart. Is K-Mart even still around? Cheetos Or Fritos? Cheetos; I don’t really like the latter. Are you patient? N O P E, not unless it’s really called for. Which are better black or green olives? I hate olives. Black aren’t as awful, though. Who was your high school crush? Ha, Jason surpassed “crush” by a lighyear. Have you ever had your computer or e-mail hacked? Did anything bad happen as a result? No to both, but I’ve had my Facebook hacked. Nothing too bad happened. Do you prefer the company of people or animals? Animals, for sure. I need human company sometimes too, though. When was the last time you went to the beach? What did you do there? A few years ago when Colleen and I were still friends. The water felt fucking incredible, so I swam a lot, and then I just chilled with her, her husband, and their then-infant son under the umbrella. I still got insane sun poisoning, though. What kind of milk do you prefer to drink (if you drink it at all)? 1-2%. Skim is gross and whole is too thick. When was the last time you wore some kind of fancy dress? That witchy photoshoot I mentioned in I think the last survey. Do you enjoy dressing up (ie. in suits or smart clothing)? When was the last time you did so? Ugh, no. Too much effort and usually not very comfortable. See above answer for the second part. What’s worse - being overdressed or underdressed? I think the latter would embarrass me more. What do you think would be the worst thing about being stuck in solitary confinement? Being alone with only your head for “sound.” And if you’re in solitary, odds are your head isn’t in a good place, so it just makes it worse. How old were you when you learned to tie your shoelaces? Idk, but I know I learned it the “wrong” way first from Dad. It always annoyed Mom because they weren’t tight enough, apparently. Do you enjoy decorating for the holidays? For the most part, honestly not really. I love SEEING places decorated, but hate doing it myself. So much effort for sometimes not even a month’s worth of enjoyment. Would you rather go into a restaurant or just go via the drive-thru? I prefer the drive-thru. Do you like having your teeth cleaned at the dentist? Yeah, even if there may be a bit of pain here and there. It feels nice afterwards. Have you ever had a gun drawn on you before? YIKES, NO. When was the last time you went to a petting zoo? I probably haven’t since I was a baby. How old were you when you first started using Tumblr? Have you had the same blog all that time? Idr, but I know I was waaaay late to the party. I’ve had the same since the start, though. Are you a fan of Reddit? What are some of your favorite subreddits? I’ve never used it. Have you ever watched those YouTube videos of people popping their own spots or zits? Do you find them gross or fascinating? EW EW EW EW NO. They gross me the FUCK out. What’s a food you hated as a kid but love now? How about vice versa? Hmmm… I only know vice-versa, really. I loved peas as a baby, but now it’s a “fuck no” from me, man. Do you prefer socks, shoes or going bare foot? Bare feet, at least where it makes sense. Are you currently in the second story of a building? No; my house doesn't have a second floor. Who was the last music artist you listened to a song by? Ozzy. Have you ever written or drew something on a dollar bill? No. What was your favorite childhood game to play with your friends? We played lots of things, but I guess "Categories" in the pool probably wins. Basically the person on one end of the pool had to guess somebody on the other side's favorite in a certain topic, and if they guessed it right, you raced the other person to the opposite side. Whoever got there fastest was the next guesser. Where did you get your favorite pet from? My favorite pet of all time, my old dog Teddy, we got as a puppy from a friend of a friend. Her cocker spaniel had a massive litter and adopted the babies out. Have you ever called animal control on anyone? Not me personally, no. I think my mom did when our childhood neighbor's two rottweilers got loose and killed at least one of our kittens of the time; she was livid because it wasn't the first time they got out and attacked our cats, and of course us kids were absolutely devastated. I think they got off with a warning. Do you prefer wearing hoodies to coats? Yeah, especially slightly oversized. Is there anything written on the shirt you are wearing? No, it's just a black tank top. Have you ever been to another continent? No. Do you ever go out of your way to avoid someone? Not really. What was your last voicemail about? I don't even have a voicemail set up, so. Are you currently wearing a belt?I haven't worn belts since high school. How much was gas the last time you looked? I think $1.99. Is there someone who would support you no matter what? My mom, probably. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?I REALLY don't want to think about this one. Do you still get carded when you try and buy things you’re old enough to? I very rarely order one, but I don't really get carded for drinks at restaurants anymore. Do you know anyone fluent in a really uncommon language? Not that I know of. Do you kiss on the first date? This would depend on a lot of things. Odds are though, no. When was the last time you slept on something other than a bed? I've got no clue. How do you feel about the last person you shared a kiss with? I love her. Describe your current mood: Hopeless. Confused. Aimless. Exasperated. Just depressed. Do you think we were put on this earth for a reason? I mean, somewhat, but also not really. I don't believe life exists by chance, so whoever/whatever made that decision obviously had some reason - but not for each person in particular, I believe. I highly doubt something/someone thought out extravagant stories for every single thing that lives. I believe we give ourselves a reason. What is something you have done this year you’re proud of? Absolutely nothing, off the top of my head. What were you doing 10 years ago? I woulda been 14, almost 15... so starting high school. I was in school with actual goals and confidence I'd do great in life, despite my depression being in full swing. Did you ever have a MySpace? Yup... Still remember Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" was the song on my meerkat-slathered page too, haha. Do you think breaks are toxic in a relationship? I don't believe in breaks, period. You don't turn love on and off. Do you have a YouTube channel? If no, would you create one? If yes, what’s your content? Yeah, but it's not one that seriously produces content. Its primary purpose is just to like, favorite, and rarely comment on stuff while having recommendations catered to my interests. I used to make GMV/AMV-type things and mostly Meerkat Manor tributes, as well as various MEP parts because BOY could I only accomplish very short videos. I no longer have "professional" video editing software (I'd always pirated it before, anyway...) nor the necessary motivation and patience to make them anymore. Are you a math person? Heeeeeeeell no. Have you been ghosted before? Would you ghost someone? No to both. When do you think things will be normal again? Who the fuck knows. It'll probably be a couple years, at least. Do you watch anime? If I'm watching television, yeah, I like some animes. Do you like TikTok? Never used it. Do you ever miss Vine? YO Vine was fuckin FUNNY If you're in school, are you doing it on Zoom or in class? I'm not in school, so. But if I was and in-person classes were expected, guess who the fuck isn't going with how serious I am about social distancing. Lives come before education. Would you ever have a pet rat? I've had a handful, but I don't think I will again. Their cages require so much cleaning, and they need more socialization than I'm able to provide. I fucking adore them, though. Favorite memory with your best friend? It's weird, we've "seen" each other for only like, a month's collective time, and I'm not sure of my answer because there's so many. Have you ever dated someone more than twice your age? No. Have you ever “dined and dashed”? No, I never could. Have you ever been cut off by a bartender because you were too drunk? No. Have you ever borrowed money from your mom & lied about why you needed it? I don't think so. Have you ever dated someone just because they had money? Fuck no. Have you ever lied to your spouse about the money you spent shopping? N/A, but I wouldn't. Have you ever flirted with a cop to get out of a ticket? No. Have you ever lied during a job interview? Me? Social? People person? Well duh, of course I am. Have you ever switched tags on an item to pay less for it? No, that's awful. Have you taken any pics of yourself that you wouldn't want your parents to see? Actually no. Did you ever get fired and tell someone you were laid off? No. Have you ever turned in a school paper that someone else wrote for you? Absolutely not. I liked writing papers anyway and am very serious about creative honesty. Do you feel accepted by your BF/GF’s family? N/A If you were an employer, would you hire someone with your exact work ethic? Well, what's the job? Have you ever trashed your ex’s car after an argument? No. The only thing I ever did to his car was decorate it for his birthday lmao. Have you ever done something because of peer pressure you are ashamed of? I don't think so, no. Have you ever been embarrassed to introduce your parents to anyone? No. Would you leave a note on a car claiming responsibility if you damaged it? Yes. The guilt otherwise would be unbearable. Have you ever used someone's handicapped parking pass to get a parking spot? Ew, no. Have you ever held back a well-deserved compliment because you were jealous? I wouldn't put me past it lately. For yourself, would you rather have a perfect body or high IQ? I hate my body so fuckin much that I'll take the first, please. Have you ever used a false ID? Nope. Are you embarrassed to tell people your job? I'm embarrassed to admit I don't HAVE a job. If you ran over an animal would you keep driving? Oh my god no, I'd have to stop to break the fuck down. Ever lie about you (or your kids') age to get a discount? Ha, I'm sure my parents would sometimes at restaurants when I was young. Do you really care about saving the planet for future generations? A LOT. Have you gotten close to anyone recently? Not really. Do you remember the first conversation you had with the person you have feelings for? No, but I can assure you it probably wasn't nice lmao. Have you ever gotten a D or F on your report card? Not until college. If you had twins, would you give them rhyming names? No. What are you listening to? "Radio" by Rammstein is on atm. Have you ever fallen into a mud puddle? Maybe as a kid. But that might'a been on purpose, lol. Are you scared of spiders? To a degree. Like, I want a few tarantulas but will scream and jump five feet the moment I see a huge spider beside me unexpectantly. I think they are very, very fascinating and important, but I also prefer to give them distance. Unless I have a camera in hand, haha. Do you think that crying is a form of weakness? Absolutely not. Have you ever slept on a couch with someone? Yeah. Last person to call you? Some number from Mississippi??????????? Ever feel like you have been replaced? Oh yes.

[bucky-smiles]

C’est La Vie: 4

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Alcohol, drunkness, vomiting, mentions of sex 

Word Count: 1.7k+

This is my chapter for the ficwars!! My lovely partner is @delicatelyherdreamsand the prompt for this chapter is “Drunken confession”.

After the… Events at the party, you’d began the process of avoiding Bucky. 

It was way more difficult considering you lived with him. 

The first night, after you told him not to follow you, you’d went to your friend Wanda’s place and stayed there for a night. Afterwards, you specifically scheduled all of your movements in the apartment for when you knew Bucky wasn’t home. 

Night time was the only problem.. So you made an effort to keep your door locked and your music loud enough to signify that Bucky was not welcome. Texts and calls were ignored and any social event where you knew Bucky would be in attendance were avoided. 

Needless to say, you weren’t doing all that much anymore. 

It’d been two weeks since the party when everything came to light. Up till then, the whole avoiding business had been going well. You’d come home late one night after a productive session at the library making sure you were ready for your American Literature test. Book in one hand, you moved to the fridge to see if Steve had left any extra food for you in the fridge when you heard the front door open once more, a drunk Bucky stumbling through the door. 

He was an absolute mess. 

His brown locks of hair were a mess and his eyes were bloodshot. Bucky smelt like he’d drank an entire bar and by the way his clothes were disheveled and semi damp looking, you wouldn’t be surprised if he actually had. 

He was moving to his room, eyes squinted against the lights you’d turned on when you’d come in. At the sound of movement in the kitchen, his attention quickly turned to you and his face went through so many emotions you couldn’t differentiate what was happiness, guilt, and sadness. 

He changed his direction so that it was right to you. When his arms wrapped around you tightly, you didn’t have the heart to push him away.. He was so miserable and even though you were mad at him, he was still one of your best friends in the whole world. 

You wrapped your arms around his shoulders gently as he buried his face in the crook of your neck. You felt a little wet and you realized that he was crying quietly into your shoulder, mumbling something. It took you a few moments to realize he was saying “I’m sorry, it was all a mistake” on repeat. 

“Bucky, let’s get you to bed,” You speak quietly as you tried to pull away from him.. But his arms around your waist kept you close to him, the man refusing to budge even an inch as he shook his head. 

“No.. Not till you forgive me..” There was a childish side of him that came out when he was drunk.. And it seemed that that part of his personality was coming to light now. 

“Buck.. You know I can’t do that yet.. I need space,” A quiet sigh escapes your lips and his grip tightens around you as he shakes his head. 

“But you didn’t even let me explain, Y/N.. Could you.. Could you please listen to your right hand man? Just this once, Cap, and if you don’t wanna hear after that then I’ll leave you alone for as long as you want.” He always seemed to reference your childhood game to make things more nostalgic and emotional, as if he knew that it would always work.. 

It wasn’t fair, and you knew that.. But you also did storm out without any room for explanation, sharing one of the most passionate kisses in your life before avoiding him nonstop. Your lips tingled just a bit at the thought of the kiss but you quickly shook off that thought before you nodded slightly. 

“Okay.. But first you need to change and shower.. And drink some water.” 

“Okay.” 

Bucky had sobered up just a bit in the time it took him to go through with your requests. The crying had stopped and he was able to walk in a mostly straight line too, which was quite a bit of progress for him. 

You’d sat down at the kitchen table, nibbling on a noodle from the pasta that Steve had left in the fridge. Once more, you were rereading your novel for American Literature only to be interrupted by Bucky moving to sit down across from you.. His hair was now damp from a shower and while his cheeks were still flushed from all the drink he had, he seemed a lot more concentrated.. As if he was on a mission. 

You were closing your book up when he spoke, causing you to do a double take. 

“I didn’t sleep with Natasha that night.. I haven’t slept with her in a while, actually..” 

It was blunt and not very articulate.. But it got the point across and any kind of weight you felt on your shoulder was slowly lifting away, “That doesn’t answer the question of you being covered in lipstick on my bed, Barnes.” The cold tone was making its way back into your voice.. The topic was still sensitive to you considering the circumstances of your undying feelings and the kiss. “It also doesn’t explain why you were in my room and why your shirt was unbuttoned.” 

Bucky took a deep breath as he sipped from his water cup before continuing, “I.. We almost did.. My room was occupied and Natasha decided to drag me to yours.. When I realized where we were.. And the reason I was even willing to be with Natasha in the first place.. I stopped. But she was all pouty and whatnot since now I was rejecting her after she stopped rejecting me so I had to explain myself n’all.. And then you, with your impeccable timing, came in right then and there..” The man gave you a hopeful look after explaining himself.. Maybe it was acceptable.. It was true after all.. You just had to see that and accept him and forgive him. 

The reasoning of it all was barely glazed over, however.. He told you a synopsis but left out any detail you’d considered vital to the story.. And as a stickler for detail, your brow raised just a bit before you spoke. 

“What was the reason you were with Natasha then? The thing you barely mentioned?” Your tone was almost accusatory.. When did this happen between you and Bucky there was never this much animosity or any kind of negative emotion between the two of you. 

“I-Uhm..” He cleared his throat, all of a sudden feeling very uncomfortable with talking. Bucky did bring this upon himself, however, and you weren’t about to let him forget that. 

“It seems to be pretty simple, Bucky.. If you can give me a reason you were with Natasha in the first place, maybe I’ll understand your reasoning for all of this.. Omitting things you clearly know are important isn’t going to help anyone.. In fact, you’re probably just wasting both your and my own time with this..” You got up from the table, getting your things together once more before moving away from the table to get to your room.

Once more, however, you were stopped by a familiar grip on your wrist.. And your mind jumped back to that amazing kiss once more. His arms wrapped around your torso.. The warmth of his lips against yours to contrast the rain.. 

But you quickly snapped yourself out of it once more to maintain the glare you had on your face.. An intimidation factor plus a perfect display of your emotions. 

“I did it cause’ I love you, Y/N.” And just like that, his great big secret was out in the open. A secret that was so similar to the one you’d been keeping from him.

Your eyes widened at his words and you were about to say something.. However you were interrupted by Bucky doubling over and a retching noise.. Only to feel warm liquid spread all over your shoes and socks. 

Lovely. 

Bucky woke up with a quiet groan and a pounding headache. His eyes slowly opened only to be greeted by a cup of water and a bottle of acetaminophen. The man reached out and grabbed the bottle, slowly popping it open and taking a couple of pills before downing them with the water, finishing off the rest of the glass fairly quickly. 

He remembered bits and pieces of last night.. Coming home to you, talking, and then vomiting over your shoes.. Exactly what you talked about with him was presently just.. Not even there.. 

The smell of bacon drew Bucky out of his thoughts as he rubbed his eyes.. But first things first, he had to get the awful aciding taste of vomit out of his mouth. 

Bucky exited the room after completing his morning regime slowly only to be greeted with you in the kitchen rather than Steve. There was already a bowl of orange slices and strawberries on the table with an empty plate alongside a cup of coffee that was still steaming and made the way he likes it. “Y/N? Doll what’re you doing?”

You didn’t respond, not even looking over your shoulder as you continued working. You did, however, hold up a finger, signifying that you needed a moment to finish whatever you were doing. 

He tried being quiet after that, moving to sit down and accepting everything that was implied to be his.. However it was obvious that he was nothing but confused considering the obnoxious shuffling that Bucky called walking moving between a few places and not just to the table where everything was laid out for him.  

You smirked to yourself as you transferred the bacon to a plate for the man to help himself to. You’d be eating as well so hopefully he didn’t pig out too much. 

When you brought the bacon to the table, you set it right in front of the man before pouring cereal into two bowls and adding the milk. After everything was done and set up you leaned forward and pressed the softest of kisses to Bucky’s forehead. 

“I love you too, Buck.”

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 23

Chapter Summary -  Tom discusses his plans to talk with Danielle with Benedict before he meets with her.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog  @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

TH – Danielle is coming home this weekend, she was asking if I am around because she wants to tell mum about her going away for another three months, what do I do?

BC – Why are you asking me this like a teenage girl?

TH – Ben, please!

BC – Are you working this weekend?

TH – No.

BC – Well then, go to your mums and spend time with her.

TH – What is Dr Prick is there?

BC – You need to accept he probably is going to be if she is home for the first time in a few weeks.

TH – How will I not kill him? After what he did, or didn’t do. He doesn’t deserve her.

BC – Being in prison is not good for your career, and after what you told me, he’s not worth the jail time anyway. Just show her you are the better option.

TH – Right.

TH – How?

BC – I don’t know, you know what she is interested in, use that.

TH – I just told her I will be there to help her. Why am I so scared?

BC – I have no idea, perhaps because you lost your balls over the summer when you wore that fucking awful t-shirt.

TH – Cumberbatch!

BC – Well you asked. What’s the game plan?

TH – I have no idea, what am I going to do?

BC – You really have it bad, don’t you?

TH – Why is this happening?

BC – Now you are really like a teenager, look, Tom, you are human, you want someone who knows you for the ass you really are, and despite your greatest efforts to make her run for the hills, she is still there willingly, and that actually matters to you. She is understanding and motivated, she doesn’t need to be mollycoddled and she is independent, everything you want.

TH – I am sensing a ‘but’ here. What if she doesn’t see me like that?

BC – Then you have to accept that.

TH – I could ruin everything.

BC – You said to me recently what your greatest fear is, yet you are willing to risk not being with the woman that could make you happy? Are you sure you mean what you said in that interview?

TH – There’s a huge difference.

BC – I don’t see it. She is something you want, and you have to do what you always do Tom and work damn hard to put everything you have into this.

TH – You make it sound easy.

BC – Nothing in relation to love is easy. You think marriage and having children is easy? This is the hardest fucking thing I have ever done in my life. Sophie and Kit are everything to me, but there are still days I am thinking “How the fuck am I supposed to do this?” It is never easy Tom, the best things never are.

TH – Very philosophical Benny.

BC – Damn right, I am the brains of this outfit after all.

TH – I can sense your smugness from here.

BC – Good luck Tom.

*

“Hello.” Tom jumped slightly, not expecting Danielle to be so chirpy when she opened the door to him, before giving him a tight hug. “Long time no see, stranger.” Tom took a moment to hug her back, loving the smell of her strawberry shampoo. “I know, a busy woman now, hopefully, you still have time for us small-timer’s.” He smiled, earning an elbow to the ribs for reciting back the lines she had said to him after the Avengers movie.

“What sort of mood is your mum in?” “A good one.” Danielle winced slightly. “She will want this for you, Elle.”

“I just don’t know how I am going to tell her, she has been so good to me.” Danielle sighed.

“It’s best to just come out with it, she’ll know as soon as she sees you that you want to tell her something, it is best just blurt it out,” Tom advised. “I spent about a day trying to find a way to tell her, by the end she was so frustrated with me, I could have told her I murdered half of my college and she was just relieved I finally said it that she didn’t care what I had to say.” Tom put his arm around her shoulder as he edged her towards his mothers, partly to urge her on, sensing her reluctance and partly because he simply wanted an excuse to touch her. “What am I going to do with Mac Tíre?” She looked at her dog, who was standing at the gate to her back garden, wagging his tail cheerfully. “I can’t just leave him.”

Tom looked at her. “Elle, if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to do it, I’m sure you can go back to the ambulance depot and they will welcome you back with open arms, but if you really want this, you are going to have to step out of your comfort zone, and yes, that means leaving Mac with mum while your away.” “He’s going to think I am abandoning him.”

“You know mum will look after her. Do you really want this?” Danielle sighed. “Yes.” “Then why the excuses?” he looked down at her, noting the look on her face. “What are you scared of?”

“I’m not…” When she looked at him, she ceased. “What if I fuck up?” “Then you'll ruin a multi-thousand dollar scene, and perhaps be the reason a famous actor is permanently disabled.” She stared at him in utter horror. “I am joking Elle.” “I…” “You need to calm down, surely you are not the only safety officer on set.” “Yes, I am.” “Who do you liaise with?”

“Stunt crew, stunt coordinator, emergency personnel, director, producers, everyone involved in the scene.”

“With that many people involved, you are not going to singlehandedly ruin everything, so relax.” Tom smiled kindly, opening his mother’s front door. “We should have a drink to celebrate your new-found success.”

“Can I ask you a weird question?” “Shoot.” “What is the deal with crews going out and drinking themselves stupid, I mean, is there ever a situation where the ‘getting to know one another’ doesn’t involve copious amounts of alcohol?” “Seldom, those are usually the serious meetings, and they include eating in overpriced restaurants. Why, did you get drunk and think you screwed up?” “No, I was actually over cautious, I didn’t want to have anyone have anything to say about me, so I slowly sipped three drinks all night.” “Smart girl, I feel like sometimes they use those situations as little tests, especially in big productions like Marvel, to see if you blurt out anything when you are drunk. Being cautious and tight-lipped goes a long way in the film.” Tom commended.

“And what does lunch dates tell them?”

“I suspect that they use them to see if you drink at lunchtime, as though trying to figure out if you have an over-liking of alcohol.”

“Ah, I see.” “You seemed to have some fun on your nights out.” “I was being polite; there are a few nice people, but like every other job…” “There are ass-lickers, brown-nosers, and egotistical idiots? The industry is full of them.” “I am hoping to channel my inner you.” Tom frowned at her. “Be nice to everyone.” “Some people make it very hard to be.” “That’s an understatement.”

Tom took Danielle’s hand in his. “You ready?”

“She’s going to hate me.” Giving her a small squeeze. “Never, none of us ever could, we adore you Danielle, and you know that.”

[the-roanoke-society]

What's the story behind the Agents of Sass and Class tag? How did Seraphim and Succubus meet within the society even tho they were from two COMPLETELY different agent circles? P.S I love you, bitch. 💖💖💖

now you did get the initial beginning down pretty square—seraphim had heard, on the periphery, that oh, we had a new necromancer, and man, her origin story was equal parts bizarre and intriguing (with the normal touches of tragedy that seemed to paint the narratives of everyone at the estate from time time—but such is the human and non-human condition of this plane, unfortunately).

let’s talk about it.

between the emotional aftermath of enoch’s abrupt departure, the city in the hills, all on top of routine missions that she was still being handed from lilith, there was a lot that seraphim missed. it wasn’t because of apathy. it was because of exhaustion. (and then there was still the matter of agent whiskey, of statesman. she was… still working on figuring that part out. but jack loved a good chase. and a good fuck.)

a large part of that was succubus’s training and entire initiation. but even as it was, for some reason seraphim couldn’t quite discern, lilith had been very keen on the senior agent being at least a bit aware that she was around.

very keen.

“hey, it’s—clementine. right?”

those were her first words to her. she’d overheard poltergeist a few days ago, talking to wendigo and mothman about his newest recruit. that he’d done the grave test, as he’d done with other field agents in training before her.

seraphim didn’t hate him. not exactly. but he reminded her so much of john who sparked such a deep anger and hurt inside of her that it was difficult for her to physically be around him for long. and it broke her heart to see another person being spiritually shattered in this way.

she’d pivoted abruptly, leaving the lounge before any of the three had seen her. fuming.

we aren’t wild horses. this is all so goddamn unnecessary and exhausting.

it didn’t feel like they were being broken and remade into something better. it just felt like breaking.

looking back, seraphim was grateful that rae had let her carefully lead her to one of the stools by the center island, get her tissues, a wet towel for her face, and food that was actually plated. she was hardly the first person seraphim had seen weeping in an odd place in the manor, although crying in front of an open fridge was a first.

clementine wasn’t clementine for long. soon enough, she was raeanna. then rae. but a lot about her was… guarded. that first conversation in the kitchen that night was very much a weird kind of dance. seraphim had to learn where to press, where not to press. the shapes of what she was willing to share versus what she wasn’t. and succubus, for her part, had only a vague idea of who seraphim even was.

“my name’s morgan. uh, seraphim’s my handle. it’s nice to finally meet you.”

an exorcist, fine, a senior agent of apparent high regard, sure, but succubus didn’t know her and didn’t exactly relish the idea of a sleepover-tier get-to-know-you conversation in the middle of the night with the witch that poltergeist had constantly used as a standard to decimate her confidence.

the closeness and seamlessness they share as a duo on the field wasn’t formed overnight.

but it was engendered in one.

because succubus found that for the life of her, she couldn’t withstand the barrage of kindness.

they ran into each other a few times after that, always in passing. succubus still had her training to finish, and seraphim had her normal fieldwork.

but one day, shortly after succubus had finally graduated out of poltergeist’s authority to become an agent in her own right, lilith called seraphim into her office. all of her usual calm smile and gentle—if not a little suspicious—demeanor.

“morgan! there you are! i see the color’s gotten back into your face since you came home. did mr. daniels have something to do with that? … aaannnddd look, now there’s even more pink there, i’m taking that as a yes.”

“lil, please. look, did you need to ask me something? i’m assuming you called me up here for a reason.” seraphim took a seat in one of the plush armchairs on the other side of lilith’s desk, watching her superior thoughtfully twirl a red apple in the space above an open hand. it had a bite out of it.

“you know me well. i did have something that i wanted to assign you, and agent succubus.”

“agent? oh, she got through training! thank god, i was scared that adam was going to run her off, or worse, and—wait, both of us?” seraphim lifted one brow. it wasn’t that she’d been hit with dread, but she’d never worked with rae afield before. she wasn’t sure what to expect.

“yes, she’s become quite the gifted necromancer under ‘geist’s—particular brand of tutelage. … morgan, would you like an apple, or are you just jealous that you haven’t quite mastered the art of object levitation?”

seraphim sighed. “both, if i’m honest, but joe’s been teaching me energy manipulation.” she caught the apple that lilith tossed to her from a bowl on the small table behind her and eyed the manila folder she slid onto her desk towards her. “granted, it’s not like i have a separate universe at my hands. our magic doesn’t look the same. but it’s…” her voice softened. another sigh. this one was sadder. “… it’s nice to be able to explore what i can do. after everything. you never really stop learning, i guess. not really.” she poked at the folder. “but uh, i’m a little bit more curious about that, ma’am.”

lilith smiled kindly. she’d have to speak with mothman later, see what exactly they’d been up to. “we’ve had—reports,” she began, flipping open the folder. seraphim took a bite out of her apple, reaching forward to touch one of the photographs that was on top of a stack of scanned newspaper clippings. “of something interesting happening around the outsides of las vegas.”

seraphim picked the picture up, frowning at it. “uh—lil, uhm, what, what am i looking at?” she spoke around the apple bits in her mouth. the only distinct shapes she could make out in the photo were the mountains in the distance and a police cruiser. but this black blur in the middle…

whatever it was, it was massive. easily at least ten, twelve feet, comparing it to the car. big, dark, and—were those antlers?

“we’re not a hundred percent sure. but we’re afraid that given the damage its caused and an uptick in insomnia and night terrors around the part of the city where it’s been sighted, it may be something demonic.”

“which is why you’re sending me. okay, i follow you.”

“we also think it might not be completely alive in the traditional sense.”

“… it’s not what now?”

lilith rubbing her hands together. not a good sign. “we don’t think it’s—living. no mundane weapons seem to slow it down, which isn’t necessarily a huge surprise, but other members from the nevada office that were dispatched had similar misfortune. granted, their specializations aren’t quite like yours, or like rae’s, and we’re wondering if maybe we just need an approach with… let’s say a dynamic more like the one you two have.”

“lil…”

“i don’t mean anything as shallow as a game of holy versus unholy. i only mean that both of you are walking different sides of the same road, going the same way. you have a decent handle on being, as luca has said, a ‘light-bringer,’ and rae makes a weapon out of darkness. between the two of you, this thing doesn’t stand a chance, and the vegas mayor will, once again, owe me a debt.”

“uh, once again?” why was it that she consistently left lilith’s office with more questions than answers?

“it’s a long story, i’ll tell you when you get back. now go find rae, please, i’d like to speak with her. take this file with you to review. our dear darling quetzl just got back from visiting his mother, he’ll fly you out tomorrow morning at six a.m. sharp.”

“yes ma’am.” seraphim bit down on her apple, holding it in her mouth as she used both hands to shift through the file.

this would make for some interesting afternoon reading, but first, to find succubus…

*   *     *

“did you eat breakfast?” seraphim asked the next morning, hoping that a pair of dark capris and a light grey button-up wouldn’t end up being too hot for the desert. she couldn’t bring herself to just wear a tank-top. she didn’t like how people looked at her scars.

“… what?” succubus was rubbing sleep out of her eyes, almost tripping up the steps into the jet. almost. “oh shit—uhm, no, i opted to get as much sleep as possible. kind of regretting it.”

“what, sleeping in or not eating anything?” seraphim got up into the plane first, slinging her duffel bag upwards onto the rack over their seats.

the good witch—which seraphim thought was a fuckin’ weird name for a plane—was one of the nicer jets in roanoke’s hangar. the flight from kentucky to nevada wouldn’t be tremendously long, but it’d give them a few hours to rest, and if seraphim had her way, to be better friends.

this would be the first time they’d be stuck together for an extended period, and she wasn’t sure what to expect.

succubus laughed, and readily handed her own bag to seraphim’s outstretched hand. “both.”

“then boy do i have a surprise for you two!” seraphim and succubus both jumped at the booming voice of quetzl, who was the most intense morning person seraphim had ever met. all dark eyes, dark smiles and a demeanor that could be likened to a nuclear reactor.

before either of them could quiet react he’d already stuffed pop tarts into their hands—smores flavor into seraphim’s, strawberry into succubus’s. “you’re welcome. now please, go sit down, i’ve got to radio phoenix and get him to open the hangar up for us, but as soon as the gate’s up, we’re outta here!”

and as soon as they sat down: “dude do you want to trade? that one’s my favorite.”

“seriously? hell yeah, that one’s my favorite too.”

okay. off to a good start.

but seraphim closed her eyes as soon as they hit cruising altitude—she’d watched succubus take out a worn copy of carrie, and had to hide her smile—and when she opened them again, it was to the tune of quetzl’s voice over the p.a. system. “ladies! and—other ladies! all of the two ladies on board. we’ll be landing on the airstrip by our nevada compatriots here in like, thirty minutes. we’ll be right on the outskirts of henderson, which means around a thirty minute drive to the site that lilith wanted you to investigate first. so please return your seats to the upright position, do the thing with the tray tables, you’ve been on a plane before, just don’t run around the cabin, that’s literally it. … thank you for your patronage.”

succubus rolled her eyes. “is he always like this?”

seraphim laughed in response. “welcome to air quetzl. never boring, and sometimes just—real fuckin’ annoying.”

“better annoying than boring, though?”

the senior agent hummed, nodding. “i—yeah. better annoying than boring.”

*    *     *

agent tahoe met them in the hangar. blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and all six feet of her like a ray of sunshine. seraphim thought she was going to bruise her knuckles with the strength of her grip. where the hell does lilith keep finding all these morning people?

“seraphim! good to see you again, look how long your hair’s gotten! and you must be our newest crowned, agent succubus! i’m senior agent tahoe. our ah, staff’s stretched a bit thin at the moment, what with all the monster bullshit, but don’t worry, i’ll be the one making sure you get to where you need to g—“

“emilia! baaaabe! how’s it hangin’?”

“… clark.”

her tone went deadpan and succubus was trying desperately to keep some sense of professionalism.

“oh come on, you’re not still mad at me, are you?”

“if you two will follow me, our ride’s waiting in the garage juuuuust down this corridor here—“

“oh sweet, what did boss man upstairs lend us?”

“i said you two. meaning them. you are going straight inside where someone can keep an eye on you. and don’t touch anything.”

“emilia!”

“go fucking upstairs.” but all the venom in her voice disappeared when she turned back to the team at her shoulders, following close behind her. “in all seriousness, we’re really glad y’all are here. whatever this thing it, it broke jarbridge’s legs, compound fractures, too. i mean, she passed out, which is good, she says she doesn’t even remember it happening, but i’m pretty sure lovelock’s gonna have to take some kind of sabbatical, you know how squeamish he is around blood…”

succubus glanced at seraphim once. her face was a little pale.

but seraphim just put a warm hand on her shoulder, and leaned closer to her. “hey. this asshole hasn’t met us yet. we got this.”

 *    *     *

tahoe was the kind of woman where, if you didn’t make any attempt to steer the conversation, she could talk gore and guts for literal hours (seraphim had heard her do it enough times before).

once they’d gotten into a shiny black falcon coup (that, despite how clean it looked, was straight out of 1975) seraphim watched succubus’s face become more and more drawn.

she’d survived poltergeist. that spoke volumes in and of itself. but even the confidence bred from that firewalking brand of training, well…

seraphim remembered her first mission solo, without enoch at her side. all she had to do was envision that bright yellow doorway on lincoln street and it all came flooding back, visceral but short-lived. the nervousness. the fear. and for her, at least, an acute case of being overwhelmed.

but then… poltergeist hadn’t left.

would it have been so bad if he did leave, really?

seraphim shook her head. “—emilia! emilia. uhm. look, now, you know i love a war story as much as the next agent, but ah, rae looked a little confused as to why you were being so cold to clark, and frankly, i am too, i thought you two had patched things up?”

if there was one thing tahoe liked talking about more than body horror—it was her exes.

succubus didn’t want to let on that her heart was in her throat, and she had her hands balled into fists in her lap so no one could tell they were shaking. what had she gotten herself into? double compound fractures? were her bones about to see the light of day as well? she suppressed a shudder.

she loved bones. she loved her own bones.  she loved them most when they were safely under her skin like they were supposed to be.

but succubus also loved gossip, and seraphim, as it turned out, was an excellent enabler.

also turned out that quetzl was just as awful to date as succubus had judged beforehand, according to tahoe. “and okay, i’ll concede that maybe i shouldn’t have been looking through his phone but damnit, rae, it was my own sister! like, both of my sisters! who does that?”

  *    *     *

their arrival point was hardly anything climactic—although ‘cinematic’ was still a word that seraphim would’ve used. in a very regional gothic sort of way. the sun was high by that point, not a cloud in the sky and it was so blue that it hurt her eyes. she could see roaring vegas in the distance as she stood by the front of the coup, taking a drag off of her cigarette. her usual pre-mission ritual these days.

“i didn’t know you smoked,” succubus said quietly, but even as soft as her voice was, seraphim jumped anyway, coughing. “oh shit, sorry, i didn’t mean t—“

“it’s okay! it’s okay. it’s a gross habit. i keep telling lilith i’ll quit, but…” she stared at it in the v of her fingers, shrugged, and then took one long final inhale before flicking upwards, snapping her fingers, and—where the hell did it go? “i don’t know. i don’t have a lot of motivation to stop. and anyway, that’s not why we’re here, we’re here!” with a grand flourish, she turned, motioning to the spread of desert before them. “to catch a monster.”

succubus grinned. “i do like the sound of that.”

“hell yeah you do! we are the fuckin’ veil!” tahoe had a mapped spread out over the car’s hood, covered in various markings. “shit, iiiiii am utter garbage at location work, i wish jarbridge was out of medical already—“ she laughed. “man she’s probably high as a kite right now anyway. she’d be useless. okay, look just—you two come over here.”

seraphim and succumbs watched at her shoulders as she pointed with one black-painted nail to a part of the map marked with three sharpie x’s, all in a triangle and all on the other side of a low, craggy ridge about a mile or so from where the dirt roadside where they’d parked. “based off of all the intel we’ve been able to gather, we think that it’s home base is right around here. now, it’s daytime, and this thing is one nocturnal son of a bitch, so the strategy is to get a jump on him on his home turf. catch him with pants down, or whatever.”

succubus hummed, “oh, now those are my favorite kind of missions—“

tahoe lifted her eyebrows. “remind me to ask you some questions when this is all over and we get celebratory shots on the strip or something. now!” in a few wide strides she was at the trunk, popping the lid with the wave of a hand as she walked. “these are yours.” she handed seraphim her usual pistol, and succubus a standard issue handgun marked by the roanoke insignia and a few sigils she couldn’t quite recognize.

“there’s my baby!”

“uh, morgan, what kinds of babies have you been around…?” but seraphim was too busy taking practice swings with a large wooden bat, embedded with nails, wrapped in barbed wire and prayer beads.

“rae, meet virgil. virgil, rae. most trustworthy man i’ve ever met.”

succubus lifted her eyebrows in approval. “will, uh, i get one of those—?”

seraphim had the audacity to wink. “if you make one yourself. i’ll tell you virgil’s story over all those shots tahoe said she was going to buy us here in a second.”

but tahoe was back studying the map. something about her posture was different. her back straighter, her lips in a tighter line. there was a beat before she lifted her eyes to the agents, sighing. “i wish there was something more i could give you. anything more. but this is it.” another short exhale. “we don’t know what, exactly, this is. but you two are going to be the best crack at it that we’ve taken so far. if things get hairy, just head back here. i’ll stay here with the ride. my office is a button-press away. don’t—“ she swallowed. seraphim felt nervousness tug at the base of her stomach. this wasn’t like emilia. “don’t be scared to bail out. might’ve saved jarbridge her legs. i’ll be here, okay? comm’s on. you’ve got your specs. call me beep me, whatever.”

succubus lifted a hand, reflexively tracing the frames that rested across the bridge of her nose.

“… good luck.”

seraphim had one hand on the top of the holster strapped across her thigh, the other on virgil’s base. he rested easily across the width of her shoulders. she knew where the grooves were to keep the barbs from digging into her work jacket (although a few still did anyway). succubus realized the weird straps of leather stretching across seraphim’s back were just another holster as she took one more swing, then popped the back into the curved sockets. “we won’t let you down, em. rae—stay at my shoulder.”

but she waited until they were a ways down, making their own path through the sand before she kept going: “—but when i say get behind me, get behind me.”

succubus frowned. “what, you think i can’t handle it?”

“rae—“

“no, no, please, enlighten me.” they didn’t stop walking. their path started to descend down, and succubus could see the rocky edge they’d have to hike over to get to the triangle marked on tahoe’s map. she wondered if it’d be like the monster movies she’d watched as a kid; would there be a cave? a dark, yawning maw on a hillside, looking like it’s full of nothing but pitch, like how sophie walked into the cavern in howl’s moving castle?

seraphim didn’t answer immediately, but then: “this is our first time. not to make this sound all euphemistic and shit, but i’d prefer if you didn’t, i don’t know, get a part of your neck bitten out, get your bones broken—y’know. work stuff.”

succubus blew out a breath. “right. … right. i, uh. i’m—“

“don’t.” seraphim smiled. succubus realized how easy it looked, sliding onto her countenance.

it didn’t make sense.

she’d seen this same woman look absolutely haunted when she thought no one was looking.

“i’m here to act as guardian angel. this is a part of your training.” and softer: “… and mine, too.”

“hmm?”

“nothin’. just stay close, okay?”

“‘kay.”

  *    *     *

the rest of the walk was fairly quietly. seraphim kept singing under her breath, but succubus couldn’t make out anything familiar.  she thought she heard something like “it’s rainin’ tacos…”

they came up on top of the ridge, and succubus squinted, staring down. it was a sheer drop, and while it wasn’t like they were on top of the grand canyon, she was pretty sure a fall from this height could kill someone. or at least make sure they never walked again. seraphim whistled lowly, motioning off to the left. “looks like there’s a path that goes down.” her voice was soft, but solid. “if i had to guess, we’re probably standing on top of this thing’s house. ten bucks says there’s a cave or something similar down there.”

“deal.”

and as it turned out, there was a cave.

well—‘cave’ might’ve been too kind of a descriptor.

to seraphim it looked more like a giant had straight up just clawed a huge whole into the side of the rock. the entrance was marked by sharpened, jagged stones that looked too much like teeth for her liking.

they approached painfully slowly. as soon as the ground had evened out, seraphim had drawn her pistol, and succubus mimicked the movement. but there was no sound, nothing, save for the wind whistling over the ridge.

“look like about how you expected?”

“with a bit more cacti, yeah. and the police cruiser is a surprise.”

the saguaro looked like they belonged there, but that car did not. seraphim wondered if it was the same one she’d seen in the photo lilith had shown her, but this one had definitely been through the wringer.

all the windows had been shattered. the sun caught the shards of glass that surrounded it, making it look like someone had spilled stars onto the sand. it was covered in dents, the place where the engine was had been hit downward (whatever engine there had been was now probably less engine and more just… car parts scattered underneath the cruiser), but what caught her eye the most was a set of six long lines dug along the length of one side.

claw marks? teeth marks? it was anyone’s guess.

—oh. and we’re about to find out.

succubus suppressed a shiver underneath a full sun. “what do we do?” she whispered. she could see seraphim’s jaw working, brows furrowed.

“should’ve brought a grenade…” a short sigh. “well, too late now, and this isn’t exactly joe’s last d and d campaign. i don’t think charging in there is a good idea. we have no idea of the layout, and ‘strength in numbers’ doesn’t apply to every situation, especially not ones like this.” she lifted a hand and ran it along her chin. “… okay. okay. i have an idea.”

“what’s the idea?”

“you go wait by the cruiser. i’m gonna whistle and try to draw it out.”

“… are you being serious?”

seraphim grinned and it looked borderline maniacal. “sure am. something tells me it might have a weakness to sunlight, hence why we only see it at night. if it is demonic, like lilith thinks, i’ll be able to bind it. and if it’s undead—also like lilith thinks—then you’ll just dispatch it.” she nodded to the handgun at succubus’s hip. “those bullets are holy. should do the trick. now get over there. i’m going to see if i can pull off a tom and jerry, get the jump on it from behind if we can just lure it out.”

so. succubus found herself on her knees behind the front part of the cruiser, sheltering behind the busted metal. she watched as seraphim had walked a far, wide circle, coming back to the ridge face and slowly edging her way along the rock, her spine pressed as flat against the stone as it would go. virgil, abandoned for the moment to make space, leaned against the rock some ways away. succubus was already regretting that decision.

it felt like ages passed as she side-stepped. side-stepped. side-stepped. side-stepped again.

until finally seraphim was close to the cave’s mouth. but she didn’t draw her gun again, like succubus had expected. it stayed holstered alongside her thigh. but she did roll up her sleeves to reveal—were those tattoos? where had those come from? succubus couldn’t remember seeing them before. had she found time to mark herself somehow?

but she didn’t have enough time to ponder. because seraphim met her eyes, nodded once, and turned her neck.

there it came, a whistle, low, long and, succubus reasoned if she could hear it from all the way behind the police car, loud. seraphim abruptly jerked back, flattening herself again. her palm spread wide against the stone, trying to feel the vibrations of movement, the vibrations of anything.

but an entire minute passed. then two. then five.

seraphim blew some air into her cheeks, and with trembling legs, finally began walking back towards the car. “look, rae, i think maybe the recon team got the wr—“

it came so quickly that seraphim immediately collapsed to her knees. it was a high-pitched banshee wail of a shriek, so cacophonous and blaring that even when succubus jammed the heels of her hands over the shell curves of her ears it did nothing to soften the sound. she screwed her eyes shut, and just as abruptly as it started, it was done. when she opened them, trying to remember how to breathe, how inhaling and exhaling felt, seraphim had collapsed onto her rear on the other end of the cruiser.

succubus swallowed. “what. the fuck. was that.” her voice was quiet. a jet plane would have been quiet in comparison to what they’d just heard.

seraphim had no color in her face and couldn’t immediately answer. “… okay. that’s uh. probably the target. i apologize, i completely gave in to the monkey brain flight-or-fight response there and didn’t pick the right one.”

“i don’t know if i necessarily agree.” they stared at each other for a few beats of silence. both were afraid to move. it wasn’t something either of them were trying to hide that moment. “—what do we do now?”

seraphim took a breath, her mouth moving to answer, but was interrupted by—succubus didn’t know how to describe it, not straight away. it had different parts, all moving and all happening so close together it was hard to pick them apart. the whoosh of air, the clean cut of metal on metal, that short of shink noise that a knife made up against a whetstone. succubus blinked.

she thought she’d seen sparks between them.

literal sparks, as if the side of the car had been hit with something.

her mind was trying to catch up.

… are those claws?

the fingertips—nails, talons, claws, all of them—of a hand (‘hand’ was a generous descriptor in this instance) were sticking out of the side of the car. not opening the door. they were sticking out having gone through the outer frame of the cruiser.

tap. … tap tap.

succubus was going to be sick.

taptaptaptaptaptaptap—

seraphim abruptly fell backwards as the half of the car she’d been leaning against was wrenched back, and she found herself staring upwards, right into the face of the monster of the photograph.

“jesus christ you are so much uglier up close.”

“morgan for fuck’s sake—!“

succubus was reaching, grabbing, trying to grasp her pant leg, something as this thing let out another scream. it threw the chunk of cruiser down where seraphim had been lying in partial shock just seconds earlier. the crash was deafening and before seraphim quite knew what was happening, she was sprinting across the sand with her elbow in a grip that was almost bone-crushing.

“run!”

it didn’t matter that they were armed. it was too close too fast. there was no time. no space. it was on them like–what was it poltergeist had liked to say? white on rice.

that thing didn’t have to make a noise, they could both hear the hoofbeats behind them, could see the too-long, too-prickled shadow catching up to overtake theirs on the desert ground.

“what the fuck! what the fuck! shit!” succubus wasn’t leading them back to tahoe, then there’d be three dead agents instead of just two, and she absolutely believed that there was for sure going to be two.

“—i have another idea!”

“oh fucking great!”

“no no no, this one’ll work i’m positive!”

“isn’t that what you said last time?!”

“if you remember correctly, i said no such thing! trust me, old school always works! let me go on three, okay? one—three!”

succubus hadn’t planned on turning around, but then the—demon? zombie? old forgotten demigod or someone’s bastard offspring? who knew?—started to make a new sound. she ran until its shadow wasn’t touching anything in her sight, ending up back against the ridge. only then did she turn.

… wow.

what she hadn’t seen was seraphim pulling off what she’d honestly considered a hail mary.

they couldn’t outrun it. in the time it would take them to draw their guns, it probably would’ve sliced them open at the elbows. and as any necromancer, or exorcist, or witch, or sorcerer can tell you: it’s very, very difficult to concentrate enough to do anything, let alone put up a decent defense or guard, when you’re actively being chased and doing the opposite of gaining ground.

not for seraphim, anyway.

not yet.

as soon as succubus’s grip released from her arm with a push, seraphim dropped like dead weight onto her back and prayed—prayed very, very hard, and focused, just like she’d been taught.

she forced her elbows to meet, right up to her wrists, as she was very, very narrowly missed being stepped on (which would’ve been lethal—apparently she’d missed the velociraptor feet the first go-around). and as she did so, the marks on her arms made a shape—a circle, decorated with smaller symbols, around and around and around…

a seal.

“a capite ad calcem.”

from head to heel.

freeze, motherfucker.

succubus turned in time to see the target upheld over seraphim, who was flat on her spine against the dirt, directly underneath it. it almost looked like it was being suspended by the thinnest strands of razor wire—succubus kept catching glints as it thrashed, and something black began to ooze out of it.

seraphim had some drip right onto her flushed cheeks, struggling a bit to keep the seal intact.

succubus began to understand why poltergeist had brought her up so often. for a beat, she could only stare.

and with a bit of surprise, she realized she didn’t feel envy, or any kind of spite—because that’s just what adam would have wanted, isn’t it? to break a thing before it got a chance to breathe?—she felt awe.

she felt pride.

which quickly melted into panic as soon as seraphim’s voice cut through her haze, upped a pitch in the chaos. “rae? buddy? a little help? this dude’s—oh shit, no you do not, asshole mcgee—just a smidge stronger than i first thought. show me what you’ve got! deport this fucker!”

every line blazed into a brightness that hurt her to look at for too long, and it suddenly all snapped into place. every single thing poltergeist had taught her, flooding back. perhaps her learning retention was better than she thought.

as another of the monster’s cries echoed against the ridge wall—this one perhaps a bit more pain than rage—she ran closer.

those were petrov lines—which meant that was an azrael seal. azrael was an archangel who had special dominion over retribution; his marks (and succubus understood that oh, those are what seraphim had on her arms, i just couldn’t recognize them in broken pieces—) aided in trapping demonic entities that had manifested onto the physical plane. this was one of the first seals that seraphim had been taught, and for good reason.

okay. so a demon.

but petrov lines, those only appeared for beings that were demonic just in part. something that came from some of the in-between worlds, an underworld that was a hell but not a hell.

something that succubus merely recognized as undead.

fuck, it’s both.

but succubus suddenly felt a surge of confidence at the light of the lines, and she lifted her hands, gun forgotten, darkness already beginning to twine out from her elbows, down to her wrists. she stalked, predatory, and seraphim tried to both watch her partner and keep this thing under control.

she may not have seen succubus’s hand motions, the intricate movements of her fingers in rapid succession followed by a definitive slicing motion.

but she heard her, speaking in the same tongue she had.

“ad initium—asshole!”

seraphim watched as cords of black intertwined with the lightlines, and kept watching as they found the creature’s neck.

it was both forces together that bore themselves down and quite literally razored the being into little chunks. no more black fell on seraphim’s face. it simply dissipated, as if it had turned to ash.

what was it that lilith had said?

walking different sides of the same road.

it took about a minute for it to disappear completely, and when it did, for about as long, neither agent moved. seraphim was exhausted. muscle fatigue manifested as tremors in her arms. she stared up at an empty sky as succubus slowly walked towards her, finally kneeling down by her side.

“… you good?”

“… yeah. you good?”

“yeah.”

“groovy.”

seraphim closed her eyes. she could’ve fallen asleep if she hadn’t started to hear distant yelling: “oh my god what did you two DO?!” tahoe was scrambling down towards them, yelling, looking equal parts horrified and elated. “i heard—oh my god, i—morgan, rae, you’re alive, you’re both alive, hallelujah, and no bones! morgan, what the fuck is all over your face? whose blood is that? is that blood? holy shit i can’t believe you—woah woah!” she caught succubus as she flopped off to the one side, threatening to collapse. “rae. rae, stay away. morgan. … morgan!”

she slapped the exorcist on the bicep, and the exorcist in question swore but in a much more whiney tone than she’d originally meant, to which tahoe just quipped: “oh walk it off you big baby. we’ll have a beta team come out and cleanse this area, it’s still tainted, which means if you’re gonna faint, you can’t do it here. c’mon now, up we go—“

succubus, as a newer recruit, had the luxury of tahoe’s arm around her waist, helping her to stagger to her feet. seraphim had a few false starts before she managed to first roll up onto her knees, then finally, to stand. her first few steps were shaky. but she shook her head, blinked a few times, and glanced over at succubus and tahoe walking back towards the car.

and they grew steadier, as she went.

around thirty minutes later, time found them all sitting at the bar of a classic, neon-tinged greasy spoon diner, complete with black-and-white checkered floors and a jukebox in the corner that apparently knew three songs: rocketman, dancing queen, and under pressure.

not a bad mix, honestly.

“ladies!” tahoe was the first to lift her shot glass. the three of them swirled with some cheap well tequila, given a pink sheen from the lights. “what do we want to toast to?”

“… uhm.” seraphim mumbled, staring at her glass. “weee… should toast toooo…”

“… new friendships?” succubus had spoken so softly that at first, seraphim wasn’t sure she’d heard her. but once she understood, she grinned, broadly.

“to new friendships—and to the first of many victories.” succubus smiled back at her. … i think i could really like it here.

“cheers!”

their glasses clinked to the tune of sir elton john, crooning softly: “and i think it’s gonna be a long long time… and i think it’s gonna be a long long time…”

[rosesfromcth]

let’s talk about mornings with bestfriend/roommate cal! both of you sitting on the couch half awake with bed head and puffy eyes and you’re watching cartoons and drinking coffee and like ugh just being soft with him and being best friends ?? and I DONT KNOW WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THIS

Picturing soft, messy haired Cal. Super cuddly, super puppy dog eyed, just melt my heart. I want a lazy morning with Calum. I had originally planned that this wasn’t going anywhere romantic,,, but uh,,, it did. I ain;t even mad about it. I hope you like it.I am sorry it took me so long get this done because I aint shit. really though I wrote like half of it, steppe away and then when I came back I couldn’t remember where I was going or how I was gonna get there and It took so long to get my mojo back so uh. anywhore

 “Y/N!” You’re woken by your best friend’s loud voice which you ignore. He is standing over you, blocking all sunlight from your window. You open one eyelid, halfway and look at him before turning on your other side.

“G’away,” You mumble. That is when he chose to start poking you. Not an unusual occurrence in your two bedroom apartment you share with the dark haired boy. It was enough to let you know it would be one of those mornings for Calum.

‘C’mon, Y/N! It’s 9am! Get up, get up, get up!” The tall boy flops down on the bed next to you which forces you to move so there’s room for his large body.

Maybe it wasn’t one of those mornings. His poking had stopped. You jinxed it, though, by thinking that. When you didn’t make anymoves to get up out of your nice, warm and loving bed, Calum tackled you. He literally flipped from his back to his stomach, landing on top of your sleepy body.

“Get off, fatty.” You tell him. His hands found the sides of your stomach and did the tasering thing that all ten year olds do. You let out an involuntary squeal. The squeal turns into fits of laughter. It isn’t that you aren’t annoyed. Because you are, all you want is to sleep in past ten on a Saturday. You don’t think that’s too much to ask. But it’s hard to resist laughing as he tickled your stomach. You tried to push him off, but one, he’s too heavy and three, he is a lot stronger than you especially when you’re so ticklish.

Finally, he grew tired of the game, but instead of rolling off of you, he just settles himself down on your body, letting his weight sink down on you.

“Lazy morning routine?” He asks as he picks at a few strands of your hair and attempts to braid it. He quickly grows tired of this, too.

Lazy morning routine was something the two of you had developed when you were growing up over many sleepovers. You would also eat themost sugary cereal you could find and watch cartoons. Of course, this had been adapted through the years to fit you as you grew.

He jumps out of your bed before you even get the chance to respond.

“I’ll get the coffee and cereal if you grab all the blanketsand pillows. Meet you at the couch in ten! Don’t forget the newspaper.” He commands. When you were little you would make forts and read the comics, too.Now that was too much work for a lazy morning, so you made a nest on the floor instead now. Along with comics you would take turns finding headlines and making up ridiculous stories behind them.

You force yourself out of bed and stand up. Slowly, you pull the sheets of your bed up so they lie neatly on top of the mattress. After fluffing the pillows, you walk to the closet where you grab a pair of sweatpants and slip them on over your bare legs. You take your time grabbing the spare blankets off of the top shelf of your closet. Really, you guys should keep them in Calum’s closet and make him get them down. Every time you have to grab them you have to grab a step stool, it’s a whole production.  But you finally get them down and walk to the living room with them stacked nicely in a laundry basket. You set them down and then head back to your room where you grab a bunch of pillows to cuddle on.

It takes Calum a little bit longer to get breakfast ready than usual. But by the time you’ve finished setting up the tent, he has it sitting on a tray in front of you. You laugh and grab your bowl of cocoa puffs. before looking at his bowl. He has concocted a mixture of lucky charms, rice krispies and reese’s puffs. You feel yourself throw up in your mouth a little. He always makes the weirdest combinations. But the weirdest part of his breakfast this morning is that he poured strawberry milk over his cereal. Blech.

“I can’t believe you eat that.” You state as you dig into your bowl of chocolatey goodness.

“At least I’m not sticking with the same old boring thing.” Calum teases you.

The morning passes and soon its late afternoon. The two of you have yet to move from your spots in your fort.  Both of you are seated on opposite sides of the couch, with your feet laying on each other’s chest.

You love days like this, they were something you craved when he was gone. It is your favorite part of your friendship with Calum.

Your day has been filled with giggles and sillyconversations about nothing and everything. You love just sitting around with your favorite boys and doing nothing.  Duke is curled up between you on the couch, every once and a while he’ll move up towards your chest and give a little jump before barking for attention Once he feels satisfied, he’ll go back and lay byyour legs and Calum’s waist.

“What are you thinking about?” Calum asks you as you guys lay there in silence watching Tom and Jerry.

You don’t respond at first. Really, you’re just thinking about how much you love days like this. It’s three pm and you guys are still inpajamas and you haven’t left your apartment all day. You were also a bit sad because soon, he would be leaving for tur and you’d be alone in this large apartment. It would feel lonely and empty, even though you still had duke and you knew you’d get to fly out once to visit the boys. But instead of telling him how this all made you sad, you looked over at him, shifting your body so you were able to get a better view of him.

“Nothing much, squish. How about you?” you respond finally.

He looks at you for moment and you can tell he’s trying to break down what’s actually going on in your mind so you shoot him a smile. His stare on you lingers for a few minutes and your eyes lock with his. His pretty brown eyes. You’ve always liked his eyes, you found them comforting. They were often times stormy and hard for other people to read but you always noticed a softness to them. One that only came out when he was with you, the boys or hisfamily. Your gaze shifts over his face, his squishy little cheeks, and his thick eyebrows but in the end your eyes settle on his mouth. The smile you love and is surprisingly plump lips. You find yourself wondering, what it would be like to kiss them. Would they be soft and warm? Or would it be gross? You’d been friends with him for so long and never really thought about him in that way. But now as it popped into your head, you couldn’t remove the thoughts that wandered in and out.

Calum Hood was attractive. He had always been, but puberty had hit him like an MF truck and now, he was beautiful.  You couldn’t deny you’d always found him to be rather good looking, but never once had you thought about what it would be like to kiss him or to touch him.  People always asked when the two of you were going to get together but that was the extent of your thoughts on the matter.

“Seriously bub, what’s the matter.” His forehead creased in worry and your thoughts went wild. You went from wondering what it would belike to touch him to wanting to kiss his worries away and smooth his worry lines away.

Did you, did you like Calum? You were blown away by the thoughts that kept entering your mind. The only way to put them to rest though would be to test it out. AS quickly as it came on, you knew it was the only option you had for putting it behind you. Besides if it didn’t go well the worst that could happen was it was an awkward thing that you left in the past.

“Honestly. This is going to sound weird.” You start. “I’m wondering what it would be like to kiss you.”

“Oh.” You can tell he’s startled. You worry as you sit there waiting for a response. Maybe you didn’t think this through as much as you should’ve. You have always had the tendency to dive in head first without thinking it through.

“So kiss me then.” He spoke up.

“Wait, really?’ Shock was evident in your tone.

“Only one way to find out.” He said as he sat up. You matched his actions. All of a sudden you’re nervous.How do you do this? How do you kiss your best friend?

Calum sat there waiting for you to do something. Truth is, he has always wanted to kiss you. He has MEGA feelings for you. But he never thought you liked him that way. Maybe you don’t but he wasn’t passing up the opportunity, especially if it might never come around again. He could feel his palms start to sweat. He was getting scared you had changed your mind. The air surrounding you was thick, and he couldn’t handle the tension. Everythingbetween the two of you had always been easy.

Fuck it. He closes the gap between the two of you, placing one hand under your chin to tilt your head up to his and placing the other behind your head, wrapping his fingers instrands of your soft hair. He hesitate for the briefest moment, less than half a second, before taking the plunge and placing his lips on yours.

It’s soft. Your lips are warm against his. Your lips play against his, neither of you really taking the lead. You work in motion with him to create something so familiar and kind, loving and warm. It feels natural to be kissing each other and like something you’d been doing your whole life. It also felt new and exciting, there was, as cheesy as it sounds, a sort of sparkto it that you’d never felt before. You loved the way his lips felt on yours.

Neither of you wants to be the one to pull away, so it’s very slow when whoever pulls away does so. Your foreheads rest against each other’s and your noses are touching. You can tell by the look in Calum’s eyes that he is feeling what you feel as well.

Shit, you’re in love with your best friend.

[caffeine-catastrophe]

Go the Distance! CH. 2!

click here for chapter one!

A/N: Thank you so much for such a positive response to the first chapter! It made my day to see all the reviews. Please keep them up :) There were a few questions about what a grant is, and some confusion over the general plot of this story, so I will do my best to give y'all some context. The rest will be revealed later on in the story, I promise.

A grant is defined as "a sum of money given by a government or other organization for a particular purpose. ie: a research grant". The one mentioned in this story is being offered for the sole purpose of giving young people a chance to pursue their dreams and aspirations, without having to kill themselves working three jobs like the rest of us do in real life.

Some other things: the gang is about the same age, a year or two out of high school (in my mind, L is 19 - coincidentally the legal drinking age where I live - N is 20, and G and E are 21 ish). None of them are in college at the moment, because student loans mean interest and none of them really want to (or are able to) deal with the future repercussions of that. Their individual career paths and aspirations will be discussed further into the story.

I hope you like the second chapter! The next one is already done, so I'm going to finish the one after that before I publish it!

Go the Distance

Three days, four million dollars, and a cross-country road trip that will change their lives for good. OR: The Dreyar Grant for Brighter Futures is a prestigious scholarship granted to only the most deserving of candidates, but even miracles don't come without a price.

---

... And a thousand years would be worth the wait It might take a lifetime, but somehow I'll see it through...

"Thank you all for coming," Ms. Strauss begins cheerfully, seating herself at one end of the large conference table situated in the centre of the room. She gestures for the four trailing awkwardly behind her to take a seat on either side of her. Lucy finds it increasingly hard to concentrate as Ms. Strauss begins to brief them on the legalities of the grant. She hands her the envelope containing her high school transcript and photocopied version of her passport, and watches in a zombified stupor as the others do the same. "I'll send these to HQ in Crocus to double check your eligibility, but for now I'm going to assume you're all wonderful people and take your word for it," Mirajane continues in a humoured tone that does nothing to relieve the tension in the air.

"Now tell me, what do you four know about Mr. Dreyar?" Ms. Strauss asks. "I assume you all did your research," she continues, raising an amused eyebrow. Lucy can't help but think this is some kind of test. She exchanges a quick glance with the rest of her companions, each shifting uneasily in their seats. Erza seems to have disappeared into her hair again; even Natsu is looking a little bit less confident about 'having this'. Lucy waits for one of the other three to speak up, before looking nervously back at Ms. Strauss, who – Lucy notices with a jolt – is looking directly at her.

"Ms. Heartfilia? You seem like you might have something to say," Ms. Strauss says with an encouraging smile. Lucy bites her lip. She always was terrible at public speaking. You're a high school graduate with a theatre diploma and English honours, Lucy. Get it together.

"Mr. Dreyar is a so-called legendary business mogul worth approximately 64 billion dollars," Lucy begins slowly, glancing quickly at Ms. Strauss for confirmation. The woman gives her a small smile and Lucy continues, "He was an Ivy League student that originally wanted to be in law, but after a few years of schooling he had a change of heart. He dropped out to pursue a degree in business, and by the time he graduated he had sold two successful companies and had a net worth of 1.2 million dollars."

"Very good, Lucy," Ms. Strauss says, smiling. "Anyone else?" She looks over at Gray, who clears his throat reluctantly. "He never married but has taken in many apprentices over the years and treats them like they are his blood. He acts like a sponsor to ensure they become successful, and then takes a small percentage of their annual income once a year until he has been paid back."

"Not only that, but now that all of his so-called children have grown up and are able to stand on their own, rumour has it that he's looking for a new group of young people to mentor," Natsu jumps in enthusiastically, nudging Erza beside him, who rolls her eyes good-naturedly.

"Rumour has it, that's us," she finishes quietly in a voice that's tinged with equal parts exasperation and excitement.

"Rumour has it, indeed," Ms. Strauss responds vaguely, eyes roving over the group in what almost seems like approval. "Now, on to business," she says abruptly, disturbing the air of quiet anticipation that has settled over the four young adults. "Mr. Dreyar, while a brilliant man, can be quite… eccentric. Rather than handing the grant over to you at this moment, he has insisted that the four of you join him in Crocus in three days' time so that he can assess your eligibility in person. This means the four of you will have to acquire your own methods of transportation and lodging, should you choose not to travel there via aeroplane. Hotel rooms will be provided for you once you arrive, of course. He has written you into his schedule this Thursday at noon. Any questions?"

When Ms. Strauss finishes speaking, the only sounds in the room are the quiet ticking of an analog clock by the door and the muffled din of traffic outside.

---

The group is silent as they file out of the room en route to the elevators. They stand awkwardly as they wait for the car, each lost in thought. Erza is tugging on her hair again while Gray and Natsu furrow their brows in the same tense expression, which Lucy might've found amusing if she didn't also find herself so unbelievably screwed. No one says a word until the elevator doors open with a soft ding and close behind them with another muffled thump.

"So, we're pretty much screwed," Natsu echoes Lucy's thoughts, ever the spokesperson. "Flying expensive, and I don't know about you guys, but the reason I applied for this scholarship is that I couldn't afford to splurge on a plane ticket if I wanted to."

"Yup," Gray lets out stiffly, exchanging a loaded glance with Erza that Lucy can't quite decipher.

"However," Natsu continues, "I've driven down to Crocus a few times for soccer games in the past, and I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind us borrowing his van since there's a chance we'd be coming back with a total of four million freaking dollars." He sends a silly look in Lucy's direction, reflected in the polished gold of the elevator still counting down from 14, and she lets out a tense laugh. She takes a deep breath, feeling the tension of the group lift for a brief moment. "If you guys are okay with chipping in for gas money and splitting the cost of a few nights in a hotel, we could spend the next few days driving down to Crocus in time for the meeting," Natsu suggests, raising his eyebrows at the other three expectantly. There's a pause, and then Gray breathes a sigh of relief.

"I mean, that's actually a pretty good idea. I've got my license too, so I could take turns driving if you'd like," Gray offers.

"Same here," Lucy chimes in, and Erza nods in agreement.

"Does that mean you're in?" Natsu asks eagerly, turning to Lucy, who turns to Erza. The two exchange a look, raising hesitant eyebrows as if to reassure each other that going on a spontaneous road trip with two strange guys won't end with getting themselves killed. Girls need to stick together, after all. Then again, Lucy's been through worse and while Erza may look demure, she also seems like the type of person to kill someone in their sleep. Lucy sets her jaw determinedly and gives Erza a little wink. The other girl smiles nervously in response. The world spins a little as the elevator settles, and when the doors finally open with another soft ding, Lucy turns back to Natsu with a grin.

"We're in."

---

"This one's a little more out of the way, but it's a lot cheaper," Gray suggests an hour later. The group of four have made their way over to a café down the block in order to iron out their plans for the weekend. Lucky for them, Natsu had his laptop in his dad's car that's parked across the street, and they've all crowded around the small table in the corner of the shop, each trying to get a better look at the screen.

"Is it going to be safe, though?" Lucy asks concernedly from behind him. "Family-owned inns usually have lower budget security systems, if you know what I mean."

"Nah, it looks fine," Natsu reassures her, reaching over Erza's plate of strawberry shortcake to pull the laptop closer to him. "It's got a ton of reviews, and all of them say it's clean and relatively safe, see?" he says, pulling it up on the screen for her to check.

"We'll go with that one in Acalypha, then," Erza says resolutely, jotting down the phone number and address in the little notebook Lucy had stashed in her purse at the meeting.

"I can call them later tonight when I call the place in Hargeon to book the rooms," Gray suggests, taking a picture of the page with his phone.

"We did it!" Lucy cheers, flipping back to add it to the PowerPoint Natsu and Gray insisted they create in honour of their 'Road Trip'. Boys. "Looks like we've got it all sorted out then! Where and when do you guys want to meet tomorrow?" she asks, leaning back and nudging the laptop closer to Natsu, who's straining to get a better look over Gray's head.

"I can pick everyone up in the morning," Natsu offers, grinning at her in thanks, and her heart stutters at the easy way he leans across her lap to save the document and shut down his laptop.

"Around 10, then?" Erza suggests, chewing savagely as she stuffs the rest of cake in her mouth. Lucy is kind of surprised at how passionate Erza is about dessert. Never mind how gentle she usually is, she nearly tore off Gray's arm when he came close to knocking it off the table while scuffling with Natsu over the PowerPoint font.

The group confirms the time, each pulling out their phones to add each other on social media. The boys create a group chat with a reminder for their plan tomorrow, aptly naming it 'The Four Million Dollar Road Trip'. Erza and Gray live in the same direction, so they quickly gather their things and head to the train together, casting apprehensive glances at the overcast sky. Apparently, Gray is a last-minute packer and Erza admits to being that chick that brings four suitcases in the name of being 'prepared'. They need all the time they can get.

Natsu and Lucy, on the other hand, take their time packing up. Lucy is organized to a fault and Natsu doesn't seem to be too concerned about getting home right away, so they fill the café with their chatter until they forget that the sunshine surrounding them isn't coming in through the window. When it starts to get dark outside, the conversation turns to their homes and families. They are surprised to discover that they live in the same neighbourhood; his building is just down the block from hers. She learns his sister Wendy takes dance classes and sings off-key in the shower, and in turn she tells him all about her golden retriever, Plue, who used to follow her to school every day in the third grade.

By the time they are ready to leave, the rain has started and the lightning makes the sky look like it may have cracked open in the downpour. And if Natsu is pleased to hear that Lucy has forgotten her umbrella and may need to join him for the car ride home, well, he doesn't say a thing.

---

I based Makarov's backstory on Mark Zuckerberg lmao. He's a controversial person, for sure, but useful when it comes to needing rich entrepreneur character backgrounds.

Comments? Questions? Reactions? Drop me a review!

See y'all soon!