#I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS ABLE TO SWING THIS SHIT LAST MINUTE

[thatstonedwriter]

IT HAPPENED

I was lucky enough to meet Brandon Rogers and Vivian Nixon Williams and get their autographs!! And I got some pictures with Brandon!!

I was so nervous and excited that I was low-key shaking. But it all went well! I was able to give him the bracelet I made, we joked a little, and that was it!

So. Fucking. Awesome.

[olivethewriter]

Love is a drug

hey y'all this is my first one shot, and I am kind nervous, but I just watched euphoria and thought this would be a good fic idea y/n goes to fez's house and gets drugged by mouse instead of rue leading to a steamy confession

You knock on your best friend Fezco's door. "Fez, open up! It's pouring out here!"

The door cracks open a moment later. "Y/N, you really shouldn't be here."

"Too bad, I'm starving," you reply,making a beeline for the kitchen. You grab your favorite chipst.

"Nah, Y/N, I'm serious. You gotta get the fuck up out my house," Fez insists.

"Man stop stressin," you reply, plopping down on his couch and flipping through the TV channels.

"My supplier's bout to swing by, and I don't want you here when he does," Fez explains, growing more tense.

"I'm hungry," you repeat, munching on another chip.

"Then take the fucking chips with you," he grumbles.

"You're being hella rude today, but—" Before you can finish, Fez's phone rings, breaking the tense silence.

After a long pause, Fezco shakes his head. "I could fucking kill you right now."

Fez heads to the door as you turn off the TV. A tall, tattooed guy, way taller and bulkier than you expected, steps in behind Fez. 

"Well, shit, I didn't know your bitch would be here," he says, eyeing you.

"Nah, man, she's just a friend," Fez replies, taking a seat across from you.

"Well, hello there," the guy kneels in front of you, extending his hand. "I'm Mouse. Pleasure to meet you."

"Um, hi," you mutter, cautiously shaking his hand. His intense gaze makes you uneasy, like you want to crawl out of your skin.

he says, he stands up and unpacks his bag and starts describing its contents.

"Sure you don't want any fentanyl?" 

“Nah man im cool too many ODs” fez says 

“How bout you little lady want any fent?”Mouse asks, looking at you.

"No," you reply firmly.

"Nah, man, she's cool," Fez interjects. You've never used drugs before (besides vaping once), and you certainly don't want to start with something as dangerous as fentanyl.

"You gonna let him speak for you?”you look to fez for help “look at me when i talk to you." Mouse demands. He grabs your chin, playing with your hair.

"Have you ever tried it?" he whispers into your ear. You shake your head, speechless.

"No, for real, bro, I don't want her messing with that shit," Fez asserts, his voice steady but tense.

"Don't look at him. Look at me," Mouse insists, grabbing your chin and staring into your eyes. "Ever tried anything?"

You remain silent, unsure how to respond.

"No, seriously, man, she's good," Fez tries to defuse the tension, but Mouse isn't done.

"You know that feeling when you come so hard you can't hear or feel shit?" Mouse whispers, leaning in close. You freeze, feeling the point of his knife against your glossed lips.

You pray silently. You can't believe you're about to die. But you glance at Fez and open your mouth.

The drug hits you fast. In less than a minute, you're numb, barely able to sense anything. You lie down on the couch, eyes barely open.

"You like that?" Mouse asks, placing your legs on his lap.

"Uh-huh," you mumble.

"Wanna try more?" Mouse offers, leaving light touches on your thighs.

"No, man, she doesn't want any more," Fez says, struggling to keep his voice calm, hiding his growing anger.

"I-I want more," you slur, wanting to feel like this forever. Mouse places patches in your shorts' waistband, his hands lingering on your hips.

"That'll cost you three hundred," Mouse says.

"I'm broke," you manage to say.

"That's too bad. Guess you'll have to find another way to pay," Mouse says, his hand creeping toward your hips.

"Man, don't make her do that. I'll pay for her," Fez interjects.

"Nah, thought you were too good for fent," Mouse retorts. Fez grabs the gun, but ultimately decides against using it. That's the last thing you remember before drifting off.

When you wake up, Mouse is long gone, and Fez is nowhere to be found. You're in Fez's room, wearing one of his sweaters. You get out of bed and head to the kitchen, where Fez is eating cereal.

"I'm sorry," you say, barely holding back tears. Fez turns around.

"No, no, don't apologize. It's my fault. I should've had you wait in another room or just fucking shot him," he says, seeing your quivering lips. He pulls you into a hug.

"That was so scary," you admit, barely keeping it together.

"I know, ma," Fez consoles you.

"I thought I was going to die," you confess.

"It's okay. You're here now, and you're safe," Fez assures you, pulling away to look into your eyes.

"I won't let him hurt you again," Fez vows.

"I know," you whisper.

When you thought you were going to die, there wasn't much you regret. You love your family. You're on good terms with almost everyone. But you had never been in love before. You always thought you and Fez would end up together, and it was only a matter of time. But life isn't guaranteed. Tomorrow might not happen. And the next time you almost die, you don't want it to be without kissing Fezco O'Neil.

You look into Fezco's blue eyes. Without thinking, you ask, "Will you kiss me?"

Fez's blue eyes widen, but he doesn't hesitate. His lips touch yours, lingering for a moment longer than necessary. You look up at him, then at his lips.

"Do it again," you demand.

This time, Fez doesn't wait for you to finish your sentence. He kisses you fiercely. The kiss, sweet and hesitant before, is now intense and passionate. Teeth clash, and tongues wrestle as you try to get as close as possible. His strong hands wrap around your waist, and your arms tighten around his neck. You step closer, until every inch of your body presses against his. He lifts you up, and you wrap your legs around his waist. He moves one of your hands from your waist to your neck, pressing a little harder. You let out a small gasp, pulling his face back into yours and kissing him harder. Your hands meet behind his neck, and unexpectedly, he bites your lip and looks into your eyes. You let out a whimper, but your phone dings.

"I need to get that. It's probably my mom," you sigh, disappointed that the moment is over.

"Yeah, of course," Fez says, setting you back on the ground. You look at the message from your mom, telling you to let her know if you're going to stay overnight at Maddie's house and come home.

"I'm so sorry. I have to go," you apologize.

"Okay, let me walk you out."

When you two reach the door, Fez speaks up. "Listen, I really like you. I want this to happen again. Can we do this again but not just like hooking up and shit? I want it all."

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Fezco?" you ask, smiling.

"I mean, I guess, if you want to be," Fezco says, looking down and fiddling with his hands.

"Of course," you say, standing on your tiptoes to kiss him.

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Y/N," he says, watching you walk away, the ghost of your kiss lingering on his lips.

[buccini555]

≡ “I want to go back to being the Mikey I used to be”

⌕ x r e a d e r !

☆ 𝑭𝒕. Manjiro Sano (Bonten!)

⚠︎! references to post traumatic stress/trauma

★ As you never failed to do, you went to visit Manjiro at one of Bonten's many hideouts, despite the boy being isolated and most of the time not wanting to have contact with anyone at all, you really never failed to see your sweet boy.

As soon as you arrived, you looked for Sano, thus arriving in one of the rooms of the huge building, you came across Manjiro sitting on a small old and broken piece of furniture, as soon as you laid eyes on the boy and he noticed your presence, Manjiro invited you to sit next to him and you, of course, cannot tell that he was crying, or at least he seemed to have been crying a few minutes before you arrived.

— Manjiro? Something happened? Are you hurt?

You questioned, worry always took over your mind when seeing him in that state, even if you were already used to your loved one's depressed appearance.

— I-I'm scared, I'm so fucking scared right now.

He was different, you can see the difference in his blank look before, he seemed to be totally out of his "impulse", just being less aggressive and totally fragile at that moment.

— Scared? Why?

You questioned again, you were more and more worried, since you knew that the boy had not been well in the last few days, you watched him, curious to know what he had to say.

— You know, the memories won't leave me alone, you know, don't you? I live my nightmares even awake.

𓈒 ﹒ ☆ 𓂂 ˚ ☆ ꙳ * ࣭ ࣭

Dealing with trauma? It was really never an easy task for Manjiro, he never managed to recover from all the tragedies that occurred throughout his life, only an emotional blockage took care of him, after all, he believed that if he didn't feel "nothing" anymore, the pain would pass.

𓈒 ﹒ ☆ 𓂂 ˚ ☆ ꙳ * ࣭ ࣭

— I can't imagine how you feel, but I honestly didn't want you to go through that.

You wanted to hug him at that moment, but you just held back as you knew Manjiro couldn't handle contact well.

— My brothers... My friends... My family? I? Where did all this go? How was I able to destroy everything I loved most? And I still think my post traumatic stress shit fucked me up even more.

He started to cry almost desperately, you could feel his lover's pain, he really couldn't handle it all alone anymore.

— Y-you need to calm down, please baby!

Despite wanting to comfort him, you still feared for the mood swings he had, of course, he was never aggressive with you, but you knew that he just didn't show aggression because he gave everything to control himself.

Since those memories and flashbacks took over Manjiro, he never again had the ability to show the slightest bit of affection, but, he hugged you, as tight as he could, you can feel Manjiro's trembling body, which at that moment, looked more like the "Mikey" you knew years ago.

— I hate being emotionally fucked up, I hate being so traumatized! I hate myself for all the times I treated you like crap, I love you... I love you but I can't even show my fucking feelings.

Still holding you in his arms, he continued to break down in tears, you had never seen Mikey so sensitive, you just remained silent, not holding back the tears at hearing those words.

— It's okay, Manjiro, it's okay, I'm here.

You gently caressed Sano's face, trying to do your best to at least keep him comfortable.

— I want to go back, I want to go back to the start.

— Go back? What do you mean by that my love?

— Back to the beginning of it all...

You just remained silent, clearly Manjiro was thinking about all his past, friends, family, and most of all, who he used to be.

— Help me to be Mikey again, only you can do that for me.

— I'll do anything to help you, I promise! But, I think you better rest now, don't you?

— I'm sorry for making you worried...

— Come here, try to sleep, okay? This will help with your crisis.

You knew that Manjiro had been without sleep for days, the tired look on the younger's face wouldn't let him lie and say he was having a good night's sleep.

— I really love you, you make me feel alive again.

He looked at you with joy in his eyes for the first time in years.

— Rest, I want you to get better soon.

He subtly rested his face on your chest, as he used to do and while he slept, you just caressed the boy's bleached hair.

[winterserra]

For Autumn Themed Prompt: 17 + 12 for Lethan ? :DD

I've never written Lethan before and I don't personally ship it, but I took this as a challenge. This went a little darker than I was expecting, but I hope you enjoy it!

AO3 link

Ethan crouches down behind a large rock. He peeks over the top, looking around to see if anyone is following him. The coast is clear, but he spots a flashlight through the trees. Shit. He looks around again trying to find a new hiding place. He knows the man who is following him is much better at tracking than he is letting on.

He spots a shed, and makes a break for it when the flashlight turns the opposite direction. He closes the door as quietly as he can, but it still squeaks. Goddammit, why did he have to find the shed with the neglectful owner? Would it kill them to use a little WD40 on the hinges? He climbs up to the beam just above head level, straddling it and pulling his feet up so he's not visible.

“Ethan?” The man calls out, just outside of the shed where Ethan is hiding. The flashlight shines through the cracks before the door opens and Ethan holds his breath, desperate to not get caught. “Ethan, where are you hiding? I know you're in here…” 

It's really not fair playing hide and seek with Leon. Ethan isn't trained in tracking nor is he trained in skillfully covering his tracks. Everything he has learned, he's picked up by doing it out of necessity. Leon, on the other hand, has had military and combat training. 

Ethan watches as Leon shines his flashlight around the shed, still unable to spot him. He gives up after a few minutes, leaving the shed and looking elsewhere. Finally, Ethan can let go of the breath he's been holding. He pants, allowing his legs to dangle off the beam again. He sits like that for a few minutes until he no longer hears the crunch of Leon's combat boots on the leaves outside. Once he is certain Leon is gone, he climbs down, dropping onto his heels to make minimal sound.

“Shit,” he whispers to himself. “That was a close one. I was almost the catch of the day.” He chuckles to himself before pushing the squeaky door open again and sprinting into the darkness. He runs as quietly as he can, but he knows he's unable to run completely silently. His stomach flips, feeling like he could be caught at any moment. 

He spots the lamppost they had set up as the safe zone, clearly lit just outside of the woods. He stops to catch his breath, upset that he couldn't make it the last few steps before stopping. The base is right there. He should be able to make it. As he prepares to take off running again, doing a little hop to pick up momentum, two strong arms wrap around his waist. 

He suddenly feels like he's back at the Baker House. The woods around him have changed to marshlands. The houses that he knew were around them are suddenly gone. He feels like he's going to throw up.

“I caught you,” Jack laughs. Ethan instinctively swings an elbow back, almost clocking Jack in his nose. “Jesus Christ, Ethan!”

Ethan writhes in his arms as Jack picks him up, exerting his strength over him, “Put me down, right now!” His voice strong and assertive, he reaches for his gun holster to find it not on his hip like he's expecting. He fights to break free of the strong grip to no avail.

“Ethan! Ethan! It's just me!” He hears Leon call to him, “Ethan, it's Leon. You're safe.” Leon puts him down. 

The second his feet touch the ground, Ethan turns around to see Leon's bright blue eyes and his long brown hair. He collapses onto the ground. He can't believe this happened again. He should be able to have a little bit of fun without going into a flashback. This is getting ridiculous.

“I…I'm so sorry, Leon,” Ethan whimpers. “I thought you were Jack.”

Leon crouches down beside him, petting his hair, “Honestly, after what you've been through, we should have seen this coming.” His voice is soft and smooth. If he's upset, he's definitely not showing it.

“Yeah, probably.” Ethan lowers his eyes to the ground. “I didn't hurt you did I?”

Leon chuckles, “No, not at all. It was close though.” He stands back up, extending a hand outward to help Ethan up. “Maybe we don't play hide and seek anymore.”

Ethan takes the hand, being yanked to his feet with ease. He hugs Leon, the warmth of his body wrapping around him in a comforting embrace. “It's probably for the best unless you want to turn into roadkill.” He pauses for a moment, “Or maybe we just don't play at night anymore.”

Leon laughs, letting go of Ethan, “I thought for a moment there that you were going to flip me. You really paid attention in Chris's hand to hand training didn't you? You're stronger than you look.”

It is Ethan's turn to laugh, “Yeah, I guess I did. Are you hungry? Want to get some food?”

“Starved,” Leon takes Ethan's hand and leads him back into the illuminated street. Ethan feels safe again. He knows he can stand on his own, but he feels more comfortable with a man as strong as Leon by his side.

[sorrybutthisonestaken]

The one and only spider-woman pt.2

Dead captains

Authors note: this is only part two because I have yet to write something between last time and this even. If any of you have prompts or ideas for any in between pt.1 and 2 or even for afterwards please send them I would be glad to write them!

Of course a crazy Karen with an octopus suit and a god complex just had to come and ruin my perfectly good Tuesday! When I say customer service is underpaid this is exactly what I mean.

She throws me against the concrete pillar of the parkade with one of her metal tentacles. The impact hard enough to cue a ringing in my ears for a few seconds. I shake it off quickly, dodging the next blow that just so happened to be aimed straight at my head.

"Qué te pasa lady? Someone spit in your tacos? I tease, dodging her arms and swinging around her for confusion. I also have to find a weak link in her design. Once I find that, all I have to do is target it and make sure she doesn't get up again.

"You little brat! You're not getting away from me!" Doc OC warns. It almost makes me sniger. I have been the one chasing her down for the past three weeks and now I'm the one getting away from her? Ha!

"Then come and get me pendejo!"

I try to keep the fighting away from the people fleeing. They don't need to get hurt in this. This is between me and the crazy lady. Sirens going off in the distance eases my mind a bit. At least Papà will be able to help everyone get out of here safely. And that's a good thing because when I slam this puta into the column in an attempt to pin her down, it cracks.

A resonating sound that both gives me an idea and sends a chill down my spine. I just have to make sure this place is evacuated before executing said plan.

"Hey lady what if we play a game shall we?" I joke, pining two of her metal arms to the ceiling with my webs. She positively growls as she swings at me with the other two. "It's called touch and go, more commonly known as tag!"

A quick glance downwards shows Papà helping the last of the civilians out of here. Just give him a little bit more time. All he needs is a couple more minutes.

I swing around, kicking the lady as she goes for me as well. Just a little bit longer. I jump off of one of the columns and body slam the doc right in the chest, making her topple over and to the floor. Her metal arm reaches for a pillar.

A deafening crack as it rips the concrete just to swing the hardened rock at my head. I narrowly avoid it, but her plan of comiting homicide is the least of my problems.

A kid. I can hear the crying. I try to look around to find them without getting too distracted but it's nearly impossible. A tentacle wraps around my waist and I am thrown through the air. I hit something very solid and another crack rips through the air. Then a rumble. Toned low and menacing.

Oh shit.

The ceiling begins to fall in on itself and I prepare for the worst, runing towards the ongoing sound of a panicked child in the hopes of being able to get to them in time before this entire structure buries us alive. But someone gets to them first. I only get a glimpse of the shiny captain's badge before a big chunk of the ceiling pins me to the floor.

I can't tell what's up or what's down. My vision is worse than when I still needed my glasses. I can barely register the sound of pattering fading away. My head feels light, and heavier than my backpack filled with textbooks all at the same time. I can barely breathe.

I turn my head to the right. Doc OC lays under the rubble. Her tentacles crushing her body, seemingly having attempted to stop anything from crushing her first. At least I don't have to worry about her ever getting back on he feet again. It's when I turn to the left when my heart drops.

His hand is sprawled out to the side and his body limp against the unforgiving stone. Papà looks unconscious. I refuse to believe he is anything worse than that, knocked out by the blow.

The will to get over there, confirm that he is still alive, it drives me. Adrenaline courses my veins and brings unknown strength. I yell out in retaliation, using all of my power to lift this concrete off of my back. My entire body shakes with the effort, but little by little I succeed. First comes the crawling position, which turns into a lunge, and that gives me enough room to shove the enormous weight off of my shoulders.

I don't give myself time to feel tired. My legs carry me exactly where I need to be, and I find myself kneeling by his side in a heartbeat. There is a wound on his chest, but I can hear his jagged breathing. A relieved chuckle escapes me as I begin to shake him.

"Papà- come on papà wake up" I urge. My shaking becomes more frantic the longer he takes to wake. He can't die, not here and definitely not now. "come on papà just look at me".

A groan leaves his lips and he begins to stir. I don't think I've ever felt this happy in my life. The moment is only dampened by him panicking slightly when his eyes lock onto my mask. He tries to push me away in a panic.

"Hey no papà it's me!" I plead. I rip the stupid mask off of my head with one hand as my other reaches for his. His eyes widen and he looks at me differently than he ever has.

"N-noa?" He croaks. I nod vigorously, pushing him down when he tries to sit up. I can tell he's in pain and I need him to hold on until first responders arrive.

"Yeah it's me"

"But- how?- it's been you the whole time?"

I take his hand in mine, gripping it tightly without hurting him.

"I promise I'll explain everything when we get home" I bargain. "I didn't tell you because of what happened with tio Gabriel and- please just hold on. I'll tell you everything I promise".

He cups my cheek with his hand. He looks at me. And I mean really looks, as if truly seeing me for the first time. He brushes a strand of hair or of the way and behind my ear. A soft smile tugs on his features.

"Mija- preciosa-". He groans trying to sit up again.

"Hey hey hey take it easy papà" I warn. He chuckles, holding onto his chest. He must have broken a rib or something.

"Siempre acuérdate lo que te he enseñado". He takes my hands in his. I watch in shock, not wanting to believe what he's saying. He can't be saying goodbye. "ten siempre cuidado. Take care of yourself and never let anyone tell you what you can't and can do. You are stronger than anyone believes, even yourself".

A violent cough tears through his system and I can't help but notice the slightest bit of blood. The paramedics are taking too long. What is taking them so long!

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!" I cry out. My breathing erratic as the ultimatum starts running out.

"Mija- no tengas miedo. I'm always going to be with you one way or another" papà assures me. I close my eyes and rest my head on his chest.

His grip loosens. I can no longer hear his heartbeat. His chest goes completely still. My eyes fly open and I sit up faster than my brain can process. Desperately I look for a pulse. He can't be gone he just can't be.

"No no no no no papà come on!"

He doesn't wake. His eyes closed almost peacefully as if he were only sleeping. I can feel his blood running colder and colder the more time passes. I don't even notice the tears falling like waterfalls until it become impossible to properly see with how blurry my vision is becoming.

A sob wracks through my entire body. I lay my head back down on his chest and just let it happen. All the pain escaping through any way it can. Rivers stain my cheeks. Sombre roars make my throat run dry.

The crying sounds so foreign to my ears. Never have I let myself go so much, even when tio was killed. This is a different kind of pain. He was my Papa. he was the first one to hold me when i was born. He was the one that made me feel safe when lightning scared me as a kid. He was the one that truly was always there for me, and now i know he would have forgiven me if i had just told him. If i had just told him maybe he would have trusted me to get to the kid and saved himself instead.

Canon even completed

The sound is muted but the yellow tinted hologram shows all that Miguel needs to know. He regrets not being able to do anything, but he knows the consequences of intervening. It would destroy my universe and he would have to watch me disappear all over again.

Translations:

Qué te pasa?: what's wrong with you?

Pendejo: asshole

Papà: dad

Mija: daughter

preciosa: precious

Siempre acuérdate lo que te he enseñado: always remember what I've taught you

ten siempre cuidado: always stay/be safe

no tengas miedo: don't be scared

[pinkpruneclodwolf]

I feel like maybe their inactivity comes in hand with the fact that Yuu comes from a different dimension and think that they're immune to the laws of their world (Crowley) or that they actually don't know that Yuu is from another dimension and therefore isn't actually immune to blot (the rest of the staff). I feel like even magicless humans in twst do have cores in them even if they dont have or can't use magic. Since their bodies have evolved and they technically need cores to regulate the magic that wizards have and are in the air and the inevitable blot that comes along with it.

Crewel is the first one who most definitely notices the change in Yuu and is the one who first took action but only dismissed it as a blot build up (which he isnt wrong about so to speak) but he only orders Yuu to rest up and assign someone into making sure they eat properly which isnt bad if this was a normal situation but it's exactly where he went wrong. Sam is the one who picks up next thank to his "friends" but is unable to do much since he's not too sure on what to do (and the uncertainty that he might make it worse leaves a pit of nerves in his stomach) and he knows that even if he tries to ask someone for help they'll just dismiss him so he can only watch as Yuu's health begins to deteriorate...

As for Vargas and Trein they actually had their suspicions at first but it isnt when Yuu starts having more... sickly symptoms is when the feeling of dread starts kicking in for the both of them. I actually have a hc that Vargas can't use magic too much bc his core is sort of fractured that's why he's so adamant on muscle building for his students so at the very least IF they're unable to use magic they'd be able to keep themselves safe. Trein has read of cases similar to Yuu but he didn't realize it would be this bad.

Ah, Crowley---deadbeat father of 200+ children. What in the fuck were you thinking? I feel like he never expected this and was sort of ignorant to it until the very last moment where everything has gone to shit because the blot---while magic waste is still magic---blinded him from actually seeing what's going on add that with his ignorance and you've got a whole shit storm. So i feel like thats why Yuu managed to hide their situation from everyone who didn't pay attention to hard for so long bc they were actively making sure none of them saw until the last minute when everything became too much for them.

But like that's my opinion wbu?

But magicless people having a magical core could explain why they, historically, Yuu's situation is rare. If they already have a back up making sure that when facing the brunt of magic they aren't going to die (i realize Yuu has zero resistance to magic when thinking in game terms, a fire ball could literally kill them)

Magicless people need some form of resistance built up especially considering that evolution and such would make sure that each species magicless population does not die out, the probability of a magician breeding with another magician and not getting a magicless baby is low but never zero.

Crowley don't be using his lil pea brain unless theirs money dangling in front of it—but you're right about the Staff not knowing or Crowley believing that Yuu might be immune.

And he wouldn't be far off considering they managed to live on for that long without dying from a stray magic spell or a wild swing of OB magic.

I've also noticed that its easier to hide obvious signs that you aren't okay by playing it off or making up a lie—Yuu can be a good pretender when they want (need) to be.

Vargas having a cracked core actually suits him, I think Trein would've gotten clued in by Lucius, animals have a preternatural sense of who has a serious disease and will be more attentive that person—

LEONA

He specializes in Ancient Curses, no way in hell would Cat Daddy 3000 not have some inclination that Yuu wasn't daijoubu, Ruggie or Jack for that matter! Jack would definitely hang around more often, which might become a source of jokes but when you think about how serious it is or that Yuu is essentially deteriorating...

Yeah, nothing's funny anymore.

Sam getting clued in but worrying if speaking up would help is some angst potential for the Gods. Especially told in increments, he notices small things but doesn't comment. Yuu doesn't frequent as much but when they do it's for medicine, they look sick. And then they just stop showing.

UGHHHH SAM I AMMMM—

You capture the staff pretty well and explained them to me cause I'm always sideeyeing them whenever the kids get hurt, or Yuu's health being put in jeopardy, like yeah I know NRC isn't full of good people but a quick glance at Yuu and they might be able to get them the help they need.

But that's what Yuu's OB is for yall! Its about the venting, miscommunication, airing out grievances in order to finally get that sweet sweet cotton candy flufff

[eddies-weirdo]

Not Your Loki (pt4)

Pairing: Loki x female reader

Summary: After what feels like a million years of jumping through timelines, you finally think you found the one with your Loki. Unfortunately the Loki you find isn't yours and has been heartbroken and defeated by another. Do you still help him?

Warning: cursing

“Well if we go here and jump from this point here we’ll -” you flip through pages of the planets you’ve visited to a darker planet on the outskirts of the solar system “- it’ll bring us here, but if we skip this point -” you say pointing at another map of a planet ran by vampires “- we’ll just end up back on the Void.” You lean back in your chair and sigh “Finding the jumping off point is always the hardest, but once we get going we’ll be able to make our way through the timeline without to many issues.” You smile at Loki trying to instill some confidence in his decision to join you. He looks at you skeptically “You don’t know what you’re doing do you?” You narrow your eyes at him “Just because I don’t use the big fancy words that Tony does, doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m talking about.” “That’s precisely what that means though - “ he starts. Oh shit, footsteps. You grab his arm and put up a finger to signal to him that he needs to be quiet. You both hear the footsteps round the corner and a voice say “I could have swore I heard voices when I came by earlier but I don’t see any names on the schedule for this room”. The door opens and you see two guards looking around at the room. Loki starts to speak but you shake your head for once in your life please don’t talk. He looks at you, your eyes locked on the guards, and notices the flicker of green in your eyes. “There’s no one in here G-42, you must be hearing things.” “I swear I heard a -”, “Yeah yeah yeah, you just need a break from the last mission that’s all” and the door closes again. You let out the breath you’ve been holding in. “How did you do that?” You think about how to answer. “I didn’t make us invisible if that’s what you’re wondering, I just made a barrier that blocked us from their sight. That’s the best way I can explain it anyway.” You start to gather your notes and maps, “I think we better get to my safe house, we’ll have less visitors there.” “There’s other places you can go outside of the TVA?” Loki looks at you puzzled. “Oh no, it’s a pocket dimension I found. Is there anything you need to get before we leave?” He pauses, and thinks about Mobius for a moment “Can I say goodbye to Mobius? I know he doesn’t remember me I just ... need to say bye.” You look into his eyes and see that he’s being genuine “Are you sure you want to do this? If it helps you should know that he’s not technically ‘your Mobius’ he’s another variant”. He looks down at the table, thinking for a moment. “I promise I’m not trying to deter you, I’m just trying to be realistic with you. If you truly want to do this I’m sure he’s in his office down the hall.” He nods “I’ll be quick”. 

The two of you try to act as casual as possible as you walk down the hall, avoiding eye contact with anyone you pass. Being here over a thousand times you know exactly where Mobius is at this time of day. You stop a few feet from the open doorway and whisper “He doesn’t know you but I can’t say whether or not he’ll recognize me, so I’ll just wait here and keep watch”. Loki nods, stands up straight, and tries to brush is hands through his hair a bit. You shake your head at him, smiling. “Oh shut up” he whispers at you and hurries off. You see him materialize a stack of folders, and go into the office. 

*Knock, knock* Mobius looks up from his afternoon snack to see a tall, dark headed man in the doorway. “Oh hey there, what can I do for ya?” he asks happily. Loki quickly says “Sorry to bother you, I just got lost. I thought this was the way to the cafeteria” “Ha nope sorry, it’s down the hall, take a right, another right, then a left and you can’t miss the sign.” Mobius says smiling still. “Um thank you ... bye then” Loki stammers and walks back out. 

As Loki walks into the office, you start looking around for any other offices for a spare tempad. I’ll need one for Loki, and mine is almost dead anyway. You look across the hall into an open office. You poke your head in the office and see a box of tempads. JACKPOT. You take four for good measure but then you see the nameplate on the desk. Renslayer. Well fuck me I guess. You turn around and are eye to eye with the judge. She glares at you. You smile back “Hello Ramona”. “Who are you and why are you in my office?” she says still glaring. “Just picking up some extra tempads for my next mission” you says as you start backing out of the doorway. “Wait -” you hear her say and you close the door. You snap your fingers and lock the door. Ohshitohshitohsitohshit you think as you walk quickly down the hall back just as Loki is coming out of Mobius’s office. “I fucked up we need to go” you say grinning in panic. “I was gone for three minutes -” Loki says as you’re quickly putting in the coordinates of your safe house. The familiar orange portal opens and you pull him through before he can finish. 

You both land in a open field surrounded by tall trees and other various fauna. You look around huh I’m pretty close this time, I guess I am getting better at this. Loki sits up and says “Why did we fall and not just walk out like all the other portals I’ve been though?” You laugh “Um ... would you believe me if I said I didn’t think we’d fall out?” He starts to say something else but you interrupt by pointing over his shoulder at your cabin across the field. “Welcome to my home!” 

He turns to see a small cabin made out of dark wood, with bright purple shutters (“I like to be different” you explain), a large herb garden that has grown out of hand (”I’ve been busy, geez.”), and a porch with a porch swing overlooking the rest of the field. You hold out your hand to help him up and he takes it. As his hand grasps yours you feel a spark of the seidr well that’s new but don’t say anything.  As the two of you make your way to the cabin, Loki asks "Do you even having running water here?" You turn to look at him and wave your hands at him creating green sparks between your fingers. "Anything is possible with magic my darling".

You unlock your door and snap your fingers to light the fireplace and turn on a lamp. Loki looks around at the cozy room. Your patchwork couch of all colors and patterns sits before the small fireplace catches his eye, the far side of the room has a large painting of the field outside that you painted during the time you first found this place, the coffee table has an open book of poetry with a pressed flower from your garden in it, and he smiles at the large green bookshelf you'd made for your ever growing book collection. "As far as I'm concerned, my home is your home. The guest room is down the hall to the right and bathroom is the room across from it. I don't know if you have back problems like my Loki, but there's large bath in there that you're welcome to use." You wave your hand and a small jar of purple bath salts appear. "Here, put this in the bath water as the tub is filling up. It'll help the pain." He looks at you, unsure how to respond to the kindness "Um, thank you". "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me" you say as you walk away. Loki makes his way to the bathroom and notices your gallery wall of pictures and weapons you've collected. In the first picture he sees you with Tony and Bruce in the lab on your first day working with them, the next picture shows you and Bucky arm wrestling with the team gathered around cheering you on, the next picture shows you and Nat dressed up for one of Tony's many parties, "So y/n does know how to dress" he says to himself. He continues looking over the pictures. He sees one with you and Thor, both of you are smiling but the grief on your faces is clear that this was taken some time after Loki's death. "He did mourn you, you know. He loves you in his own way." he hears you say from the kitchen. "Can you stop doing that? It's like you know what I'm thinking" he says. He hears you laugh "Can't, I'm your wife."

The next set of pictures showed you holding Morgan at her second birthday as she hugs you tight, you with Clint as he shows you how to use a bow in the training area, and one big group picture of the whole team. You stand in the front with Clint, Nat, and Tony while the rest of the team stands behind the four of you, all smiles. The last picture he sees is one that someone had taken of Thor and the rest of the Asgardians in new Asgard, but in the far back he can see you on the hill next to marker.

That's all for part 4! This was going to be a bit longer but it's almost 1 here so I need to get to bed so I can be a functional adult tomorrow.

[imagineteller1]

Horror Night

Warnings: language, gore.

Pairings: Daryl x reader x Negan.

My heart felt heavy on my chest. I choked in every breath I took. I watched, what used to be Abraham, crushed in the floor. Everything was ringing. The tears blinding my vision.

Negan talked but I didn't pay attention, I couldn't. He was in front of Rosita, trying to get her to see the bloody bat of the man she loved. In a second, Daryl took a swing at Negan.

"Daryl! No!" I screamed and ran towards him, my hands extended in an attempt to grab him. Before I could reach him, some of Negan's men were already holding me down as well as Daryl.

"No!" Negan yelled pointing his bat at Daryl. "That- oh," he chuckled. "That is a no no. The whole thing, not one bit of that shit flies here." He now kneeled in front of me. His rough hand was pulling on my chin to look up at him. "Brave little thing here, eh?"

I pulled my face away from his grasp. He stood back up. A blonde man held Daryl's crossbow at his face.

"You want me to kill him? Right here?"

"No!" I screamed. Trashing my body in the men's grip, I kicked around.

"Hey! Hey, what part of staying quiet do you not get?" Negan turned to me with his bat.

"Please, please, don't kill him. I'm begging you." I sobbed and I felt like I couldn't breath. My breath was stuck in my throat. I felt like I was having a panic attack. When I started shaking more violently I knew I was. My limbs felt as if they weren't there. I felt heavy but at the same time lite.

I heard Negan say something and then Daryl was thrown back in line. He approached me and kneeled back down. I tried to push the men away but they just gripped tighter. "I c-an't brea-th." I stuttered.

"What did you say again, darlin'"

"I-I can't br-eath." He signalled his men and I was dropped. My palms were on the ground as I tried to calm down. My chest heaved violently as I gasped for air. I felt like I was drowning.

"Holy fucking shit, she is having an attack." He joked.

New tears reamed down my face and fell to the dirt. This could be it. I looked at Daryl. He was looking at me, I saw a tear flow down his cheek. He tried to walked towards me but he was pushed down.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my breathing. Deep breaths. I could feel the oxygen make its way to my lungs. I heard Daryl's voice telling me to calm down like he had done countless of time, but in difference, he wasn't holding me this time.

After what felt like hours I opened my eyes and felt like I could breathe again.

"Still with us, doll?" Negan asked jokingly. "Both of you are so impulsive, not surprised you two are fucking." He took my face in his hand forcefully.

I glared up at him and he chuckled. "Get her back in line." Like that I was thrown in my back and dragged to where I had been kneeling before.

"Anyway... that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people, first one's free. Then what did I say, I said I would shut that shit down." He had a maniac smile on his face. "No exceptions. Now I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with, but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important." Short silence. "I need you to know me. So, back to it."

In a second Negan's bat connected with Glenn's head. I blinked a few times. Not being able to believe this was really happening. We had just lost two of the strongest men of our group in a couple of minutes. I looked at Maggie and saw her sobbing.

I looked back at Glenn. You could see his skull and one of his eyes was bulging out of its socket.

My heart was beating out of my chest and I could hear every beat thumping.

"Buddy, you still there?" Negan asked mockingly. He muttered something and then exclaimed. "You are trying to speak! But you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so hard your eyeball just popped out. This is as gross as shit."

"Maggie I-I'll find yo-u." Glenn finally was able to mutter out.

"Oh, hell." Negan spoke. His voice was calm and serious. Like he actually felt sorry. "I can see this is hard, amiga. I am sorry. I truly am. But, I did say..." a smile now played in his lips. "No exceptions." He swinged at Glenn again. I jumped back in place.

No, no, no.

"You bunch of pussies... I'm just getting started. Lucille is thirsty." He kept hitting and hitting. There was nothing left to hit yet he kept swinging his bat. After he got tired he stepped away and joked. "She is a vampire bat."

The only sound was Negan's boot and our cries.

"What? Was the joke that bad?"

Rick looked up from his spot with a trembling yet determined look in his eyes. "I'm gonna kill you."

"What? I didn't quite catch that. You're gonna have to speak up." Negan mocked.

"Not today... not tomorrow... but I'm gonna kill you."

"Jesus," Negan scoffed. "Simon, what did he have? Knife?"

"He had a hatchet."

"Hatchet?" He smiled.

"An axe."

Negan laughed. "Simon, is my right hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without 'em. A whole pile of work. You have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing. Oh, or did I-" he made a clock sound with his tongue.

Rick remained silent. Negan sighed. "Sure, yeah. Give me his axe."

Who I believed was Simon, stepped up with axe in hand and gave it to Negan. He stood up and grabbed Rick by the shoulder. "We'll be right back, maybe Rick will be with me. If not, well we can just turn these people's inside out. I mean, the ones that are left."

With that he shut the trailer's door closed and drove away.

I looked at Daryl. He was shaking. His gunshot wound could get infected with all the trauma his body was going through right now. I went to stand up but was held in place.

"I'm not gonna do anything. You have all of our weapons, what could I do?" I tried to reason with the men.

"You stay on your knees, bitch. Unless you want to end up like your friends over there." He signalled to the bodies that laid on the floor. With a thud I sat back in the ground, pulling my legs to my chest.

--

Hours had passed and the sun had come up when the trailer came back. No one came out for a couple of minutes. The air was full of tension as we hoped to see Rick still alive. When the door finally opened, Rick was pushed to the ground and Negan came out, he dragged Rick back to us.

"Here we are. Let me ask you something, Rick. You even know what that little trip was about?"

Rick remained silence.

"Speak when you're spoken to."

"Okay... okay."

"That trip was about the way you looked at me. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand. But you're still looking at me the same damn way... like I shit in your scrambled eggs, and that's not gonna work." He paced around and then kneeled next to Rick. "So... do I give you another chance?"

"Yeah. Yes. Yes."

Patting Rick's shoulder he stood up. "Okay." He chuckled. "All right. And here it is- the grand prize game. What you do now will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone's last crap day or just another crap day. Get some guns to the back of their heads.”

Guns cocked from behind us.

"Good. Now... level with their noses, so if you have to fire..." he imitates an explosion. "It'll be a real mess."

Silence.

"Kid." He said looking at Carl. "Right here." He pointed to the ground beside Rick. Carl was frozen in place. "Kid... now." Carl took slow steps. Negan took of his belt. "You a southpaw?"

"Am I a what?"

"You a lefty?"

"No."

"Good." He smiled as he took Carl's arm and tied the belt around it, cutting the circulation. "That hurt?"

"No."

"Should. It's supposed to." He finished tying the belt. "All right. Get down on the ground, kid, next to daddy. Spread them wings." He took Carl's hat off.

Carl did as told. "Simon, you got a pen?"

"Yeah." He threw it at Negan. He took of the cap with his teeth and kneeled next to Carl.

"Sorry, kid. This is gonna be as cold as a warlock's ballsack, just like he was hanging his ballsack above you and dragging it across the forearm." We all watched in horror as Negan drew a line in Carl's arm. "There you go. Gives you a little leverage."

"Please. Please. Please don't. Please don't." Rick begged.

"Me?" Negan chuckled. "I ain't doing shit." He stood up. "Ah. Rick, I want you to take your axe... cut of your son's left arm off, right on that line. Now I know- I know. You're gonna have to process that for a second. That makes sense. Still, though, I'm gonna need you to do it, or all these people are gonna die. Then Carl dies, then the people back home die... and then you, eventually. I'm gonna keep you breathing for a few years, just so you can stew on it."

"You- you don't have to do this. We understand. We understand." Michonne spoke.

"You understand. Yeah. I'm not sure Rick does." He advertido his attention back to Rick. "I'm gonna need a clean cut right there on that line. Now, I know this is a screwed up thing to ask, but it's gonna have to be like a salami slice- nothing messy, clean, forty five degrees- give us something to fold over. We got a great doctor. The kid'll be fine. Probably. Rick this needs to happen now- chop, chop- or I will crush the little fella's skull myself."

"Please, we all understand. Rick understands. We all work for you, stop this. You don't need to prove a point because you already did." I tried. This was my family. I wasn't gonna stay quiet and not try anything. My arms pointed at the fallen bodies.

I felt a gun press against the back of my head.

"It can- it can- it can be me." Rick stuttered out. "It can be me. Y-you can do it to me. I c- I can go with- with you."

"No. This is the only way. Rick... pick up the axe." Rick didn't move. "Not making a decision is a big decision." Negan's voice raised. "You really want to see all these people die? You will. You will see every ugly thing." He still didn't move. "Oh, my god." He groaned. "Are you gonna make me count? Okay, Rick. You win. I am counting."

"Three!"

"Please." Rick cried out. "Please. It can be me. Please!"

"Two!" He kneeled next to Rick.

"Please, don't do-" Rick sobbed and I looked away.

"This is it."

Rick screamed. I shut my eyes closed. Tears running down my cheeks.

"One!"

"Dad... just do it. Just do it." I heard Carl whisper.

I looked back at the scene.

Rick held the axe high, preparing to cut his son's arm.

"Rick." Negan stopped him. "You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?" Rick nodded hastily. "Speak when you're spoken to!" Negan's voice beamed making everyone jump. "You answer to me. You provide for me."

"Provide for you." Rick answered shakily.

"You belong to me, right?!"

"Right." Rick breathed heavy.

"Right. That... is the look I wanted to see." He stood up and took the axe. "We did it... all of us, together... even the dead ones on the ground. Hell, they get the spirit award, for sure." He sighed. "Today was a productive damn day! Now, I hope, for all your sake... that you get it now... that you understand how this work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you... that is over now." He chuckled.

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "Ah, Dwight... load him up." He signalled to Daryl who struggled in, who I suppose was Dwight's, arms.

"What are you gonna do to him?" I asked. Trying to sound as strong as I could. Negan turned to me.

"How could I forget about you?" He took long yet calming strides towards me. "You, darlin', are coming with me too."

"Why?" I sounded more panicked than I wanted to.

"Because..." he smiled. "You've got a mouth on you and I really, really like it. Keeps me on my feet. I have a proposal for you..." he waited for my name.

"Lucia."

He smiled and licked his lips. "You hear that, Lucille? They sound similar... okay, Lucia. I have this proposal for you. You come with me, be one of my wives, and I, won't kill another one of your group, for your blabbing mouth. How does that sound, hm?"

Shock was written all over my face. "It's your choice, Lucia. Either you come with me or... I kill another one of your friends. So, what will it be?" He passed his finger along my jawline. I looked at the truck where Daryl was in.

Maybe, if I went with him I could find a way to help Daryl escape. I looked around the group. I wasn't gonna let anyone else die, much less because of my fault.

"Okay." I said. Turning off all my emotions.

"Great." He smiled. "You and I are gonna have a lot of fun together." He licked his lips while scanning my body. "Fan-fucking-tastic. Simon, put her in my truck. I still have some words to say to our new pal Rick."

As Simon grabbed my arm and led me to a truck I looked back and saw Rick watching me. I gave him a slight nod with my head, telling him I had a plan.

I wrote this a some time ago but hadn’t posted it here. Requests are open ❤️

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Thirty-Eight

Table of Content or Part Thirty-Seven

Read here on wattpad

A/N: Question — what song do you think of when you think of Nikki and Viv? I'm trying to see something

Word count: 3.3k

Warning(s): Explicit language, Sexual situations, Drug abuse

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My bare feet hook underneath his thighs the second I realize he's about to  finish and he gives a crooked smirk up at me, his breathing beginning to shallow.

Nikki holds my hips still, groaning out as his cum coats the inside of me, causing me to let out a hazey moan, my mind cloudy from our rather lengthy round.

Once he's finished, I'm getting off of him and falling beside him, catching my breath as we recover is silence fore several minutes.

"Are you on birth control or something?" He asks me out of nowhere and I tense up, looking at him.

"Why're you asking?"

"I've been thinking about it since Vince and Sharise had Skylar, for some reason. I mean, I haven't used a rubber since we started dating and most of the time I don't pull out, and we've only had one pregnancy scare in the past, what, like, four years?"

"You've managed to keep track of how long we've been together?" I ask him, pretending to be shocked and he gently hits my arm with the back of his hand, and I chuckle, rolling over to face him, my lips pressing to his bicep for a moment.

I think I'm in the clear, dodging his question, but I'm not.

"I'm being serious, Viv, are you on something or...?" He asks and I lick my lips.

"Maybe my antidepressant affects fertility, I don't know." I shrug, lying through my teeth. "Drugs can cause issues on your end, too, so maybe that's another reason."

"Oh." He replies.

I avoid looking at him, sitting up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed before reaching down to grab his shirt by my feet.

You know those lies, that start simple and small, and then snowball more and more over time and explode in flames from hell that melt the snow and turn it into scalding hot water that leaves third-degree burns on the person that's being lied to? Yeah, we both had lots of those, and that was one of mine.

I

take a shower and brush my teeth, excited for my plans tonight, and as I start putting makeup up on, Nikki's getting in the shower.

"Are you and Robin going out tonight?" I ask him.

"Uh, yeah. Sparkie's coming, too." He replies and I roll my eyes.

I know they'll go out to a club and hide in the bathroom, shooting up and snorting blow a  majority of the time, only leaving to get some drinks.

"My doctor was really curious as to why I needed a refill so soon being that he gave me a month supply a week before Sparkie traded it." I comment to remind him Sparkie's a piece of shit.

"Sparkie learned his lesson, baby." He tells me in a half-chuckle and I raise my brows at myself in the mirror and turn the sink on.

"Jesus fuck, Viv!" He screams, being bombarded with ice cold water for a moment.

"Awe, I'm sorry, maybe Sparkie can sympathize with you." I reply smartly.

He's getting out of the shower, covered in suds, glaring at me, and I take off running with him chasing close behind.

"Spoiled brat!" He calls at me, the both of us naked as jaybirds.

"Trader bastard!" I say back, right before he catches me, pulling me against his wet, soapy body, his hands not skipping a moment to start tickling me.

I squeal, the both of us falling to the floor, my feet and legs kicking out of instinct.

"Don't you do it." He threatens. "Remember what happened last time."

"Not my fault you're a pussy." I reply, immediately regretting it when he starts tickling me again, this time, getting on top of me to pin me down.

He doesn't let up until I'm laughing so hard I'm in tears, and he's tired of struggling with me.

We look at each other for a minute, before he grins and kisses me.

"I gotta finish getting ready." He tells me, getting off of me and helping me up.

"Yeah, I do, too."

I decided a nice trip to Malibu would be a great thing for GN'R. I mean, go to Tansy's house there, have her invite over some of her single girl friends to mingle with the guys, stay over night so they don't have to worry about whether or not they'd be able to crash at their stripper friends' apartment and sleep on the floor that night, have a nice breakfast together the next morning, and just give Axl and Izzy time to really get to know Tansy, because they haven't hung out with her very much, while Slash, Duff and Steven see her almost more than I do.

I glance around the living room of Tansy's Malibu beach house, seeing beach bunnies all around with perfectly tanned skin, bombshell hair and perfect smiles, then look at Steven and Slash, who seem to be having a pretty good time.

They both look like they're in heaven, girls on either side of them, obviously fans of their work on the Sunset Strip back in L.A.

Izzy took a girl up to the guest bedroom long ago, while Axl's just nursing a bottle of Jack, with a beautiful brunette chattering his ear off while he's pretending not to care about what Tansy's doing as she talks to one of her girl friends across the room.

I do a mental head count, and notice my 6'4 blonde is nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he found a girl or two of his own and followed in Izzy's footsteps, taking over a spare room?

I brush it off, deciding it's none of my business and step to the kitchen to grab a Pepsi out of the fridge. 

When I pass by the doors that lead to the balcony over looking the ocean, though, I see the outline of someone sitting in the lounge chair. 

Recognizing the slender frame, I grab my soda and head outside, Duff looking over his shoulder to see who I am, before smiling at me innocently, bottle of Vodka by his foot and pack of Marlboros on one knee as a sketch pad and pen are being supported by his other.

"Hi." I say as he scoots over to make room for me. "Mr. Social Butterfly." I add, sarcastically.

"Hey." He replies, moving his Vodka over so I won't knock it down with my foot.

"I figured you be eating that up." I motion to the door, referring to the gorgeous girls inside and he chuckles a little.

"I don't know, I haven't really been feeling chicks lately." He tells me and I furrow my brows a little.

"Well, I'm sure she has some boy friends, too, if you're feeling something different." I inform him, knowing what he meant, but he laughs and shakes his head.

"Not like that, Viv." He tells me and I pull my red hair behind my shoulders to get it out of my face, before taking a sip of my drink. "I've been, uh, working on something new, kinda. The lyrics have been going off left and right in my head, I just thought I'd better get somewhere quiet and write them down before I lose them." He explains, holding up his notepad.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I feel like I've intruded, or messed up his groove, about to leave him alone to finish but he puts his hand on my knee to stop me from standing up.

"No, no, it's fine." He insists, taking his hand off of me, not thinking anything of it, despite me feeling warmth radiate from where he touched me.

I ignore it.

"I've already gotten everything I had in mind, so far." He explains. "Just a verse and chorus."

"What's the name of it?" I ask, and he scratches the back of his neck.

"I don't know if I need to tell you. I'm superstitious about this stuff, Viv." He tells me, even though he's completely full of shit.

He just wants to aggravate me.

"It's just the title, Duff. You let me hear you say 'turn around, bitch, I gotta use for you' and this can't be worse than that." I point out and he chuckles, licking his lips before looking at me.

His hand covers the lyrics, exposing the title line of the page.

"Paradise City" is scribbled in his writing and I smile when he moves his hand and let's me read  the chorus, and verse that he's gotten so far, a giant smile pulling at my lips.

"Who the hell inspired this?" I ask him, raising my brows.

"Nobody particular." He shrugs. "You like it?"

"I already love it." I tell him.

Not to compare two completely different bands who earned their names all on their own, but there are a few song parallels between Guns N' Rose's Appetite for Destruction, and Mötley Crüe's Girls, Girls, Girls albums.

Guns' Welcome to the Jungle was like Mötley's Wild Side. Paradise City was like Girls, Girls, Girls. Mr. Brownstone was like Dancing on Glass. But my favorite parallel has to be Sweet Child O Mine and You're All I Need.

I remember Nikki had given me a tape of You're All I Need after we got into a massive argument because he thought I was spending too much time with Duff. But he had practically accused me of having feelings for Duff, and even acting on them (which was pretty hypocritical being that he'd been screwing Vanity since 1986 at that point.)

A few weeks later, Nikki convinced me to come down to the studio so he could personally give me a copy of a song he had written me, and me--being excited--decided I wanted the guys to hear it, too.

I went to the Franklin Plaza where Steven, Duff, Slash, Izzy and Axl were hanging out, discussing a meeting they'd had with their label.

When I told them Nikki wrote a love song about me (thinking it was his way of trying to patch up our marriage and say to the world "I love this woman") the guys had to hear it, not believing me.

The ballad started beautifully, tears coming to my eyes, but my warmed heart quickly began boiling in my chest by the time the second chorus ended.

"I don't think this is a love song." Izzy stated, while shaking his head a little.

"Yeah, uh...he's talking about killing you." Axl had told me, everyone seemed slightly disturbed.

"Your girlfriends get Sweet Child O Mine and what does the dedicated wife that has done nothing but love this sick bastard get?! A song dedicated to his deep desire to murder me!"

"Dude, hasn't he actually tried to kill you before?" Steven asked.

Which made the song even more ironic, along with the last line of the chorus, "and I loved you but you didn't love me" which in itself was slap in the fucking face.

I didn't hear the full song at that time because Duff had took it out of the player and stomped it under his cowboy boot.

That pretty much set the tone for the months to come.

"You're also incredibly biased." He replies in the same tone and I nudge him with my elbow.

"You don't know how many songs I have actually had to tear out of Nikki's hand and hide them from him because they were so bad I just could not allow them to be recorded." I tell him.

"Oh, please." He brushes me off.

"Have you heard 'Theater of Pain'?" I ask him with raised brows.

"Yeah."

"Home Sweet Home and Smokin' in the Boy's Room were the only really good ones. And Smokin' in the Boy's Room was a cover. The other songs were songs I didn't know were written, or I would have hid them from him, too." I state and he tries not to laugh, but fails, making himself snort, which kickstarts my laughter. 

Once we settle down, he clears his throat, and gets a kind of serious expression on his face.

"I really wish he wasn't on that shit, Viv." He tells me and I don't even have to ask who he's talking about. "I mean, I'm not judging him or whatever because Izzy and Slash are in on that stuff, too, but...I just hate to see he's on it, because it's kinda hard to manage it once you hit a certain point, ya know?" He asks and I nod a little. "I think he's a pretty cool guy...so it sucks to see him act like that."

"It's not that bad, right now." I tell him, completely in denial. "He's still Nikki, he just does stuff he's not suppose to. That's nothing new to me."

"I'm just a little worried, is all." He admits.

"There's no need to be." I reassure him. "He's got a handle on things."

Dear God did I eat those words a week later in Dallas, Texas.

It's like watching a fucking car accident. 

Except instead of a car, it's my husband, and instead of a car accident, it's him losing his ever loving mind, crouched on the hotel room desk, as he babbles on, making absolutely no sense as he shouts at his parents who aren't even present.

I just came back from the pool, got a shower, and came in to him doing this.

"Nikki!" I try to get him out of whatever drug-induced show he's on.

"I'm not me! I'm not Nikki! I'm someone else!" He insists, hands yanking at his hair, his eyes completely taken over by an entirely different beast. 

I panic, immediately calling Fred.

"The fuck is wrong?!" He asks when I open the door, hearing Nikki's screaming and carrying on and I try to keep the absolute fear that's locking up my system from showing.

"I-I don't know. I got in from the pool and he was kinda jittery but I thought he'd done some blow, but then he started screaming when I was in the shower and now he's--"

Fred gets tired of hearing Nikki's meaningless shrieks at people who aren't in the room with us, and snatches him off the desk.

Nikki hits the floor, and a switch is flipped, sending him into strong convulsions, opting thick, white foam to pour from his mouth.

"Fuck, Sixx!" Fred lets out, turning him on his side. "Get me a roll of toilet-paper." He barks at me and I do as I'm told, saying a very colorful, silent prayer in my head. 

He tries to get Nikki to bite down on it to keep him from biting his tongue, but Nikki can't do it. screaming instead.

When I think I can't take the confused, scared, out-of-character shrill, it's like God himself knocks Nikki out, leaving Fred and I in complete silence, riddled with what just happened.

Fred checks his pulse and sighs in relief, looking at me.

"Viv, are you alright?" He asks me, taking deep breaths.

"Y-yeah." I say, nodding, even though I know it's written all over my face that I can't be further from "alright."

"Vivian--"

"I just need a second." I tell him, standing up to go to the bathroom, disguising oncoming tears in a strong, steady voice that's physically uncomfortable to push past the lump in my throat.

I lock myself inside the bathroom and turn the water back on, gripping the counter before I find myself in the floor, quiet sobs rocking through me.

I just want my Nikki back...not this tainted demon nesting himself in Nikki's skin, festering his bullshit in Nikki's mind.

By the time I'm worn down from crying, and tired from lying on the bathroom floor, I pull myself up and open the bathroom door, stepping into the room.

I guess Fred put Nikki in the bed before he left, because Nikki's still passed out, just tucked in the covers. 

I get pajamas on, scared to even touch him because I don't want him to start seizing again.

Cautiously getting closer to him, nestling my forehead against his arm, I thank God for the feeling of his pulse under my finger tips in the crook of his arm, and find myself passing out with utter exhaustion.

The next morning, Nikki's really quiet.

I'm not sure if he remembers what happened last night, but I'm not asking him. 

After finding a needle and evidence of an 8-ball of coke, he can lick my twat if he thinks I'm talking to him anytime soon. 

The video shoot for Home Sweet Home is happening today, and a limo picks Nikki and I up at the hotel, driving us to the venue, neither of us acknowledging the other. 

Once we get there, someone's dressing Nikki like a damn toddler, because he's too fucked from last night to dress himself in his done up stage costume.

Nikki was so, so, so, obviously, utterly fucked up when they filmed the music video for Home Sweet Home. 

The entire time, he was chugging Jack to try to calm himself down from a high he later described felt like, "being on acid and speed at the same time" and with the way he was acting like he couldn't see a damn thing, I believe it. 

He kept sunglasses on a majority of the time so people couldn't see how his eye were practically doing cartwheels. 

"Viv, we're about to start, where's Nikki?" His bass tech asks me and I glance around, furrowing my brows a little.

"I haven't seen in him about an hour. He went over there by the stage...at least I think he did." I tell him, stepping over to the last place I saw him. "He was here and..." I trail off, hearing Nikki having a full blown conversation, his voice coming from underneath the stage.

The two of us sit and listen for a moment, realizing Nikki's just talking, taking long pauses, then answering a question that was never asked by anybody, not even himself.

"Who is he talking to?" His tech asks me under his breath so Nikki won't hear.

I roll my jaw, getting fed up.

"Probably the fucking demon he sees and befriends every time he gets high." I state, fully believing that at this point, there is indeed a demon following him around, breathing down his neck, stripping him of his control and cheering him on with each grain of coke, bottle of Jack, cc of heroin and prescription-grade pill.

"Nikki," His tech starts. "Who're you talking to?"

"I'm talking. Leave me alone." Nikki argues.

"Nikki." I state, looking at him. 

It's the first time he's heard my voice all day.

"There's nobody there, baby. C'mon." I motion my hand for him to get out from under the stage.

"Leave me alone!" He snaps at me, nearly hissing.

"Dude, calm down, you're freaking out." His tech tells him. 

"Nikki, get your ass out from under there or so help me God, I will come in and drag you out by your dick." I promise him. 

He puffs up like a pissed off rooster and stomps out, passing by us, grumbling under his breath.

Do you wanna know what was really fucked up about that time? Vince couldn't have a beer without someone losing their mind. He was supposed to be sober. Nikki would bust Vince's balls if he even saw him looking at a bottle...but then Nikki would load anything and everything into his body, simultaneously.

Vince quickly became the odd man out, and had been ever since that night with Razzle. There was this vibe, this tension, that Vince was only kept in the band at that time, because they were getting hotter and hotter, and each member was the ticket to reach their full potential as a band. Each member was important.

Without Tommy, there was no band. Without Mick, there was no band. Without Nikki, there was no band.

And without Vince, there was no band...that was the one that really didn't sit too well with Sikki.

[imagine-a-life-like-this]

Not Just His Friend (J.W)

Warnings: mentions of sex, alcohol, swearing

Word Count: 3,151

Notes: So I went MIA again, but I just didn’t have any desire to write for the past while. But tonight I just went at it. I was debating the whole time writing this if it should be happy or sad ending, but I felt like it just started writing itself.

When I woke up in his bed again, I knew this had to be the last time. I can't keep doing this to myself. Slowly, I slid out of his bed, got dressed, and left. I didn't bother leaving a note, knowing he really didn't care if I was there or not when he woke up. When I got back to my place, my roommate looked at me, her eyebrows raised. "Again?" She said. I sighed and collapsed on the couch beside her.

"It's so hard to say no to him. I love him, B." She started playing with my hair, telling me she knows, but he doesn't love me. "I know he doesn't. But maybe one day..."

"No maybe one day, Y/N. He doesn't love you, and he takes advantage of the love you have for him. You're done now." I nodded, smiling softly up at her. But deep down I knew if he called me again, I'd be there in a heartbeat. I just keep breaking my own heart, but I mean it's mine to do what I want with it, right?

That night, my roommate left for some party she tried to convince me to go to, but romcoms were calling my name that night. She kissed the top of my head like a loving mother, causing me to laugh and push her out the door. "Go have fun for both of us!"

"Oh girl you know I will." She stuck her tongue out at me, and I slammed the door in her face. So there I sat all alone, Dear John playing as I curled up under a blanket, ice cream in hand. When my phone rang, I quickly paused the movie, and looked at the caller ID. It was him. I told myself I couldn't pick up. Not this time. He's drunk and lonely, and he just wants to hook up and go on his merry way. I'm done breaking my own heart. But before I could unpause the movie, my doorbell rang. And there he stood.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, wrapping my arms around my body as the frigid air hit me.

"You didn't pick up." He whispered. I could smell the whiskey on his breath. "I need a friend." He stepped inside.

"I'll call David then." As I turned to grab my phone, he grabs my wrist, causing me to turn to face him. "Jeff." I was putting my foot down. But man it was so hard saying no while looking him in the eyes.

"I don't want David." I just stared at him. I knew what he meant. He wanted me, because he knew I would give in to his charms, just like I always do.

"Well who should I call then? Zane? Heath? Matt?" I continued to name people, and he just fell on my couch, throwing his hands on his face.

"No one! I just want to be here with you, okay." He sat up and looked up at me. "You weren't there when I woke up. And I missed you today." My heart began pounding. Words I've been waiting to hear from him I was finally hearing. But I knew he was just drunk, and was working his charms like he always does. "Can't you tell I love you, Y/N." He whispered, reaching out to caress my face.

"You're drunk, Jeff." I whispered. I wanted so badly for him to mean it, but I knew that he didn't. My phone interrupted whatever he was about to say next. Before I could reach it, Jeff answered.

"Hi sorry, Y/N can't come to the phone right now, I'm confessing my love to her." And then he hung up. I just stood there, shocked. I didn't know what to do at this point. How could I deny my love for him when it's so obvious. So instead, I smiled and I kissed him. We ended up in my room, having sex once again. He wrapped his arms around me, and kissed the top of my head. Maybe he meant it. Maybe this is the one day I've been waiting for. So I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

He was gone when I woke up. A note left on the pillow he slept on said Sorry about last night. I was really drunk. It won't happen again. See you at David's later! I went and goddamn broke my heart again. I left my room to get some breakfast, to see my roommate sitting on the couch, her arms crossed as she watched tv. "Tell me why the fuck Jeff answered your phone last night?" She didn't even look at me. She kept her head turned towards the tv.

"He came over drunk. I tried to call someone to come get him but he kept telling me he loved me." She stood from the couch, throwing her hands in the air.

"Don't tell me you believed him!"

"Well not at first. But when he answered the phone ..."

"For fuck sakes Y/N! Let me guess, he only told you he loved you after you tried to get rid of him. He told you he loved you because you weren't throwing yourself at him. And he knew how to get what he wanted."

"I know! Last time, I swear. You coming with me to David's?" She shook her head.

"I'm going out with the girls again." I nodded.

After eating and getting ready, I hopped in my car and drove my way to David's, wondering what I'm going to say to Jeff this time. I sat outside in my car for a few minutes, panicking myself into a frenzy. Maybe I should just turn around and see everyone another time. But when Carly knocked on my window, I knew it was too late. "Let's go!" She said, a smile on her face. I returned the smile, and followed her inside. Why am I doing this?

The party was in full swing, as it usually was at David's. I laughed at the antics that were already happening. "Oh look who showed up." Jeff said, throwing his arm around my shoulders. I smiled up at him, removing his arm. "What? Can't I show my friend some loving?" He joked, winking at me. I could tell the beer in his hand wasn't his first, nor his fourth.

"Of course it's fine." I said, smiling. "It's just warm in here." I lied. I would die for him to just have his arm around me, walk around with me as if we were together.

"Hey we should grab lunch tomorrow. We haven't had an us day in a while." He said, and before I could really think it through, I agreed. Jeff's been my best friend for years. We used to hang out all the time, get on each other's nerves. And then one day, we got drunk and hooked up. It was then, waking up to his face, that I realized the feelings I've always had for him. Soon after that, he realized that he could have me basically whenever he wanted. Since then, we haven't actually hung out as friends.

"I can't wait." I said. He winked at me before walking away. As long as I don't go home with him, or end up near him when he's drunk, I should be fine. I decided to distract myself, socializing with everyone, enjoying myself.

"What's up with you and Jeff?" David asked, as we sat outside, getting out of the noise for a minute. "You guys together yet?" He joked, playfully elbowing me. I rolled my eyes and pushed him.

"As if, David." He put his hands up in surrender.

"I'm just saying, the way you look at him..." I cut him off before he could finish.

"I don't have feelings for him, I'm just his friend."

"I get it." I laughed, remembering everyone asking when him and Natalie were gonna get together. "Hey! I'm handsome too! Natalie fans just don't understand." I laughed again, patting his chest.

"Yes David, you're very handsome." He smiled down at me. It's honestly been a while since I've been able to laugh so much. I kept breaking my own heart over and over again, I forgot how to feel loved.

"Hey, what's up out here?" Jeff asked, stumbling over to us. "Why are you alone with my girl?" I looked down at my feet. What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say? It's like he pushes me away just to pull me back in when I get too far. "Y/N, can you take me home. I'm drunk." I nodded, telling David I'll be right back. He nodded. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing special, Jeff."

"Really? Looked like it was with how close you two were." I got him in my car, trying my best not to start screaming at him.

"Why does that matter?" I asked as I slid in the drivers seat.

"Because you're mine." He said so nonchalantly. I didn't say anything. There wasn't any use in arguing with him when he was drunk. He kept pestering me, asking me to stay the night, telling me he loves me. But I'm not going to fall for it again. "Aren't you coming?" He asked as he got out of my car. I shook my head.

"I'm going back to David's."

"What the fuck does that guy have that I don't?! Is it money you want! I'll give you all I have." He took out his wallet and began throwing cash at me. That's when I took my seat belt off and got out. I stood in front of him, ready to bear my entire heart to the man who's only broken it over and over.

"I want money! I wanted you, Jeff. I wanted all of you, every part of you, the good and the bad. I wanted more than just sleeping with you whenever you're drunk. I wanted you to love me." He placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me right in the eyes.

"I love you." I shook my head, throwing his arms off of me.

"I'm done, Jeff. I'm not going to sleep with you tonight. Or ever again." I went to get back in my car, but he grabbed my wrist. Why must he always do this? There's no way he's this desperate for sex. I mean, girls throw themselves at him every single day.

"Then don't sleep with me. Just sleep beside me. Let me fucking love you." I shook my head, and got back into the car, ready to drive off, but I looked back at him. He stood there, staring into my car, tears in his eyes. I got back out.

"How drunk are you?" He shrugged.

"Probably pretty drunk." I nodded. "Let's just go, Y/N. You and me, just sleeping."

But it wasn't just sleeping. And I woke up naked in his bed again, his arm wrapped around me. How could I let myself fall for it again? I sighed, and got up, got dressed and left. Should I just accept this as my life? When I got into my car, I screamed and hit the steering wheel over and over. He's so good at what he does. He knows exactly what to say to me, every single time.

I drove back to my house, ready to hear more shit about how stupid I am from my roommate. But she said nothing. She just looked at me, sadness in her eyes. "I get it now." She finally whispered.

"Get what?" I asked, sitting beside her.

"The girls and I were driving back home last night, and we saw you and Jeff. He's very convincing, even I believed he loved you."

"He doesn't." I whispered. She nodded, taking my hand in hers. "He knows exactly what to say to get me to sleep with him though." She nodded again. "I can't be alone with him anymore. I'll just fall for it again."

A few days passed, and I hadn't heard from Jeff. But instead of moping around and waiting for him to be drunk enough to love me again, I distracted myself. I went on trips and adventures with David. It finally felt like I was living my life the way I wanted to.

Weeks after the last party, David threw another one, inviting everyone over for a night of insane antics. I was joking around with David and Zane when I felt arms wrap around me and pick me up. "Well hello beautiful." I smiled and gave him a hug.

"How've you been?"

"Good good. I'm gonna get a drink, you want one?" I shook my head, and went back to my conversation. David looked at me with raised eyebrows, silently asking me about what just happened, but I just rolled my eyes.

"Shut up." I laughed, playfully hitting him.

"Hey! I didn't say anything."

"Your look said everything!" "Oh so you like looking at me huh?" He reached out for me, but I ran from him. "Come on! Look up close. See if I'm even more handsome." I quickly turned around.

"Naw I'm good thanks!" And dodged him right before he could grab me. We were running around and laughing, and everyone was just watching us, wondering what was going on. A few of the guys filmed it obviously, getting a side of David not a lot of people see. But it's my favourite. Soon he caught up to me and wrapped his arms around me, picked me up and spun me around.

"Look at me! You know you want to!" He set me down, and I turned around to look at him.

"Wow." I whispered, leaning closer to him. "You're uglier up close." I joked, before trying to run away again. But his reflexes were really fast, and he immediately picked me up and began walking towards the pool. "No David! I was kidding! You're super handsome! The most handsome!"

"Too late." And he threw me in the pool. When I emerged, I was laughing and ran to give him a hug. "Ugh you're all wet."

"You love me!" I laughed, hugging him even tighter. When I let go and looked passed him, I could see Jeff just sipping his drink, watching closely. He was the only one not laughing at the events that just happened. "What's up?" I quietly asked when I walked up to him.

"You two are cute." I looked back to David, who was pulling some more of his antics, and giggled.

"We aren't together, Jeff." He took another sip.

"I know. You don't have to explain it to me. It's not like we're a couple or anything." I don't know why those words stung more than they should have. I know we aren't a couple, nor will we ever be. But I still love him.

"Yeah I know. I'm gonna head out, I'll see you around."

"We never grabbed lunch. We should do that." I nodded, telling him to text me tomorrow and we'll meet up at our regular place. "Do you want to come over tonight? We could just leave together for lunch tomorrow."

"I really should go home."

"Okay, let's go." He set his cup down and began following me. I shook my head, telling him he should stay, party some more. "I'm done. Kinda tired." So I let him follow me, and I drove towards his place. "I thought you were going home."

"I am. I'm dropping you off. You said you were tired." He threw his head back and sighed.

"Can I just sleep at yours tonight?" I shook my head. I really had to stand my ground this time. No matter what he says, I wasn't going to fall for it. "Come on, Y/N! We can watch stupid movies and make fun of them like old times."

"It's different now, Jeff. You know that." "Why? Because we've hooked up a few times? So what. You're still my best friend." I parked outside of his apartment building.

"I'll see you for lunch tomorrow." He didn't leave. "Goodnight, Jeff." He still didn't leave. "Get out, Jeff." He shook his head.

"What's wrong? Things are so different and it can't just be because we've hooked up."

"I told you last time. I wanted more. But you don't. So no, I'm not sleeping at your place, and no you're not coming over. We can't hook up anymore. I'm done. So I'll see you tomorrow for lunch, and we'll go back to how we used to be."

"What do you mean you want more, Y/N! Tell me what you want."

"I want to wake up next to you, and not feel the need to leave right away. I want to go on cute little dates with you, and cuddle while watching movies. I want to fall asleep next to you, just because we were so tired we couldn't stay up anymore, not because we slept together. For fuck sakes, Jeff, I told you last time. I just want you to love me."

"And I told you I loved you! And then you left in the morning. You won't let me love you."

"Because the love you have for me and the love I have for you are very different." He shook his head.

"No it's not. Y/N, I love you. You're my best friend, and you make me feel like I'm on top of the world. You always take my breath away because you're so damn beautiful. And yeah maybe when we first started hooking up, I didn't love you. But goddamn, don't you know it's impossible to know you so intimately and not love you?"

"You're drunk." I whispered, not making eye contact with him.

"Not this time." I looked up at him, and he was already looking at me. "So for fuck sakes can you just let me love you?" I got out of the car, and began walking to his apartment. I turned to see him slowly getting out of the car.

"Well, aren't you coming? Dumb movies await us." He smiled, and wrapped his arm around me.

When I woke up in his bed the next morning, he was already awake, playing with my hair. I smiled at him, knowing that this time I don't have to leave. We both got up, and got dressed, and went out for lunch, like we said we would. He held my hand as I drove. He held my hand as we walked to the restaurant. He held my hand across the table. It's like he didn't want to let go, just in case I ran away again. But I'm staying this time. And next time. And the next. Because I'm not just his friend anymore.

[gretavanfleetlife]

Only Time Will Tell:

Chapter 6

AN: Sooo as you’ll see I’ve had a pretty bad week and I think it shows in this chapter... ITS OK THO cuz I love how this part turned out! Read it and weep🤧

Warnings: swearing

Word count: 2,500 words

You hazily blink awake and find yourself lying peacefully wrapped in Sam's arms. Your head lies on his bare chest, slowly rising and falling with his steady breathing. You glance at the clock glaring brightly through the dark room. 6:04 a.m. shines back at you and you breathe a heavy sigh. You lift your head to look up at Sam. He looks incredibly peaceful as he sleeps, not to mention incredibly handsome. You don't want to disturb him but you know you can't just leave without saying anything. You lean up and place a gentle kiss on Sam's jaw, making him stir and smile in his sleep.

"I should go," you whisper. Sam's eyebrows furrow but he doesn't open his eyes, seemingly still in a dreamy state.

"No beautiful, stay with me. I've waited so long," he murmurs as he hugs you closer to him. You blush and decide to stay for another hour at most. You want to be able to go home without Josh seeing you walking through his house so early in the morning, he'll definitely ask questions. You know that if he saw you, you wouldn't be able to lie to him. You close your eyes again and quickly fall back asleep.

When you wake up again, you notice the sun shining gently through the window. You look at the clock and read 9:28 a.m. shining back at you.

"Shit. Sam wake up," you gently rub Sam's chest. he grasps at your hand gently.

"Hm?" he asks groggily, his eyes still closed.

"I have to go."

"What, why?" his eyes blink open as you sit up, reluctantly leaving his warm embrace.

"I just should really get going," you whisper, you didn't want to tell him about the promise that you made to his older brother.

"But why though? It's summer, remember? Just stay a little longer," he tries to convince you, rubbing his eyes.

"No Sam I can't, I-" you're cut off by a loud knocking at the bedroom door.

"Sam, are you awake?" Josh calls through the door. You're startled as you sit still with fear.

"Yeah, why?" Sam replies.

"Can I come in?" Josh asks. Sam looks at you and you violently shake your head no.

"N-no" he stumbles. You hear Josh laugh behind the door.

"That was a rhetorical question," he chuckles.

"I'm not decent, Josh," Sam says.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," Josh states before opening the door and walking in. Josh's eyes widen in surprise, looking at you sitting up in Sam's bed while he lies, shirtless, beside you. The look of shock on his face quickly turns to a look of hurt sadness. He swallows hard.

"Breakfast is ready," he says in a low voice, glancing at you briefly before returning to the hall, closing Sam's door behind him. You put your head in your hands and shake your head, muttering profanities as you slide out of bed. You realize that you're still wearing a tank top and short shorts from the night before. You dismiss the thought, too worried about Josh seeing you to care about your appearance.

"Come on," you sigh to Sam, giving him a nervous glance as he joins you and you head down to the kitchen.

You and Sam take a seat at the kitchen counter beside Josh and begin to silently eat the pancakes he made you.

"Where's Jake?" Sam asks Josh, breaking the uneasy silence.

"He went out to get some backup guitar strings," he replies, not bothering to look up from his food.

"Oh yeah! Did Josh tell you we were going on tour?" Sam asks you excitedly. You notice Josh look up at you from the corner of your eye.

"Yeah, congratulations! I'm so proud of you all," you reply with a forced smile.

"Yeah we're all really excited," Sam says, "it's too bad we'll have to leave all summer though." You can feel Josh's eyes on you as you try hard to focus on your pancakes.

"Yeah, I'll miss you guys," you reply honestly.

"Hey, why don't you come with us?" Sam asks happily, looking from you to Josh. You glance up at Sam as a smile tugs at your lips. You open your mouth to reply but you're quickly cut off.

"No. She's not coming," Josh states, taking a bite of his pancake. Your heart drops and Sam's smile fades.

"Why not?" Sam glares at Josh and he meets his brother's gaze.

"She's not a part of this Sam," Josh says.

"Is this because you saw us in my bed together?" Sam accuses, while you look at him anxiously, "because it isn't what you think it is." Josh drops his fork and it clatters loudly against his plate.

"Oh no, I'm sure it isn't. Obviously, there isn't anything going on between the two of you. That would be insane, right?" Josh replies calmly, staring only at you while he spoke. You quickly nod.

"Of course Josh, don't be ridiculous," you say quickly before Sam could respond. Sam turns his attention to you, his eyebrows furrowed as he waits eagerly for you to continue. "There's nothing going on between us, I just needed a place to sleep for the night," you attempt to lie, although Josh clearly isn't convinced.

"Mhm," Josh slurs, picking up his fork and returning his attention to finishing his breakfast. You glance briefly at Sam and notice him looking at you, his lips parted slightly and his eyes sad. You try hard to ignore him as you focus on eating your pancakes. Nobody spoke. You finish eating and stand up with your empty plate, Josh rising from his seat as well.

"Sam, do the dishes," Josh says quietly, "I want to talk to y/n for a minute." Your stomach drops and your heart begins to race.

"Fine," Sam grumbles, taking your plate from you.

Josh leads you upstairs to his room, remaining silent the whole way. He closes his bedroom door behind you and turns to you, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looks at you for a moment, seemingly contemplating what to say.

"Why are you here," he asks you quietly. You can't possibly tell him the truth, even though you know he'll be able to tell if you lie.

"Listen Josh, it's really not what you think it is. I just needed a place to sleep, nothing happened between Sam and me, I only slept in his bed," you ramble. His eyes never leave yours as he shakes his head slightly, narrowing his eyes.

"Why aren't you telling me the truth, y/n?" Josh asks softly.

"You know I wouldn't lie to you."

"I used to believe that but now I'm not so sure."

"Josh please believe me," you plead. He scoffs and a sudden wave of pain washes over his face, clearly evident in his eyes. If he was holding in his emotions before he clearly isn't anymore. Your heart breaks at the way he looks at you.

"Believe you? I know you y/n. You're lying straight to my face."

"Josh-" before you can continue Josh cuts you off, his voice low.

"what happened last night," he asks again, and you notice his eyes begin to tear up. All you want is to tell him the truth, you're heartbroken that you can't.

"Nothing happened between me and Sam," you say quietly as Josh's eyes narrow and he shakes his head at you. You look at your feet. You know you haven't convinced him but it's too late to go back. "I just got here last night and I saw a light on in his room, so I went in and asked to stay overnight, that's all."

You look back up at him and what you see makes you wish you hadn't looked up at all. A tear rolls down Josh's cheek, followed quickly by another. His watery eyes are still fixed on yours, and your heart aches.

"I thought our friendship was stronger than this," he says evenly in a deep voice. You feel your eyes water as you reach your hand up to wipe away his tears. He turns his face away from you and looks to the wall, not letting you touch him. You drop your hand and a tear escapes your eye.

"I thought you'd never lie to me," his voice wavers slightly, "I thought we were best friends."

"We are Josh, I'll always be your best friend," you say. He looks back at you with sad eyes.

"No," his voice cracks and you choke back a sob, "you can't be if you're going to make me a promise, break it, and then lie to me about it." Tears stream freely down your face now. You had never made Josh cry before now, and you've never felt worse about yourself.

"I'm so sorry," you breathe, shaking your head.

"After all of this, you're still not going to tell me what really happened?" he wonders aloud. You look quietly back at your feet and wipe away the tears that stung your cheeks. You nervously glance back up at him and watch him wipe his own tears away while he turns towards the door. He grabs the handle but you can't let him leave like this, even if it'll only put you in a worse position.

"Josh wait," you force out. His hand stays around the doorknob but he stays perfectly still, facing the door. "I-I kissed him."

He looks over his shoulder at you and you notice his face soaked with many more tears than you saw him shed moments before. He stares you right in the eyes and bites his lip in an attempt to stop himself from crying. It doesn't work, tears continuing to stain his cheeks. He swings the door open and walks out without another word. You reach out your arm in his direction but he closes it behind him. Stunned, you sink to the floor and sit with your face buried in your hands. Hurting Josh was the last thing you wanted. You hated knowing that he was crying right now because of you. You hear him walking downstairs as Sam calls out to him.

"Josh what happened?" you hear Sam ask, muffled by the door. There's no reply. Instead, you hear the front door open and slam shut as you cry into your arms. You hear footsteps ascending the stairs so you stand up and wipe away your tears, not doing a very good job as your face is still soaked. You hear a knock at the bedroom door, so you stumble over and open it, meeting Sam's eyes with your own. You can't even look at him without thinking about what you did to Josh.

"Y/n are you ok? What's wrong?" he asks, clearly extremely worried. It's not often that Josh cries. Sam takes a step towards you but you brush past him and rush downstairs.

"N-not now Sam," you say before running to the front door and throwing it open, not bothering to close it as you run outside. You jog down the driveway and see Josh sitting in his car. His arms are crossed on top of the steering wheel and his head is leaning heavily on his arms. Your heart drops in your chest, you've truly never felt lower. He doesn't see you so you continue to run down the driveway and onto the road. You hear Sam call after you but you don't stop.

You sprint until you reach your house, tears streaming down your face. You throw your door open and hurry inside. You call out to your dad but don't hear a reply, confirming your suspicion that he's gone out. You run up the stairs to your room and sit down on your bed, defeated. You gasp for breath between heavy sobs, burying your face in your hands. You can't believe that you broke your promise to Josh. For the first time, you feel like your friendship is broken. Watching Josh cry and knowing it was entirely your fault shattered your heart. Lying to his face over and over made you wish nothing had ever happened between you and Sam. You regretted sneaking out and waking him up last night. You regretted taking him to the creek and kissing him, and above all else, you regretted sleeping in his bed with him afterward.

All you wanted now was for Josh to forgive you, but you had seriously broken his trust. Your heart aches. You feel a hand touch your back gently and feel the space on the bed beside you sink. You remove your head from your hands and glance up to see Sam sitting beside you. Concern spreads in his eyes when he sees your face, although you don't need a mirror to know that you feel much worse than you look. He reaches out and pulls you into a warm hug. Without thinking, you bury your face into his chest as he rubs small circles into your back with his hands. Your tears soak into his shirt.

"Shhh," he whispers comfortingly, in an attempt to calm you down. It doesn't work. All that you can think about is knowing that Josh is crying just as hard as you are right now, with no one to comfort him. He deserves somebody to be there for him right now like Sam is here for you. But the difference is, you don't deserve Sam. You're the one who should be alone. You pull away from Sam and stand up, walking away from him as you cover your mouth with your hand to hold back a sob.

"Sam, I-I can't do this," you say shakily. You hear him stand up from the bed behind you.

"Can't do what?" he asks, his voice seeming to be afraid to hear how you might answer. You turn around to face him, hugging your arms to your stomach.

"I can't be with you right now," you say quietly as you watch his face fall, "we can't be together," you continue. Sam looks at his feet but remains silent.

"I mean, we're only friends, right? It's ok," you say, trying harder to convince yourself than Sam. He shakes his head and looks back up at you with sad eyes.

"We're not just friends and you know it," his voice deep. You shake your head, knowing that he's right but not wanting to admit it to yourself. You have to get through this, for Josh's sake.

"We have to be."

"No we don't!" his voice cracks, full of sadness. It reminds you of when you were talking to Josh. Sam takes a step towards you and you look at your feet. He takes your hands into his.

"Y/n please don't break my heart," he breathes shakily, "I don't know what I'd do." You close your eyes and let another tear fall as you let go of his hands, looking up to meet Sam's eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Taglist: @aliensforleaders @kiszkaboi @greta-gvf @rogers-wristbands @strawberry-fieldsssss @gretavanqueen @goodoldfashionedqueen @spngvf @mutantpanda54 @allons-ytomyworld @diggrycedric @sammysgirll @rogerinascigarette @thaliamessi @pazmonkey @yesmynameisbelle @a-queen-and-her-throne @grapesarepurple @cherrrywitch @edgeofdrkness @livcappolella @ohsososophisticatedd @lunautica13 @oddolive @daydreamqueenjaycee @jenjenhill @neonslushies @fruityfreddie @izmo16 @gwilsbri @safarimama @thicchardy 💗

[littlespoonevan]

yoooo i loved your little drabble about isak and even meeting in isak's first year at the bakka party! would you considering writing the same situation but from even's perspective? obviously you dont have to if you dont want to but i think it'd be cute to read how even spots isak from the minute he walks through the door and can't take his eyes off of him the whole time! maybe he even preemptively slips his # into isak's jacket pocket before meeting him on the bench bc he knows isak is special

anon said:oh noooo that little bakka party drabble is so cute! i’d love to read some follow-ups to this if you ever feel like writing more! kisses <3

anon said:omg please do a part 2 to even and isak meeting at the bakka party!!! it was so good i’m ENTHRALLED!!!!

anon said:Yesssss pleaseeee write part two!!!!

okay!!! so this is a continuation of the bakka party fic as well as even’s pov!!!! i hope you enjoy it, angels:’)

Part 1

*

Even goes to every single party he hears about in thenext two weeks, just hoping for a glimpse of Isak again. He’s still cursinghimself for not asking for his number. He’d plannedto but he’d lost his nerve a little when Isak’s friend had shown up.

He’d noticed him the second he walked in the door,expression piqued with curiosity and something that had almost looked likerelief. Even would have felt guiltier about staring at him but with him andSonja taking a break after one too many fights and the way Mikael’s smile hasbeen muddling his head recently, nothing fucking makes sense.

Isak though. Isak had made sense that night.

He’d watched him lean against the wall and lazilyglance around the room. When his friend had disappeared in the direction of thekitchen with a girl he’d seen the way Isak’s calm demeanour slowly grew morepanicked, looking around the dancefloor with an agitated expression on his facethat contrasted starkly with the easy confidence he’d been wearing earlier.Even had watched him escape outside and waited a healthy amount of time before following him.

And he’d just. He’d had the best night of his life –sitting on a porch swing smoking with a stranger who didn’t feel like astranger.

But he has yet to see Isak again since that firstnight. He doesn’t have his last name so he can’t look for him on Facebook. He’dconsidered asking Elias’ little sister, Sana, since she was a first year inNissen too but he thinks it’d probably raise too many questions he’s not surehow to answer yet. So instead, he goes to parties and hopes against hope thatIsak will show up again.

He’s honestly close to giving up, moping in thecorner at the party of some guy in his English class, when he sees him.

Isak steps through the door with two other boys intow: Jonas, from last time, and a blond boy. He hasn’t spotted Even yet – why would he? Even thinks, he’s probably forgotten about you – and hedisappears down the hallway after only a moment.

Even exercises excellent self-control and stays inhis seat, listening to Adam and Elias bicker about something and trying desperatelynot to watch the entryway of the living room for when Isak comes back. He does return a few minutes later, withouthis jacket and with a can in his hand.

Even completely checks out of the conversation aroundhim then in favour of watching him. He doesn’t know how long it takes but atsome point, Isak must feel him staring because he looks over in Even’sdirection and freezes when their eyes lock.

Even offers a smile and a tiny wave and he’s too faraway to tell but judging by the bashful smile on Isak’s face when he ducks hishead he’s probably blushing.

“Who are you waving at?” Yousef asks, making Evenjump and hastily look away from Isak to meet his friends’ curious gazes.

“Just some guy I met at Rakel’s party a couple ofweeks ago,” Even says casually. He resigns himself to not being able to talk toIsak just yet after that and allows the boys to suck him back into their conversation.He still tosses fleeting glances in Isak’s direction whenever he gets thechance and feels a thrill shock through him every time he catches Isak lookback.

It takes a while but eventually he notices Isak’sfriends peel off, presumably in search of a hook up, and when Even next meetsIsak’s gaze a look passes between them before Isak slips through the crowd inthe direction of the back garden. Even manages to last about sixty seconds withhis heart in his throat before he pushes himself up and announces that he’sgoing to get some fresh air.

“Want me to come with you, bro?” Mikael asksautomatically and Even thinks if it was a few weeks ago he probably would’vejumped at the chance.

Instead, he shakes his head. “Nah, it’s cool. It’sjust a bit stuffy in here, I won’t be long.”

With that, he pretty much hightails it out of theliving room and weaves his way through the crowds to reach the garden. It’sbusier out here than it was at the last party and he doesn’t immediately spotIsak until he notices someone sitting on the grass further down the garden, bundledup in a jacket with little tufts of blond hair visible in the dim light.

Even doesn’t run to him but it’s a near thing. This gardenis a little different from the last, wide and sprawling while also slopingdownwards towards a treeline. Isak is sitting about halfway down the hill,leaning back into the slope with his legs bent at the knee and his head turnedtowards the sky. He’s mesmerising.

Even sits down beside him, butterflies erupting inhis stomach when Isak casts a shy glance in his direction.

“Can I have your phone?” Even asks before he can losehis nerve.

Isak raises his eyebrow but his hand still goes tohis pocket. “This is an even weirder conversation starter than you declaring ussome reincarnation of Romeo and Juliet just so you know.”

“I didn’t get to give you my number last time,” hesays, plucking Isak’s phone out of his slack hands. “And I had to go to a lotof shit parties just to see if you would show up because of it. I’d rather thatdoesn’t happen again.”

Isak is staring at him, expression caught somewherebetween excited and disbelieving as Even folds his phone back into his hands.

“I wanted to go,” Isak says when he finally seems tohave found his voice again. “But I didn’t really know how to explain why Isuddenly wanted to spend all my time at Bakka parties instead of ones thrown bypeople at Nissen.”

Even nods, hoping he looks more confident than hefeels. He may feel like he might burst on the inside but on the outside heaffects a teasing smile. “Just tell your friends you met a devastatinglyhandsome boy who shared his weed with you. They’ll understand.”

Isak raises an eyebrow again before huffing out alaugh and shaking his head. “I’m not sure that they would, actually.”

Even feels himself frown slightly at that, shiftingto mimic Isak’s position so he can more easily bump their shoulders together. “No?”

Isak turns his head to the side to meet his gaze fora moment before he looks away, shrugging self-consciously. “I don’t know. I- Ihaven’t really-“

“It’s okay,” Even says softly when watching Isaksquirm makes his chest clench.

They share a look for a moment and Even feels himselfrelax once again when Isak’s lips lift in a tiny grateful smile. Then Isak’sgaze drifts to the sky again and he sighs. “Life would be so much fuckingeasier if I was a star,” he says petulantly. “They don’t have to deal withemotions or insomnia or anything like that.”

“Uh, I believe Stardustbegs to differ,” Even teases. It’s an attempt to make the crinkle between Isak’seyebrows disappear and it works. Isak rolls his eyes, mouth curving up in whatappears to be an involuntary smile.

“That’s a movie,” Isak mumbles then and Even knowsthat but considering the way he’s glowing from the inside out just sitting besideIsak right now, he thinks that movie might’ve been onto something.

“So you don’twant me to disappear through the trees to collect you a star?” he checks,letting out a delighted laugh when Isak elbows him.

“No, I want you to stay here,” Isak murmurs and whenEven turns his head he finds them only centimetres apart.

“I can do that,” Even whispers, feeling his throatbob as he hooks his pinky finger around Isak’s where their hands are layingside by side in the grass.

Isak lets out a tiny gasp at the contact but after amoment seems to steel himself and tangles their fingers together properly.

Even is content to sit like that for a while, staringup at the sky and revelling at the way his fingers are sparking where they’retouching Isak’s. He hardly remembers there’s still a party raging on behindhim, the music almost like a distant soundtrack to the moment than anythingelse.

They’re quiet until Even hears Isak stutter out abreath and then he’s hesitantly asking, “Even?”

“Mm?”

“Have you ever kissed a boy?”

Even turns to look at him and isn’t all thatsurprised to find Isak already looking back at him. “No,” he says quietly. “Haveyou?”

Isak merely shakes his head in response. Evenconsiders him for a moment, takes in the way Isak’s expression seems to begginghim to lean in in one breath and praying he’ll leave in the other. He doesn’t knowwhat Isak really wants but he can take a guess.

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he reachesup with his free hand to cup Isak’s cheek and, in one smooth movement, hecaptures his lips in a chaste kiss. It’s a barely there brush of lips but itmakes him feel more than he ever thought possible. It lights him up.

When he pulls back a moment later he feels hisheartrate pick up at the way Isak’s eyelids flutter open, mouth still partedslightly and looking so, so inviting.

“Now you have,” Even whispers.

It takes a minute for the words to register with Isakbut Even can tell the moment they do because a shy smile spreads across hisface and his cheek grows hot under Even’s palm.

“So have you,” Isak whispers back, hand hesitantlyreaching up to touch Even’s lip like he can’t really believe it.

“Still wish you were a star?” Even asks after amoment, voice soft and low.

Isak shakes his head, fingers absently tighteningaround Even’s where their hands are still held together. “Stars don’t kissboys.”

Even grins, nudging his nose against Isak’s andleaning in to kiss a boy with galaxies in his eyes.

*

[punkscowardschampions]

Rio & Nancy

Rio: You know Rio: If you like, I could sleep with Mr. Tomlinson Rio: Take the heat and shine off you all in one, just ask Nancy: It's a kind offer Nancy: But it's not gonna fix any of the important stuff Nancy: And it's not like you deserve any of what would come from that unholy union Rio: Okay, you could give me names of the worst offenders and I'll sort them out Rio: not in similar fashion to teach, of course Rio: How are you really though, babe? Stupid question but gotta come Nancy: You can't take on half the school, Rio Nancy: If it was that easy I'd still be in London Nancy: Maybe it's a stupid question but I've only got an obvious answer so Rio: Sure I can Rio: Ain't my first rodeo Rio: Is there anything of actual use I can do to make everything not totally shit or? Nancy: Don't be nice to me Nancy: I can't handle it Nancy: And I just re-applied my make-up Rio: You ain't wronged me Rio: along with half the School, like but they LOVE taking shit personal when 10 minutes ago it was Quinn who? Rio: And we've all put our waterproof to the test before Nancy: If it was just her I wouldn't be thinking about leaving Nancy: Tristan literally has half the school on his side and it's not like I can blame him Rio: It's just insecurity Rio: 'cos you're not a total sadcase like the kids she usually works with, can't pick on them for loving on his Ma or swinging at her whatever Rio: he's just taking out his blatant issues about it 'cos he ain't had the chance before Nancy: Am I not? What would you call me? Nancy: Yeah, bit like how I was with his dad Nancy: At least he's got real issues, I've got...imaginary emotions? Or something Rio: Hmm Rio: I might throw hopeless romantic at you if I'm feeling really savage Rio: Nah, they ain't imaginary Rio: How much easier if they were Nancy: Hopeless is right Nancy: But I doubt either Sian or Quinn would call me romantic Nancy: Well, they weren't real. None of it was Rio: Not the fantasy in your head but the feelings were Rio: you can try and discredit them if it helps but in my experience, usually a pointless exercise Rio: but painful enough to feel somewhat fitting of a punishment, right? a start, at the very least Nancy: Ouch. Calling it a fantasy sounds....yeah let's not Nancy: I know you've got a point, that I should have let you make earlier Nancy: God, how did I let myself end up here Nancy: What the hell Rio: Sorry, as if the world wasn't ready to burst your bubble, like Rio: Shit happens Rio: You can't control it Rio: Arguably could've controlled it enough to not get to that point but I ain't got room or desire to judge too harshly Nancy: It's fine, I've heard worse from the world Nancy: I can though. I had been Nancy: Or so I thought Rio: 'Til you didn't Rio: exactly Rio: It's done now, the rumour mill will do it's thing, then you'll be free to deal with the actual mess in your head Nancy: It's his fault Nancy: The prick Nancy: I wouldn't have lost control if he didn't first Rio: Yeah Rio: She sounds devious Rio: Why her, like Nancy: He hates me and so does she Nancy: Match made, like Rio: He doesn't hate you, babe Rio: He's just an idiot Nancy: Okay, he hasn't forgiven me then Nancy: Point is, he's mad at me Rio: At least you've got reason to be mad at him now too, yeah? Rio: Fair fight Nancy: Like I need a reason, he didn't have one Rio: Yeah, not how he sees it though Rio: maybe you can get it all out there now Nancy: He sees things to suit him Nancy: Always has Nancy: Everything about her was right there for him to see before I left and after Rio: Yeah, it's fucked up Nancy: I shouldn't have to spell it out to him, he was right there Rio: I know Rio: I don't think it's like that Rio: like it's still shitty Rio: but it's not like, love Rio: he ain't like that, if nothing else, thank fuck, yeah Nancy: It doesn't make me feel any better Nancy: There's always girls around him, he didn't need to get with her Nancy: All their friends remember, they tagged me, so he can't have forgotten what she's like and everything she did Rio: He looked wasted Rio: in her photos Nancy: Lesbian or not, I know if he was that wasted he wouldn't have been able to get it up for her Nancy: It's not an excuse Rio: Let's not think about the logisitics Rio: it's not personal, physical reactions Nancy: You can say that, it doesn't matter to you Nancy: If he's so mad at me for moving to Dublin he shouldn't sleep with one of the main reasons why I had to Rio: Have you said this to him yet? Nancy: Fuck no Nancy: And I'm not going to Nancy: He knows what she did, he didn't stop it, whatever I didn't ask him to, but he still had a front row seat Nancy: She made sure everyone did Rio: Wouldn't it make you feel better, to rip him a new one? Nancy: Not really Nancy: I've tried enough times before Nancy: And she's the least of my worries now that half this school hates me and the other half loves me in a way I don't want, ever Rio: I can hear the threesome offers from here Rio: Ugh Nancy: Like, I get it, I'm a cliche, let me list the ways for you but then go away Rio: Keeps your inbox fun and fresh, I guess? Rio: Is it gonna be hate or love, know the feeling Nancy: I haven't even asked how you are! Nancy: Letting myself down in all the ways Rio: Oh God, same old, same old, no need to depress yourself further Nancy: Not to be like my brother and his (lack of) coping mechanisms yet again, but can we go out? Nancy: I'm over being staring at my walls or my phone crying or trying not to Rio: 'Course Rio: you're allowed to drown your sorrows at least 3 more times 'fore I'm calling you out on the parallels Rio: Anywhere with cheap drinks and GRL POWER bops? Nancy: Anywhere that my haters won't be Nancy: Because now I've called them haters which is the WORST thing Rio: 😂 Rio: May as well call 'em motivators whilst you're at it and be done with it Nancy: Sounded like a soundbite from my mum's mouth Nancy: That's the last straw. I wanna die Rio: Not before you've got a 'round in Nancy: If you come and help me not look how I feel then I'll owe you so many drinks Nancy: You'll be able to get as drunk as Buster, fuck everything up too Rio: I do owe you for the time I shamelessly stole your wardrobe so Nancy: You're literally trying to remind me and I still don't remember Nancy: So you're fine Rio: Still omw Rio: I've rocked many a makeover in my time, though it's been a while since any of 'em but Grace would let me 😂 Nancy: I have no energy to fight you Nancy: And can't look worse than I do right now Nancy: The bar is low low low Rio: Slap some cucumbers on those puffy eyes Nancy: Excuse me mum I need to take those from your water really quick, babe Nancy: 👌 Rio: When plain old water just ain't hydrating enough Nancy: @ my dehydrated but still crying self Rio: Dry it up, babe Rio: Gotta at least arrive at the club semi put together Nancy: Are they gonna let me in? Nancy: I can't do any more humiliation today Rio: Of course, you're nearly 18 anyway Rio: they let Indie in, you're fine Nancy: Tell it to Sian Nancy: And the powers that be so they don't sack her Rio: 😑 Nancy: If we're going out you need to work on your poker face Rio: I'm sorry but I'm not gonna cry for her, babe Nancy: You sound like the rumor mill Nancy: none of this is her fault Rio: Mm, she could've done more about it Nancy: She didn't know about it, what could she do? Rio: You reckon? Rio: She's a married woman and you probably weren't that subtle Nancy: You're talking to me not my brother Nancy: I can be subtle Nancy: I've had years of practice Rio: Not with love and shit Rio: No offence but you know it's true Nancy: Yes with love and shit Nancy: She didn't know until I wanted her to Rio: Okay Nancy: You don't believe me, do you? Rio: No but there's no need to push the issue Rio: you can't know either way now Rio: but they won't sack her Nancy: You should Nancy: You say I can't, but I do know, 'cause I've been over every moment in my head Nancy: I wish she did know, before, and she felt the same as I do but that's not gonna happen Rio: Yeah, and every time you go over it, the memory changes Rio: Sorry but you're not a trusted source on this Rio: especially 'cos you still wish that Nancy: I know Nancy: I can't just stop loving her Nancy: Everyone wants me to, even her, but I don't know how to Rio: Yeah Rio: Time, that's about all that'll do it Rio: or someone else Nancy: Did time work for you? 'Cause been there tried the second option already Rio: 'Course Rio: heals all wounds don't you know Nancy: I can't say I do know that yet Nancy: I'm still angry and hurt about Chloe and Buster so Rio: That's allowed Rio: got a decent amount of time left on both before people are eye-rolling Nancy: You think? It's been years since I left Nancy: I should be over it Rio: Nah Rio: she's still the same bitch Rio: why should you try and be above it Nancy: 'Cause I came here to change Nancy: So I shouldn't be the same bitch Nancy: It's pathetic, right? Rio: No, 'cos you weren't the bitch to begin with Rio: You don't need to change Nancy: if the alternative is this Nancy: i want to Nancy: I hate this Rio: Okay Rio: How do you wanna be? Rio: Let's make it happen Nancy: where to start, like Rio: You tell me, babe Nancy: My extensive wardrobe doesn't include a chastity belt so I'm gonna need more self control Nancy: Any ideas? Nancy: Not an app for building that as far as I know Rio: Hmm, idk Rio: could get yourself on tinder, the awfulness of people looking for a quick hookup will do wonders for your sex drive Nancy: Lord Nancy: That's a scarily good idea Nancy: Anywhere where straight guys exist in numbers Rio: The club will be the IRL embodiment so tonight is your lucky night Nancy: Luck isn't on my side lately but i've got nothing to lose Rio: That's the spirit Rio: Might as well put all your chips down now Nancy: Keep my phone for me later? Drunk dialing Quinn at the end isn't gonna work out the way it did at the start Rio: Not yet anyway Rio: Time, yeah? Rio: You take mine, swapsies Nancy: Likely not ever Nancy: You didn't see her Nancy: But sure, your phone camera gets me Rio: Never say never Rio: unless it's your married teacher Nancy: Don't give me undeserved hope Rio: I dunno Rio: It's not like you were married, you know Rio: or you properly cheated Nancy: Yeah but that's only because I didn't have the chance Nancy: I was still thinking about Sian most of the time Nancy: That's gotta hurt Rio: Bit insulting, yeah Rio: I wouldn't go back but maybe she liked you Rio: Either way, don't think there's anything you can do to make ammends rn so Nancy: She told me she liked me Nancy: And because I'm the worst human I didn't stop it Rio: Hardly Nancy: You're too nice to kick me when I'm down Rio: I ain't Rio: And I ain't above using someone for my own shit, not many are Nancy: I'm just as bad as him Nancy: Fucking twinning Rio: Different sins Rio: If you're gonna make like him, try not to give a shit about it, right? Take the perks with it Nancy: If only Nancy: At least he didn't like Chloe and use her anyway Nancy: That's just me and what I'm looking for in a girlfriend Rio: Oh, babe Rio: what a mess Nancy: Help me Nancy: Should I just go back to London or? Rio: Hmm, I don't know Rio: It'd maybe hurt less to not see either of them Rio: but you'd be more alone Rio: but, either way, it's a year and you're out of both Nancy: I don't know either Nancy: I wanna see them both so much and that's why I shouldn't be near either of them, right? Nancy: But June will murder me if I leave and I'll murder Buster if I have to share a house with him all the time again Nancy: Summer was Nancy: Oh God Rio: You're not a monster, you're allowed to feel that Rio: You aren't going to do anything else, the mistakes have been made, you're on learning time Rio: I can't really see London working, to be honest Rio: It'd be a step back, more than all...this Nancy: Yeah. I don't love it there. Closer to being at home here by far Nancy: I know I'm just scared to stay Nancy: But I need to girl up and stick it out, like Rio: Yeah Rio: We're all here Rio: that's a good % of the school pop so fuck it Nancy: 😂 real Nancy: be on your way faster 'cause whatever is closest or coldest in this fridge is being opened now Rio: 👍 Rio: Had to sort my own self but I'm in my car Rio: not looking a total state now, welcome Nancy: teach me how to make cocktails so I can make new friends? Rio: Ooh Rio: Fun Rio: Grandad gonna be pissed off but deal, old man Nancy: sorry but I need the gays to protect me now, granddad I can't wait for you to come over and be fabulous Rio: I'll invite some of my gay friends if you want Rio: not a hoe you out vibe Nancy: They'll back right off when they sense my 💔 so bring whoever you want Rio: See who's about and up for it Rio: first though, some tlc Nancy: If you bring a boy you like I'll promise not to gag Nancy: Or cry Rio: Trust, there are no boys making me gag or cry atm Nancy: Gross Rio: 😂 Nancy: And I assume disappointing? 🤔 Is that the goal, penis so big it almost kills you or? Rio: Oh honey 😏 Rio: I don't believe for a sec you're so 💔 that you're ready for the lowdown on the d Nancy: Trying to talk about you and your interests since I haven't shut up about me Rio: Sweet Rio: Maybe when I'm drunker myself I'll tell you all about it Nancy: Yeah? Nancy: So there's stuff to tell Nancy: Knew it Rio: Nahhhhhhh Rio: Not my own personal penis Rio: just the basics Nancy: Like basic teenage boys from your street or Ann Summer's basic range? Nancy: Either way, do better if I have to live through you Rio: Damn Rio: Pressure weren't real enough already, like 😜 Rio: Ma like, where's those grandkids @ Nancy: Like she wouldn't come at me with the same question Rio: We're all slacking Rio: for shame Nancy: Wait until she hears about my celibacy Nancy: Sorry auntie Nancy: I gotta do what I gotta do Rio: 'til you 👀 some cuties in the cloob Nancy: I'm giving myself to god Nancy: she's a babe Nancy: full nun mode activated Rio: You talking about Ariana Grande? Nancy: Never Nancy: I've got enough drama in my life without fancying a straight celeb Rio: Celebs don't count Rio: ask anyone, free pass, like Rio: off chance she's out in dubo tonight Nancy: It's 🌈 icons or nothing Nancy: But it's nothing, obviously Nancy: feel free to hit her up yourself though Rio: Picky Rio: I'm good tho, not really my type either Nancy: I could make a bunny joke but we don't need to get back into the Ann Summer's shelves Rio: Don't we? Rio: Celibacy ain't gon' be easy babe Nancy: I've done it before Nancy: First girlfriend, remember Rio: Pringle rules Nancy: Never say that again Nancy: Touches too much of a nerve, which in itself sounds dirty so Rio: 😂 Nancy: Don't laugh at me Nancy: Why did I have to ruin my life? Nancy: 😭 Rio: You had to know, yeah? Nancy: But I should've known anyway Rio: You'd always have a what if Nancy: Yeah but I've just swapped one for another 'cause now Quinn's a what if instead Rio: She's a has been now Rio: in the nicest possible way Nancy: Ouch Rio: Not a never ever though Nancy: Safe to assume Nancy: I wouldn't have me back Rio: Yeah but you're living up to your name rep rn Nancy: ? Rio: A negative Nancy Rio: sure that's not old Nancy: I was going on the McKenna part and I was like, how insulting is this gonna get? Rio: Too real for tonight Nancy: Too real for this month Rio: I'll allow it Nancy: Oh god, I'm gonna have to change all my birthday plans Nancy: Don't let me think about that Rio: Yeah, don't Rio: we'll sort something Rio: but I'm here Rio: pour me a drink and lemme in Nancy: 👌👌 Nancy: Excuse mum and dad's scowls Rio: 😬 Rio: Should I move my car lads Nancy: Back to the 24 and away from my bad influence I'm sure they'd say right now Nancy: not a direct quote Rio: I'll chat 'em round Rio: parents love me Nancy: 😏 Rio: Rude! Nancy: Hey, I'm preparing you for the kind of quality banter you'll have to get used to hearing if you hang around me Rio: Alright, the craic starts here Rio: deal with it, 'rents Nancy: 💚🍀

[dothewrite]

gwahhh i love your scenarios so much they're amazing !! could you do a scenario with kuroo, tsukki and iwai where their fem s/o is an insomniac? and whenever she can't sleep she does her own hobbies like baking or drawing or she just takes a walk outside etc and one night they stay over at the boys houses and they wake up to see her doing her own thing and try to coax her to go back to bed?

It slipped my mind while writing that they were only supposed to be visiting- I hope you don’t too much that they ended up living together, I’m sorry! Anyhow, this was an incredibly heartwarming prompt to write for, and I hope that you enjoy it, and thank you for your patience. :)

At age twenty five, Kuroo is a far cry from just five, which was when he last believed in monsters underneath his bed. Or perhaps they’re still there, but he’s become far too old and too boring for them to find entertaining anymore, and they’ve moved on to people who sleep more, who have fewer nightmares, who can sleep fine alone.

He hears the noise from downstairs first. It’s a soft clang, but it’s enough to pull him out of half-awakeness and his fingers curl curiously around the edge of his pillow. She’s not there, and her space is cold and empty from the exposed bedsheet.

The clang comes again, followed with a very, very quiet curse that makes the edge of his lips curl with laughter at four in the morning. It’s no clawed thing, but his own little monster he relies on to comfort him each night in their multitudes of blankets at pillows that cradle them into mutual drowsiness. Her pills lie capped on her side of the bedside table, untouched and unmoved, and he knows that this must be a special night. The stars, maybe, or the autumn chill that treads it way softly through the corridors of their small house, trailing eagerly along the warm footsteps of whoever’s awake at this time of night.

Not for the first time, Kuroo regrets not wearing fluffy slippers with bears on them when his feet finally touch the ground. He swings himself off the edge gingerly, aware of how his head fogs with unfinished sleep and the way his muscles seem to creak at him, scolding him, potentially threatening to shut down completely if he doesn’t return this instant. He goes off hunting for slippers instead, and for you, even though he knows beyond familiarity where exactly he’d find those things.

There’s only one light turned on in the entire house, and he follows it like a moth follows the lantern glow, padding silently across the hardwood floors and a hand hovering over the wall to guide him through the shadows. There’s very little noise from his end after so many months of practice, and he smells it before he actually sees you, exactly where he’d expected you to be.

“I hope you realize that coffee is very different from warm milk,” he calls to you from his place by the doorframe, hips cocked and resting soundly against the cool metal. “Was it worth abandoning me in the middle of the night?”

He hasn’t really registered the coldness, but the warmth that brews in his abdomen that chases across his chest from the way your shoulders tremble from gentle laughter makes him forget that there’s temperature at all.

You turn around in your seat, a solid, fixed armchair, and you’ve to twist your body entirely with your folded legs aching a little from the stretch to catch the sight of your boyfriend lounging lazily by the door. It makes you grin, that he’d rather stand all the way over there and look cool rather than come and touch you, like he sounds like he wants to.

“Want a sip?” You slide him a cheeky grin, and he finds himself fighting the pull of the teasing tilt of your head.

“Some people like to sleep at four in the morning, night-owl.”

“Hoot hoot.” Your grin relaxes, and you pull your knees up and against your chest so that you’re comfortably turned towards Kuroo. The hunch of your shoulders keeps you warm from the chilly night, and in response, Kuroo’s smirk melts into a smile that glows just for you, his eyes softening and his fingers longing to reach for you. So he does, taking a step at a time until he can cradle your head against his abdomen, rubbing your shoulders with his large, permanently warm hands.

“I just had something on my mind,” you confess, and he knows that you’re offering an explanation for not taking your usual sleeping pills tonight, “I didn’t think that it’d take so long to write, I’m sorry.”

“Mmmmm, no problem,” he murmurs lowly into your hair, his tall frame pressed firmly around you and his face buried against the crown of your head. He feels infinitely more drowsy next to you already, even though he’s still standing, and his embrace starts to feel less like a hug and more like a cuddle. His fingers curl around your neck and you start to giggle into his neko-atsume shirt when he starts to, although he’d never admit it to anyone else, almost purr.

“Tetsu,” you whisper conspiratorially, “I’m not the bed.”

He shakes his head minutely against yours. “You’re better.”

“But I’m cold.”

“Then come back to bed with me,” he hums into your ear, and you feel a flush of heat that warms you down to your toes. Your cheeks burn, but he’s too sleepy for you to make anything of it. Besides, it’s honestly your fault that you’ve got such terrible resistance against Kuroo. “I’ll warm you up.”

Your boyfriend’s already half asleep by the time you pry yourself out of his arms, laughing as quietly as you can at his ridiculous hair and his vacant expression. “Alright,” you press a slow, loving kiss against his chapped lips and give them a small flick of your tongue to tease him awake, “but c’mon, I can’t carry your dead weight up the stairs.”

“You calling me fat?”

“Tetsu, you’re six feet tall. Your bone structure weighs more than my whole body.”

“Rude!”

You gasp loudly. “I didn’t realize I was dating Tooru tonight!”

Kuroo only lifts his head and gives you a grin that leaves you with cavities and a crushing urge to burst out laughing. Full of shit, his face seems to say. “I’m so much hotter.”

“Only in the dark,” you giggle into the dip of his shoulder, and your heart squeezes in your chest, like the way Kuroo squeezes you, so very tightly in the sweetest revenge known to mankind.

It’s even darker when you reach out a finger to flick off the desk lamp, the rich orange glow extinguished in a single second into the intimate hushes of black. Your palm is cradled into his side as your guide, but it’s unnecessary- you stifle a soft cry when your world is turned upside down in a tick of a clock, and Kuroo has you in his sleepy arms, biceps flexing reluctantly to support your weight, heavy and wonderful against his chest.

“Don’t drop me,” you whisper, and in the darkness, you feel him nod into your cheek and you wonder why you’d ever thought to leave the bed with this drowsy, adorable, feline of a man who’d carry you all the way back across the house and hugging you to him all the while.

Kuroo slips you underneath the blankets, padding your right side with pillows before slipping in by your left. You see, the words get stuck somewhere behind his throat each time he tries to say it casually, to remind you of it whenever he can- and they fade away before he can dislodge them again. So he tries to become all the things he feels like he should say, but loses. He knows you’re not going to be able to sleep tonight, not with the way you’re already sliding yourself upright against the headboard, but it doesn’t matter.

He curls up into your side, burrowing his face in between a stray pillow and your shiba-inu pajama shirt, and he memorizes, lazily, the way your fingers card through his hair and the soft beating of your heart. He manages, in the end, an unhurried ‘love you’ slurred into the warmth of your hold before he quietly dozes back off.

When Tsukishima’s arm falls to the other side of the bed and meets nothing, he’s utterly unsurprised, even when half awake and relatively dead to the world. He himself isn’t a particularly deep sleeper and of all your friends he knows that if it’s anyone, it’d be him who understood your insomnia the most. He’s just as tired as you are most of the time, but somehow the bags underneath your eyes have simply become a part of you that he accepts for what it is. It simply makes him hold you closer on the rare nights that sleep manages to reach you before morning does.

It’s not tonight, however, and at three in the morning, the only things in the near vicinity that are awake are the university students several streets away holding their parties in their compact apartments. No birds to be found here, none that are still singing at night, and within minutes Tsukishima is already finding himself irritated at the headache that’s blooming from the unrelenting bass that shudders through the empty night. Carelessly, he slaps a hand onto the bedside table beside him in search of his glasses before wrapping a blanket around his neck and trudging off in search of the one thing that’d possibly soothe his nerves.

You’ve slipped away during the night countless times, as Tsukishima’s discovered from his usual restless patches of lucidity, but this is the first time he’s gone out to look for you. It’s a small apartment that you two share, with a soft, silvery carpet that muffles the thud-thud of his bare feet against the ground, but it’s dark and quiet enough that he struggles to locate you- the leftover chaos from his neighbours still ringing in his mind, conjuring up sounds that fade away with a little focus.

“Kei?” A voice calls his name from behind a corner, and Tsukishima has to gather his wits about him for a few seconds to realize that it’s just you, and nothing sinister materializing behind him. It irks him a little, actually, how startled he was. You only watch him with knowing eyes, the curiosity set behind, and let a small grin tick your cheek upwards. “It’s just me.”

“Yeah,” he mumbles to himself, “of course.”

You wrap a small hand around his wrist that’s far too thin for your liking and he allows himself to be pulled into the light, the two of you bracing yourselves against the chill of the metal window. The high rise buildings block out a lot of natural light, and what would be a breathtaking moon is hidden behind the edges of skyscrapers that only glint with reflected street lights. It doesn’t look too bad, your eyes adjusting to the dimness, but it does cast a shadow on both your faces that colour this exchange just a little more intimate.

“What are you doing up?” You ask him softly, your fingers still glancing over the ridges of his smooth palm. Tsukishima stares calmly into your face, expression open and a little amused by the question.

“Looking for the one who was up first, I believe.”

You chuckle lightly, letting it tumble out from your chest like marbles. “I mean, you don’t usually get out of bed.”

He just shrugs. “Maybe I finally miss you enough.”

“Then maybe I should start letting you sleep alone.”

“Don’t,” his mouth open in a sudden start; he knows you’re joking, but it must be the lighting because he finds himself being entirely serious tonight, “I wouldn’t have to miss you if you didn’t get up.”

Your gaze is tender and the curve of your lips fall into a remorseful line.

“Sorry.”

He catches your hand when it falls from his arm, and you’re tugged firmly into a gentle embrace that’s entirely out of character for your tall, stoic boyfriend. You make sure to press your face into the crevices underneath his chin, breathing in his late-night scent and you lean into the way his arms snake around your waist and your neck like they were meant to be there. His heart is loud, and his thoughts are leaking from his body.

“...Kei?”

“Hm?” It’s clear and delicate against your ear.

“Are you tired?”

“No,” he murmurs, and his fingers dance across the bare skin between your shirt and the hem of your pants, making you shudder into him, “just love you.”

There must be something special about this night, because your chest feels like it’s about to burst, and this to you is more dreamlike than anything you could have ever come up with in sleep.

He still hasn’t let you go, and you’re still slotted against him like yin and yang, but you can feel his breathing slow and the weight of his shoulders on yours grow. You didn’t want to go back to bed just yet, not tonight.

“Would you like to stay up with me?” You ask, almost a breath, almost a wish, and Tsukishima pulls his head up from its perch on your head and eyes you critically from behind reflected lenses.

“You don’t think you can fall back asleep tonight, can you?”

You shake your head in slow admittance.

“Alright,” he inhales deeply, preparing himself for an evening of activity and a morning of hell, “what’ve you got in mind?”

“Well, I was actually folding some paper cranes in the kitchen when you came looking for me-”

“-really?”

“Really,” you grin. “It’s therapeutic.”

Also pointless, Tsukishima’s shadowed expression reads very clearly, but he doesn’t say a word and you keep your laughter under wraps. He’s starting to question his decision, you knew, but the way he keeps you close to him is an insurance that he’d stay by your side this evening even if you asked him to garden together.

“...How many have you made?” He asks reluctantly.

“It’s the fourth night, so I’d say around 200?”

“Jesus,” he pulls a hand across his face and you start into a fit of giggles this time, “I’m going to miss class tomorrow because I’m folding cranes with my girlfriend at three in the morning. Seriously, won’t you come to bed?”

“But imagine how we’d be able to double the rate of production if we worked together!”

“Don’t try to win me over with statistics,” he tells you dryly, “I’m still not becoming a mindless cog of the industry.”

It’s too much of a temptation, and it’s a final attempt at coercion anyway when you stretch upwards onto your tiptoes and slide your lips across his in a slow, burning kiss. It takes a few seconds for Tsukishima to warm up into it, knowing full well your ploy, but it fades from both your minds when he curls his arms around you and pushes his nose further into your cheek to grab at your lower lip between his teeth. You let out a soft sigh of pleasure, and he swallows it right from your mouth in a smooth suck that drags your tongue along his in a slippery motion.

You somehow manage to break away for a quick gasp of breath, and you feel your heels trembling with effort and his breathing is as rough as he looks. “We’re still not folding cranes,” he rasps lowly, “but I’ve thought of something better to do that still involves warm sheets.”

You laugh at his insistence, head still a little dizzy from so much happiness in such a short period of time and there’s no protest that comes to mind when he starts to drag you by the waist back towards the bedroom.

“Are you still going to miss class?” You grin cheekily as Tsukishima tosses you onto the bed and begins to peel off his shirt. The smirk he sends you once he’s abandoned his glasses somewhere on the floor leaves you almost gasping.

“That depends,” he drawls, pressing you further against the mattress with each suggestive tilt of his neck, “how long do you think you can keep me occupied tonight?”

If there’s one thing good about this slightly out of the way residential area, it’s that it’s almost as silent as mountain peaks and the sky is almost as beautiful and clear as a stream in winter. Perhaps that’s the reason why Iwaizumi, who’s usually an incredibly deep sleeper, finds himself blinking awake the last vestiges of a passing dream from his eyelids, fingers clenching and unclenching against cool sheets that betray their occupant’s absence. He’s suspected for a while, from the melatonin pills in the bathroom and the way your complexion seems a tone duller in the mornings that you’ve struggled with falling asleep, but he’s never quite realized how strange it can feel, to wake up alone in a bed meant for two.

You have your side perfectly folded up as to not let any air in that might wake him up, and Iwaizumi, not quite yet awake, finds himself gazing longingly at the empty space beside him, jaw lax and vision still blurry. This house isn’t huge, but it’s big enough that it has him wondering where you’d possibly be in the dark, and what would you be doing alone? His calves ache in protest, but he ignores it dutifully in preference for his search for you throughout the house.

It’s a lot brighter than he expected it to be, from the way the half-moon illuminates the pale wallpaper and reflects off the wooden surfaces he passes by, but there’s not a lick of brightness that could come from a lamp, or even a phone. Iwaizumi takes a moment to still and let his hearing catch any hint of where you’d be tucked away, but all he hears is the reliable chirping of crickets outside and the hooting of the barn owl that’s taken up residence two houses away in an old tree.

Then, he catches a slight scratch of something against cement, somewhere far away that he’s barely managed to notice, and without a moment’s hesitation Iwaizumi grabs the thickest thing he can find nearby and sets off out the front door.

He’s been up here before to do some repairs on the antenna, but at three in the morning it’s chilly even for him, and it leaves goosebumps trailing along his tanned skin and a shiver takes over at least twice. He supposes he should congratulate you for your creativity, but all it takes is a single glance at your silhouette and then up into the sky for a warm smile to break across his face. Of course. It was silly to think you’d be anywhere else.

“Do you come up here often?” He breaks the silence with a sudden question, and you start in your huddled position on the rooftop, butt scraping against the rough grain.

“Oh, Hajime, how are you so quiet for so much muscle?”

“I’m not a robot,” he replies smoothly, “my muscles don’t clang as they move.”

A small huff of laughter slips past your numb lips and you beckon with a small hand to have him take a place beside you. He crosses the distance with only two and a half steps, and he lets his long legs stretch out on either side of you as he makes himself comfortable wrapped around your back. You can’t help but lean into his unfailing warmth, the firmness of his chest a contrast against the woolly jumper he has on, but all the better. You snuggle backwards and allow your head to tip backwards into his waiting shoulder.

“Did I wake you up?” You wonder out loud, slightly worried that perhaps you had made too much of a commotion climbing out of bed, but Iwaizumi almost immediately soothes you with a soft press of his much warmer lips against your cheek. Blood rushes to the area that he’s touched, and your cheek burns with an ache to feel him kiss you again.

“No,” he says quietly in his low, gravelly tone, “maybe tonight’s just strange.”

“Yeah, you usually sleep like the dead.”

You don’t have to turn around to feel the stare that he levels you that’s several shades of unimpressed. “And you’re usually finding hiding places, it seems.”

“I’m not hiding,” you grin, and you poke a finger at his chin to tilt it upwards, “I’m in plain sight. Of everything.”

He hums quietly in assent behind you, and you feel it travel down your spine and through the way his hands grasp you tightly against him like a hot water bottle. The two of you share several minutes of silence just like that, pressed against each other for warmth and for comfort, leaning back to take in the brilliant echo of the milky way in the clustered skies. If not for the winds and the weather, you’d probably drag a mattress up here each night to lie down and pretend that you’re floating away from earth, immersing yourself amongst the stars and gazing down at the small spark that you call home from the heavens.

“Would you like me to build you a tent up here for you?” Iwaizumi whispers softly into your shared quiet, careful to only pull you out of your dream as gently as possible. He feels you shift against him, arms finally regaining some warmth against him and he begins to wish that he’d brought an extra layer for you if he’d known you’d only be wearing a thin jacket. His jacket, he smiles wryly.

“If you did,” you chuckle, “I’d probably never leave, and you’ve never find me again in bed.”

“Guess I lose against the stars, huh.”

This time you do turn around, torso twisting in his grip until you’re stretched out almost completely against him, chest against chest and your noses almost touching. There’s a bright glint of something in your eyes that takes Iwaizumi’s breath away in a swift moment. “What do you mean?” You murmur against his lips, and the coldness of the air forms visible puffs with your exhale. “You’re going to be up here with me.”

“What’s wrong with the bed?” He can’t help but grin.

“Nothing, just that there aren’t any galaxies in our room.”

“You’re enough galaxy for me,” his voice melts into something molten, something that pours right into your veins and sets them simmering in the background, “I’m just watching you watch the stars.”

“You’re missing out then,” you breathe huskily against him, eyes hooded and almost close enough to touch.

Iwaizumi lets you feel his smile against your lips. “I don’t think so.”

He doesn’t press any closer, and the tension that hangs between the two of you keeps your body taut as a bow, hands propping you up on either side of him. He’s so close, so very close, but all you indulge in is a happy smile that blooms on your face and makes his stomach flutter uncomfortably. Iwaizumi misses your heat the moment you pull back and settle yourself back into his arms.

“Stay with me,” he hears you murmur into the night, and his heart beats at every word, “everything’s brighter when you’re here.”

“You can wake me up next time,” he tells you, and you squeeze his fingers laced through yours. “I’ll make sure you wear enough clothes too.”

“It’s okay,” you laugh, exhilarated from something you can’t quite express in words, “I’ll try to take less time up here.” You tilt your head backwards all the way to glance at Iwaizumi upside down. Right now, he’s the man you catch only when you’re alone together, all soft and love and pressed against your shape. “Want to head back to bed now?”

“Five minutes,” he asks, and the surprise leaves you glowing, “just five more minutes.”