#(clearly distracted by that pretty face smh)

[bisexualchaosdemon]

I honestly can't believe that Neil was ballsy enough to try to act like he had done all that running within the US when the guy knew he spoke French AND German. And Andrew just never questioned this????

[woodlaflababab]

Rewatched the Jet episode and omg why do people not talk about jetaang more. Aang was clearly just as enamoured by Jet as Katara was. He's right there alongside Katara defending Jat's every move and finding everything he does to be the Coolest Thing Ever.

I mean, he even refuses to hurt Jet even tho Jet's literally trying to destroy a town and, keep in mind, just one episode before, Aang launched a man through a wooden railing for daring to hurt Sokka, so like, he totally could have wiped Jet out if he wanted, but he's all like "Im not gonna fight you Jet D:", like, Aang, people's lives are a stake, don't get distracted by a pretty face smh

[sachigram]

hi it’s me scrambled (=´∀｀) I think a one shot about highschool Shizuo and Izaya dealing with homophobia would be really interesting (saw it an ask on glaces blog abt it) and I can’t stop thinking abt it, sounds really interesting and kinda angsty (please don’t kill anyone,,,smh,,) but still sounds good! You’re amazing I stan you too hard I love your writing and I love everything about it <3

((Thank you! <3 So you...want me to write about someone with a death wish???? You want me to write someone being an ass to Shizuo AND Izaya? Ooh boy.))

Everyone at school knows about Shizuo and Izaya. They're kind of infamous, especially with the way Izaya spreads rumors around. At first, they just fought all the time, but most of the time they could wait until they were out of school to come to blows. Usually, they wound up being caught by Simon and then dragged into Russia Sushi for the remainder of the afternoon. Izaya would make scathing comments in Russian, and then Shizuo would launch at him, and then Simon would say something like, “Izaya only say he wants pickled radish! Why so mad, ShiZUo?”

To this day, Shizuo doesn't really understand what changed between them. He thinks maybe he caught Izaya, and Izaya kissed him out of desperation. Or maybe Shizuo kissed Izaya first. Once their lips met the first time, it didn't really matter who kissed who. They just kept kissing, and Shizuo thinks it's much better than fighting with Izaya all the time, though they do still fight pretty often.

Being in a sort of relationship with Izaya has many perks, actually, one of which being Izaya can help with homework. Sometimes Izaya is a real dick about it and he gets off on watching Shizuo struggle, but other times, like today, he's informative and indulgent. He's winding his fingers through Shizuo's hair while chattering away about some mistake Shizuo made on the English homework, and Shizuo is struggling to listen to what he's saying.

They're on their lunch break. They always meet on the roof, and sometimes Shinra and Kadota will come too, but today is one of those days where it's just Shizuo and Izaya, and Izaya is being touchy, and Shizuo forgets all about the past, present, and future tense on his worksheet.

“Are you listening?” Izaya asks. “You're going to fail.”

“Shut up,” Shizuo says. He presses his face into Izaya's neck and breathes him in, his hands going to Izaya's back. “You're distracting me.”

“Don't blame me for your short attention span.” Izaya sounds gleeful, and knowing him, he's distracting Shizuo on purpose. He'd laugh for hours if Shizuo failed his class.

There's no one else around, and it really wouldn't matter if there were. Even the teachers will struggle to separate the two of them when they argue in the hallways and inevitably end up making out violently.

“I don't think I'm gonna get it even if you keep talking about it,” Shizuo says into Izaya's neck. He lifts his head. “There's better things we could do.”

“You could eat your lunch,” Izaya says, but he's smirking in that way of his. Shizuo used to want to punch it off Izaya's face, but now he likes to kiss it.

“Nah, I wanna eat you,” Shizuo says, and he pulls Izaya's lips to his. Kissing Izaya is one of Shizuo's favorite things to do. It shuts Izaya up, and it always becomes a challenge to get Izaya so worked up that he becomes compliant. It doesn't usually take too long, but Shizuo refrains from getting handsy since they're at school. His parents have been indulgent about the whole Izaya thing, but Shizuo thinks it's because they'd rather Shizuo be fucking Izaya than actively trying to kill him.

He nips at Izaya's tongue, and Izaya shivers before crawling forward and straddling Shizuo's lap. This is dangerous— If they get too worked up, Shizuo doesn't think they'll be able to stop. Still, Izaya is persuasive, and he's tugging at Shizuo's hair, and then...

There's some annoying noise that's not either of them.

Shizuo growls and pulls away from Izaya, who turns and raises an eyebrow. Shizuo follows his line of sight and observes some guy he's never seen before.

“Takeda-san,” Izaya says smoothly, like he's not hard in Shizuo's lap. “Did you need something?”

“Who the fuck are you?” Shizuo asks, already pissed they were interrupted.

“He just transferred to my class,” Izaya says, and Shizuo grumbles.

“Uh, yeah, I was coming to ask you about homework. A girl in class said you'd be here with your...uh. Friend.” Takeda looks very uncomfortable, and Shizuo doesn't like the way he's looking at Izaya.

“Ah. I'll help you after break. I'm a little busy,” Izaya says.

“Is this like. Allowed?”

“Why are you still here?” Shizuo barks, and the guy narrows his eyes. It's been a long time since anyone at school glared at Shizuo like that. Most people are afraid of him, but Izaya just said Takeda is a transfer.

“What do you mean? Kissing? I don't suppose it's allowed, but no one is going to stop us,” Izaya says, and he grins at Shizuo playfully. Shizuo hugs him closer and noses against his cheek, growling impatiently. Izaya giggles.

“I'd just think you'd be a little careful, since it's... I mean, you're both guys,” Takeda says.

“So?” Izaya asks, and the look in his eyes changes. Shizuo recognizes it well. It means Izaya is about to make this kid's life hell.

“I'll just ask someone else for help. Sorry to interrupt your time with your boyfriend,” Takeda says, clearly not all that sorry.

“It's really no problem,” Izaya says. “I can—“

“No. I don't wanna talk to a queer.”

Izaya sighs, and Shizuo is up on his feet in an instant, carrying Izaya right along with him.

“Say that again,” he says, walking right up to the fucker. “I dare you.”

“Look, it's my first day. I'll just avoid you from now on,” Takeda huffs. He's looking Shizuo up and down as if he's trying to gauge how strong Shizuo is.

“No, you already opened your fucking mouth. So say it again.”

“Yes, Takeda-san, call me another slur. They really get me going,” Izaya purrs.

“It's just gross, okay? It's fucking gross, and you'd think the two of you wouldn't be in broad daylight sucking face like that. You should be ashamed,” Takeda says, and Shizuo clenches his hands into fists.

“Apologize to Izaya, or I'm gonna throw you off the roof.” Shizuo feels immense anger, but he also feels strangely calm. Usually when he loses his temper, he feels guilty about it because the other person might not deserve it. Now, Shizuo doesn't feel the least bit guilty.

“Fuck that, I'm not saying sorry to that—“

Shizuo punches him before he can continue. Takeda flies backward, but he's on his feet again fairly quick. He lunges at Shizuo, who punches him again, harder this time, and uses Takeda's dazed state to lift him by the back of the shirt and carry him to the corner of the roof.

“Dangle him upside-down,” Izaya says, and Shizuo gives him a look.

“Why?”

“Why not?” Izaya shrugs.

“Oh, good point.”

By the time a teacher makes it to the roof, Takeda is crying in fear, all the blood rushed to his head, and Shizuo is holding him by one ankle, threatening loudly to let him fall.

Shizuo avoids suspension when Izaya explains what happened, though he's still in trouble, and his parents don't seem pleased with him. He honestly doesn't care though. He never really considered people like that before, someone having a problem with Shizuo kissing Izaya just because they're both guys. It seems so trivial.

“Most people aren't like you,” Izaya says when Shizuo mentions it. They’re exiting the school together, hand in hand. “They aren't scary and strong. They get bullied.”

“Do you get bullied when I'm not around?” Shizuo asks.

“No. I have a reputation on my own.” Izaya turns and grins at Shizuo. “You protected my honor today, Shizu-chan. Heiwajima Shizuo, defender of gay rights!” Izaya shouts it right in the middle of the sidewalk, and other people turn to stare at them.

“Shut up!” Shizuo huffs, swiping for him. Of course, Izaya dodges him.

“No cops at Pride, only Shizu-chan!” Izaya sings, dancing around, and Shizuo grumbles before giving up and letting Izaya get whatever the fuck this is out of his system. It feels good to see him happy about something other than someone suffering.

“Want to come over?” Izaya asks after he finishes flailing around. “I'm sure you don't really want to go home right now.”

“Are your sisters home?” Shizuo asks warily. He likes the twins, but he doesn't like the way they keep pestering him for pictures of his brother.

“Nope. They have martial arts today,” Izaya says. He bats his eyelashes. “You have me all to yourself!”

“Lucky me,” Shizuo says, and though he means it sarcastically, it comes out sounding sincere.

[dcwnhardin]

dawn hardin. 40. he/him. district 7 the capitol. stylist to district 7.

just let me cry a little bit longer i ain't gonna smile if i don't want to hey, man, we all can't be like you i wish we were all rose-colored too my rose-colored boy

full bio / playlist / pinterest / skeleton

tldr: say hello to your new dad! adopted from seven by a famous capitol thruple when he was about six, this little child didn’t know how the hell to fit in right with the capitolites, but he sure did try his best! his parents’ grand plan was always for their bb boi to be a stylist so they forced that on him even tho he sucks at it. all he really wanted was to be able to choose his own path and find his own people, have a nice lil family. he fell in love w a lady named io, they planned to do just that, and ofc it got RIPPED AWAY, bye io, bye any chance at having kids. obviously that was devastating, but instead of being deep rested or bitter, he doubled down on caring as a radical act of defiance, really sees each and every tribute that comes thru seven as his kid, is there to be ur Stability through the hard times. he’s as ready as anyone to see the capitol get fucked for causing so much pain. but he still sucks at being a stylist sadly.

PLOT POINT VIBES

quell announcement

With the Quell announcement, he wasn’t actually afraid of being sent into the arena, even though it was clear that other people were afraid for him. He was more concerned about the large number of victors he cares for deeply, the very thought of any of them facing the same trauma again horrifying in a way he had never considered. He’s shaken, which is rare, was at some horrible party his parents were throwing for the announcement when it happened, and certainly left immediately to start trying to contact those he cares for, hoping to provide support, but also maybe in need of a little himself. He’s a bit of a mess, probably makes plans to head to Seven as soon as possible, wishing that he had a work-related excuse to make a stop in Two, before, but knowing that would be playing with fire at a time when caution was needed more than ever.

the reaping

The reaping itself was just as horrifying. Perhaps the first time he’s been glad to be stylist and not escort, for how terrible pulling those names from the bowl was to witness. It’s never easy, but this was a new brand of terrible. He was shocked to see Harbor chosen, reappearing alive, but clearly broken, and the image made him think of Io, wondering if she had had to endure the same, the pain even greater. He resolves to do everything he can to help, do more than what he can this year, if it stands a chance at stopping this madness. When it all goes to shit, he tries to stop both Blythe and Twig, but in the chaos it’s not possible, probably received some minor injuries himself trying to help but being a Capitol Weenie™. Lots of tears, lots of shouting, lots of feeling helpless and hating it, wanting desperately to stop the pain.

train hijacking

During the hijacking, Dawn was pretty much on make sure no one loses their mind duty. The big focus was of course on Seven, and not only trying to keep Blythe from literally killing anyone while injured, but also helping Twig look after Harbor. It’s a good distraction to keep from worrying himself sick over the people on the other train. There was a big amount of hopefulness that came with the rebel announcement, but it was cautious, because he’s seen first hand what the Capitol can do, and they all just got another taste of it with the reaping, so he maybe wasn’t quite as ready as some of the others to jump into action, instead playing a more passive role of support. Lots of making tea for people, lots of quiet talks, and hugs, a few jokes here and there, but nothing distasteful. For once, trying to keep the hope alive, while still tempering it, because he’s an optimist by choice, not by nature, he knows too well how cruel the world is. So he’s not surprised when...

the arrival

They make it to the Capitol a-okay, except not everyone is a-okay from the other train, and that makes him wish, not for the first time, he could have been two places at once, that maybe he could have helped somehow to stop it from going the way it did. The meeting with stylists and escorts isn’t a surprise, either, it only reignites that quiet anger at the message the Capitol is trying to send, trying to put the blame on those who aren’t the problem. He’s glad the Districts are fighting back, but he’s worried about the destruction and pain that will bring. He’s afraid that there might not be a Seven to see at all by the time the Games come around. He tries to busy himself with his stupid designs, but the passion is even lower than usual, given it feels like an outfit isn’t going to do a damn thing to save anyone in Seven after how the reaping went, after years, and years of defiance. So he doubles down on taking care of everyone. Making sure Twig and Blythe don’t run themselves thin taking care of Harbor. Trying to get Slate to stop being full depressy with some gentle encouragement. Checking in on everyone else, doing a lot of listening.

wedding reception

It’s hard to let his guard down completely, but it feels important to take a moment to breathe in the midst of so much pain, so much change, not just for himself but for the people he loves. He does a lot of mingling, hoping that giving a good impression and reconnecting with his various contacts might help not just Seven, but the others, too, determined, in a different way, to do exactly what he’s heard Blythe going on about, stopping the Games somehow. It wasn’t all business, though, letting himself relax a bit, too, even if a not insignificant portion of his night was spent having rather serious talks with various people being affected by the mess of a Quell, which he didn’t mind, of course, always ready to offer support, try to help in any way he can. A lot of the night was spent with Slate, having a nice, soft, romantic time, and it was kind of magical tbqh. Dawn was definitely thinking he’d drop an I love you once they were in private. They planned to end the night together, but Slate went to get their coats and never reappeared. Dawn thought maybe he’d pushed a lil too hard on the romantic shit but ofc actually it was a great night for both of them, but the peacekeepers cockblocked them smh

[marvinswriting]

google meets

Let’s play a game called which of these things has Marvin and her friends actually experienced during distance learning and what's fiction? Plot twist, it's all real shit I’ve sat through in history today. Ft a hint of world building g/t mean girls

I sighed, logging out of one google meet only to join another. I was slowly dying, becoming one with my chair for sitting for so long. 

Okay, it's a little dramatic but- sitting for forty seven minutes only to have a three minute break before another forty seven minute class sucked. And unlike my typical seven hour school day, I couldn’t just skip my tiny class to be with Damian. 

Still, there were some positives to online learning. 

I watched as other faces loaded into the meet, all my friends slowing joining in. I had quite a couple classes with everyone, and all my tiny classes were with Regina and Aaron. It was the ideal school schedule- but it wasn’t half bad online either. 

My phone screen lights up beside me and I already know it's a groupchat with everyone. 

Tiny classes felt almost normal, but co-sized classes felt odd. To see Regina and Damian’s faces next to each other at the same size was definitely weird. 

Some classes were never co-sized. Like gym or science. It’s simply easier to do complex experiments with chemicals when it's a manageable size. But other classes didn’t have those requirements.

Like history.

Where I was now.

The class was pretty quick to realize the teacher this year didn’t know how the class worked. 

Today was no exception. 

She had her camera on and it was opened to the whiteboard, but her mic was off. 

Still- she began teaching, waving hello to us before turning around to write on the board.

For a couple minutes, we all sit in silence, waiting for her to realize her mistake.

I grinned to myself, watching people begin to type in chat to tell her we couldn't hear .Some of the brave souls even unmuted, but the teacher couldn't hear us over her own muted lecture.

I glanced over to my phone, unlocking it to read the chat going off. 

anyone was going to tell her she's old and should call her grandkids in a retirement home, not her students in the school

Ah, Regina, always bringing the kind words. Bit rude but true.

Cady being Cady offered to unmute and help the teacher, but she got shot down pretty unanimously by the chat. An excuse not to work is an excuse not to work. I grinned watching her shrug and put her phone away in real time.

Karen had sent a paragraph of emoji which I didn't understand but Gretchen laughed on camera so I'm sure it meant something.

I snapped a textless photo to Damian privately, ignoring the group chat for now. 

I watched with a suppressed smile as Damian's eyes flicked from the meet down, where his phone hid out of sight. 

It wasn't hard to tell when a student was on their phone, especially when all the students were on their phone. 

I ignored the snap from Damian as sound suddenly went through my laptop. 

"I was on mute this whole time! You should have said something!"

You could almost hear the collective sigh through the muted mics as all the students shook their heads. 

Whatever-

We tried. 

I only half pay half paid attention to the teacher as she began re-explaining her lesson. Something about extra credit. Like I’d be caught doing that.

The groupchat continues buzzing, but I don’t open the messages. I need to pay attention somewhat.

My desk had totally changed for the school year. What was once covered in art supplies and drawing was now barren, with my laptop and some notebooks. Damian had made me do it on facetime, claiming he knew me too well and that it would be a distraction.

While he was right- who could have known my phone would be my downfall. 

I snap Damian, not trying very hard to conceal my phone as the teacher continues her lesson. She’s not teaching, just informing us of basic rules in the classroom, only get extra credit if all other assignments are done and I have the right to turn down topics. 

Boring.

“Lets say, Janis-”

I look up wide eyed, but the teacher is facing the board. I’m just an example.

I glance quickly down as a new message from Regina.

try not to look like such a deer in headlights smh. and tell damian to pay attention

I suppress an eyeroll, tuning back into the class. “If Janis wanted to do extra credit on, oh I dunno, the history of sports, I may not know much about sports, but I would allow it. This is history class after all.”

I don't bother hiding a laugh at the look on Damians face.

The groupchat lights up again with a message from Gretchen.

I dont think I’ve ever seen Janis pick up a ball?

Damian is quick to respond.

i have there's a reason it doesn't happen

Wow, okay, rude.

“Or maybe Aaron wants to research art in the 1920s,”

My phone is buzzing almost instantly with a message from Aaron in the groupchat.

Wow, okay, Ms. C. Just totally switch Janis and I? Literally offended. Like I’d touch mushy rainbows.

I duck away from the camera as I laugh out loud, placing my phone down on the table. I can see everyone in the chat on my laptop screen and they all seem to have a similar reaction. Aaron looks supremely done with this class and Gretchen’s has sweater paws with her hands trying to discreetly cover her grin. It’s not working. 

My phone is still for a total of thirty seconds before its buzzing again, but this time- a skype call. I put in an earbud before picking up, watching Damian and Cady’s face’s fill the screen. “Wow guys,” I tease. “We really aren’t planning on learning this yeah, huh.”

“Speak for yourself,” Cady says without even looking away from her computer. “I can multitask.”

“Jan and I cannot.” Damian shakes his head. “But this class is really boring.”

I grin, as Cady shakes her head and mutes us, clearly trying to pay attention. The groupchat is still going off and judging by the fact that Regina is full on crying from laughter in the upper right hand corner of my screen, it's gotta be something good.

Our teacher seems pretty oblivious to it all and maybe- just maybe, history won't be so bad this year.

tldr, marvin is going to fail US history 11H @realmisspolarbear @musicallygt @smallsoysauce

[phantasticworks]

If You Don’t Love Me, Pretend - Chapter Ten

hi guys!! Back with chapter ten. I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe at home (if you can) Thank you for all the sweet comments on this story so far, it literally means the world to me :’’)

read on ao3

Words: 10k

Summary: Dan and Phil have a few disagreements. 

Warnings for this chapter: Swearing, mentions of past trauma (but subtle)

Over a week passes by the time Dan realizes that they haven’t addressed the Levi situation again. Not once had it been brought up, and he was starting to get antsy about it. Not doing anything felt just as bad as doing something that turned out to be the wrong thing, so eventually, Dan decides to take things into his own hands. He knows, even as he dials the number, that he needs to speak to Phil about it again, that they need to sit down and have a serious conversation about it, but right now that’s the last thing on his mind.

“You’ve reached Hazel at Bridging the Gap Fostering; what can I do for you today?”

Dan swallows hard before answering, and double checks that the door to his office is shut. “Hi, Hazel, this is Daniel Howell.”

Hazel’s voice immediately shifts. “Oh! Hello, Dan, how are you? Is everything alright?”

“I’m well, thanks. Everything is fine, the twins are doing well.” He hesitates before continuing. “They’ve started school, and they really seem to enjoy it.”

“That’s wonderful! I’m glad they seem to be adjusting well.” Hazel seems to realize then that the twins aren’t the reason he’s calling, and her voice picks up a more serious tone. “I have a feeling you didn’t just call to give me an update: is that right?”

Dan laughs uneasily at the astute assumption. “Yes, you’d be right about that. I actually had something I needed to speak to you about, regarding the twins.”

“Is everything okay, Dan?” Hazel sounds nervous herself now, and Dan nearly laughs again.

“I mean, that’s sort of for you to tell me. It’s weird, so just give me a moment to explain.”

“Alright,” Hazel says slowly, sounding more than a little apprehensive.

“So, I’ve overheard a couple conversations of the twins, and on both occasions, they’ve mentioned someone called Levi.” He pauses then, waiting to see how Hazel would react. If she knows anything, he’s pretty sure he’ll be able to tell.

“Alright, and who is Levi?” She asks, clueless.

He releases a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, relieved at not having been lied to. “I’m not sure, actually. That’s why I wanted to speak to you.” He collects all of his thoughts. “I could be wrong, but I think… I think maybe they have a brother.”

“What?”

As Dan recounts the conversations he’d heard the twins have, he can tell that Hazel is just as intrigued as he is, and probably just as stumped. He can hear typing on her end, and he wonders if maybe there’s some sort of database that allows her to check for possible siblings.

“And that’s all they’ve said about him,” Dan finishes finally. “But that’s enough for Phil and I to speculate, you know? And I didn’t want to just ask them about it, you know, I wasn’t sure if it would be traumatic, or-“

Hazel cuts him off then, her voice gentle. “You did the right thing, Dan. I need to look into it a little more to be sure, but you definitely made the right choice to come to me first.”

Dan lets out a sigh of relief. “Great,” he breathes out. “So, do you think you’ll be able to find out for sure who he is?”

There’s more typing, and Hazel sounds a little distracted when she answers. “Yes, I think so. I need to call Stephanie at the other agency to know for sure, since it was her case first, and hopefully she can give me some answers.”

“Thanks, Hazel.”

“No, thank you for letting me know about this. It’s very rare that they separate children like that, and I’m shocked the twins didn’t ask any direct questions to me or you and Phil. I’ll try to find out what I can, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks. Just give me a call when you know something?” He requests.

“Sure, Dan.”

Dan bids her goodbye then, chewing on his bottom lip anxiously. He hopes that she finds out something soon, and hopefully whatever it is that she discovers will be enough to relieve his anxiety about it just a little.

His phone chimes with a text, and he finds himself smiling before he even checks it, already knowing who it is.

Phil: Want to meet for lunch? I’ll pay

Dan: free lunch? Yes mate

Phil: smh you only want me for my money

Dan: um yeah?

Phil responds with an eye rolling emoji, and Dan snickers before telling him he would meet him for lunch at twelve.

Time passes predictably slow but eventually he was leaving for lunch, calling to Louise that he’d see her in an hour. As nosy as she is, she predictably leaned out of her office and gave him a narrowed gaze. “Where are you going?”

Dan rolls his eyes at her. “I’m meeting Phil for lunch,” he informs her, twirling his keys around his fingers.

Louise smirks at him. “Have fun, babe, see you later. Tell your man I said hello!” She winks suggestively as she waves him off.

Dan resists the urge to flip her off, heading out the door with a grumble. Despite how he acted though, he really wasn’t bothered by Louise’s teasing, if anything it usually just made him laugh. He knew it was just in good fun, and sometimes it gave him a warm feeling to pretend that the thing she was teasing him for was real. That was a dangerous game though, one that he wasn’t very keen on playing when he didn’t have to.

When he pulls up at the café he’d agreed to meet Phil at, he can spot Phil waiting just inside at a table, scrolling on his phone as he sips at what Dan assumes is a caramel macchiato. He hums to himself as he walks inside, smiling when Phil glances up at him. Seeing the other hot drink waiting for him, he moves over to the table rather than going to the counter to order, sliding into the empty seat.

“Hi,” he greets, knocking his feet against Phil’s playfully as he picks up the cup.

“That’s hot,” Phil warns, watching as Dan sips from it anyway, unbothered by the near-scalding liquid rushing over his tongue.

“And what?” Dan says mockingly.

Phil shrugs, then giggles. Even as he tries to hide it, Dan notices and quirks an eyebrow. “I just remembered something funny,” he explains vaguely, sipping at his own drink.

“Care to share?” Dan drawls.

“Dan is not on fire, more like Dan is on fire,” he snickers, grinning when Dan only glowers at him.

“That was like ten years ago! Can’t you let my stupid old username rest in peace?”

“Never! It’s fond mems, Dan; can’t let that go.”

Dan rolls his eyes at the explanation before tilting his head to the counter. “Did you order already?”

“I did. I only got here a few minutes before you, so it’ll probably be a few minutes.”

Nodding, Dan sips from his drink again, his eyes darting to look out the window. “It’s getting colder,” he observes.

“Yeah.”

“Do you know if the twins have winter coats?”

Phil shrugs. “I don’t know, actually. I haven’t noticed any in their closet, so I don’t guess so.”

“We should go shopping in a few weeks then. Just in case.” Dan stirs at his drink, debating whether or not he should tell Phil about the call with Hazel.

Before Phil has a chance to respond, their waitress is interrupting them with their food. “Do you guys need anything else?” She asks cheerfully, all smiles as she looks between the two of them, her gaze lingering on Phil.

Dan huffs, almost amused at her obvious staring. Almost. “We’re fine, thanks.” He not so subtly reaches for his cup with his left hand, not missing the way her eyes widen when they fall on the ring. He pointedly glances down at Phil’s left hand as well when the girl studies him, smirking when she blushes after noticing the matching ring on his hand.

“Oh, um. Well, enjoy your meals!” She calls, sounding embarrassed as she goes to leave.

Dan smirks around his drink, assuming that Phil had been oblivious to the whole interaction. His amusement is cut short, however, when he hears Phil snort.

“You really enjoy making people uncomfortable by making them think we’re together, don’t you?” He sounds bitter, and the smile is wiped off Dan’s face when he glances up at him.

“What?” He asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

Phil rolls his eyes, his annoyed huff audible from across the table. “I saw you smirking after she brought our food. Does it really amuse you so much for random strangers to get uncomfortable seeing us as a gay couple?”

Dan’s jaw drops. If he didn’t know any better, he would think that Phil was offended for an entirely different reason. He nearly laughs when he realizes that Phil likely just thinks he was just trying to queer bait or something for his own personal amusement. “No, Phil. God, no. Did you see how she was looking at you? Like, c’mon, man, she clearly fancied you.”

Phil looks confused. “And? Even if she did, what the hell was that about?”

Dan shakes his head, laughing once without humor. “I don’t know, I guess I just-“ he stops himself when he realizes he was about to say he was jealous, or something equally as ridiculous. “I thought it was weird for her to be looking at you that way.”

A hurt look crosses Phil’s face. “Why, because it’s weird to think that someone would actually look at me like that?” He sounds offended, and Dan knows that if he doesn’t explain this, and fast, it’s going to turn into an unnecessary argument.

“No, love, I just meant that it was unprofessional for her to be looking at someone who wasn’t hers like that. I mean,” he stumbles over his words when Phil finally meets his gaze. “Not that we’re actually, like… you know,” he mutters quietly, so the other people around them don’t hear. “But she doesn’t know that we’re not, and I personally don’t like homewreckers.” It’s a half-assed explanation, and one that leaves him feeling a little too vulnerable and red in the face, but Phil seems to accept it.

“Oh,” Phil says slowly, seeming to process this information. “So, you were just playing the good fiancé bit.” He grins then, as if this is amusing to him. “That’s actually really cute, Dan.”

Dan flushes even darker, rolling his eyes before shoving a forkful of salad into his mouth. “Don’t,” he mutters, clearly embarrassed.

Phil coos, and Dan squashes his foot gently under the table. “No, I get it, actually. Like if we’re going to pretend, it’s kind of silly not to pretend to the people who couldn’t possibly know who we are or why we’re pretending.”

It takes Dan a moment to process it, but when he does he nods, then shrugs. “I guess.” Feeling increasingly awkward with the conversation, he moves on. “So, anything interesting happen at work today?” he asks, desperate for a distraction.

He allows Phil to carry the rest of their conversation with dramatic stories about his day at work, interesting in a way that only Phil could manage to make them. Dan props his chin onto his hand, watching Phil speak with a small smile on his face. It felt like it had been ages since they’d spoken like this, just the two of them, about ordinary every day life. It was refreshing.

“Are you even listening to me?” Phil suddenly asks, his lips in a pout as he crosses his arms, clearly unimpressed.

Startled at having been caught out, Dan nods quickly. “Yeah, of course.”

Phil narrows his eyes. “Why d’you keep staring at me? Have I got something on my face?” He wipes his mouth self-consciously, and Dan can’t help but giggle at that.

“No, you haven’t got something on your face, you spoon.” Phil glares at him, but Dan only smiles. “I’ve missed you.”

Phil looks confused. “We live together, mate, we’re almost never apart,” he says with an awkward sounding laugh.

Dan shrugs. “I know, but it’s different when we’re at home, since there we always have to be on parenting duty.” He realizes how that sounds and is quick to rephrase. “Not that I don’t love the kids, or our life with them! It’s just… I don’t know, it’s nice to just hang out, just the two of us. It’s nostalgic.”

There’s a soft look on Phil’s face, and he doesn’t speak for a long time. When he does, he sounds a little hoarse. “I’ve missed you too, bear.”

Dan ducks his head at the nickname, his face hot. He sips from his drink, allowing himself to pretend, just for a moment, that this is something different. It’s dangerous, that, but he’s just selfish enough that he allows it for just a moment.

Eventually, they finish their lunches and they both have to leave for work. Dan tucks his hands into his pockets as they walk outside, the slight breeze feeling comfortable rather than too chilly.

“I’ll drive you back to work,” he tells Phil, nodding to his car.

“I can call a cab, it’s fine,” Phil shrugs his offer off.

Dan rolls his eyes at this. “Nah, come on, I’m going to take you to work like the great fiancé I am.”

Phil snickers, walking over to the passenger side of the car in defeat. “I want it to go on the record that you said that, not me.”

Dan nods seriously as he climbs into the car and starts the ignition. Leaning closer to the radio, he talks loudly. “Hear that, government? Phil said I was a great fiancé.”

“Dan!” Phil laughs.

Snickering, Dan buckles his seatbelt. “Come on, Phil, the government isn’t going to care that you think I’m a great fiancé,” He says the last part loudly, earning him a playfully shove from Phil. “Babuse!” He screeches through a laugh. “You can’t be mean to the one driving, we could have an accident and be killed to death!”

“Oh yeah, I hate being killed to death,” Phil taunts.

Dan glares at him. “I’ll kill you to death,” he threatens, eyes narrowed playfully.

Phil giggles, and they continue teasing each other until Dan pulls up in front of the BBC office where Phil works. “Thank you for the ride,” Phil says sincerely, grabbing his phone and gripping the door handle. His eyes flicker up, and his face falls as they catch on something. He pauses before opening the door, and Dan’s eyebrows furrow as he looks around curiously.

“What is it?” He asks. “Is something- oh.” He finally realizes what has Phil nervous now, spotting PJ and Chris outside the building, close enough that they’ve noticed Dan and Phil in the car. They smirk and wave, causing Dan to roll his eyes.

“They’re going to give me shit,” Phil mutters quietly.

Dan narrows his eyes at them before leaning closer to Phil curiously. “About what? Being gay? They knew you were gay, so do they just give you shit because they think you’re with me?” He can hear the confusion in his own voice.

Phil shakes his head with a sigh. “No, they’re always talking about- don’t be mad, alright?”

The fact that Phil felt the need to interrupt himself to say that isn’t boding well for his friends, but Dan just nods uncertainly. “Okay.”

Phil sighs, staring down at his hands. “When I told them about it, they didn’t really… well they didn’t really believe me at first? They said they thought that… God, you’re going to hate this.”

“What did they say?” Dan deadpans. If whatever they said about Phil bothers him this much, he’s quite willing to exchange some unfriendly words with them so they don’t say it again.

“They said they were surprised that you’d be interested in… well, me, actually.” He says it so quietly that Dan almost isn’t sure he’s heard him right.

“Wait, what? Did they think I was straight?” Now he’s confused, because very rarely were there people he met who thought he was entirely straight, even before this whole fake relationship thing happened.

“No,” Phil shakes his head. “They just… They kind of implied that you, well…” He laughs then, but it’s a bitter sound and lacks the usual happiness his laughs are usually full of. “They basically said they thought you had better taste than me.”

Dan stares at him in surprise, having not expected that. “What the fuck?” He says eloquently, his gaze darting over to the building, where the two of them are still standing, pretending they aren’t watching. “Who the fuck- they don’t get to decide who I’m into,” he protests. He realizes suddenly that he’s not defending something real, so he doesn’t need to be so defensive. But then he glances over at Phil, and the way he seems so torn up about it just tears at his heart. “Fuck them, okay? Phil? Listen, they’re just talking bullshit. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Phil shrugs, as if it doesn’t bother him as much as it clearly does. “Are they wrong thought? I mean- it’s fine, obviously,” he laughs again, but it’s hollow, even when he looks up and smiles at Dan.

“Excuse me?” Dan’s hands find Phil’s, and he plays with the older man’s fingers for a moment, but Phil is avoiding Dan’s eyes like the plague. “Phil Lester. You are a brilliant, incredible friend, and a beautiful person. Honestly, Phil, you’re out of my league.”

Phil is still looking hollowly in the direction of his coworkers. “You think so?” He asks absently, disbelievingly.

Dan is having an idea. A stupid idea, no doubt, but before he knows it, his body is already enacting the plan. “Don’t be weird about this, please,” he pleads, holding eye contact with Phil as he leans closer.

“About- Dan?” Phil sounds almost alarmed as Dan reaches a hand up to gently cup his jaw.

“Please don’t freak out,” Dan says quietly, almost a whisper as he presses forward.

And obviously, he isn’t about to kiss his platonic best friend for real, so instead he presses his lips just to the corner of Phil’s mouth, just close enough so that PJ and Chris won’t know the difference from how far away they’re standing. Phil seems to catch on to what he’s doing, and quickly brings a hand up to Dan’s jaw, effectively making it seem more realistic. Phil’s lips are parted slightly in surprise, and Dan can feel the warmth of his breath against his face, almost straight into his own mouth, but not quite. He doesn’t linger long, only long enough to become flushed with how intimate this feels, pulling away and dropping his hand after a couple of seconds.

“They saw,” he confirms for himself and for Phil, glancing at them from the corner of his eye. He doesn’t bother gauging their reaction to it, instead focusing his eyes on Phil. “I’m sorry, I should have asked, or explained, but-“

Phil cuts him off then. “It’s fine- I mean. Yeah. It’s fine.” Dan’s not convinced, but Phil’s eyes have a kind of steel to them that he doesn’t want to argue with.

Dan nods, reaching a hand up to brush Phil’s hair back. “Hopefully they’ll fuck off and leave you alone about it now.”

Something flits across Phil’s face then, almost a moment of hurt, but it’s gone in the next blink, so Dan convinces himself that he must have imagined it. “Thank you, Dan.” He sounds oddly stiff. “That was really- er, nice of you to do.” Then he sighs and glances at the clock. “I should go, you need to get back to the school.”

Dan nods silently, and watches as Phil opens the door and climbs out of the car. “I’ll see you at home,” he calls, watching as Phil only nods and waves before walking towards his building.

Mentally cursing himself for the weird position he’s put them in, Dan pulls out of the parking lot, hoping that he didn’t just fuck up all the progress they’d made together.

~~~

When Dan gets back to the school, he’s barely had a chance to sit down in his chair before his phone is ringing obnoxiously. He sighs but pulls it out of his pocket, feeling aggravated, but his exasperation is wiped away when he reads the caller ID and sees Hazel’s name. Without missing a beat, he swipes across the screen to answer the call.

“Hazel, thanks for calling me back,” he greets with no preamble.

“Hi, Dan,” she replies, sounding a little wary.

His stomach sinks, and he already knows it’s going to be bad news. He swallows hard around the lump forming in his throat, lowering his voice as he speaks. “So, what did you find out?” He asks quietly.

She sighs. “You’re really going to hate this, Dan.” It sounds like a warning and an apology all rolled into one. Dan already hates it.

“I just want to know, Hazel. I don’t like this prolonging thing.”

Hazel seems to take a deep breath, as if bracing herself. “He’s their brother, you were right about that.”

For some reason, this doesn’t fill him with the relief he thought it would. “And?”

The line is quiet for a moment. “He’s in a group home.”

Dan really didn’t feel like he could be more shocked and broken hearted for this family, but he was apparently wrong. He can feel his throat closing up as he processes the words. “What?” He almost hopes she’s joking. It wouldn’t be funny, but he just doesn’t want the thing she just said to be true.

“I’m so sorry, Dan. I know that’s a lot to take in, but… Apparently he was a little violent, after the authorities were told about their situation at home.”

“Well obviously,” Dan almost spits venom at her through the phone. “His family was being torn apart.”

Hazel sighs. “Dan, look, they typically put older children into group homes if they don’t think they’re stable enough to be with a foster family. There’s probably a reason-“

“Can we foster him?” Dan interrupts her, not even waiting to process what she was trying to tell him.

She splutters at this. “Sorry, what?”

“Can Phil and I foster him?” He repeats calmly. “We’re already fostering his siblings, and I don’t feel comfortable knowing that they’ve been split apart.”

“Dan,” She says softly, as if she’s delivering bad news to a child.

He’s not a child.

“I know, they usually only put dangerous kids into group homes, or kids with disorders or habits that they think are almost juvenile detention worthy but not quite. I get it. I did my research on all this months ago, Hazel.” He pauses, trying to soften his voice. “I just don’t want to keep them separated if there’s any way we could foster him.”

Hazel is silent for a long time. Dan almost starts to think that he’s lost connection, but then she speaks again. “I’ll look into it. I’ll have to make some calls, and try to pull some strings, but…” She trails off, and Dan’s heart speeds up with hope for her words. “I think if anyone could help heal this family, it’s you and Phil.”

Dan’s heart drops at the mention of his fake other half, who doesn’t even know what he’s doing right now. He has no idea that Dan reached out to Hazel for this, and suddenly Dan can feel his stomach churning anxiously, knowing how offended Phil will probably be when he finds out about this.

Instead of revealing that to Hazel, though, Dan only chokes out some vague form of thanks before allowing her to hang up.

Immediately, he knows he needs to call Phil and tell him what he’d just done. He would likely be mad and would probably have an attitude when he got home later, but Dan prayed that he was wrong, that Phil would understand why he was doing it.

Dan chews on his bottom lip as he goes to his messages, remembering the last time he’d called Phil when he was at work without texting first, and the shitstorm that followed. There likely wouldn’t be a repeat of that today, but Dan wanted to be cautious, since this was more of a sensitive matter.

Dan: you busy?

Phil: Nah. Doing paperwork

Phil: What’s up?

Dan: can i call?

Phil: Sure.

Dan waits patiently for Phil to pick up, chewing away at his lip hard enough to break the skin. He’s surprised he hasn’t already. When Phil answers, he sounds only slightly off, which is better than what he seemed to be when Dan dropped him off at work earlier. But he’s not thinking about that right now, he’s decided, so he quickly averts his thoughts to what he actually called for.

“Dan? Are you ever going to say anything, or did you just call to breathe into the phone like a weirdo?” Phil asks, sounding amused but definitely concerned.

“I did a thing, and you’re going to be cross with me for it,” Dan announces, not beating around the bush at all.

Phil pauses then and seems to reconsider his playful tone. “Okay…” He says slowly, cautiously. “What did you do?” He asks, not sounding angry yet, just… wary.

Dan takes a few deep breaths, bracing himself for what he figures is probably going to turn into a fight. “I called Hazel about Levi.”

The line is completely silent. Dan hates it.

He stays quiet for as long as he dares, but when ten seconds turns into sixty, and a minute turns to two, he can’t help but burst. “Please say something,” he begs.

Phil clears his throat. “Without telling me?” He doesn’t need to remind Dan what they’re talking about.

“I’m sorry, I just- I couldn’t-“

He’s cut off by Phil speaking again. “I know, you just make the important decisions yourself and hope that I don’t care because it’s just like a game of house or something, right? It doesn’t have any real consequence, does it?” He taunts, his voice bitter in a way that Dan is unfamiliar with.

“No,” he protests weakly. “I didn’t make any decisions; I just wanted more infor--“

“So, you knew I didn’t feel comfortable talking to Hazel about it yet, and you still did it.” It’s not even a question.

Dan’s throat feels tight and he feels like his organs are squeezing their way up into his lungs. It’s uncomfortable in the worst ways, but he doesn’t know how to settle it. “I’m sorry, but it was important to me and I-”

Phil sighs. “I know. You’re always sorry.” He sounds exhausted, and his words make Dan’s stomach sink even further. They’re quiet for a moment, as Dan has no real rebuttal for that, but eventually Phil sighs again, ending the awkwardness. “I need to go, I have a conference call at two.”

“Oh… Okay. Yeah. Um, go ahead.” Dan feels the regret deep in his bones, and he knows it’ll likely only be worse once he’s hung up.

“I’d say something funny, but I’m honestly a bit annoyed right now,” Phil tells him, his voice carrying the hurt tone of his voice over the phone in a way Dan really wished it wouldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Dan mumbles again, his vocabulary seemingly erased of everything else except for that sentiment.

“I know,” Phil sighs. “I-“ he stops himself. “Drive home safely. Don’t forget to wear your seatbelt.” Is what he says finally.

Even in a fight, he makes sure he reminds Dan to stay safe. Somehow, that realization hits him like a punch to the gut, and he lays his head on his desk, trying to breathe.

“I will,” he says tightly. He feels a buildup of emotion in his chest, but he can’t grasp the right words to convey what he’s feeling. “Thank you. I’ll see you at home.”

“Yeah. Bye, Dan.”

The line cuts off with a click, and Dan feels the guilt set in, heavy and dark, and he knows that the rest of the day is going to drag in a way it normally doesn’t.

~~~

The rest of the day passes by in a slow haze, and Dan really doesn’t feel that he’s gotten anything done by the time he leaves to pick up the twins from school. He stands outside of the primary school with some of the other parents, his hands tucked into his pockets as he waits for the kids to come outside. The twins look around anxiously as soon as they’re out of the building, and Dan waves to them, forcing a smile he doesn’t feel onto his face. They immediately start running towards him, and the smile turns into something more genuine as they both crash into his legs.

“Hey, kiddos. How was your day?” He asks, petting both of their heads affectionately as he leads them to the car.

“We had so much fun! They let us watch a film about the animal kingdom, and-“ Amelia explains excitedly.

She’s cut off by Jaiden, who tugs on Dan’s hand. “We learned all about the food chain!”

“Wow! You’ll have to tell me all about it on the way home, yeah?” Dan opens the back door on the driver’s side, allowing both of them to climb in.

They chatter the whole way home, telling Dan all about predators and prey and the differences between herbivores and omnivores. He tries to listen and not let his mind wander, but if they notice that he’s a little more distracted than usual, they don’t tell him.

As soon as they’re home, he sends them into the kitchen to sit at the dining table and do their homework, which turns out to be a worksheet about the film they’d watched. Between the two of them, they retained enough information to not really need Dan’s help at all, which he thinks is probably a good thing, as he doesn’t feel like he’d really be able to focus on it anyway. When they’re finished, they’re free to do whatever they want, and they both end up upstairs playing, which is almost a relief for Dan and his swirling thoughts.

He’s right about Phil being in a mood when he gets home. Not that he’d actually expected anything else, but Dan’s stomach sinks uncomfortably when Phil comes in and it’s clear that he’s still cross with him. Dan is standing in the kitchen and looking for something to make for dinner when he hears the door open, and he tries not to turn around as he listens to Phil’s footsteps carrying him into the kitchen. There’s the sound of a bag setting on the table, and Dan can’t help but glance over.

Phil isn’t looking at him, his eyes cast on his laptop bag as he rifles through it, pulling out a folder and setting it on the table. He must feel Dan’s eyes on him, because he looks up then, his blue eyes swimming with something that Dan thinks looks an awful lot like hurt.

“Hey,” he says softly.

Phil shakes his head, grabbing his bag and setting it off to the side as he normally does, holding the folder tightly in one hand. “I can’t talk to you right now.”

“Phil, I-“

“No, Dan.” Phil settles him with a hard stare. “Not right now,” Phil says, almost pleading.

Dan swallows hard around the lump in his throat before nodding. If Phil needed space, that’s what he would give him, even if it killed him on the inside to do it. “Okay,” he whispers.

Phil nods too, then, before going to the office. He doesn’t even give Dan a second look as he goes, which hurts more than Dan wants to admit.

Rather than drive himself crazy dwelling on it, he goes upstairs to ask the twins if they want to help with dinner. Naturally, being children, they do, so he leads them back to the kitchen and explains that they can make fajitas or spaghetti. They both vote for fajitas, surprisingly, and Dan has a moment of thanking whatever greater power there is that the kids they foster aren’t picky.

“Okay, so we’re going to start with the peppers and onions first. I’ll cut them up and let you guys put them in the pan, okay? Carefully. It’s very hot.” Dan stresses the word, already mildly anxious at the sight of his kids so close to the stove.

The children are surprisingly helpful, although several times Dan finds himself cringing with worry when they get a little too close to the sizzling pan or something. He manages to prevent them from maiming themselves, and eventually he’s letting them set out the other condiments and plates on the table. He feels his stomach churn nervously, well aware that now he’ll have to go tell Phil that dinner is ready, and without the task of cooking to distract him, he’ll be left to do nothing but worry about the conversation they’ll likely be having later.

He takes the coward’s way out, asking Mia if she’d go fetch Phil for dinner so he doesn’t have to do it himself. The six-year-old is all too willing to do it, skipping over to the office door, completely carefree. Dan can vaguely hear the sound of her voice as she tells Phil that dinner is ready, and he doesn’t hear anything but the low rumble of Phil’s voice in response.

A few moments later, Amelia returns to the kitchen, sitting beside her brother at the table. They start talking, but Dan’s barely listening to the words they’re saying, more focused on the sound of footsteps approaching. He tries to act busy, stirring the fajita mix in the pan as if he’s not already finished with it.

The footsteps stop right next to him, and Dan nearly flinches when he feels a hand fall on his hip. He barely glances up at Phil and finds a softer expression on his face than what had been there before. Phil reaches over with the hand not on Dan and takes the glass of Ribena Dan had been sipping from and takes a swig.

Dan refuses the urge to roll his eyes and glances back at the food. “Still cross?” He asks quietly, bitterly.

Phil looks over at him, shaking his head. “No,” he says gently. His eyes flit over to the twins momentarily before they settle back on Dan. “Can we talk later?”

Surprised, Dan nods. “Of course.”

Phil smiles before leaning in, surprising Dan even more by pressing a kiss to his temple. “I’m sorry I was mean earlier.”

Dan shrugs, staring down at the food rather than responding to that. He didn’t trust his voice not to waver right now, and he knew there was a time and place to discuss their disagreement, but it wasn’t here and now. “Okay,” he replies quietly.

He catches a glimpse of the frown on Phil’s face, and he tries to not take responsibility for it. Phil seems to shake it off, though, squeezing Dan’s hip before letting go and stepping away, moving to grab some plates from the cupboard. “So, who wants to tell me what you learned at school today?” He asks, grinning at the twins as he sets their plates out in front of them.

Amelia and Jaiden immediately start talking over each other, and between the two of them, Phil seems to understand the gist of what they learned about the food chain and such. He smiles broadly at them, nodding along as he moves to refill their drinks. Dan tries not to watch him, but it’s sort of intriguing to see him in parenting mode like this, and so Dan really can’t help it.

After setting the table with the tortillas and everything else they would need, Phil comes back over to stand beside Dan, pointing down to the pan. “That about done?” He asks.

Dan nods mutely, nudging the handle over for Phil to grab, handing him a potholder to set it on to avoid scorching the table. “Careful,” he warns.

Phil nods, carefully setting it on the table. “Alright, you guys get to pick what you want in your fajita and I’ll scoop it into the tortillas, okay? Amelia, what do you want?”

Dan moves over to make a plate for Jaiden while Phil works on Amelia’s, letting him point out what he wants. “You don’t want onions, right?” He asks, already shoving some of them out of the way so he doesn’t get any on Jaiden’s plate. The six-year-old insists that he can eat them, but he never does if they’re on his plate, and Dan refuses to make him eat something he doesn’t want.

Jaiden shakes his head just as Phil says, “They’re good for you, Jai-bird.” Dan shoots him a look, and he quickly reevaluates his words. “But you don’t have to eat them if you don’t want to.”

“Do I have to eat onions?” Amelia asks then, moving to sit up on her knees rather than on her bum.

“No, but you do have to sit down correctly,” Dan chastises, raising his eyebrows at her.

She grins sheepishly before moving to sit correctly in her chair. “I forgot,” She explains.

Dan smiles at her knowingly before handing her brother his plate. “I know.” After settling back in his seat, he makes his own plate, watching Phil as he does the same, making a mess with his shaking hands. “Hold the plate over the pan and you won’t spill it all over the table,” Dan says, rolling his eyes.

Phil glances at him, opening his mouth to respond before apparently thinking better of it. His mouth snaps closed and forms a straight line, and Dan can tell he’s holding back a comment that would likely start an argument. The plate is slightly shaking in his left hand, and Dan notices the way his grip tightens on the spoon in his right hand, trying to steady it.

Feeling guilty for being rude, Dan reaches over and gently tugs the plate and spoon away from Phil, filling his plate quickly and neatly before handing it back. “Here,” he says softly.

There’s an odd look on Phil’s face, but he takes the plate anyway. “Thank you,” he mumbles, looking almost embarrassed.

Dan only nods, reaching for his Ribena and taking a sip. Glancing over again, he realizes Phil doesn’t have a drink, and almost unthinkingly he stands and moves to the cupboard to grab a glass. “Do you want Ribena or something else?” He asks, opening the door to the refrigerator and hovering as he waits for Phil’s response.

Phil glances over at him, looking a little surprised. “Oh, um, Ribena’s fine.”

Nodding, Dan pours his drink, humming under his breath as he does. “Here,” he says, handing Phil the glass as he moves back to the table.

“Thanks,” Phil replies.

They eat in relative silence, aside from the children chattering and occasionally asking Dan and Phil questions about the things they learned at school. Dan knows that the tension between them is probably what’s keeping the conversation so scarce, as generally the animal kingdom is a subject Phil would be all too engrossed in. It makes him feel guilty, and he eventually loses his appetite, only pushing the food around his plate with his fork quietly.

When the kids are finished they ask if they can go upstairs and watch Netflix. As soon as Phil gives the okay, they rush out of the kitchen, bickering about what to watch the whole way. Phil stands too, gathering their plates up to take them to the sink. He looks over at Dan, and a concerned frown etches itself out on his lips. He drops the dishes into the sink before walking back over to the table and dropping a hand to Dan’s forehead.

“Are you alright?” He asks quietly.

Dan nods, pushing his plate away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Phil’s frown deepens, and he drops his hand, looking at Dan’s plate in concern. “You didn’t eat very much,” he comments.

Dan shrugs. “Not hungry,” he mumbles, tracing shapes onto the table with the condensation dripping off his glass.

“Oh… Do you need to go lay down? I can watch the kids, if you want to go to bed early,” Phil suggests, his hand coming up to stroke Dan’s shoulder blades gently.

“Can you quit pretending we aren’t fighting?” Dan suddenly bursts, unable to keep the anger out of his voice.

Phil draws his hand back like he’s been burnt, a shocked look on his face. “What?” He asks, as if he doesn’t already know.

Dan rolls his eyes. “I know you’re pissed at me for calling Hazel without telling you. I’d rather you just be angry with me rather than pretending you care that I don’t feel well.”

Phil’s expression shifts from confused to surprised. “Excuse me?” He snaps. “I’m not pretending to care Dan. I’m worried about you because you’re acting like you’re ill, and that’s my first priority, not some stupid fucking argument.” The swear surprises Dan a little, enough that he realizes how serious Phil is.

“Well, I’m fine,” Dan mutters, moving to stand. “I’m just tired of you being mad at me.” His voice is smaller than he had intended, but he can’t swallow the words now.

Phil follows him, running a hand down his arm. “I’m not mad anymore. And I’m sorry.”

Dan tries not to sniff as he runs water over the dishes, refusing to meet Phil’s gaze. “For what?” He asks petulantly.

There’s a sigh, and then he feels Phil’s arms wrapping around his waist from behind. He tries not to shiver when he feels his breath against his neck. “For being a dick. And for ignoring you instead of having a real conversation about it like an adult.”

The water is hitting the dishes, not really accomplishing anything, and Dan slowly twists the knob to turn it off, staring at the stream as it disappears. “It really hurts me when you do that, you know,” Dan whispers. “I know you… I think you don’t mean to, but I hate when you ignore me like that. It…” He trails off again, swallowing hard.

Phil squeezes him tightly, and Dan feels his lips pressing against the side of his head, the pressure feeling grounding. “I know. I’m sorry,” he says softly. “I don’t want to hurt you, ever. And I shouldn’t have said what I did, about you doing things without telling me and not caring. I know you care, you care so much about those kids, you just want what’s best for them, and I know that.”

Dan turns the water back on, hot, and places his hand under the stream, allowing it to run over his fingers, hot enough to burn a little. “I want what’s best for you too,” he mumbles, the words easier to say when he isn’t looking at Phil.

His hand is pulled away from the stream of water by Phil’s gentle grip, the same hand pulling away to turn the tap off. “I know,” he whispers. Before Dan can think to protest, Phil steps away and tugs Dan’s arm to turn him around. Dan immediately drops his gaze, but Phil only steps closer, tugging him into a proper embrace. Dan’s arms move to wrap around Phil’s neck, burying his face in his shoulder as he feels his eyes begin leaking the emotion he feels eating away at him.

“Do you really think I try to control everything without asking you?” Dan asks, unable to help himself.

Phil squeezes him tighter, and Dan can feel him shaking his head. “No, not at all,” He says firmly. “I think you just take charge and make the hard decisions that I’m scared to make, and sometimes that overwhelms me because I’m afraid of what’s going to happen,” Phil whispers, almost too quiet for Dan to even process his words.

Dan pulls away enough to study Phil’s face. “I’m sorry,” he whispers back. “I don’t do that with the intentions of hurting you.”

Phil gently pets Dan’s curls, studying him with a soft look. “I know,” he replies with a nod. “And you couldn’t know how much it affected me, because I’d never told you.”

Settling his head back on Phil’s shoulder, Dan tries to ignore the racing of his heart as he formulates a response. “I think we need to talk more. Like we could have avoided this if we were better at communication, but apparently we suck at it.”

“Hey,” Phil says lightly, gently tugging Dan’s hair to pull him back enough to look at his face. “We don’t suck at it. It’s just different when we’re not the only people in the equation. We have two, maybe three, other people to think about now, and that changes things. We’re doing the best we can, yeah?”

Dan nods, his heart swelling at the reassurance that they don’t suck at the parenting thing, that they’re trying their best. And… maybe three. “Yeah,” he replies quietly.

Phil smiles and presses a kiss to Dan’s cheek then, causing the younger man to blush when he pulls away. “We can talk more about the Levi situation later, alright? I think for now we need to go upstairs and watch an animated movie we’ve seen a hundred times and have a cuddle.”

“That sounds amazing, actually,” Dan says, laughing wetly. He hadn’t realized that the tears were still steadily falling, but Phil’s hand comes up to wipe them away gently.

“C’mon, bear. We can use your fuzzy blanket and turn the lights out and everything.”

“Hot chocolate?” Dan asks, his voice small.

Phil smiles at him warmly. “Yes, I’ll make you some hot chocolate. Why don’t you go upstairs and ask the kids if they’d like any as well?”

Dan nods and pulls away, feeling colder when he’s no longer wrapped up in the warmth of Phil’s hug. He shoves that feeling away, giving Phil one last look before making his way upstairs to where the twins are still arguing about the movie. Of course, they want hot chocolate as well, and he tells them to decide on a movie while he goes to help Phil carry the drinks upstairs.

When he gets downstairs, Phil is moving around the kitchen, four mugs already placed on the counter. He glances up at Dan when he walks in, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

“They want some, too,” Dan tells him with a nod. “With marshmallows,” he adds, moving to the cupboard to get the bag of mini marshmallows that they kept in there. He watches Phil as he pours the chocolate powder into the mugs, carefully spooning it out so none of it spills over the sides. His hands are steadier than before, and Dan wonders if it’s because most of the anxiety about their argument has been relieved. He hopes it has.

The kettle beeps, and Phil jumps a little in surprise, glancing over at Dan with a sheepish smile before moving to pour the water into the mugs. “Did you want some snacks? Since you didn’t eat very much at dinner?” Phil asks, carefully tipping the kettle over the mugs, his tongue poking out slightly in concentration.

Dan shakes his head before realizing Phil can’t see him. “I don’t want any snacks. Phil?” He calls quietly. Phil glances up at him, quirking an eyebrow. “Are we okay?” He asks, his stomach swirling with nerves.

The older man smiles at him, a soft look on his face. “We’re okay,” he reassures Dan.

Nodding, Dan opens the bag of marshmallows and begins dropping them into the mugs, adding six to one of the mugs and three to the rest. When Phil places the kettle back, he moves to carry two of the mugs, a curious look on his face when he sees all the marshmallows floating in the one in Dan’s left hand. At his expression, Dan shrugs and turns to walk upstairs. “That one’s yours,” he says in lieu of an explanation.

He hears a soft laugh behind him as they make their way upstairs. “Do you want to make a whole thing out of this? Go put on some comfy pajamas and have a proper movie night with the kids?” He asks quietly as they get to the lounge.

Dan feels like that’s exactly what they all need tonight. “Absolutely. Hey, guys, why don’t you go ahead and go put your pjs on, and we’ll have a movie night?”

The twins chorus their agreement before rushing down the stairs, Phil’s call to be careful echoing after them. “They’re such good kids,” he says, almost to himself, as he places the mugs he’s carrying onto the coffee table beside the others.

Dan nods his agreement before moving to follow the kids downstairs, Phil following behind him. “They really are,” he agrees, even as he hears them bickering when he walks into his bedroom. He rifles through the dresser to find a t-shirt and some sweatpants, finding his Game of Thrones sweats and an old shirt of Phil’s. He tugs his shirt off and replaces it, glancing over to find Phil doing the same, having dug an old T-shirt out of the closet.

Something catches Dan’s eye and he points to it before Phil can drag the closet door shut. “Can I wear that?” He asks, gesturing to the offending bright green fabric.

Phil frowns, almost to himself, as he stares into the closet, probably trying to figure out what it is Dan wants. When it dawns on him, he looks surprised. “My York hoodie?”

“Yeah,” Dan nods, chewing on his lip as he waits for Phil’s response.

His eyebrows are furrowed as he reaches for the fabric, pulling it off the hanger carefully. “You haven’t wanted to wear this in years,” he observes, handing it over to Dan with what the younger man recognizes as a concerned expression.

Shrugging, Dan pulls the fabric over his head and tugs it down, the smell of Phil nearly overwhelming him. “It’s just comfy,” he says defensively.

Phil quirks an eyebrow at him. “Comfier than your Manchester hoodie, or the Yeezy sweater?”

Dan crinkles his nose. “I don’t know where my Manchester hoodie is, and you hate my Yeezy one.”

There’s a smirk on Phil’s lips as he begins tugging his jeans off, and Dan quickly turns around to do the same. “That’s because it’s ugly,” Phil teases.

Tugging his sweatpants up his legs, Dan turns to give him a look. “It cost more than one of your paychecks,” he deadpans.

Phil quirks an eyebrow at him as he pulls his pajama bottoms on, a smirk on his lips. “I know. I bought it, remember?”

Dan flushes. He did, in fact, remember that. He’d looked at the sweater for several weeks and whined about how expensive it was more than once. Then one day last fall, Phil showed up at Dan’s with a bag, and in it was the sweater. Dan had been so happy, and even now he finds himself smiling softly at the memory.

“Yeah, well…” Dan trails off awkwardly, not sure what to say as he makes his way up the stairs. “Shut up about it, if you thought it was so ugly you shouldn’t have bought it for me.”

The older man shrugs. “You liked it,” he replies, as if that explains it away completely. Dan feels a warmth flood into his chest at the comment, and he’s just about to say something sweet in response when Phil continues. “It still makes you look like a sack of potatoes, though,” he teases, following Dan over to the sofa.

In response to Phil’s comment, Dan huffs as he settles on the sofa, grabbing his fluffy blanket and holding it out for Phil to settle under. “I better get the best damn cuddles in the world since you’re making fun of me,” he demands.

Phil giggles at this, handing Dan his hot chocolate and grabbing his own before settling onto the sofa. He shifts so that his left arm is thrown across the back of the sofa, allowing Dan to snuggle against his side. “I’m sorry, I’ll be nice, I swear.” He’s smiling as he says it, but Dan can tell how pleased he is with himself.

“You’d better,” Dan mumbles, leaning into Phil’s side and making himself comfy. His head is resting on Phil’s shoulder and he has the impulsive desire to press his lips to some part of him. Since they’re having a whole cuddly night anyway, he does just that, subtly pressing his lips to the fabric covering Phil’s shoulder.

Phil tilts his head to look at Dan, and they maintain eye contact for several seconds, but Dan breaks it, looking away when he feels his stomach twisting under Phil’s steady gaze. There’s a soft laugh, and then he feels Phil press a kiss to the curls on his head. “I forgot how cute you look in my hoodie,” he mumbles.

“Yeah?” Dan murmurs back, feeling his heart swell with warmth.

“Yeah,” Phil replies. Whatever he might’ve said next is cut off by the sound of feet thundering up the stairs. Dan nudges Phil to reprimand them, having retired from being the strict parent for the evening. “Guys, we don’t run up the stairs, remember? You could fall and get hurt!”

There’s a pause in the stampede, and when it resumes it’s at a much calmer pace. Dan smiles at the twins as they come into view. “Did you two finally decide on a movie?” He asks with a quirked eyebrow.

“We wanna watch Zootopia!” Amelia announces, coming over to sit next to Dan on the couch.

He glances over at Jaiden, who’s frowning. “That okay with you too, bub?”

Jaiden nods and then points to where Amelia is sitting. “I wanted to sit beside you.”

Dan tries not to smile, but he can’t help it. “C’mere, you can sit in my lap,” he instructs, moving the blanket to allow Jaiden to crawl under and get comfy.

“I want under the covers!” Amelia protests with a pout.

Phil laughs. “Come over here, Mia, you can sit with me.”

Amelia’s face lights up and she quickly hops off the sofa and moves over to Phil, waiting for him to lift the blanket before she crawls onto his lap, settling herself there. Dan figures it’s going to be a pain handing them their hot chocolate when they want to drink it but seeing the happiness on their little faces makes it worth it already. He smiles to himself as he leans forward and grabs the remote, starting the movie.

When he leans back, he makes sure the blanket is tucked around Jaiden enough, struggling to keep it up on his own shoulder. “Here,” Phil whispers, grabbing the corner and tucking it behind Dan’s shoulder neatly. He leaves his arm across the back of the sofa, where his hand can stay pressed against Dan’s shoulder comfortingly. Dan not so subtly shifts so that he’s leaning against Phil’s side, dropping his head back onto his shoulder like before.

The new position results in Phil moving his hand to instead settle in Dan’s hair, petting gently through the curls as the movie begins. Dan feels a warmth in his chest, his eyes moving between the twins as he thinks about how grateful he feels for this life. This life where they could help these children feel safe and loved, in the home they shared. He feels a bit emotional about it all of a sudden, and he swallows hard and tries to focus on the movie so that he doesn’t do something silly like cry.

The twins chatter about the movie quietly, and Dan stays quiet, allowing Phil to remind them to be quiet and watch when they get too rowdy. Eventually they shift and move around to get their drinks and at some point, Jaiden decides he no longer wants to be held and moves to sit beside Dan instead, claiming he isn’t cold. Dan still drapes part of the blanket over his lap, just to be on the safe side.

Amelia falls asleep halfway into the movie, and Phil gently stands, cradling her in his arms to tote her downstairs to bed. “I’ll be right back up, love,” he says to Dan as he makes his way downstairs.

Dan nods silently, watching as Phil carefully carries their foster daughter. He really is such a great dad, and the thought pierces Dan’s heart in a way he really wishes it wouldn’t. He’s almost too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear Jaiden speaking.

“Are we going to finish this without Mia?” He asks.

“We can if you want to. It’s only a little after eight, you can stay up to finish it if you want.” Dan says with a shrug.

Jaiden chews on his lip but nods and moves to finish off his hot chocolate. “Okay. We can finish it.”

Dan smiles at him. “Alright, bub.”

Phil finally comes back upstairs then, running a hand through his hair. Dan holds the blanket up as he sits down, throwing it back over his lap once he’s settled on the sofa. His arm immediately comes up to wrap around Dan, no hesitation at all in the movement.

“We finishing the movie?” He asks.

Jaiden nods. “Just don’t tell Mia.”

Phil laughs but shrugs. “My lips are sealed.” He mimics zipping his lips and throwing away the key, causing Jaiden to giggle at the silly gesture.

Dan rolls his eyes and snuggles up to him, tucking his hands in the pocket of his York hoodie. A thought occurs to him when he sees Phil run a hand through his hair and he tilts his head back and studies it, reaching a hand out to touch the black strands gently. Phil glances at him with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

“Your hair is getting long,” he observes.

Phil smiles. “Yours too,” he nods, lifting a hand to tug through Dan’s curls as if to prove his point.

“We need to go get it cut again soon. Jai too,” he adds, glancing over at the boy, who isn’t paying them any attention.

“Yeah. Probably need to dye mine again once I’ve cut it.” Phil replies, his hand falling from Dan’s hair to rest on the back of his neck.

Dan crinkles his nose at this suggestion. “I think you shouldn’t.”

Phil stares at him in surprise. “Cut it or dye it?”

“Dye it. Definitely needs a trim, but I don’t want you to color it.” He knows realistically that he has no jurisdiction over this, especially given the fact that their current relationship is a fake one, but he has grown rather attached to the idea of a Phil who has more of a natural hair color, peppered in with some grey hairs that prove how much life he’s lived.

Phil frowns as if he’s considering it. “I dunno. Look a bit old, wouldn’t I?”

Dan rolls his eyes. “No, you’d look fine.” He suddenly feels a little awkward for suggesting it at all. “Do what you want, I just thought you might want to do something different.” His gaze is on the TV now, as he’s unwilling to meet Phil’s eyes.

There’s a hum, and Phil gently begins stroking his thumb along the skin of Dan’s neck. “We’ll see,” he says vaguely.

Not that he’ll actually do it, but the idea that he might consider it is enough to have Dan smiling a little. He hides it easily enough by nuzzling against Phil’s shoulder, taking all the warmth he feels in his chest and letting it spread through his body and calm his nerves from everything that’s happened this evening. There’d be a time for a serious discussion about the Levi situation later when they were alone, but for now he only wanted to cuddle with Phil and watch Jaiden watch this movie.

[titsthedamnseason]

thule!blackstairs headcanons?

yes yes!! okay i got lots of requests for these so i have a lot of options and for you i present: the au in which emma and julian were never endarkened

okay so they left ny just in time before the endarkened army arrived and were able to escape with all of the blackthorns

things went pretty much the same except this time instead of livvy taking charge it was jules and emma

they made their way to la but still had nowhere to go so they stayed in abandoned buildings and such

they still faced threats like demons just like livvy did in canon but with julian and emma they were a bit more equipped to fight them off

everyone survived in time to be saved by cameron and taken to rebel hq!!

dont yell at me for being unrealistic i love them all too much to kill them i want them to be happy

before getting rescued, though, julian and emma def def def used to like,,sneak into dark alleys and the like to make out and the poor blackthorn children are just like ‘is this really the time you guys smh we’re like five feet away from you’

they are firm believers of seizing the moment so they dont really care

when they get to the old hotel the blackthorns basically get their own hallway since there are so many of them

julian and emma take separate rooms first, at opposite ends so that the kids are in between them should anything happen but once they get older they just kind of converge to one room unofficially 

cameron and livvy start dating and julian is kind of pressed about it but he supposes he doesnt mind 

cameron tells julian he doesnt care if he approves of the relationship, it’s the apocalypse

julian is crushed and livvy reassures him that she cares what he thinks of the relationship

he’s a little more comforted

emma and cameron are bros

but i need to stay away from the subject of cameron bc i will never stop if i dont asdfgh 

anyway thule isnt really the most romantic place but julian and emma find small ways to make it better

like the wooden board that covers the window in their room, for example

julian loves repainting it to show different scenes, the stars, the paris skyline, a romantic dinner scene, small things that emma loves and will make her smile, like chocolate or cats and cute things like that

a lot of the time he’ll just paint it without emma knowing and she’ll come back to a surprise 

they also cant really take too many romantic strolls outside, but they try and make do by just aimlessly walking down the hallways for hours, sometimes on the roof if they feel like they can risk it 

they really really dont like patrolling without each other but make do for the sake of the resistance 

dru goes out on the same patrol she did in canon and never comes back

julian is heartbroken, he should have been with her, trained her better, not let her go on patrols at all

emma somehow manages to convince him that he couldnt have done anything about it and just as he begins healing and getting comfortable with his family patrolling again ty comes back with a broken leg

sweet ty keeps telling him it’s not that bad, it’s not julian’s fault, there’s no reason to worry

it takes julian a long time to recover but emma helps him a lot

i didnt mean for this to take such a depressing turn but here we are lets move on with an abrupt and awkward transition

they def have their own motorcycle that is primarily driven by emma 

it’s highkey the coolest thing ever and they love their motorcycle probably more than is healthy

one time julian let his hair grow to his shoulders and emma was at first grudgingly accepting but when they rode the motorcycle and his hair was blowing into her face she immediately insisted he cut it when they got home 

livvy was sad she couldnt style it anymore but everyone ultimately agreed julian’s usual hair was much better

there was one time that julian started acting kind of sketchy, disappearing a lot, going on more patrols, saying he had meetings with maia but emma would see maia eating in the dining hall with julian nowhere to be found, she would check the patrol schedule just to find that julian wasnt on it

she asked him about it a few times but he brushed it off, telling her it was nothing and then distracting her with a kiss

finally one day he’d left early in the morning with no explanation and emma had no more patience left for this

she passed raphael in the hallway, and he grudgingly informed her that julian had returned, there’s no need to infect everyone else with her bad mood

says you, she retorted as she ran down the hallway in the direction of her and julian’s room

when she slammed open the door(can you slam a door open?? idk but if youre emma carstairs you can), fully ready to tell julian off and finally get answers, she was stunned speechless because there was julian, standing in the middle of the room, holding a basket full of chocolate

she might have cried

as she began eating he told her how he’d been searching high and low for any scraps of chocolate, even sneaking into some of sebastian’s known hang outs to acquire some

emma lightly slapped him on the arm for taking such a big risk but it didnt have much weight behind it since she was clearly enjoying the surprise 

julian warned her to hide it, that no one knew he had gotten the chocolate, only that he’d been planning a surprise, and he suspected if anyone discovered chocolate was in their headquarters there would be a war for it

emma felt guilty and almost wanted to share but not really

she did give a little to each of the blackthorns, claiming that was all they had but the kids were over the moon at the pieces they got

‘im a terrible person’ said emma after all the blackthorns save julian had left the room

‘yeah’ julian agreed, and kissed her

[isuzukuretsuki]

Ikemen Revolution - Lancelot’s Route

Aight I did a review with my awful commentary for Sirius; I might as well do one for Lancelot since I just finished his route. Unfortunately this ended up being WAYY longer than the one I did for Sirius so there’s gonna be a lot of walls of texts with just my awful commentary. Sorry! To anyone that actually gets through the massive walls of text, I respect you.

Somehow, Alice gets pawned off to a nameless no face body guard as she strolls around the streets because the Black Army guys are busy having a movie night or something. And you know what happens when your body guard is nameless and faceless. BASICALLY: it’s as if he doesn’t exist!

And what do you know, their lovely intimate getaway is interrupted by none other than Edgar, our favourite, friendly neighborhood kidnapper (of Lance’s route) who threatens to cut the poor chap into bits and pieces unless Alice comes with him. 

Our snarky escort drags Alice by the hair as she kicks and screams brings her back to Red Army HQ where she meets Lancelot. 

First (or second) meeting and they are clearly hitting it off great because the first thing Lance does is grab Alice and starts singing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”.

But huh what does this remind me of.

Oh.

(He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake). Totally not creepy!

Lancelot essentially puts Alice in total house arrest where she’s locked up in her bedroom that’s connected with his so he can watch her every move  (◉◞౪◟◉｀) . He even flaunts his authority by pinning her on the bed and almost kissing her (too bad doing that is more likely gonna make me horny on main that scared but whatever).

But it’s all good because this door will later come into use in the route when Lance tries to lock Alice out of his room to mope alone but Alice just strolls in through his side door and goes like “’sup” and he’s like “fuck I forgot that door existed”. 

HOLDS YOU....

Considering how the King, Queen and Jack are a triple combo of assholes, at least Zero is there to give our poor heroine some much needed comfort and friendship. I find it hilarious how Alice’s sad ass has been dumped into Red Army HQ by Edgar and Kyle and Zero are just like “oh yea just another Tuesday with Edgar, but hey, let’s be friends!” 

Because Alice ranked up her social link with Zero and Kyle, she gets special privileges now: she is allowed to walk around the Red Army HQ now, because being cooped up in a bedroom 24/7 is just dreadful! (As if that’s not what I do everyday anyway!)

Unfortunately her new found happiness doesn’t last long because the SAME FACELESS NAMELESS BODY GUARD FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE ROUTE makes a reappearance-- he tries to rescue Alice... alone! 🤦

Since this poor chap is nameless and faceless and thus does not have any plot armor, his rescue plan fails miserably as he’s brought to kneel before King Lancelot. The man deadass shish kabobs the poor soldier as Alice screams in horror and shock as blood spews everyone. Later, Alice decides to go down into the basement dungeon to check for herself if the soldier is really dead.... and if he’s not well I guess she can just watch him bleed to death then. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

She goes down just in time to see the soldier perfectly safe as Lancelot wipes his memory and sets him free. Huh maybe he’s not the Actual Worst after all. Somehow, Lancelot stabbed his hand instead of the soldier which I have NO IDEA how that’s supposed to work LOL!

The Black Army finally realize that letting a faceless nameless nobody protect Alice probably wasn’t the best idea and they demand that the Red Army return Alice to them or there will be consequences  (◉◞౪◟◉｀). While the Red Army soldiers are totally ready for a head on confrontation so they can shish kabob some Black Army soldiers for reals, Alice decides that she can’t leave this sexy man aka Lancelot alone and chooses to stay.

Lancelot’s all like “why tf are you still here” when he realizes that Alice chose to stay, but decides not to think too hard about it and makes up some bullshit lie about how the Black Army surrendered Alice to them, which of course the nameless soldiers eat up blindly because it seems like nobody in this damn army aside from the main five can think for themselves へ‿(ツ)‿ㄏ

Alice continues leveling up her social links with all the pretty bois and so she pretty much goes from their prisoner to their ward. You go girl. 

All the Red Army boys take a liking to Alice and they become the best of buds and it’s the sweetest thing ever! The only one left for Alice to rank up her social link with is Lancelot himself and so Alice starts cooking for Lancelot along with Jonah whos his number 1 fanboy lmao. Because clearly the way to win over an ice cold heartless king is through his stomach. Lancelot eventually begins to warm up to her and evolves from an asshole to a giant tsundere (ღ˘⌣˘ღ). And what do you know, her cooking for him actually had an effect because soon Lancelot realizes that he loves her.

My favourite part of this route was honestly the annual ball because the Red Army folks are all fancy pants. Since Lancelot is the sexiest man in the entire army, he has a line of women just itching to be his dance partner. Jonah, being Lance’s number 1 fanboy, can’t accept giving his King over to some sleazy tramp (pardon my language I’ve been playing too much Danganronpa Despair Girls), so he makes all the women line up for fucking interviews. 😂😂😂

Man and I thought Jumin was bad enough for making his marriage candidates hand in resumes. 

Jonah reels Edgar and Alice into helping him conduct the interviews but in the end Edgar and Alice are just chilling in the back of the room while Jonah rips each and every woman a new one for the most trivial of reasons. NO WONDER NONE OF THE RED ARMY BOYS HAVE WIVES.

Pretty soon they end up in a pickle because Jonah ended up rejecting every single woman who showed up to the interview! This plays out exactly how any shoujo manga would and Alice ends up being appointed by Jonah as Lancelot’s dance partner. The dance actually turns out to be great and romantic and Lancelot is surprisingly gentlemanly despite spending the first quarter of his route being an insufferable jackass but hey, I guess that’s what love does!

Unfortunately, the magic cult goons sense the love in the air and decide it’s time to interfere because no one can be happy on their watch! While Alice and Zero are out strolling about, the magic cult goons crash the party and beat poor Zero to a bloody pulp and kidnap Alice. Alice is taken to Amon’s sex dungeon where the maniac reveals that Lancelot and him are in cahoots but Alice is all like “no way fam Lancelot has better tastes than this”. Thankfully Lancelot arrives just in time to rescue our princess and they book it out of the Magic Tower. 

Meanwhile back HQ, Jonah wonders if the Black Army is responsible for attacking Zero but Edgar has his doubts. Oh well, Edgar’s doubts don’t flipping matter because ZERO’S FUCKING SQUAD GOES TO ATTACK THE BLACK ARMY ANYWAY WITHOUT ORDERS because they assume the Black Army is responsible with absolutely NO EVIDENCE! .+:｡(ﾉ･ω･)ﾉﾞ

WHAT THE HELL DOES NO ONE IN THIS FUCKING ARMY THINK FOR THEMSELVES?!?! WHAT’S UP WITH ALL DUMBASS SCENARIOS OF THESE SOLDIERS RUNNING ROGUE WITHOUT AUTHORITY. I think the whole “crimson glory” shtick is starting to get to the heads of these blood thirsty hooligans. 

Lancelot hears the news and rushes out to the battle field to thwart Zero’s squad’s attack ONLY TO OFFICIALLY DECLARE WAR ON THE BLACK ARMY RIGHT AFTER (((φ(◎ロ◎;)φ))). All the Red Army leaders are like ??????????? while the nameless soldiers are busting a nut in anticipation and excitement. 

Anyway Lancelot passes out due to using too much magic (again) and Kyle shits bricks (again) over his condition. After Lancelot awakens, Alice demands the truth from Lancelot and finally Lancelot spills his token tragic backstory to Alice, about how Amon is threatening the lives of his friends and soldiers unless Lancelot can absorb the Black Army into the Red.

Thankfully, Alice has a good head on her shoulders and realizes that Lancelot is going to use the war to distract Amon and then confront Amon alone to take him out. She freaks out because Lancelot really will fucking die this time (supposedly!) and tries to stop him but Lancelot locks her out of his bedroom so he can mope alone. Alice takes advantage of their rooms being connected and strolls in through their connecting door all like “ta-da, I’m here bitch” much to Lance’s chagrin. 

She cries and begs him not to confront Amon alone because she doesn’t want him die. Clearly the emotional heartache and heartbreak that both parties are going through sets the atmosphere for sexy time and they end up spending the night going bow chicka wow wow instead of.... having a proper and long overdue conversation to resolve the issue at hand smh. The next day rolls around and LANCELOT ERASES HER MEMORIES OF HIM. щ(ಥДಥщ)

THIS FUCKER LITERALLY JUST SUCKED TITTY AND BOUNCED. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

The day of the war as well as the full moon arrives and Lancelot fetches Jonah to escort Alice to the gates of hell garden portal. They arrive early and Jonah decides to kill time by telling her of a ~romantic~ fairy tale about how a prince went deaf and mute but regained his voice and hearing after his lady gave him a white rose.

(*TEARS UP* I’m a basic bitch that likes cheesy flower language in her otomes okay don’t judge me.)

Clearly Lancelot sucks at casting magic spells because the moment Alice sees the white rose the amnesia spell on her breaks and she regains her memories of Lancelot (wow that was easy). She spills the beans about Amon and his weed stash to Jonah and Jonah decides to bring Alice to the magic tower because no one messes with his king! I really liked how Jonah was respectful of Alice’s thoughts and opinions and didn’t just shove her into the portal before looking for Lancelot on his own (SIRIUS TAKE NOTES).

Lancelot confronts Amon and tells him that he’s already killed all the lackies that had access to Amon’s weed stash-- all that’s left is to kill Amon himself! Well despite the heroic shounen declarations, it ends pretty miserably because Lancelot gets his ass handed to him by this sad sack and when Amon is about release the final spell to kill Lancelot, Alice bursts into the room like a badass............and takes the shot full on 🤦🤦.

She crumples to the ground and now Lancelot is real pissed but hey at least the rage numbed the pain of his wounds because he stands up and pretty much destroys Amon in less than a second LOL.

Lancelot brings Alice back to the HQ while Jonah goes to stop the war since Amon’s dead and OH BOY KYLE REALLY FLIPS HIS SHIT because both Alice and Lancelot are an absolute hot mess. But since Alice’s wounds were inflicted with magic, Lancelot decides to use his remaining magic to heal her. Kyle tries to stop him going like “you’re gonna die you dimwit!!! (╬⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)” but Lance once again gives no fucks and is all like “I’m not gonna die! you’re here! :D” and proceeds to start healing Alice while Kyle rages in the background for the 20th time in the route.

Kyle @ everyone in this route.

Alice finally wakes up after a three day coma. Kyle’s fuse has been long overdue and it finally blows. He flips a table and rants about how much stress and heartache she and Lancelot both caused him. ((o(;△;)o))

NOOOOO I’M SO SORRY KYLE PLEASE DON’T CRY I LOVE YOU.

Alice leaves the room while Kyle just cries tears of joy because can finally catch a break (god damn this man deserves a raise and a vacation). Alice is greeted by the other Red Army bois who are ecstatic that she didn’t kick the bucket and it’s honestly the most sweetest and heart warming reunion ever ・゜・(ノД`).

HOLDS YOU ALL.................. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I CAN’T EVEN START. I WILL DIE FOR YOU ALL.

Too bad Lancelot’s reaction to Alice’s awakening isn’t as great OTL.

Jonah brings Alice to see Lancelot (whos somehow alive) and he’s hella mad that Alice risked her life to protect him but Alice fires back that he tried to do the same and in the end they both get all mushy and make up.

BITCH THEN HOW ARE YOU ALIVE LMAO?? I don’t get this because it’s been stated over and over again that Lancelot will die if he uses up all his magic powers but clearly he’s alive and kicking! Did he survive through the power of love? WHO KNOWS LOL!

oof right in the feels.

Romantic Ending:

Alice continues cooking for Lancelot with Jonah (they’re so precious!). The Red Army boys tease Alice for her relationship with Lancelot; which Alice then realizes..... they’re not actually officially dating!

(CUE SIRIUS ROUTE FLASHBACKS COMING AT FULL SPEED).

THAT’S NOT A TRAIT TO BE PROUD OF LANCELOT.

I’m not the only one to freak out because so do all the Red Army boys!! They obviously can’t accept this so they arrange a date for Alice and Lancelot like the wingbros they are. Alice and Lancelot meet in the garden where they hug and confess their undying love for each other. ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

------

Honestly I’m gonna admit, I think Lancelot got overshadowed by all the other Red Army boys in his own route.... mainly Jonah lmao.  I like the dynamic between Lancelot and Alice at first but I wasn’t really feeling their relationship development towards the end and the suck titty and bounce stunt that Lancelot pulled really miffed me. Like I don’t mind sex scenes in a romance story but there’s a time and place for them you know? And when they’re randomly thrown in to substitute for actual communication it feels awkward. IDK maybe I’m just a prude who hates smut ROFL. Not to mention the amnesia shtick right after felt really trippy.

HOWEVER I did really like his romantic ending! It was well... really romantic lmao?? (what are words).

I loved the relationship between Alice and all the other boys! It was a joy to see her become incredibly close with all of them. I think you really see the best of each of the Red Army boys’ characters in Lancelot’s route as they all develop a friendship with Alice and grow to care for her. I wasn’t really a fan of the Red Army aside from Jonah at first but now I can say that I will die for them.

As for Lancelot himself, I’m honestly surprised as to how much I’ve grown to like him when I didn’t like him at all at first. I love the complexity of his character and his whole “I can just be an ordinary man” REALLY got to me ugh. 

Anywayyy his route was good, but not the best imo. I liked it a lot more than Sirius’s but Jonah’s route is still easily the best route for me. I’m moving onto Fenrir’s route now! I just have his, Edgar and Ray’s left to do.

[readbythestarlight]

c2e24 reactions

Sam’s rejected ads

“All over my Emmet Smith commemorative snuggle!”

“IT’S A TROY AIKMEN SNUGGIE!!!”

SAM THAT SONG ROUGH DRAFT WASN’T FUNNY omg

I like how Sam’s ads are clearly 90% to make his friends die of laughter and 10% to actually promote D&D Beyond

Not immediately knowing that Jester was drawing a dick with her sparkler smh

Fjord seems really not sure about this town and I love it

Marisha/Beau meanwhile is really into it

I like how Fjord, the shiftiest fuck in the group, is concerned about other people being shifty fucks

I MISS YOU ASHLEY SOMEONE BUY YASHA A FLOWER NECKLACE

Beau just bought so many explosives

BEAU BUY FLOWERS FOR YASHA

the flower vendor’s voice I’m crying omg

omg they’re gonna explode the firecrackers with firebolts in the street these nerds

They are all so giggly tonight I love them

Oooo here we go Jester on the piano

“I’m going to sit down and try to play Chopsticks” I knew it xD

“blamblamblamblamblAMBLAMBLAMBLAM”

Beau and Molly with their charisma flops

“I like you, you’re colorful.” Molly flirting with the innkeeper is giving me life

Oh god drinking contest later

Fjord is regretting sharing rooms with Molly now lol

They are being SO GOOFY tonight I’m living

Aww they ended up with a sad babby outcast gnome

Molly stepping in like a total dad

MOLLY HAS THE WORST CHARISMA AND INTIMIDATION

oh fuck this gnome punk flicked him off

omg Molly blood maledict?? ….actually since it won’t hurt him he probably deserved it.

GUYS OMG

So is tiny gnome chick’s name Reesa?

Beau continues to prove that she is the ultimate disaster lesbian

Nott and Jester choreographing a dance oh boy

TEAM DRINKING COMPETITION OMG

DONT. FUCKING. LEAVE. KIRI.

sure Nott let’s pay a working woman to babysit your baby bird

YA’LL. DON’T.

Oh right just have Yasha babysit Kiri that’s using your noggin there Molly

The innkeeper flirting with both Molly and Fjord

IM

CRYING

Fjord is so awkward

“She’s small, I can hold her down” Matt that was perfect and the most in-character way you could have played Yasha

Please stay safe Kiri my baby bird daughter child light of my life

OH DAMN JESTER

Jester being jealous trying to be catty with the innkeeper

B: “Did you just put a hooker on layaway?”

F: “Did you just say I’d had sex with your mom??”

J: “Yeah as soon as I said it I realized it sounded really creepy.”

Insight checking to find out if Fjord is a virgin omg

Caleb back to looking for bookstores that’s my boy

Molly please tell me you’re getting flowers for Yasha

Ah frick Nott you should be more careful please

Aw Nott don’t be sad :(((((

I’m glad Beau is trying to reassure her about not feeling bad about herself

Ooooo some Beau backstory

lol Beau was a bootlegger juvenile delinquent I love her even more

Holy shit her dad paid the monks to abduct her no wonder she has issues with authority

Jester is basically offering Fjord free sex at this point she wants him real bad

Meanwhile Travis is dying

Yoooo my boy found his bookstore

They’re closed, of course. But he can go back in the morning.

SOMEBODY BUY YASHA A PRETTY SILK FLOWER THING DAMMIT PLEASE

Matt’s little girl voices are the fucking cutest things help me

Jester setting up a playdate for Kiri I’m not crying you are

Tara is the cutest baby gnome child ever

Save a flower for Yasha please I’m literally begging

Caleb encouraging Nott to dance my heart

The Wand of Smiles thing kills me every time they use it

Matt is having WAY too much fun playing this innkeeper dwarf

30 gold just to get blackout drunk my god

Caleb needs to blackout he’s probably a lightweight

Oh damn wait Jester should probably

If anyone wins this for them it will be Nott she’s practically always drunk already

Aw poor Jester

Matt stop with all these adorable bird and gnome children I want to adopt them all

NOTT’S GONNA USE THE DAILY LUCK smart girl

SCOREBOARD TIME Molly’s round: Molly: loses, wins, wins, wins Duncan: wins, loses, loses, loses MOLLY WINS and he’s drunk as fuck Beau’s round: Beau: TIE, wins, loses, wins, loses, loses Ruth: TIE, loses, wins, loses, wins, wins Beau loses… and pukes. Ew. Caleb’s round (oh boy…): Caleb: WINS, loses, loses, wins!, WINS!!! Valkin: loses, wins, wins, loses, loses (Nott and Jester distraction dance) CALEB WINS WITH A NAT20 HEEEELLL YEAH THAT’S MY SON THAT’S MY BOY Fjord’s round: Fjord: wins, loses, WINS!, WINS! Tanya: loses, wins, loses (loooool fjord flirting with his competitor) (Jester plz stop you’re gonna make Caleb puke) FJORD WINS WITH DOUBLE NAT20s OMG!! oh no don’t do it double or nothing please oh god they’re gonna do it here we go Nott’s round (please kick his ass Nott plz): Nott “Otto The Bottomless Pit”: wins, wins!, loses, WINS!!!!!!!!!! Blemy “The Whale”:  loses, loses, wins, loses (making herself look gross lol. And using mage hand to pour. Jester trying to bless him.) NOTT WINS HEEEELLLL YEAH

I really thought they were all gonna lose omg

oh no

oh thank god he passed out before he could out her as a goblin

WOOOO FREE DRINKS

Please go to bed everyone

“The mighty nein, the mighty nein, the mightiest nein to ever neeeiiiinnn”

There’s a lot of love between this group right now. They just need to be wasted to show how much they like each other lol

Awww Jester and Caleb waltzing that’s cute

Molly and Nott join in and suddenly its a dance party

OH SHIT CALEB SAID SHIT HE SHOULDN’T HAVE SAID I’m crying he was into Astrid and now he’s sad

And Jester gets him into bed I CRY

I didn’t need Caleb feelings WHY

Wait what is Molly doing?

Ah blood magic stuff

I’m beginning to expect that Taliesin is drunk irl

MOLLY OMG THAT’S DISGUSTING

Matt’s just like “no, no, we’re not doing that no” he’s a total dad

BEAU GOT PICKPOCKETED

she lost 300 gold wtf

who was close to her I can’t even think of who it might have been

THEY HAVE ALL BEEN PICKPOCKETED

OH MY GOD

NOTT, MOLLY, FJORD, CALEB, AND BEAU HAVE ALL BEEN ROBBED

that’s bad

The only inconspicuous figure I can think of is the little girl but I mean…

Are they gonna accuse the little gnome girl omg you guys I wasn’t serious

Whatever happened to Reesa/Risa?

Oh there she is

JESTER DO NOT

Hnnn they gotta learn not to cast the spells so casually on people it’s gonna come back to bite them in the ass

Awww buying Kiri a cute little music box

Repeating crossbow aw damn Nott’s gonna want it real badly

ENCHANTED repeating crossbow

“The Tinkertop Bolt Blaster 1000”

two thousand gold i choked

REESA BE NICE TO YOUR ADORABLE DAD

Reesa and her dad are adorable I like them

Casting suggest sure let’s just cast more spells on random people smh

You made Fitz cry you guys and you’re probably gonna get them fires it’s not their fault you were dumb enough to get robbed this is a dick move I’m with Jester y’all are taking it too far

Okay good at least now they won’t get fired

OH OH OH THEY GOT A BLIP CHASE IT

god please protect kiri she only has 6hp guys please

IT WAS THE KID OMG

Molly’s about to give him all his gold look at his face

Or Beau will give them gold and Molly will give them advice on how to steal and not get caught stealing xD

…Fjord are you seriously planning a jailbreak right now

Do you even know anything about the prison

Nott is like “the solution is obvious we just adopt them like we adopted Kiri it’ll be great it’ll be fine”

…Fjord that’s soft and sweet I hate you because I can’t decided whether I love you or not

Nott playing on Beau’s backstory to try and prompt her to help find the kid’s parents

“leaving them as cold heartless resting bitches” xD

FJORD KEEPS BEING NICE AND IM. JUST. I WANNA JUST KEEP PICTURING YOU AS A SHIFTY FUCK STOP BEING SO NICE

Also yeah listen Fjord grew up in an orphanage

aw Fjord…

Caleb’s a little salty about this but Caleb come on they’re kids

I can’t believe they’re gonna try to pull off a jailbreak

Leave Kiri with these kids yes and now Matt I beg you do NOT, do NOT let her get dragged away please I beg you

Matt’s ability to perfectly mimic Fjord/Travis is amazing

MAN THIS WAS POSSIBLY THE BEST EPISODE? I loved it. I was laughing so hard for all the first half. Fantastic job @the cast

[houseofwhalien]

Hearts Collide Pt. 2

Jeon Jungkook x Reader, Jung Hoseok x Reader

Haven’t read part 1? Here it is.

Category: Angst, a little bit of fluff.

{Word Count: 2.6k}

WARNINGS: Just some light making out and some crying.

*Co-written by my friend, Yehbin Jeon who refuses to write fanfic and become an admin smh, someone convince her.

(A/N): I love this fanfic but idk where I’m taking it... I think I’ll make it into a series if that’s what Y'all would like??? Won’t be too long though. Also, there will probably be more smut at some point so don’t worry ;)    Want a part 3? Let me know!

Summary: After the unexpected happened between you and Jungkook, he goes on to ignore you until you confront him face-to-face.

Jungkook. Hoseok. The only two names that ever crossed your mind. It’s been about two weeks since you felt Hoseok’s skin on yours. Since you’ve felt Jungkook’s lips on yours. Hoseok has at least made an effort to talk to you. Since then, Jungkook has ignored your existence and your texts. If you showed up at his place to hang out with Taehyung, he’d stay in his room. 

You didn’t know what he wanted from you. Why would he kiss you then ignore you for weeks on end? Why would he play with your fragile heart? Hoseok has taken you out multiple times since then, but your mind couldn’t stop immediately going straight to him. Jungkook. The way he ushered you out of the door after the intimate connection you shared. 

But when he ignored you, it sparked more interest for Hoseok. You were on your way to Taehyung and Jungkook’s place to play some video games with Taehyung. You already knew the drill. Jungkook would see or hear you and lock his bedroom door for the rest of the night. You didn’t even bother knocking since Tae knew you were coming. 

“Hey, (Y/N)! You ready?” Tae called from the kitchen. Jungkook saw you and instantly made a B-line for his bedroom until Taehyung grabbed his forearm to pull him onto the couch. 

“Jungkook, you have to stay and play some games with us!” Tae begged while pouting cutely. 

“No, I have things to do...” Jungkook said while trying to get off of the couch, but Taehyung wouldn’t let him budge. 

“Come on! We are all friends here!” Taehyung said while looking at you and Jungkook. 

“Yeah, let’s play Jungkook.” You said in a mimicking tone that thankfully, Taehyung didn’t catch. Taehyung didn’t know anything about what happened between the two of you and you’re pretty sure Jungkook wants it to stay that way. You think Jungkook is embarrassed and confused about what he did two weeks ago. Although, you miss him being your friend. 

“Fine. One round only.” Jungkook rolled his eyes. 

“Damn, Kook. You must be really tired...” Taehyung chuckled.

You and Jungkook were playing a round and Taehyung made you both be on a team like you always would do when he played video games with you two. You saw someone sneak up behind Jungkook’s character and you instantly shot them to protect Jungkook like the loyal teammate you intended to be. The match was about to end and you had the highest points until Jungkook turned his character around and shot you. 

“What the hell, Jungkook?!” You yelled, dropping your controller on the couch once you stood up. Jungkook looked away from you and also stood up. He started walking towards his room before you felt enraged, not just because he killed you in the game, but because of the games he’s been playing with you. 

“Goodnight, Taehyung.” 

“No, get back here and explain yourself.” You yelled once again.

“I shot you. It isn’t that deep, (Y/N).” Jungkook laughed.

“No! I mean with everything! Why have you been such an ignorant asshole to me? Why are you ignoring me? You’re the one who kissed me and then forced me away. We are supposed to be friends!” You felt all of your true emotions come out of your body as you spoke. You saw the look on Taehyung’s face from your peripheral vision. His mouth was agape and he looked very confused. 

“Is that true?” Taehyung said while looking at Jungkook. Jungkook had a shocked look on his face as if all of his secrets were just exposed; which multiple of them just was. But you didn’t care that Taehyung was just a cushion away from you. You didn’t care that Taehyung would know what happened between you and Jungkook. 

“No- Well yeah but I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what I was thinking, honestly. It was clearly a mistake. That wasn’t me trying to confess my feelings or something. I don’t like you and I never will...” Jungkook went on. 

“Why are you being such an assho-” Taehyung started before you cut him off. 

“It’s okay Taehyung, I understand. The feeling is mutual.” You said while picking up your jacket to put it on and put your hand on the doorknob of the front door. You looked into Jungkook’s eyes and you saw a glint of hurt in his eyes, but you were too angry to care. 

“Thank you for inviting me over, Tae,” You said while looking at him, but then you changed your view to Jungkook. “And maybe you should do us both a favor and stay the fuck away from me...again.” You said and slammed the door behind you. As soon as you felt the harsh wind blow at your skin, you knew that you would miss Jungkook. You’d miss the days when you’d lay in bed together, eat snacks and watch movies. You’d miss the feeling of his stupid hands wrapping around your waist when you would hug him. 

His soft lips came back to your mind. Two weeks ago. The strangest moment in your life, yet you somehow don’t regret it. You liked the way your stomach formed a knot in the moment or how his lips seemed to lock perfectly with yours. You didn’t like Jungkook. No. Even if you did, Jungkook clearly didn’t want you and that’s something you’ll have to get over one way or another. 

The tears began to fall from your eyes as you thought about losing someone dear to you. But it was inevitable. Something you were forced to accept. You felt your phone vibrate but you chose to ignore it until you got back home. When you got home, the tears were still flowing, just not as bad as before. You got plenty of strange looks from the running mascara on your cheeks but you didn’t care. You just wanted to go to sleep and pretend this evening never happened. 

The day was full of remorse. You were confused with your feelings for Jungkook- wait, no you weren’t. You didn’t have any, or so you told yourself. You couldn’t lie to yourself anymore, you thought as you sat lazily on your couch with your hair up and your grey sweatpants on. You finally checked your phone since last night and saw multiple texts from Taehyung asking if you’re okay. Of course, your reply was a lie, but you ensured him that you’ll be fine. 

While trying to distract your mind while scrolling through Instagram, your phone began to vibrate. It was Hoseok. You answered your phone hoping Hoseok would cheer you up. 

“Hey (Y/N), how was your sleep?” Hoseok said with his usual playful, gentle voice. 

“It was alright, could have been better though. How was yours?” you replied. 

“Oh? I should have come to your apartment. I could have cuddled you and grabbed some chocolates to make you feel better.” He said with a sad voice. 

“Awe, that’s sweet, but I don’t know. I think I just needed a little time to myself. It’s all good right now.” You replied. 

“Oh, are you still needing time to yourself? I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie tonight around 10:15?″ 

“I’m good now, don’t worry about me,” You chuckled. “I’d love to go to the movies with you.” 

“Okay, great! I’ll pick you up before then. Talk to you soon!” He said while hanging up. You truly did like Hoseok, but your mind was spinning with all of this confusion given to you by Jungkook. Did you like him? Or did you want to punch him? It was all too much to think about so you decided to just get ready for your date. You did your makeup cutely, picked out a lovely purple dress and made your hair nice. A few minutes after you finished you got a text from Hoseok saying that he was outside. You slipped on your heels and grabbed your purse before walking out the door. 

The movie started and you were quite excited since you heard this movie was really good. You and Hoseok decided to share some popcorn instead of getting separate ones. The beginning of the film was good! You thought it was going to just keep getting better. Hoseok reached over and held onto your hand gently to show his affection and you loved it. You really felt something for Hoseok. More than Jungkook? Of course. Well, that’s what you told yourself.

As the movie went on, a scene came on where the man was ignoring the girl because he had feelings for her that she could not deliver back and it caused your mind to think all about Jungkook. All about his behavior these past few weeks and how he was ignoring you too. Just like the film. It hurt your heart and you’re pretty sure Hoseok began to notice your uncomfortable shifting and expression because he took his hand away from yours and drug the popcorn bucket onto his lap to indulge into. The movie just happened to be the situation you’re living in and it was quickly driving you crazy. Crazy for Him? No, of course not, just like what you’ve always told yourself...

In the movie, the man kissed the girl and she pushed him off. After that, you couldn’t help but let your mind go to you and Jungkook. You didn’t mean to torture yourself like this. You got up so abruptly that your hand knocked over the bucket of popcorn that was sat on Hoseok’s lap and spilled it on the floor. Hoseok gasped at the sudden action.

“I’m s-sorry, I just really need to go.” You said trying not to let your weak voice show, but judging by Hoseok expression he was worried. You ran off to find the exit of the theatre when you bumped into someone else. 

It just had to be Jeon Jungkook of all people. 

“(Y/N)? Are you okay?” He asked, almost like he forgot to stay mad at you. You didn’t know that you were actually crying until you felt a tear roll down your blushed cheek. You looked at him, but your eyes traveled down to his hand and saw he was holding another girls hand. She looked like she felt bad for you. You felt so embarrassed.

“(Y/N)?” You heard Hoseok call out for you. You didn’t want him to see you in this state so you looked at Jungkook once more before going straight into the bathroom. Jungkook looked behind him as you ran away, watching you but then remembered that you asked him to leave you alone during your argument. He contemplated going to you and telling you that everything will be okay, even if he knew nothing about what you were crying about. But, he also remembered the girl attached to his side. 

Jungkook walked up to Hoseok once he spotted him and told him that he saw you running to the bathroom. Hoseok thanked his friend and walked in when no one was looking. 

“(Y/N),” He started. “I know you’re in here...” 

You just sniffled and tried to wipe away as many tears as you possibly could before unlocking the stall and revealing yourself to him.

“Babe,” He said before pulling you into a hug. “Did I do something to hurt you?” He asked while stroking your hair. 

“No- It’s not you. I’m just emotional lately.” You giggle while wiping more of your tears away. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hoseok grabbed onto your hand. 

“No, I’ll be fine, just being a baby.” You smiled at his caring gestures. He handed you some toilet paper from one of the stalls to blot your tears away. 

“Do you want to leave? I don’t like the movie that much anyway...” 

“Please.” 

While Hoseok drove you to your apartment, you let your mind wander since it was only silence. The only noise was the radio quietly playing and Hoseok humming along to whatever song was playing. You fidgeted with your hands while you thought. 

Seeing Jungkook again, but in a less enraged state didn’t help much with your feelings. He was your best friend but now, when you think of the way he kissed you, you can’t help but imagine what it would be like to date him. You’ve already seen his best and worst sides. You’ve seen him cry and be happy and you’ve been through all his hardships and always was there to boost his ego when he needed it. And of course, he returned all of these favors when you needed them for yourself. 

But you wanted to see what Hobi could do for you. You didn’t just want to fuck him then throw him aside. You wanted to see his potential as boyfriend material. And so far, he was succeeding. He showed that he cared. So far, better than Jungkook. You decided to stop thinking about this topic to calm yourself from the recent breakdown you just had. 

When Hoseok pulled up to your place, you turned to him. 

“Do you want to come in for a bit?” You offered. 

“Oh, Sure!” He smiled.

Once you were inside, you took Hoseok’s jacket from him and hung it on the rack beside the door. 

“I love the decorations in your apartment!” Hoseok Complimented. 

“Thank you. Do you want to watch something else now or...” You offered to him. 

“Yeah of course. Maybe something less romantic and more action?” He suggested. 

“I one-hundred percent agree.” You laughed.Once a movie was picked, you say side by side on the couch with his arm around you and you leaned into his figure. As the movie went on, you felt yourself get tired. That is until Hoseok attempted to get intimate with you. He took his hand away from around you to put a finger under your chin and pull your face to his. He looked into your eyes before connecting his lips to yours. 

You liked Hoseok a lot, but you couldn’t help but think about how that pleasurable knot in your stomach that Jungkook caused when he kissed you, wasn’t in your stomach when Hoseok kissed you. You lost yourself in the kiss, even when he pulled you onto his lap. You didn’t stop even when his tongue entered your mouth. You didn’t stop when his hands grasped your ass. You didn’t stop when he moaned into your mouth. But you did stop when you felt his hips grind up into yours. You pulled away from the kiss quite suddenly and you stood up to get off of his lap. 

“I’m sorry.” He apologized breathlessly.

“It’s not your fault,” You sighed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I thought it wouldn’t be so different since we already had sex once, but I just can’t...” You sat back down beside him and put your face in your hands. You weren’t just talking about having sex with this handsome man, but starting a relationship with him. He was so kind and bright and beautiful, but it felt as if your heart belonged somewhere else. 

“It’s okay. It seems like your very confused with your feelings,” He began. You didn’t like where he was taking this because you knew he was going to be right. “I think we should just stop with the dates and seeing each other for a bit. Not that I don’t want to see you! I just want to give you time and space to figure out your shit. I don’t know who or what is causing this confusion but once you figure it out, call me.” He said while he got up and put on his jacket. 

“No, Hoseok. I’m sorry-” You started, but he waved you off.

“I’m not mad, I’m doing this to help you. I get it, this shit’s hard sometimes. Take care, (Y/N).”

And with that, he walked out of your apartment. 

Part 3 anyone? 

~Talk to me in my inbox or tell me who you want the reader to end up with in the end! 

[elegant-phff]

Four.You Are Freaking Scarlet Witch

The Next Day

8:30 am

Alexandra Larsson

The sound of my alarm buzzed through my large bedroom.Groaning I rolled over,causing me to fall on the floor below with a loud thud."Godfuckingdamnit"I groaned."This is clearly why you shouldn't get drunk Alexandra!"I scolded myself.I had no plans of going clubbing the previous night.Unfortunately.three royals had different plans.Beatrice and Eugenie had arrived unexpectedly at my house and well,dragged me out of my bed and forced me to dress up and go out with them.According to them,I was still 'not over my sappy situation'.By that I believe they meant that I wasn't over Henry.Which is true in some aspects.I miss his charming smile which would make any girl swoon,how he'd cuddle with me after a day full of exhausting work schedule  and how he'd tell me he loved me and how he'd always be there for me.At the same time I was grateful to have found out about his tactics.I was Glad that I found out about all of his misdeeds before the wedding.It could have been worse.

The past two months I coped with my heartbreak in my own way.I buried myself in work.Thankfully I have six long months of filming Captain America:Civil War starting next month in Atlanta and Germany which would occupy my mind and I had busied myself by working out to get back in shape for the role.I have also decided to take up more charities than before.I joined  "The Trust Support","YoungMinds" and "Action For Happiness".In addition,I also became a UNICEF Ambassador and an UN spokeswoman.As much as hardwork it was,it kept me distracted and that's all that mattered.

I rubbed my eyes trying to get used to the awful brightness coming through my windows.I glanced at the bedside table and saw that it was 8:30 am.I threw the duvet off my body and slid on my slides.Tumbling to the bathroom,I almost had a heart attack when I saw myself in the mirror."Holy shit,I look like a fucking demon,"I screamed but quieting down as soon as my voice gave me a headache.I lazily washed my face and brushed my teeth because they stinked.I took a quick shower and stepped out of my walk-in closet wearing a oversized hoodie and a pair of sweatpants.Since I was too lazy to make myself anything good,I opted for cereal and a cup of hot coffee.As much as I loved some good English Tea,I loved coffee more than anything in this world.I could not live a day without some good Cold Brew from Starbucks.

After I finished my breakfast,I took a Paracetamol and I opened my phone to see a lot of missed calls and messages from unknown numbers."Shit,please don't tell me that I drunkenly gave unknown people my number,"I mumbled to myself.Opening the first message it read:

'HRLLLLLOORRR ISSA SKIPPPPYYYYYYYYYY'

I laughed and let out a 'dafuq',quickly I responded with a,"Hello to you too drunken Skip!I hope a hangover as enthusiastic as the text you sent is currently occurring to you-A very hungover Alexandra."

Instantly he responded with"Fuck of!"

I laughed and left him on seen as it seemed he didn't want to be bothered.Opening the next messages,I realized they were from Guy,Sam,Zara,Mike and a very enthusiastic Savannah who was not at all hungover unlike the rest of us.Opening the last text it read,"Pretty please tell me tihs is Alexandra THe Graet?!"I laughed as I would use this as my nickname sometimes."Depends on whose asking,"I replied.I waited a few seconds and when no response came I decided to leave it and get back to my day.

For the day I didn't have much planned but knowing that I would end up procrastinating I started working right away.I had to respond to all the emails that my assistant Theresa forwarded to me.I had to go through all the papers sent from UN and I had a Skype meeting with the CEO of YoungMind.Then I would head over to the gym to go through my daily workout.I hadn't received the script for CA:CW yet so I couldn't practice my lines.

I made myself some Cold Brew and tied my hair in a bun and sat down to respond to the emails.Halfway through the process my phone screen lights up indicating that I have a new notification.I glanced at my phone screen  and saw that it was from the last unknown number from the previous night.I guessed that it would be Liz or Harry from the group or a stranger that I ended up giving my number to.Hopefully,it wasn't a stranger and if it was they weren't going to snoop to the paparazzis.I slid my finger over the notification to open it,"Oh well,I am Henry the great then 🤴🏻"I smiled knowing that it was Harry and no stranger."I have honestly so many questions regarding your text Harry,"I replied.In a matter of a few seconds,he replies,"As away then!"I laugh at the unnecessary use of the exclamation point."First of all,What if I accidentally gave you the wrong number and the text was sent to the wrong person?You know,you could have revealed your identity to a fucking stranger!Secondly.Did you just steal my nickname?!!HOW DARE YOU?Thirdly,did u seriously just use a guy wearing a crown emoji?Also,petition for Apple to release a ginger guy emoji!"I replied."LANGUAGE!"He replied.I almost fell of my chairing laughing at the reference he made."Secondly,damn woman chill with your questions,"He texted again."You just told me to ask away..."I replied. "Okay...nevermind."He replied."Also did you just reference Captain America?!I didn't know you were a Marvel fan!"I replied excitedly.It would be fun to tease him about it."You have no idea how big of a fan Will and I are!"He texted back."Yeah!We were crazy comic fans in our childhood and we started watching the Avengers movies because of George's insistance."

"You know what I just realized?"He added."What?"I asked curiously."YOU ARE FREAKING SCARLET WITCH LIKE OMG I AM TALKING TO SCARLET WITCH RIGHT NOW,"I laughed at his excitement.He literally sounded like every Marvel fan I have ever encountered."How come you didn't notice it before?smh,plastic fan,"I decided to tease him a bit."WHAT???NO!!I am not a plastic fan!I just didn't realise it because in the movie you have long brown hair and brown eyes with a weird non British European accent and in irl you have short blonde hair and a British accent so it was very different and also I was drunk so...not my fault!!"He ranted."Damn chill out!I was just teasing ya 🤦🏼‍♀️."I responded."Oh okay,phew ya know I don't want your cast mates (aka RDJ,Evans,Paul Bettany AND PAUL RUDD ) to think that I was a fake fan :)"He replied."Damnn,I gotta tell everyone one that Prince Harry is a plastic fan next month ;)"I joked."HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT YALL START FILMING NEXT MONTH?!!!"I mentally slap myself because I wasn't suppose to say it."Shit,you were not suppose to know that.FUCK,don't tell anyone tho."I replied."Only in one condition,you tell me whose in which team ;)"

"Too bad haven't got the script yet!"

"Wait why?dont you guys start filming next week so don't you have to rehearse or something?"

"Yeah but Marvel is very secretive.We don't get the scripts for highly anticipated movies until the last moment."

"Damn I thought I was gonna be a exclusive marvel fan for the first time :("

"Lmao,you are a exclusive person Harry"

"Buzz feed quiz says otherwise"

"Omfg you are such a fanboy."

"What can I say,born and raised in comic ;)"

"Sure Jan"

I waited for is reply but it didn't come as soon as the previous texts.After a while he finally replied:

"HI ALEXA ITS KATE HERE,I JUST WANTED TO ASK IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING US THREE IN BRUNCH NEXT WEEK?-Kate xx"

I laughed as all of a sudden Kate appeared in the middle of our conversation.She could have just texted me from her phone."Lmao,Kate is always hype when it comes to things including you 😂"I chuckled."What can I say?She is my number one fan.Also inform her that I am in,just tell her to text me the details earlier from HER phone."

"Smh I feel like a goddamn messenger."

"As you wish 😒"

"Okay I gotta go,Uncle duties calling me!"

"Have fun !"

Just liked that,I closed my phone and went back to doing work.

The entire day consisted of me being an adult.I replied to important mails,went through papers,online meetings and so on.It felt good to hangout with a few friends before I would be gone for a long period of time.

I couldn't wait to get to know these new friends a bit more.

[shiningforvixx]

180422 - 일산 (Ilsan) Fansign (6VIXX)

So I feel a couple ways about fansigns in that I want to see VIXX and talk to them in theory, but I feel a lot of pressure about saying the right thing to the members. If you just go to one fansign in your life, you can think of something really significant and then say that and be done. On the other hand, if you go to lots of fansigns, you can just chat about whatever. However, if you go to just a handful, you’re caught in the in between where you do have more than one chance to talk to them, but really how much do they actually remember you? Also, it may be my imagination, but every other fansign I’ve been to has left something lacking. The other ones are great. This time it was the great kind’s turn to have a go.

I went somewhat early to the venue because I picked up a camera from a friend on the way there. The number I picked (out of 100) was right in the middle, which personally is great to me but for pictures/view in a flat room (without staggered seats;;) is not great. Anywho, I was sitting there, and a friend of mine came over to ask me to film her while she went up. The person next to me must have heard me talking to her in Korean (mostly listening, but still) because after a while, she talked to me. She asked me (super politely and hesitantly) for a post-it, so I told her I got mine from the fan staff. It turned out to be her first fansign, so she was nervous. I told her I was nervous even though it wasn’t my first fansign. And I was. I was so nervous before going up to talk to them, but the thing is, I wasn’t nervous about being near VIXX, I was nervous because I didn’t know what to say. I think this is why I was nervous for the second 도원경 fansign too. Anywho, she and I chatted a bit here and there during the fansign and that was fun and helped my nerves.

I noticed Leo doing this...dumb thing where he was like granting people permission to approach him with a nod of his head. He was the first one in the line up and thus had such power. I guess it went to his head. One time in particular he even held his hand up so the person stopped before he decided they could approach him and nodded his head. This guy smh

Unfortunately, despite my frantically trying to jot down all that happened right when I sat down after talking to all of them, I managed to garble and forget some parts of what happened. This is my attempt at an ‘accurate’ replay of the signings.

As I have mentioned, I was rather nervous before going up to the stage, but upon actually approaching VIXX, I calmed down. Or rather, I wasn’t actually nervous. So I go up to the (unfairly gorgeous silver-haired beauty) Jung Taekwoon. I had sort of tried to think of some things to say, but I didn’t exactly get to say...anything I had wanted to really. Seriously, this guy;; I went up and he said “Hi,” so I said “hi” back. Then he said, “It’s been a while.” Which. It sort of had been? I mean, it depends what he was referring to. I saw him at his musical? And I had seen him the day before at Music Core (where he definitely didn’t see me). If he meant it had been a while since we’d been face-to-face...yeah. It had been about 6 months now that I think of it. Back to the fansign though, Leo glanced at the postcard I had written him and started chatting away. (Now I realize this may have been somewhat my fault because my first line of the letter was something about me possibly not having anything to say at the fansign. He glanced at what I had written and must have seen something about my dream because he suddenly asked what my dream was. I told him I want to be a translator and he immediately said he knows I will become one. Thanks Leo. (This Leo was such a turn around from the poor baby I saw at the LR fansign I went to. Poor sick babyㅠㅠ) He looked at the postcard I gave another time and realized there was Japanese on it. For some reason he was ridiculously surprised and said, “Japanese?!” So I told him I went to Japan. Which he then repeated. So I added that yes, I went, and I saw the hamjji that was so cute (on the postcard) that I had to buy it. He sort of ignored that comment...as he does. He also asked if I like Korea and why I do. I was reminded of the time during a 도원경 fansign when Ken asked what I like best about Korea. Upon hesitating, he offered the answer of “VIXX”, which I readily agreed was the best thing. I tried to use this answer with Leo, but I don’t know if he found it to be too jokey or what, but he was unsatisfied. He further asked if I like Korean food. (Yes.) Then asked if I liked spicy food. (Also yes.) I really feel like I’ve missed something here though because the flow of the conversation seems off...Anyway, we ended with him thanking me and 오래보자s to each other, so I won’t complain. (Except I looked at a video of me that my friend took and realized that I talked to Leo the least of all the membersㅠㅠㅠ He was leading the conversation too muchㅠㅠAgain. However, my friend reminded me that his asking me questions meant he was curious about me, so I feel better about it all haha)

Ravi was after Leo and somehow we managed to not be awkward! It is a miracle! I seriously thought that Ravi and I would be awkward with each other for all of eternity, but finally after 2.5 years of seeing him, 4 other fansigns, and semi-talking to hims once, we may have escaped Awkward Land! I think the first thing he asked me was how I have been (in English), to which I responded in Korean that I was doing well. I had already planned to talk to him about his lyrics/songs, so I told him that I like Navy & Shining Gold. I said I particularly liked the part in the song about being sorry. I also explained that I translate his songs and they are usually really hard (but this one wasn’t). He said hard at like the same time as me too though haha. (I think this was when he said sorry in English.) He said that he should make them easier, but I said no. I like that his lyrics are hard to express in another language because that means they are poetic. I feel like we might have mentioned something else here because we talked for a bit...strange. Anyway, we ended with the typical see you agains. (A side note: I kept being distracted by Ravi’s eyebrow?? The one with the scratch through it?? I kept looking at it when we talked. Even though he had a tissue sticking out of his nose as well because he had a nose bleedㅠㅠ)

Next was our Hyuk baby! I always struggle with what to say to Hyogi because...I don’t know he seems like such a mystery. This time I was prepared with a comment about his song on the album Good Day. I went up and he said hello (안녕하세요), and I replied with the same. I told him that he makes songs really well and that I quite like Good Day. I said that when I just hear the song, I feel great. To which Hyuk replied, “Oh really?” ...This kid;; I added that I like his other songs too. 안아줄게 and Milky Way. He’s really good at making exciting songs. However, this kid continued to not give me any material to work with and said, “Really? Thank you~” At this point, there was a pause where we were just looking at each other and blinking. Upon watching the video my friend shot of me, I couldn’t find this pause, but I swear there was oneㅠㅠ Silly time slowing down on me. Anyway, I figured we shouldn’t just stare at each other for eternity, but I didn’t know what to say anymore and Hyuk wasn’t helping me out either. So I literally said, “I don’t know what I should say.” Then Hyuk smoothly asked where I came from. I decided to lighten the atmosphere by saying the part of Seoul I came from, which made him laugh. (Success!) I continued by telling him I am from California. Then he just said, “California wine!” Cue me not knowing exactly what to do with that semi-statement. I asked if he likes wine, so he said yes and asked for a recommendation. Good thing I like wine too, but honestly I’m still figuring out what I like (and have a bias toward Italian wines for some reason). I thought of this almond wine I’d enjoyed before and tried to describe it. I ended with saying it was a sparkling wine, and Hyuk said, “Oh~ sparkling wine!” That was when he said thanks and we exchanged ‘see you agains.’

Ahhh, then N was nextㅠㅠㅠㅠ He is such a sweetheart and makes my heart all warm and fuzzy every fansign I go to. He seriously must steal so many hearts at fansigns. He makes you feel so special and noticed, you know? I went up to him and he said he remembers me. I wasn’t particularly surprised at this point because I have seen VIXX quite a few times, I know they’ve seen me a few times at least, and I am visually rather different than most fans. Anyway, he said he remembered me and that it had been a long time, right? On the spur of the moment I decided to ask if he knew how long it had been since I started coming to see them. He thought for a moment. Then he said, “I don’t remember exactly, but...3 years?” Although he was asking, his expression was expectant that he was pretty close. I was so...not exactly surprised but happy maybe? I told him it had been almost 3 years. I went to VIXX N Kpop sometimes back in the day. He nodded in understanding saying that that must be why he remembers my face. I told him that back then I didn’t know Korean. He seemed a bit surprised and said my Korean is good now (thanks haha). N said he hoped the radio was helpful and I made sure to say that it really was because he speaks so clearly. And then at the end he said “see you again^^”

Oh Kenneth. That kid was next. He...is always a fun one. He will probably always start in English. He said it had been a long time, so I responded in English that it had been. When he asked if I had been doing well, though, I switched to Korean to say I am doing well. I don’t recall if either of us said much else yet, but I overheard the person next to me speaking to Hongbin in Japanese. That really threw me off because my brain was suddenly like, “Japanese! You should listen to it! I don’t know what Korean isㅇㅅㅇ” I literally put my hands up to block the sound from my right side, and poor little Ken was so confused. I finally got across the point that my problem was hearing the Japanese next to me. The confusion (which he was trying to hide) immediately lifted from his face. Confusion turned to him being impressed and asking if I knew Japanese too. He was like, “You speak 3 languages? Korean, Japanese, and English?” So I told him my history of translating VIXX stuff, starting with Japanese and now mostly just doing Korean. He told me I am a genius (in English). More specifically he said, “Genius이네요!”ㅋㅋㅋ I of course denied being a genius and we said see you again before I moved on.

Last was Hongbin...with whose interaction I don’t remember very wellㅠㅠ I do know that he said my name (which I just love when he says). Then Ken leaned over (because no one was in front of him yet) and told Hongbin that I know Japanese too. Hongbin was impressed and asked how I learned Korean, so I told him. I also semi-jokingly said that VIXX helped me. (But really though.) I told him that I sort of picked up some of the members’ speech patterns because I had watched so much of their stuff, haha. I think he was somewhat amused at that (or didn’t believe me, who knows?). He also asked where I came from, so I asked if he meant now. He said originally, so I told him I was from California but now live in the area of Seoul I live in. He asked (again--see 도원경 fansign #1) how long I have liked VIXX. I said about 4 years (to keep it simple seeing as that is when I feel I became a fan rather than just liking them). He thought I said 3 years though, so I corrected him. He seemed a bit impressed at the length. I think that is all we talked about before saying our goodbyes.

After going through and getting signatures from and talking to everyone, I had to wait a while for everyone to finish. At the end, 2 people were selected to ask questions. One person asked about the order of VIXX’s names in the fanchant for My Valentine. N explained that the order was just the order that the members stand up for the choreography. (The fanchant was changed to this to match the members standing up instead of the usual age order chant.) They also shared how the members almost laughed when the fans were confused that 2 members were standing up at a time (because the music show they were on had cut the song slightly without warning the fans;;). The second question was whether they had cried when listening to a song before. They each went through and answered and they said goodbye and left. (Leo kept waving until the very end and poked his head back out after the door closed. He even opened the 2nd door, which they hadn’t gone through, to wave again. The fan manager had to point that out for us to see because everyone was already getting up to go. That precious kidㅠㅠ

(Video here.)

[clove-teasdale]

eureka

*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

A/N: challenge #3. YALL, THIS TOOK FOREVER AND I’M READY. Anyhow. this is a late rp and fic I should’ve done ages ago (I’M SORRY GRACE, SHUSH). I’m using it as my challenge cause deadline is near. Another rp with a royal will come after this tho. This has detective clove and conspiracies(?) I hope you like it <3 some stuff is revealed more clearly and hopefully the ending isn’t bad. forgive typos and lengh (around 4k smh). ft. @brooks-schreave  , some guards and the mysterious call I’d mentioned on my last fic. This takes place before the first official dates with nate and that rp from the brooks pov.

*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

“Lady Clove?” Officer Rogers’ voice asked from the other side of my door after a knock.

I closed my magazine and placed it on the desk. “You can come in.”

The young officer did so quickly, bowing more than he should’ve. He was the awkward out of the pair that sometimes patrolled our hall. “Young and inexperienced,” Barnes had explained the day I’d asked one of them to bring me lunch. 

It had been the day of the Report when the maids were too busy with my clothes and hair and shoes to get me the lunch I’d skipped, earning a scolding from Chris, the eldest of the trio. Rogers had almost immediately scurried to do the favor I’d asked until Barnes had sighed and stopped him, remembering him he was to tell a servant and then return to the post instead of bringing it himself. The blonde had been so visibly flustered by the reminder it was almost comical. 

Barnes had only shaken his head as he watched him go. He had one of those misleading faces, not seeming but a few years older than Rogers, but clearly older by the way he carried himself and acted. Keen and observant--not someone that could do the task I’d asked Rogers without suspicion. Rogers was rash, too eager to prove himself to question the logic behind a request.

“Did you get it?” I asked, walking over to him as he took a few magazines out of the shopping bag.

“Yes...may I ask why these ones in particular?”

Okay, he had some curiosity after all, but at least no skepticism. “It’s interesting to see what other people think of the Selection. I never thought I’d read about it while participating in it, so it’s smart to be informed on how the outside perceives us”

“Ah,” he seemed to understand, or at least buy my excuse. “You only get access to Illéa Illustrated in the palace.”

I nodded, taking a look at the covers of the set he’d handed me. “Usually, that’s the norm, yes.” Because Illéa Illustrated was a supporter of the royal family. That’s why they got to cover the most crucial information and were granted the most interviews. Sure, they let us get some random gossip magazines as well, but those were the harmless ones that just had fun at making us look bad--or good--and creating fun content for people to read.

The titles I’d asked Rogers to get were all affiliated to the monarchies’ strongest critics. The ones that didn’t get big outlets like newspapers...or that’s what I could recall Dad saying. It was his job to be informed about that type of thing and though he always considered them to be annoying, they were never a concern. Their general pettiness and unprofessionalism posed no threat. I knew they were always under his hidden radar though, just in case they ever stumbled upon a problematic topic.

At the moment, their opinion was what I wanted. Any type of ridiculous reaching. They wouldn’t say something big or the whole country would already be talking about it whether they were unknown writers before or not, but there could be something. After the call earlier that week, I’d take whatever I could take.

“Hey, Daisy,” my father greeted as the call began. Sometimes he liked calling me random flowers as an inside joke to me being named after a plant, but not any ever so popular flower.

“Gonna tell me how much you miss me?” I asked, leaning on a wall. I was kidding, of course. We never called each other for that sort of stuff. Mom would be the one to do that, but he kept the charade going.

“Yeah, sending all the kisses to my favorite daughter.”

“I’m your only daughter.”

“See? You don’t even have to doubt I’m being serious because there’s no way you’re not the favorite.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing very well he was probably reading over paperwork as he made ridiculous remarks to me on the phone. I felt a smile tug at my lips, but it wavered as Nate’s confession a few days ago came to mind. His lie about me not wanting to see them anymore.

Pressing my lips together, I twirled my finger around the cord of the phone. A weak attempt to stop myself from snapping at him. “So what’s up?”

“Cutting it to the chase, good,” I could hear the amusement in his voice and I wished I could share it as usual. “I’m going to the palace soon. I thought I’d give you a heads up. Make some time for me in your heavy schedule. I know you’re an important Lady now.”

Part of me wanted to keep the sarcasm going, but the other half was dreading the news. Would I be able to carry a full conversation without bringing his lie up? If I decided on boarding the topic on purpose, how bad would it be? I wasn’t sure I wanted to open that can of worms. We didn’t talk about those years now. Only mom ever brought them up in arguments with him. 

“Clove?”

I realized then I’d been quiet for a moment. “Yeah, sorry, I thought I saw a guard gesturing at me,” I lied, “he was just waving a fly away.”

He scoffed a laugh, and I gulped when a thought hit me. “What’s got you coming to the palace this time?”

“Oh, you know how work is.”

“Does Mr. Revis have a new stupid plan in progress?” That got him to chuckle. “No, no dumb projects to debunk with the others this time. Just meeting up with Radcliffe.”

The private secretary of the King? “Did something happen?”

“No, we’re conducting a meeting, that’s all. General discussion on an ongoing thing, nothing too important.” He brushed it aside and all my thoughts were suddenly on high alert.

“Only the two of you?” A pause, nothing but a second or two, but I clenched my fist around the cord as I waited.  

“There might be a couple other advisers actually, but it won’t be until Thursday. Will you make some time for your old man?”

“Sure, I’ll check my schedule. I wasn’t aware you had a project with him though.”

He knew I was curious. When I was younger I always said I wanted nothing to do with politics like him, but I liked knowing about it. Dad always said I was being nosy, but he caved in, slipping in a detail or two. Thankfully, this time wasn’t different.

“Oh, well, actually it’s about you girls. You’ll have to learn to deal with more than just etiquette and glamour, you know?” A voice interrupted on his side, very likely Tony, his assistant. “I’ll take it in a moment,” he replied to him, then back at me he added, “Hey, gotta go Tulip, but I’ll see you later in the week, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll see you then. Tell mom I say hello.”

“I will.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up, so I was left alone, frowning at the phone. What he said had made sense in a way, it was expected, but it made no sense for him not to simply say that from the beginning. It wasn’t normal for him to bother being secretive with me.

Once back on my room, I looked out the window that revealed another sunny day in Angeles. My gaze wandered off to the closet where I kept a bow with some of the magazines Rogers had bought for me and a couple old ones from the library; the only sources I’d had to analyze so far in my strange research.

We’re conducting a meeting, the words echoed in my head. If there was something I was good at it was coming up with stuff on the spot, half the time no one noticed and I’d gotten that ability from Dad.

Why did he pause? Hesitation.

I’d been too restless and needed a distraction, so trying to make friends as I’d told Wilson I would, I went to one of the rooms across the hall. Eloise’s room. We’d talked a few times during breakfast the past days, starting with the food and ending up on whatever topic came to mind after some random story or the other.

She had an easy going personality, and after a not-so-quick game of chess with elaborate rules, I realized she wasn’t too bad at guessing games. I was right about us maybe being friends eventually, the conversation going pretty well after the game. It did begin to die down after a while though and another idea formed in my head.

I’d been considering how to get to the third floor, the dreaded Thursday dawning on me as I figured my plan to spy on that meeting somehow. Besides, lying my way past the guards--which I’d learned would be Barnes and Rogers--I had not much of a plan. In theory, I could pull it off, but…

I looked back at Eloise. “How would you feel about staging at fall?”

Eloise wasn’t one to pry, but I still gave her a decent excuse the next day as to why I was trying to get to the third floor, mentioning it was a surprise for my dad visiting.

“Well, that’s a lot better than what I was imagining,” she admitted.

Right. Better.

Once she’d done her part and the wonder duo was focused on helping her out from her fall, I sneaked up the stairs. I’d have to give the girl credit for being so on board with this later.

The hallways in the third floor seemed both familiar and foreign, but once I managed to remember where my dad’s office was, it only took a couple more minutes to find Radcliffe's. I made sure to keep my steps silent, my hands already sweating a bit by the time I reached the door, hoping to catch some of the conversation inside. 

I was practically in front of it when arms were wrapped around me from behind, my first instinct to yell. A hand was over my mouth before I had a chance to do so, however, and the arms were already lifting me slightly to haul me back.

Oh, God, what now, think, think, think... I squirmed, trying to free myself, trying to push back the second instinct: to panic. Hard grip, quite a couple of inches taller, very likely stronger and a man, my thoughts scurried, but as laughter erupted from inside the meeting room and the doorknob twitched, they deviated. They had the door locked?

As I registered that in my head, the assailant took advantage of my distraction and dragged me behind a wall, out of sight as the door opened. I focused back on the more important matter and freed one of my arms enough to elbow his side. He groaned in pain and the arms released me. I spun around ready to punch whoever it was but stopped as soon as I recognized the freckled face in front of me. You moron, my fist fell beside me. “Brooks?” I would’ve yelled it if it weren’t because we were hiding.

He shushed me anyway, eyes scanning the area. Not a second passed before he reached for my hand and dragged me down the hall. “Follow me.”

That’s not how following works. Wiggling my hand out of his grip, I continued the argument in hushed tones. “Do you want me to have a heart attack? Next time you do that I won’t aim for a rib.” Seriously, what is wrong with him, for the love of-- His hand went to the area I’d elbowed. “My bad for helping you not get caught.” I averted my gaze from his hand to push away the guilt of hurting him. It wasn’t like my reaction had been uncalled for. “I had it under control. If someone saw me I could say I was looking for my dad. He was in there.” I pointed back at the hall, but paused, realizing he was there. “Wait, hold on, how did you know I was sneaking around? What are you even doing up here?” “What were you doing there?” “I asked first.” “Promise not to tell?” There was clearly something going on. I narrowed my eyes before taking a subtle look around myself. Shifting, I placed a hand on my hip. “Go ahead.” He took my hand again for some reason, giving me no chance to glare at him before dragging me to the staircase. Barnes and Rogers were back on their posts by the time we reached the bottom, at first not giving us much of a glance. 

When I looked over my shoulder, however, I was briefly met with Barnes’ scowl and Rogers’ bewilderment. I caught a glimpse of the blonde one wiping his head to look back at the stairs in confusion before we turned down a corner.

Brooks knew exactly what shelf he wanted to show me and immediately took a journal from it. “Look at this.”

I was annoyed by his lack of an explanation as we rushed here, but took the journal anyway to flip through it. I frowned as soon as I opened the middle of it and noticed it was more of a book. Margins were filled with annotations next to the simple text, the word “Selection” popping up pretty quickly on the Times New Roman font. 

It was about the Selection, but the cover didn’t indicate it. It didn’t even seem like a book until you opened it. I’d scouted the library for days now and there was nothing but magazines regarding the Selection. I lifted my eyes back to the prince in surprise; then suspicion as I noticed his serious gaze. We couldn’t possibly be looking into the same stuff, yet… I tried figuring out the annotations before making any questions.

Whoever had held that pen, deserved never to hold one again. It was worse writing than mine in a rush. “The Selection will be a raffle,” the text read, underlined to lead to that godawful penmanship. My eyes widened a minute later as I managed to deincript one of the sentences.

No puede ser realmente al azar.

“It’s a fixed raffle?” “What?” Brooks snatched the journal back, “You can read this?” I glared before taking it from him again. “Yes, I can. It’s horrible handwriting, but I know my Spanish when I see it.” I frowned at the sloppy letters, strung together more than they should be. “Or mostly…”

He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a shaky laugh. It was like watching a mathematician figure out the solution to his equations had been in front of him all along. “Do you know what this means?” I gave no reaction, trying to figure out more sentences as I gulped. I understood how he felt. I felt the ‘eureka’ tugging at me, but I couldn’t settle for it. I’d spent the past weeks thinking maybe all of my ridiculous thoughts were a product of my boredom and know I had something tangible.

I resorted to sarcasm as I focused on more annotations and replied, “That he was a Hispanic doctor?” “Clove, think. I know you can.” “I was joking.” I frowned, flipping through the journal once more. “It means bad news.” “Why were you outside the meeting room?” I ignored him, thoughts spiraling down a path I didn’t like. Could it all be true? Had my lousy math actually led me to something? Did dad know? There was no way he didn’t.  “Clove!” “What!” I yelled, throwing library rules out the window as I shot him an angry glare.

“Why. Were. You. There.” Pursing my lips, I looked away and rubbed my forehead. 

Dad knows, who are you trying to fool? He would have to know. Lies aren’t new to him. He’s cheated on mom, now the country, not that big a difference, is it? I clenched my jaw at the thoughts. You were there because you were suspicious of him. Why else would you have gone? You heard his hesitation. He knows. You know.

Before I could stop myself I was answering in a ramble. Mentioning how weird dad had been, the ‘crazy odds’ Eloise had mentioned, the magazines, the stupid math and percentages. The order girls had been eliminated in the past and the high castes increasing.

“Hey, hey,” his hands were suddenly on my shoulders and that stopped me, my eyes landing on his hands. “Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

I gave him a warning look and he took his hands away. I could take a guess at what he was thinking. “It’s a terrible idea.” “But you can read this?” His excitement was clear on a smile. 

I looked at the ceiling with a sigh. “Kind of I guess. With some more time...” He didn’t let me finish, pulling me to him. I blinked in his arms, too stunned to react. Brooks was hugging me. “What-”

“Bless you. Follow me.” He let go and dragged me out of the library. I snapped out of my confusion midway in the hallway.

“Slow down, I’m not a rag doll.” “Quit whining, Teasdale.”

I gave him a cold stare once we arrived at his door. He pretended not to notice and pulled me inside, closing the door and then locking it. I raised an eyebrow.

“Someone else would find that creepy just so you know.” He gave me an exasperated look, slowly reaching for the doorknob again and unlocking it as if proving a point. “There. Shut up for two seconds now.”

Going over to some drawers and rummaging through them, he told me to come. I rolled my eyes but did as he asked when he added a “please.” Then, pulling out a chair for me at the table in his room, he opened the journal. “I've been taking notes on different things I find out about the Selection. Past conspiracies, ex-selected, drama, etc. I'm looking for patterns.”

I set my annoyance aside and sat down, intrigued by what he could’ve found himself. I’d never seen him excited like that. “Do you have anything?” He showed me his notes.“I've done the math, and the numbers of relevant girls in each selection has risen every time.” “It was 48% on your mother’s.” “And 51% for Nate's.” He had the same numbers as me. 

I clenched my jaw and stood up. “I need to talk to my dad.”

Reaching for my hand, he urged me to sit down. “Clove, you can't do that. Do you know what could happen?” “I don't know, but the pile of things he has to explain can't seem to stop growing.” “Do you know nothing about politics? Take it from an inside outsider, you don't want them knowing what you know.” I was aware of that, but disappointment and anger wrestled to take over and make me go back up there, guards or not, to yell at my dad for answers, demand he explain himself. Maybe even hoping he didn’t know and he’d help me uncover the truth. It would be a stupid move, however.

Silence settled in the room as my shoulders slumped. Brooks said nothing, letting it stretch for a minute or so, probably having his own thoughts to go over. Eventually, he added, “Hey, I know we're not actually the best of friends... but I could really use your help.” And I could use it too. Earlier that day, I hadn’t been sure I’d get anywhere with my little research, I just couldn’t bring myself to drop it either. Now I had another piece to the puzzle. I had a possible confirmation. Possible proof all because of...Brooks. 

Neither of us would get answers alone and I needed them, so I met his gaze, letting determination overshadow everything else in my mind. “I’m in.”

“Way to go, Teasdale,” he grinned, hand raised to offer a high five. I stared at it for a moment, thrown off.

“Are you okay?” He slowly let it fall back down. “Uh, yeah... Why?” “Well... you're being.. nice. I'm trying to determine if this is one of those ‘one in a lifetime’ moments because you need me, or if Quinn was right.” He raised both eyebrows, asking what his older sister had mentioned of him and I explained that she seemed to believe he was actually trying to be nice but I coulnd’t see it. 

Something like shame crossed his eyes as he looked down, playing around with a set of pens on his desk. “I-I've always been nice.”  

I leaned on the table with my elbows. “Yeah, that hasn't become any more believable than the last time you said it.” “I hope you're enjoying your seat,” he propmted, giving a flat look I was quick to return.

“What a gentleman.” “Just for you,” he almost cooed, tapping my nose with his finger. It took me a second to react and wrinkle my nose.

“Don't make me regret my decision. I could take the journal and work alone.” “Not gonna happen. Speaking of you taking the journal, I want you to try and figure out what the writing in the margin says.” “I’ll try to work on it.” I reached for the journal, examining the margins with old penmanship. “The ink is kinda smudged on some parts but I’ll figure it out.” “Thanks for doing this. I owe you.” “I’ll keep that in mind... Neither of us is telling anyone about this, right?” “Definitely not. Not until it gets far enough.” I stood up, taking a deep breath. “Alright. It’s an agreement.” Unsure of how to end the strange encounter I decided to go for something formal, extending my hand for him to shake. He reached for it slowly, the same hesitation I’d had at his suggestion of a high five. Or so it was until he opened his mouth again. “We've made so much contact in such a short span of time.” “You just had to make it weird, didn’t you?” “That? That's not weird. This?” he held my hand and pulled me close. Close enough to share the same breathing space. “This is weird.” My eyes could only widen in surprise before I pushed him off his chair with the same hand he’d pulled me with. A sound resembling a pterodactyl shriek escaped his lips as he fell back.

“AND YOU SAY I'M MEAN?” he screamed, sitting up on the floor. I snorted a laugh, but then cleared my throat. “Serves you right.” “Abuse is wrong.” I scoffed. “Invading personal space is wrong.”

He scoffed too. “Yep, still dramatic.” “Fine,” I hugged the journal to my chest, “I might be keeping this for myself then if I'm so dramatic.” He gestured to me. “That's just proving my point.” I said nothing and turned to the door, but as I did someone on the other side opened it, poking a head inside. Quinn. Dang, I should’ve let him lock it.

“Well, then...” Quinn shut the door quickly, “I'm going to go.”

“Wait up, I’m leaving as well!” I called out. “I'm feeling the love,” Brooks mumbled, still from his spot on the ground. I gave him a fake smile, like the one he'd given me the first morning in breakfast. “The floor loves you too.”

[mattcullen]

I too am procrastinating!! I'd really like to see Dex and Nursey sharing Lardo's room, Dex becoming more comfortable with himself and Nursey, and realizing that the team has his back

hooray for procrastination! okay room sharing, lets bullet point this shit (also i kind of stuck to the prompt but the main focus is on room sharing and being comfortable with each other and less on everyone having each others’ backs, sorry it kind of ran away from me)

to start, dex gets the top bunk and nursey gets the bottom obvs bc honestly can you imagine nursey successfully climbing up to the top without falling off the ladder at least once a week?

music is a big point of contention for the first month 

dex blasts dad rock whenever he’s coding and nursey listens to his indie shit so loudly that even when he’s using headphones dex can hear it from the top bunk

they reach a weird understanding one day when nursey puts a playlist on shuffle and they end up both singing along to the middle by jimmy eat world and they discover they both  are still in  went through a punk rock/pop phase (yes i have been reading @heyfightme‘s punk au)

from there on they reach a pretty easy agreement that when they’re both in the room and neither are studying, it’s tb punk from the 2005 era or anything they’ve recently discovered

(for the sake of avoiding arguments) 

(also because both love watching the other get lost in the music as they scream the lyrics)

(please take a moment to imagine two 6′2″ hockey players yell the words to i don’t wanna be an asshole anymore by the menzingers to each other as they jump up and down in the middle of their bedroom at 4pm)

it takes a while to get a bathroom routine down bc nursey has A Lot of skincare products and he likes to bathe william, not all of us are neanderthals that enjoy feeling crusty

the rest is under the cut bc i got carried away

eventually they come to the agreement that as dex is usually the first one up he showers first, then chowder, then nursey

if it’s early morning practice you can often find all the frogs piled into the bathroom at once - nursey trying to shave while dex elbows him brushing his teeth, chowder squatting in front of them trying to wash his exfoliator off before dex needs to spit

nursey also has a large collection of lush bath bombs that he stores in one of those chrome metal baskets because ~aesthetic~ 

he tries to get dex to use them but baths aren’t really dex’s speed so nursey buys him a bunch of those shower jellies for dex’s birthday

dex begrudgingly accepts them and says he’ll probably never use them 

(they’ve run out by christmas and nursey starts adding them to his monthly lush haul)

nursey insists on fairy lights

everywhere

surprisingly dex doesn’t fight him on it

this is because dex wants to put glowing star stickers on the ceiling above his bunk and he figures the best way to avoid nursey chirping him is to indulge him in something else

it kind of works - nursey is so distracted by how adorable he finds the idea of dex loving glow in the dark stickers that he forgets to tease him (poor dude)

after christmas nursey returns with a huge stack of books he got from his moms and when he puts them on the already crowded shelf it breaks, like immediately

this leads to a trip to ikea, bookshelf building, and maybe the most ridiculous argument they’ve ever had 

“it’s upside down dex”

“it’s not, you’re looking at it wrong”

“no look the instructions say it should slide in here”

“well derek i don’t know what instructions you’re reading but it clearly goes here”

eventually they have to give up before someone throws a punch and they get bitty and jack to finish it for them

the first time one of them gets injured while they’re living together is during a game against yale

dex gets crushed against the boards by an actual giant and fucks up his knee

while it’s not broken or dislocated he can’t really put pressure on it for a couple of weeks which means he can’t reach the top bunk

which means sleeping in nursey’s bed

the first week is alright, tho the pillows smell like nursey and dex honestly can barely handle it

but then there’s a party and nursey comes back kinda tipsy and goes through the motions of getting ready for bed, forgetting that they’ve switched bunks for the time being and gets into the bottom bunk where dex is already asleep

losers don’t even realise whats happened until they wake in the morning cuddled round each other

it’s awkward but it also happens again a couple of times before dex’s knee is better

for nursey’s bday/valentine’s day dex covers nursey’s entire bed in pink glitter while nursey’s in class 

nursey gets back and flops down on his bed completely oblivious

he becomes immediately less oblivious when a huge shower of pink sparkles fly up and coat him in glitter

dex observes all of this from the desk chair, snorting as his laptop, set up to record, films the whole thing

what he doesn’t predict is nursey tackling him onto the floor and rubbing glitter all of his face and in his hair

he also doesn’t predict nursey pausing and looking down at him from where he’s lying on top of dex, pink glitter in his curls and spread across his cheek bones, and dex’s heart basically stopping

he definitely doesn’t predict nursey leaning down and kissing him like he’s the most precious thing in the world

(when they eventually emerge from their room no one says anything but everyone is clearly aware of the smudges of glitter around their lips and the way they keep finding excuses to hold hands and grin sheepishly at each other)

(they also forget that their entire ‘get together’ was recorded, chowder finds this about a month later when he borrows dex’s laptop)

(chowder screams)

(the video’s not exactly completely PG)

they end up starting a huge wall of polaroids after nursey gets a polaroid camera from chowder and farmer for his birthday

they don’t even mean to do it but nursey pins up a few from his bday kegster and then dex steals the camera to take a few candids of nursey sleeping and adds them to the wall and by senior year the display has spread the entire back wall

photos include:

nursey and chowder at team breakfast, flicking bits of scrambled egg at each other

dex as he makes his first pie solo while bitty watches him smiling in the background

ransom holster and lardo saluting the haus before they get in the car to leave after visiting during spring break

the whole team squashed into jack’s living room while jack’s in boston playing the bruins - a photo of the the smh sending jack photos of them watching him play on tv 

nursey and holster in an intense sing off in the living room

dex and nursey snuggled up on the armchair in the living room, completely oblivious of the camera

nursey, dex, chowder and farmer at the pond sunbathing, nursey and chowder wearing ridiculously oversized sunglasses and dex and farmer watching them pretending to look exasperated 

at the end of senior year they’ve decided to move to nyc together but they can’t help but feel sad about leaving

as a graduation present nursey reveals that he kept the coin from the re-dib-flip and cut it in half, making two necklaces so they can each have one

nursey doesn’t even get to finish explaining before dex is sobbing into nursey’s shoulder

but it’s okay because nursey is crying too