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worseforwords · 2 years

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Barcelona Beginnings (Ona Batlle x Reader)

So, I decided to write a sequel to the Manchester Meet-cute/ Memories story after all. However, it takes place 4 years after the initial encounter. I recommend you read the other parts first. You can find them here: part 1, part 2

“Y/N/N!” A familiar voice called from behind you. You quickly turned around “Ames!” You screamed as your best friend practically jumped into your arms, almost making you fall over. “I am loving the Barcelona weather already!” She exclaimed as she pulled away. “Better than Paris?” You asked. “Yeah it’s been cloudy for weeks. That’s not what they told us when we decided to move there you know. City of light my ass.” She scoffed as you chuckled at her. “Still the city of love though I hope. How’s Lewis?” “Great, I have some news actually.” She looked at you excitedly. “We’re going to try to make a baby!”

How did this happen? How was Amy suddenly becoming the adult between the two of you? Somehow, the random fling your friend ditched you for 4 years ago, was now her husband, and they were ever so happy, living together in Paris. You actually liked Lewis a lot, and you were happy for them, but damn, how did this happen?

“Oh my god, Ames, that’s amazing! I’m sure you’ll be great parents.” “And think about how hot our children will be!” She said, referring to the fact that they were both absolute 10s, which you could not disagree with. “Okay so enough about me. How’ve you been? I’ve received significantly less midnight anxiety calls, so I assume you’re doing slightly better?” “Yeah, I am. I’ve made some friends, work has been better. I feel like I’m finally starting to fit in.”

Contrary to Amy, you hadn’t particularly been thriving, but you were certain it was for the best. You had moved to Barcelona about 2 months ago, completely leaving behind the life you had built, for a career opportunity. You left your job, your house, your family, but the worst part was ending your relationship of 3 years. Your first two weeks in Barcelona you had been miserable. You were heartbroken and all on your own in a new city where you barely spoke the language. The only thing getting you through your sorrow, were your daily FaceTime calls with Amy. You had slowly built yourself back up, forcing yourself to go out and enjoy the Catalan sun, and all the city had to offer. So you were truly doing better, day by day.

“That’s good to hear Y/N/N. Now, where can we get some of that delicious Spanish wine around here?” “Jesus Ames, it’s 10 in the morning, how about a coffee first?” You giggled, happy she was still the Amy you knew and loved.

After dropping Amy’s stuff off at your place, you walked into a nearby coffeeshop where you had become a regular these past months. “Hola Martí” “Y/N! Bon dia, the usual?” The barista asked. “Sí, and a cappuccino for my friend, please.” You answered. These past months, Martí had been a ray of sunshine in your life, even when your head was too cloudy to enjoy the actual Barcelona sunshine. “Here you go, princesa.” He said as he handed you your coffees. “Merci”

Amy had already claimed the loungeset in the corner. You started walking over there, when you realised you forgot to grab a cookie. As you turned around, you saw some people coming through the door from the corner of your eye, one of whom was approaching the bar at a dangerous pace. Time stood still for a moment as you couldn’t help but flash back to a very similar moment 4 years ago in a coffeeshop in Manchester. You knew better this time, so you swiftly moved your arms out of the way, spilling only a little coffee on yourself. The speedy individual could only just dodge you, causing a quick breeze in your face, lightly fluttering your hair. You stood there for a second, catching your breath, looking at the fresh coffee stain on your white shoe. You thought everything was supposed to be tranquilo in Spain, but apparently not for everyone. “You should watch where y-” “Y/N!?” There was no way, it couldn’t be her. You immediately looked up, to be met with the same gorgeous pair of hazel eyes you just saw in your flashback, 4 years and they hadn’t changed one bit. “No way, Ona!?” You both stood there for a minute, looking at each other in total awe, before falling into a tight embrace. “We have to stop meeting like this.” You joked, to which Ona giggled. “Are you stalking me now, Y/N?” She chuckled, to which your face instantaneously turned red, as you knew exactly what she was referring to.

When you first got to Barcelona, you spend a lot of time on social media, in search of some kind of distraction. One day, whilst mindlessly scrolling through instagram, you came across photo of Ona holding some kind of trophy with some of her FC Barcelona teammates. She had transferred to Barcelona not long after you left Manchester, which you knew, but you never made an effort to meet up with her since you had moved. You slightly frowned when you recognised the girl to her right: her girlfriend, hence your decision not to contact her. A mixture of curiosity and boredom caused you to go to her profile and scroll down to 4 years ago, around the time the two of you met. Oh how you cursed at instagram for still not having changed the double tap feature, when your thumb accidentally slipped and you unintentionally liked a photo from 4 years ago. You immediately undid your action and contemplated just deleting your account all together. But then you realised she had half a million followers, so you prayed your blunder would just go unnoticed. But it didn’t, apparently.

“I live right around the corner actually.” You said quickly, hoping to avoid having to explain your instagram antics. “Wait, you live here?In Barcelona?” She asked, her face expressing both excitement and confusion. “Yeah, I do. Just moved here two months ago.” An awkward silence ensued as you started feeling guilty for not contacting her. “Y/N/N, who’s this?” Amy, who apparently left the loungeset, interrupted the somewhat painful stares between the two of you. “Hi, I’m Ona” Ona smiled. Amy seemed to recognise that name, because she waited a while before responding, looking at the both of you with narrowed eyes as if investigating. “Hold up,” she finally spoke “are you THE Ona, from the magical Manchester lovestory!?” The both of you turned red at her loud outcry, immediately looking at anything but each other. “I’m Amy, by the way.” She said, slightly smirking. “Nice to meet you Amy.” Ona said as a slight smile reappeared on her face. “Oh wait.” The smile quickly turned in to a look of pure shame. “Yes, I’m that Amy, creditcard Amy.” Amy laughed out loud at the furious glances you sent her way. “Yeah, sorry about that” Ona giggled awkwardly. “Alright, I’ll just be over there.” Amy walked back to the loungeset, still audibly giggling about the whole situation.

“Sorry about her.” You said when she was far enough away. “That’s okay,” Ona smiled “after all, I did convince you to steal her money.” Both of you chuckled at the memory. “I’m actually kind of in a hurry though, so I have to run now.” She said, apologetically. “But let’s hang out sometime, to properly catch up.” She quickly hugged you again before grabbing a coffee to go and heading out again. You highly suspected that she just said that last part as a courtesy, so you chose not to contact her and instead wait for her to reach out.

You spend the rest of the day showing Amy around your new neighbourhood. It felt great to have your best friend by your side again, and the two of you truly had a blast, even though she repeatedly teased you about the uncomfortable interaction from earlier that day. You hardly touched your phone all day, so when you got home at the end of the day, you had a few notifications.

Mom❤️: How are you dear? Remember to wish uncle Dan a happy birthday. Also tell Amy I said hi. Call soon?

Martí☕: Tomorrow we have your favourite carrot cake again!

Loser bro💩: Hey sis, mom told me to tell you to wish uncle Dan a happy birthday. Also you stink, I can smell you from here. Kinda miss u tho lil bit, BUT U STINK🤢

You chuckled at your screen. When you scrolled down you saw an instagram notification from Ona. You opened it right away, thinking she might want to meet up after all, but it wasn’t a message.

[ona.batlle has liked your photo]

You were a little confused, because you hadn’t posted anything recently, but when you clicked on it you saw that it was a photo from 4 years ago. You quietly chuckled to yourself at her teasing. You saw she was online, so you decided to message her about it, to which she immediately replied.

You: Who’s stalking who exactly? 😏

Ona: Guess were even now 🙃

Ona: Although you did move to my city..

You: Fair enough

Even though the conversation was very short, it still made up for some of the awkwardness from earlier, and it brought a wide smile to your face. The latter dit not go unnoticed by Amy, who discreetly approached you from behind to then snatch your phone out of your hand and see what made you grin like that. “AMES! Give that back!” “Oooo, sliding into her DMs now are we?” You chased her trough your apartment until she finally had to catch a breath and you took the opportunity to grab your phone out of her hands. You both sat back down on the couch as Amy looked at you expectantly. “Sooooo-” “Shut up.” You cut her off. “What? The stars have finally aligned for you two! You live in the same city with neither of you planning to move and you both clearly like each other. Like come on, Y/N/N, let romance win for once!” “Except they haven’t.” you mumbled. “Sorry?” “The stars, they haven’t aligned. She has a girlfriend.” You said sharply, your voice cracking. “Oh. I’m sorry Y/N/N.” She said softly, pulling you into a tight hug.

The next day Amy cooled it significantly with the Ona teasing. She had clearly already moved on as she tried to set you up with every random person you met during the day. It led to some rather humiliating interactions, but you had fun nonetheless, and you had to admit it was nice to take your mind of things. Towards the end of the day however, you received a message that brought your mind right back to were it had been most of yesterday. It was from Ona. She forwarded you a post, with a smirk face next to it. You clicked on it to find a promo for a Lion King musical revival. You felt your heart rate accelerate slightly. You didn’t know how to respond, so you chose to go with a safe option and just replied with the same smirk emoji.

Ona: Sooo is that a yes?

You: Was there a question?

Ona: You are impossible.

Ona: Do you want to go?

You: Sorry :)

You: It sounds amazing, I would love to go.

Ona: Are you free tonight?

“Ames?” You called out. “What’s up?” She came running from the kitchen. “Would it be okay if I left you alone for a bit tonight?” She audibly gasped. “Depends, why?” She asked, a smirk started to grow on her face as she had a hunch what this could be about. “Ona may have asked me to go see the Lion King revival.” You mumbled. “Yes, YES, a thousand times YES! Romance is in the air! I’ll book a hotel so you can have this place all to yourself and you know, bring her home afterwards.” The smirk on her face grew even wider. “She still has a girlfriend Ames. This is just a friend thing.” “Are you sure about that? Maybe you should actually ask her. I mean it’s the Lion King for fucks sake, the LION KING Y/N/N. Can you feel the love tonight, because I can!” As she kept on rambling for a while, your focus went back to your phone.

You: Tonight it is :)

Ona: Great, it’s a date ;)

“Y/N? What’s up?” Amy said, noticing your flustered expression and the blush spreading across your face. “She said, and I quote: it’s a date.” “IT’S A DATE!” Amy exclaimed, as she pulled you off the couch to dance around the room, sending kissy faces your way and you couldn’t help but giggle at her antics. “Wait. We have to get you ready! What to wear, what to wear!?” She started running around frantically, like the true drama queen she is.

You met up with Ona at the theater about an hour later. “Hi.” she said, with a shy smile on her face. “Hi.” You replied. “Sorry again about yesterday. It was all just a little weird.” “So you felt that too huh?” She said, looking slightly relieved. “I guess it had just been a while.” “Yeah, I guess.” The conversation fell quiet as you stood in line waiting to get your tickets scanned. “It’s still a little awkward isn’t it?” She finally asked. “Yes it is.” You admitted, and you both chuckled quietly. The truth was, you weren’t quite sure how to act around her. You had only ever been flirty with her, but now she had a girlfriend, so you tried your very best to just be friendly. The fact that she (presumably jokingly) called it a date however, did not make acting platonic any easier.

“Do you want to get a drink first?” She asked once you were both inside. “Yes please.” You answered, hoping it might take the edge off things. Ona ordered two glasses of wine and then sat down on a bench, waiting for you to join her. You sat down next to her, and immediately noticed her eying the obvious gap you left between the two of you. Everything you seemed to do in an attempt to not make her uncomfortable, seemed to make things so much more awkward and therefore make her even more uncomfortable. Maybe going out with her was a mistake. Even though it had been 4 years, there was just something about her that made you want to jump her bones right then and there. That could never happen though, so here you were, repressing everything you felt for her. Ona seemed to have noticed your mind had started to spiral, as she carefully put her hand on your shoulder to make you look at her instead of your feet. “Hey, Y/N, remember: Hakuna Matata.” Butterflies crept up your stomach as you let her words sink in. Thankfully the theater bell went, signalling that the show was about to start, because you must have been staring at her with obvious heart eyes for way too long.

The musical was incredible. The music, the costumes, the decor, everything was executed to perfection. At one point Ona put her hand on the armrest in between you, ever so slightly caressing your hand that had already been on there. You had been tempted to move your hand closer to hers, but instead you pulled it away. Apart from that moment the musical had been a welcome distraction. When the curtain closed, you both remained in your seat for a bit, recovering from the spectacle you had just witnessed. “Want to take a walk so we can properly catch up?” She finally asked.

As you walked the beautiful streets of Barcelona by night together, you successfully made small talk, catching up on each others lives. You were proud of the comfortable platonic atmosphere you finally seemed to have created, when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. “I need to show you something.” She said. You turned around to look at her and she pulled out something from under the collar of her shirt. It was the golden necklace with the little lion on it you had left her back in Manchester. She still had it. You just looked at her, too stunned to speak. All your efforts to keep things friendly and suppress your feelings and here you were, heart beating like a maniac. “You still have that?” You asked quietly, taking a step forward to take the little lion in your hand and have a closer look at it. You looked back up and there was a moment when your noses almost touched. You looked into her eyes and you were sure you caught her looking at your lips for a second. You immediately realised you were standing way to close, and quickly backed away heart still racing uncontrollably. “Ona, I erm- I think I should go home.” You said. “Oh, okay.” She said, suddenly staring at the pavement, disappointment clear in her voice. You went in to give her a quick hug when she looked at you and asked softly: “Did I do something wrong?” “No, no, of course not. I’m just not feeling very well, sorry.” You hastily hugged her goodbye and turned around to walk away, not wanting her to spot your eyes tearing up.

“Oh no, you’re back way too soon.” Amy said from the couch when she heard you enter your apartment. “Y/N/N, you okay?” She asked when you didn’t respond. You still didn’t answer, instead you just plopped down next to her as she opened up her arms for you to cuddle up against her. “That bad huh?” You nodded. You enjoyed the comfort of your best friends arms for a while before she sat you up straight. “Want to tell me what happened?”

You recounted all the events of the night as you sniffled softly in between sentences. “Y/N/N,” Amy said when you were done “she was very clearly coming on to you. This is in no way platonic.” “Well I don’t know what to tell you Ames, she has a girlfr-” “Does she? Doesn’t sound like it. And if she does I’m not sure they are in a good place right now.”

A couple of days went by without any form of contact between you and Ona. Luckily you had Amy by your side the whole time to distract you from spiralling about the whole situation you brought onto yourself. Unfortunately, she eventually had to go back to her life in Paris, to make a family or whatever, so you dropped her off at the airport and hour before her flight. “Damn it.” She said as you walked into the airport together. “3 hour delay.” “That means I get to spend 3 more hours with you!” You cheered. “What do you want to do first? People-watching? Eat a whole Toblerone? Go plane spotting?” You suggested. “You don’t have to stay you know.” She giggled. “No I want to. It’ll be fun!” “Alright then, I’m going to find a toilet. You find us a nice people-watching spot.” You sat down at the bench with the best view of the airport hallway and pulled out your phone to scroll through instagram. You came across a picture of Ona at a restaurant with her teammates. Without thinking too much about it you liked the post. Hardly ten seconds past before you got a notification. A message from Ona.

Ona: Hey

You: Hi

Ona: Can we maybe talk?

You: Sure

Ona: Like in person

You: When?

Ona: Now?

You were too busy staring at your phone when Amy suddenly hit your shoulders from behind, making you jump in your seat. “Your doing people-watching all wrong.” She joked. You hastily put your phone away. “What was that?” Amy asked, upon noticing your secretive behaviour. “Nothing.” “Y/N/N, don’t do this again. What’s going on?” “She asked if we can talk, like now.” You admitted. “Just go.” Amy said. “No, no, I can’t just leave you alone here, I-” “Y/N. Y/M/N. Y/L/N. I refuse to stand in the way of true love. Please go talk to her.” She said dramatically. “You sure?” “Yes! Now go!” You pulled Amy into a tight embrace and thanked her for everything. After a while she pulled away and pushed you towards the exit. “Stop wasting time, go get your girl!”

You sat at the edge of your couch, fidgeting with your bracelet when the ringing of the doorbell had you suddenly shoot straight up. Upon opening your front door you saw Ona, but you weren’t met with the usual cute smile. Instead her face portrayed a both nervous and somber expression.

“Hi”

Part 4 out now!

#ona batlle #ona batlle imagine #ona batlle x reader #woso imagine #woso x reader #woso fanfics #woso #muwfc x reader #espwnt x reader

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readyforthegarden · 1 year

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Silver Springs - Part Four

Masterlist

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Original Female Character

Synopsis: The year was 1976, the season was summer. The days were hot and the nights were hotter. Music was the best it had ever been, especially rock music. Sam Kiszka has been riding the high of being in one of the top bands on the scene, but when his bands tour is accompanied by another up-and-coming band, with a lead singer that gets on his very last nerve, will everything come crashing down or will they end up making music that changes the world?

Warnings: Smoking, drinking, drug use 18+ only, Minors DNI

A/N: The song used in this chapter is by the amazing, incomparable Janis Ian. It's called Stars, and I'm attaching a link to the song here so you can listen to it and hopefully if you don't know it, fall as in love with it as I am.

WC: 1819

🎶 🎶 🎶

A weekend off in Santa Fe, Sam was ready to take a few days and recharge. To step out of the rockstar persona and come back to himself, even if just for seventy-two hours. He tossed his bags on the floor of his room and immediately went to the sliding door, pulling it open and looking over the balcony, down at the pool below. In the dry desert heat, he assumed people would be splashing away in the cool blue water, but it was quite the opposite. The sound of hundreds of window air conditioning units hummed and buzzed through the air, keeping the patrons of the hotel cool and locked up in their rooms. Sam welcomed the heat, tilting his head towards the sun and basking in the sun’s rays.

Sam was content to spend the day down by the abandoned pool, his short blue swim trunks making his tanned legs look even longer as he laid in the lounge chair, large aviators covering his eyes. His brothers filtered in and out of the area, as well as a few of the Blue Jean Babies, splashing in the pool and lounging around, drinking and smoking as they caused a ruckus.

After a few hours of soaking up the sunshine and having had enough of the noise, he went back inside, padding up to his hotel room and drawing the curtains closed. Laying back on the bed, he let his warm body melt into the lumpy mattress and thin pillow, falling asleep in the mid-afternoon haze.

He wasn’t sure how long he was out, but when he woke, it was pitch black in the room, save for the glowing red numbers on the alarm clock on the bedside table. Sam sat up, wincing as his head throbbed in argument of the movement. Rolling his head slowly in a circle, he listened to it crack, and pop and heard something else floating in the air. A guitar was being played, perking up his ears at the soft melody. He stood slowly, his knees popping as he did, and he let his body stretch, his arms above his head as he wandered to the sliding door, and pulled back the curtain.

Light filtered out onto the balcony next door, and now that Sam was closer to the door, the guitar was a bit louder now, and a voice accompanied it.

“I was never one for singing, what I really feel. Except tonight, I'm bringing, everything I know that's real,” Harlow was sat cross-legged, hunched over a beat up ’68 Fender Palomino, a tattered journal in front of her on the balcony floor. Wisps of smoke floated up in the air around her from a small black ashtray, a half smoked cigarette resting in the holder. Her voice was softer and slower than he’d heard it before, and slightly unsure, as she worked through the song, re-strumming the same chord a few times and singing the same word, trying to figure out the song she was writing. He leaned against his doorframe, peeking out and watching her process.

“Stars, they come and go, they come fast or slow

They go like the last light of the sun, all in a blaze

And all you see is glory

Hey, but it gets lonely there when there's no one here to share

We can shake it away if you'll hear a story.”

Harlow let go of the guitar, leaning even more forward and grabbing up her pencil, scribbling in the journal. She was whispering to herself as she wrote, she paused, strumming a G chord, then a D6 before going back to scribbling.

“You know if you’re gonna watch, I’m gonna have to start charging you.” Harlow spoke without looking up. “A private performance costs a pretty penny these days.” Sam was caught off guard, he thought he had stayed in the darkness of his room, but found he was leaning out the doorway enough to make it obvious.

“I’m sorry, I just-“

“It’s okay, Sam.” Harlow looked up with a soft smile. “I’d be glad for the company, if you don’t mind.” Sam stepped fully out onto the balcony of his room, over to the railing that only parted their rooms by a few centimeters.

“What are you writing about?” Sam sniffed, uninterestedly, yet still peering over to the journal pages in front of her. Harlow glanced down at her scrawl on the paper, sighing.

“Just about life on the road, how fleeting all of this feels already.” Harlow shrugged, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. “How lonely it can be.”

“It uh, it sounded nice.” Sam cleared his throat, giving a small nod of his head. He was about to speak further, add something to diminish the compliment, when his stomach growled loudly between them.

“I have half of a club sandwich from dinner still, if you want it.” Harlow offered, moving the guitar from his lap, standing and taking a plate from the small table next to the unused chair. She walked over to her railing, extending the plate towards Sam. He glanced from the triangle of sandwich to her a few times, making her roll her eyes. “I didn’t poison it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Thanks,” Sam took the sandwich off the plate, taking a large bite.

“No problem.” Harlow took the empty plate back, setting it on the table again before rejoining Sam at the railings. The night air was much cooler than the day, and a chill ran through Sam as the breeze softly blew through his and Harlow’s hair. “It’s crazy how cold the desert can get, huh?”

“You’re gonna talk about the weather?” Sam spoke around the food in his mouth, lifting a judging eyebrow. Harlow huffed annoyedly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“What else is there to talk about with a man who has done nothing but avoid me and refuse to acknowledge my presence until I force him to?” Harlow shot back coolly. Sam continued chewing as she shook her head. “Enjoy your sandwich, Sam.” he watched her clean up her balcony, tucking her journal under her arm and grabbing the guitar by the neck.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sam called out as she stepped back into her room, feeling awkward without saying something. Harlow stopped, turning towards him with a knowing smirk.

“We’ll see.”

🎶 🎶 🎶

“I’ve had an idea,” Sam looked up from his own journal to see Josh standing in front of him and his brothers in the hotel restaurant, hands in the air in front of him as if setting a scene for a fairytale over their scrambled eggs and bacon.

“Always terrifying to hear from you, but go on.” Jake nodded, waving the back of his hand to usher his twin to continue as he sipped his mug of shitty coffee held in the other. Danny continued with his meal as Josh sat down, pilfering toast and bacon slices from their various plates onto the small tea plate that used to house Sam’s coffee.

“When we get back to Nashville, we have those studio bookings, to work on our next album, right?” Josh began, and everyone at the table nodded knowingly. They had planned the tour around the studio time, to be honest, taking a three week break back home to try and hammer out a few songs for the label. “I want to bring Harlow in and do a song with her.” Josh glanced excitedly around the table, being met with tired shrugs and one shake of the head.

“We don’t need anyone else on our songs, man.” Sam pushed around the eggs on his plate, suddenly losing his appetite. “It’s gonna fuck up the dynamic.”

“No, no, it’s going to add to it.” Josh insisted, biting into a piece of bacon and waving it around. “Listen, she’s got this voice that just flows with mine like honey. And when we sing together it’s almost orgasmic.” Danny coughed, choking on his orange juice as Josh explained his reasoning.

“You getting your rocks off to the sound of your own voice doesn’t warrant bringing an outsider to the studio.” Sam pressed, shooting a glare at his brother.

“Sam, whatever bullshit you have against her doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of us.” Jake huffed, rolling his eyes. “I’ve heard her and Josh together, and I think something cool could come out of this.”

“And what if it doesn’t?”

“What if it doesn’t?” Jake scoffed, tossing his crumpled up napkin from his lap onto the table. “Then it doesn’t go on the album and we move on.”

“And we’ve wasted studio time and money on something we should have never done.” Sam shot back. “It’s a stupid idea.”

“Okay, so let’s put it to a vote.” Danny cut in-between the bickering Kiszka’s. “All in favor of working with Harlow, say Aye.”

“Aye,” Jake, Josh, and Danny chorused together.

“All opposed, say Nay,”

“Nay, a very strong Nay.” Sam retorted, glaring at his brothers.

“The Ayes have it.” Danny shrugged, giving his best friend a barely sorry look. “You’re just going to have to deal with it.”

“This is fucking bullshit.” Sam groaned, snapping his journal shut and standing up abruptly.

“Where are you going?” Josh asked, watching his youngest brother start to stomp away.

“My room.”

“Don’t forget you have to be at the bus in half an hour!” Josh called out towards the taller mans back. “Or we’ll leave you here!”

Sam took the stairs up to his room, using the exercise to stomp out his aggravation. He mumbled under his breath, cursing his brothers names, Harlow’s, anyone one who he thought of that could’ve led to this disastrous choice. Sure the song Harlow was writing last night had been decent, but it wasn’t up to par with where Sam and his brothers were, musically or lyrically. She was only going to drag them down, and ruin everything they, and especially Sam, worked for.

🎶 🎶 🎶

Harlow’s ‘we’ll see’ from the night on the balcony was definitely a no. Sam hardly caught a glimpse of the girl over the next week, though he heard her. It was the same with Josh, he was always sneaking off and ended up being found with her, sharing a joint and a drink over sheets of paper, both of their messy, near illegible scrawls all over it.

Sam would walk down the hallways of the hotels they stayed in, hearing her laugh as Josh spoke, and he would tighten his fists at his side, knowing the late nights they spent together in each others rooms was only going to give in to a doomed collaboration and bad press.

What was worse, Jake had taken in Billy as a protégé of sorts, jamming with him in the green rooms and making up little songs with him on the spot. Even Danny joined in with the assimilation, hanging out with their drummer, Frankie, and sharing tips. Everyone was in love with Harlow and her Blue Jean Babies. Everyone but Sam.

🎶 🎶 🎶

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@allybjt @hippievanfleet @weightofbrokenbells @joshkiszkasbadussy @malany-gvf @ruby0antlers @samofthedawn @sacredjake @aim4thedoublee @diditallforyouu @gvfmarge @highladyofasgard @sammysvanfeet@gold-mines-melting @earthgrlsreasy @mountain-in-springtime @forcebond301 @stardust-and-shadows @llightmyllovee @gretavangroupie @comesofarsomehow @starcatcherkiszka @indigofallingsky @hellowgoodbye

#sam kiszka #sam kiszka x reader #sam gvf #sam kiszka fanfiction #greta van fleet #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #jake kiszka #josh kiskza #danny wagner #sam kiskza x oc #silver springs fic

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crowsandturtlesandbatsohmy · 3 months

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Haikyu

okay listen I gotta get it out of my system. I’m internally freaking out over this show and it has my brain and will not let go until I externally freak out.

That said, freak out under the cut. :)

OKAY OH MY GOSH WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG TO WATCH THIS!??! I LOVE IT!?!?

I’m AMAZED by the handling of the characters and the subversion of expectations!! They’re all clearly defined and have their own unique personalities and there’s so many of them!! I’m gonna talk about my top five characters real quick because I love them all so much

In NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Hinata

I DID NOT EXPECT HIM TO BE SO GOSH DARN ADORABLE! LIKE WHAT!? SIR, WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT??? Absolute ray of sunshine!! Precious bean!! He’s trying his best and he’s doing it!!! Golden Retriever energy mixed with Chihuahua energy???? Especially when he gets riled up and starts picking fights. I love him. He is my son.

2. Kageyama

Oh my gosh I love him so much XD I didn’t expect him to flip and start vibing so well with the team so fast! I thought for sure he’d be stuck in his ways for a while longer, but I’m so glad that isn’t the case! Also the GIF I picked doesn’t do him justice but he’s very adorable in his own way!!

(I really do love him so so much, it’s just hard to pinpoint why which makes it really hard to caps scream about him XD)

3. Tanaka

Confession time: I fully expected to not like Tanaka at all.

Confession number two:

This is the scene that changed my mind. LOOK AT HIM!!!! LOOK AT MY FERAL BOY!!!! HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE HIM???? The first time I saw this scene I had to rewatch it once or twice just to fully appreciate Tanaka XD Dude literally went “Oh? You don’t like me, huh? SYKE GUESS WHAT YOU LOVE ME NOW!! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT, HUH??!” And I just shrugged because welp. He’s right. What am I gonna do about it? Not find him completely endearing and hilarious??? I don’t think so. ALSO his big brother vibes towards Hinata are just *chefs kiss* perfection.

4. Sugawara

Listen. Listen. From the minute we met him I KNEW I liked him. Like, had him singled out as most likely to be my favorite character (not expecting to fall in love with so many of these boys). And despite the fact that he got sidelined so bad, I WAS (mostly) RIGHT AND I LOVE HIM! HE’S SO SUPPORTIVE AND SWEET!?! AND IT’S AN ABSOLUTE CRIME HE HASN’T GOTTEN TO PLAY IN A SERIOUS MATCH YET (as of Season 1 Episode 17). IT’S HIS SENIOR YEAR AND I WANT TO SEE HIM PLAY, DANG IT! >:c Reminds me of clouds :) Also has excellent big brother energy!! He’d better get some game time soon though or I’m gonna riot.

LAST BUT MOST CERTAINLY NOT LEAST:

5. Nishinoya

OKAY HE WASN’T WHAT I EXPECTED AT ALL BUT THAT’S OKAY BECAUSE HE’S 20X BETTER!! AAAAAHHHHH I LOVE HIM!!!! He’s a shortie!!! And he’s so ENERGETIC and HYPED and he LOVES HIS TEAMMATES and he’s so. Feral. But not in a “I’M BIG I’M BIG I’M BIG” kind of way and I LOVE IT. He’s small but deadly and ADORABLE! He’s just incredibly endearing all around, and WE HAVE MORE BIG BROTHER VIBES! Also his dynamic with Tanaka is just hilarious XD Tol Feral and Smol Feral.

Conclusion: I think for my top favorite it’s a tie between Hinata and Nishinoya! I love all five of the characters listed here, but those two in particular have something a little extra about them! (Me, realizing halfway through that sentence: They’re short. That’s it. It’s because they’re short.) After them it’s a three-way tie because I love the other three for such different reasons that I can’t really compare them, y’know? :)

Anyways. That was my Haikyuu ramble XD expect to see more posts about it on my side blog.

#crow’s cawing #haikyu #hinata shōyō #kageyama tobio #tanaka ryuunosuke #sugawara kōshi #nishinoya yū

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onesirius-system · 3 months

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So, hi. My name is Syrus. This is not our usual content for here or on our other account. But I do need to vent in a more public setting than just to my own partners and peers.

I personally do not understand the idea of cancelling or calling out people. It's a negative thing to do and just creates kinda shitty people more than removing them.

When you cancel someone, you are removing them from their platform because you believe they're incapable of change. So instead of educating someone, you just cast them aside and move on.

I'll make a few source references so that some of our fellow marauders/potterworld fans might understand it too.

1. Draco Malfoy: Conveyed as kind of a shitty person for most of the books. But as I've seen countless people say, it's because the narrator *sucks*. Harry was under the belief that Slytherins were these evil, awful people. But really? They were the only ones with any real grip on real life. They all understood that you may not like what you're doing but you'll have to

2. James Potter: Conveyed as a bully, popular jock, a player and just an all around dick. But what is he to the fandom? A ray of fucking sunshine. One who cares so much about his friends and family that it ails him too.

3. Severus Snape: I know I'm a tad biased here. But mans was legit a racist and ableist in the books. He bullied the shit out of Remus because he was a dyslexic half-blood. He loved Lily, yeah but what'd he do with it? Bullied her friends.

So I'd like to propose a different approach to real people. Don't take a bad comment or one personality trait as their downfall. You don't do it to fictional characters so stop doing it to real people. Period. People do shitty things. People say shitty things. People are going to trigger you and piss you off.

Just take it for what it is, block 'em or cut em out and move on. Don't take their content and their persona and make them lose everything because of one thing.

I understand that there are a few things that are inexcusable. And I agree with that. But look at the intent not the action, please.

Example: Peoples' names. Why does it matter to you if someone uses a name from a different culture? Their intent is not to steal from your culture. Chances actually are that they just didn't know, they liked the name and they went with it. Let them and move on. You won't change the world by harrassing someone about their chosen name.

Your opinion is yours and unfortunately the internet while it has some amazing properties, is also a feeding ground for everyone to pose their opinion as a fact. All you have to do for a bit of peace, is let shit go.

I know that is not the easiest thing in the world. But I'm a firm believer in "out of sight, out of mind", "separate the art from the artist", and "you don't have to like it, but you should respect it."

One more little rant.

Our whole system will listen to your side of the story, your reasoning, your preferences, your opinions, your knowledge. But the fucking amazing thing about being human is that you can choose what effects you. While that's a hard ass thing to do, you can. You learn to live with it and you learn to live with other people.

Let me give one more reference. Only because I am more than proud of my host's choice in her name and her reasoning behind it.

Sirius Azrael James chose her whole name.

- She took my source's name because the reason that my source is her safe place is because he is the KING of not giving a fuck, to put it simply. He's dramatic, sassy, flambouyant and incredibly fucking smart and he knows it. And he embraces every moment of it. He grew up in a household where everyone's opinion was inflicted on him and he took the steps required to leave it.

- He took the name Azrael because it means angel of death. He took it for a friend of ours and a few family members that he loved who had passed away. The name makes him feel powerful and safe.

- They took the name James as their last because as an alter, James Fleamont Fucking Potter saved our life. Siri knew they couldn't take Potter, so they took James. It's also our father's who got us out of an awful situation and put us in a safe place.

Sirius is a genderfluid, writer, tattoo artist and a caregiver. They are ridiculously amazing and they want to save *everyone*. They've dealt with so much that I will not explain and they're insanely fucking strong because of it.

Look at the good parts of people that you can relate to and that you like. Don't find the bad ones and just take those and run, please.

My ultimate advice here:

If you wouldn't fault a fake person for it, please stop faulting real people for it.

Might sound like a stupid point but if you can take the good parts out of a fictional character BELIEVE ME you can do it with a real person and love them anyway.

#system stuff #padfoot #tattoos #ranting #sirius black #james potter #azrael #harry potter marauders #marauders era #sirius sys talks

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lucas-deziderio · 8 months

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Dezi reads Pact

I am a newcomer to Tumblr and have just found out about liveblogging books. It seems pretty darn fun! So I decided to try my hand at it to both exercise my literary analysis muscles and to maybe make a few friends in this site. And I've decided that my first subject on this will be John “Wildbow" McCrae's web serial Pact.

I've been a huge fan of his other work, Worm, for years now (though I do have a couple issues with it). And I'm also a big fan of urban fantasy stories with well designed magic systems, so the premise of this book is already very appealing to my tastes.

I have actually started reading through it before but put it on hold for a while. I am currently sitting in the middle of Signature 8.7 and will be picking up the story from there. I'll try to post once I finish each chapter, sharing my overall thoughts and analysis, and maybe once I finish each arc to stitch them all together and make predictions about the plot.

The road so far

Here are some assorted thoughts I've had on what I've read of the story so far:

Blake Thornburn is definitely a protagonist of all time. This little wet blanket of a man has successfully fled his toxic family, survived homelessness and got adopted into a found family of queer artists only to then be dragged back into his family's issues. And the skeletons in his grandma's closet want to eat his soul.

Also he totally fumbled a threesome. My dude simply can't get a win.

Rose Thornburn is a character who is completely devoid of any trans subtext, thank you very much. At the beginning I thought she was an excellent addition to the story, being a tool to get Blake to externalize his thought process and opinions. The first arcs would have been really dry without her. But she has grown so contrarian; convincing her to help is now an additional step Blake has to do every time he comes up with a new plan of action. I suspect she might become an antagonist even before the end. Is it just me? Is it some kind of ingrained misogyny?

Evan is the best character in the story. He's such a ray of sunshine that every line of his is like a breath of fresh air in this dark and gritty narrative Blake is trapped in. Please, let him become a fire bird. I beg you. He's just a cinnamon roll too pure for this world.

The magic system is maybe the best I've ever seen and is definitely what makes the story stand out. It feels like what I, almost instinctually, always imagined magic should work like. But defined and refined to a point where it actually becomes a usable set of rules. Everything from true names, binding, spirits, demesnes... It's ugh, so good! I will probably dig more into each of those elements as they come up in the next chapters because there's so much to chew on.

The monsters. The author has this amazing ability of grabbing well-known concepts of mythological creatures and giving them their own spin while at the same time seemingly distilling them to their core appeal. After meeting Wildbow's goblins, that's how I expect all other goblins to be like. The same goes for demons, fey, ghosts... As with the magic system, I'll dig into each of those as they come up in the next chapters.

During the discussion of the binding contract, the imp Pauz has mentioned some “inviolable rules", which caught Blake's attention for a second but were not clearly explained. This has been living rent-free in my head since then and I am very sure it will come back later.

Isadora, the sphinx, could step on me. Also, she has mentioned the fact that in the classical Greek myth Oedipus actually gave the wrong answer. I've been dying to know what is the true answer the the classic sphinx riddle, but unfortunately I don't think it will be revealed...

The way they defeated Conquest was, to me, a total copout. I couldn't fully follow Blake's plan until it was all over, and I can't understand why Conquest needed to travel into the mirror world to catch Rose when previously he just pulled her out of it like it was nothing. It just felt anticlimactic to me.

Also, please, can we actually just give him an actual arsenal of stuff he can use? I know Wildbow likes to keep his protagonists as the underdog but this is getting ridiculous. This magic system allows for basically anything but still our main man only has two or three tricks up his sleeve at any time and is constantly losing resources as fast as he can get more of them.

Last time I saw Blake he was swallowed whole by an ontophagic demon, being completely erased from reality as we know it and leaving Rose to steal his life. I know he'll come back, he's the protagonist after all, but I'm really excited to see how it will play out. Will he fight his way out Hell itself? Like Kratos??

The spoilers I already got

I don't care that much about spoilers, but still would like to avoid them if possible. I decided to list here what I could already gather from the future of the story simply by osmosis from the fandom:

There will be a mermaid called Green Eyes who is super cute in a “bite your face off" kind of way.

Blake will become part tree(?).

The ending is bittersweet at best.

#Dezi reads #wildbow #pact #liveblogging #liveblogging pact #pact web serial #pactblr #pact spoilers #otherverse

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i-did-not-mean-to · 1 year

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All that glitters...

I want to thank @elentarial so endlessly for this amazing prompt. I am known to love Halenthir and I had so so so so hoped that someone would have the Galaxy-Brain to request Caranthir for this!!!

I had a proper blast!

Words: 1275

Characters: Caranthir x Haleth

Prompt: Freckles/Suntan

Warnings: Slight innuendo, cranky Caranthir...

"La...Haleth."

Dissimulating the amused smirk that tugged at the corners of her mouth upon hearing the oh-so-dignified elven lord struggle with the proper form of address she had previously demanded he use, Haleth of the Haladin turned around and staggered back as if struck.

Instantly, Caranthir's brow darkened ominously, and his stance widened as if he expected her to pummel him to the ground.

Clearly, Haleth thought as a reluctant fondness surged within her breast, he had thoroughly misunderstood the sudden eager gleam in her eyes.

What he had mistaken for the unsheathing of belligerent steel had indeed been the kindling of passionate fire.

"You have bidden me dress lightly," Caranthir muttered in the low, thrumming, and barely intelligible voice he only used when deeply uncomfortable. "I did not seek to insult your sensitivities or your taste with my apparel."

"You look wonderful," she exclaimed earnestly. "Forgive me for staring so shamelessly, but I've never seen you quite so...undressed."

Her clumsy choice of words had dismayed him, she realised with a twinge of regret as the one who had ever struck her as so imperious and cold-blooded crossed his mighty arms above an unexpectedly well-defined chest as if to hide the thin tunic, letting her divine the tantalising beauty of his bare torso underneath.

"You were made for moonlight," she whispered more to herself than to him, "but, by the remote Valar's grace, doesn't the bright sunlight flatter you?"

"Mock me not," Caranthir exploded, his taut lips an ugly wound within the writhing expanse of milky white and angry red of his complexion. "I've come here to spend a day in friendship—had I known that you've invited me to deride me cruelly, I would have stayed where I was."

Haleth's face softened at his flustered irritation.

"Step into the light, Lord Morifinwë," she coaxed, "for my eyes do not rival yours and I'd see you clearly."

Doing as he was told, Caranthir moved towards her—standing in a small clearing inundated by the sweet song of a nearby stream—steadily, despite the reservations that were betrayed by his guarded gaze.

"Oh, would that I had but a fraction of your power," she sighed, "so that I might stem the inexorable trickle of moments throwing themselves irrevocably into the sea of time."

"I cannot stop time," Caranthir murmured, the shiver in his voice divulging clearly how dearly he wished that such a feat might have been within his powers.

At that moment, many profound truths were revealed to Haleth and she was humbled by the enlightenment she had been granted so unexpectedly.

As she stood and gazed fixedly upon this marvel come from another world, entirely forgetting about the humble repast she had brought, she witnessed the incredible miracle of golden rays kissing smooth skin with all the fervour of a long-lost lover.

While her own complexion was hardened and marked by wind and weather, the wondrous creature facing her warily had ever seemed beyond influences as painfully mundane as sunshine and heat.

Thus, she was amazed to see colour—rosy and sweet as a summer dawn—mist over those broad shoulders, and, unable to withstand the draw of such a prodigious spectacle, she stepped closer yet until she could feel the heat of his body radiate into her own flesh.

"You have freckles," she exclaimed breathlessly.

Nodding tersely, Caranthir launched into an impassionate diatribe about his various brothers' skin and the differing degrees of freckles—ranging from a fine dusting to a full coverage of dark specks—they were burdened with and grimly cautioned her once more against ridiculing and taunting him.

"I've heard tales about your kind, arriving here, decked out in gold and gems," Haleth said without paying any heed to his irascible tone, "but I'd never have suspected this to have been their meaning."

As if moved by a power beyond her own, her hand settled on his slender wrist before travelling up the length of his taut arm.

"It is good and proper to marvel at your strength," she went on, disregarding the blatant lack of a response from him, "but what a peculiar sensation it is to be struck dumb by the extent of your beauty."

"Do you dare insinuate that the damnable spots of discolouration marring me please you in any fashion?" Despite the harshness of his words, Caranthir's tone was soft and almost pleading now.

"Indescribably, yes," Haleth confessed. "I now understand why you are not destined to die."

Grimacing, he averted his face for he was keenly aware of the prophecy of doom he would not outrun.

"Something so perfect must not be unmade," Haleth smiled, cupping his cheek and pulling him down gently to breathe a tender kiss onto that sun-warmed, gilded skin.

As her lids fluttered shut, she imagined that she could feel the tingling sparkle of his freckles against her lips and taste their metallic sweetness on her tongue.

A desperate madness overcame her then and she dragged him down to the soft, moss-covered ground with her, moaning softly into that forbiddingly severe mouth.

"We cannot stop time," Caranthir repeated, his voice strained as if he had been holding his breath, "but I can offer you this moment. What would you have of me, Milady, as you've refused all the gifts I have presented to you in humility as well as in anger?"

Pushing herself up onto her elbow, she looked down at the relaxed, open expression on his timelessly beautiful face.

"I would have the gold of the Eldar," she whispered, "I would accept their indestructible stone, their unparalleled white steel, and all their treasure so I might find comfort in that exquisite sight that is seldom revealed to my kind."

Panic replaced the mellow contentment in his gaze.

"I...I should be loath to leave you now, but, if you grant me a week's time, you shall have all that. I shall personally deliver these gifts to you," he exclaimed in solemn promise.

"Fool," she cackled, tapping his patrician nose with a slightly trembling finger. "Take off that sorry excuse of a tunic. It is not and never has been material wealth I sought from you—I asked you to allow me to behold all the beauty and skill of your people, not to own it."

Tentatively, she let her hand slide down the side of his throat caressingly. "All I've ever wanted to witness—in wonder and amazement—is right in front of me now. Don't you understand?"

Surging up to capture her lips in a stifling, crushing kiss, Caranthir threw his arms around her and pulled her flush against his beating heart.

"You may not yearn for possession," he whispered against her warm, fragrant mouth, "but I was in earnest when I offered you whatever I have to give. Myself, if I might be so bold, first and foremost."

Lifting her as if she weighed nary more than a child, he set her down on his thighs and lifted his tunic slowly from his torso, revelling in the way her hungry, incandescent gaze seemed to devour every inch of bared skin.

"I have vowed to never let you see me weak and thus confirm the disdainful prejudices your kind harbours for my people," Haleth whispered breathlessly, "but you make this an impossibly hard resolution to uphold."

"It is I who offer, nay beg, so how does that make you weak?" he smirked playfully.

"If you put it like that," Haleth laughed, rising to her knees to give him more room, "I don't see a reason why you'd stop undressing so soon. Life is short and every moment precious, make haste!"

@fellowshipofthefics Here's another one that is very near and dear to my heart!

Lots of love and tons and buckets of gratitude from me!

#og post #fotfics july event #Halenthir #Caranthir x Haleth #Summer Storms #Suntan/Freckles #fotfics summer stories #Week 3 #IDNMT writes #fanfiction #writing #tolkien writing #jrrt

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scribeoffate · 2 years

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Teen Wolf Tier List

a03 is down, why not spend this time explaining my Feelings about Teen Wolf characters in a different format. <3

This is basically a love letter to all my favorite characters. Which is uh, well you'll see. 🥰🥰

So many thoughts behind the cut!

Category One: VERY FAVORITE

It's what it says on the tin. My very favorite characters. Spoiler alert: I am Bad At Favorites.

Lydia Martin I fell in love with her the instant she was good at bowling. Perfect even. And then the "sucking for his pleasure line," and then, and THEN we get her arc in s2? She's alone, and a little brittle and I have so many theories I've rambled about a million times regarding her childhood and how her powers have manifested before. I could write an entire tumblr post just about Lydia and my thoughts. I love her so much.

Malia Tate

I knew I was going to ADORE her the instant she punched Stiles for turning her back to human. I'm only sad we didn't get to see her initial reunion with Scott. I do firmly believe she throws Scott around in bed while they're together. I love how "yeah i don't really care about your social norms" she is about everything. And how she learns!! And then how much she loves Kylie. She leaves the safety of her den to get Kylie's doll back!!! I love her.

Scott McCall

I liked him at first. I definitely enjoyed seeing him hurt. I always gravitate to the prettiest men with blood on their face in any given fandom. And in Teen Wolf, that is definitely Scott. And then by about my third rewatch I was even more in love with his character, his willpower, persistence, stubbornness, empathy, and leadership. Many of you know Fury is my favorite episode and I love Scott in it so much. I love him.

Mason Hewitt

I was in love with Mason IMMEDIATELY. He was just so clearly such a good friend to Liam. And his smile. And then he helps Scott at the bonfire with no questions asked. And then he helps Lydia. That boy with ZERO spn powers helps Lydia charge berserkers. And then he is so excited for Liam to be a werewolf. And in the inner circle. And then he's the Beast! And he's with Corey! And he helps in s6. I love Mason. Love, love, love. <3

Kira Yukimura

Literal ray of sunshine. Awkward, nerdy, new girl! bad ass, katana-wielding kitsune. I was in love with her from the first interaction with her dad. And then she has fun with Scott at the sheriff's station! And then she learns what Scott is and is the first person to be tender and gentle about it? Ahhh. And then she has angst and the way were *robbed* of a s6 Kira arc. Still mad. Forever mad. But I ADORE Kira so much. She's amazing and I love her.

Vernon Boyd

Loved him when he wouldn't let Stiles pull one over on him with the money. Loved him when he wanted to be like Scott. Loved him when cared sooo much about Erica. Love the angst with Alicia and hate how little we get. He went and worked at an ice rink!!! I just. He's caring and kind and compassionate and observant and quiet and I love him for it.

Melissa McCall

!! The way she is trying so hard. And the way the world is just conspiring against her. She clearly loves Scott so much. I loved their s1 and s2 scenes sooo much. I really wish we'd gotten more of those little intimate mother/son moments later in the series. But I also love how she's still human. Is just trying her best. She's amazing.

Satomi Ito

I love her. She's a badass. And friends with Deaton. And I love how she interacts with Noshiko. And she has so much anger but she does eventually learn one way of expressing it. And Iove that she cares so much for her pack. Love love love love so much love. I watch all of like four Satomi parts soo closely every time.

Ken Yukimura

"Here's all that research you did for that boy you like." What is not to love, though? He's a history nerd! Married to a 900-year-old kitsune! And he loves his daughter so much. He's a good cook! He's so cool. Maybe Ken is what I want to be when I grow up. Even if I am technically older.

Alan Deaton

!! He's so great. While I can see an argument for him withholding information in the first two seasons- I feel like it makes total sense why he does. For so long, this supernatural part of his life has been on the back burner. Since the Hale fire, which he couldn't stop, and then suddenly it's back.

And by s2 he's actively helping Scott figure things out. He's teaching him and Isaac to take pain. Something it never dawned on Peter or Derek they'd like to know. In s3 he saves Stiles, in s6 he faces the fear of the anuk-ite with more grace than anyone. I love. Love always.

Noshiko Yukimura

I adore her so much. I loved younger Noshiko and I love how she's clearly matured since those events. She's also sooo hot. And so badass. And has STELLAR taste in men. So much love for Noshiko forever. <3

Braeden

She shows up on a motorcycle, rescues Isaac, almost dies, FACES DOWN A PACK OF ALPHAS and survives it! And all while looking So Good. I love how she deals with Scott and Derek. I love that she worked for Deucalion after he slashed her throat open.

(quick note if you are tired of me talking about how much i love these characters, this is not the post for you, it doesn't change much)

Erica Reyes

Complete stubborn af BADASS of my dreams. I loved her when she was epileptic and still trying to climb up that rope. I loved her when she showed up and slammed Scott into a locker. I adored her when she hit on Allison. I love how she was so fierce and protective of Boyd and how she terrified Derek. I love her.

Hayden Romero

The way she looks at Liam in her intro. She is going to *destroy* this boy, that she has a crush on, so hard. She's also stubborn and strong-willed, and responsible. She's working so hard to help her sister, who she loves with her entire heart. She's great, and I love her.

Danny Mahealani

Everyone loves Danny! As they should. <3 He has terrible taste in men (relatable tho), and he loves to look disrespectfully (also relatable). I love his interaction with Stiles and Derek in s1 as well as his friendship with Jackson. I love that he's the one doing research on the ley lines! I hate how he disappears after 3b. I wanted more with knowledgable about supernatural Danny.

Meredith Walker

Meredith can leave Eichen any time she wants. She does. She generally stays there: to protect everyone else from herself. Meredith is what Lydia looks like when we don't see her perspective and I think about that soo much. I also love her and Lydia's interaction: "Not all monsters do monstrous things." My heart.

Category Two: VERY FAVORITE ALSO but fandom tries to ruin them for me

I love these characters so much, but the way fandom tries to make them into shells of their actual selves. Or just make everything about them always. There are so many great characters in this fandom!! It's an ensemble show with fantastic characters and actors!! So to be clear: I love the canon versions of these characters.

Stiles Stilinski

-would fall directly under Kira in favorites category.

I fucking love this dude. He's sarcastic and rough around the edges, and awkward. His fingers are impossibly long. He's just the right side of morally gray. And terrified he's going to fall too far the other direction. He's a little broken inside from the way his mother died and is codependent with Scott. Love love love him.

Peter Hale

-Would fall right after Araya in the villain category

I love him. He is ruthless. Selfish. Tits out. He's funny. I love how he's so obsessed with Scott. He spends a whole season working with Kate because of it. Kate who he kills in s1. Iconic villainy. Tbh, he's one of the villains I wish they'd leaned away from the redemption arc on. But I still like his commitment to family (in his mind). And the bravery it takes to step through that fire in s6 knowing exactly how it feels is damn impressive.

Derek Hale

-would fall after Isaac in love them so much category

He's super hot. Like all kinds of hot. Broody. He's such a mess that first season especially. His entire family was lost, he's been gone six years. He comes back and his sister dies first thing. Why he's a broody mess makes sense. And then, for a change, he can save his family! He saves Cora. It sucks to be at the expense of Erica and Boyd. But I feel like he makes his peace with things as best he can.

Young Derek Hale

Is just Derek only younger, really usnure why they are separate tbh.

Chris Argent

-would fall after Derek in love them so much category

Of all the villains, he has the most convincing redemption arc. Possibly because he's just around more on-screen tbh. And he loses so much. By the end of the series Chris has lost everything. And he's such a mess about it. Also he's so stupidly hot.

Noah Stilinski

-would fall after Melissa in favorites category

I love him. He's another single parent trying his best. He clearly cares deeply about Stiles, even though he's often out of his depth. I love the bit where he's watching the kids just run Rafael in circles in 3b. The look on his face is so clearly: "it's about time you had to deal with their nonsense."

Jackson Whittemore

-would fall after Chris in love them so much category

He's such an asshole, and I adore him for it. He's so mean. He's terrible for Lydia (and her for him) but I love that they end up friends. I love Jackson's relationship with Allison especially, and it haunts me who had to call him and explain what happened to her. I love his s2 arc because a "be careful what you wish for" arc always gets me.

Claudia Stilinski

-would be first in neutral category

Only because we just know so little about her. I enjoy my fanon interpretations, but that's all they are.

Very Favorite Villain Edition

Quite likely to be a controversial category. And my absolute favorite. I love OTT villains and does Teen Wolf provide me so well <3

Deucalion

I mean. If you're here. Chances are really high you have some idea how I feel about everyone's favorite British Drama Queen of a Demon Wolf. He calls himself Destroyer of Worlds. Alpha of Alphas. He's a hot fucking mess too. His corruption arc implies less megalomania, and yet.... and his redemption arc is... shaky, but I'm into that. He's not all that redeemed, and the look of pure glee on his face when he's about to beat Scott in 6b supports that. I love how obsessed he is with Scott, too. It's this delusional obsession and gyahh, I am here for it. He does help Scott in 5b, but I contend he did it for a price. <3

Kate

I stan a hot, evil woman always. You will uh, see that theme repeated on this list. And she's pretty unapologetically evil. Though you have to wonder ofc, how much Gerard shaped that. And she does have that little redemption saving Allison in s1. And really does clearly care for her. She's fun! And hot! And creepy and I am here for it.

Violet

Speaking of really hot, evil women. Hello! And she's reckless too? My heart can't even take that kind of thing. And she strangles Scott. The fact that we never got nagaul! Violet is criminal. To me. Personally.

Araya Calavera

Evil Mexican grandma shoots a person. In the street. In broad daylight. If that isn't badass af, I don't know what is. I also really love her interactions with Chris. She's fabulous.

Tamora Monroe

Once again pointing out the hot, evil woman theme. Though I think she's more nuanced than some of the others. She's one of the villains who deserved a redemption arc the most. She's also such a good leader and organizer. She's a good counselor and listener. Love her.

Jennifer Blake

Hot. Evil. Women. It's a whole thing okay. And while I will admit to being one HELL of a Deucalion stan, Jennifer deserved the redemption arc so much more. Her reasons for evil are far more valid. She wants to destroy the people who destroyed her and who wreak devastation in their wake. And get revenge on her ex. Valid of her.

Kali

Speaking of said ex. And hot. And evil. I wish we'd gotten more Kali. I think she feels more remorse than she wants to admit. I love, love, love the way she interacts with Deucalion. I accept "Deuc" from her only. And probably him too.

Ennis

He isn't on here, I'm more neutral on him. But because we get next to nothing about him. Very sad. I bet he's fun. Kali joins the alpha pack for him. Gotta be a reason.

Victoria Argent

Are you prepared to hear me go on about hot, evil women again? AND she bakes cookies. I love when she calls Stiles "the odd one". And she so clearly cares about Chris and Allison. It's utterly devastating when Allison blows her off right before her death. Love.

Void/The Nogitsune

He's just hungry. I love the potential of the nogitsune. And the angst it brings to Noshiko and Stiles especially. I am v excited to see where the movie takes this. But really, he's just hungry. That's not evil. As a favorite bounty hunter once said: "A girl's gotta eat."

Corinne

I think half the reason I fell in love with the show was all the hot, evil women. Jeff may be a gay man but he and I clearly have the same taste in women. I wish we knew more about Corinne to be honest, but I love her relationship with Braeden and am forever wondering about her relationships with Talia and Peter.

Matt Daehler

If he were a woman, he'd be higher. As it is, he's a creepy stalker dude and a lot of fun. I like when he shoots Scott, uh, a lot. I think there is definitely so much more room for exploring his relationship with Jackson. And he was a kid. That deserved redemption every bit as much as anyone else. Maybe more. He was a kid. His death is tragic af.

Gerard Argent

Evil manipulative cockroach. He's fun and serves his purpose.

Category Four: LOVE THEM SO MUCH

aka: Very Favorite Part 2

Allison Argent

She's so great! I love her dark arc. I love her struggle to figure out who she is and her friendships with Lydia and Scott and Isaac and Stiles. I love how she tried so many hobbies and her conflict with her family, internal and external. I hate/love her death. I love her.

Isaac Lahey

He's so tall. And sarcastic. And he's not witty, and he's just a little mean. I love how he still wants to trust people, even after everything he goes through with his dad and then Derek. I love his relationships with Allison, Scott and Chris and Erica and Boyd. A lot like Chris, Isaac loses soo much.

Marin Morell

She's so interesting! I want to know about her life pre-canon so BAD. I feel like it's implied that she's Deucalion's emissary pre-corruption. Why does she stay? How does she feel about it? Why was she with him in the first place? How have her hands gotten dirty before? I have so many questions and theories, but I'd love to know more.

Cora Hale

!! She's a badass. She's basically girl-Derek, so what's not to love there? Broody, broken, angry. I love her back and forth with Lydia and Stiles so much.

Coach Bobby Finstock

What's not to love? This man is the living incarnation of Hot Chaotic Mess and I know I'm always in for a good time.

Mrs. Finch

What is her first name? I love her though her storyline vexes me. I know that it's probably just retconning, but the way I like to consider explanations for *why* she's head in the sand about being an alpha werewolf. Oh! I wonder if I will see parallels to that attitude in movie!Scott. Ohh. I'm gonna have Feelings. I love that she believes in Scott in AP Bio, when even some of his friends do not. I think about her fear a lot when Liam is beaten in science class. She knows he'll heal, ofc, but I think about her a lot for a minor character.

Brett and Lori Talbot

Beloved Satomi pack frens. Brett is a tall drink of water and Mason has rights. Like man. That eight-pack. And Lori is a bad ass. And she tries to help Kira. I enjoy them a lot!

Sydney

She wants to do well on her test. She's sick and still needs to take it! She gives Scott the picture of him, Lydia, Stiles and Malia. My heartttt. She's great and I love her. I have a lot of thoughts about her being friends with Brett and Lori.

Jordan Parrish

He's a cinnamon roll but on fire. Instant love. Plus he's half-naked A LOT, and I'm not mad about it.

Natalie Martin

She's trying in her way. I really think in her mind, Natalie is doing whatever she needs to do to prevent Lydia from becoming Lorraine. She wants to do the right thing, but isn't so good at seeing what that is.

Tracy Stewart

She's a badass. Hot and almost evil. And she has a tail. Only wins here.

Aiden and Ethan Steiner

They're fun. I like Ethan slightly better. Aiden is a subby straight boy though, and that's hard not to love.

Valerie Clark

Hayden's hot, badass deputy sister. Love her. I head canon she comes back to Beacon Hills to be the sheriff. <3

Liam Dunbar

Cute angry little shrimp and Mason loves him, so I do. <3

Corey Bryant

Love him with Mason so much. Think about him and being invisible. I wish we got more with him but I enjoy what we have.

Talia Hale

Endlessly fascinating. Mostly questions. I love that she's a dramatic! Bitch. Her intro is Superb. You can see the family resemblance. She's def Peter's sister.

Theo Raeken

I struggled with Theo. I love him as a villain and have begun to appreciate his more redeemed version. He's basically boy-Lydia, so of course, I adore him in that context. I just wasn't sure what category to put him in. So here he is. He's fun, and wow, is he just so compact. Talk about pleasing to look upon abs.

Category Five: neutral but i'm willing to be swayed to loving them more

this is a handful of characters in no particular order than im not super invested in. but people sometimes make very convincing arguments

Alec

We just don't anything about him.

Nolan Holloway

I think he's been through some shit and I love the scared child aspects of his character.

Paige Krasikeva

I don't hate what little we see. I just now learned she had a last name on the wiki.

Josh Diaz

He's cute, violent, and likes electricity.

Gabe

He gives Theo and Nolan nice character moments.

Garrett

He loves Violet.

Donovan Donati

He does what he's supposed to do as a peek at dark Stiles.

Adrian Harris

He exists to be disliked, and it works.

Rafael McCall

He exists to give Melissa and Scott character development.

Brunski

Boring serial killer dude. Other villains do it better. I do like when he ties up Stiles and Lydia.

Category Six: why is there a nazi werelion, no really

Douglass: Meh. Boring.

Thank you to anyone who read the entire thing. I had fun and hope you did. I'd love to see your lists!

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b3llawr1tes · 2 months

Text

THE HEIGHT OF SUMMER matt sturniolo.

disclaimer : no nsfw content, just some fluff, everyone is over 18 ! angelina's character is you, i hate the y/n thing. imagine you're her !

— PART THREE

angelina changed the name to ‘matt :)’

i woke up the next day in a very good mood. i opened my eyes to a ray of sunshine peaking through my big burgundy curtains which were on my windows. i yawned, then grabbed my phone. 11 am. i opened my messages to see no text from matt, but i didn’t need one. i could just look at yesterday’s one. when i realized i was smiling to myself i quickly pulled myself together.

i got up and went to the bathroom. i washed my face and brushed my teeth before going downstairs into the kitchen. i could immediately smell pancakes, and when i got to the room i saw lisa making breakfast.

“the chef is cooking again?” i asked.

“you know it. the best one around here.” she replied.

she handed me a plate of pancakes, some maple syrup and whipped cream.

“this is so gooood. as always. thank you.” i said while lisa sat down next to me with the same plate of food in front of her.

“anything for my favorite girl.” she said, smiling.

after i finished my breakfast, and lisa did too, i grabbed the plates and went to the kitchen sink. when i was done with the dishes i turned around to face my friend.

“so… matt texted me yesterday.” i said, a weak smile playing on my lips.

“when?” lisa asked, louder than i expected.

“around 11 pm. when i was about to sleep.”

“what did he say?”

“he asked me if i wanted to hang out with them today.” i said.

“that’s great! what did you say?” she asked, visible curiousity on her face.

“yes, of course. what else would i say?” i said laughing lightly.

“someone’s blushing…” lisa said, laughing along with me.

“no i’m not.”

i was blushing. the thought of matt made me blush. but whatever.

after we were done talking about the boys, lisa said she was going out to meet up with her boyfriend, atlas. he was a very nice guy and i loved hanging out with him and lisa. so when we said our goodbyes, i went up to my room to watch some tv. i was watching the office, one of my favorite shows ever.

time passed by, and i didn’t even realize it was already 2 pm, just when my phone chimed. matt. i thought answering immediately would be desperate, so i was just looking at the unopened text for a while, but i could only wait a minute or two. then i answered.

matt :)

hi! we’re going out to eat, is it okay if we pick u up in about 20 minutes?

yeah, perfect, i’ll get ready.

matt :)

cool.

i giggled. i was so excited. after i got ready i went downstairs to grab a snack and a soda. i still had a few minutes until the boys arrived, so i just went on my phone. a little while later i saw a text message appear at the top of my screen. it was matt saying ‘we’re here.’

i took a deep breath. just please lina don’t embarrass yourself in front of them. you can do it. as soon as i opened the door, to step outside, i saw a black car parked in front of the house. i locked up everything and walked up to the boys. i got into the car after opening the door where nick was sitting, so i had to walk around the car.

“hi guys. thanks for the ride, it’s good to see you again.” i said with a welcoming smile spreading across my face.

“hi lina.” said nick and chris in unison.

“hi, how’d you sleep?” said matt while starting the car and driving away. so attractive.

“good. my friend is staying at my house and she baked me the most amazing pancakes for breakfast.”

“really? omg i love pancakes.” nick said.

“is she a good cook?” chris asked.

“yes, the best of them all.” i replied, chuckling.

“are you?” matt asked, looking at me through the rearview window.

“not as good as her, but yeah i can cook.”

“maybe you could cook for us sometime.” chris said.

“hey, let her be. god. we met her yesterday and you already want her to cook for you?” nick said, laughing.

i laughed too. yesterday nick seemed a little annoyed with me, but i can perfectly understand that. i mean i am a stranger who slept in their house not knowing anything about me. but today he seems okay with me being there. and i appreciate that a lot.

“sorry guys for yesterday really. i was just really out of it, but i appreciate the help. i hope you can get to know me a little better so that everyone’s comfortable with me being here.” i said when we stopped at a red light.

“oh no worries. just… you know strangers are a little scary.” said nick.

“yeah i know.”

“but you seem really nice so far, so i’m glad we met to be honest.” chris said.

“thank you. you guys too!” i replied.

in about 10 minutes we arrived at a place i didn’t know, i can’t remember the name of it either but it was a diner. a good old american style diner. and i loved those. we went inside and found a place to sit. not even a minute later a girl walked up to us.

“hey omg are you the sturniolo triplets?” she asked.

wait. what?

“yeah.” nick said.

“can i get a picture?” the girl asked with the biggest smile i’ve ever seen.

“yeah sure.” chris said.

“let me move out of the picture.” then i stood up and walked over to the girl so that they could take a selfie without me being in it.

“thanks guys, have a nice day, love you.”

“no problem.” matt said then looked at me. i guess he was waiting for my reaction.

“are you guys… famous?” i asked.

“we’re youtubers.”

“what you have like millions of followers?” i asked, chuckling. they looked at each other, trying to hide their smiles. “oh my god you do.”

“6 million to be exact.” chris said.

“that’s crazy! congratulations. i’ve never heard of you guys, sorry.” i said, smiling.

“nah, it’s okay. actually better that way.” matt said, not even looking at me. was he flustered? or am i just crazy?

we ordered some food, and drinks, i got myself just a lemonade to freshen up a little bit. and we talked. about literally everything. zombie apocalypses, we talked about space, aliens, everything you could imagine. these boys were so easy to talk to and so entertaining. i’ve always loved listening to people talk, getting to know them better and loved figuring out how their brain works.

matt didn’t really talk that much, he was too focused on eating, but when he did all i could say was ‘real’ or ‘i agree’ or ‘oh my god, yes, my exact thoughts’. it was honestly a little bit scary.

we finished eating and the waiter came with the bill. i pulled out my wallet from my pants’ pocket and was ready to pay for my food, but matt spoke up before i could.

“no, my treat.” he said.

“oh no, i can pay for it.”

“i’m sure you can. but i invited you so it’s only right if i pay. don’t worry about it.”

“thank you matt.” i said, smiling at him.

i quickly went to the bathroom, i freshened up and got ready for the insane heat outside. i walked back to the table and told them i was ready. they all got up and we left after saying goodbye to the people working there, thanking everything. we walked back to the car and got in.

“thanks guys i had fun.”

“yeah. it was nice talking to you.” chris said.

20 minutes later

we got back to the boys’ house, and i was ready to get out, but i was stopped by nick.

“only me and chris are going inside.” he said.

“what? why?” i asked.

“i want to show you something.” matt said, turning around to look in my eyes. he had — i swear to god — the prettiest eyes i’ve ever seen.

the boys got inside the house and matt put on some music on aux. it was a chill rap type beat i didn’t know exactly what it was but i liked it very much.

“is this song okay?” he asked.

“yeah it’s cool!”

“you wanna come sit here?” matt asked again, pointing at the passenger seat next to him.

“sure. thanks.” i said, then got out of the car and opened the front door to get in.

“so, where are you taking me? oh no, are you going to kill me?” i asked laughing.

he laughed too. “god no. i wouldn’t do that. it’s a surprise.” he replied.

he started the car and drove away. he turned the music on a little bit, and looked at me making sure it wasn’t too loud and it was still okay. i just nodded with a smile, then looked outside the window. it was rolled down due to the — still — insane heat. my hair got messy due to the wind coming through the windows, as matt’s was rolled down too.

i weirdly felt comfortable in the boy’s presence even tho i didn’t know much about him. but i wasn’t scared or anything, matt had a very calm aura to him, i don’t even know how to describe it. i caught him looking at me a few times, smiling, while i was listening to the song playing, looking out the window, watching people, cars and different shops pass us by. i felt great.

matt’s pov

lina was so beautiful. even with her messy brown hair. i couldn’t stop looking at her, but i was driving, so i had to watch the road. ever since i met this girl i literally don’t know anything about, i could’t stop thinking about her which is weird. and ever since i met her all i wanted to do is know everything about her. so that’s what i’m planning on doing today.

it was around 6pm now, the sun was shining brightly down at us while i was driving outside of LA, towards the Angeles National Forest. i loved the outdoors, the woods, the leaves falling down and the sunshines peaking through the trees above me. i figured i’d take lina for a walk outside, i hope she’ll like it.

“where are we going matt? tell me.” she said, when we left the city.

“nope. you’ll see, it’ll be fun. aren’t you excited to hang out with me?” i asked laughing.

“would i rather watch the office in my room? maybe. but you’re not so bad of a company honestly.” she said.

“well thank you. we’re almost there.” i said.

after a few minutes of comfortable silence she spoke up again.

“can i have a question?”

“sure.”

“how old are you exactly?”

i chuckled. i just realized she could be 16 or something. i know for a fact she isn’t, but it was funny how i could he 30 or something. valid question by the way.

“i’ll be 21 in august. how about you?”

“oh that’s nice! i turned 19 in april.” she said, fidgeting with her hair.

“happy belated birthday lina.”

“thank you.”

10 minutes later

we arrived at our destination, and i found a place to park the car, so i did, then turned to face angelina.

“are you ready?” i asked.

“more than ready.”

we had to walk for a bit before we got into the woods, and when we did i looked at the girl next to me. i could see her eyes light up with excitement and admiration towards the nature. she was smiling, mainly to herself, while looking at all the trees around us. i was just standing there, looking at her. it was such a new feeling i couldn’t even put it into words.

“this place is beautiful matt.” she said eventually.

“i can see it on your face that you like it.”

“am i that obvious?”

“yeah kind of.” i said, laughing.

“i love nature. it’s so beautiful how all these animals live here, sharing a space together. every single one of them has a life, just like us by the way, and these trees? they must be very old. it’s so mesmerizing.” she said.

i agreed. a hundred percent. i suddenly didn’t know what to say.

“are you me? these are my exact thoughts everytime i’m out here.” i said, walking deeper in the forest.

she chuckled.

“you come here often?”

“yeah. when i have to clear my mind. you know. it’s really peaceful in here. sometimes i get really pissed off by my brothers or the city and i just come here. you can come with me if you want to.” i said.

“thank you. it really is beautiful out here.” she said, looking around with those big eyes i could see stars in them.

“but… i know something that’s more beautiful than all this.” i spoke up.

she looked at me, confused. “what?” she asked.

“this is so corny, sorry, nothing.” i said, hiding my face, turning around.

then i felt her hands on my shoulders, turning me around to face her. lina’s touch lingered on my skin for longer than it should’ve and i looked into her eyes.

“you. you’re very beautiful lina.” i said finally, smiling.

i could see her blush. her rosy cheeks made me smile, i swear to god i haven’t been smiling this much in the past few months. it’s actually quite funny to me. how this random girl just came into my life and immeditely made it so much better.

“thank you. you’re very sweet matt.”

. . .

thank you all for reading the 3rd part of this fanfiction. i

LOVE writing it. it’ll be more exciting i promise!!!! i hope you

guys liked it, get ready for part 4!!! love you all 💝

#matt stuniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #the sturniolo triplets #sturniolo triplets #fanfic #writers on tumblr #writing

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lunaencantada · 2 years

Note

SPREADING ENCANTO POSITIVITY!!!!! Are their any Encanto Blogs you would happily show appreciation for and why????? Please tell us!!!!!

I think it's a lovely idea!!! That said, I'm the worst person to ask because I don't really follow that many people, I follow blogs who reblog other Encanto blogs. But I'm still going to try.

Short list; there are more blogs and people I appreciate, but I don't have too much tiem, don't want this to be too long and I think you all already know my friends hmm

@encantoisawesome Lovely person, constantly sharing Encanto-related things, super well organized blog to easily search for each character! Also, I think we have the whole movie in screenshots thanks to them and I always find there that reference I can't find anywhere else, so thank you so much <3

@encantowishes Right now on hiatus if I'm remembering correctly, but one of my favorite blogs to find Encanto content. Besides, romantic fic with asexual Bruno? I haven't been able to read it yet because I'm too busy, but knowing it exists makes me happy uwu

@omgcheez Look. If there's new Encanto content, merchandising, comics, whatever, you'll find it here first. It's always interesting to read his headcanons and comments about the characters and on top of that he makes cute drawings.

@waitingonavision Our pancita lore master. Cute art, sweet fics, lovely person. And everything that Moon posts about Jewish Madrigals is super interesting to read.

@pepa-brainrot I can't say enough about how much I love his art style, the Madrigal look beautiful. Pepa looks gorgeous! If I am sad I look at this drawing of Pepa smiling and I feel better.

Since we are talking about her, @cloudy-encanto is Pepa herself and not just because of her incredible cosplay and the videos she makes, she is like a ray of sunshine when you talk to her. Fics, 3D art, an amazing animation she did for EBB. Just... Wow.

Are you looking for genderbend Madrigal? @firinnie got you covered. And in general super cute content <3

@unskilled-dabbler Nyda also shares a lot of content Encanto-related and she has a very nice art style, I love the way she draws Bruno!

@thecrazyashley-blog Anything I can say about her is overshadowed by the thought that she has a 300k+ word fic. I really admire her for that.

@naoko-world shares Jared Bush's tweets when he does Q&A's and I also like that she post the merch she buys (official or from artists), so I've discovered things I didn't know I needed, too bad about the price and shipping every time lol

Uuuh, okay, I've spent too much time on this and I have to go now. I may extend the list in the future if I have time, sorry......

Super quick round for people I met on instagram! @dororoxpenana Helianthus Deenah Dinarion

#I haven't even checked if I've written everything correctly SORRY #encanto #encanto fandom #i don't know how to tag this and I don't have time to think aaaaaaaa

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voleurdesoleil-archive · 2 years

Text

The lines we shouldn’t cross

part 1/2 - I’ll be holding on to our favorite song

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Ship: Ushijima Wakatoshi x Tendou Satori

Word count: 10.6K

A/N: this is a companion fic to this fic, that gives you a little bit more context, but both can be read independently from each other. Songs quoted in this fic are:

Distance - Ruel

Holding on - Francis Karel (also the title for this part)

Handle with care - Francis Karel

read on AO3

You were dressed up in the same fit

That you wore back when I met you

I couldn't hide my smile when you walked in

Swear that it lit up the room

It’s raining. In a movie scene the sky would have been a clear blue one, or a ray of sunshine would have broken through the clouds just as he turned the corner. But this is not a movie scene and the sky is heavy with dark clouds.

He's walking towards the store, but he hasn't seen me yet, standing in front of it.

His eyes are set on the sky and I know he’s happy. Not because of the way he’s almost skipping under the rain but because he's always loved the way each layer of clouds moves in a different direction and at a different pace during rainy days.

I still remember that one day, back in high school. He stayed over the night because it had started pouring after our date. We slept in the same bed for the first time that night, but when I woke up the next day, he was sitting by the window buried under my weighted blanket, his hands wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate and he had the most gleeful smile on his face I had ever seen at that time. It had rained so much during the night that we couldn’t go to class because the streets were flooded, so we cuddled up all day and watched a few movies. We talked a lot too. But he always gravitated back to the window to look at the sky and, when I asked why, he answered that he always thought those big clouds that barely moved reminded him of himself, while the ones who were going fast reminded him of the people surrounding him; never sticking around. That day, with that simple sentence, I understood I would never be able to let go of that guy. So I know this is the perfect weather for him, because ever since that day it has also been mine.

His head is bobbing left and right to the music, his fingers are on his thigh, tapping to the rhythm of the song. He’s mouthing the words of the song and because of that I’m guessing that he’s listening to the Ratatouille song. He has been trying to learn the lyrics for the past couple weeks, claiming that this is going to help improve his French. Yet three days ago, when he was convinced he knew it by heart, he sang it to me because Elliott had said that it sounded nothing like French and he wanted another opinion. So I listened to him, but what came out of his mouth that day sounded nothing like the song. Yet he was so proud of himself that I didn’t have the heart to tell him.

His hair, which he cut short back in uni because he didn't like wearing hairnets, has grown back since the last time I saw him and I know he’ll probably ask me to cut it while I’m here. He’s been living here for almost 4 years and still hasn’t found a hairdresser he trusts enough to cut his hair, so I always end up being the one cutting his hair because he’s still too scared to do it by himself.

He's wearing the shirt I gifted him on his first birthday we spent together; the one he grabs out-of habit when he doesn't know what to wear. And I am always amazed with the fact that he hasn't outgrown it yet or that it’s tearing apart because he wears it so often that it’s completely discolored.

He waves to the elderly lady coming out of the apartment building and greets her with a warm smile. She's one of his regulars, always coming to buy chocolates for her grandchildren or simply to chat a little. She handed me an umbrella earlier when she saw me standing in the rain. She glances at me now with a gentle smile.

He apologizes as he bumps into a passerby when barely avoiding a trash can.

His socks are mismatched and I know he either didn't hear his alarm or he turned it off before going back to sleep for another 5 minutes that turned into another 30 minutes and that he had to rush out of the house; like he already did back in uni.

He stops and I gaze back up.

Our eyes meet. He saw me.

He breaks into a wide smile. A smile so blinding and that I haven't seen in so long.

His nonchalant walk turns into rushed steps until he's running to me. He's saying something but he's still too far for me to hear what he's saying but I know he's asking what I'm doing here.

He doesn't falter when he jumps into my arms, because he knows they'll be here to catch him. They've always been and they always will be. His arms cross on the back of my neck and his forehead comes to rest on mine. His lips are so close, I can feel his breath on mine but he doesn't kiss me. Not yet. Not when he hasn't processed the fact that I'm standing here, in front of his store, in a street in Paris, when I should be in Japan training for the upcoming game against the MSBY Black Jackals.

I know he's taking in the scent of the cologne he bought me for Christmas last year. Just like I'm taking in the scent of chocolate lingering on his skin.

His hands come to rest on my cheeks as he moves away to take a better look at me, my name softly leaving the barrier of his lips, and it's the most beautiful thing I've heard in months.

"You're here…" he says, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"I am."

"How?"

"I took a flight."

He laughs and I think my heart skips a beat. "I know that Ushijima, but why?"

"Because I missed you Tendou-" I let him down on the ground, my arms instinctively wrapping around his waist. I need to keep him close, to keep basking in that sweet scent of chocolate mixed with the almond scent of the soap he uses, "-a lot. A little too much. Way too much"

You're right there

But I won't say that I'm standing

I'm right here, when I see you I panic

That's when it hits him. That this moment in time is real. That it isn't some daydream. And his lips crash on mine.

My heart swells with elation as his hands find their way under my coat and that his fingers send shivers up my spine as they graze against my skin when he fumbles for the belt loops of my jeans and draws me closer.

Running out of breath, I part with him before I slip my hands on the back of his neck and pull him back in, deepening the kiss. Igently pry his lips open a bit more, wanting, no, needing to taste more of him.

But the kiss is cut short as we hear someone clear their throat beside us. A girl picked up the umbrella I dropped when Tendou jumped into my arms and is now standing next to us. She gives us an apologetic smile.

"Sorry to interrupt Boss but the store's opening in five minutes and I need the keys to go in." She looks at me, wondering if she should say anything, that’s when I recognize her. She had been standing in front of the door, taking a peek inside or knocking on the door from time to time, and although her face seemed familiar, I couldn’t remember her name. She finally decides acknowledging my presence might be better. “Nice to see you.”

“Good to see you too, Margaux.”

Without looking at her Tendou hands her the keys, but as she walks back to the store’s front door, he calls her out.

“Wait! Isn’t Elliott supposed to be inside? Why didn’t you go in already?”

“He is, the light is on at the back but I’m guessing he’s either elbow deep in chocolate and can’t look at his phone or he’s once again blasting music and can’t hear his phone because I’ve been texting and calling him for 10 minutes but he hasn’t answered.”

Tendou drags a hand across his face and sighs. “I swear I’m going to kill that kid if he’s once again blasting that weird ass song!” As he follows the girl inside the store, he grabs my hand and tugs me along with him.

Just as we enter the shop a boy I don’t recognize, barely younger than Tendou, comes rushing from the back room, holding his phone in one hand and a set of keys in the other, but when he sees us he stops right in his tracks and turns back on his heels, rushing back into the kitchen.

Tendou runs after him. “Elliott! Come back here! For fuck’s sake what did you do? Elliott!”

Margaux, unfazed by the chaos going on around her, turns on the lights and starts quickly taking down the chairs from the tables.

“You can sit at the counter if you’d like, or you could help me. I don’t know, do whatever you want. But just don’t stand in the entryway, you’re going to scare people away.”

“Oh, right! Sorry!” I say, reaching for the chairs nearest to me and finishing to take them down as she grabs a towel to wipe the tables. “Are they always like that?”

“Pretty much yeah… Not in front of customers of course, but I mean you know the Boss…he’s a little…how do I say that without offending you? He’s a little “extravagant”...” She throws me a doubtful look, but I have to give it to her. Tendou can be a handful at times, so I nod and she continues. “Well Elliott might be just as extravagant so when Arthur, the other chocolatier, you’ve probably met him before, isn’t here to intervene it’s always a bit of a mess, but they surprisingly work well together. They’ll calm down in a minute, you’ll see.”

And she’s right. A few minutes later, as we're setting the still warm pastries on the glass shelves, their little quarrel dies down in the kitchen and they come out, each holding a tray of freshly baked pain au chocolat.

Tendou hands the one he’s holding to Margaux while Elliott helps her to finish up before they open the doors for the clients already waiting at the door. He walks up to me, wraps his arms around my waist and stands on his tiptoes to land a quick peck on my cheeks.

“What do you want to do? You’re probably tired, do you want my keys to go rest at my apartment and we’ll see each other tonight?” His grip on my waist slightly tightens as he says those words. “If my other chocolatier was here I’d take the day off, but I can’t leave Elliott and Margaux on their own…”

“I know and I’m not asking you to. I’d like to wait for you here if that’s okay with you. I slept almost all the entirety of the flight so I’m not really tired.”

“I don’t mind you staying here at all, but don’t try to distract me with your pretty face, okay?”

“I’ll make myself as discreet as possible. I promise.” I say, trying to stifle a yawn. Thankfully Margaux makes for a good distraction when she chimes in.

“You’re gonna have a hard time being discreet. A few customers would like to get your autograph.” She informs us, pointing at people waiting expectedly at the counter.

***

I had been signing autographs all morning when Margaux sat down at my table with her lunchbox, setting down a sandwich in front of me.

“Thank you.” I say in between yawns.

“You’ve been working hard all morning, that’s the least I can do. And if you want more coffee or anything let me know, it’s been pretty busy so I’m sorry if I can't really check up on you.”

“You have been keeping me awake and well hydrated so far, so I have no complaints.”

She laughs. “Good to know.”

We both start exchanging anecdotes about Tendou as we eat lunch. She tells me about work stories and I tell her about High school ones. We’re sometimes interrupted by customers she has to serve or by people wanting an autograph.

As a matter of fact, I’ve just finished signing one for a young man, when I ask Margaux the question that’s been haunting me all morning. “If you don’t mind me asking, how come so many people recognize me? I mean, on my way here, apart from a few Japanese people on the plane, no one knew who I was, same as I was standing in front of the store this morning. So I am a bit confused with the sudden interest, especially since this never happened when I visited before and because Tendou said volleyball isn’t really big in France.”

“Yeah, you’re right, people do tend to prefer soccer, but I’m surprised you haven’t noticed that the answer to your question is right there.” She says pointing at the wall behind the counter and that’s when I see it.

I had been out of it all morning, trying to stay focused on people striking a conversation or just straight out trying to stay awake so I didn’t notice it earlier.

Right behind the cash register, in a frame, between two shelves of bread loaves, is one of my first jerseys of the national Japanese team. The one Tendou had asked me to sign last year, always refusing to tell me what he would do with it. I had supposed he wanted to keep it for himself, like he’s been doing with each of my jerseys since we started dating. Although I was a bit confused about him asking to sign it that day, it’s now starting to make sense.

But the jersey isn’t what catches my eyes, it’s the picture under it. It was taken after my very first official game with the Japanese team. Tendou had flown back home for the occasion after months spent away from each other. As I was going around the court with Kageyama, signing autographs for kids, I felt a tap on my shoulder and when I turned around he was standing there, smiling. Pulling him into my arms I lifted him off the ground and held him tight against me as he wrapped his legs around my waist.

I don’t even need to get closer to know that both our faces show a wide smile in the picture, or that Tendou is holding my face in his hands about to pepper kisses all over it. That we’re both holding back tears, and I can almost feel his breath against my lips when he told me how much he missed me and when I answered with a simple “I love you”.

If it wasn’t for a journalist capturing that exact moment, this picture would have never existed. We do not have many pictures together in our everyday settings due to us living so far away from each other, even if this picture went around all the tabloids in Japan, I still cherish it and have a copy of my own in our shared house.

There’s a legend underneath but I’m too far away to be able to read it, but before I can stand up Margaux says. “It reads ‘This is a picture of me and my husband, Japanese volleyball player, Ushijima Wakatoshi’. Everyone here, all of our regulars, know who you are. You’re the Boss’ pride and joy and never once have I seen him get tired of mentioning you every time he can. I mean, we had to stop him from turning that one wall into a shrine for you.” She takes out her phone. “I think I have a video somewhere of him rambling about you to a customer. We’ve had to interrupt him so many times or he’d scare the customers away. To this day, the only times he sounds fluent in French is when he talks about you, and we both know how bad he is at French, so it says a lot.” She looks up at me, and I can’t help but chuckle.

Unfortunately for us, Tendou exits the kitchen just at that moment. “Pardon?! My French is excellent! I was born to speak French!”

“I’m sorry Boss, but quoting Ratatouille doesn’t make you fluent in French…” Margaux lets out before escaping to the kitchen.

“Is that what you’ve been doing all morning? Dissing my perfect French with my employee?” Tendou says loud enough so that Margaux, who’s standing behind the kitchen doors, can hear him, but he can’t help a smile to grow on his face. Even though they tease each other a lot, he’s quite fond of his employees and knows that if it weren’t for them he would have struggled so much more when he decided to open a chocolaterie here.

He serves the customer coming in and walks to the table I’m sitting at when they leave. Not bothering with grabbing a chair he just sits on my lap.

“You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.” He wraps his arms around my neck, his hands playing with the hair at my nape.

“I did this morning. I said I missed you.”

He stops fiddling with my hair and stares at me until I have to look away. “There’s more to you just missing me, right?”

“No.” I lie through my teeth.

“Ushijima Wakatoshi, I’ve already told you, you’re a terrible liar. Plus you wouldn’t skip training, just because you’re missing me, especially when you have that charity game against the Black Jackals coming up.” He gently lifts up my chin forcing me to look him in the eyes. “Now, if you don’t wanna talk about it now because we’re in public, I get it, but tonight I wanna hear all about those feelings of yours that made you come here, okay?”

I nod and he smiles.

“That’s my boy! Now come here, I’ve missed that pretty face!” He says taking my face in his hands, starting to pepper kisses all over it.

“Margaux and Elliott could see us.” I say as his lips delicately brush against my cheek. Against the other one.

You would talk 'bout how your weeks been

Then you'd hit me out of the blue...

“I don’t care.” He whispers as he places a soft kiss right above my ear.

On my forehead.

“Your customers could see us.” This one lands on my jaw.

On the tip of my nose.

“My customers aren’t here.” He lets out under his breath as this one finally lands on my lips.

... With a kiss that doesn't really tell

Way to put me under your spell

And he’s kissing me. Once, twice, until our surrounding turns dizzy. Until I’m nothing more than this one kiss, swiftly becoming more than just a peck on the lips. His fervent mouth is parting my lips, asking for a bit more. And I give it to him. The rush of warmth on my face flows down my whole body like a growing tide and I’m clenching his shirt as he pulls on my hair, deepening the kiss. His hands are everywhere, and yet I can’t get enough of him. I will never get enough of him.

He leaves me breathless as he pulls away, rising from my laps with the most satisfied grin. But I need more and before he can walk away, I grab his wrist and sit him back down on my thighs. He lets out a gasp when my hand reaches for the back of his neck as I bring him closer for another round.

“Now what was that for?” He says, panting, when we finally pull away.

“That first one was really good, so I wanted another one.”

“I thought you were scared my customers could see us?”

I lean in, my head resting on his shoulder. “That was before I got a taste of those sweet lips of yours.”

My arm slithers around his waist as I place a peck on his jawline.

We’re interrupted by Margaux loudly putting down a tray of chocolates on the counter as she comes back from the kitchen before a client gets in. Tendou promptly gets up, his cheeks a light shade of pink.

“Are you sure you still don’t want to go home?” He asks straightening out the apron he’s wearing.

“I think I like the view here more than the one I’d get at your apartment right now.” I answer just loud enough for him to hear.

“What does that mean?”

I stand up and bring my empty plate to the counter. As I get back to the table and brush past him, I tilt my head down and whisper into his ear: “Let’s just say that Margaux picked the right table for me to get a view on the kitchen and that those pants fit you quite well.”

Tendou keeps a straight face as the customer walks past us. “I have to get the new batch of chocolate out of the fridge.” He lets out, before I can feel his breath as he hums into my ear, “But you’ll have to tell me more about that when we get home.”

***

Later that night, when I get out of the bathroom, Tendou is in the kitchen, preparing snacks, his back turned towards me and I have to take a moment to take the sight in. I lean against the doorway and watch him take bowls out of the cupboard or reach for food in the fridge after whispering to himself: “Oh, Ushijima likes those!” or “I need to make him try that!”. The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board as he’s slicing different types of charcuterie or cheeses, and the sound of his voice as he hums along three different songs at the same time fill me up with so much joy that I have to take a deep breath not to start crying.

He only notices me when I come to rest my head in the crook of his neck and that my arms drape around his waist, swinging us both to the rhythm of the song he’s humming along. His hair, still wet from the shower, is dripping on his collar and I press a kiss on his cheek, before using my own towel to finish drying his hair. “You’re going to catch a cold.”

“Feeling better?” He asks as he leans back into the touch and that his body comes to rest on my naked chest.

“Yes, although I would have liked it better if you had stayed a little longer in the shower with me.” I had always been fond of the fact that Tendou allowed me a few minutes of alone time after we had come down together in the bathtub, or in the shower, but tonight, those 5 minutes I spent alone in the bathroom had felt like an eternity without him.

He turns around and wraps his arms around my neck. “I think we can remedy that tomorrow by taking another, longer, shower together. What do you say?”

“I say that I would really like that.”

“Great, now go put on a shirt or you’re the one who’s gonna catch a cold.”

I do as he says but not before stealing another gentle kiss from him.

He has moved on to opening a bottle of wine when I get back from the bedroom with a shirt on and the weighted blanket, so I start unfolding the pull-out couch, and turn on the TV as I wait for him to finish. I close the curtains, and turn off the lights before I make myself comfortable on the couch and start picking a movie. As I’m scrolling down on the streaming platform, I catch a glimpse of a few ones we’ve talked about watching together some time, but I scroll past them and pick one of his favorites.

“Et voilà!” He announces with the voice of a magician ending a trick.

He barges into the room with a tray of random snacks, and two glasses of rosé almost filled to the brim. The glasses wobble as he puts down the tray on the coffee table and I don’t know how he manages not to spill anything. If it was me, I would still be in the kitchen, walking no faster than a slug, spilling rosé everywhere or breaking a wine glass.

“Wait, how did you know I wanted to watch Ratatouille?” He exclaims when he sees the TV screen.

“You’ve been mentioning it quite often lately so I figured you had been meaning to watch it.”

“You’re the best!” He says, grabbing my face with both hands and pressing down a loud smooch on my cheek before cuddling up to me. “I love you.”

***

We’re barely 20 minutes in the movie and I’m starting to doze off when I notice that the bruises on his neck are already turning a darker shade of red. They'll be a bright purple by tomorrow morning. But even though I love the sight of them on his collarbone, I can't help but worry that I was too harsh on him. My fingers brush against them.

“Does it hurt?”

“What?” He asks before realizing I’m talking about the hickeys on his neck. “Oh! No, they don’t and if that’s what you’re wondering, no you didn’t hurt me when you gave them to me.” He sits up. “But let me take a look at your back, though. The marks I made seemed quite red in the shower, but I couldn’t get a good look.”

Before I can say anything, he’s pulling me up. I shiver when he throws away the blanket and takes off my shirt. “That’s not really bad but we should probably disinfect that. Just to make sure.” And so he runs to the bathroom and comes back with gauze and a little bottle of disinfectant.

He stops right in his tracks on his way back.

"What?"

"I just got stunned for a minute by how pretty you are."

And I'm a blushing mess.

I pause the movie as he sits behind me, landing a peck in between my shoulder blades while he’s at it.

I wince a little as he sprays the disinfectant on my back and wipes it using the gauze, but he often stops to make sure I’m doing okay, or simply to place a kiss on any part of me he has access to.

“This is the last one. It’s the only one that’s slightly bleeding, so it’s gonna sting a little.” He warns me before spraying it. “Do you want me to put a bandaid on it? The bleeding is really sparse but your shirt might stick to it a bit during the night.” He asks as he puts away the gauze and puts back the cap on the bottle of disinfectant.

“Yes, please.”

“Okay, I’ll go grab one.” And so he is off running away again and coming back at lightning speed with a mischievous smile on his face and I don’t even need to see the bandaid to know that he has picked one of those kid ones with a silly pattern. “When are you going back?” He inquires as he applies the bandaid. “And I’m done!”

“Daichi booked me a ticket for the day after tomorrow, late afternoon.” I reply, putting my shirt back on as he moves to lay next to me. I grab the weighted blanket and pull it back on us before I scout closer to him, my arms instantly finding their place around his waist. And I hold him tight, as tight as I can to bask in his warmth, to hear his heart beating in his chest despite the movie playing again in the background. I need to feel his body against mine, to revel in his presence. I almost don’t hear him when he speaks again.

“So, we have almost two whole days together?”

It takes me a few seconds to process his question and query: “Don’t you have work tomorrow?”

“I do, but you’ll come by, right?” There’s a hint of doubt in his voice when he asks that and my heart clenches in my chest a little. “I really liked having you there. I mean, we didn’t see each other much today but just knowing that you were in the next room felt great.”

I got skin as thick as stone, but a heart made out of glass

And I let my temper show then wish that I could take it back...

“Yeah, I know what you mean…” And I do. I know exactly what he means. I reminisce on the few months we spent together after he came back to Japan for a while after he graduated. After our wedding. And I can still hear his laugh when we had to turn off the fire alarm three times in a row because he had tried a new recipe and let it burn on the stove. Or when I was working out and that I could hear him laugh while watching a variety show in the next room. Or when I came back from work and saw the note he had left before going to work saying he would be late that night because he had a dinner party at work. Just simply knowing that he was living there in the house made me happy. But this was almost four years ago.

My hold around his waist tightens a bit more as those memories flow before my eyes.

His fingers stop racking through my hair. He tilts up my chin and I know he’s about to ask me something I’m not sure I’m ready to answer. That he’s debating whether he should bring it up or not. I brace myself for the question that’s coming but it doesn’t come and instead he lands the gentlest, most careful kiss on my lips and my heart breaks a little.

I already know what he wants to ask. I’ve worked out the answer already, so why is it so hard to talk about it? We’ve always talked about everything with each other. Never kept secrets. Not when he started feeling the need to leave Japan. Not when I started having more than friendly feelings for Daichi. Not when he had one night stands here. So what’s keeping us from talking about the fact that we obviously miss each other?

... It's hard to find someone to open up to

When your walls were built so tall

That no one's brave enough to break through

So I try to make it easier for him. Easier for us.

And I say: “Go ahead, ask your question.”

He clears his throat. “It’s just that, earlier, at lunch, you said you missed me, but there was more to that, right? So what was it?”

I sit up in front of him, holding his hands in mine. “It wasn’t much more than missing you, really. I mean, it is a little bit more complicated than that, but it’s hard to explain.” And I'm being honest when I say there isn't much more to that. Because this is what those big feelings of mine are: just longing and yearning for the one man I wish I could spend my every waking moments with.

“Try anyways” He encourages me in a soft voice.

And the dam breaks upon those words. Every single thing I've kept for myself during the past few weeks gets out. “It’s just that lately I’ve really felt your absence in a way. I mean we text and call or facetime each other everyday, but I see all my friends going on dates with their partners, going home to their partners and I think I’m kind of jealous of all my friends in a way because everyday I’m coming home to empty rooms. And I can’t sleep because all I think about is the time we had together after our wedding, and how, now, we only spend a couple days together here and there, if we’re lucky a couple weeks. And I know we made this choice together, fully knowing what it meant for us, for our relationship. I knew it was going to be hard at times, but I can’t help wishing I could wake up next to you.

“Before, I could talk about it with Kageyama because he was going through the same thing with Hinata, but now that Hinata is back and it feels like I have no one to talk to about that kind of stuff anymore. No one who is able to really understand what it really feels like to be craving someone's presence and only be able to hear their voice through a phone.”

I don't know when I started crying or even when he sat on my lap but when the emotional flood stops he’s holding my face in his hands and wiping away the tears with his thumbs. He pulls me to his chest, one of his hands is rubbing my back while the other is in my hair. He’s grounding me back, soothing bits by bits the pieces of my heart that had been barely holding together. He’s telling me we’re going to be okay and right now in his arms I want to believe him. I want to believe that he’s right and that we’ll be able to overcome that.

But I'm not beyond repair

I'm just a little lost out here

I'm not as tough as I appear

So if we go there

Handle me with care

***

When the movie ends, Ushijima is fast asleep in my arms. I brush away a strand of his hair and take a moment to gaze upon his face.

This is the first time, since I saw him this morning, that he looks at peace. His hands are firmly grabbing onto my shirt and I think about what he said earlier and wonder how long he had been feeling like this for him to book a flight on a whim, him who usually plans our vacations by the minute. So right now as I’m holding him in my arms, I wonder if I did something wrong. If I did something that made him feel like he couldn’t talk to me about this.

And I start thinking about the past few weeks and the things I should have noticed. The fact that he was texting me more often even though he had never been a huge fan of texting and always preferred calls over texts. The fact that these calls were lasting longer and that he had trouble saying goodbye and yet when we video called he was avoiding my gaze. And yet, with all that he was quieter than usual.

He was giving me less details about his days or forgetting about events I had mentioned before, even though he’s the type to write them down in his calendar app and set a reminder a few days before the event. Him being really flirty earlier today should have given me a hint too. He's not the type to flirt in public. He'll sometimes go for a quick peck if we’re surrounded by people we know, or an eager one if we haven't seen each other for a while. But that second kiss he went for, that was out of character and so were his flirty comment. He only does that when he's drunk or really sleepy.

I should have seen those signs. I should have noticed that there was something wrong, something he wasn’t telling me. Especially because I know him so well. Because I know that he’s always found it difficult to talk about his feelings. That he’s the type of person who would rather keep everything for themselves and blow it out of proportion by overthinking. And I think about this one time when we had just started dating, when he worried himself sick over the fact that he had trouble with skinship and he was scared to tell me because he thought I would break up with him because of that. And I’m relieved that we didn’t reach that point today but still I can’t help but blame myself because I should have made it easier for him to talk to me.

But I was so caught up in trying to get the new line of chocolates ready for Christmas and getting everything ready for his Christmas present that I did not pay attention to the one person who really needed me.

My arms tighten around him. I press a kiss on his forehead and even though he can’t hear me, I apologize. “I’m sorry Ushijima. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me, but I promise you won’t be hurting much more. I’ll fix that, I promise you.”

And almost as if he had heard me, he lets out a content sigh and a smile grows on his face. He moves in his sleep and I don’t want to wake him up, but I do nonetheless.

“Mon coeur. Babe.” He buries his head in my chest and mumbles something I don’t understand, so I press another kiss on his forehead. “I know you want to sleep right now, but as much as I’d love to be able to do it, I can’t carry you to bed, so you’re gonna have to help me out on this one.”

I pull my shirt away from his hold, but he locks me in his arms before I can move so I throw away the blanket, hoping that’ll help. It doesn’t. He tugs me closer, nuzzles up in the crook of my neck and I swear I almost give up, right then, when I feel his warmth grow on me. When I feel his lips brush against my skin when he whispers that he doesn’t want to move, but I shake my head.

“Ushijima, mon amour, I’m not letting you sleep on the couch tonight, not after the day you spent, so help me out, okay?” I lift his chin up, preventing him from pressing more soft kisses on my neck. “You’ll get to cuddle up all you want once we're all warm and cozy in bed, buried in blankets, okay?” I land a small peck on his lips, hoping it’ll play in my favor.

And it works. He begrudgingly opens one eye. I give him another peck on the lips. He blinks and I'm left staring at his doe eyes, forgetting what I'm trying to do.

“One more please.” He pleads in a whisper.

“And you’ll come to bed with me if I give you another one?”

He nods and I give him another quick peck on the lips before reaching for the back of his neck. I pull him in for a gentle and reverent kiss.

Satisfied, he lets me go and sits up on the edge of the couch, before making grabby hands at me after I get up and my heart melts. I take his hands and help him up.

We stagger to the bedroom and he’s already half asleep on me as I pull out the sheets. He lets himself flop on the bed and I tuck him in before joining him under the sheets. I can barely cover myself with the sheets that he’s already pulling me to him.

“Please don’t leave.” He mutters before falling back asleep.

***

The next day I wake up to an empty bed, so I get up calling Tendou’s name but get no reply. I make my way to the kitchen to find a note on the fridge.

“I’m the one doing all the prep today so I’ll be at the store when you wake up. There’s rice in the rice cooker, leftover soup in the fridge and eggs if you want. The blender is in the bottom cupboard on the left of the fridge if you wanna make a smoothie. Text me when you’re up. Love you!!! ♡”

I take out the soup and put it on the stove to heat up while I go put the note in my bag and take my phone to find out that he already texted me.

10:38 -Hey, sleepyhead! Surprised you’re not awake yet, but I hope you’re getting a good sleep. You better dream of me.

10:44 -I just talked with one of my regulars, she said she saw you waiting in front of the store yesterday and asked if she’d get the chance to meet you again before you leave. She had a mischievous look on her face, I bet she just wants to spill all the tea with you! You better not show her my middle school haircut if she asks!!

10:45 -Nor my baby pics!!!

10:50 -You’re gonna have to try the new line of chocolates and candies I’m creating for Christmas this year!! I’m so excited to show you!

10:52 -You should bring some back home for the boys and for Daichi!!! I’ll prep a few boxes for you!!

11:14 -If you’re awake I was wondering if you’d like us to have lunch together today but if you’re not, we could have dinner at a restaurant tonight. Just let me know so I can book a reservation.

11:56 -Damn love! Am I gonna have to come wake you up with a kiss like Snow white?

11:57 -I was kidding, but I wouldn’t mind a kiss when I see you

11:57 -Or maybe a dozen

11:58 -Wait no!! I want thousands! I wanna get as many kisses as I can get before you go back!

12:23 -Are you going to pop by the store today? You don’t have to, that’s okay if you wanna rest, but I’d really like having you there.

12:24 -Though I do have to warn you people are asking after you, so if you don’t wanna deal with people I’d understand.

12:24 -Anygays, I love you Ushijima Wakatoshi ♡♡♡

I reply to every single text as I’m eating breakfast before I jump into the shower. I pop a couple different fruits and oat milk in the blender, go through every cupboard to find a reusable cup. I rummage through Tendou’s closet, looking for his red scarf and when I finally go out the door, the digital clock of the oven reads 12:57.

It takes me less than 20 minutes to walk to the store where I’m greeted by Elliott who is behind the counter this time, serving customers.

“Bonjour! Oh, it’s you! Tendou’s at the back with Margaux and Arthur, I’ll go fetch him for you in a minute.”

“Please, take your time!”

I take a seat while he finishes up with the people queueing. He pops his head in the kitchen and not even 20 seconds later Tendou is barging out of the kitchen, making everyone in the store jump in their chair. The lady closest to the kitchen drops her cup and Tendou rushes to help her.

“Oh mon dieu! Je suis désolé! Excusez-moi! Vous allez bien? On va vous refaire un café, ne vous inquiétez pas! Elliott, tu veux bien refaire un café pour madame et mets lui une ou deux viennoiseries aussi s’il te plait! Encore une fois désolé, madame! Ça va aller?”

She nods and he finishes wiping up her table. He tries cracking up a couple jokes and she smiles, but I think it’s more of an awkward one rather than her liking his jokes because he quickly finishes up and heads to the table where I’m seating. He sits in front of me with a sigh, his head down. His shoulders start shaking and at first I think he’s crying but he bursts into laughter, his cheeks a bright red. He buries his face in his hands.

“I’m so embarrassed! I made that poor lady drop her coffee.” He lets out in between two bursts of laughter.

“I know, I saw that.”

“Oh my god!” He tries to stifle a laugh but fails miserably. “What if she had been drinking? She would have spat it all out! She’s never coming back here again! I’m so ashamed, you have no idea!”

I take a peek where the lady is seated. “She doesn’t seem to be rushing out, so I think you’re alright. Elliott is apologizing again, I think. And she’s laughing, a real laugh, not a strained one like when you tried to make a joke. Also that’s the first time I’m hearing you speak French with such ease. I’m really proud of you.”

He whips up his head and wipes the tears coming up at the corner of his eyes. He takes a couple deep breaths and says: “I love you so much, but you could have picked another time to diss my hilarious sense of humor!”

“I love you too. And you know I think you’re the most hilarious person on the planet-” I reach across the table and he leans in. I whisper “-but I don’t think that lady shares my opinion.”

Tendou lets out a loud chuckle, but quickly hides behind his hand when a couple of people turn around. “I’m gonna lose so many customers because of you…” He clears his throat and sits up, trying to act like all of this didn’t happen, but I see him throwing sidelong glances at the customers around us. “So! Where do you wanna go tonight? I was thinking either our usual Japanese restaurant, or maybe the new restaurant that opened down the street near my apartment, what do you think?”

“I think our usual one might be the best since I’m heading back to Japan tomorrow. I don’t want to risk food poisoning on the plane.”

“Okay, I’ll make a reservation. But anygays, did you sleep well? You were really tired last night and you were sleeping so deeply when I left you were even talking in your sleep. I hope I didn’t wake you up with my texts this morning, though.”

“That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a while. And no, you didn’t wake me up.”

“How long have you not been sleeping well?”

I have to take a moment to think because I actually don’t recall the last time I’ve slept that well, so I’m taking a guess when I answer: “I think two weeks, maybe three.”

“Oh, Ushijima…” Tendou sighs

“I know! I know... I should have told you, but I didn’t want you to worry, especially with all the things you have to do to get ready for Christmas. And I wasn’t ready to talk about it yet either.”

Our discussion is interrupted by Arthur asking Tendou to come back to the kitchen.

He gets up and starts leaving.

“Am I not allowed even a small peck today? I thought you said you wanted thousands of kisses before I left!” I tease him.

He runs back, gives me a quick peck and walks to the kitchen, once again apologizing to the lady who dropped her coffee.

***

Later that day, as the traffic slows down a little, I’m sitting at the counter, speaking with Margaux while she makes me a hot chocolate. I had been signing quite a few autographs today as well, although a bit less than yesterday, but as the sun is starting to die down outside, there’s only a couple of people left in the store. There’s a student who has been revising for the past 2 or 3 hours, forgetting about his drink, which is probably cold by now. There’s another person who got here not too long ago and started reading a book. And there’s the person behind me who has been here for almost as long as the student who turned out to be a writer. We had a nice conversation where they told me about the plot of their story and I must admit it seemed enticing. But seeing those people, each doing their thing, I understand why Tendou loves that place so much.

Margaux pulls me out of my own thoughts “You know, I think he hired Elliott for you.”

“What do you mean for me? I live in Japan.”

“Exactly!”

“I’m afraid I’m not following you right now.”.

“I think he's settling things up to leave. To go back to Japan. For you.”

“What do you mean ‘go back to Japan’? Did he say anything”

“I’m not quite sure, he hasn’t said anything to me yet, but he’s been whispering a lot with Arthur. And the fact that he hired Elliott is a bit weird in my opinion. I mean we didn’t really need him. Sure, the store is getting well known and we’re getting more customers but it could have waited a bit. He wouldn’t have hired someone right now, just before Christmas, if he wasn’t planning something. But he hasn’t told me anything, so maybe I’m reading a little bit too much into this.”

Before I can answer, the machine beeps and she goes to get the cup of hot chocolate. But I can see she has an idea when she brings me my cup a little too quickly.

“Maybe you could try to get more information out of Isabelle if she comes back today!”

“Isabelle?” The name rings a bell but I can’t remember to whom it belongs.

“The old lady who gave you an umbrella yesterday morning.” Margaux explains, and it comes back. She’s Tendou’s regular. “He weirdly opens up to her more than he does to us, at least when it comes to feelings. When it comes to business he always goes to Arthur first, but you’re gonna have a hard time trying to speak to Arthur alone, so Isabelle might be your best option here. Ah, quand on parle du loup… Isabelle! Comment ça va depuis ce matin? Je parie que vous êtes revenu pour le joli coeur accoudé au comptoir!” I don’t understand what she’s saying but I’m guessing she’s talking about me because the old lady walks up to me.

“So it was you yesterday! You’re the husband of the lovely owner! I thought I had recognized you but I wasn’t sure…”

“I am. It’s nice to finally meet you! Tendou talks about you a lot!”

“Indeed, it’s nice to finally meet the person I hear so much about. Although sometimes it almost feels like we’ve already met a couple times because that boy’s stories never end when it comes to you.”

Margaux saves us from an awkward silence when she asks where Isabelle wants to sit.

“Would you like to join me?” I suggest. “I’m going to wait here the rest of the afternoon for Tendou so I’d really appreciate some company.”

“I would be very glad to do so, but may we switch to a different table? Those high chairs aren’t really comfortable for me.”

“Of course! I have been sitting at that table over there!” I say pointing to the table where I’ve been signing autographs since yesterday.

We both sit down together and exchange pleasantries. To my utmost surprise she switched to Japanese when we sat down and I learned that she had been a French teacher in Tokyo when she was younger. We’ve moved onto sharing anecdotes about Tendou when she asks. “You have something on your mind, don’t you, my dear?”

“How do you know?”

“Let’s say Tendou was right when he said your face was as easy to read as an open book. So what’s bothering you, sweetheart?”

“It’s just that Margaux mentioned something earlier and she said you might be able to help me understand what she meant…”

“I can try, but you’re going to have to tell me what it was if you want me to help.”

I take a deep breath, trying to find the best way to word what has been going on in my mind. “She said Tendou might be thinking of going back to Japan. Permanently.”

“Oh…”

The awkward silence that follows is enough of an answer to tell me that Margaux was right. “So, it’s true?”

“Well…” She hesitates and I’m guessing she isn’t sure she’s allowed to tell me but she must be feeling my concern because she continues anyway. “Your husband hasn’t figured it all out yet, he’s still trying to decide what to do with this place, but yes. He’s pretty set about going back to Japan.”

“But why? I mean he’s doing well here, so why would he want to go back? He spent years trying to make it here and, now that he has finally fulfilled his dream, he wants to give it all up?”

“I’m not your husband, so I can’t say for sure, but I guess the answer is pretty obvious. I mean it is to me. We talked about it again this morning, actually, and the answer is you. You’re the reason he wants to go back to Japan.”

She tries to explain, tries to tell me about Tendou’s plans, and I want to tell her that she’s wrong, that she must be mistaken, but when I open my mouth nothing comes out. So I’m sitting here, listening to that lady telling me about Tendou wanting to go back home as every sound becomes a blur and I watch my world crumbling apart because Tendou made a promise and now he’s breaking it.

***

I don’t remember going back home. I only remember bits and pieces of our date at the restaurant. I remember cutting his hair, but everything in between is blurred. As I lay in bed, I feel myself coming back. The conversation I had with Isabelle is stuck in my head, and I can’t sleep.

When did I get so obsessive?

I'm obsessing over nothing...

Pushing away the blankets I get out of bed before I suffocate and go to the bathroom; maybe freshening up will help. So I splash water on my face. Once. Twice. It feels like I'm drowning. This is clearly not working. I need something else. If I was in Japan I would go on a run, but I'm not and I don't know my way around Paris, so going for a run is not an option. I decide that maybe a glass of water will help so I head for the kitchen.

...I wish I could erase our past

'Cause now I'm sticking through this overpass

There’s a picture of us on the fridge that catches my eye. It’s partly hidden by bills and another picture, but I can still see us clearly, posing in front of his store on the opening day.

I can still recall the joy on Tendou's face when he told me about this new project. The absolute glee in his voice when he called me to say that the renovation work was complete and they would be able to open up soon. But most of all I can clearly recall his first words when he stepped into the chocolaterie on the opening day: ‘This is a dream come true.’

And now Isabelle's words echo in my head and they don't make sense to me. We promised each other we'd never get in the way of our dreams, that was our rule. That's why we've lasted so long. We've both been fulfilling our dreams and making our relationship work. So hearing that Tendou is thinking about giving it all up because of me. Especially just after I told him I'd been missing him so much.

That's exactly the reason I didn't want to tell him what was going on. Because I don't want to be the reason he doesn't fulfill his dream. I don't want him to end up resenting me for having to give up his dream because I couldn't stay alone in a house. I don't want him to give up the thing he worked so hard for. The thing that makes him happy. The thing that made his childhood easier to bear. That makes his bad days a little better. The thing that makes his eyes shine when he gets new ideas.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to impose that on him when I hear footsteps behind me and I realize that I got here for a glass of water and that I’m standing in front of the fridge with my glass still full, not knowing how long I’ve been standing there. I turn around and I’m met with a sleepy Tendou, looking at me with his eyes half open.

He drags himself across the kitchen and stops in front of me. His arms find their place around my waist as he rests his chin on my chest. He looks up at me with a pout.

“Please, come back to sleep. I’m cold without you.”

I chug down the glass of water before cupping his face in my hands and placing a gentle peck on his pouty lips.

He wraps his arms around my neck as I squat down to grab the back of his knees and his head rolls in the crook of my neck when I lift him off the floor. I can feel his breath against my skin as I carry him back to the bedroom and when he whispers:

“I wish you could stay a little longer.”

“I wish I could, too.” I answer as I let him down on the bed.

***

When I wake up the next morning, the bed is cold beside me. Ushijima isn’t here and I’m carefully tucked in bed. I call for him but the only answer I get is the calm silence of my apartment. Maybe he went to the bakery. Last night, at the restaurant, he did say he had missed being able to eat so many pastries and he often plans a trip to the bakery whenever he visits so he can bring back pastries to Japan. This always comes as a surprise to me because Ushijima never had that big of a sweet tooth but he’s a sucker for pastries. I still remember the first time he tried to bring some pastries back to Japan. I was still a student, I think it was the first year we had been away from each other, and that was the first time he had visited. I remember him calling me when he got back to his apartment, to tell me about the airport security pulling him aside because they thought the contents of his baggage was suspicious so they wanted to take a look. It turned out he had packed too much food and they had to take away a bunch of the pastries he had tried to sneak into his baggage, especially the ones that had custards or other types of similar filling because they weren’t packed in the right containers. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he was raiding the bakery down the street of all their pastries.

So I got up and took a shower, thinking that he’d be back when I got out of the shower. Except, I take my sweet time in the shower, and when I get out of the bathroom about half an hour later he’s still not back, so I start to worry.

Talked about it last night, thought I was fine

Helped you pack your things, put your bags in the hallway...

He hasn’t answered the text I sent him before getting into the shower, so I try to call, but he doesn’t answer. Maybe he went on a run. I try not to panic. He had been restless all night, waking me up a couple of times because he kept tossing and turning in bed. And when I found him in the kitchen he looked lost in his thoughts. So I go to the kitchen because, if he did go on a run, he would have left a note in the kitchen, next to the coffee machine, because he knows that's usually the first thing I do when I wake up. So that’s where I’m headed, cursing myself for not doing that today, but there’s nothing next to the coffee machine, neither on the fridge nor on the kitchen table. And I start to panic this time. What if something happened? He doesn’t speak French and French people do not speak English and even less Japanese. So I try to call him another time, but this time I’m greeted by a voice that tells me the user I’m trying to call cannot be reached at the moment. And I’m submerged by anxiety.

He’s alone, somewhere in Paris, and his phone is off. So I rush back to the bedroom to grab a coat and that’s when I see it, sitting on my bedside table.

...Maybe in a past life, problems aside

We could make it home, I'd hear you when you're calling

And my heartbeat slows down for a second until I realize the piece of paper sitting on my bedside table is too big to be just a note. I sit on the side of my bed and grab the paper. I unfold it to discover it’s a letter written in Ushijima’s awkward handwriting.

“Dear Satori,

Four years ago, we made a decision. We chose to live away from each other: you in France, me in Japan. We had done it before so how hard could it be this time around? We did it once, we could do it twice, right? But today I’ve come to realize that we were wrong and that we made the wrong decision that day and I’ve been holding on for too long.

Missing you isn’t the reason I came here and, even if it’s an undeniable truth, that’s not the real reason. The real reason is that I’m tired of missing you and I don’t want to keep living like this.

I don’t want to keep waiting for you to walk through the door every evening. I don’t want to keep living surrounded by empty rooms that scream your absence. I don’t want to keep living my life as if everything is going well when the only thing I want to do is scream until I cannot utter a single sound.

I’m sorry if this comes as a shock to you (guess I’m a better liar than you thought I was). But I'm done acting like this doesn't affect me, because I'm tired, really tired Tendou. I know that we've come a long way, that we overcame so much, but this doesn't feel like something we're going to be able to get through.

I meant to tell you earlier. I meant to tell you face to face, I thought I could do it. But having you in front of me made every speech I had prepared fly out the window and I couldn’t summon the courage to say it out loud and so instead I’m doing the shittiest thing I could possibly do: writing you this letter.

But now I can finally say it: I’m letting go.

Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

#haikyuu!!#ushijima wakatoshi #tendou satori #ushiten #ushijima x tendou #haikyuu!! fic #haikyu #haikyuu fic #ali's writing

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