#BUT YEAH hopefully this uni break will let me get a grip and I’ll actually do something for once!! Yippee

[thatthirstyweirdo]

UEHEHEHEHE Thought I might upload some silly little doodles from @kumakooo ‘s whiteboard!!

[shuahoonie]

you [tom holland] - eight.

PAIRING: tom holland x female!celebrity!reader

SUMMARY: ah, to be young and in love. it sounds great if only you and tom were actually dating out of pure love and not for the sheer reputation of your careers. it also should be great if you two actually got along, but life isn’t that easy.

WARNINGS: mostly swearing! some fluff here, some angst there. it’s haters to lovers / fake dating au so take that information as you wish! also, their relationship is improving yall 🤧

WORD COUNT: 5.6k

SONG INSPO: mxmtoon - used to you

A/N: surprise! I actually updated after five/six months??? a lot of things have happened during the time that I was gone. most of it revolved around my mental health and uni. not a great time to have a career crisis whilst living in the middle of a pandemic lmao. 

the last time i updated, i gave you guys the gift of fluff. maybe i should tone down a bit? or maybe not? i’m also sorry if this took ages. had an awful writer’s block. oooh, also i wrote an interview excerpt for this chapter. i added a link if you wanted to read it but no pressure! it’s just a lil’ sumn sumn :) anyway, enjoy reading!

hope you guys are safe & healthy! keep practicing social distancing and please wear your masks! sending all my love ♡

UPDATES EVERY SATURDAY 11 PM CST WHENEVER I CAN 

gif credits: @tommybabyholland​

vanessa’s masterlist | preview | one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight.5 [interview] | 

Your friends have told you countless times to bite the bullet, however, you’ve seemed to swallow it instead. Here you were, lying in the same bed with Tom Holland, mere inches against each other. 

If anyone told you that you would be lying on the same bed as the guy you swore you hated a few months ago, you’d probably laugh at their face. 

You were definitely considering that maybe this whole fake dating thing wasn’t such a horrid idea after all. 

The room was dimmed to almost pitch black now. You could see a small streak of light peering from the curtains, probably from all of the street lights outside, allowing you to at least see something. You were exhausted but somehow you couldn’t sleep at the same time. 

The only reasonable thing that you could put your blame into was your heart, which was beating quite rapidly, by the way. You didn’t even know why you felt this nervous around him, it’s not like he’s a complete stranger. 

You’ve known Tom for a good two months—two and a half if you want to be specific. You picked up on his little quirks: his eyes crinkle when he laughs genuinely, he doesn’t like that much sugar in his tea. He likes his dog, Tessa, very much which you were already a goner for. He also hums when he’s happy which surprised you one day, not knowing what to do with that information. 

You also found out that his hands were always cold, which always startles you as your hands were extremely warm. Like right now, you could feel his fingertips grazing upon yours. As if your heart can handle even more of your emotions right now. 

You were confused as to why you were extremely nervous around him all of a sudden. Is it because this is the first time your sharing a bed with your pretend boyfriend? Is it because the last time you shared a bed with someone who you had no relation to is with your ex-boyfriend? 

It was driving you insane and you really had to get it together. You were both lying on your backs so all you could stare at was the empty ceiling. You took a quick look at Tom, who was already sleeping. 

Ah, so he snores. You made a mental note to yourself, wondering how you can use that information and pester him with it. He didn’t have loud snores, just soft ones but still loud for you to hear.  

You turned your body and lain on your side, choosing to face Tom. He really looked peaceful sleeping and the sight of him be at peace was enough to calm you down. 

With that, you found your eyes slowly start to droop down. The image of Tom sleeping soundly was the last thing you saw before you drifted off to sleep.

You noticed three things as soon as you woke up. You still had your eyes shut, only because you refuse to accept that it was already a new day.

The first thing you noticed was the annoying alarm tone that kept ringing on the bedside table. One of these days, I’ll end up throwing and smashing my phone. 

The second thing was how hot warm you felt. You felt the heat radiating beside you and you weren’t exactly used to it. You like the feeling of sleeping in a cold room while also burying yourself with blankets. 

The third thing you noticed was the pair of arms wrapped around you. As you slowly opened your eyes, you were greeted by the extremely close proximity that you shared with Tom. 

You found yourself cuddling Tom. Your head was resting in between his chest and his arm—the same arm that was wrapped around you. In the meanwhile, Tom’s other hand was resting on the side of your face, building the illusion that he may have caressed the side of your face.

You, on the other hand, had your left arm resting on top of his chest while the other was tucked underneath the pillow. 

You wondered how the hell you ended up in this position, but knowing how you move a lot in your sleep, you probably initiated this in the first place. You also wondered how Tom can sleep through this annoying alarm, especially since it kept ringing every ten minutes. 

Tilting your head up a bit, your eyes met the sight of his lips. However, from this angle, you could also clearly see the freckles speckled on his face. With the beaming sun and its fight to fill the room with light against the corners of the curtains, it only made things worse for you. Tom, with his body outlined by the light, absolutely looked angelic—as if the universe only favoured him and him alone. 

You slowly reached for his hand and removed it from the corner of your neck, carefully resting it on top of his stomach. After successfully doing so, comes the real challenge. You slowly released yourself from the grip of his arm and tried your best to get out of the bed without waking Tom up. 

Your logic? It would be rude to wake someone up from their sleep—especially when they can’t be bothered to be woken up by the alarm anyway. You also wanted this moment for yourself. You thought that it was best if Tom had no recollection of waking up to you two cuddling, acting as a true couple when there are no cameras around you. 

You walked to the bathroom to get yourself ready. You had a whole day of photoshoots and you also had to squeeze in a couple of interviews after. You didn’t want to miss your best friend’s wedding so you had to do whatever you can in order to balance your social life and work.

You already knew that you were going to be exhausted for today and you love your job, you really do, but sometimes you wished that you could catch a break without losing sleep for the next couple of days.

After taking a long hot shower and doing your essential skin routine—knowing that this is the only form of relaxation you’re going to get for the next couple of days— you slipped into a pair of mom jeans and a loose shirt. You packed this much because you knew you wouldn’t get the chance to drive home anyway. 

Just as you stepped out of the bathroom, your phone buzzed in your hand and saw a text from your manager. 

Zoë: On my way to the hotel! I will be there in 20 mins or so. Be sure that you’re ready so we can get going. 

“Oh, you’re already good to go?” You looked up from your phone and saw Tom yawning and rubbing his eyes. He was still wearing your sweatpants and he was still shirtless. 

You nodded. “Zoë’s picking me up.” You replied as you tidied the bed. It took you a couple of minutes before the words you said just sunk in. “Oh god, Zoë’s picking me up.” You repeated with wide eyes. 

“Yeah?” Tom chuckled, seemingly lost as to what you were trying to point out. 

“She doesn't really know that you slept with me.” You said but as soon as you realized what you just said, you knew you fucked up. You saw Tom smirking at you which only prompted you to hit him with the pillow. “I didn’t mean it like that, you weirdo.” 

“Oh, sure.” He teased as he put on his shirt. “I mean I’m pretty sure that I’m not the one who practically clung to a person while sleeping.” 

“Shut up, Holland. You know I move a lot when I sleep.” You muttered as a pathetic excuse to hopefully shut him up. 

“To be quite fair, I didn’t know that you do that whenever you sleep, but it’s nice to know that now.” He grinned. 

“Oh god,” You groaned. “Let’s just go so I can check out now. Zoë’s going to be here soon and I want you gone asap.” You said as you glanced around the room just so you know you didn’t leave anything behind. 

“Wait, what about your sweatpants?” 

“Just give it to me the next time you see me.” You said as you pulled him out of the room and made your way to the front desk. 

It turns out Zoë had no concept of time. As soon as you finished checking out, you saw your manager already waiting in the lobby. Oh, you recognized her big blonde hair from anywhere. She was sitting in one of the plush sofas, dressed in a white romper and even had her cat-eye sunglasses on. She looked like she’s about to catch her husband having an affair. 

“Ah, Y/N,” She said with a huge smile. “Thanks but you should know if that ever were to happen, I would pick something more flashy.” 

Oh, I said that out loud?! You practically yelled at yourself.

“We should get going, honey, we’ll grab you some breakfast on the way.” Zoë fixed the stray strands of your hair. You couldn’t be bothered to do your hair knowing that the stylists are going to give it hell anyway, so you just tied it in a low ponytail. 

“Um,” You didn’t even know how to say it. Where you even going to bring Tom up? If so, what were you going to say anyway? That you spent a night with your pretend boyfriend? Which shouldn’t be a huge deal but you were sure that your stunt doesn’t involve actually falling for each other.

“Tom,” Zoë’s pitch went a bit higher, surprised to see Tom standing behind you. “What’re you doing here, hon?” She asked quietly. 

“Oh, I-” 

“He spent the night with me. Tom was exhausted and it wasn’t safe for him to drive last night, so I asked him to stay.” You explained, cutting Tom off. You just wanted to get it over with and you were bound to face the storm sooner or later anyway. 

Zoë stared at the two of you for a moment, an undistinguishable look painted all over her face. You took a quick look at Tom who was also observing your manager’s reaction. 

However, she chose to drop it. “Alright, c’mon, honey. You have a long day today.” Your manager said after she flashed Tom a smile and turned around, leaving you both relieved. 

As you watched your manager leave and walk towards her vehicle, you turned to Tom and said, “I guess I’ll see you soon?” 

Tom smiled and nodded, “I’ll see you soon, my darling.” He said softly.

You felt your cheeks start to burn again so you did what you always do whenever you don’t know how to respond or when you’re just plain embarrassed—walk away and practically scream inside your head. 

You were walking—sprinting, more like— towards the vehicle and when you got in, you were greeted with a big smile by Zoë. It terrified you. 

“Y/N, hon,” She initiated with a soft voice. “You know sooner or later this stunt will all come to an end right?” 

“Yeah, I know.” You answered, slightly confused as to why this was brought up all of a sudden. 

“Okay, good, good...” Zoë trailed off. “I just—I see how things may escalate and I don’t want to see you hurt, Y/N.” 

“Yeah, I know.” You acknowledged, though this time you said it in a whisper. It was day 78 that you came clean to yourself and realized maybe you were developing a tiny crush on Tom. 

The people from the magazine were doing a feature story on you. Not only that you were going to be on the cover of the magazine, but you were also going to get a ten-page spread that included an interview. The whole theme of the issue was individuality so your spread had to be rooted from your style, so the outfits, the makeup, and hair had to base off of you as a concept while still adding an editorial element to it. 

You were already wearing the third outfit, wearing a pink frilly floral dress and it had hand-stitched and delicately placed flowers for the details—in which the outfit was inspired by your character in your tv series.

You were waiting for your hair and makeup to be done at the same time. The set was going to be in a pool so you also had to have your manicure and pedicure done. Basically, you had no control over your body.  

“How are you doing, hon?” Zoë asked as she passed by your chair. 

“’m still okay,” You mumbled. “Can I take a sip from my coffee though?” 

Maria’s, the nail tech for this shoot, eyes went wide. “Your nails aren’t dry yet,” She pointed out. 

“Please, Maria?” You pouted. You were literally about to pass out from exhaustion and you still had a full day ahead.

Maria rolled her eyes and gave in. “Fine, I’ll hold the cup.” She said before she grabbed your coffee from your manager. 

As you happily indulged the coffee, you heard Ruby, the makeup artist, let out a sigh behind you.“Y/N, I just did your makeup.” 

“Nothing bad happened! I just need to reapply the lipstick, it’s okay.” You quickly defended. 

“Child, you are going to be the death of me,” Ruby mumbled loud enough for the two of you. “You’re lucky I like you because if my other clients did this I would’ve grabbed their coffee and then they would’ve gone full diva on me.” 

You just gave her a huge smile before she reapplied your lipstick. The hairstylist just finished doing your hair, pinning tiny flowers all over your hair and having them scattered all over. You couldn’t believe that you had flowers all over your hair again—which only reminded you of Tom and what happened last night. 

Last night felt so surreal. It was the first time you two didn’t have knives on each other’s necks. It was the first time you felt comfortable around him and the experience was very intimate, it almost drove you mad. 

However, your manager’s words echoed back at you. It’s all a stunt and it will come to an end. 

“Are you ready, Y/N?” The photographer asked, breaking up your thoughts. Am I?

From pink frilly dresses to big tan sherpa coats, you were finally done with the photo shoot. The shoot went on for hours and all you wanted to do was to get rid of everything that your skin and hair had to endure. However, it doesn’t end there. You still had to do a short interview for the magazine. 

You were still wearing one of the outfits you had for the shoot—a black tube-top jumpsuit that clung into your body like second skin, along with tall pencil-heeled black pumps. This was definitely far from comfortable nor is it something that you’d wear, but you did like how it looked on you. “I look like the cold-hearted editor-in-chief in a magazine from a Hallmark movie” was all you said when you looked in the mirror. 

You had to excuse yourself from the young journalist who patiently waited for you as your photoshoot ran a bit late. She was drinking the coffee that you had given her—a small token of an apology for the time she probably wasted waiting. 

She gladly understood and went on with the interview. You were glad to do so anyway since you’re embarrassed for making her wait. You were asked about Amelia, the character that you play in the show Alchemist. 

As Y/N eased into the interview, still wearing one of her outfits from the photoshoot, she was asked about her resonation with her character. “I see only tiny bits of myself as her—that being hard-headed and using self-deprecating jokes as a coping mechanism,” she answered with a small laugh. 

You were also asked about your personal struggle between dropping out of school—potentially ruining your future— and your unstable acting career. 

She thought she possibly made a huge mistake of ruining her future. Luckily, Y/N received a casting call for the show Alchemist. “I still believe it’s pure luck. I’m lucky that I got the part and the show helped me shape my career, however, I can’t deny that I was really close to giving up.” 

Of course, the current state of your love life had to be included. 

“Yeah, I am seeing someone.” Y/N admits with a soft smile. “People know who he is and frankly, I don’t think I have to explicitly say his name as who I date shouldn’t be anyone’s business.” Her cheeks were flushed red as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Y/N was kind enough to explain that she didn’t mean it to sound so harsh, but she still stands firm with her words. 

You quickly and kindly expressed to the journalist that you mean well. You had no intention of being rude or for it to sound rude, but you still hold true to your words. The journalist was kind enough to understand your sentiments regarding this.  

The interview ended in a breeze and you were absolutely longing for the time when you can take a nice long bath. You quickly thanked the journalist as she bid her way goodbye. 

You can only hope that this cover issue finds you well. 

Time went by slowly and yet very quickly at the same time. You haven’t seen any of your friends for a couple of weeks as you’ve been occupied by filming, doing interviews, and photoshoots. 

You haven’t seen Tom in quite a while too—which you didn’t mind. You actually used this time to reevaluate your uncertain feelings for him. People at set didn’t seem to notice that he rarely showed up at your shoots—at least if they did, they would just assume that he’s busy since he did have an endless list of projects. 

As you were still uncertain about where your feelings lie with Tom, you chose this time to at least try and forget about him. Admittedly, it was difficult since people would always bring him up at some point or he would just be everywhere on social media. 

This time apart from Tom did give you a sense of peace. You weren’t in the constant state of practically having a heart attack around him, no matter how cliché it sounds. You hated that he had this effect on you but you had to act like everything’s fine—hoping that you’re doing a damn well job because acting is how you put food on the table. 

However, just like the opening lyrics of One Direction’s most gut-wrenching song, Love You Goodbye, mentioned: “It’s inevitable, everything that’s good comes to an end.” 

And boy, did it end alright. 

Ronnie: pls tell me it’s actually ur day off bc I really plan on having dinner with u.  🥺

You were about to have a long, relaxing bath (infused with epsom salts of course) when you read the text from your best friend. You were longing for this heaven-like bath and there’s no way you’re going to pass it up.

You: technically yes. the shoot ran till morning but all i’ve done since then was sleep. I'm about to take a bath tho & not planning to get out until i turn into a human prune lmao 

Ronnie: ok! I'll buy us dinner, any suggestions? 

You: really craving for some hearty Korean food rn 🤧

Ronnie: gotcha! I'll get u ur usual, do u want me to buy drinks too? 

You were still debating whether to go drinking tonight when your phone pinged, indicating a text. 

Ronnie: babes you’re taking too long. I'm getting us drinks. 

You: guess there’s no way out then lmao 

Ronnie: oh u bet. I'll be there in an hour-ish, maybe earlier. 

You: might still be in the bath when u arrive. 😬 

Ronnie: nah you’re ok haha. I have keys anyway and I'll make myself at home but u already knew that. 😌

You rolled your eyes but still had a smile on your face. You eventually gave Veronica some duplicates as she was constantly popping by anyway. It didn’t make sense for both of you to keep Ronnie out, waiting for you to come home when you could easily just give her some keys. At some point, you even asked her to move in. She is dancing around the idea though. 

Turning your phone off, you stepped into your epsom-salt-bubble bath—ready to shut off from the world and embrace the relaxation. 

After strategically propping your laptop at the bathroom counter, you’ve managed to finish two episodes of New Girl whilst you were in the tub. You could’ve used the bathtub tray that Olivia got you for your birthday, but you couldn’t trust yourself with that type of risk—no matter how careful you were. 

It wasn’t long when you heard a small commotion coming from the living room. You had your eyebrows furrowed, surely it was just Ronnie who’s dropping by today. Unless she invited Olivia too? 

Stepping out of the tub, you wrapped a towel around your body. You shut off your laptop and grabbed your phone before you left the bathroom. 

“Ronnie?” You called out above the chatter from the living room. “Ronnie, is that you?” 

“Yeah, right here, babes!” You heard her yell back. Upon reaching the living room, you saw Ronnie setting the food down on the table with Harrison putting the drinks down. “Oh, hey! I got us bibimbap and tteokbokki from Kim’s Kitchen. I also asked for extra kimchi because that is to die for.” Veronica exclaimed with a huge smile. “Oh and Mrs. Kim says hi.” 

You forced a huge smile in response, turning to your best friend and subtly motioning at Harrison who was standing beside her. 

“Oh! oh! Y/N, I hope you don’t mind that I invited them. They called me the same time as I texted you and I figured you wouldn’t mind because we’re all friends here, right?” Veronica smiled nervously. 

“A head’s up would’ve been nice, because...” You motioned to yourself, pointing out that you were still in your towel. “I mean it is my home and I should dress however I want but obviously you got your boyfriend here. The least I could do is look presentable.” 

Harrison turned red and so did Veronica. “Y/N, Harrison is not my boy—”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’ll go get changed.” You rolled your eyes and dismissed the entire thing. What can you do, kick them out? Wait—

“Wait, did you say “them” earlier? Is anyone else coming?” You asked. 

“Uh...” Veronica was looking for the right words to say until her eyes met someone else’s and looked right past you. 

You turned around and saw Tom standing in the middle of the room, holding plates and cutlery from your kitchen. Pinching the bridge of your nose to prevent the emerging migraine you’re about to endure and closed your eyes, you took a deep breath. 

“Uh—Hi, Y/N” Tom waved shyly. That’s all it took. All of those repressed feelings that you were trying to fight off were coming back. With your heart beating furiously, you knew you were a goner and you hated that. 

“Hi Tom,” you muttered. You two haven’t spoken to each other in a while since the morning after the wedding. God, this is awkward.  

You caught his eyes flickered to your body and put his head down, walking towards Harrison and Veronica, avoiding eye contact. You realized you were still in your towel, turning red. “Uh, I’ll go get changed.” You muttered, practically running towards your room to change. 

You were changing into an oversized shirt and into some leggings when you heard a knock from the door. “I’m decent!” You yelled. 

The door slowly opened, Tom peering from the other side. 

“Oh, hey.” You greeted him as he slowly went inside your room. He was looking around, observing your room. Your bedroom wasn’t special but it’s your favourite place. The walls were painted white—which is why when the sun beams through your windows, it bounces off through the walls and illuminates your entire room. Your room consisted of white furniture and bedding, but you made up for it by putting numerous plants all over your room and using earthy tones such as blankets and decorative pillows as accents. 

“Hey,” Tom stepped a bit closer “Sorry about earlier. If I knew you’d feel uncomfortable, I wouldn’t have come.” He apologized. 

“No, you’re good. I guess I was just caught by surprise.” You quickly dismissed. 

There was an odd silence. Is this what happens when you don’t talk for quite a while? 

“Oh, I also wanted to give you this,” Tom said, handing you the sweatpants that he borrowed a while ago. The cursed night that brought you closer to each other, literally. Grabbing the neatly folded pants, your fingers gently grazed upon his—the first time you had physical contact ever since that night.  “Don’t worry, I washed it.” He added. 

“Eh, I think I’ll wash it again just to make sure.” You joked, trying to diffuse the awkwardness. 

Tom let out a small laugh, scratching the back of his head. “I’m sorry.” You heard him say as you put your hair into a loose ponytail.

“For what?” You asked, brows furrowed. 

“I wasn’t exactly the finest “boyfriend” in the world.” He explained, putting air quotes on the word ‘boyfriend’. “I’d say I was busy but I should’ve made time.” 

You gave him a small smile. “It’s okay, Tom.” You turned around to place the pants inside the drawer. “It’s not like you’re my actual boyfriend anyway.” You laughed awkwardly.

For some reason, that last sentence left an unpleasant feeling on you. Why are you longing for Tom anyway? Are you that deprived? 

Tom let out an awkward chuckle and mumbled a quiet “yeah,” 

There it is again. That awkward silence. Will this last for the entire night because this is going to be exhausting? 

All of a sudden, Tom looked at you with a smile. “Why are we being weird?” Tom asked, laughing. 

“Yeah, I don’t even know either,” You couldn't help but laugh as well. “I’m definitely not used to you being this quiet.” 

“Are you saying that you missed it then?” He asked with a smirk. “Better yet are you saying that you missed me?” 

You rolled your eyes. There’s the Tom that you knew. “I wouldn’t go that far, Tom.” You replied, fighting off a smile. 

“’m just teasing, darling,” He laughed softly. “So, should we just forget everything and just be friends?” He asked, offering his hand.

You were about to reply when you heard a loud knock from the other side of the door. “Oi, are you two making out in there?” You heard Veronica yell obnoxiously from the other side. 

“Veronica!” You shrieked out of pure embarrassment. You felt your face turning red, as if like you’re a preteen caught with her crush.  

You pulled the door open and dragged Tom outside out of pure embarrassment, only to meet Veronica and Harrison who were leisurely sitting by the couch, trying to fight off their smirks. 

“Food’s getting cold,” Harrison said innocently as you glared at the both of them. 

“I see that you two are getting close,” Veronica commented eyeing both of your hands that were still clasped. 

“I—uh,” You’re at a loss for words. You forgot the calm feeling of how Tom’s hands felt against yours. 

You were about to let go when Tom raised both of your hands to show Haz and Ronnie. “I like holding her hand, it’s always so warm,” Tom commented with a soft smile. “One of the perks of fake dating, Y/N.” 

Veronica took a good look at you while you were busy staring at Tom. Ronnie knows that stare of yours and if she’s being honest, she doesn’t know whether to feel happy or anxious for you. 

“Yeah, that is until your hands get damp.” You teased, rolling your eyes. “Let’s just eat.” You said as you grabbed a cushion and sat on the floor. 

“Okay, so what are we having?” Tom asked as he stared at the table full of Korean dishes. 

“Well, I ordered each of us a bowl of bibimbap because I have no clue what you two like to eat” Ronnie said, pertaining to Tom and Harrison. She handed them each a bowl. “They’re all beef, by the way—oh except for Y/N’s, she has chicken.” 

“Have you had bibimbap before?” You asked Tom who was behind you, sitting on the couch. 

He shook his head in response, grabbing a cushion and opted to sit on the floor, right next to you. “I’ve had Korean BBQ before, does that count?” 

“Not quite,” You laughed. “Here, I’ll add some chilli paste.” 

“Darling, don’t add too much—” Tom argued while trying to grab the chilli paste from your hands. He ended just holding onto your hand instead.

“C’mon, it’s better when it’s spicy!” You defended, trying to squeeze more into his bowl.

“Are you sure you’re not adding that much because you hate me?” You could feel the close proximity of his face against yours. 

“Oh, please,” You turned to face him “I could never hate you, Tommy.” You blinking innocently, trying to hide the fact that he’s literally inches away from you. 

While you and Tom are practically exploring this whole new territory of closeness, Veronica was quietly watching it unfold in front of her eyes. 

“They seem to be getting along quite well,” Harrison commented before shoving a spoon into his mouth. 

“Yeah, maybe too well.” Veronica murmured, still staring at the couple in front of her. 

“And that’s a bad thing?” Haz asked with a raised eyebrow. Curious. 

Veronica couldn’t answer. Is it really a bad thing or was she just being overprotective? She should be happy for her friend! Heck, she should be happy that you and Tom were finally getting along for once.

Veronica chose to just look past it and accept the situation for what it is for now: a miracle. 

“I guess not,” Veronica answered, smiling softly at Harrison who gladly smiled in return. 

“Dinner was spectacular,” Tom commented with a smile “Well done, Ronnie.” 

“Oh—psh!” Ronnie waved her hand nonchalantly, “That was nothing.” 

“Yeah, because Mrs. Kim prepared all of it” You argued jokingly. “Besides, I suggested that we should have Korean cuisine tonight.” 

“Then I guess I should thank you, Y/N,” Tom grabbed the sides of your face and squished your cheeks. “Thanks, darling.” He grinned. 

You scrunched your face and took his hand away. “You’re annoying,” You told Tom while gathering the plates, starting to clear the table. 

“I’ll get that, Y/N,” Harrison said while grabbing the plates from you. “I’ll do the dishes, you lot just stay put here.” 

“Ooh, I’ll help!” Veronica stood up to help Harrison. 

“No, it’s fine. Just stay there, Ronnie. It’s okay.” Harrison replied, his tone of voice suddenly warm towards Veronica. 

“You’re so sweet,” Veronica said in awe. “But that won’t work for me, babe. I’ll help you, it’s totally okay.” She insisted, clearing the rest of the table and following Harrison towards the kitchen. 

You were about to head into the spare bedroom when you felt Tom wrap his hands around yours. “Where are you going?” He asked. 

“I’m just going to grab something,” You replied, “Even if I try to get away from you, I couldn’t. Trust me.” You teased. 

Tom nodded understandably, letting go of your hand. 

As you were on your way to the spare room, you couldn’t help but mumble “Why’s he being so clingy all of a sudden? Is this what he’s like to his friends?” You chose to shake off your thoughts against your better judgment. 

“What’s that?” Tom asked as soon as you entered the living room. 

“A bean bag chair,” You answered, dropping it in front of him. “So you can stop hogging my place on the sofa.” 

“Aw, you got a bean bag chair just for me?” He asked with a huge grin on his face. 

You rolled your eyes, “I didn’t buy it just for you, dumb ass.”

“Whatever you say, Y/N.” He grinned. “Whatever you say.” Tom then sat on the bean bag chair, except he sat at the very upper part of it and tried to keep his balance whilst doing so. 

This is the most boyish thing you’ve seen Tom do—no fancy clothing, no assistants around him, no cameras, none of it. He looked like an average guy, doing silly and harmless things, who’s just trying to have fun. 

With that in mind, you couldn’t help but pull your phone out and film him doing so. Eventually, he caught on and saw that you had your phone out, giving a smile. 

Laughing, you said, “That’s not how you sit on it!”

“I’ll sit on it however I want,” He teased. You quit filming and decided to upload the clip on your Instagram story. It was cute, pure, and authentic. Three words that you swore you wouldn’t use when pertaining to you and Tom. 

This fake dating thing is getting harder and harder. Seeing that you and Tom finally decided to act friendly around each other, it’s definitely going to provoke the feelings you were trying to suppress from him. 

“Okay, so I got bottles of soju.” Veronica announced while wiping her hands with the kitchen towel. “Anyone up for a Paranoia drinking game?” She asked with a smirk. 

“Why must we play a game while drinking?” You asked, pinching the bridge of your nose. 

“I think it’ll be fun, Y/N.” Tom commented. “This is the right moment to build a tight bond with each other.” 

“Yeah, because nothing says bonding like alcohol and using repressed feelings.” You mumbled. 

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[wewillwriteyou]

Friends Will Be Friends || Chapter 1

Prologue

A few elements from the main plot: A very special group of friends: early days, drama, laughter, booze, success, rock stars life, girl power, friendship, love, sex, music, misunderstandings, some more drama, family. Pairings in the tags

Summary Chapter 1: Introduction of some of the main characters (Melissa, Roger). We don’t wanna give away to much, just read it lol

Word count: 2.3K

Warnings: mention of alcohol, a little bit of swearing and angst (blink and you won’t see it)

A/N: We’re sooo excited to share with you the first chapter of our story. Please feel free to comment below and let us know what you think. If you need more information, click on the link at the beginning of this post. If you want to be tagged, our tag list is always open 💕

Giggles. That’s the thing that woke Mel that Saturday. Well, that and almost every other Saturday morning of the year, actually.  She slowly got up from the bed, rubbing her eyes and walked towards the source of the noise, which she already knew it to be some floozy girl sitting on the kitchen counter. And there she was, in fact, legs dangling on the counter and sitting on a stool right in front of her, Mel’s brother, Roger, the reason for the girl’s presence.

She was all giggly and flirty, while not so subtly caressing Roger’s arm and thanking him for the previous night and for the impromptu breakfast he had so kindly made for her. Meanwhile, Roger was literally on another planet: he was nodding along with what the girl was saying, barely paying attention and writing something on a scrambled piece of paper.

They were too busy to notice that Mel had made her way into the room and was now standing on the other side of the counter, preparing some coffee to go. She gazed at her brother, giving him a look that said I wish I woke up one Saturday not feeling like we live in a bed and breakfast for one-night-stands. He scrolled his shoulders and kept on writing. That was their way of saying ‘Good morning’.

They performed that same routine since Mel had started uni and moved in with him and his roommate. They grew up in a small city in Cornwall and since Roger moved to London to study biology, it seemed a logical decision for Mel to attend university in London as well. She was into Physics so her high school professor encouraged her to submit for a scholarship at the Imperial and that’s exactly where she ended up.

From where she was standing, Mel noticed a mass of wavy brown hair lying on the couch, feet on the coffee table and book on the lap, trying his best to concentrate on his reading. That was Brian, the third roomer of the apartment. He studied Physics as well but was almost four years ahead of her. He was one of Roger’s best friends and co-founder of a band named Smile, which the two of them had formed a few years before: Roger played the drums, while Brian was on the guitar. They had struggled for a while to find a new singer since their former one left, but eventually another friend of Roger’s, Freddie, joined and things started to work out okay again. The only thing missing was a bass player, but they were working on that.

“I think I should go, thanks again for last night Rog” the girl smirked at Roger “Give me a call sometime”

He smirked back at her as she went toward the door, but Mel knew he would not have called her. That’s just how Roger was like different girl every weekend, sometimes two, one incredible night of passion and then they would never hear from him again. Mel could not understand how those girls put up with him being such a jerk. Although she might have understood why they fell for him at first: he was actually handsome and he was in a band, so that did half of the work.

“Just when I think you could have changed and actually cared about that girl enough to make her breakfast, you ruthlessly shrug her off like that” she teased him.

Roger ruffled her hair passing behind her “There’s no hope for me, little sister” he said jokingly “and also, Brian made breakfast. Thanks mate, by the way”

Brian flipped him off without even lifting his eyes from the book, then added “What time do you get off work tonight Mel?”

“I have a shift from 9 am to 1 pm and then from 2 pm to 7 pm. As usual. Why you ask?” she said, already picturing the answer.

“Do you have any plans after that?” Brian said casually.

“Why. Do. You. Ask?” she repeated more forcefully.

“Well,” he said cautiously “we’re playing at the Riz tonight and you know it’s always kinda… well, it’s not popular, we were wondering if you wanted to come see us. You know, so that we have at least one person in the audience”

Mel snorted “No Bri, you know I hate that place: there are only middle-aged men that make unflattering comments to every young girl who enters the bar”

She didn’t have to look at him, she knew he was making puppy eyes at her, so she sighed “Fine! If – and I say if – my afternoon shift doesn’t kill me, I’ll try to stop by…”

Brian joyfully thanked her, and she excused herself to go get ready for her job.

She worked on Fridays, Saturdays and basically anytime she could at a local shop called Biba: they stored famous and expensive clothing, which she could only admire the beauty of, not being an expert on the subject. It was just a small job to make some extra money and help out Roger with the rent.

As she walked through the doors she was welcomed by her co-workers Mary and Chelsea: all three of them were hired on the same day and had been working there since summer. They often chitchatted during breaks but weren’t properly friends, well Mary and Chelsea were, but Mel never hung out with them outside of work, which was why she was surprised when Mary asked her

“What are you doing tonight?”

“I kinda promised a friend I would quickly stop by the bar where they’re playing, before heading home. But I have all the intention to blow them off in favor of sitting in front of the telly, watching Coronation Street” she answered, already picturing the warmth of the blanket and cup of tea in her hands. “You doing anything special?”

The two girls exchanged a look and Chelsea said:

“Well… a friend of ours is throwing a party near Ealing’s main building and he asked everyone to spread the buzz. Apparently, someone challenged him to gather the biggest number of people he could. There will be music and, hopefully, a lot of alcohol. You interested?”

She almost denied the offer, but she had to admit she was actually pretty tempted and then realized she hadn’t been to a party in a bit.

“I’m in” she finally said with a smile.

The three of them worked peacefully till closing hour and then headed to the party together. She had to admit they were quite good company and they seemed to get along pretty well.

The party was held in the exhibitions area in the Design department of Ealing College, which was unused at that time; Mary and Chelsea knew their way around since they both studied design there. The place was not that crowded but there must have been at least three hundred people, mostly students and half of them was already tipsy due to the pints of beer that were being distributed at the entrance. The girls grabbed one each and dove into the crowd, making their way towards the dance platform.

They chatted for a bit, laughing and starting to feel the alcohol inebriating their mind as they begin to feel the rhythm of the music. While they were dancing Mel felt someone passing behind her to reach Chelsea, grabbing her by the waist and almost making her spill her drink.

“Oh my God Tom I almost spilled all of this on the girls” Chelsea screamed.

He apologized quickly, gave her a kiss and offered to get rid of their empty glasses.

“Are you okay?” Mel asked, seeing the annoyed look on her face.

“No… Yeah… I’m sorry about Tom, he’s – well he’s my boyfriend but we’ve been through a rough time and I didn’t expect him to be here.” she said and thought I hoped he wouldn’t be here.

Chelsea didn’t exactly know how or when it had started but for the last couple of weeks, things between her and Tom had been… different. They had been together for almost three years and known each other since grade school, but all of a sudden, they were unable to communicate with each other without fighting. That’s why she had hoped to have fun that night, trying not to think about the fact that she was considering the idea of breaking up.

“Don’t worry doll, we’re gonna make sure you have fun tonight.” Mary said “C’mon, let’s dance” and she dragged both of them on the dancing floor.

They danced a couple of songs, then the band announced the end of their set, so the girls decided to go for another drink.

“Go find a place we can sit, I’ll go get the drinks” Mel offered, and she made her way to the counter and ordered three more pints. She thanked the bartender and fumbled to keep all of them in her hands when suddenly someone bumped into her back and she lost grip of one of the glasses, pouring the drink on the floor and on the shirt of a guy next to her at the counter.

“Hey would you mind looking where you’re going?” she furiously said. But the person who hit her was already mixed with the crowd.

“What a jackass”

Mel turned around to meet the eyes of the person who just spoke and realized that was the guy she had spilled the beer on.

Her eyes widened as she said “I am so sorry for your shirt”

She grabbed some towels from the counter and added “Here let me help you”

“Don’t worry I was headed home anyway. My band just finished the set so that’s a wrap for tonight” he said jokingly

She grinned “Wait you were playing just now? You guys were good! What do you play?”

“I’m the bassist” he said smiling “It’s very kind of you, but I know we’re not that good” he chuckled.

“Well my brother’s in a band and they replace the bassist almost every two months because they’re all shitty and I was there every time… So trust me when I say that you are actually pretty good”

He flushed and quickly answered “Well in this case, thank you”

They were standing really close, while she was dabbing the towel on his shirt and when she looked up he was looking at her.

He smiled at her and she could feel her cheeks flush bright red, as she smiled back, thinking he had the most handsome smile she had ever seen.

She was brought back to reality by the new band coming up on stage and making the crowd cheer.

“I should go find my friends” she said picking up the pints

His smile vanished and he tried to hide the disappointment “Sure, I think I’ll head home anyway”

She saw him smiling slightly before she turned on her heels and headed towards the tables. She was still smiling when she sat beside Mary.

“How come you only have two?” she asked.

“Oh, well I didn’t feel like drinking another one all by myself” she shrugged her shoulders, restraining a smile.

“What are you all smiley about?” Chelsea asked smirking.

Mel couldn’t help but picture his smile again and chuckled “It’s nothing, I think a drank too much of that stuff, I feel all tipsy” before realizing she hadn’t even asked him what his name was.

Chelsea was not at all convinced, but she decided not to investigate.

She was startled by hand over her shoulder and when she looked up she saw Tom, who said: “We need to talk”

She got up, already knowing how this would have ended up, but decided to confront him once and for all.

“I’m all ears” she said when they distanced themselves enough from the crowd

“What’s going on Chel? You’ve been avoiding me for weeks”

“I’m not avoiding you… I just – I just need a bit of time”

“What for? Don’t you trust me enough to tell me what’s bothering you?”

It was always like that with Tom. Everything was about him. She was so sick of that.

“No, Tom, it’s not you” she snorted “I just think I need a bit of time to sort things out”

“What does that even mean? Are you telling me you want to break up?”

“NO! I didn’t say that! Christ Tom, you are always pushing my buttons!” she yelled, scoffing and rubbing her forehead. She continued calmer “Look, I love you, but you can’t deny we’ve been fighting a lot recently and seem to have lost the ability to communicate properly.”

He looked her dead serious in the eyes and she cautiously carried on “Don’t you think we need a break? I don’t mean breaking up.” She quickly added seeing the look on his face “I just think – carrying on with our lives trying to sort things on our own and then maybe-”

“Maybe what Chelsea?” he blurted out “Are you suggesting we see other people? Oh fuck, is there someone else?” he said running his hands in his hair “Please tell me it’s not John” he added pointing an accusatory finger at her.

“What? No Tom no! We are roommates but he’s my best friend and yours too by the way.” She replied, hurt by his insinuation.

“Tom there is no-one okay? I just want to be by myself for a while, God why can’t you understand that!”

“Well maybe you should stay on your own forever” he spat out “I’m done with this shit. Call me when you’re back being yourself Chel”

He said that with a poisonous tone however she couldn’t help but think he was right. He left, and she felt tears stinging her eyes. She had to get out of there: she bolted through the crowd excused herself with the girls and rushed out in the hallway before they could catch her.

All she wanted to do was scream from the top of her lungs she had had enough. As she walked rapidly towards the apartment where she hoped to find John’s comforting arms, tears started to stream down her face.

Chapters: | next ⤑

[quicksilversquared]

How To Fake A Marriage Ch. 23

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(AO3) (FF.net)

As the summer and Adrien's job finally drew to a close, Adrien made one last push to try to get all of his filing done. That meant a week of early mornings, and a lot of whiny, sleepy girlfriend when he first got up.

"Nooooo," Marinette complained as Adrien rolled over to try to get out of bed. Sleepy arms latched around his waist. "Air's too cold. Stay in bed."

Adrien smothered a laugh and scooted back under the covers to try to pry Marinette's arms open. She refused to budge. "I have to go in, Mari. C'mon, let go of me."

"Noooooo."

"Marinette."

Marinette's arms tightened, pulling him back several centimeters. Adrien suspected that she was anchoring herself somehow, because otherwise she would be the one moving. "Bed's too cold without you."

Adrien snorted, letting himself slide up next to Marinette for a few moments more. He couldn't deny that the thought of staying with Marinette for a bit longer was a tempting idea. "Right, right. And then what do I tell my boss when I'm late and can't finish up my filing, hmm?"

Marinette didn't answer, only snuggled into his side more.

"I don't think my boss would be impressed if I told her that my neighbor wasn't letting me out of bed."

Marinette snorted, wriggling to get comfortable on top of him. "That makes it sound like some random person you barely know broke in and sat on top of you to trap you in bed."

Adrien gave the top of her head an amused pat. "Well, you are sitting on top of me."

"Not random though." Marinette yawned widely. "And I didn't break in."

"True enough."

"And I do know you pretty well."

"But you are trapping me." Adrien gave her arm another tug. "C'mon, Mari. Let me up. We can snuggle later."

Marinette groaned, slowly letting her grip loosen until Adrien could work his way free. There was a small pout on her face and Adrien couldn't help but grin and duck down to press a small kiss to her lips.

"You have to get up soon anyway," Adrien cajoled as he dug in his dresser for his clothes. Marinette had already buried herself again under the cover. "You won't get to sleep for that much longer."

"It's a whole hour," Marinette's voice said from under the cover. "Nope. Sleeping."

Adrien laughed and started to get dressed. It was amazing how fast he had gotten comfortable with dressing and undressing with Marinette still in the room. He knew that Marinette wouldn't look if she knew he was in any state of undress, so there was no point in getting all shy about it.

Besides, it wasn't as if Marinette wasn't ever going to see him undressed at some point, considering how things were going. He really wasn't all that concerned about it. In fact, if she did decide to ever watch, he might put on a little show just to tease her. He would probably get a pillow to the rear for his efforts, but it would be fun.

"Didn't you use to get up earlier to go over to work?" Adrien asked as he straightened his shirt. "I remember going over to your apartment sometimes last fall and you would already be gone."

Marinette groaned and peered out from under the blanket at him grumpily. "Yeah, well, first year, first few months- I had to make a good impression. I'm, like, a senior intern now and I don't have to be so overeager. I can do a great job without coming in before most of the normal designers. Now shush and let me sleep."

Adrien just laughed and patted the sleepy girlfriend-lump in his bed before heading out to keep getting ready.

The day went by fast. Adrien spent most of the day plowing through paperwork, determined to get the pile down to nothing before he left so that the normal secretary wouldn't have to try to catch up on much once she returned from maternity leave. It helped that a lot of people had been on vacation and so not as many forms had been coming in for him to file as normal. He had nearly finished for the day when Nathalie called him.

Sighing, Adrien picked up his phone and answered, hoping that it was only Nathalie and not his father who wanted to speak with him. "Yes?"

"Adrien," Nathalie greeted. "I know this is last-minute, but do you think that you could come back to Paris for a photoshoot before your next semester starts?"

Adrien frowned. "I thought I already modeled fall stuff!" he protested. He was almost certain that the photoshoot that he had done at the very start of the summer had included a fair amount of fall outfits. After all, he had spent several hours baking in the summer sun while modeling long-sleeved looks.

He had heard of suffering for fashion before, of course, but he would rather it didn't involve his suffering.

"Yes, well, your father made some new things that he wants in the fall spread, and there's some early winter ads that he wants to get done." Nathalie sounded completely unconcerned by the dismay in his voice. "So do you finish up with your job early enough this week to come back to Paris? I can get the train tickets-"

Adrien sighed, turning to his calendar. As much as he wanted to just refuse and tell Nathalie (and, by extension, his father) to just find a different model to use, it would be easier in the long run if he just agreed to the shoot. "I'm working through the end of this week, and then I'll need the weekend to get ready for the new semester and make sure that all of my books and everything are in order. But I suppose I can go back to Paris the first weekend after school starts again."

He didn't want to. He really didn't want to. Going back to Paris for a weekend meant a weekend where his father could complain about his life choices in person, should he actually choose to show up at any of the shoots or for dinner. But he wouldn't mind seeing Nino and Alya again, even if it was only for a short while, and Marinette had mentioned that she wanted to get her sewing machine from Paris sometime to work on some of her own projects. He could fetch that while he was in Paris, so Marinette wouldn't have to make her own trip.

Unless she wanted to, of course, which was entirely possible. After all, she actually enjoyed seeing her own parents.

"Any chance of you coming back over your fall break this year?" Nathalie inquired. "Do you know yet? Does it line up with your friend's Fashion Week?"

"No, this year it's two weeks before my break," Adrien said automatically. He and Marinette had checked early this year so that they could be prepared. While the timing still wasn't the best, it seemed like it should be better than the previous year. "But we were thinking of going somewhere during my break. We hadn't decided on where yet, but she has vacation days saved up that she wants to use, and we want to explore the country."

"I don't suppose you would be interested in coming back to Paris?" Nathalie tried hopefully.

"Not a chance."

Thankfully, Nathalie didn't try to argue. "Very well. We wouldn't be able to put the full photoshoot off until then anyway." She paused. "...actually, do you think you could do two weekends in a row? One for fittings, one for the photoshoots? Otherwise, it's a whole lot to fit into one weekend."

Adrien made a face. He didn't really want to go back to Paris twice in one month. Even if he didn't have any specific plans in London, he, well...

He wanted to spend time with his girlfriend. So sue him.

"Of course, I understand if you'll be too busy at that point in the semester," Nathalie continued when Adrien didn't respond. "But it would be difficult to fit both fittings and photoshoots into the same weekend unless you could come over before mid-day on Friday."

"That sounds better," Adrien said immediately. He pulled out his phone to double-check on his schedule for Fridays to make sure that he was remembering it correctly. "I have two classes on Fridays, both lectures, and the second one ends at ten. I could probably make a noon or eleven thirty train."

"I'll book you for the eleven-thirty train," Nathalie decided. There was the sound of her clicking something on the computer. "And then back on Sunday night on the nine p.m. train, so you can have time to catch dinner with your friends before you leave Paris."

Adrien grinned. That was really nice of Nathalie to think of that. Hopefully his father wouldn't try to stick in an evening photoshoot on Sunday.

After ironing out a few more details (Adrien had to promise to have Marinette do his measurements so the seamstresses would have the absolute most up-to-date accurate measurements for his outfits), Nathalie hung up and Adrien dove back into his filing, hoping to finish the pile he was on before he took off for the day.

"Why didn't you just say no?" Plagg wanted to know, popping out of Adrien's bag. "Surely your father has other models. They're not exactly in short supply."

Adrien let out a huff. "Yeah, but sometimes it's better to choose my battles. It's one weekend, and I'll get to see Nino and Alya again for dinner, hopefully. It won't be any fun to have to do a ton of back-to-back fittings and photoshoots, but I'll manage."

"I better get cheese if I'll have to spend forever cooped up in your bag on the train for ages," Plagg grumbled. "Your bag smells."

"It does not, I just washed it," Adrien said automatically. He reached over the desk to grab a paper and squinted to read the writing on it. "It smells just fine. If anything, it just smells a lot like Camembert. And it wouldn't do that if you didn't leave crumbs all over."

Plagg just sulked.

  The end of the summer came too fast and too slowly all at once. Adrien was glad to be done with office paperwork and glad to see Paul and his other uni friends on a more regular basis again, but now he had homework and readings and projects to take up his time. As expected, his coursework had picked up for his second year, and the concepts took a little more work and focus to understand. The professors also warned them that there would be more papers this year, something that worried Adrien. He had to write the papers in English, and it could sometimes take him quite a while to work out the grammar and to edit correctly. Writing research papers when he had to read published papers first was even harder, since it could take quite a lot of time to wade through the technical jargon in English.

In fact, Adrien already found himself hard at work all week to make sure that he would be on top of things and wouldn't have to do any homework over the weekend. In fact, he was spending more time in the evenings working on his assignments than Marinette was spending on her commissions.

At least he had a fantastic soundtrack to do his homework to in the evenings. Marinette had been sent several more demo tracks from the bands that had commissioned her, and they were pretty good.

"I don't understand why your wife decided not to come with you this weekend," Plagg said as he and Adrien rode the Eurostar back to Paris. "Doesn't she want to see her parents and Nino and Alya again?"

"She thinks that there would probably be a lot of speculation if we both went back to Paris the same weekend if there wasn't a holiday or something," Adrien said. He marked his place in his book so he wouldn't have to re-read the passage he had just waded through. "It makes sense that we would travel together when we go exploring and whatnot, but if we're just going back to Paris, then it starts to look like we don't want to be apart at all."

When Plagg didn't respond, Adrien went back to his book. He hadn't quite grasped the concept that his professor had introduced that morning, and he wanted to have a solid understanding before their next lecture on Monday. He only had a couple hours before he would be in Paris, and he was determined to make the most of them.

By the time the train pulled into Paris and Adrien hopped into the Gorilla's waiting car, he had read the section over twice and had done a few practice problems for good measure to make sure he was understanding and applying things correctly. He had his Physics section down, just in time to switch over to modeling instead.

The rest of Friday passed in a furry of fittings. Things were nearly perfect- clearly the measurements Marinette had taken helped speed things along- and then Adrien got a slight haircut before being shuffled off to an evening winter-themed photoshoot. By the time that was over, it was late and Adrien hadn't had a chance to eat more than a few bites in between shots.

"At least early-morning shots aren't a staple of fall and winter shoots," Adrien said with a sigh as he scarfed down his late dinner. Next to him, Plagg was loudly inhaling a round of Camembert. "I'll actually get to sleep. Not as much as I would at home, but I won't be woken up before the crack of dawn, at least."

Saturday was a mix of outdoor and indoor green-screen and set shoots. Adrien ate whenever he could, snitching bites during set restagings and whenever he had to wait for another model to finish getting ready. There was a proper break scheduled in for dinner- Adrien figured that he probably had Nathalie to thank, as his father usually didn't take things like food and breaks and rest into consideration when making schedules- but she was busy coordinating the photographers and makeup artists and hair team for the next round of sunset and evening shoots and wouldn't appreciate an interruption, even if it was to thank her.

By the time Sunday rolled around, Adrien was fairly certain that it would take a full week, if not longer, to get all of the product out of his hair. It had been brushed and styled and sprayed and re-brushed and re-styled and re-sprayed more times than he could count. A piece would start to slip marginally out of place and an army of stylists would immediately descend and spray it back into submission. His hair didn't even feel natural anymore.

Once he got back to London, he was going to have to hop straight in the shower.

Thankfully, everything was running on schedule under Nathalie's watchful eye. Everything seemed to be going right, and Adrien hoped that it would hold out for the entire day. He had made plans to join Alya and Nino for dinner at their apartment at six, so they would have a couple hours together before he had to swing past the Dupain-Cheng bakery to pick up Marinette's sewing machine and her sewing kit and then head straight to the train station.

He hadn't spotted his father at all weekend. Adrien wasn't certain if he was happy about that or not.

With the last photo snapped, Adrien only gave himself a few seconds to relax before he was dashing off to the changing room. He had to exchange a few pleasantries with the other models before they let him go and he dashed off to get in the car. His small suitcase for the weekend was already stashed in the trunk.

"Remember, you should be at the station by eight fifty at the very latest," Nathalie reminded him as the Gorilla pulled the car out into traffic. "If you want to stop by the bakery after your dinner, I would say you would have to leave your friends' apartment by eight or eight fifteen."

Adrien nodded. He would probably leave closer to eight, simply because a short visit with the Dupain-Chengs was a thing that really did not exist. He would probably leave with not only the sewing stuff, but a large bag of bakery leftovers as well.

Once he arrived at Nino and Alya's apartment, Adrien had only just stepped inside the outer door when he was nearly bowled over by Nino. His friend was grinning as he slapped Adrien's shoulder.

"Hey, model boy," Nino said with a grin. He squinted at Adrien. "Dude, is that eyeliner?"

"Hey, I had to look pretty for the pictures," Adrien said with a shrug. "Blond doesn't showcase the eyes that well, so I have eyeliner. And I came here directly from the shoot, so no judging."

"Aw, but where's the fun in that?" Nino asked as he lead Adrien up the stairs towards his apartment. He grinned. "Seriously, it looks like your hair might just crunch if I touch it. Like, it looks fine from a couple paces back, but up close..."

"Yeah, it's lucky we don't do shots that focus on my hair," Adrien agreed. "It feels fake right now. They could have added in all sorts of hair extensions and I honestly wouldn't be able to tell anymore."

Nino laughed.

Alya already had dinner on the table when they got upstairs. She greeted Adrien cheerfully, wasting no time in joining Nino in teasing Adrien about his makeup and hair.

"Hey, we don't have that much time together," Adrien protested as Alya ruffled his very, very stiff hair. "So I didn't want to waste half of that time showering."

Alya snickered. "Really? You'd spend an entire hour showering? Your water bills must be horrendous. I suppose it's a good thing you and Marinette don't live together, or she would never get any time to shower herself."

"I have more stuff in my hair than I normally do," Adrien protested, deciding to ignore the jab about Marinette. "So therefore it would take longer to get out. I don't spend that much time in the shower."

Neither Nino nor Alya looked convinced.

"It's too bad Marinette didn't come back with you this weekend," Alya said as they dished up. "She hasn't been back to Paris for forever, it seems. But I heard that she has more commissions that she's working on!"

"That she does," Adrien confirmed with a grin. "Several sets of album art, and then one of the singers found out that Marinette sews, too, so she has a couple rocker outfits to make. She has this faux leather stuff all over now."

"Is she going to use the sewing machines at Madam Rosalie's for those outfits, then?" Alya wanted to know. "I thought she left her sewing machine in Paris because she thought it would be too bulky and heavy to bring to London."

"She did leave her machine originally, and I'm getting it before I go to the train station," Adrien told her, impressed that Alya would remember that. "Marinette let her parents know so they could gather everything up, since I'll be in a hurry. I brought a big suitcase back to Paris so I can pack her sewing machine into it so it'll be easier to carry." He grinned, remembering his bodyguard's expression when he saw Adrien with his largest suitcase packed for one weekend at the train station. "The sewing machine is packed in a box for travel, so I had to pick a really big suitcase so it would fit. The Gorilla was really confused when he first saw it, because he thought I packed a ton for just one weekend."

His friends laughed.

"So what are you up to now?" Nino asked him. "You're done with your job now, right? The filing one?"

Adrien nodded. "Yeah, thank goodness. It was all right for a job, but it just wasn't what I wanted to be doing. I'm just focusing on school right now and honestly, I don't know if I could do more at the same time. It's only the first week, but it's already obvious that it's gonna be a whole lot harder this year."

"So that means he's gonna be boring," Nino mock-translated, grinning when Adrien kicked him under the table. "What? You know that's true. You'll be all study, study, study."

"It'll only get worse my third year, or so I've heard," Adrien said. He shrugged. "I think this week was as hard as it was mostly because I had to get all of my homework done before the weekend, and because I had to get used to new professors. They have a different teaching style, most of them, and I need to figure out how to get the most out of their lectures and then it'll be easy. Easier, at least."

"You could ask older students about those professors," Nino suggested, then checked himself. "I mean, students who have been in the program for longer. Third year students."

That was a good idea, actually, and not something Adrien would have thought of himself. He wasn't used to having to ask for help in catching on to a professor's teaching style. Normally he was the one that other people came to for help. "It would just be a matter of finding those students. I'm not super-familiar with people outside of my classes and I can't exactly, like, just go up to other students at random and ask them if they've had a certain professor."

"Then go to the tutoring center or something," Alya told him. "They should have students that did really well in those classes there that could give you study tips or readings and stuff so you can stay top of your class- because I know you're a crazy student like that."

Adrien just shrugged. There was nothing wrong with him wanting to put his best foot forward in his classes. The better he understood the concepts the better he would do in his classes, sure, but it would also make it easier for him to understand stuff in the higher-level courses later on.

From there, Adrien got to hear about how Nino's DJing was going (apparently he was largely in between doing indie movie soundtracks at the moment), and about the articles Alya had been writing for the paper. She was finally getting to do articles with more substance instead of just fluff pieces, though as one of the youngest on staff she still had to do jobs like sorting through letters to the editor and small local interest pieces.

"It's busywork, really, "Alya told them with a huff. "And at least I don't have to go through all of the letters to the editor. The interns whittle it down some to get rid of the junk, and then when it's my turn, then I just narrow further so that the editor can just look through a few things before making the final selection."

"It's not as exciting as covering superheroes," Nino told Adrien in a stage whisper. "Most things aren't, though."

Adrien had to laugh at that. "I can see where stuff would be a little less exciting than what you did with the Ladyblog. But at least your dates and interviews don't get interrupted all the time by attacks. Paris is doing better with Hawkmoth gone."

"Yeah, but it's less exciting," Alya complained. "At least I have my research to do when it's a slow day. It's a lot of sifting through dead ends, but when I find something, then it can be really fun."

"Or really frustrating, if you can't find anything else about them," Nino added. He grinned at Adrien. "She forgets that I hear all her grumbling in the evenings when she'd found a potential historical user but can't find more than, like, two really vague sources."

"It's frustrating!" Alya defended herself. "I just get a feeling about someone, that they were probably a user, but there's no proof. And without proof, all I have is a folder of random normal heroes and people throughout history from all over the world."

"Do you contact historians then?" Adrien asked. "From those areas? I know for that the big ones you could find experts on that person, but maybe you could just find people who were just experts on that period of time. They might have access to other materials that you couldn't find online, stuff that wasn't translated. You might need to find a translator to contact some of them, though."

Nino looked a little nervous. "Uh, maybe we could hold off on hiring a translator," he suggested. "Just have a list of historians you want to contact and the language you would want to contact them in for your application packet. Otherwise I can see it getting really expensive really fast, and we don't exactly have a ton of extra money sitting around."

Alya pouted.

"I mean, if you can find someone who speaks one of those languages who's willing to do it for free- like, one of our friends- then go ahead," Nino said quickly. "But if you'll probably be able to have the newspaper pay for it, then we won't have to spend a ton on translator fees."

"I suppose," Alya grumbled. "I just hate dropping a lead like that. Or not dropping, but at least putting it aside for a bit. I just worry about forgetting about some of the things I've found," she told Adrien. "My research is a bit messy right now. There's a lot of information and a lot of research, but it's a mess. I really have to sit down and properly sort it some time."

"She's getting a filing cabinet for her birthday," Nino whispered in Adrien's year when Alya hopped up to go refill her glass. "And oodles of folders and other organizing stuff. Maybe it's a boring gift, but she needs it right now."

Adrien just grinned.

The rest of their time flew by far too fast, and then Adrien was hugging his friends good-bye and heading out to the waiting car. The Gorilla drove him straight to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and Adrien hopped out, grabbing his ridiculously large suitcase from the back.

His clothes were going to be a wrinkled mess by the time he got back to London, with the amount of flopping around they were doing in his suitcase, but that hardly mattered. He'd have to wash them once he got back home either way.

"Remember, you only have thirty minutes with them before we have to go to the station," Nathalie reminded Adrien as he made to go up to the front door. "So don't linger too long."

"Of course."

It didn't take long for Tom to answer the door after Adrien pressed the doorbell. The large man grinned when he spotted Adrien, and as soon as the door was open, Tom enveloped Adrien in a hug.

"Adrien, son! It's good to see you," Tom said. He gave Adrien one last friendly squeeze before releasing him. "It's too bad Marinette couldn't come back for the weekend with you. Is she busy with work?"

"Work and commissions," Adrien agreed. He stepped inside the door so Tom could wave to Nathalie and the Gorilla before closing the door and leading the way upstairs. "She's working hard, making connections and whatnot. If she's ever between design jobs, she'll be able to get enough commission work to support herself, I think. And it'll look amazing on her resume, of course."

"She's done very well for herself," Tom said proudly. "Sabine and I had initially been concerned when Marinette wanted to become a fashion designer, since it's such a competitive industry and so many people don't succeed, but I don't think she'll have a problem."

Adrien nodded in agreement as Tom led the way into the living room. He could see where Tom might be concerned, since the fashion industry was very competitive and plenty of talented designers went undiscovered. The designers who ended up struggling the most were the ones who decided to strike out on their own instead of joining an existing company, and it seemed that Marinette had already decided against doing that. It was probably a smart move- while being an independent designer probably sounded glamorous, it was a lot of work and a lot of struggling to get things on the market and popular while not earning a particularly steady income.

"Adrien, dear!" Sabine called eagerly as she caught sight of him. "It's so good to see you! We got Marinette's machine all packaged up, and then we found everything else she wanted and got it in her sewing bag there." She pointed to the bag and box sitting on the table. "But won't you visit with us first before you run off again?"

"I can stay for a bit," Adrien agreed. "Just let me get the sewing machine into my suitcase right away, so we're not rushing at the end."

"Be really careful with it," Sabine warned, fluttering around him as Adrien unzipped his suitcase. "It's a sturdy machine and all, but too many knocks around will throw parts out of line and it can be pretty expensive to fix."

"I'll take care of it," Adrien promised. He glanced into his suitcase and quickly scrambled to cover a couple, ah, purchases he had made with a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Over the weekend, he had managed to squeeze in a trip to the store to pick up a few things, stuff that he couldn't exactly risk buying in London in case the paparazzi happened to spot him- and no, he wasn't being paranoid. The reporter that he and Marinette had spotted in the store had been there around the same time as they were several more times, and on top of that, several of the cashiers were young uni students that recognized him from the tabloids and he didn't want any of them taking note of any, ah, mature purchases.

Not that he was necessarily going to need any of said mature purchases anytime soon, but Adrien preferred to be prepared. He also preferred that his secret girlfriend's parents not notice the aforementioned purchases.

"So you just started classes this past week, I heard?" Tom asked as Adrien carefully moved the box with the sewing machine in it from the table to his suitcase. It was heavier than he had expected. "Is your second year getting off to a good start?"

"It is," Adrien confirmed with a grin. He arranged the box in his suitcase- it only just fit, which meant no rattling around when he carried it from place to place- and then tucked everything else in the suitcase into the space over the sewing machine box. He quickly zipped up the suitcase before the Dupain-Chengs could see anything incriminating, and then the suitcase went next to the table so he wouldn't forget either it or Marinette's stuffed sewing bag. "My classes are going to be more interesting this year, I think. We've moved on from the more basic stuff, and I think I get to pick the first of my elective classes second semester."

"Exciting," Tom said. He grinned at Adrien. "And you get to keep my daughter over there with you for another year, so I'm sure that's a bonus."

Adrien nodded a bit cautiously. He could recognize fishing for information when he saw it, especially after spending so much time with Alya and Nino. "Yeah, it's great to have her there! I love having a friend from Paris in London, and right next door, too. And then I get to hang out with Marinette and her friends from work, too, which is always fun. And I hate just sitting in my apartment alone, so..." He trailed off and smiled, trying to not let the smile get too sappy. "We hang out a lot. It's nice to have the company."

"Would you invite your friends from university over otherwise?" Sabine asked. She plopped down a large paper bag that, from the smell of it, was filled with delicious pastries, then headed over to perch on the couch. "Are most of them younger than you are?"

"I have invited my uni friends over before, just not anywhere near as often," Adrien told her. "None of them live in the building or next door like some of the other Rosalie workers do, though, so they have to come further. And yeah, my friends from uni are all younger than I am. There's a few other nontraditional students in my classes, but they're all, like, a lot older, with families and whatnot."

"I don't know if you're old enough to count as a nontraditional student," Tom said with a laugh. "And come over here and sit down, son. You don't have to just stand over there. We want to know how things are going in London."

Adrien grinned, crossing the room and settling down on the cushion Sabine was patting. Marinette's parents were always so welcoming and eager to hear what he was up to. In only twenty minutes, they learned more about what Adrien had been up to over the summer and his first week of the semester than his own father had learned over the entire weekend. There were more than a few pointed questions about him and Marinette that Adrien had to dodge, but Adrien had had so much experience with reporters that it was child's play to evade all of the questions.

"Oh, is that your ride?" Tom asked when Adrien's phone chimed. He looked disappointed. "Is it time for you to leave already?"

"Yeah, I have to get to the train station soon," Adrien admitted, checking his phone and shooting a quick message back to Nathalie to assure her that yes, he was on his way. "Nathalie got me on the latest train back to London, so I can't miss it. It was great getting to talk to you guys again."

"It was great getting to see you again too, dear," Sabine told him fondly. "Now Tom, do you want to help him carry everything downstairs? Maybe you can take the suitcase."

Tom ended up taking both the suitcase and Marinette's sewing bag while Adrien trotted down the stairs after him with the bag of pastries. How he was going to carry everything once he was getting on the train he had no clue, but he would make it work somehow.

"Take care of our girl for us," Tom told him as Adrien stepped out the door. "Make sure she doesn't overwork herself, between her job and her commissions. And see if she'll come back with you next time you come to Paris, all right? Facetiming her just isn't the same as seeing her in person. And give her a hug for us."

"I'll do that, sir," Adrien told him. "I promise."

[sherl-watson-holmes]

Welcome to London (Sherlock x reader) Chapter 4

For faster updates on this story and other oneshots I write, visit my wattpad: -kavacado-

*time skip to the day before Christmas vacation*(sorry I thought it'd be really mundane and boring for you to read about them going to school and getting closer) "Is that our professor?" You said laughing loudly. "I believe so, I guess no one wants to be at uni at this point." John said chuckling. You, Sherlock, John, Jim, Mary, and Molly had decided to skip class at Speedy's the day before you all had break since none of you were going to be together during it. Everyone, except you was going home to see their family, all against their wishes. You on the other hand decided against going back to America, you were in no mood to see everyone that you left behind and be told that you should come back home. "I'm dreading going home. I cannot go see Harriet again, I'll end up not talking to her at all one day if we keep fighting." John sighed. "I too loathe to see my brother and parents." Sherlock added. You laughed "oh c'mon Sherlock, your family is so sweet! Your brother did kidnap me, but I'm sure it was out of love for you." Everyone laughed at this. You'd all been kidnapped at least once by Mycroft. You, quite a few times. You honestly liked Mycroft, he didn't express it well, but he really did just care for his younger brother, and you found that endearing. You got along well with Mycroft and even had lunch a few times, to Sherlock's distaste of course. Mycroft was like a brother to you now, he had begun to care for you, and you him. "I honestly don't wanna visit my family either, I just wanna be with you guys." Mary said. "Aww, I don't wanna leave you guys either, honestly I'm not excited to play straight for my parents when I go home." Jim frowned. You laid your head down on his shoulder, rubbing his back comfortingly. You and Jim had bonded over mutually being a disappointment to your parents in the short time you had known each other. You'd grown closer to everybody in such a short amount of time, even Sherlock tolerated you at the very least. They accepted you whole-heartedly into their little group and you would forever be thankful as it made your move to London so much easier on you. They had become your family and you loved them more than you could even begin to express. "I think I'm just gonna cancel going home, hopefully my parents just forgot about it, I just wanna stay here and relax during break." Molly brought you out of your thoughts. "It'll be okay guys, just come back to me alive and okay. I can't lose any of you, we'll be back together once uni starts again." You looked at all of them lovingly. Your eyes locked with Sherlock's for a second before you quickly looked down. You'd taken a liking to Sherlock and you'd do anything to prevent him from knowing that, but little did you know, he had taken a liking to you as well. He was just really bad at showing it. In his own confusion towards what he felt for you, he failed to deduce your feeling towards him. You all kept chatting until you're phone started ringing with an unknown number. It was from America, 'weird' you thought. "I'll be right back guys, I'm getting a call." You walked a few feet away from the table you all were sitting at in speedy's. "Hello." You waited for a response. "Hello, is this (f/n)?" "Yeah, who's this?"  "I'm calling from Northshore Hospital, there's a patient here and you're their emergency contact." Your heart sank, who could it be, you weren't close to a lot of people. "What's the patients name?" You asked. "(Choose sister name), she's gotten into an accident and things aren't looking good, could you please come to sign some papers?" Your heart felt like it had stopped. You weren't aware of everyone getting up from the table to come to you when they saw your expression. Sherlock's hand came to your back, startling you. You were suddenly aware of everyone looking at you for an explanation and the tears streaming down your face. "(Y/n) what's happened?" John asked softly. "I have to go home." And with that you ran to 221C with everyone trailing behind you. You rushed into your room and started packing a big suitcase. Mid-way you realized you needed a ticket and pushed past everyone that was standing in the doorway to you bedroom to your living room. You sat on your chair and opened your laptop and started looking for the next flight to New York. Mary came and sat on the arm of your chair and laid a hand on your upper back. "(Y/n), honey, what's happened, why do you have to go home?" She asked you, taking the laptop from your hands and putting it on the table in front of you. "M-my sister, I just got a call from some hospital, she got into an accident or something, I don't know, I have to go see and her and sign stuff or something, I'm not really sure." You replied, tears still streaming down your face. "Do you want one of us to come with you? You shouldn't go alone like this." She kept rubbing your back. "No, I'll be fine." You put your head in your hands taking a long shaky breath. "I'll come with you, it's not like I wanted to see my family anyways." You heard John say. "I'll come to, I can't leave my best friend alone." You heard Jim say before he came and hugged you tightly. "I'll come as well I suppose." Sherlock said with a slight smile on his lips, trying to make you feel better. "We'll all come! Don't worry (y/n), it'll all turn out fine, I'm sure of it!" Molly sat on the other arm of your chair and smiled at you. You smiled through your tears "Thanks guys. I don't know what I'd do without you." You really didn't know what you'd do without them. You all spent the night getting tickets, packing your bags, and calling family to explain that you wouldn't be coming to visit because of an emergency.  Come morning you all took cabs to the airport and got on the plane. You sank into your seat and pressed two fingers to your temple attempting to soothe the pounding headache you felt. You sat in between Sherlock at the window seat and Jim at the aisle seat. Mary, John, and Molly sat in the row behind you. Jim pulled your head to his chest and ruffled your hair comfortingly. He soon fell asleep but you couldn't. You couldn't stop your mind from wandering, and you kept thinking about what might happen. You slowly slid out of Jim's grip and decided to watch a movie. Sherlock was in his mind palace beside you. Watching the movie, your mind was finally exhausted enough to allow you to sleep. Slowly you nodded off and your head fell onto Sherlock's shoulder. The sudden weight on him brought Sherlock out of his mind palace and he looked to his left to find you peacefully asleep on his shoulder. He smiled at the sight of you, it was the most at peace he'd seen you since you got the news. He decided to take a break from his mind palace and put his head on top of yours to join you in your slumber. You awoke to Sherlock buckling your seatbelt. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, but we're about to land and you need your seatbelt on." You nodded sleepily and rubbed your eyes. As soon as you got off the plane, you went to a pay phone and called your mom to figure out what the hell was going on and where you were supposed to be. "Hello." "Hi, mom, what the hell is going on, what hospital is (s/n) in? Is she okay?" "What?" You heard muffled whispering from the other side before your mom said "oh, um, just come straight to the house." "Mom, could you just explain what the hell is going-" she cut the phone. You were getting really anxious now, why wouldn't your mom tell you anything? You went back to everyone waiting for you at the gate. "My mom just said to come home, she wouldn't tell me anything." You said shaking your head slightly. Mary wrapped an arm around your shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "It's okay sweetie, let's catch a cab there and figure out what's happening." You all walked out of JFK airport and shuffled into cabs. The cabs pulled up in front of your house and you got out. Embarrassed, you let your hair fall in front of your quickly reddening face to shield it. "This is your house?!" Molly said as her jaw dropped. You stood in front of a mansion-like house with four bedrooms for you and your family and three more for guests. It had a fountain bigger than you in front of it with a path for cars going around it and into the driveway. It had a huge double door entrance and large windows in every room. Most people said it was a beautiful house, you said it was pretentious and embarrassing. You hated it as a kid because other kids bullied you until they found out your parents were rich and then they feigned kindness. You hated how fake it made people. Noticing your discomfort, no one questioned you further. You all went to the front door and you pulled out your spare keys that you kept with you even in London. You opened the door and let everyone in. "Mom? Where are you?" You questioned making your way to the living room. And there you saw your sister sitting on the sofa, looking perfectly healthy and across from her sat... your ex-boyfriend, David. LHey (y/n)." Your sister waved lightly to you with a smug grin on her face. "You aren't in the hospital." "Nope." "Why the hell is he here, and why did I get a call saying you were in the hospital, explain now." You clenched your fists and put on a stern expression. "Well as for me, I just had a colleague of mine call you and make up a little story. How else would I get you to actually come back home? And as for David, I'm reuniting you two." She said grinning from ear to ear. "Are you kidding me? I was so scared! What the hell is wrong with you?! And David, really? He fucking cheated on me (s/n)." Everyone stood behind you as you fumed at your sister. "One flaw (y/n), no one's perfect. You definitely aren't." She finished with a smug grin. "I can't believe you." You shook your head at her and stormed out of the house. Sherlock ran after you while everyone else stood awkwardly in the living room trying to figure out a way to explain why they were there. You kept running until you reached your favorite place in the world, the one place you went to get away from everyone and everything. There was an abandoned building near your house you climbed the stairs to the highest floor and then I used a small ladder to get near the ceiling and push open a small trapdoor to get onto the roof. You didn't see that Sherlock had followed you up there and sat beside you went you went to the edge to swing your feet off of the building. You both sat in silence for a while as you calmed down. "Are you okay?" He looked at you. "I don't know." You replied looking at the city skyline. After a few more moments of silence you began "I'm just so mad at her. She made me think the worst just because she wanted me to come home and she wants me to continue to be with someone who's already been unfaithful once. It was a stupid high school relationship and I don't wanna continue it, but he's going to Harvard and my sister likes Harvard. She's so annoying. She never ceases to remind me that I am the disappointment of the family and I am just so done with it. I came all the way to London and I still can't get away from her shit." You sighed, leaning back on your hands. "What about your other sister? Where's she?" Sherlock asked you. "She's probably with her in-laws for Christmas." Sherlock hummed in response.you both sat there for the rest of the day just watching as the sun set behind the New York skyline. You sighed as you watched the sky turn dark. "Let's go back, I guess we can try to make this trip worthwhile as long as we've come so far." You both made it back to the house in silence. You opened the door and went to show Sherlock his guest bedroom. You checked on everyone making sure that they were in a room, Mary and John were in one together, and then you went to your old bedroom to try to sleep yourself. After tossing and turning for a while you finally fell asleep, deciding to deal with all the shit life was throwing at you in the morning