#I also don’t have a car (duh) so I’ve had to arrange to get a lift there which is kinda annoying ngl..

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 3x08 thoughts

The main things:

I’ve lost track of the timeline here a bit, but Ramona mentions to Nadia that it’s been ‘a hard few days’, which I’m assuming means the few days including/after the wake? Normally it would take at least a few days (often several) just to arrange for cremation, and I would have thought that the FBI situation would have also delayed that, but maybe Jorge and Ramona were able to pull some strings and speed it up? Or maybe Russo pushed it all through quickly because the FBI wanted to see if his Velorio would lead to any new information/suspects? Who knows. On the day of the wake Jeremy refers to the chase as happening ‘the other day’ which makes it sound like less than a week had passed since the car chase/Arman’s death. Also given the fact that Ramona and Jorge only go to the apartment for the first time in this ep, it can’t be more than a couple of days since the Velorio/the reveal of Dante’s involvement. So based off all that, I’m gonna go with the assumption that it’s been about a week (or even slightly less) since Arman’s death, meaning the entire season has covered about 2 weeks thus far.

Well, I definitely feel validated as hell by the reveals in this ep lol. Dying Ramona? Called it in ep 5, though tbh it still surprises me a little that the writers would go with a plotline like that, after everything that happened with Adan. But I guess they needed a reason for Ramona to decide not to kill Thony after she no longer has Arman’s protection, and this is just the most straightforward way to do it. Not to mention it will probably mean that Ramona dies off by the end of the season, getting her out of the way like all the previous villains haha. (Please kill her, Thony. Do it for Arman, and for me). But of course, even more satisfying was getting the long-awaited confirmation about FBI Agent Jeremy– though given that I called that one literally the moment he showed his face in 3x03, his big reveal at the end with Russo wasn’t so much an ‘omg I was right!!’ moment but more of a ‘yeah duh guys we already knew he was a Fed’ haha

Thony’s dream where she is Sin Cara…. Please please pleaaase let this be foreshadowing haha. Like seriously c’mon writers, make my Mob Queen Thony dream come true! And that visual was also just really cool, with Thony stripping away layer after layer of masks only to find herself underneath… like all her efforts to find Arman, and to find who was responsible for taking him, peeling back all the layers until she finds herself?? Damn. I think that’s part of why she’s so determined to go after Ramona, because she needs to focus on Ramona’s role in his death so she won’t be torn apart by her own guilt (because lbr, she knows that if he’d never met her, none of this would have happened and he’d almost certainly still be alive). But honestly, while she did play a part in the events that led to his death, it was Ramona proceeding with the kidnapping plan and Jeremy involving his FBI buddies that were the true causes of Arman’s death. But anyway ugh, Thony’s teary eyes and damp collar when she wakes from that nightmare… her getting up for water then immediately trading her water for a beer… her almost crying as she tells Fi that her hallucination of Arman in the apartment felt so real… her saying that she can’t let his death go… help it’s raining on my face

Honestly, it was fair enough for Fi to go to Russo. Thony keeps making all these promises that nothing else is going to happen to their family, but let’s be real here (and I say this with love lol), Thony’s promises don’t mean shit haha. She truly means them when she says them, but she’s just up against far too much to be able to handle it all on her own. It was so brave of Fi to go to Russo, especially given her deportation situation, and I love that Russo is basically like ‘thanks for meeting with me. what info have you got? btw nice job sneaking back into the country’ lol. Fi’s shocked response is hilarious– I mean c’mon Fi, did you really think that that topic wasn’t gonna come up??? But ugh Russo’s ‘if you help me maybe I can help you’ offer sounds a lot like the one Nadia got, only for Russo to then screw her over… don’t trust her Fi! Loved Fi’s “I’m not a victim” though. Hell yeah sister. Reminds me of how Thony also started off as a victim (witnessing Theo’s murder and being forced into the criminal underworld to survive) but found her own power and used her new environment and connections to her advantage. Things have gotten a little rocky again though with the loss of Arman and his support, and I think Fi calling Thony out on her precarious situation was really important (“If you really wanna keep us safe, stop making things worse”) because she does need that reality check… bc while every single thing Thony does is always with the aim of fixing things, her actions do often unintentionally end up having the opposite effect, and she needs to face that and figure her shit out now that she doesn’t have Arman or Garrett to clean up her messes. Anyway, sigh, so much for my hopes of Fi deciding to go rogue with Thony though haha… I guess she just made an exception for the day of the Velorio for Thony’s sake and now she’s back to her old ‘hanging out with criminals is a bad idea’ self lol

Okay sooo… do we actually believe Ramona when she says she didn’t know about the kidnapping at the start, and that Dante took Arman for using their routes, not knowing who he actually was? Because I find that very hard to believe haha. Especially given that Thony came to Sin Cara literally like the day after Arman was taken, and would have told them exactly how and where he was abducted… and so Ramona should have immediately put it together then that the man Dante abducted was Arman. But according to Ramona, she found out ‘too late’ (too late for what? Even if she didn’t find out the truth until right before the exchange, she could have called it off, but didn’t), and so I’m calling bullshit on that haha. She’s still just covering her ass, telling another lie to cover up the much worse truth, which is that she planned this from the beginning to bring Arman back into the family while also scoring a bunch of cash. I do find it really clever how we started the season thinking Ramona was going to be the villain, and then we met her and learned she was Arman’s family and that she was gonna help Thony, which had us thinking we’d been wrong and she wasn’t a villain after all, and now we’ve circled back to her being the villain again lol

Huh, I did not expect Nadia to be staying at the Sin Cara Casita, but I can see how being at home alone with all the memories of Arman would have just been too hard. She has no-one now, and Ramona was so welcoming and kind and acted like she was family, so I guess she thought that maybe this was her path forward and she could belong with them… only for Ramona to betray her in the worst way. I hope that this leads Nadia to realise that Thony was right all along, and Thony is the only one she can really trust. It was nice to see her go back to La Habana, back to her old self again. Though omg that staff member (Charmaine?) asking her what they’re celebrating… like maybe don’t ask that of a person who just lost their husband??? Lol. But daaamn Russo showing up and arresting her… I appreciate that Russo didn’t seem to take any satisfaction in the arrest (I think she does actually feel for Nadia and her situation, especially after having also recently lost someone she loved) but she’s clearly angling to get Nadia to turn on whoever she’s working with. Which is why it seems like a terrible idea for both Ramona and Jorge to come visit her in lockup? Her scene with Ramona was so good though ugh, like she was looking at Ramona and seeing what her future could be if she doesn’t make changes and start letting people in. Which, like I said, will hopefully begin with Thony! And maybe Jorge too, since Ramona betrayed him as well (multiple times now!) and because he genuinely did love Arman too. Though ngl, him asking for 50mil to help her is a bit sketchy haha.. But maybe she wouldn’t have trusted him otherwise, if it seemed like there was nothing in this partnership for him? Making it a business transaction is more like something she can understand.

Tbh that’s actually something that’s been really cool about this season: the way the partnerships and alliances have been steadily shifting and changing between these four central characters as the show progresses– first there was Thony and Nadia as a team, plus Ramona and Jorge. Then there was Thony and Jorge, plus Ramona and Nadia. Now it might be becoming Jorge and Nadia, plus Ramona and Thony. Though Jorge likely expects his new team-up with Nadia to include Thony as well, given the trust that they’ve formed (which would also help bridge the divide between Thony and Nadia again, which would be nice). And that scenario certainly could still happen, with the three of them forming a plan together to manage Ramona– but it’s also possible that the alliance that Thony offers Ramona in the gallery scene may damage her own connection with Jorge and Nadia, as they might see it as her selling out both Arman and them to save herself.  But what Jorge and Nadia don’t know is that Thony is on a mission to make Ramona pay, and is following Jeremy’s advice: find your enemy’s weakness, and exploit it. 

Honestly, Thony’s visit to Ramona in the gallery was so badass; the way she spoke to Ramona reminded me of what she was like when they had the motel manager guy tied up in the bathtub and were pretending to threaten him with organ harvesting. Back then, it was Arman who gave her that confidence, and it was the same now in a way; this time, it’s her love for him and her desire to honour his memory that helps her be bold enough to face Ramona, and she does it wearing the dress that she last wore on a night when Arman made a huge personal sacrifice for her and took an innocent life to protect hers. At this stage, I expect her plan is to make herself essential to Ramona as her doctor, either to earn enough gratitude from healing her that Ramona spares her and her family, or to gather enough incriminating info about Ramona that she can take to Russo to make a deal (though I have trouble seeing her doing that given Jorge’s warnings, and her not wanting to betray him). From the trailer for next week it does look like she’s going to be trying hard to fix whatever is killing Ramona… but tbh what I really wanna see is for Thony to go real dark and not just use her new position of power over Ramona to ensure her own safety, but to actually use that power to end Ramona’s life. Like imagine if Ramona agrees to what she thinks is a treatment from Thony, only for Thony to give her something that will kill her instead??? Or maybe a situation arises where Thony is genuinely trying to fix her, but then something goes wrong and Ramona starts to crash, and Thony realises that if she just lets it happen, Ramona will die and no one would know that Thony could have stopped it. Like damn that would be absolutely ice cold on Thony’s part, but could be a fascinating step in her character development, especially as she moves further away from that ‘victim’ that she was at the start of the series, and closer to being the person who controls the power. Not to mention how I’ve talked before about how central it is to Thony’s character that she always has to save the person in front of her who asks for her help, even when it endangers herself or those she cares about… and so it would be a significant moment for her to actively choose not to help that person. But anyhow seriously, if I get my wish and she does kill Ramona, she better not get any hate for it, not when Arman and Jorge have both killed many people, and even Nadia has murdered someone. Thony has been through so much shit that honestly she’s earned the right to kill the person (or rather, people– take out Jeremy next, girl!) responsible for the death of the man she loved, and not to get demonised for it when other characters wouldn’t. (Basically what I’m saying is she deserves a little cold-blooded murder, as a treat lol)

Pro tip: when the building you’re in is filling with a deadly gas, fixing a barely-bleeding scalp laceration is not a priority!! Like sure it was fun to watch Thony McGyvering a solution to close the wound, but omg if that situation was real, a doctor like her would have never bothered with the stupid lac, because of a little thing called TRIAGE, aka dealing with the most life-threatening problem first! And like I said, the deadly gas is just a little higher on the priority list!! But hey, if they both died of chloride gas poisoning, at least he would have died with a nicely closed wound on his head lol. Sigh. But ngl I very much did enjoy that her solution to save their lives was to blow up the building that they were currently inside of lol. But again, triage– the likelihood of dying from the explosion was less than the likelihood of dying from the gas if they did nothing, so she makes the tough call and takes the lesser of two evils. I really do love the moments when we get to see her resourcefulness, intelligence, and bravery all at once, and Jeremy better be goddamn grateful to her for saving his ass lol. Although it doesn’t really seem like it, because the moment they get outside he uses her distraction and distress to pump her for information, and then basically tells her to go even deeper in the cartel? (Which, granted, is exactly what I also want her to do, but he’s endangering her for his own gain and that’s fucking shitty.) At least when Garrett forced her into being a CI, he was clear about what she was getting into, and made sure to support her and check in with her. Jeremy is just shoving her deeper into the lion’s den and waiting to see who walks out alive, and I can’t wait for the moment when this dark new Thony emerges and tears him to pieces.

Other stuff:

The tunnel/hallway thing that Thony walks down in her dream is the same one Jorge took her along to meet Sin Cara for the first time in 3x01… but she was blindfolded then and never actually saw it. Spooky. Also I’m pretty sure they used that same tunnel for the scene of Fi and Chris’ underground border crossing in 3x03, just with different lights lol

Violeta is such a precious little thing omg, and I appreciate the depth that she adds to Jorge with his Soft Dad Mode. Like seriously, them snuggling by the fire? Her waking and saying something with that tiny, sleepy, adorable voice, and him soothing her back to sleep? Help it’s too sweet ugh. And look I’m not gonna lie, I’m absolutely picturing how cute it would be if it was some future moment with Thony sitting across from him instead of Ramona, and with Luca asleep with his head in her lap because he and Violeta are both totally tired out after a really fun playdate. I’m not even saying it’s a romantic moment or anything, just two single parents sharing a really sweet moment of friendship and bonding over their kids, and ugh it would be nice if Thony got to have that someday. 

Lol Chris and Jaz were totally grade-A sibling material in this ep. As a youngest sister with two big brothers, all the teasing about his crush felt very relatable haha. And it was nice to see a return of the playful embarrassing mum side of Fi too. All of them just having normal innocent fun together was so sweet ugh, I want more of that

Super convenient that the door to the sketchy apartment was just open lol. What was Thony’s plan otherwise?? Break it down?? Honestly with the state she’s been in since Arman’s death, I wouldn’t put it past her. It’s a shame that the threat of Ramona meant she had to pretty much race straight out of there, though, because I think it might have been good for her if she’d had a chance to just go and be there, to sit in the chair he’d sat in and look at the surroundings that he’d spent his last days in, and just actually acknowledge her grief for a while…

Jorge blindly pointing the gun in the direction of his sister while he demands answers from Thony in the apartment… dude where’s your basic firearm safety?? Don’t point guns at people unless you’re fine with them getting shot!

Ugh when Thony asks Fi if she was the one who tipped off the FBI to the location of the exchange… the utter panic in her eyes, not only because of the danger that that act would put them in from Ramona, but also at the thought that if Fi had been the one to give the tip, she would have been as responsible for Arman’s death as Ramona is… and how would Thony have lived with that? How could she still live and work with her, still look at her every day knowing that the man she loved was dead because of Fi’s actions? Honestly thank god that none of us had to find out.

Poor Camila needs rescuing! And so Fi turns to Thony to fix it, which means continuing her involvement with the cartel, aka the opposite of what Fi asked  her to do just hours ago… I wonder if this situation will make Fi see that Thony existing in that criminal world and having some power within the cartel actually has more benefits than she realised, and that not everything is so black and white when it comes to keeping their family safe…

Okay I desperately wanna see more of the FBI’s case board lol… so funny that the FBI’s understanding of Thony went from ‘she’s a cleaning lady for the Barsamians’ to ‘she’s somehow personally connected to Arman Morales’ to ‘she’s business partners with Arman in importing medications from Mexico, and also maybe his romantic partner as well??’ to ‘she got tied up with Kamdar and supposedly accidentally imported Fentanyl from the Philippines’ to ‘she’s the key to finding Arman’ to ‘she somehow got her sister and nephew back into the country illegally’ to ‘she’s the key to taking down the Sin Cara cartel’.... Like honestly I’m a little worried about what happens once she’s no longer useful to the Feds… given everything that’s happened, I find it hard to see how she’s going to escape the FBI’s clutches this time? And most importantly, with them watching her so closely, how am I gonna get the Mob Queen Thony that I want so badly haha? But I guess the next few eps will answer that…

[here-there-everyfuckenwhere]

Ohmygod you wanna know what I just realised??

Now I get to fulfill my dream of being one of those extremely extra Ao3 writers that updates their fic and puts a note at the beginning like “hey besties sorry this chapter is late I nearly died from covid and then less than a week later I nearly died in a car accident lol anyway kudos and comments are appreciated as always please enjoy :))))”

[pixie88]

Fake it until you make it

Chapter 6 - The Neighbour.

A/N | Again sorry it’s been a while as I say my little one hadn’t been sleeping, but back to normal now!

Comments & reblogs welcome! Let me know what you loved and hated about this chapter!

I understand if you don’t want to be tagged so just pop me a message to be removed, but also let me know if you would like to be tagged!

Summary | Alana and Dean road trip to Dallas.

Check out previous chapters Here!

Wattpad | Here.

Word count | 2.4k

Warnings | 18 + Only!

Pairings | Dean x Alana (eventually).

Enjoy!

Her date with Brad went well, she smiles thinking back to that night.

"What's your favourite cocktail?" she looks up from the drinks menu, "That's a tough one, but if I have to pick I'd say Mojito! Yours?" he asks as he takes the last bite of his brownie, "tequila sunrise! Duh!" she laughs.

After they get the bill, he walks her home, "this is where you live?" he looks up at the apartment building, "yeah, small but it's home, you know?" he smiles at her making her blush, he lifts her chin and captures her lips with his. Her heart flutters and skips, she pushes his mouth open with her tongue making him groan.

After a few minutes she pulls away, "wow! As much as I would love to invite you inside, but I'm not ready for that!" He grins at her, "I'll happily let you take the lead on that! I better go! Thanks for another great evening, we'll arrange something after the weekend?"

"Thanks for understanding! It was fun! Yeah, whenever you're free! So night!" She pecks him on the lips "Night! Have a great weekend!"

Saturday morning...

Alana was on the phone to her best friend from back home Chloe.

"Let me get this straight, you are going with Dean, you sexy neighbour to his ex girlfriend's wedding and pretending to be his new girlfriend?"

"Yes, Chlo don't give me that judgey voice! I'm helping out a friend and yes he is hot, but we are nothing more than friends. No boundaries are going to be crossed. How Eli's campaign going?"

"All I'm saying what happens in Dallas stays in Dallas. Ugh, can we talk about something else I've had it up to here with his campaign and schmoozing with his poncy friends and dinner parties!" Chloe sighs.

"Chlo, nothing is going to happen in Dallas! Ok, I'm not sure if I'll be back home for Christmas, Fifi and Simon are going over to Ireland to see his family, but I will be over at the end of February for your birthday! Tell Eli, family and friends only! No business man or people that can help his campaign! My orders!"

Chlo chuckles "I'll tell him, you’ll put his head on a pike!"

Alana's door opens "Chlo, I've got to go! I'll speak next week!"

"Ok, I can't wait to hear all about it! I love you!"

"Ok, I love you too Chlo!" She hangs up the phone.

"Are you ready to hit the road?" he calls over her shoulder as she's stuffing the last few things in her bag, "now I am!" turning towards him, she hands him a bottle of whiskey "I thought we might need it this weekend!" he chuckles "Thanks!" he's thankful she's coming along.

He wouldn't have even considered going if it wasn't for her "how long have you told ya parents, we've been together for?" he heavier sighs, "my parents aren't coming. My Mom had to work and Dad...well, he's covering me!" he throws his bag in the boot of baby before taking hers and placing hers in next to his. "Ok, so we need to get our story straight! How long have we been together?" She calls over as she gets into his car.

He jumps into the driver's seat "I don't know...six months?" she nods "Cool, you know it’s ok to be nervous!" she can sense something is off with him. "I know it's just...it's hard you know!?" she reaches over to the steering wheel and places her hand over his, "I will be there with you! If we have to drink our way through the weekend so be it!"

He chuckles "Sounds like a plan I can get behind!" he smirks feeling a little lighter.

A few hours later they pull up to the hotel "This is posh!" she looks up at the hotel, looking over to him, she can see the what ifs? Going through his mind. "Which means one thing...BORING!" she winks making him laugh, "shall we head in?" he nods towards the hotel before he reluctantly hands over his car keys to the valet "one scratch on her! I'm coming for you!" Dean narrows his eyes at the now scared valet.

"Dean! Stop scaring the poor guy!" she laughs and heads inside.

They check in and shown to their room, "what time is the hen and stag do?" he looks over her knitting his brows together, and she remembers "sorry, I mean the bachelor and bachelorette?"

"You Brits have the weirdest names for things!" he laughs, "whatever! The bed situation? Top and tail or cuddling up?" She nods toward the king size, he looks over to the bed completely forgetting to ask or two singles, "Crap! Sorry! Erm..." she breaks into a laugh, "I'm messing with ya! We are two adults, we can share a bed, just no hogging the duvet!" She points her finger at him as she's unpacking.

Danie and Glen had arranged a bachelor and bachelorette dinner for those who were coming to the wedding but weren't able to make the original parties.

Dean was buttoning up his shirt as Alana emerges from the bathroom in a black sequin dress, for a second he forgets himself. "What do you think?" she twirls smiling, he blinks, taking her in "Stunning...absolutely beautiful!"

She stops "you scrub up well too!" She can't believe how hot he looks in a suit. It makes her suck in a breath, she walks over and straightens his ties "better! It was a little crooked!" She smiles, realizing she's a little too close, taking a step back, he looks down at her dress again, "wait! The invite says you have to wear yellow!" She mischievously grins, "yeah, I didn't a yellow dress! Plus, who wants to dress like a yellow canary!"

He knew it was a lie as he's seen her in a yellow dress over the summer, he wonders if she's decided against it because it was his ex that asked for her to wear yellow. "Are you going to be ok? I know you don't know anyone..." she abruptly cuts him off, "we are in the same boat right? I can't imagine you know many of the guys here?" He thought for a second, they no longer ran with the same crowds, that was for sure and he knew Cas, Charlie and Jack declined her invitation.

"You're probably right!" Even Sam wasn't coming because he couldn't get time off work. He started to question why he was even here?! "Hey! I can see what you're thinking! None of that, smile, grit your teeth and be fake happy! Fake it until you make it!" She turns looking at herself in the mirror one more time. "Hey, we should get a photo together! We need to remember this moment!" She picks her phone up from the bed and ushers him over in front of the mirror.

"Ready, say pie!" He shook his head and smiled "Pie!" They both say as she takes the photo.

At the bachelorette...

The girls were meeting in the ballroom of the hotel and the boys in the restaurant walking in early there are only two other women here. She smiles at them, Dean had shown her a photo of Danie taking over ten years ago, but neither of these women looked like her. "Hi! I'm here for Danie's bachelorette dinner?" Both the women smile at her.

"Oh, what's your name, sweets?" the older lady asks, "Alana!" the older lady looks over to the younger one "Alana? Who are you here with?" they both look confused as neither of them recognize her. "Erm..Dean, Dean Winchester." The older lady smiles "aww the one that got away! She's Dean's plus one, Faye!"

"Sorry, can I ask who you are?" Alana smiles, "I am Maria the mother of the bride and Faye is Danie's sister. How is Dean? I still can't believe she let him get away!" she takes a deep breathe "nice to meet you, both of you! He is doing great, and I guess her loss is my gain! Right?!" She smugly smirks, Maria begrudgingly agrees, "yeah, I suppose!" She looks at her dress, "I guess you didn't get the memo about wearing yellow?"

She looks down at her dress, "Oh no! I did, but yellow isn't my colour! Dean calls me Alana banana!" she giggles. Maria disapprovingly chuckles, "right, what are you drinking?" Faye calls over from the table, "Whatever is open, I'm not fussed!" she makes her way over to the table, "where am I sitting?" she looks around the table.

"Oh as you don't know anyone why, do you take a seat next to me?" Faye taps the chair next to her, "Great!" she moves round to sit next to Faye as another bunch of girls walks in, she notices Danie right away with the 'Bride to be!' sash. They reach the table, Danie notices her, Alana stands holding out her hand with a bright smile "Hi, I'm Alana!" Danie looks towards Maria confused "Alana is Dean's plus one." Maria raises a brow to her.

"Dean's girlfriend actually!" Alana corrects her and smiles even brighter, "Oh, hi!" Danie looks her up and down, "Dean didn't tell you we were wearing yellow?" if Alana didn't know any better her tone was bitter, "he did, but it's not my colour! Please forgive me!" She gives her the same disapproving look Maria gave her, "well it's nice to meet you, Danie!"

"Yeah, and you!" she smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.

At the Bachelor party...

He sips his beer, watching the groom and his best men get drunk, luckily Danie's brother Vinnie was there "your girl is at the bachelorette?" Vinnie takes another swing of his drink looking at Dean, "yeah, yeah, she is." Vinnie raises his glass, "how long you two been together?" Vinnie pushes, "six..great months!" Vinnie smiles at him "its clear she makes you happy you've been smiling since you got here!"

Dean smiles and shook his head, she does make him happy, when he's in a bad mood she quickly snaps him out of it. He shook his head, trying to rid his thoughts from his mind.

"Ready boys?!" Dean looks up towards the door where he hears the male voice, "Austin!!" Glen the groom screeched as the pair hug, watching them Dean recognizes Glen's late friend but can't place him. "I thought you weren't coming?" Glen pats his pal's back, pulling a seat up next to him "I can't make the wedding, but I couldn't miss my best pals second bachelor party!!" Austin winks at the groom, "Emilia practically pushed me out the front door!" he chuckles.

"Is she at the bachelorette?" Glen offers his friend a drink, Austin shook his head "Nah, Finley isn't feeling well, I had to collect him from school this week because Emilia hasn't been well either." Dean watches on trying to wreck his brains where he knows him from "Vin, that dude with Glen, who is he?" Dean nods towards Austin, "Glen's douchey mate, Austin. Why?" Vinnie pinches his brows together.

His lips pressed together into a thin line, "I don't know! I feel like I know him from somewhere!”

"He does live in Lawrence, if that helps?!" Vinnie offers, “I don't know, maybe he came to the shop!"

Back at the bachelorette...

The girls are laughing at a joke Faye told "How long have you and Dean been together?" Danie asks Alana pulling her away from the conversation, turning towards her "Oh..err, six months!" she smiles and turns back towards the conversation. "How did you two meet?" Danie asks to pull her away again, her question, feel like she's trying to see how serious they are, "we were neighbours!"

"Were?" she knows she isn't going to be able to go back to the conversation the table is having, "were as in we moved in together last month." She watches Danie's expression drop "Oh! Wow y-you guys have moved fast!" Alana puts on her best smile, "he practically lived at mine for months before. I guess when, you know, you know right?! I mean you know that more than anyone considering you are getting married tomorrow!" Alana kindly reminds her.

"Yeah, can't wait!" She smiles, but Alana can see right through her.

Later...

Walking up to their room Alana finds out their room is right next door to Maria's.

As they walk down the hall, Alana's door swings open, "there she is!" a drunk Dean clings onto the door frame, he notices Maria too "oh h-hey Marina... I mean M-Maria!" keeping up appearances Dean pulls Alana towards him, kisses her forehead and drapes her arm over her shoulders.

"G-good n-night ladies?" his words are slurred, "looks like you have, handsome!" Alana pats against his chest, "Dean, honey! It's so good to see you!" Maria pulls him in for a hug pulling him away from Alana. "Maria, y-yeah g-good to s-see you too!" Dean backs away, pulling Alana against him again like a security blanket.

"You've m-met m-my beautiful g-girl!" he beams at Alana. That one wasn't fake she could see that was a real happy and content smile, he kisses her cheek and looks towards Maria "yeah! We all have!" Alana makes her excuses and leaves Dean and Maria talking while she has a shower turning on the water she can still hear them talking.

"Well, she's the opposite from Danie!" she heard Maria's bitter tone, "s-she is, b-but change is g-good!" She blushed at his words, "my daughter was stupid to let you go!" she heard Dean chuckle as she washed her hair with shampoo.

"I'm glad s-she did, otherwise I-I would have n-never m-met Alana!" she listens out to hear Maria's response but instead hears the door slammed shut.

Washing the suds out of her hair, she grabs the soap and quickly washes herself.

Stepping out from behind the frosted glass she saw Dean sat on the toilet with the lid down, "hey, are you ok?" she towel dries her hair not taking her eyes off him, "D-did you hear t-that?" he looks up at her "I heard some!"

He grins weakly "s-she wants m-me to talk to D-Danie and get her to call off the w-wedding!" Alana frowns, "I guess that was why Danie was quizzing me at dinner!" she dries herself with her back towards him. "W-what did s-she ask?" looking over her shoulder at him "just how long have we been dating and how we meet!"

He heavily sighs, she pulls on her clothes under her towel. "Do you want her back?" he looks up at her.

Does he?

Chapter 7

@secretaryunpaid​ @aussieez​ @gloriousalmondvoiddreamer​ @palmaviolet​ @peonierose​ @rookiemartin​ @reallyloudstudent​ @deandreamernp​ @pixie-b​

[wandas-sunshine]

Strike Three

Summary: Everybody makes mistakes. Your first mistake was telling your family that you were seeing someone when you were just as single as ever. Your second mistake was asking Pietro to fake a relationship to keep your family off your back. Well, maybe that wasn’t such a mistake.

Pairing: Pietro Maximoff x Reader

Word Count: 3,826

You didn’t have the best track record with relationships, you knew that. Even if you didn’t know, your family would have made damn sure to inform you. You knew they only fussed so much because they loved you, because they wanted the best for you. But they were such a headache sometimes.

You were going bonkers now. Your mother was becoming overbearing with her insistence that you needed to hurry up and settle down, and your sister was positive that she could handle the whole thing for you. She herself was engaged, so your mom agreed that she probably knew how to steer you back down the proper path.

And maybe it was the exhaustion of hearing them try to arrange a good relationship for you, or maybe the panic of listening to your sister talk about her new coworker (who was a very impressive man, don’t you know?), but for some reason, you went and said something so painfully stupid.

“I’ve been seeing someone.”

That was nearly a month ago, and your entire family was pestering you for more information. You felt bad avoiding their calls, but you were bluffing and you had barely gotten out of that conversation alive. Your sister was bringing her fiance to Christmas, so of course that meant you were expected to bring someone as well.

Avoiding conversations about your nonexistent boyfriend was growing difficult. You’d been holding out hope that you would find someone by the time the holidays rolled around, but no luck. A real boyfriend would have been ideal, but your frantic attempts at finding someone to play the part also yielded no success.

You had of course contemplated faking a breakup, but that would only further their idea that you couldn’t handle your own love life. You had dug a hole that you just couldn’t climb out of.

So with one week to your family’s Christmas gathering, you were sitting on your best friend’s bed with your head in your hands.

“I am so royally screwed, Wanda. Stevie is going to force me to go out with some accountant or one of Adam’s firefighter friends, and my mom’s gonna make me marry him. Then what?” You wailed. She laughed, finally looking up from her phone.

“Who’s dating an accountant?” Pietro’s voice made your complaints die on your tongue. He was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. With him standing there having heard about your pathetic predicament, you couldn’t help the embarrassment that coursed through your veins.

“(Y/N) apparently. If they don’t find a date to Christmas with their family.” Wanda answered him. You groaned again. “They told everyone that they have a boyfriend, and now they have nobody to show.”

“I’ll do it.” He offered so nonchalantly that it took a second to process. Then you’d sat up so fast that you got dizzy.

“For real? You’ll do it?” You clasped your hands together in a silent plea, and Pietro shrugged.

“Why not. Text me the details,” He left you shouting your appreciation after him as he made his way back to his own bedroom.

A week passed by, and you had confirmed your plus one. You kept the information you shared minimal, just giving his name and saying that you hadn’t wanted to say anything until you were sure he’d be able to come. You were nervous about the whole thing, a whole list of things that could go wrong playing on an endless loop in your head as you tapped against your steering wheel.

A few moments passed before he finally came out with his suitcase in hand. Three nights at your parents home with your sister, and your friend who you’d somehow coerced into pretending to date you seemed like a nightmare. But Pietro’s presence was calming. He sat his bag in the back and settled into the passenger seat. He had the brightest smile on his face.

He buckled in and sorted out the music as you started on the drive back to your childhood home. The quiet between the two of you lasted a while before he broke it.

“So what’s our story, cupcake?” He smirked and turned the music down, looking over as you spared him a confused glance.

“Our story?”

“Yeah, you know. How we met, how we got together. The story we’re gonna tell our kids one day.” Your stomach flipped. What were you getting yourself into?

“Um, I guess we met through Wanda,” You started, keeping your eyes on the road and gripping the steering wheel tightly so you didn’t have to focus on how strange the whole conversation felt.

“And I saved you from some drunk creep at a party,” He started. “I took you to iHop-”

“And we’ve been together ever since!” You finished with a laugh. It was mostly true, everything he mentioned had happened, just not exactly like that. It made you feel a little better knowing that you weren’t lying to your family, just...rearranging the truth.

“See, baby, we’re gonna be just fine,” The sound of the pet name flustered you much more than you were willing to admit. You rolled your eyes and cleared your throat.

“Okay. But if we’re gonna make it, there’s gotta be rules.” You warned him. He motioned for you to go on. “Rule number 1; No saying I Love You. Rule Number 2; No kissing. Not under any circumstances. And Rule Number 3; No catching feelings.”

“Easy peasy,” He chuckled. He didn’t understand why you were so paranoid. There was no way he was going to let them set you up with one of their awful picks for you. No, you deserved better than that. So he’d follow your rules, and he’d save the day if it killed him.

The rest of the drive consisted of him playing music, and the two of you joking around like nothing was any different than it had been from the beginning. But you couldn’t ignore the way your heart stuttered when he’d jokingly call you by those stupid affectionate names, or the way your cheeks burned under his attention. The tension and worry lingered, thinly veiled by his stupid knock knock hokes and classic rock.

It was mid afternoon by the time you pulled into your parents driveway. You were helping Pietro unload the boatload of presents you’d brought along for your family when your older sister came racing out of the house. She squealed and bundled you up into a tight hug like you hadn’t seen each other in years.

“You brought a boy,” She noted as she stepped back, hugging herself against the cold. You bit your lip and nodded a little.

“Stevie, this is Pietro. Pietro, my big sister Stevie.” You stepped back and glanced at Pietro. He had the most dazzling smile on his lips, one that made your stomach flutter. And Stevie certainly seemed charmed enough.

“So you really do have a boyfriend. I was beginning to think he was fake,” She teased. You and Pietro shared a look and he seemed to be barely stifling his laughter. You glared, a silent warning to keep his mouth shut. “They barely told us anything about you. I can see why they were keeping you a secret, if I didn’t have Adam I’d be stealing you away.”

“Well, good thing we’re here for a couple of days. You guys can get to know everything about each other. But can we pretty please get this stuff inside before it gets nasty out here?” You begged, readjusting the armful of gifts you’d grabbed. Pietro huffed and took them easily.

“I can get them, don’t worry.” He insisted. You hesitated a little but he was already following your sister inside. So you grabbed your bag from the back and closed the car up to join them inside.

Once you walked in, you were met by the smell of baked goods wafting out the door. You kicked your shoes off and set your bag down by the stairs. Your family had already stolen your boyfriend- fake boyfriend- by the time you slipped into the kitchen.

“Your favorite kid just got home, but all you care about is the new boyfriend, huh?” You teased, sliding up to hug your dad, then your mom. Pietro sort of liked the way it sounded when you said that. Boyfriend. He knew he wasn’t really the boyfriend, but it was a nice thought.

“You didn’t tell us he was so handsome,” Your mom chided, giving your shoulders a squeeze. Your face flared hot and you glanced at Pietro.

“Don’t worry about me. Your family is great, they’re already trying to feed me.” He smirked. Truthfully he seemed oddly comfortable in the role, but you were glad he wasn’t freaking out. Of course for the sake of not having to date someone with a stick up their ass. But the fact that he was giving you his usual laid-back grin didn’t hurt.

“Why don’t you two go up to your room and get settled in. Dinner will be done soon. (Y/N), your old room is all set up for you two.” Your mom cooed, turning back to the food she was working on. You glanced towards the stairs.

“He’s sleeping in my room? With me?” You asked, glancing between faces. You were used to sharing a room with your sister on the holidays and whatever guys you brought along were usually put into her old room. You supposed that changed now that she was properly engaged.

“Well duh. Adam’s sleeping in my room when he gets here.” Stevie answered. You gave a tiny nod. Made sense. You grabbed your bags and nodded for Pietro to follow you upstairs. He gave a smile to your family and let you lead the way to your bedroom.

Once the door was shut, you groaned and leaned back against it. Once again you were asking yourself the same question. Just what had you gotten yourself into. The idea of pretending to be in love with Pietro was one thing. But now you’d be sleeping in the same probably too-small bed for three nights. That must have been crossing some sort of line. You could sleep on the floor. It was hardwood but you were pretty sure you’d survive it. Or maybe you could take turns.

“Piet, I’m so sorry. I really didn’t think they’d put us in here together.” You sighed. Pietro was too busy perusing your room to really think too much of it. There were still a few pictures decorating the back of the door of you and your family and friends. A couple band posters were left up, and there was a stack of books in the corner. “But now that Stevie and Adam are actually engaged...I’m sorry.”

“Chill, it’s no big deal.” He sat at the edge of your bed and you nodded. It was nice seeing him settle so easily into a space that used to be strictly yours. You supposed it wasn’t so bad to share it with him.

The evening passed much faster than you had expected. The worst part was dinner. Your future brother-in-law had shown up which helped to ease some of the tension. But nevertheless your family was all over Pietro. He reached over and gave your hand a squeeze as you sat down, and you knew he’d never let you down.

Throughout the meal, he complimented your mom’s cooking. He talked about his classes, and about being on the track and field team at his college. Within minutes he had everyone eating out of the palm of his hand.

The most startling part was just the way he talked about you. The way he’d just look at you for so long that it would make your throat go dry, or the way he’d beam when asked about the two of you.

“I just knew when I first saw them that no one else could compare. I love them,” He’d said. And he’d looked at you like he never wanted to look away. Your stomach did somersaults and you’d focused on the mashed potatoes you were poking at.

Strike one.

Once dinner had come to a close, you and your sister worked at clearing the table. Your mom ushered the boys towards the living room to relax while the three of you worked on cleanup. You carried an armful of dishes into the kitchen, depositing them on the counter and drawing up some dish water, but not before flashing Pietro an apologetic smile. He just winked and slipped away.

You stared into the sink, watching the suds as they foamed up. Maybe asking Pietro along was a bad idea. Your dad was becoming pretty buddy-buddy with him, and your mother seemed to adore him already. Your fake breakup was probably going to be harder for them than it was for you.

“So,” Stevie set a last stack of dishes on the counter and smirked. “Pietro is really something, huh?”

You chewed on your lip, giving your full attention to the dishes you were scrubbing clean.

“He’s sweet. And he seems pretty in love with you,” Your mom added. And just like that your heart was leaping back into your throat. Who knew Pietro Maximoff was such a good actor? And who knew you cared so much?

“Yeah, he’s pretty great isn’t he?” You smiled, a sick sort of despair clogging in your chest. “Too good to be true,”

With the three of you working together, the cleaning went by in a jiffy. Soon enough you were settling in the living room with the others. You sat on the couch beside Pietro as they all continued their discussion.

You tried not to tense up as he pulled you closer by your waist without so much as a glance. You slowly relaxed and snuggled even closer. Your head rested against his chest like it was meant to be there, and your arm found its way around him. He was warm, that was all, and he smelled nice...You were selling it, nothing more. Just selling it, even as his fingers moved to play with your hair.

“It’s getting late. You four had a long day, we should all get some rest.” Your dad decided. And with the way you were half asleep in Pietro’s arms, you couldn’t argue.

He carefully maneuvered you off of him so he could stand up. You weren’t sure when the two of you had started holding hands, but yours was clutched firmly in his, fingers intertwined as he pulled you to your feet.

“C’mon baby, you’re sleepy.” He mumbled. You nodded and said your goodnights to everyone before letting him lead you up the stairs. You slipped into your room and dug through your bag for your sleep clothes. Once you’d pulled them out you glanced up at Pietro. He chuckled and turned his back.

Once the both of you had changed, you laid yourself down, watching and waiting for Pietro to join you. The silence as he climbed into the bed was heavy, both of you deep in your thoughts and being exceptionally careful not to cross any lines or take up too much space. You were hyper aware of every breath you took, and of every miniscule brush of skin.

You did not have feelings for him. Sure he was handsome, and considerate. Not to mention how funny he was, and the way he fit in with your family better than anyone else you’d brought home. But it was cliche. He was your best friend’s brother. He was Pietro for fucks sake. Falling for him just wasn’t in the cards.

You didn’t remember falling asleep, or moving a muscle all night, but you woke up in a mess of tangled limbs. He’d slung his arm around your waist and nestled into your chest, and you had flipped your leg over his. He was warm, and you could feel his breath tickling against your neck. That alone had your heart rate flying through the roof.

You were careful not to wake him as you slipped out of bed. He shifted and you froze until you were sure he’d fallen back into his deep slumber. You took a moment, just admiring him all sweet and conked out, his hair a mess and a tiny bit of drool slipping past his lips. Gross. But adorable.

You got ready for the rest of the day and slipped downstairs to find your mom and sister back in the kitchen working on a breakfast spread. You leaned against the door. You could hear Adam and your dad chatting from the living room.

“Want a hand?” You asked. Your mom smiled at you.

“We didn’t want to bother you guys. Where’s the other lovebird?”

You rolled your eyes, but it was too late to hide your smile.

“Still sleeping. I thought I’d let him catch a little extra shut eye.” You explained, moving to help set the table while they cooked. Nobody said much after that, just talking about all of the family gossip you’d missed out on while you were away.

Meanwhile, your mind was drifting to all the ways you could make this up to Pietro. You didn’t have the opportunity to think much on it as he came down the stairs.

He was still tired, you could tell. But his hair was wet from a shower, and he’d changed into a charmingly ugly sweater that clashed with his usual vibes. It was endearing, you couldn’t deny that. He moved to stand by you, arm wrapping around your waist and his hand landing on your hip.

“Good morning to you too, sleepyhead.” You teased. He laughed quietly, but then he pouted.

“You left me.” You smiled and leaned your head against his shoulder.

“You just looked so peaceful. Plus I wasn’t ready to deal with you yet.” You dodged away from him as he tried to grab at you, giggling and stealing away into the kitchen again to grab the platter of pancakes. Your mom and Stevie shared a knowing look that you disregarded.

Breakfast, much like dinner, had gone without a hitch. The two of you bantered the way you always did. He stole a bite from your plate, and you took a drink from his cup in retaliation. As he finished eating, his hand found yours. You gave him a puzzled look, and he simply slotted his fingers in between yours.

The conversation lasted until everyone was finished. Then everyone was ushered to the living room for the gift opening. You and Pietro were still hand in hand when your mom stopped you in your tracks. You were about to question why when Pietro guided you to face him by your hips. Your hands pressed against his - rather firm - chest.

“Mistletoe,” He whispered. Your eyes flicked up, then back to his.You were suddenly very warm. You had rules, and this was seriously not fair. You leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Both of you were fairly willing to call that good. Stevie, however, was most certainly not.

“That’s pathetic. Give him a real one. It’s Christmas, (Y/N)!” She argued. You looked at her, then back only to find that he hadn’t looked away from you.

“Yeah, baby. It’s Christmas.” He half-teased, hoping to ease some of the building tension. You thought on it, considering shattering what was left of your rule into pieces. But before your flustered mind could come to any sort of decision, you were being kissed.

You curled your hands into the front of his sweater, and melted against his lips. They were softer than you’d expected, and the kiss was much less demanding than you had thought it would be. When you pulled away, he brushed his thumb over your jaw.

“Sorry,” He whispered. You shook your head, but you still couldn’t look him in the eye. The urge to feel his lips against yours was a little too strong, and who knew what you’d do if he kept looking at you like that. You pressed your lips together like you could forget his taste.

“Don’t be.”

Strike two.

The gift exchange was exceptionally uneventful after the mistletoe ordeal. Your mind was still wading through the fog when your mom opened the last of the gifts. You were all about to sort everything out and pack your gifts with your things when Pietro spoke.

“Oh, I almost forgot something. Stay put.” He carefully freed himself from where you’d been leaning against him and headed for the stairs. You sat patiently, sharing curious looks around the room. You hadn’t talked about presents.

He only took a moment, coming back with a small box wrapped neatly in pale blue paper. You figured that was Wanda’s doing.

“Here. I don’t know if you’ll like it but…” He passed you the gift, and you smiled at him. You stared at the little box for a long moment before you finally took off the paper. You didn’t notice all the attention shifting to the two of you as you took the lid off.

“Oh my god, Pietro,” You gasped, your hand moving to cover your mouth. Inside was a stunning silver bracelet with several little charms on it. You carefully picked it up and worried each charm between your fingertips. “You shouldn’t have. I didn’t get you anything.”

“You didn’t need to. Look, this one is for that iHop trip, remember? And this one is for the when Wanda introduced us at the beach. And this one is for the butterfly exhibit you made me take you to. Oh, and this is for this trip, see?” He rambled. Tears pricked at your eyes and you giggled. You were in so deep, and the bracelet must have cost him a fortune.

“Put it on me?” You looked up at him and he nodded. There was a pause as he took the bracelet from you and fastened it around your wrist. You admired it with a lovesick grin.

“I’m in love with you.” He spoke firmly, and your heart skipped a beat.

“I love you too, Piet.” You slid your hand into his and he looked down at how nicely your hand fit into his. Like you were meant to be.

“I don’t want this to end,” He locked eyes with you again, praying that you really understood what he meant. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to build up the confidence to confess all over again if you didn’t. But he didn’t need to worry about that. You lifted your hand to cup his cheek.

“Then I’m yours forever, Maximoff.”

Strike three.

And there was so much to talk about, but in that moment none of it mattered. Not when the pretending was finally over, and you were having the best Christmas of your entire life.

[smol-and-grumpy]

Golden Cage - Chapter.01

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: She’s a spoiled little princess — at least that’s what people say. Her father is the King of all Kings, the man who everyone fears. Then, along comes Dean Winchester, the one guy who manages to see into her soul, but — — is Dean really who he says he is?

Chapter Warnings: Threats, angst, fluff too

WC: 6372

A/N: If you want to read ahead, please check out my Patreon. 

Beta’d by: @deanwanddamons <3

Series Masterlist ~ SPN Masterlist

Become a Patron ~ Buy me a coffee

Y/N takes her time to get ready. The party has already started and she hears cars pulling up to the curb outside, hears the doorbell ringing, and doors open to new guests. They’re families of the people who work for her father. Which also means that they are her family, too.

They’re a whole fucking family when she thinks of it. Once they are accepted into the organization, they are treated like they belong.

A whole fucking weird bunch of the Brady’s, she thinks.

Rummaging through her closet, she fishes out some black skinny jeans. She holds them out, sees the ridiculously large amount of holes in it. She can’t believe that she used to wear them in her late teens. Well, she’s going to figure out if they still fit.

She smiles when she sees that they do. Y/N pulls a big hooded jumper in pastel pink over her bra next, and puts her hair up into a ponytail, before slipping into her sneakers. 

In the bathroom, she applies minimal makeup but paints her lips cherry red. 

That’ll do, she thinks. Her dad will be furious, but eh, she doesn’t care.

*

The part of the house she’s in is awfully quiet when she makes her way down from her bedroom. The party is in the back of the house and in their gigantic yard. 

As she walks along the hall, the sound of laughter and chatting gets louder and she takes a deep breath, calming herself down. It’s not her first time attending a family party like this one, but she doesn’t really like people, so. 

Y/N walks out, nodding at familiar faces, but ignores their look of irritation at her outfit, even smirking to herself because she’s accomplished her mission.

When she arrives outside a waiter walks by and she quickly stops him, leaves her hand on his chest and grabs at a full champagne flute. She downs the liquid in one go before she takes another one and downs that too. 

“Great, thanks.” She says and begins to make her way to the front, where she knows her dad is, but before she could reach them, she gets pulled back by her arm. 

She turns to the source and lets out a squeal when she sees her friend Bela. She knew that Bela would be here. It’s Bela’s dad’s goodbye party and god, is she glad that there’s at least one familiar face around here who she can whine to about how hideous these parties always are.

“Good job, babe,” Bela says and elbows her in the ribs. 

“God, Bela, I’m so sick of it.” She sighs.

The other woman chuckles, “Yeah, I can see by the way you’re dressed. You just love to piss him off, don’t you?” Bela knows how rebellious she can be.

She groans, “Don’t even get me started on telling you what happened this afternoon!”

Her friend opens her mouth, but before Bela could ask more, they are interrupted.

“Hey, ladies,”

“Oh no,” Both of the women roll their eyes as Nick approaches. 

Bela whispers to her, “Go on, I’ll hold him back.” Y/N nods at Bela with a knowing look, before she turns on her heels to walk to find her dad. 

As she’s walking away, she hears Bela sneer at Nick and hears Nick muttering something that sounded like bitch under his breath. She doesn’t know if it’s directed at her or Bela, but honestly, she doesn’t really care. 

Walking closer, she sees her dad standing with Bobby and a couple of the capos, as well as Zachariah, the underboss. Dean’s there too. Her heart picks up pace as she notices him. 

“Hey, Uncle Bobby,” She greets the big bear of a man and Bobby’s eyes widen when he sees her outfit.

She looks around and sees her dad rubbing his hand at his temple while Dean presses his lips into a thin line and lowers his face to hide his smirk. 

Bobby wraps her up into a hug, and she lets him. She always liked Bobby’s hugs. 

When Bobby releases her, she turns to her father, “I hope I look nice enough for you, Dad?” 

Her father’s gaze is firm. He doesn’t even bat an eye as he purses his lips into a thin line, but unlike Dean, he’s not smirking behind it.

“K,” She says and looks into the round, “I’ll go and mingle with the others, then.” 

“No,” Her dad says, “Might as well go on with the announcement now that you’re here.” He clinked at the glass he’s holding with the ring on his ring finger. It’s loud enough for the closest people to hear and everyone is whispering hushes as they look at him.

Great, now all eyes are on her too. Not that she can go undetected by the way she’s dressed, but she just absolutely hates attention.

He clears his throat before he begins to speak, “Beloved family. As you all know, our family is gathered together here to say goodbye to one goddamn fine man,” He places his hand on Bobby’s shoulder and Bobby looks down, seemingly embarrassed — or touched, she can’t really read his face. 

Her father goes on, “Bobby here has been the family’s consigliere for thirty years!”

There’s cheering and she too, claps her hands. 

“However, Bobby thinks it’s time to take a step back and we had talked about a successor at lengths, right Bobby?”

“Yes,” Bobby agrees with a nod.

Her father nods back, “It’s top-secret because Bobby and I are the only ones who know it.”

Y/N sees Dean eyeing her, but ignores it because Nick just pushed himself to the front and oh god, she hopes it’s not him. 

“Bobby?” Her dad turns to his friend, squeezes at his shoulder, “Do you want to announce it yourself?”

Bobby nods and clears his throat, “Yeah, uh, as you all know, I’m getting way too old for this shit!”

Everyone’s laughing except for her.

“This family is very important to me and as you know, I would never leave if I didn’t have someone in the pipeline that would live up to the family’s expectations. Someone that could adequately fill my shoes.”

Nick’s face is beaming. A smile of a winner, she guesses and she almost has to gag out loud, but is able to hold herself back.

“So, I’ve been searching around and I finally found someone whom I think will bring greatness into the family. I’ve trained him and transferred my knowledge over to him. Ladies and gentlemen,”

Nick is wiggling on his toes, as he straightens his suit jacket while she gnaws on her bottom lip. God, why does Bobby have to stretch it out? Her heart’s in her fucking pants!

“As a symbol, I’d like to give my colt to its next rightful owner,” Bobby takes his colt out of his holster and walks a couple of steps with it until he’s standing right by Dean, he holds out his colt with one hand while his other hand rests on Dean’s shoulder, “Dean Winchester. Make me proud, son!”

Oh thank fucking god, she exhales audibly. She didn’t notice that she had been holding her breath the whole time.

Y/N looks over to Nick and sees his jaw dropping, sees him pushing himself through the people to get away.

“Thank you,” Dean smiles and takes the colt, quickly letting it disappear into his suit jacket. 

So, his name is Dean Winchester and he’s going to be her father’s new consigliere. She snorts and shakes her head. Her life has just gotten a little more complicated but that’s just typical, isn’t it? She can’t catch a damn break!

The people are still clapping and cheering and her father is shaking Dean’s hand while he signals for the waiter to bring them more drinks. She guesses that she’s off the hook for now. She doubts that her father wants to introduce her to the family in her attire anyway, so she makes her way to the bar. 

Y/N orders herself a shot of tequila and one for Bela as her friend shows up to join her. They down the drinks and both of them squint at the burn. 

“So, that guy looks good, huh?” Bela says, and fucking winks.

“What guy?” She tries to rile up her friend. Of course she knows who Bela’s talking about. She’s not fucking blind.

“Duh! You’ll be living under the same roof with him. Maybe you can get to know him better?”

Oh, shit! She hasn’t thought about that.

“Oh, please, Bela. Dad will be on my fucking case or better on his if he tries something with me. You remember what he did to Adam, right?.”

“Yeah,” Bela sighs, “You might be right. Doesn’t mean that it can’t happen, huh? If you like him enough, Azazel might even be happy about it since Dean’s his consigliere?”

She squints her eyes at her friend, “You know that we’re talking about my dad, right? For all I know he will probably try to arrange a marriage for me when he thinks it’s time to produce kins for the family.”

Bela’s phone rings, interrupting their talk, and her friend looks at the screen, “Shit, he’s here.”

Y/N lifts her eyebrows, “Who’s here?”

“My date. He’s taking me out.”

Right, Bela talked about dating a guy who’s a son to an associate. She stays mum about the name though, saying that she'll reveal as soon as she’s sure it leads somewhere. And honestly, Y/N is jealous that Bela’s allowed to date whomever she wants.

“Oh, have fun!” She says and Bela pulls her into a hug, “Have you seen Nick by the way?”

Bela snorts, “Not after he stormed out after he got butthurt by not being the new consigliere.”

Good, she thinks, he can stay fucking gone.

She orders another shot when Bela leaves and thinks about sticking with wine after. If tonight’s going to be boring, she might as well make it more enjoyable for her, right?

After another two glasses of wine that she downed while she watches people mingling, she takes a step away from the bar to go inside because she needs to use the bathroom. On the steps that lead up to the house, she’s concentrating so much on taking one step at a time so as not to land face down in the tipsy state that she’s in, she bumps into Nick.

“Where are you going?” Nick asks and follows after her. 

Goddammit, she’s not that quick with alcohol in her system.

“Bathroom.” She says and Nick’s faster, so he steps in front, blocking her fucking way.

Y/N annoyingly rolls her eyes and lets out a groan before she pushes past him to break into a run. 

“Come on, Y/N,” He calls after her and hurries to catch up, the clicking of his dress shoes echoing in the hallway. 

“Leave me the fuck alone, Nick!” She growls, and runs a little faster. 

“I just want to talk,”

She turns around so quickly it makes her head spin and Nick stops abruptly, taking a step back as he does, “About what?”

“Don’t you think something’s fishy that your dad didn’t want me as his consigliere?”

Oh god, why should she fucking care?

“Seriously Nick, I need to fucking pee. Maybe you should go ask my dad!”

He looks at her like he’s fucking offended when she should be the one? 

She’s back on her heels and arrives at one of the guest bathrooms when Nick grabs her by her shoulder and makes her turn around. He bends down to her level, his eyes dark and furious. 

“You think that the newcomer will be able to do the job, huh? I’ve been here for fucking years, Y/N! I fucking earned it! I know every little detail of this family.” Nick spits in her face, “I’m the better choice and I’ll get there, mark my fucking words.”

“I’m not fucking scared of your words Nick. If you got beef, go fucking talk to my dad.” She says, in her calmest voice possible. Maybe because she knows that Nick has a gun, and well — she doesn’t.

“No,” Nick chuckles, “I’m telling you, because he trusts you and if you talk to him, tell him what a better choice I would have be—”

“—Hey,” A loud rumbling deep voice rings through the hallway as Dean walks closer to where they are standing. 

There were some more people inside, but they know to look away when there’s trouble unless it concerns them directly. And she’s wondering how long Dean’s been standing there. How much he saw, because it's marble flooring and steps usually echos off on them. Especially when they are wearing dress shoes. But she didn’t hear Dean and she’s usually always aware of her surroundings. 

Dean’s interruption does nothing to scare off Nick, though, who still has a tight grip around her arm. 

“You guys okay?” Dean says as he takes the last couple of steps towards them and she shakes off Nick’s grip with all her strengths. 

“Just let me fucking pee!” She hisses, before she gets into the bathroom and locks herself inside, leaving the men behind.

  Dean saw them while they were on the steps and he watched them going inside. Azazel was still rambling on about something that Dean apparently should keep an eye on, but it’s really just fucking annoying. Dean’s good at what he’s doing, not to toot his own horn or anything. The man just doesn’t know how good Dean really is and he has got to show him. He’s done his fucking homework because Bobby has been a fucking great mentor, and he really doesn’t need to listen to a man talking about doing the dirty work, when he has never done any of it himself in his fucking life.

“Excuse me,” Dean says, and leaves Azazel behind, not looking back as he goes.

He’s risking a lot by doing this, he knows, but he just can’t help it. Nick has rub him the fucking wrong way since Dean met him.

Staying a good distance away, he watches as Y/N storms inside, with Nick trailing behind. 

She’s a feisty thing, he has got to give her that. Won’t be intimidated by big scary men, but maybe that’s because she was brought up around them. And he likes that. Likes women who can fight and fend for themselves. It also makes his job easier if he doesn’t always have to look out for her, but also, it just makes his job a lot harder too, because he can’t deny that he thinks she’s fucking cute the way she rebels against her dad by showing up in jeans with too many holes in them, and a big hooded sweater that makes her look like she’s something delicate that wants to hide in a big cocoon. Of course he didn’t miss the red of her lips. It makes him think of things he knows full well he shouldn’t be thinking.

Dean waited until the last minute to jump in, using his loud voice to interrupt them and it was a good distraction because Y/N could tear her arm from Nick’s grip and get into the bathroom, slamming the door shut in their faces.

“What do you fucking want?” Nick sneers at him and Dean thinks it’s cute how the man is fuming just because he’s not Azazel’s favorite.

He chuckles, “I want you to get your dirty hands off her,” 

“Yeah?” Nick hisses, “Who told you that she doesn’t want it, huh? She and I know each other man, we’re just playing around.” 

“It didn’t look like that to me.” Dean shrugs.

Nick laughs, throwing his head back and all, and Dean really wonders how Azazel can keep that dude around for so long. He’s obviously not right in the head. 

“Dude, she likes it fucking rough alright? We tease each other all the time.”

“NO WE DON’T!” Y/N screams from the other side of the bathroom door, and Dean lowers his face, chuckles to himself silently before he pulls himself together again to glare at Nick.

He raises one of his eyebrows, “You done here?”

“Fuck you,” Nick scoffs and Dean watches him reaching out a hand as if he wants to punch him. Dean’s quicker though, grabs it and pushes Nick against the wall, pins the man there with Dean’s forearm on the man’s shoulder blades, while he twists one of Nick’s arms behind his back.

“Yeah?” Dean whispers close to Nick’s ear. 

The man is sputtering curses under his breath, “You think you’re tough, huh? One day, you’ll slip, Dean. One day you’ll fucking make a mistake and you know what? It’s me who will be in your shoes, it’s me who’s going to punish you for your fucking mistakes. Mark my words.”

Dean lowers his head to Nick’s ear and chuckles darkly, “I’d like to see you try, Nick, I really would. But you know what? I’ll crush your bones first. And if you don’t fucking get your dirty hands off of Y/N, I’ll cut them loose and let you fucking bleed out. How’s that sound? Huh? Will you leave her alone, huh?”

“Fuck you!”

Dean twists a little harder, making the man cry out, “Will you fucking behave, Nick?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay! Fuck! Let go of me!”

“Good,” Dean chuckles darkly, pulling Nick away from the wall. He makes an attempt to straighten Nick’s suit, pats his shoulders and cheeks, “Now, we do try to behave like civilized people don’t we? We’re one family Nick, no fucking room for petty fights, okay?” Dean’s palm slaps lightly at Nick’s cheek twice more.

“Yeah,” Nick agrees, but Dean knows it’s just for show. 

He nods, “Good, now go get lost.” 

To Dean’s surprise, Nick doesn’t put up a fight. Instead, he flips Dean both his fingers before turning around and walking away.

He exhales and leans himself back against the wall, closes his eyes, and mutters a fuck. Maybe he was a little too rough on Nick. It’s his fucking first day as the official consigliere and he’s already spewing death threats. This is just going great, doesn’t it? It’s a whole fucking new environment for him. He knows that everyone has a gun around here, but nobody really uses it because it’s an unspoken rule. That’s why he’s not really concerned about threatening Nick. If something would have happened to the family consigliere, Nick would be shot dead before he could even blink. So at least Dean got the family supporting him because he’s higher in ranks than fucking Nick. That, and he got Bobby’s blessing. 

When Dean’s about to push himself away from the wall, he hears the lock of the bathroom clicking open.

He watches the door open up a tiny bit. The light of the bathroom spills out into the dimly lit hallway. However, Y/N still stays inside. 

He suppresses a grin with his head leaned against the wall as he waits patiently.

“Is he gone?” She whispers from inside. He pushes himself away from the wall, seeing if he can spot a peek of her face looking out.

Dean chuckles when he doesn't see her, “Yeah, he’s gone. You’re safe to come out.”

He stands there and watches as she finally pokes her head out from between the door and its frame, and feels a little offended that she seems like she isn’t quite trusting him. But that’s good too, he thinks, good that she doesn’t trust anyone. It’s an instinct he knows is good for survival in the family she grew up in, an instinct he hopes she’ll never lose.

“‘K,” She says meekly, and is still hesitating at first before she slowly emerges. Y/N looks around again, for good measure, “He’s gone?”

“I heard him stomping out and shut the front door so hard the whole house shook, so yeah, I guess he’s gone.”

“Good,” She breathes out and Dean can hear a sniff. She’s probably been crying in there and it kind of makes him angrier at Nick.

Dean reaches out, places his hand on her shoulder and he feels her tensing beneath his touch, “Don’t worry, I’m here.” He doesn’t elaborate on what his words mean. 

He’s here. 

That’s because he is? He’s here to help, to protect. He’s here when she needs to chase boys away like that stupid Nick. He’s here, planted in the family and he’s not going anywhere soon, hopefully.

“‘K,” Y/N nods, because she understands. He knows that she does, can feel it in the ease of her body. She exhales again before she starts to walk to the back where the party’s still in full swing, “I need a drink.”

He smirks with a shake of his head as he follows her out.

She aims straight for the bar, pushing herself through the crowd and everyone’s making room for her. Of course they do, because she’s the fucking princess around here. Dean follows and they part for him too. He guesses that he has some privilege now, or maybe it’s just the breadth of his shoulders. 

Dean joins her and orders himself a whiskey as he watches her sip on her wine. She tells the tender to leave the bottle here. He guesses that she has great plans for tonight and he’s not really a fan of that plan, but what can he do. He remembers seeing her downing shots before and she had champagne earlier, too. Her head’s gonna hurt like a son of a bitch, he just knows.

“What?” She asks as she notices him staring.

“Nothing,” He grins, “You just seem to be okay after the incident.”

“It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before,” She snorts, “Nick’s harmless. He’s all bark and no bite.”

Dean lifts his eyebrow as he takes a sip from his tumbler, “Is that so?” He asks, a little more than irritated actually. Especially at her statement that it happened before because these things should definitely not happen. And it won’t anymore. Not on his fucking watch.

“Yeah,” Y/N shrugs as if it’s no fucking big deal when he knows it fucking is.

“So, you’re telling me that underneath your sweater you don’t have bruises from the way his hand dug into your arm?” He challenges her, but it’s really just a way for him to make her notice that Nick’s not as harmless as she thinks he is. And Dean hates that he knows the son of a bitch fucking hurt her.

She lowers her face, doesn’t say anything to it because it’s true, and Dean doesn’t actually need a verbal confirmation to know that she was hurt. Her face says enough. He can’t imagine how hard her life must have been to grow up with being exposed to angry and scary men from the age of three. 

“Why are you here?” She lifts her face to ask and Dean frowns at the question. His heart thumps. For a second, he thought she knew but then she looked away again, which shows that she was only curious.

“Because I needed a job?”

Y/N chuckles, “No, why are you standing here with me when my father is over there.” She lifts her finger to point at her father and his entourage.

Oh. Well, he doesn’t really have an explanation for that.

“Did he send you, huh? Did he tell you to talk some sense into me? To stop acting like a spoiled brat and join his fucking business?” Her voice is cracking. She sounds fragile and it’s fucking not fair because it wakes his protective instincts inside of him. He can literally feel it pricking underneath his skin.

“You don’t seem spoiled to me,” He says, smiling a little. 

He says it because it’s true. She really doesn’t. Someone who’s spoiled wouldn’t look past the things Nick did to her, wouldn’t have a rebellious nature because someone who’s spoiled would get everything they desire and would be content with it. He knows that she would get everything she wants and honestly, he’s surprised that she doesn’t want it. 

She snorts, “You’d be the first to think that.” Taking another sip of her drink, she speaks again, “So, did he tell you to come over or not?”

“Nope,” Dean answers truthfully, “I’m still allowed to keep my own mind around here, y’know?” He smirks, “I wanted to make sure you’re okay.” 

“Oh,” She breathes out, “That’s new.”

“What’s new?”

“Nobody ever checks if I’m okay.”

There are little pinpricks he feels in his heart. It must have been absolutely horrible to grow up in a men’s world. He wonders what Azazel thinks about having an only daughter. What he thinks about having a daughter instead of a son who could take over. She sure as hell won’t be able to, he knows that, the men wouldn’t accept her. However, he doubts that she wants to.

“I’m not like the others,” He shrugs and pushes himself from the bar, “Right, now that I see that you’re okay, I gotta go talk to the big boys.” Before he goes, he lowers himself, bends down to be on her level. Dean leans closer, his mouth inches from her ear, “You are okay, right?” He whispers before he breathes in, smells a hint of perfume, smells her shampoo. 

“I am.” She whispers back and Dean stands up straight, smiles a reassuring smile and nods before he walks off to join Azazel and Bobby.

Y/N stays at the bar and downs the remaining wine in her glass, pours herself another right after, and she can see Dean already halfway turning around to probably tell her to go slow on the alcohol but she sends him a glare. Dean sighs before he walks on. Talk about being spoiled.

When she lifts her arm to take the glass, she feels a pain in her arm, and Dean’s right about that too. She’s hurt. Nick hurt her, but she let him and what does that say about her, really?

With her full glass in her hand, she tries to blend into the crowd, and talks to a couple of people she knows because she has to keep up the facade. There are a couple of soldiers who are working under Crowley. They know not to talk to her but she thinks that maybe, with a little alcohol, they all can get over the fact that she’s forbidden fruit around here.

They are hesitant at first when she steps into their round, but to her surprise, they really talk and they joke around while one of them gets her another glass and then another. She’s way over tipsy now because she’s standing on that outer edge of being drunk and if she’s not careful, she’ll slip over and fall into the realms of being pissed. 

Tomorrow morning will be a bitch, she knows that, but that’s a problem for tomorrow.

She’s in the middle of the soldiers, all of them taller than she is, while they chat and generally have a good time away from the big boys and adult conversation. She feels light-headed and giggles when Ed tells a dad joke. And then she feels it, feels an arm sneaking around her waist, feels someone’s broad chest behind her and she leans in. It must be either Max or Aiden because those were the ones standing closest to her.

Y/N leans her head on his chest, his hand spans around her stomach, holding her steady and presses her closer to him, balancing them both. And she’s thankful for that because her legs will give out anytime soon. There’s breathing next to her ear, and then she smells it, smells the cologne that triggers her memory. 

Oh, no.

Suddenly, her surroundings come crashing in. She hears laughter and chatter but not from the group of the boys. No, they are all quiet and they all look away. 

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink, princess?” 

Her eyes widened when she realizes that she’s right about who it is.

Fuck.

“Come on, let’s get you inside.” Dean’s arm is tight around her middle as he turns with her, “Boys, I’ll have a word with you later.” He tells the others and she looks back to see them all disperse. 

Fucking cowards. 

He walks along with her to the steps that lead into the house. 

“My dad! You can’t tell h—” She says and she tries to look back at the crowd but her eyes are hazy.

“—Don’t worry, he knows. He sent me to take care of you.” 

“He sent you?”

“Said it’s one of my duties now.”

“Me?”

“Your temper, apparently. Said I should get that in check. You like to snarl at him — at everyone actually.”

She snorts out a laugh, “Good luck,”

Once inside, Dean lifts her up over his shoulder, his hands are firm on the back of her thighs as she hears a dark chuckle, “Oh, sweetheart, I don’t need luck. By the time I’m done with you, you’re going to purr.” 

  Dean carries her up to her bedroom, his hand steady on her thigh. It’s true what he told her. Her dad really sent him. But maybe because Dean wasn’t really discrete in watching her drinking one glass after the other. She doesn’t look like she can take a lot of alcohol and the stupid boys just brought her more. It seems like Azazel doesn’t even care that she could be vulnerable to the boys in his organization. It fucking irks Dean. 

The boys and she tried to be sneaky, hiding behind the big tree, but he saw it, he always knows, and that’s a trait really. He wouldn’t have this job if he would pay half of the attention he’s paying to notice things. 

When he reaches the door to her bedroom, it feels like she’s sleeping on his shoulders. She feels a little heavier too from the slumber of her body. Dean chuckles as he pushes the door open. As he said, she’d be purring, and he’s not exactly wrong. She’s too drunk and too tired to put up a fight. And that makes him angry too. She of all people should be aware not to fucking let her guard down around fucking vultures of men. They’re not at all nice, and he knows that because he deals with them day in day out. 

Dean crouches down and sits her on the bed, her eyes are heavy, lids fluttering open and close. He places a hand on her cheek, knuckles travel over her soft skin, “You okay?” 

“Mmmhh.” 

He chuckles. Apparently she’s not really okay, but she'll be. He guesses that she will swear not to drink a drop once she wakes up in the morning. 

“Wait here, okay, I’ll go get water and Tylenol.”

He doesn’t wait for her answer, pushes himself up on his feet and walks to the bathroom. He knows that there’s a drug cabinet in every bedroom, finds water in her mini-fridge (that’s right, all the rooms come with that too), and walks back to her. 

Crouching down, he unscrews the bottle and when he’s about to hold that out for her, her hand’s on his. 

“Dean— I—,” 

She didn’t have to say more because he knows. He just fucking knows from the way the color drains from her face. He scoops her up and runs to her bathroom, places her on her knees and pushes up the toilet lid fast enough in time for her to throw up into. 

If someone would have told him five years ago that he’d be working for one of the biggest mob family in the States, he’d say, yeah, most probably because he fucking worked hard to get here. If they would have told him that his job would involve him keeping the hair out of the mob boss’s daughter’s face while she empties her stomach into the toilet bowl, Dean would have laughed into their faces.

Dean’s here now, isn’t he? So he’s going to do the best he can. He rubs her back with one hand while holding her hair back with the other, whispering soothing words to her ear because she’s crying now, too. Everything’s just fucking peachy, really. 

“Shhhh, it’s okay, let it out.” He hushes, and tries not to breathe in too much of the stink. It’s not the worst thing he smelled in his life and it’s actually not that bad compared to all the disgusting smells he experienced in his life. It’s certainly much better than the smell of a corpse that’s been stewing in the water for way too long. 

“I’m sorry,”

She’s sobbing and it almost breaks his heart. She’s too pure, not the bitch he first thought she would be. Not some fucking spoiled princess because if she was, she wouldn’t exactly apologize to him over and over.

“It’s okay, I’m here.” He tries to calm her down.

After a while, the retching stops and he was able to pull her into a sitting position, leaning her back against the tub. 

Dean gets up when he sees that she’s able to sit on her own, finds a fresh cloth and runs it under the cold tab. 

He returns and crouches down, rubs the cloth over her face, brushes at the mascara stains and the remainder of her cherry lips comes off. 

“Why are you doing this?” Her speech is slurred and he thinks it’s cute, even if he knows that he shouldn’t think that. 

Her lips are swollen from his rubbing, looking really kissable right now and something stirs in him, but he ignores it, at least he’s trying his best to.

“Because it’s my job,” Dean answers before he gets up. 

He leaves the cloth on the sink and takes her toothbrush, squirts paste on it, and walks back to her. 

“Say aaah,” He says as he chuckles and holds the toothbrush to her mouth.

Y/N presses her lips into a thin line as she frowns. 

Definitely fucking cute, he thinks.

With an audible growl, she snatches the brush from his hand, “No, that’s not your job.” She says before she begins to brush her teeth.

“Look, I understand that a consigliere’s job shouldn’t involve these things, but your dad is testing me, see if I am worthy.”

“You really want this position, huh?” She reaches out a hand while her toothbrush is still stuck in her mouth and Dean grabs at her to help her up.

Spitting into the sink, she looks at him through the mirror and his eyes meet hers.

“Not my fave position, but yeah,” He grins, and he knows it’s all cocky and bravado. 

Dean’s phone rings when she’s about to say something. He knows that because she was gasping after he dropped that line.

He chuckles before he walks out into her room to take the call, and she closes the bathroom door behind him. 

Her dad calls to ask how things are and Dean explains how he found her and that he’ll make sure she’s alright before he’ll be out again. 

Just when he hangs up, she comes stumbling out of the bathroom and Dean almost didn’t catch her on time. He steadies her, walks her to her bed, looking away when she gets out of her pants and pulls her hoodie over her head. Dean stares down to his shoes, tries not to even think about how she might look underneath because he’s not fucking allowed to.

“You can look now,” She mumbles before he turns and sees her yawn as she settles into her bed. Dean’s cheek turns colorful, blood rushing to his head when he sees her. 

He pulls the cover over her, hands her the Tylenol and water which she couldn’t swallow before, and watches her gulp it down. 

“Will you be okay? Need anything else?” He strokes over her head, smoothing her hair back and lets his knuckles travel over her cheeks before he pulls his hand away, balling his hand into fists at the realization.

He should definitely not be doing this.

Her eyelids are heavy and she closes them, “Can you stay until I’m sleeping? Please?”

Wow, his heart wasn’t broken before but damn well is now. She’s asking him to stay and Dean has a feeling that usually, nobody does. 

“Yeah,” He says, “Sure.” He sits down on the edge of the bed and she curls up on her side, her forehead touches his thigh. 

“Will you go back to the party?” Her voice is a mumble.

“Yeah, I will.”

“Good,” She licks her lips, “Tell Bobby I’m sorry for leaving early.”

“I’m sure he’ll understand and you’ll get to see him more now that he has more time.”

“That’s what they all say. Nobody really has time for me.”

“Is that so?” He asks but when there’s no answer, he turns his head to look at her face that’s now pressed to his thigh, her breathing is even, she has already fallen asleep.

Dean chuckles, shakes his head because he can’t believe that he became a fucking babysitter to the boss’ daughter. But on the other hand, that’s good too, he thinks. Good that it’s him and not fucking Nick who found her because they all know that Nick wouldn’t have gotten her to bed. At least not the way Dean does. 

Jesus, he gets worked up just thinking about what could have happened if it was Nick and not him. 

He places his hand on her head, strokes her hair some more, and waits until she’s sleeping deeply. 

After he makes perfectly sure that she’s sleeping soundly, he bends down to place a kiss on her temple. He couldn’t not do it. Dean leaves and makes his way back to the party. He has a couple of boys he still needs to take care of.

Chapter.02

Please share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear your feedback.

[petersasteria]

Red - Tom Holland

Pairing: Basketball Player!Tom x Reader

Requested? Nah

6k reads celebration on Wattpad x

Tom Holland Masterlist || Ultimate Masterlist

* * * *

Everyone is destined for someone and they're called 'soulmates'. You've always believed in soulmates and you've always dreamed what it would be like to meet them. You never really understood how the soulmate system works before, but as you grew older it wasn't that hard to understand.

You thought you were the only one with this problem, but it was completely normal. Your parents explained it to you when you were younger.

Apparently, everyone is born seeing all of the colors except one. It varies from person to person and it's like that, because it has meaning behind it. The meaning depends on how the said soulmates felt when they met. For your parents, they weren't able to see the color pink until they met. Pink means hope. It gives a sense that everything will be okay.

Your parents met each other at a mutual friend's wedding and coincidentally, they're the only ones in their group of friends that aren't married yet. But they're still hopeful. So they unknowingly went to the open bar together at the reception and when they made eye contact, they were able to see the pink flowers and pink decorations. They smiled at each other and they just knew.

Then of course, they got married and had your older brother, older sister, then you.

Your brother found his at the early age of 9 and your sister found hers at 16. Both of your siblings are now married and engaged and you're now 18 with no boyfriends, no flings, and no soulmate.

After a person meets their soulmate, they go to the soulmate agency to get matching tattoos to signify that they're each other's soulmates. The agency also sets up their date based on the information that the agency has on them. The agency then sends an e-mail to the newly found soulmates' families to inform them on the joyous occasion.

You found it a little bit weird that there's a soulmate agency to do all that, but that's life.

"Chad asked me to homecoming!" Y/B/F squeals. You roll your eyes and turn to her, "Well duh! He's your soulmate! It was bound to happen. Why are you so excited? It's not like he'll ask someone else to homecoming."

Y/B/F frowns, "What's wrong? You never have an attitude unless something's wrong. So, what's wrong?"

You sigh heavily and clutch your books to your chest, "My sister's stressing about her wedding and she's been such a bridezilla and as her maid of honor, I had to deal with her in planning! Her negative energy is rubbing on me."

"Well that's upsetting." Y/B/F giggles. "Anyway, I have to go. See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow!" you call out to her. You then realize that you're the only person in the hallway and you make your way out of school to go home. Just then, someone bumps into you and you fall face first into the ground. Your books are scattered and the very important notes for your sister's wedding are flying away before you even get the chance to get them.

At this point, you didn't care about your books. You didn't want your sister to yell at you again so you immediately scramble to your feet and quickly grab the very few notes that are still on the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" a voice yells. "You're so fucking careless!"

This made you mad.

You turn around to see a boy and for some reason, both of you are experiencing headaches. You look at the boy and the basketball uniform that was grey, is now a very strong and vibrant color of red.

He looks at your grey scarf which is slowly turning red and his eyes widen in realization, "Y-You're my soulmate?"

You were about to say something but he cuts you off, "Ugh, I can't believe this! I can't believe I'm soulmates with someone who can't see where they're going."

"You're the one who bumped into me! If anything, you're not watching where you're going! You made me lose HALF of the notes for my sister's wedding!"

"Well if you stood up faster, you would've gotten all of it!"

"Well if you just paid attention more, you wouldn't bump into me and none of this wouldn't happen!"

"Mr. Holland, are you ready to go home?" both of you look at the man in front of you wearing a tux and he has a serious look on his face. He looks about 45 years old or older.

"I'm kind of in the middle of something here, Bernard." the boy next to you says. "I'm arguing with- with- I don't even know who the fuck you are!"

"Y/N Y/L/N." you snap. "There. Are you happy Mr. Tom Holland, member of the basketball team?!"

He rolls his eyes and scoffs, "I'd be happy if you weren't my soulmate. I've waited for my soulmate for YEARS and this is what I fucking get?! Fuck you, Y/N."

What he said hurt your feelings. It was an asshole thing to say.

"Well, it's not my fault, is it?" you say softly. "I'm just as disappointed as you are, but you don't see or hear me blaming you."

"Pardon me, sir. But if you are soulmates, you must go to the soulmate agency right away." Bernard interrupts.

"I'm not going anywhere with her!" Tom says in disgust which makes you hurt even more. Your own soulmate didn't want you. How depressing.

"But it's the rule. There's a consequence." Bernard says.

"What's the consequence?" you ask. Bernard shrugs, "I'm afraid no one knows, because no one dares to break the rule."

"How does the agency know that we've met, anyway? They're not here. How do they know someone is breaking the rule?" Tom challenges.

"Oh, they're here." Bernard taunts. "They're watching everywhere."

You and Tom couldn't help but feel scared and find that information creepy. Bernard continues, "So, shall we go to the agency?"

"Fine." both of you grumble in response. Both of you are now sitting in the backseat far from each other. You were sitting in silence when Bernard breaks it, "It's really nice to have a soulmate. It's great to know that you'll have a partner for the rest of your life without second guessing. You'll realize that soon."

The car stops and you look out the window to see that you're in front of the soulmate agency's building.

"I'll wait at the outdoor parking lot." Bernard informs as you both thank him and get out of the car. Bernard drives off and you and Tom look at the building.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Tom sighs, walking inside as you follow him.

"I can't believe I'm actually here." you mutter.

You both walk to the receptionist who immediately smiles at you, "Mr. Tom Holland and Ms. Y/N Y/L/N, correct? You met at 2:45 pm outside of your school and now you can see the color red."

You and Tom look at each other in shock. Bernard was right; they're watching everywhere.

"Um, y-yeah. Who-Who do we go to? What happens next?" you stammer.

"Go to the second floor. They're waiting for you." the receptionist smiles and nods at the direction where the elevators are. Both of you quickly walk inside the elevator and press the 2nd floor.

You arrive at the second floor and see only one person there. The second floor was weird. It's only a long hallway from left and right, the elevator doors open at the center of it, so you're greeted by the wall. You and Tom exit the elevator and begin to walk to where the person is. You reach the person and see a woman in her mid 20s.

"Tom and Y/N, I've been expecting you." she smiles and motions for both of you to sit on the chairs across from each other in front of her desk. "I'm giving you your matching tattoos which will be placed on your wrists just like everyone else. So, would you like to tell me why your colors are red?"

"What do you mean?" Tom asks.

"When you saw each other, you both saw the color red. Why is that?" she asks.

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost. I don't know what you're talking about. Does that have a meaning or something?" Tom is confused. He was interested in the thought of soulmates, but he wasn't aware on how it works.

"Red means anger." she shrugs. "So why were you both angry when you met?"

"I wasn't actually mad at him. I was just having a bad day. My sister's getting married and she's all bridezilla and she made me write down important notes for her special day." you confess. "Now half of those papers are gone and I can't even imagine how angry she'll be when I get home without those."

"I wasn't mad at her too." Tom sighs. "I got a D on my paper on history and I really worked hard on it. I got so mad and yeah... here we are I guess."

She grins, "Your matching tattoos will be paper, because that's what made you mad." She starts preparing her tools and does both of your tattoos. After some time, she finishes and smiles at the both of you, "You may now go to the 3rd floor where you can see each other's files."

You and Tom thank her and leave. Both of you look at your matching tattoos as you walk to the elevator.

"You know," you start. "I guess it's not that bad."

He shrugs, "I guess. Sorry about what I said. I was just so mad and stuff."

"That's okay. I'm sorry too." you both enter the elevator and press the 3rd floor. You arrive there and the third floor is the same as the second floor. This time, there are three people there. The one in charge and the soulmates.

As you walk closer, you can hear them giggling. Soon, the soulmates stand up and happily leave. The one in charge is a lady who looks 30. She motions for both of you to sit down on the chair that are next to each other in front of her desk.

"I've now sent an e-mail to your families and I've now set a date for both of your families to meet. Now, it says here that both of you strongly dislike Halloween. Why?"

"I've had a bad experience." both of you say at the same time and look at each other in shock after that.

"Well, let's give it a good experience, eh?" she winks. "Your first date will be on the 31st of October."

"Why so far?" you ask.

"Well, your files say that both of you are extremely busy and you're unlikely to arrange something."

"Okay, but why Halloween?" Tom asks.

"Like I said, it's to give you a good experience." she chuckles. "Besides, you might end up loving that day, when you go on a date together."

You and Tom stay silent, still not believing that this is all happening.

"Okay, you may leave now." she says.

"What happens after the first date?" Tom asks.

"You're free to do whatever you want, but you must stay loyal to your soulmate. You're technically dating at this point, but you have the freedom to officially ask her to be your girlfriend at any time after the first date." she answers.

"Why ask her to be my girlfriend after the first date? Why not before?"

"Normally, people ask someone to be their girlfriend after the third date and that's the formal way. But you have the freedom to ask whenever after the first date. Besides, you wouldn't have time for each other at the moment. That's why I set the first date on the 31st of October, remember?" she chuckles.

"Right." Tom nods. "Well, thank you." Both of you stand up from your seat and she calls out, "I'll see you again when you propose!"

-

"Bernard can drive you home." Tom says as you and him walk to the outdoor parking lot. You shake your head, "Nah, I'm good. I'll just walk home or catch a bus."

"Y/N, don't be silly. You're my soulmate now and I'll blame myself if anything happens to you." Tom blushes. You giggle, "Fine. Only because I don't want you blaming yourself for anything." You smile at each other and you both get inside the car.

Both of you sat close to each other and both of you knew that things will be different from now on and things will be alright now that you have each other.

* * * *

Thought I'd write a soulmate au but like it's super different from what you usually read sksks

Tagging my mutuals: @fanficparker @myblueleatherbag @sweetdespairbarnes @justasmisunderstoodasloki @tommysparker @marvelousell @lcvelyparkers @lovingsiriusoswald (thanks for helping me sis uwu)

[joonsdiary]

the first date

↳ part two of the: (not) the love of my life series

pairing. ceo!seokjin x hotelier!reader (female) genre. arranged marriage au // humour with a dash of fluff and a sprinkle of angst word count. 3,0k

chapter summary. having your first date after getting proposed to definitely seems backwards, but you’ll do anything to keep a semblance of ownership of your hotel.

     ⇀ alternatively. will seokjin live up to his reputation and sweep you off your feet? or will it be just another business meeting for you and him both?

the proposal | the first date | the ceo’s keeper | the engagement

“Did he say eight on the dot? Or a little after eight?”

Your heels clicked against the marble floor as you paced back and forth at the lobby of Hwang Hotel, irritating Joohyun who stood behind the front desk. You were unsure why you were feeling nervous like a teenager. It wasn’t like you haven’t gone on dates either — you had just gone on one yesterday, no matter how terrible it had been.

“You’re making me nauseous,” she deadpanned but her complaint did nothing to deter your rhythm.

“Good. I’m glad I’m not the only one.”

“What’s got you so jittery, anyway?” she picked up a clementine from the complimentary bowl in front of her and began peeling the fruit carefully. “I thought you said this morning that you weren’t going to let him under your skin.”

“I’m not,” you snapped at her, but she only gave you a smirk. “I’m just unsure how this will go. He’s practically well-versed when it comes to the female anatomy.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she teased, and the realization of your statement sent your pulse humming. You snatched a piece of orange from her, the taste of citrus reminding you of the night prior. “The bashful look on your face says it all, honey.”

She winked, and you could only reply with an eye roll.

“You’ll be fine, I’m sure you’ll knock him dead with your usual charm.” Joohyun encouraged.

“I don’t even know if we’re on the same playing field,” you chewed the bottom of your lip nervously.

“If anything, you’re way out of his league. Trust me.”

You rolled your shoulders back in an attempt to calm down.

“You’re right. If anything, this will be exactly like a business meeting. I mean, it’s not like any of this is real anyway.”

But the façade can only go so far before you began breaking down once more.

“Why did I even agree to this?” you groaned, leaning the weight of your hips against the cold marble desk.

“Because,” Joohyun leaned over and grab both your shoulders, “you love this place too much to see it be gentrified by those good-for-nothing billionaires.”

“I don’t know…this place could use a little fixing up.” You turned your head to see Seokjin, immaculate as ever while donning a grey slim fit suit that accentuates his broad shoulders.  His shiny black shoes glint underneath the bright lights of the hotel, and you think to yourself how much more expensive they probably were than your whole outfit alone.

“Future wife.” He greeted, right hand hovering the small of your back. You flinched away from his touch and his frown doesn’t go unnoticed by you.

“Mr. Kim.”

He inhaled sharply through his gritted teeth and Joohyun snorted, unable to hold back her own amusement. It was your turn to wink at her before turning to address Seokjin.

“Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. Let me just grab my coat.”

                                     *  *  *

“Where are we going?”

Seokjin stopped at a red light, loosening his grip on the wheel before turning his full attention towards you.

“You know that new restaurant a few blocks from— ”

“Absolutely not,” you looked up at him in horror, and Seokjin’s eyebrows raised inquisitively. “I was there last night, and it was the most terrible experience I’ve ever had. They barely served real food.”

You rolled your eyes and shivered with disgust to make your point, but Seokjin was more interested in why you were there, instead.

“You were there last night? Don’t take this as an insult, but I didn’t peg you as the type.”

The light turned green, and he cursed the traffic from taking his attention away from you.

“None taken. It was totally not my scene. But if you must know,” he felt you shift in your seat as you continued, “I was there for a date.”

Oh.

Unprompted, Seokjin swerved to the farthest lane on the right, jamming his foot on the break. This sent you hurtling towards the dashboard, but the seatbelt thankfully held you back from getting hurt.

“Chateau’s it is,” Seokjin said resignedly. He didn’t like the new place either, anyway. It was more of his younger brother’s scene rather than his. He wasn’t sure what type of restaurant you preferred — or if you even cared for that matter — so when Taehyung suggested an allegedly popular place that had just opened, he’d agreed.

“A little warning would be nice.” You grumbled under your breath, but he didn’t make the effort to apologize.

He pulled his foot away from the break as he steered to the left, swiftly making a U-turn.

“Nice to know my fiancée is going around on dates. The press will love that, for sure.” Seokjin aimed for nonchalance, but his voice dripped with discontent more than he wanted it to.

“Oh, please, I barely garner any attention. And it’s not like we’ve officially revealed our engagement, so the public has no reason to speculate,” you stated pointedly.

She’s right, Jin. Be reasonable.

“Also, I was doing it out of spite for my parents.”

“Of course.”

Did that mean the dress you wore when he came by Hwang Hotel was because were on a date with some random egghead hours prior? The thought had him gripping the steering wheel tighter until his knuckles grew white. He thought you looked breathtaking in a classic mini black dress with your legs that went on for days. Seokjin licked his lips, his mouth running dry. Lucky bastard, whoever he was.

His eyes flitted briefly to your knees, only to discover it’s covered by cream-coloured slacks. Disappointment coursed through his veins when you’d dressed up more like a business arrangement rather than a dinner date.

Duh, this is a business arrangement.

“Besides, weren’t you also on a date just a few days ago? Daily Gossip said so.” He smirked at your accusation, and from the dim streetlights they passed through he could make out your unimpressed expression.

“You actually read that tabloid crap?”

“No. Yoongi told me.”

He did a double-take on the unfamiliar name. Was he the lucky date from last night? Seokjin would have to figure that out later.

“Don’t worry, future wife. Unlike you, I’ve been a faithful fiancé,” Seokjin grinned wickedly, liking your stunned expression a little too much. “It was strictly business.”

“With the president’s daughter?” you pressed on, unknowingly feeding his ego.

“Aren’t you ever the little sleuth,” he turned to you before winking. “We’re here, fiancée.”

He exited his side of the car before promptly opening your door. He took your hand, before placing it on the crook of his elbow.

                                     *  *  *

Seokjin ate up the attention like he was a man who hadn’t had a proper meal in weeks. You had your doubts about actual paparazzi showing up, but despite the last-minute decision to hightail to Chateau’s, the camera’s flashing in his direction. To be fair, it’s not as if they were all professionals; some were regular folks who just so happened to recognize him. You secured the loose strands of your hair and slid away from him without him noticing.

The moment of unbridled freedom only lasted a few seconds, as he wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you closer towards him. He leaned forward, lips brushing the tips of your earlobes.

“Don’t you dare move away when the cameras are pointed right at us,” his voice rumbled low in his chest, sending a shiver down your back where his hand rested comfortably.

“Um, we didn’t make a reservation. Unless you own the place, I don’t think we can get in on a whim,” you gathered your hands in front of you, unsure where to place them. Seokjin looked at you with slight amusement tugging the corner of his lips. Your eyes widened in late realization. Of course, he owns the damn restaurant.

As soon as he waltzed in the place, the waiter did not even bat an eyelash and immediately guided you to a semi-secluded spot near the back. It felt low-key enough for a private conversation, while also allowing a few eyes to speculate and linger.

“What would you like?” Seokjin asked as he flipped through the menu with a blasé attitude. You watched the waiter pour champagne in two flute glasses.

“Anything goes for me,” you shut your menu with a soft thud, not bothering to go through the whole list. You weren’t really feeling like dinner anymore, craving Yoongi’s sweet and sour fried chicken, instead.

Seokjin eyed you with suspicion, but you gave him a curt smile. He handed the waiter the menu and proceeded to order an array of delicacies without a pause. You’ve been to Chateau’s only once during your college days and only because you lost a bet, so it was probably safer to let him handle everything.

“At this point, I won’t be surprised if all the property in downtown Seoul belongs to you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t purchase government buildings.” His arrogance seemed to prickle your skin, and every second he kept that ridiculous smile on made you want to claw your eyes out.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” you folded your arms protectively as the fabric of the blouse you wore chafed the skin on your forearm. It took you awhile to put together an outfit that didn’t seem to forward or eager (because you definitely weren’t eager) so, you went with something you would normally wear to work.

“You weren’t about the lawyer life your parents had, so you decided to go into business?”

Nodding mutely, his inquisition brought about your parents’ disappointed faces at your refusal to take over the family’s firm. Being their only daughter, your estrangement only placed a wedge on your already strained relationship. You were never attracted to their uptight lifestyle, and perhaps if you had a different outlook on how other lawyers’ lives were, you’d change your mind.

They weren’t always like that, however, especially your father. But things started changing when they you realized they were grooming you to become like them, which was something you didn’t want.

“Something like that.”

“You weren’t aware of them selling the hotel, though?”

“No. I was idiotic enough to trust them with the financial side of the business, thinking they’d somehow have better insight than me. They never mentioned the hotel had been swimming in debt for a while now,” you heaved a sigh as the food arrived. Undeterred by the presence of the waiter, you continued. “Then again it’s probably what they wanted so I’d crawl back to them and ask repentance for my sins.”

“The prodigal son,” he suggested. You laughed softly, nodding. “Is that why you’re pushing to finish your masters?”

“Colour me impressed, Mr. Kim. Your research is thorough,” he rolled his eyes, motioning for you to finish your story. “Yes. I only have this year left, and I’ll be done with my studies. I’m assuming you did the same?”

Seokjin shook his head, fiddling with a piece of meat on his plate with the silverware. “I could only stick it out for four years.”

“Because you were certain of your future as CEO.”

His head dipped in agreement. Must be nice to not have to question your own future.

“Until recently.”

“Well,” you smiled, picking up your flute glass in a mock toast. “You’re welcome. I’m here to whip you up in shape and help you secure the bag.”

“I’ll be forever indebted to you,” he raised his own glass before sipping, eyes not leaving yours.

“That’s not necessary. That’s why you’re returning my hotel to me, right? We’ll be even. Fair and square.”

He smirked but as soon as he saw your plate, his mouth formed into a straight line.

“Chateau’s cuisine not up to your standard?”

“It’s not that at all.” You stabbed your fork and brought the food to your mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing with difficulty. “Slightly traumatized by last night’s dinner, still.”

“With Yoongi?”

Your friend’s name rolling off Seokjin’s tongue was something you hadn’t expected, so you choke on your food slightly. You reached for the champagne, downing the whole glass. Seokjin reached for the bottle, giving you a refill.

“No,” you gave him a curious gaze. “I don’t even remember the guy’s name.”

He nodded mutely, but his aura had shifted once more from laid-back Seokjin to business Seokjin. You were sure you’re going to leave this restaurant with a whiplash.

“So…” you began, unable to bask in the uncomfortable silence any longer. “How did you get the epiphany?”

“What epiphany?”

“This whole I’ll-fake-being-in-love-so-I-can-convince-my-father-to-retire-and-hand-me-his-position charade.”

Seokjin’s expression was stoic as he answered. “It was Taehyung who suggested it.”

You sifted through your memory in an attempt to put a face to the name. When you didn’t say anything, Seokjin filled the gap for you.

“My youngest brother.”

Right. Three strapping sons of the Kim family.

You were ready to bring up more small talk to prevent the atmosphere from spiralling. But it was as if Seokjin remembered the whole purpose of the two of you being here and dove right to business.

“The engagement is going to be announced next week on a Friday, in case your parents haven’t told you.”

You nodded despite being unaware.

“The wedding is on Saturday — exactly three weeks from now. You don’t have to worry about the planning; I believe my side of the family is doing all of that. I convinced them to make it a small event, much to my mother’s chagrin.”

He rolled his eyes but didn’t elaborate further.

“It’ll be happening at my estate instead of Kim Hotel’s wedding hall. I thought the change of scenery would make it more intimate and believable, especially if it’s happening in my house.”

“Wait, back up — your estate?” you gave him an incredulous look.

“Why is that so shocking?”

“I thought you lived atop that lonely tower of yours, Rapunzel. I didn’t know you have a castle.”

Seokjin’s mouth curled up in the slightest, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.  

“It was something I bought for myself after being COO.”

You felt like there should be a but that followed, but it never arrived.

“I’ll mail you the prenuptial agreement and anything else that requires your signature. It’s nothing we haven’t talked about before, but I’d like you to read it thoroughly in case I missed something.”

“No.”

Seokjin’s head snapped up in confusion. The momentary show of emotion was a welcomed event.

“I’ll visit you in that giant building of yours and sign whatever you need me to. We’re supposed to be in love, so it would look better if I’m there because I just can’t resist seeing you.” You said the last words sardonically, not one hint of truth within them.

“Good catch, fiancée.”

The lightness in his tone made your heart leap, and you cursed yourself for being so weak. But the feeling doesn’t last, so you told yourself it’s just something new to get used to. Kim Seokjin wasn’t going to be a permanent fixture in your life, so you’ll have to find a way to keep him at arms-length but the same time, somehow stay unaffected by his hot-or-cold nature.

As the night wore on, and the vibrant atmosphere you initially had with Seokjin faded, completely flatlining by the end of dinner. Prior to getting on his red Porsche, he’d kissed your forehead while you stood stiff as cardboard. You asked him to drop you off at your hotel instead of your apartment and he did without much question.

“Night, Rapunzel. Have fun in your tower.”

Seokjin shook his head, lush lips forming a small grin. Maybe being fake-real-married to him wouldn’t be so bad.

Mr. Park’s friendly face greeted you as soon as you entered, and one look at the front desk told you Joohyun had gone home for the night.

“Yoongi?”

“I’m afraid I didn’t see him come through today.”

“Oh,” you slouched defeatedly. Yoongi usually had weekend shifts, but this is probably a rare night when he’s off. You’d just have to fill him in through texts, then. “Thanks, Mr. Park. Have a good evening.”

“You too, Ms. Hwang.”

You made a quick beeline for Grigio, wanting to get coffee before you head up to your office. Jungkook’s familiar face behind the bar was a welcomed sight.

“I’m glad you’re here, at least,” you groaned, slipping into your usual spot. It was a little bit more hectic than the previous night, as Jungkook was evidently joined by another bartender you don’t recognize.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Hwang, I won’t be able to cook your cure-all soup for you,” Jungkook teased, pouring the contents of the cocktail shaker into a martini glass.

“I don’t need that tonight, thank god,” you propped both your elbows on the table and rested your chin on your palms. “I do need the best coffee you can possibly make for me tonight. I’ve got lots of work waiting for me upstairs.”

“You’re not staying?”

“Nah, I don’t want to bother you. It seems busy here tonight, which I’m glad, of course.”

He looked like he wanted to say something more but instead, he bit his lip and nodded. While he busied himself with preparing your coffee, your mind lingered to the night’s event. Sure, you hadn’t stayed long for a casual chat, but you did get a lot accomplished. The two of you coordinated on which days you were both free and planned a few more dates.

You can do this, Y/N. Just tough it out through the wedding and a few months of pretending. Then you’ll have everything you want.

Hope blossomed in your chest as determination coursed through your veins. You were never the type to back out of anything, so you were more than willing to leap over a few hurdles on the way to your end goal. As long as you kept your head clear of any other obstacles, winning the prize will be an easy feat.

NEXT ;

hope you enjoyed! feedback is always appreciated ♡

[just-some-random-blogger]

One Million In One Day | 8

GOT7 SugarDaddy!Jackson Wang x Reader + Park Jinyoung x Reader | Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ? Characters: GOT7 Summary: His mother’s final wish is to see him be happy in a relationship, knowing that Jackson would be fine when she left him. But, damn, he didn’t have time for relationships, especially not since he was busy running his father’s billion dollar empire, thus the compromise: you. Word Count: 4k+ Warnings: Stalking, fighting, cursing, mentioning of illness, TYPOS, etc.

Preview | Alternate Moodboard | Chapter 8 Teaser

A/N: i made a moodboard for this chapter because i needed the will to keep going cough cough but made it into a teaser cuz i write slow

Yall this is also the longest chapter ive written for anything lololl

"Hey Jackson," I mutter and turn from the ice cream cone in my hand to his clear smooth face, "not to sound greedy-- purely out of curiosity and to prepare myself..."

Jackson looks at me, brown eyes widening in expectation.

"Am... I gonna get paid again?" I said speaking lowly at one particular word.

He gives me a blank expression, and I follow it up quickly, raising a hand, "Can I just... not?"

He lets out a sigh and shakes his head, "Baby," he cuts himself of by licking the dripping the melted ice cream on the side of his cone that was trickling its way down to his fingers. I found myself gulping. He takes a bite and turns back to me, "a deal's a deal. I don't want to come off as a cheat."

"No but you won't cause it's-it's my request!"

He thinks as he eats his dessert. I purse my lips, "I honestly don't know what to do with it anymore. I paid my loads, have a whole new wardrobe and a whole fridge of food. I even payed my rent for the rest of the year and that still wasn't enough to get rid of it all. I had to get my friend help me burn the money and keep my sanity in check. I bought him a laptop and everything."

"Oh," Jackson pulls his head back and knits his brows, "you told Jinyoung?"

"What?" Part of me panics when I hear him say that name. 

Once the question registers in my head I shake my hands, "No, no, no. I told Mark, my other friend. And well, my roommate Nari, because there is no way she wouldn't find out about it anyway." I turn to Jackson and finish the rest of my ice cream. "You remember her, Nari? She was with me, uhm, when I was fitting that green dress."

Jackson's poker face shifts into a smile, "Ahhhh, yeah."

For a moment, we finish off eating and throw away our trash without words.

 "Who else did you tell?"

I turn to Jackson who starts walking off again. I follow after him and purse my lips in realization of what he could possibly be insinuating, "Oh, uhm, just them. And I may tell Jinyoung after this. Am... am I not supposed to? I mean I didn't really-- they don't... I trust them..."

Jackson shakes his head and breaks into a nervous laugh, "No. No. It's just... no offence, I don't doubt the fact that they can't use this against me. It's just," he chuckles, "usually the fake dating goes both ways. I dunno, it's a first that I don't have to worry about seeing your family too."

I can't help but break out in a laugh, "yikes. Sounds like a nightmare."

"Gosh, you have no clue."

 We trail off for a while. I break the silence this time, "So... do we have a deal?"

Jackson turns to me and lets out a breath, "Oh no, absolutely not."

I do a double take and pull my had back, "What?"

"Hearing myself say that aloud makes me realize how unfair this arrangement is to you. And it's making me feel uneasy, like I want to punch myself." He knits his brows and stuffs his hands in his pockets, "you have go around meeting all these people in environments you're not used to, in clothes that aren't yours," he lifts his thumb and point behind him with it, "having strange men follow you around." He releases a breath and turns to me, "and all you get out of that is paper."

I can't help but frown at his conclusion. It was plain to see how opposite our worlds were, with the mere way we value money. It made me feel lucky, honestly, that even though I wasn't rich, I had friends and family, their love around me, something this lonely billionaire evidently lacked.

"Listen, sweetheart. I don't mean to make you feel bad because of this, but, you have a lot of money, I don't. I don't have the need to focus on a massive business and to hear people around me nag about my love life, you do. The other gives what is needed and takes what the other has in excess. I don't know about you, but that seems like an awfully beneficial deal to me."

Jackson snickers after I spoke, "smart."

I smile upon hearing that.

"One of the things I like about you."

Wh- one of the things he--

"Alright Ms. Business Major. I see you learning in your classes."

I release a laugh at that and so does he. "But if anything, sweetheart," he stresses and leans down. I feel my neck and ears burn, "what? You can call me baby, but I can't call you sweetheart?"

He laughs, "No, no, it's cute. Please do." He turns his gaze forward, "this just further proves that I need to take care of you in the only way I can."

I groan and screw my eyes shut, "Jacksoooon." And here I was thinking that I actually got through to him.

"Ya. Why are you so rude? Are we same age?" He playfully glares and barks, "Oppa. Oppa."

I groan again and glare at him, "Oppa!"

He smiles and nods, "That's better."

I whine and stomp my feet, "Ahh! But I don't need it! I still have job!"

"What?" Jackson snaps, "you haven't quit your job?"

"Uh, no duh? How else am I gonna get pocket money?" I say, knowing he'd understand the fact that not everyone accepts a black card. Also, it was empty.

"The how'd you pay for your taxi?"

"I borrowed money from Mark."

Jackson's eyes blew in shock. He mumbles lowly and raises his hands, "my sugar baby needs a part-time job and borrows money."

 "Okay, listen," he starts, tapping his chest with his finger tips, "just let me do my thing." He, out of the blue, takes my hand and we continue walking. "I have to go back to work after this, but later I'll come pick you up because you need to meet my mom."

I nod slowly up heaing this, "Oh."

"And clearly now, you've made me realize this is two dates-"

"Jackson-"

"-shut up or I'll kiss you."

My jaw is left hanging. 

Jackson turns to me and holds back a laugh, lips curling into a smirk. 

"As I was saying, you have also pointed out that I really haven't being fair to you. Up, up, up-" he raises a hand and cuts me of before I could even begin. He lets go of my hand and links my arm with his. "Right. So, I've been used to having arrangements with women with excessive tastes that can blow off a million in one day. And more, who am I kidding. Which is why," he turns to me. 

I turn to him and he smiles, "I'm letting you cash out."

"Cash... hold on, wha-- cash out?"

Jackson seems confused and knits his brows for a second, and then bursts into laughter when he realizes, "Oh, no. Not like end this. No way! I still need you." He tugs on my arm and pulls it to his chest, embracing it as if he meant it personally. 

He giggles, "I mean like, I'll let you withdraw money."

I gasp and turn to him, "Oh my gosh, really?!"

"Yeah," he nods, "I mean you can only withdraw anything from that one bank, but yeah. You deserve that at least."

"Oh my gosh thank you!" I grin and pull away from him, only to be able to hug him tightly. I hold him for a few seconds and smile brightly when I let him go, "I could send my parents money. I could-- I could-- WOW!"

Jackson breaks into laughter.

"Okay, now, come on, I'll drive you home."

 With that, Jackson and I retrace our steps and find our way back to the car. The men following us seem to have gone away, to which I am relieved. We walk hand in hand, and he's doing all the talking. I watch as he laughs and wonder how he could talk about such stories, like getting his foot stuck in the toilet one time when he was younger, and still look so poised and handsome.

Jackson is playful all the way to my apartment. It made me happy, as I remember the last time I drove with him, back when we went to a party, he was pretty glum.

"You shouldn't let them get to you too much, Jackson." I speak up after our conversation about whatever popped up into our heads.

Jackson knits his brows and spares me a glance, "What do you mean?"

"Remember last time, after going to the party? You were pretty quiet, and it was kinda concerning."

He doesn't reply for a moment. When he does, he speaks half-playfully, "you're concerned about me?"

"No duh, Wang-Wang. You've been nothing but kind to me, and I'm the type to take care and check up on my friends."

He nods his head, "Well... thank you for... the concern, but that wasn't why I was quiet on pur drive back. I couldn't give two shits about whatever those rich bozos think. I just want them out of my business, babe."

I knit my brows, "Huh. Then why were you?"

Jackson chuckles and pulls on the collar of his top. "It's kinda complicated.” He turns to me, then back to the road to chuckle, “To a point where I'm not even really sure yet about it. But, uh, for what it's worth, if I figure it out, I'll tell you."

I hum, "well, are you sure you can figure it out by yourself? Sometimes all it tales is to say it aloud, y'know."

Jackson turns to me and offers a smile, "I know. But I don't want this to become real, and I'm pretty sure if I say it aloud, it will."

"Oh... well, I get that."

 Soon after, we arrived at my place. I turned to give Jackson a smile goodbye, but I was shocked when he moved in to give my cheek a kiss. He pressed his lips against skin, and I immediately felt the area burn, as if he was scorching hot. I’m glad I didn’t move yet, cause if I had moved any sooner, Jackson and I would've had to a disastrous lip lock--or teeth lock at that..

"Thank you for today," he says simply, close to my ear. I could smell his cologne.

My cheeks burn. Once he pulls away, I turn and gape at him for a second, "shouldn't I be the one saying that?"

He purses his lips and chuckles, "Not at all." 

For a moment, I just sit there, not knowing where to look and where to place my hands. Jackson smiles, and proceeds to cackle. It’s pretty obvious that he is pleased with how obviously I'm affected.

I feel my face redden, but I can't help myself and growl. I shove him and glare, "Next time, a little warning will suffice."

The man across me seems baffled by my action and tenses up only to burst out laughing all giddy "Mianheeee."

He shuffles in his seat, “Before you go,” and pulls out his wallet, “here... pocket money.”

He pulls out all the cash in his wallet and my eyes widen. I raise my brows, “That won’t be necessary, oppa.”

He shoots me a look and grabs my hand, “Oppa thinks otherwise.”

“But you’ll be paying me later!” I protest, trying my best to to actually grab hold of the money. “You’re even going to let me cash out, so this is all unnecessary.”

Jackson huffed, “Consider this as a bonus.”

“I don’t want a bonus!”

“Well, you either take it... or... or else I won’t talk to you again.”

For a moment, I look at him with a dumbfounded expression. I ask, “You do know that is worse for you than it is for me right!”

“Ugh! Just take it! I don’t have any leverage! I never thought I’d ever have to force someone to get my money.” Jackson whines and shakes his body in annoyance. “Just take it!” he groans, “It’s not like it’s a bribe. Just use it to pay Mark.”

“That is way too--”

“TAKE IT!” he screams, successfully planting the money in my hand, as his shout took me off guard. I awkwardly look around and Jackson shakes his head expectantly. I purse my lips and fold the paper, shoving it to my pockets.

Jackson smiles in content and pats my head. I scoff. I proceed then to remove my seat belt.

He watches as I do so and then asks, "You want me to walk you?"

I shake my head, "Oh, no need. I can manage."

“You sure?”

I turn to him and nod,  “I’m sure, Jackson.”

“Jackson oppa.”

I roll my eyes, “I never should’ve voluntarily called you that.”

He chuckles. 

I exit the car and wave him off dismissively the moment I'm out. He waves goodbye and drives away.

 By the time he's gone, Nari is running towards me like the fumbling mess she is. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, was that him?! I can't believe I missed him! GASH!"

I scowl at Nari and nudge her, "stop being such a loud mouth."

She huffs and turns to me, hands on her waist, "You have no clue how jelly I am."

I roll my eyes and walk inside. She follows quickly, "What are you gonna do about Jinyoung?"

I whip my head to her, "What about Jinyoung, Nari?"

"I mean, you have Jackson now! Jinyoung deserves to know."

"You say this, as if I like Jackson."

Nari looks mortified, "Bitch don't tell me you're gonna be like one of those dumb protagonists that's in denial and then has their world comes crashing down around them."

I scoff, "No, Nari, because I don't like Jackson-"

"bITCH-"

"-I like Jinyoung."

 "... ...ohmygosh, did you actually say that aloud?"

I dismiss her, but her squealing and iron grip prevent me from getting away. "EEEEEK I KNEWITIKNEWITIKNEWITIKNEWITTTTTTTTT!"

"Shut up! You're gonna wake the dead," I hiss and cover her mouth, "Or even worse, Mrs. Kim. "

Literally, the moment I said that, there was a yapping old woman resounding curse words against the wall. Nari and I scrambled to hide from her wrath.

"YOU FUCKING KIDS, I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP WHEN JEOPARDY IS ON!"

 Alright. Yes. We managed to survive the terror in apartment 16, which was why I managed to brush up on my studies and the drama I had in the sidelines waiting for me.

I leaned back in my cozy attire, with shorts and hoodie, stuffing popcorn in my face as Lee Minho beat Kim Woobin up, and vice versa.

I don't mean to sound like a brag, but damn, there really is a difference with the cheap cotton shorts and these freakin 10,000 dollar ones. Would I ever recommend these to a friend? Helllll no, but damn they're realllly soft.

"Moron your phone is blowing up in your room," Nari screams from her own room. I scramble to my feet, shit is that Jackson?

 I push my popcorn off and run to my room. I see there's ten messages from Mark. I knit my brows.

STFU MARK: ok so i went to jinyoungs place

STFU MARK: i mean like at his job and the place is super packed and he looks super miserable i feel so bad i wanna help him woth the register

STFU MARK: Where are you even???? I swung by your place

STFU MARK: LOL RIGHT UR SUGAR BOYFI IS UR WITH HAHAHAH

STFU MARK: man this lady ordered ten burgers and i wish i could do that on the regular

STFU MARK: ok imma talk to jinyoung and order lunch too i hope he doesnt kill me cos if he does he'll lose his job too and i dont want that

STFU MARK: OKAY HE TOOK MY ORDER AND PRETENDED I WAS NO ONE BUT A CUSTOMER I DIE WHAT DID WE DO

STFU MARK: HE EVEN SMILED AT ME LIKE AN ACTUAL GENUINE PERSON HE LOOKS SO TIRED I FEEL SP BAD HELP MEEEEE GET OUT OF YOUR DATE RIGHT NOW

STFU MARK: ...... r u hetting paid again omg???? Also jinyoung wouldnt poison my food right

STFU MARK: I WANTED TO TALK TO JINYOUNG COS IT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS GONNA CLOCK OUT BUT YUGYEOM TOLD ME TO SCRAM WHAT IS THIS HE SAID JINYOUNG IS SUPER TIRED AND NOT IN THE MOOD

 I wipe my forehead and cuss.

I give a quick reply to Mark, saying that I'll try to contact him. I then proceed to call Jinyoung. I call him five times before giving up and sending a text.

I open my conversation with Jinyoung and send three messages.

Me: Jinyoung

Me: i know like im legitimately dumb for not knowing what angered you, but mark and i arent mind readers

Me: please call me back and tell me whats wrong

 I sigh and pull my phone to my chest. I walk back out to continue watching my show. My heart leaps out of my chest and I squeak when my phone starts vibrating. I smile widely when I realize it's Jinyoung calling. Except it's not. It's Jackson. He's gonna pick me up.

  ---

My feet is clad with a golden pump. My dress is cascading with hundreds of delicate white beads upon bright violet fabric. I feel like a dewy star with the glowy makeup all over my skin. My hair is pulled back to make room for a crown-like headband and curled perfectly behind me.

While Hani did my makeup, part of me wondered why I looked so dressed up, when, as far as I knew, I would only be meeting with Jackson's mom. But then I realized it was Jackson's mom; she was probably born drenched in gold. This probably looks pathetic to her.

Hani was so kind and so enthusiastic as per usual, and she made me look like a princess with her magical touch. 

 We didn't take as long as I hoped we would, for now I am holding onto Jackson's hand as we walk down this large lawn, lit with garden lights and lights from fountains. The sun had just set, and so the residual sunshine in the sky made it look both orange and lilac. On my other hand, I  held a bouquet of violet flowers that strangely reminded me of the day I met Jackson.

As we drove here, I thought at first we were going to Jackson's house, or his parents, but as it turns, her mother is checked into some extra hotel.

Automatic doors opened, and a beefy but kind looking security guard greeted us, and Jackson by his name.

The place reeked the finesse of a museum. It was so large and spacious that I started thinking maybe it was a hidden museum of some sort. The minimal pieces of art make me think otherwise.

There were very few people going about, and most of them were wearing white.

I fell conscious after. Was this hotel themed in white? I moved closer to Jackson. The echoing of my heels against the marble floors only magnified my fumbling mind. Okay... maybe this wasn’t a hotel.

We walked and walked down this seemingly never ending hall, up until we reached room 19.

 Jackson released my hand and turned to me. Clearing his throat, he asked, "How do I look?"

He looked like a billionaire. His body was given complete justice in his velvet suit that matched the color of my violet dress. His shoes were shiner than my future. His skin was more flawless than my grades. Jackson looked like he always did, handsome and charming. But his big brown eye seemed nervous.

"You look amazing, like always," I offer with a smile.

Jackson lets put a soft sigh, "I'm glad you think I always look amazing."

I nod at him, not because I agreed but because he seemed like he had something much more to say. Though he was trying to play off this worry by joking, it was too clear he was worried.

He inhales sharply. "You may hate me for not telling you sooner, but..." Jackson points to the door of room 19 and screws his eyes shut.

I bit my lower lip and think about what Jackson could tell me next. He was agitated. This place makes him agitated. Well, everyone here is wearing white. Everything is quiet and spacious. His mom was staying here. I don’t think it’s a hotel anymore. Was this a spa? A wellness center?

... or was this a clinic? A hospital?

Why didn’t I just ask?

"The main reason why... I hired you is because of my mom." Jackson turns to his side then back to me, "She's... not doing so great. Not in a long time."

My jaw slacks once I realize my guess was right, "Your mom is sick?"

He sighs, "terminally ill if you need the right term."

"And... you want her to think... we're together?"

Jackson purses his lips, "It's all she wants from me now.”

 A shiver runs down my spine. I clench my bouquet. Part of me can't help but feel betrayed. He had all these chances from then til now to speak up but he was nothing but silent. All Jackson told me I was here to push away his nosy relatives. I huff in frustration. Really though I was here to lie to a dying lady.

I scoff at my own thoughts.

That very thought made my heart clench.

How hard must it be for Jackson to talk about this?

I want to wipe my face so badly, but I didn't want to ruin Hani's hard work.

"How could you only tell me this now?!" I heave sharply. "Do you know how wrong and messed up this is?"

"I know, I know," Jackson sighs. He takes a step forward and grabs both my hands, pushing the bouquet in the middle, "but please, you're my only hope. You're the only woman I've ever brought to my mom." He closes his eyes and raises his hands, shaking it around, "It's not as bad as it is. I made her think that I'm still pursuing you and so you're not really my girlfriend."

I knit my brows at that. Jackson steps even closer, "then I'll say it didn't work out because you like Jinyoung from..." he thinks and scoffs, "your Algebra--business math class."

His mention of  Jinyoung makes me chest contract. I look at our hands then Jackson's expression. The flowers seemed a lot less pretty to me now. I wonder what they think about my predicament.

 "Please, you are honestly innocent in all this. No matter what happens it's on me. Please. My mother doesn't get to meet new people. You won't even have to say anything, I'll do all the talking."

I want to throw the flowers at him and run away. But I don't.

I want to tell him all the reasons why this so called solution of his isn't a solution. But I don't.

I want to offer his comfort and give him another way. But I can't, cause it would take too much time and the clock, I can feel it ticking.

So what I do say is, "alright."

Jackson's face brightens. He repeats, "Alright," and with that wastes not time in going inside.

 "Finally!" a voice exclaims into the high ceiling. There is a large bed with a woman in the center. “I thought you’d never come.”

Jackson, hand holding mine, walked towards the woman and smiled, “Mama. I’m sorry we’re late.”

Once we’re close enough, Jackson lets go of me to hug and kiss the woman on the cheek. I was close enough to see how pale and dry her skin was. She was thin and had her thin hair combed behind her. It was plain to see that she really was sick. But the way she smiled and greeted her son, made you think otherwise.

Jackson pulls away and turns to me. Her mother does the same. I take this moment to give her the flowers, “Mrs. Wang.”

“Oh, are these for me? Thank you so much, darling.” She smiles ear to ear and gets the bouquet from me. “You may be wondering why you were forced into violet. Well, it’s my favorite color.”

I nod, “Jackson told me that.” At the very least.

“Have you eaten, mama?” Jackson asks as he sits next to his mother.

“You silly boy. You know I don’t have an appetite at night.”

Jackson narrows his eyes and shakes his head, “Mama... the nurses told me you had an apple for lunch.

“Kure, an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” she speaks in a light tone. Jackson breathes in heavily, clenching his jaw. He looks like he wants to go off, but at the same time, he looks really tired, like he doesn’t want to have this conversation again. And so I frown deeply.

“Mrs. Wang, you should really eat more than that... Jackson is really worried about you.” I speak for the upset man.

His mother turns to me and beams, “Ya, has Jackson been talking about me. That’s a first. Honestly, I still can’t believe your here! My Jackson always claims to have a girlfriend, but this time around... he really does.”

“Mama... she’s not my girlfriend, I told you.”

“Aiya!” she says, “you should try harder, then!” The woman gives her son a scolding look, then turns to me in a completely different manner, “Mianhe... ... My brother told me he had his men follow you to see how real you are just earlier today. I’m really sorry about that.”

“Mama,” Jackson says slowly.

She tuts her son. With a breath, she looks at me, “Oh, why are you still standing, please sit on my bed. It’s quite big enough for all three of us.”

With this I smile, nod, and sit down. She then slides to the far left side of the bed, where Jackson sat facing me. Mrs. Wang pulls me by my arm, and so I hop over to come closer to her.

Her hand is still on my arm when she pouts into a pleased smile, “You are far more beautiful than Jackson let on.”

My brows raise and my lips pull into an awkward smile. I nervously laugh and shake my head. She shakes her head too, “He won’t shut up about you!”

“Mama,” Jackson says, placing his hand on his mothers, releasing her grip from me, “That’s because you keep asking me about her.”

“Well how can I not, child! The most exciting thing that happens around here is when a new patient comes along and that’s horrible to think of considering this place is a hospital.”

Jackson once again feels and looks so defeated.

“Mrs. Wang,” I say to divert her attention.

“Oh, please, call me Mama. All of Jackson’s friends do that.”

I clear my throat and turn to Jackson for a split second. Nevertheless, I obey, “Mama... do you happen to watch k-dramas?”

Both Wangs seem to be surprised by my sudden question.

“Why of course! What else am I to do but watch all those dramas?” she chuckles.

“Did you happen to watch The Heirs?”

She gasps, “Of course I did! Lee Minho and--”

“Kim Woobin!” I squeal. “Ooooh, he is so good looking and I wanted him to get the girl so bad!!!!!”

Jackson pulls his head back at my words. Da hell is Kim Woobin? His mother laughs in glee. Once she catches he breath, she begins to fuel our talk. From then on, we begin our long conversation about wanting ‘the other’ love interest get the girl in the story. It escalates and the next thing Jackson knows he’s no longer part of the conversation, nor existent in the room.

He watches as the two women interact and laugh, making his heart clench. Mama had neither been this talkative nor cheery since Bambam visited and got drunk on champagne, and that was months ago.

I throw my head back in laughter. Jackson can’t help but laugh as well, even though he honestly didn’t follow the conversation anymore.

Mrs. Wang turns to his son and smiles, seeing how concentrated he was in the one thing in the room. She nudges him, and Jackson panics, turning to his mother with wide eyes.

Catching this, I settle down and turn to Jackson’s nervous expression. His mother breaks into a soft laugh. I knit my brows, “What happened?”

Jackson turns to me then to his mom. The latter speaks up, “Oh. Jackson’s just really lucky to have you that’s all.”

Part of me expected Jackson to whine in protest again. But when there’s only silence among us, I feel awkwardness envelope me.

Mrs. Wang coos and caresses her son’s cheeks, “Your handsomeness won’t be put to waste.” She then turns to me and pinches my cheeks, “You’ll have beautiful children.” 

My cheeks immediately burn upon hearing this.

Jackson breath hitches when he sees my reaction. I turn to him and gives me an awkward smile.

Jackson scratches he back of his nape when it dawns to him that he is utterly fucked. Why? Because he likes the idea his mom presented. The man mutters a curse word under his breath and stands, “How about we get some food, yeah?”

[northwest-writing]

This Week’s Numbers: A Short Play

Four coworkers sit in the breakroom at their minimum wage retail job. TIM, twenty-two, is sitting up in his seat at the breakroom table, shaking his left leg and holding a cup of coffee with both hands. EMILY, nineteen, is leaning slightly back in her chair, looking at her phone. MATT, thirty, leans over the table, writing something down on a piece of paper. KEVIN, thirty-eight, is leaning way back in a chair with his feet up on the table and his hat over his eyes. TIM stares up at the clock.

TIM

D’you guys know if anyone’s ever thought of fixing that clock on the wall?

EMILY

Still looking at her phone 

What clock?

MATT

I didn’t even realize it was broken.

TIM

Yeah it’s like always four fifteen? (Beat) Could you imagine if it was always four fifteen?

KEVIN

I tried asking the old store manager about it once. He just said “why do you care about the clock in the break room?” and he had a point so I stopped worrying about it.

There is a silence as TIM stares at KEVIN

TIM

I sort of feel like that story’s not true and you just want me to stop talking before the team meeting.

KEVIN

It’s seven AM, Tim.

EMILY

Yeah, Tim, it’s like seven AM.

TIM

I know what time it is I just--

Enter KATE, twenty five years old, in a good mood one would find inappropriate for a retail employee

KATE

Okay, it’s Monday! You guys ready?

TIM

For the meeting?

KATE

She gets very close to TIM’s face, forcing him to lean back 

Tim, look me in my eyes. I’m the store manager. I hate this store just as much as you do, I just get paid ten extra cents an hour to do it. (Straightens back up) NO! I want to know (digging into her jacket pocket) if you guys are ready...for this she holds up a lottery ticket. 

Everyone perks up except for MATT, who is still focused on what he is writing down. Even KEVIN moves his hat back to reveal his eyes.

EMILY

Oh shit that’s right it’s Monday!

KATE

That’s right, 

as she speaks, she removes her jacket, tosses it onto the table, and begins arranging a chair backwards at the head of the room 

which can only mean two things: I am required to hold a team member meeting or I will lose my job, and I bought a new lottery ticket.

KEVIN

Three things.

KATE

And a pack of cigarettes for Kevin 

she pulls a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and tosses them to KEVIN who catches them effortlessly. 

Matthew, whatcha workin’ on?

MATT

I’m writing to my penpal who’s stationed overseas.

KATE

Well put him on hold. This is important.

EMILY laughs quietly

MATT

Hey, would it be cool if I went first this week? I had a really good one last week and--

EMILY

Maybe you should’ve shown up…

KATE

To EMILY Dude--

EMILY

It took us like an hour to close on Tuesday night.

MATT

It was in the schedule--

TIM

He has gotten up and fixed himself a second cup of coffee since he last spoke

(timidly to EMILY) Well maybe if you had actually--

KATE

The airing! Of grievances will take place after the ceremony...or preferably after you’ve stopped giving a shit about them all together. Beat Aaaaaanyway 

she climbs up onto the chair she previously set up 

I would like everyone’s attention. *ahem* Oh yeah, everyone clocked in right?

TIM                                                                  EMILY

Oh shit                                                            Oh yeah

Begins to leave the room                               she reaches into her                                                                                                 pocket and pulls out her ID card

Hang on one sec                                           Wait, Tim--

TIM looks back, takes EMILY’s ID card, and exits.

All sit silently as they wait for TIM to come back from swiping their cards.

TIM enters and sits down as he hands EMILY her ID card.

KATE

*ahem* Thank you all for joining me today. According to physics, (a collective sigh) there are two major forms of energy: kinetic energy and potential energy. I hold here in my hand one of the greatest sources of potential energy that money can buy from a Seven Eleven. Now, the rules are very simple: everyone will have their chance to tell us what they would do if this were somehow, miraculously, a winning ticket. We will then vote on who has the best version of what one might call The American Dream and then the winner gets riches beyond their wildest dreams and also they get to pick the numbers for next weeks ticket. We will begin this week by hearing from our dear Matthew. Matthew, you have the floor. 

She steps down from her makeshift podium and applauds softly, prompting the rest of the room to follow suit as MATT steps up.

MATT

Alright, so pretty much there’s these like buildings in Germany that were built during World War Two that were designed to be these totally indestructible bunkers that couldn’t be blown up, and so now they’re just still there, because you can’t tear them down no matter what you do. Then the other day I went to clean the men’s room (a noticeable shudder from everyone in the room) and some guy had literally shit like all over the wall. Like he had just fuckin’ exploded. So while I’m in there cleaning it up and just wishing I was dead, I thought that’s what I’d do. I’d fill this room floor to ceiling with that indestructible German concrete and turn the whole thing into a big fossil. So that hundreds of years from now when we’re all dead and gone and this whole store has rotted away to nothing, that guy’s fuckin shit stain would be frozen in carbonite forever, like the Han Fuckin’ Solo of shit.

This speech is met with rousing applause as MATT takes a few small bows and steps down. 

KATE

I love it! Very colorful, Matt.

EMILY steps up next.

EMILY

(To MATT) That’s kickass by the way. Alright um, ok so Friday, or I think it was Saturday. Yeah so Sat-- no I didn’t work Saturday. It was Friday anyway FRIDAY I was driving into work and I was stopped at that light that’s like right by Taco Bell, and when I went to go, my car started making that noise again. I’ve shown you guys all the noise right?

TIM

I thought you said it stopped making the noise?

EMILY

Yeah because I kicked my hood really hard that one time and it stopped for like two weeks but it’s back now!

KATE

Wait what’s the noise? I haven’t heard it.

EMILY

It’s like a...(she thinks for a second then begins making the most ridiculous sound. Get creative.) or kind of like a (she makes a variation on the first sound. Kevin is laughing hysterically.) It happens every time I like rev the engine or drive with the windows down or like go about forty miles an hour. I think it’s just like a thing. But anyway I was like oh if I won I would totally pay to fix my car right? But then I was like well why would I pay to fix a 2003 Honda Accord that used to be owned by like a heroin dealer and sounds like it was dragged out of a river when I could just buy a whole ‘nother car? Duh. But anyway now I have this like shitty car I don’t know what to do with. What am I gonna do with it? So then I thought I’d hire a bunch of guys to like take the whole thing apart piece by piece...and then put it back together in Todd’s office.

MATT

What if it was in his living room?

EMILY

Oh my god yeah! Yeah and the best part is, it still makes the sound. 

The room breaks into applause. As she steps down 

Thank you. Thank you.

KATE

Taking it straight to the district manager. Very cool. Very senior prank. I like it. A tough act to follow. Tim, uh, last week…

TIM

(Getting up from his chair) No no, this one’s not as long.

KATE

(As TIM steps onto the chair) Ok cool.

TIM

(Looking at a note in his phone) Ok. I’m not exactly sure if this is like illegal or not but... (shrugs)

uh so I would fake my own death.

EMILY

Oh shit.

TIM

I didn’t really think through like where I would disappear to but I would disappear like super mysteriously. Don’t worry I wouldn’t make any of you guys look guilty and I’d make sure to disappear on like a night when everyone’s busy so you’d all have an alibi. THEN like a year later, after most of the “oh where’s Tim?” has sorta worn off, I’d start sending postcards to the store.

MATT

Oooooh shiiiit.

TIM

They’d all be from different places. Yellowstone, Dubai, the Eiffel Tower, fuckin’...Des Moines. And they’d each have like one letter on them. And over the course of like five years this collection of postcards would build up and detectives would be like trying to unscramble the letters to figure out where I went. But here’s the best part: they wouldn’t spell out anything. They’re just letters. It’s a goose chase.

KATE

OH SHIT!

TIM

Yeaaaah oh shit. 

Everyone passionately applauds as TIM steps off the chair and sits back down 

Catch me in Barbados or something sipping on a coconut, just writing ‘E’ on the back of a picture of a palm tree.

KATE

Alright. Kevin?

KEVIN

(From his chair) Just like every week. I’d keep all the money and stay working here so all of you’d have to think about the fact that I’m the one sittin’ on it.

TIM

Bummer, Kev.

KATE

I’m confident one week that’ll be the winner. Don’t ever change, Kevin. Beat. She starts to rise Well. If that’s everyone--

MATT

What if we actually won?

KATE

Well we just talked about that. (She points at MATT) Han Solo of shit (points at EMILY) Casa Del Car (points at TIM) Unsolved Mysteries--

MATT

Yeah but I mean what if we really won.

EMILY

Well then whoever we voted--

MATT

Well but that’s stupid.

KATE

Matt--

MATT

I just keep thinking lately like, it’s stupid that whoever has the time to come up with the cleverest way to quit their job gets to have the money if we won.

KATE

Matt, that’s not the point of--

MATT

I think we should give it to whoever deserves it the most...and I think I should get it.

TIM

It’s not--

MATT

No, I’m the best employee here. Like I really come in and do good at my job every day, and I don’t think I’ve ever been recognized for it!

KATE

Matt, it’s not a bonus. It’s just a game.

EMILY

Yeah, besides, you wouldn’t deserve it the most anyway.

TIM

Jeez!

EMILY

What? Matt’s thirty years old and he’s never acted like he’s wanted to do anything besides work here. I actually have a future. If I had the money, I could actually go to nursing school.

KATE

(Making a feeble attempt to reign things in) Ok, this is--

TIM

You wanna go to nursing school?

EMILY

I’ve told you that like twenty times!

TIM inhales to respond

KATE

Tim, please.

TIM decides not to speak

EMILY

Oh come on! Why don’t you ever stick up for yourself!

TIM

Ok fine! I will stick up for myself! I think you’re a bitch! (EMILY gasps) I think you’re bad at your job and you’re a bad friend. (She gasps again) And I think you’d be a bad nurse.

KEVIN

I think I should get the money.

KATE

Oh my god (She crosses her arms and puts one hand over her face)

KEVIN

I smoke like four packs a day. What if I got lung cancer?

EMILY

I bet that’s the first time you’ve ever asked yourself that question.

KEVIN

Hey!

The room erupts into overlapping arguments. Actors should ad lib their own grievances. KATE is irritated but knows yelling will only add to the ruckus. She thinks for a moment, then walks over to the light switch and starts rapidly flipping the lights off and on. The employees become confused and slowly cease their arguing. They all look at KATE.

KATE

God, I knew that would work. You’re all like a bunch of birds! Listen, there’s a woman that comes into this store every day. Her name is Donna. You’ve all rung her up. Her brother had a stroke and he’s in the hospital and they’re not sure if he’s gonna be alright and she doesn’t know how she’s gonna pay the medical bills. And you know what? If this ticket won the lottery, we still wouldn’t give the money to her. Because she doesn’t deserve it.

EMILY

What the fuck, Kate?

MATT

So you think you deserve it?

KATE

NO! Of course I don’t deserve it. And neither do you!

MATT

So who does?

KATE

Nobody! It’s the lottery! Nobody deserves to win the lottery. It shouldn’t exist at all, just like none of us should have to be here every day. The whole system is rigged against us. This is just a dumb game I made up so that we could all survive. Once a week. Once a week we all remind ourselves that if we really wanted to change our lives we could. And then for the rest of the week we can all earn a paycheck not doing it.

There is a long pause as everyone considers KATE’s statement.

EMILY

(Hesitantly) So it’s...like an office holiday party?

KATE

Yeah it's. Yeah.

Beat

TIM

You guys know the guy who comes in every Tuesday and buys a lampshade? And then the next week he brings it back in so he can exchange it for a different lampshade? And he just does that like over and over again every week? Roger? Beat. (He starts to smile. Starting to laugh on the next line) I think he deserves it.

Everyone begins to laugh slightly

KATE

(Laughing still) Why him?

TIM

(Laughing more) I don’t know he just needs something. That guy’s not ok.

The laughter builds with each line

EMILY

(Laughing) What about that guy that always comes in asking if we have any copies of that one Adam Sandler movie?

MATT

(Laughing) Oh Click!

TIM

(Near tears at this point) He gets so mad when we say no!

EMILY

(Struggling to breathe) I think we should give it to him.

KATE

You mean the guy or Adam Sandler?

Everyone is beside themselves with laughter by this point, completely unable to continue for several moments. Banging fists on the table, clapping, etc. KEVIN laughs like an old prospector. Finally everyone settles down enough to continue the meeting.

KATE

Ok…we still need to...we still need to vote.

EMILY

Tim.

MATT

Tim.

KEVIN

Tim.

TIM

(Giggling slightly) Roger.

Everyone lets out one last small laugh.

KATE

Alright. Looks like Tim has it. 

She applauds gently and everyone else follows suit. 

Emily can you look up the numbers for last week.

EMILY

She has already taken out her phone to look up the numbers 

I’m on it.

KATE

Everyone! 

She gestures like she is conducting an orchestra to begin, then digs into her pocket and pulls out a different lottery ticket.

Everyone drums on the table, stopping when EMILY begins reading off the numbers. KATE looks at the ticket from last week.

EMILY

Fourteen! Forty-Seven! Fifty-Four! 

Everyone looks at KATE who is maintaining a flawless poker face 

Fifty-Five! Sixty-Eight! Twenty-Five!

They continue to look expectantly at KATE. Beat. KATE’s face turns to amazement.

KATE

Wow...(Beat) Not a single one.

Blackout

END OF PLAY.

[flyaway-33]

Yesterday pt. 4

“Rog. Come home with me.”

Come home with me. Roger sucked in a gulp of air as he processed those words. Come home with me. It wouldn’t work, no way. His mom would be suspicious, his father would be beyond angry, his sister would be devastated. They’d all known about his upcoming month-long winter break as long as he’d been away at school, they were planning on him being home all month, and what would he tell them? ‘Oh sorry, I don’t want to come home so I’m going to play house with my fuck buddy for the month’? There was no way. There was also the impossibly stressful scenario of meeting and spending time with your family. Adults usually loved him but would they somehow find out about your arrangement? Would they see through Roger’s well manicured facade that he wasn’t completely head over heels for you? Because he was. They definitely wouldn’t love him then. He felt the familiar swell of anxiety in his chest as he mulled over the possibilities. He wanted so badly to go home with you, so badly the thought alone hurt. But he was so, so scared.

You felt him tense in your arms at your words and you didn’t understand. Didn’t he want an escape? You stayed silent, picking up the rhythm of rubbing his arms soothingly as he sat in painful silence. It was hard for you to stop your racing thoughts and take in the weight of what had just told you, how hard it must have been for him to let you in to this most closed off secret of his. 

He was abused.

It hurt to think about it. You wanted— no, needed to keep him safe. 

“Roger?” You cautiously moved beneath him to get him to look at you and in his big blue eyes you could see panic. “Tell me what’s on your mind.” Your voice was low, quiet, and soothing. He noticeably relaxed.

“I, uh…” he met your eyes before averting his to his hands where his fingers were fraying a small hole in his shirt, making it grow as he fidgeted. He knew there was no point hiding any of his thoughts from you now. “I don’t want to disappoint anyone. They all expect me to come home.”

“Then just come for a few weeks, even a few days, okay? You can go home for Christmas and New Year’s. Tell them you’re visiting a friend and that you’ll be home for the holidays. You’re an adult, they can’t really make a huge fuss about it, can they?”

“You’re underestimating them,” he sighed, but continued hastily when he saw the concern in your eyes, “I mean my sister— she’s dramatic as hell, she’ll act like I abandoned her if I don’t come back when I said I would. Ma would just be sad, and dad would be mad at me for upsetting them.”

Their family dynamic confused you to no end so you just shook your head. “Well my family is dying to meet you, Rog, so if using that as an excuse would help, you wouldn’t be lying. I’ve told my mom and sister all about you.”

He gave you a confused and incredulous look and you knew where his mind was going.

“Not everything, you dork,” You laughed playfully swatting at him.

Roger’s big, blue orbs met yours, clouded with doubt and anxiety, but you could see his resolve crumbling. “Well okay, guess it won’t hurt to try,” he sighed, moving out of your arms so that he could reach the phone on the wall. “I guess I’ll tell them I’m visiting your family then.” There was a hopeful, beautiful smile growing on his plump lips. You had won, he would be safe even if just for a few days longer. “Hello, Ma?” She had picked up. “I’m well, yes finals went okay, I think… Actually, about that, my friend, Y/N wants me to come meet her family and stay for a bit before I head home, you know Surrey is on the way… Yes I know I said I’d be home but she says her mother wants to meet me, and… Yes, Ma, she’s a girl, Y/N, the girl I’ve told you about… No ma’am, we’re just best friends.” He glanced at you, his cheeks coloring in embarrassment, but you smiled in encouragement. “I’m not sure how long yet but I promise I’ll be home for the holidays… Okay, I promise I’ll call, I always do. I love you, too. Bye bye.”

“Well?” You asked, smiling as you had already inferred the answer. 

“She was reluctant, but, I’ll be coming home with you.” The joy on his face was palpable and you heart swelled with overwhelming relief and joy, knowing you could keep him with you, keep him safe.

“Oh, excellent!” You shouted, clapping your hands. “Oh, Roggie you’re going to love my family! I have a dog, Libby, and my little sister will adore you, my little brother will idolize you, you must teach him to drum.”

“Woah woah, slow down.” Roger sighed, his smile fading as he placed his hands on your shoulders to calm you. “They have to meet me first, I don’t want you to get your hopes up thinking this will be some kind of fairy tale…” He looked down at the floor then, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. There was no way he could explain why he was all of a sudden so self conscious, because he truly was overjoyed that he was able to come home with you, but his nervousness was making him feel sick. He didn’t want anything to change between the two of you, and meeting your family almost certainly meant change. “What if they hate me?” He voiced his thoughts, big doe eyes coming back up to meet yours. “What if they forbid me to see you again?” 

“But what if they love you, darling?” You hummed as you placed your hand on his soft, warm cheek, running your thumb over a stray tear that was slowly sliding down. 

 *****

Finals ended and you and Roger both felt pretty good about them. The two of you would have the results in the mail by the new year. You packed up your rooms and piled all your stuff into the front of your ’63 VW beetle with Roger’s drums taking up the back seat. It was just about an hour drive with traffic to your home in Surrey and you were buzzing with excitement to finally introduce Roger to your family. He seemed pretty excited too, which made you feel a bit better as you hated seeing him upset or anxious. You were relieved that you were bringing him somewhere safe where he would be loved and accepted. 

The plan the two of you had developed was that he would be staying at your house until the 23rd of December and then would travel back to his own home in Cornwall via train. But for now, it was your family the two of you had to deal with. They were going to be obnoxious about you bringing a boy home. No matter how much the two of you were going to deny being together you knew your family would sense that something was up. They were going to tease and annoy you for the entire two weeks until Christmas, but it was worth it to be with him.

Roger was practically bouncing with excitement in the passenger seat of your car as you pulled on to the highway that would take you home. He’d been chattering nonstop about how excited he was to meet your family, most notably your dog, which made you laugh fondly. In his anxious excitement he was flipping madly through the radio stations trying desperately to find something good to listen to before giving up entirely and switching off your radio.

“Hey!” You protested.

“No I have an idea! Clap along.” He began to create a rhythm by first clapping twice then patting his legs twice and repeating.

“Rog, I’m driving.”

“Fine then just sing along.” Then he gave a devious smile and began to sing. Immediately the beat began to make sense and you knew it was what he, a percussionist, heard when he listened to the song in question.

“In the town where I was born, Lived a man who sailed to sea” he sang merrily, waggling his eyebrows at you with a goofy grin, his hair sticking up messily in all directions making him look like a little boy. Yellow Submarine, another Beatles favorite of yours, never failed to put you in a good mood.

“And he told us of his life, In the land of submarines” you joined, and you could hold back the huge smile that formed on your face as he continued and the two of you switched singing each couplet and together sang the chorus. He was so much fun, no one else could make a boring old car ride as interesting as Roger, and no one could enjoy singing too-loud a cappella in said car with you like he could. 

“They had to have been on copious amounts of drugs,” you laughed after the two of you had faded into a fit of laughter in the middle of the second verse. 

“Well, duh. Have you heard Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds?”

“Ah, good old LSD.” You fell into another fit of laughter and the rest of the car ride seemed to fly by with the two of you singing like idiots. Roger was a blast and you felt closer to him than ever, if that were even possible.

When meeting your parents Roger was the perfect gentleman. He stood straight, looked them in the eye and gave your father a firm handshake with a glowing smile. Libby, your family’s golden retriever puppy wouldn’t leave him alone, your 15 year old sister was practically drooling over him, and your 11 year old little brother was infatuated with Roger’s stories about his band back home and how they’d won several music competitions. After a dinner filled with the most family-friendly stories from college he even helped your mother clean up the kitchen. Everyone retired to the family room to listen to the radio for a bit and get to know your “best friend” Roger more. He was an absolute smash hit with them, especially when he got to talking to your dad about music and they gushed over Hendrix for nearly an hour. They had nearly the same tastes and your father regarded Roger as a “smart kid” before he got up to get ready for bed, signaling the younger children to do the same. Your mother, however, eyed you suspiciously.

“Y/N, sweetheart, what are the, uhm, sleeping arrangements for this visit?” Your mother asked, looking slightly perturbed. 

“Oh mum, I figured Rog and I could share my room.”

“I’ll sleep on the floor, ma’am.” Roger interjected quickly as her eyes went wide.

“No! Nonsense, Y/N, do you think I’m a bloody idiot?” Your mum cried.

“Mum, we’ll keep the door open! All night, wide open. I don’t want to shun Rog to the bloody couch! He’s my best friend and he is a guest, he deserves proper arrangements.”

Your mother was fuming but you could see her resolve crumbling in her sleepy state. “Fine. But you two are not to be behind any closed doors alone together, do you understand?” She was glaring more at Roger than you.

Poor Roger looked terrified with his already large, blue eyes opened much wider than normal and his complexion ghostly white from pure fear. He nodded vigorously, trying to regain his composure. “Yes ma’am, of course, ma’am.”

“Alright.” She sighed, satisfied with the fear of God she’d just put into this shabby looking, odd, hippy boy you’d brought home. “Don’t take me for a fool. Deny all you want but I know something’s going on between the two of you.” With that she stood and swiftly followed where your father and siblings had disappeared to the second story of the house just minutes earlier.

“Jesus,” you sighed, turning to Rog whose cheeks had gone from white to scarlet in embarrassment. “I’m sorry about that. I warned you.”

“Yeah, well, coulda been worse I reckon,” he shrugged, beginning to relax. “At least we can stay together. Otherwise, they’re all quite lovely.”

You sent up a small prayer the two of you wouldn’t get yourselves murdered by your parents during his stay and smiled softly as you stood to lead him up the stairs to your room. 

A/N: First of all,  I am so sorry this took so long and I am so sorry that it is short and uninteresting. I did not plan on how much overtime I have had to work this summer and it is brutal. my life is an actual shit show at the moment but i’m alive! Also, I am so sorry to the one or two other people who wanted to be tagged in this. I thought I had tagged my answers to your asks but I can’t find them, this time I will keep an actual list in my notes :(

but otherwise my “taglist” only consists of the lovely @luvborhap​ for now.

Ask, message, or comment if you’d like to be tagged! it would make my day! I promise I'll write you down and not forget this time! and as always I accept constructive criticisms and all friendly comments. Thanks for reading, loves! :)

[umbrella-kun]

Turquoise

Today was a rather busy day, people were coming in out of the shop in hopes of buying a nice hot cup of tea. Especially now that winter had just arrived which meant heavy jackets and cozy mittens. People entered the shop and smiled as they felt the warmth engulf them. A wonderful feeling that reached everyone who entered the tea shop. I of course have felt it myself, but that’s due to the fact that I work here.

“Good morning, what can I get for you today?” I asked a couple who were chatting away. One of them saw me and flashed me a welcoming smile.

“Oh hello, umm I’ll have some green tea and you sweetie?” The guy asked whom I was assuming was his girlfriend.

“I’ll like a cup of hot chocolate and a chocolate chip muffin please” She replied cheerfully, I smile at her cheerfulness and write down their orders. I excuse myself and make my way to the kitchen to prepare some of the orders I had written down while the waiters and waitresses were taking other orders,

“Today is so packed again! I hate this, why can’t it be quiet like during the summer?” I hear someone say from behind me. I chuckle as I notice Saeran taking out a fresh batch of muffins out of the oven. He didn’t enjoy the tea shop being filled with people, I guess he preferred a quieter environment.

“You’re gonna have to get used to it, we just started winter” I chirped which only caused Saeran to groan in frustration. I laugh at him and make my way out of the kitchen with a couple of orders in my hands. I walk toward the the young couple who had order earlier and hand them their beverages.

“Here is your cup of green tea, a cup hot chocolate and finally your chocolate chip muffin which actually just came out of the oven.” I said

“Oooooh really? Yay thank you so much!” The girl replied before taking a sip of the drink and smiled in satisfaction. I excuse myself and walk toward the kitchen to prepare more orders. As I was about to reach the kitchen counter I notice a rather strange color, turquoise to be exact, stood out from all the people in the shop. I stop when I notice a man sitting at a table alone. He sat by the large windows that were close to the entrance of the tea shop. It had a clear view of the street and you could see the passersby walking on the sidewalk. The thing that caught my attention was the way he was looking out the window. He seemed lost and sad, I didn’t want to seem like a complete creep by staring at him so I continued my way toward the kitchen.

“Hey Yoosung? Hm quick question, do you happened to know that guy over there?” I asked, Yoosung poked his head out from behind the kitchen counter and shakes his head.

“Nope, no clue, but I’ve noticed that he does come often. Why?” Yoosung asked

“Oh, its nothing. I just noticed he seems sad. I wonder if something is bothering him” I said bringing my gaze back to the man.

“How about asking him?” Both Yoosung and I yelp when Saeyoung suddenly appears from underneath the counter.

“Saeyoung what the heck are you doing under there? You’re supposed to be working!”  I exclaimed

“I know but Jaehee wanted me to do bathroom duty and I hate it. So I hid under the counter. So about this guy you’re talking about, is it the guy over there? The one with the bluish hair?” Saeyoung points at the man and both Yoosung and I nod our heads.

“His names Jihyun Kim but close friends call him V. He’s 27 years old, He’s a freelance photographer so he travels a lot. He also likes art collecting! Has a eye condition that can cause him to go blind if not treated properly.-” I quickly cut him off

“Wait wait- how do you know all this information?” I asked surprised

“Don’t you remember MC, Saeyoung used to be a hacker for big companies.” Yoosung replied, oh yeah now that I think about it I remember Saeyoung mentioning something about that.

“Well duh. But I didn’t do any hacking on this guy. He happens to be the best friend of one of my ex bosses. He’s a really good guy, but had bad relationship break up with this girl, things ended pretty badly”  Saeyoung continued.

“Maybe that’s why he’s so gloomy” Yoosung said. I shrug my shoulders as I make my way to wash a couple of cups and continue my day as usual.

The day was finally coming to an end and we were finishing up with cleaning and preparing the menu for the following day. Once that was done, everyone said their goodbyes and headed home. I lived closed by, probably 10 to 15 minutes away but depending on my mood. It was around 8:30 pm so it was pretty dark and the cold was really affecting my energy levels. Saeyoung and Saeran had offered me a ride but I declined their offer since to be honest I didn’t really trust Saeyoung driving. He’s good I’ll admit but could be reckless if it met to scare me.

“Jeez it is freezing, maybe I should of accepted that ride home” I whined as I continued to walk. Not even my big jacket could prevent the cold freezing air to pass right through causing me to shiver.

“ I don’t think a young woman like you should be out alone this late” I hear a voice say from behind me. I quickly turn around ready to scream at the man but calm down when I notice the strange turquoise color.

“Oh god, I’m really sorry I didn’t mean to startled you. I just wanted to tell you it’s not really safe for you to be walking by yourself. I deeply apologize” He said sincerely.

“What, oh it’s ok. It’s just you really did scared me, you almost gave me a heart attack.I thought I was about to be kidnapped” I  finally said, he chuckles at my reaction and smiles

“Don’t worry I’m not going to kidnap you. Hahaha My name is Jihyun by the way, but people call me V” V said before extended his hand out

“MC, nice to meet you V” I take his hand and shake it but stay still, I was trying to process everything that was happening.

“Is it ok if I walk you home, I completely understand if you don’t want to, but to be honest it doesn’t seem safe. V said

“Yeah sure, I don’t see why not” I said softly. We didn’t talk much but I didn’t find it uncomfortable, for some reason he had a calming type of aura.

“You work at the tea shop don’t you?” V suddenly ask

“Yeah how did you know?”

“Well I was there earlier today and don’t want to seem like some of creep but I notice that you were looking at me” V chuckled lightly and my cheeks heated up. Oh god this is extremely embarrassing, he noticed me staring at him!? I bury my face into my scarf thinking that this would probably ease my embarrassment but it was no use.

“Sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable. Please allow me to hide in a pit of shame” I responded and V immediately started shaking his head

“Oh no no no, it’s ok! No need to hide, hahaha” V laughed and couldn’t help but blush. What was up with this guy? He didn’t find it creepy that Yoosung, Saeyoung and I were staring at him at the tea shop? Wait a minute he only mentioned me, but why not the others? Maybe he didn’t noticed them perhaps.

“It’s just you have a really nice hair color, I’ve never seen someone with the same color as yours. So you stood out from everyone else in the shop. It’s unique.” I finally said as we continued to walk. I could swear that I saw him blush but it could of been my imagination.

“You think so, thank you. I never thought much about my hair color” V replied while running his hand through his hair. I didn’t really want to bring up the real reason as to why I was staring at him which was his lost expression. At the tea shop he seem depressed but right now he was a completely different person. Off the bat he was a sweet and kind hearted guy maybe even a gentlemen at most. But I soon remember Saeyoung mention something about V,  a past relationship which ended badly.

“Well it suits you nicely, so don’t change it” I said. He didn’t say anything but smile. For the rest of the walk we didn’t exchange words instead we enjoyed the silence. Once we arrived to my place, I held my hand out in front of V.

“Thank you for walking me here, it wasn’t necessary but I really appreciate it” I said politely, V smiles again and shakes my hand, My cheeks heat up at his touch and I swear I saw a tint of blush on his cheeks but again that could of been my imagination. He wasn’t wearing any mittens yet his hands were warm. He released his hold and I wave goodbye before walking into my house.

V  

“Sir you can’t walk out of the car like that” My driver informed me

“I know, I know. But you really expect me to let a young lady walk home alone in the dark?” I said as I walk back to the car.

“Of course not” My driver said before opening the car door.

I sit silently as we continued our way back to my father’s home. He had a dinner arranged for our family. I didn’t have the motivation to go but it would seem rude if I didn’t attend.

“If you don’t mind me asking sir, but who was this young lady you were talking to?” The driver asked. I smile at the thought of MC, to be honest I didn’t expect to actually talk to her. But when I was at the tea shop I notice her looking at me. At first I didn’t think much about it, well that was until before I left the shop, Saeyoung stopped me to explain about how MC seem concerned about how I looked sad about something. At first I was embarrassed but as well felt bad that I had worried her.

“It’s just someone I met at the tea shop” I replied simply.

“Oh I see, will you be seeing her again anytime soon?” He asked

I wonder...will I see her again? Probably at the tea shop but I knew clearly what the driver was trying to ask. I bring my gaze toward the window as we drive pass by MC’s house and smiled.

“I hope so”

This is for @jihyunscompass I hope you enjoyed it \(^w^)/

[sea-dukes-assistant]

Probably the “spiciest” one yet.  

It had been roughly a year and a half since this arrangement/relationship/I still don’t even know what to call it got started, and thankfully both of us have become more comfortable with things in general.  I’ve gained more confidence in myself (mostly in bed but also overall), I feel less insecure about my position in The Staff Hierarchy (and, by default, my positional authority), and, if Sir and I do end up having a spat, it’s usually in the same style as you would expect him to have with his wife.  It helps that both of us are Sailors, and have the mutual understanding that any 4 letter words or “one finger salutes” do not carry the same weight as they would if you were to yell such things at strangers.  

I admit I’m surprised he’s so understanding and, dare I say, caring towards my “glitches,” and handles my weird moods with either some sort of therapeutic chit chat at best, to a mere offering of a beer at worst.  This newfound empathy seems to have had a positive impact on him as a whole, though I can’t speak for him.  

So comfortable has he gotten, that I was actually invited to go with him to the officers’ club, although in that “y’know, if you want to” way so he doesn’t sound like it matters if I do or not.  I hesitantly agreed, knowing damn well I’m no officer, and could only imagine the kind of asschewing I’d endure for even walking in the door of the place.  I needn’t have worried...Sir had just casually waved off some random commander and informed him, “He’s with me.  Get him a pint.”

And so, here we sit, in the backseat of the car on the way back home, both basking in having had a few too many.

“I had no idea officers were regular people,” I blurt out, as if I’d just had an epiphany.

“Did you think you were being fucked by a fake person?”  Sir asks, mildly amused.

“No I just...THEY HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR.  I did not expect that.  I figured the conversation would be about...I dunno...if they’re going to the opera or the symphony over the weekend.  I certainly didn’t expect any of them to get me beer.”

“So you had a good time then?”

“I mean I reckon...I think one of them might have wanted some US Navy D though...he kept eyeing me up and stuff.”

“Can’t say I blame him.”

I feel my ears go hot and I wish my greatcoat was available to hide in.

“Sir pls.”

“What you think I fucking don’t?”

“No,” I answer, a bit more sheepishly than I wanted to.

“Mmm.  You really should pay more attention.  My wife isn’t the only one I eyeball.”  

I detect a flirtatious tone in his voice, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was sat there smirking at me, because one of his favorite things to making me flustered...either in a romantic sense or in the “oh jeez I’ve suddenly become really clumsy and awkward as a result of your attention” sense, which is usually the case with me.  I also suddenly feel warm all over, and I can’t tell if is the alcohol, or the fact that I am turned on...maybe it’s both.  Yeah, it’s both, I think as I become aware of the half-erection I now have.  Sir knows EXACTLY what to say to get me worked up and it...it’s the good kind of frustration.  I ponder my choices at this point: I can either ignore my partial hard-on and let it get uncomfortable, whip it out and take care of it in front of God and everybody (which I definitely don’t want to do because oh my god the dang driver will know I’m wanking), or...something else...which wouldn't help my situation but at least get my mind off it so it wouldn’t get to be the painful type of uncomfortable.

I opt for the “something else,” and, with minor difficulty because duh it’s dark, position myself so that I’m in that in-between phase of sitting and laying down, and with thankfully more grace than I just exhibited, unzip his pants and take him into my mouth without hesitation.

“Mmm not wasting time are we?  No foreplay or anything just...fucking hell...”

My boldness must have had an effect on him ‘cause he got hard almost instantly.

“Beg pardon sir?”  The driver suddenly reminded us of his existence, and I froze, my heart beating in my throat.

“Bloody mind your own business!”  Sir barks at him.  

A squeeze on my ass lets me know I can continue, and I do, though now that the “work” is done, I curb my enthusiasm and adopt a slower pace.  My aim at the moment is not to make him cum, but if I have to ride home with an erection, it’s only fair he have one too.  It’s clear that this is NOT what he wants, due to his sudden impatience and slight thrusting.  Incidentally, this has probably been the most eager to get off I’d ever seen him, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t both immensely satisfied with myself and also immensely turned on at his display.  Now I know how he feels.

After about ten more minutes of this, the car stops and the driver announces we’re back home. I come off him, making sure to get that nice “pop!” noise for good measure.

“Oh you’re really going to get it tonight,” Sir mutters at me as he puts his dick back in his pants, albeit with a lot of adjusting because...well... you’ve all seen it...he’s huge.

I snicker at him.  A footman opens the door, and we exit the car and make our way, surprisingly calmly, to the entrance of the Palace.  Once inside, I bolt into as much of a run as I can manage after 2 leg surgeries, unable to not laugh more at how I’ve succeeded at doing to Sir what he does to me like, all the fucking time, but it doesn’t last long.  He has two fully intact legs and is much faster than I, even in dress uniform, and upon catching up to me he get me in a fireman’s carry.

Eventually, after what feels like an eternity because this place is so inefficiently designed, and having to fake that “He’s just really drunk” so the staff don’t get suspicious, we get to the part where we actually live/work.  

“Oh yes,” he says once there’s no prying ears around, “you’re really going to get it...rum, sodomy, and the lash if you want it...”

And with that, he kicks the door to his bedroom shut.

[echoes-of-realities]

billie jean, uptown girl, girls just wanna have fun (untaint this song for my by talking about your mother pls ❤️), take on me, you spin me round (like a record), come on eileen, another one bites the dust, tainted love, DSB (for good measure lol)

billie jean: what do you notice more in a song - the drums or bassline?

The drums!! I did percussion for a Short Bit in my senior year of high school and I still will tap out drumbeats without really noticing lol

uptown girl: what’s your favourite book trope?

10000% childhood best friends to lovers (I dunno if that really counts but I’m Counting it because it’s true)

girls just want to have fun: relationship with your parents?

So the easiest on is that I have No Relationship with my dad since we’ve been estranged since I was 9 (12 years)

BUT my mom and I have a Super Close relationship, which if you follow me or read my fics you probably know already lmao but let me gush about her for a bit. She raised two kids alone after my dad left and she got No child support at all. She managed to get my sister and I into extracurriculars if we wanted and we always had food on the table despite some months being “We can’t buy groceries until I get paid in three weeks.” She’s patiently waited and watched me struggle while I in the closet for so many years (her response when I came out? “Duh. I’ve just been waiting for you to catch up”) and she’s dealt with the worst kind of fear when we found out my sister had a tumour at 16 years old. And she did this all on a nurse’s salary; despite my dad declared bankruptcy twice without telling her when they were still married, despite my dad gambling away both my sister’s and my college funds, despite my dad committing tax evasion and petty theft, despite the Canadian Revenue Agency knocking on our door and telling her that the only reason she wasn’t being evicted is because she was renting the house and they couldn’t foreclose it because of that. So it’s always been me, my mom, and my little sister Against the World. And through it all my mom’s always been there with a hug, some advice, and, occasionally, a good tease when I need it, so I have a really good relationship with my mom

take on me: could you reach the high note?

I could, but that doesn’t mean anyone actually want me to

you spin me round (like a record): favourite modern cover of an older song?

Khalid’s cover of “Fast Car”!!! I fell in love with it since he first released it this year!!

come on eileen: have you ever written a song? if so, what was the genre?

Yeah I actually have!! It’s an almost five minute concert band piece my friend and I composed (though said friend only really did like….. ten bars total) in our senior year for my band director!! I’ve also done a lot of arranging music too tbh

another one bites the dust: where did you achieve your biggest accomplishment?

So I actually have two, which were both in my senior year. The first one was the 212° Spirit Award for band; and the other was the Bronze Governor General’s Academic Medal I got for having the top grades in my high school!

tainted love: thoughts on synthesisers/electronic drum kits/technology based music?

You know what it’s not Really my style since I like folk rock/indie rock stuff but they can make some really cool music with all the technology out now so my opinion on it is basically @musicians you do you

don’t stop believin’: what’s the longest journey you’ve been on?

Uhhhhh probably when I was coming back from Vancouver after a band trip and what should have been a 10 hour bus ride turned into a 23 hour bus ride with three (3) separate coach buses breaking down on us, a mudslide causing us to detour through Jasper (which was four hours out of our way), a blizzard through the mountains in May which made us to about 25km/hr instead of 80km/hr, and, finally, running into four (4) separate accidents and being delayed about an hour at each one. We left at 7am and didn’t make it home until 6am the next morning

[leigh-kelly]

Great! What about a 187?

A continuation of this.

Much to both Brittany and Santana’s dismay, they don’t get to see each other for the rest of the summer. Between Santana’s job and Brittany’s annual family trip to New Mexico, everything is hectic, and try as they might, they just can’t make it happen. So when the end of August comes around and it’s time to go back to school, Santana is beside herself thinking about getting to kiss her girlfriend again. As much as she normally would look forward to summer ending and going back to school, this time, it’s amplified, and she’s bouncy as she helps her dad load up the car to drive her back to school. In just a few short hours, she’s going to see Brittany. In a few short hours, they’ll be living together, and the excitement is almost too much to bear.

It’s always strange for Santana when her parents do things together, but since her dad has two days off of work, he volunteered to help her move, and she couldn’t just brush off her mom. So the three of them are driving to New York together, and then her parents will stay in separate hotel rooms before driving back alone together. A younger Santana would have wished for them to be reunited on a trip like that, but now that she’s older, she knows that’s never going to happen. She knows they just make things work as best as they can for her sake, and she’s immensely grateful for it.

The car ride is mostly quiet, with Santana trying to carry the conversation, and she’s relieved when they get into the city. She wonders if Brittany is there yet, she wonders if she has the sheets and the memory foam and all of the things she got to make up their bed. She’s still a little shocked that this is happening, and if she’s being honest, slightly freaked out. She feels like she’s so young to be moving in with her girlfriend, but at the same time, it feels utterly, utterly right. She can’t imagine another year with a roommate who she has nothing in common with, she can’t imagine another year of struggling to fit in with someone, when she already has someone she fits perfectly with. 

“Have you spoken to Brittany?” Her dad breaks the silence. “Do you know how her parents decided to park?”

“I think they’ll have spaces in front cleared out like last year. I’d just get as close as you can, Dad. I don’t have too much with me.”

“Certainly less than last year.” He affirms.

“We knew it, didn’t we Carlos.” Her mother chimes in. “That first year, we all overpack, and then learn how little fits in a dorm room.”

“Plus, she has someone to share with this year. One television, one refrigerator...”

“Aren’t you glad we didn’t have to bring the fridge?” Santana laughs a little, knowing Brittany’s is much better than the one she had.

“Leave it to someone else to carry up. I’m happy to take up your television and your books.”

“I didn’t bring so many this year. I hardly have time to read my school books, let alone all the ones I thought I’d read for pleasure.”

“Well, you’re preoccupied with other things.”

“Carlos, leave her be.” Her mother interjects again. 

“I’m just teasing her a bit, Maribel. You know I’m thrilled she’s found someone she likes being around. What a miracle.”

“Dad...”

“I’m being genuine, honestly, Santana. She’s a nice girl. I think it’s good for you.”

“Well good, because she’s not going anywhere.”

“I should hope not, now that you’ve decided to be roommates.”

Santana starts to get uncomfortable in the car, and they couldn’t pull up in front of her new dorm building fast enough. She’s texted Brittany, who’s about a half hour behind her, and she starts unloading the car with her parents, bringing her things upstairs to the empty room. When she gets there, she’s kind of excited about how big it is, and she really can’t wait until she can stop faking that she’s going to have her own bed, and push the beds together with Brittany. They’re really doing this, she’s nervous and excited and a wreck, but it’s going to be good, it has to be good.

When Brittany gets there, there’s a lot of adults in the room, and Santana gets shy, keeping to herself and unpacking the few books she has on her desk. They’d talked about doing lunch again, but Brittany’s parents are doing the round trip in one day, so they want to get out of there. Santana’s parents are good about leaving her be, so finally, after an hour of chaos, it’s just the two of them in their new dorm, standing on opposite sides of the room and looking at each other.

“I smuggled us in our new stuff.” Brittany laughs. “Sure you want to do this?”

“Well, it’d be pretty dumb if we kept our beds on opposite sides of the room and like...alternated whose bed we were going to sleep in. Hell yeah I want to do this, how are we moving the furniture?”

“Desks on opposite sides of the room so you have your private study space?”

“Yeah...that would be really good. Help me push this stuff?”

“Wait a second, I haven’t even kissed you properly yet. Get over here, it’s been like a hundred years since I’ve seen you.”

“Hey.” Santana grins, skipping across the room and falling into Brittany’s arms. “Wow, I missed you.”

“I missed you too, times a million.” Brittany kisses her, running her hands up Santana’s back inside of her shirt. 

“No funny business...yet. Let’s just get everything arranged, and then get you some lunch, then we can do whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?”

“I mean, within reason.”

Together, they move the two desks to opposite corners of the room, and then push the beds together under the windows. Brittany gets out a memory foam mattress pad and a set of grey flannel sheets, and they make up the bed, spreading Santana’s oversized comforter over it, and folding Brittany’s smaller one down at the end. When they’re finished, Brittany offers Santana a hand up onto her desk so she can hang her Wonder Woman poster above it, and Brittany hangs hers of Charlie St. Cloud above her own. After they finish up, Santana steps back and admires the work they’ve done. She still has to unpack her clothes, and some of the other boxes she brought with her, but for now, the room looks perfect. 

“What do you think, Babes?”

“I think we live together.”

“Crazy, isn’t it? After so much time apart this summer, all I could think of was how we were going to be here today. We’re roomies, roomie.” 

“I never thought I’d be so excited to have a roommate.”

“Well duh, ‘cuz you didn’t know you’d have the best one.” Brittany grins. “I know you’re totally dying to unpack your stuff right now. Do you want me to run down and grab a pizza, and we’ll eat up here?”

“You really know me well, don’t you?”

“I’d hope so. I’ve had enough time to get to know all your little quirks after all.”

When Brittany goes downstairs, Santana sits on the floor and begins to unpack. It’s actually good, after a day where she’s been surrounded by people to have a few minutes to herself. She begins neatly organizing clothes in the drawers, and she sends Marley a text, just seeing how she’s settling in on moving day at Columbia. She’s sort of itching to finally go meet her long distance friend, but she knows with the stress of moving and the first day of classes coming up, it’s not going to happen yet. Truth be told too, Santana’s a little freaked out after so many years of only knowing each other through the phone, and she just doesn’t want anything to ruin her relationship with her best friend. It’s something she’s had running through her head for weeks, but she feels too weird to even bring it up.

Brittany gets back with the pizza just as Santana is finishing up with her things, and she figures after lunch she’ll help Brittany get through hers. They sit down on the floor with the pizza box between them, and Santana devours half a slice before Brittany even begins to eat. 

“How’s Marley?” Brittany asks, mouthful of pizza. 

“She’s good, getting adjusted, and going to some freshman thing up there tonight.”

“When are you meeting her?”

“I...haven’t decided yet. I mean, is it totally weird that I’m beyond freaked out about it?”

“What do you mean? She’s your best friend.”

“I know, but like...we’ve been friends through the computer for years. We always talked about meeting up, but we both knew it was totally impossible, and my mom would have freaked if she knew I was meeting someone from the computer. Now she lives like a mile away, and I dunno, what if she doesn’t like me or something?”

“Santana Lopez, are you kidding me?” Brittany puts her hands on her hips. “You’re totally awesome, and she knows you better than anyone, even me. It’s going to be amazing when you guys meet and actually get to hang out.”

“It’s just like, I don’t know.”

“Hey, embrace how awesome you are. I’ve only told you, like, a million times, and I’ve Skyped with Marley too. She’s a little adorable nerd like you are, you guys are going to have so much fun together. You’ll probably forget about me.”

“I’d never forget about you, Britt. You’re my favorite, favorite person.”

“I was just teasing you, Babes. But seriously, I’m excited for you to meet her. It’ll be so good for you to have someone you can be yourself with.”

“It’ll also be super weird to say Rizzles out loud in person.”

“I think it’s cute when you say it.”

“Yeah, but you’re you, you think everything I do is cute.”

“C’mere.” Brittany wipes pizza sauce from Santana’s chin. “See, that was cute too.”

“You’re such a sweet talker. I swear, where did you even come from?”

“Well, my mother’s Scottish, and my father is a teeny tiny little elf.”

“Okay Chandler Bing.” Santana pokes her side. “But fine, point taken, it won’t be weird.”

“I’m not trying to negate your feelings or anything. I think I get it, you’re insecure about stuff, and I’m not trying to minimize it. I one-hundred percent get being insecure.”

“I know.” Santana leans in to kiss her. “And I love you for that.”

They eat the rest of their pizza quietly, and then Santana helps Brittany with all of her unpacking. Their new yet to be named fish sits on Brittany’s dresser, and after the long day of traveling and unpacking, Santana is just ready to lay down. They start classes in two days, so until then, they have all the time in the world just to be together. It feels like such a relief to Santana after all their time apart, and when Brittany pops The Notebook into the DVD player, Santana plops back on their bed, ready to settle in for the night. 

“We can do leftover pizza for dinner.” Brittany tells her, laying down and opening up her arms. “I’ve gotta figure out this eating thing, since the dining hall is forever away now.”

“We can make a point to get up early and go, and then do dinner after class there most nights.”

“Rubin was definitely easier for this. But yeah...”

“Is everything okay, Britt?”

“Yeah, totally. I’m just thinking it through. Sometimes I hate that this is a thing I have to do.”

“I know, but I support you completely. If you ever feel like you’re slipping...”

“No, I know, I’ve got you to turn to. I don’t think I’ll slip, it’s just good to have an eating plan in place. I know that probably sounds dumb after it’s been years.”

“I don’t think it’s dumb. I think it’s really important that you keep an eye on it. The last thing I want is for you to be sick again.”

“It’s good to be back around you. In the summer time I’d get so bored and I’d get off my schedule. Since you’re such a planner, you help keep me to one.”

“Do you want to go to the Whole Foods on Houston tomorrow and stock up on some stuff to keep around here? We could even go to Bed Bath and Beyond and grab a toaster if you wanted...”

“Are you suggesting we introduce more contraband items?” Brittany laughs a little, as Santana settles into her arms.

“We’re already breaking the rules with the fish, what’s one more thing?”

“You bring a rebel is kind of sexy.”

“Oh yeah.” Santana adjusts her glasses. “That’s me, rebel without a cause. Which, by the way, we still need to watch.”

“We do. Tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, I want one of your movies that I’m totally going to only half watch tonight.”

“Oh really?”

“Britt, we haven’t had sex since June. If you think I’m about to genuinely watch The Notebook, you’re insane.”

“That’s the best kind of answer I’ve ever heard.”

Santana rolls onto her side, and Brittany presses into her a little, kissing her deeply, and laying her onto her back so she can hover over her. Just making out feels really good after so long, but Santana can feel herself getting revved up faster than she ordinarily would. When Brittany unbuttons her pants, she flushes, knowing that she’s already wet, and Brittany’s eyes widen, a grin spreading across her face. 

“Already? Do I really have that much of an effect on you?”

“You have no idea.” Santana murmurs, silencing Brittany with another kiss. 

“Can we try something?”

“What kind of something?”

“I want to...like, get each other off at the same time.”

“You mean scissoring?”

“Well...” Brittany trails off, and Santana can tell she’s thinking hard. “I was actually thinking more like, we go down on each other at the same time.”

“Oh...wow. Okay. That sounds really hot.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh.” Santana takes her glasses off and puts them beside the bed. “I definitely would be into that.”

“What a way to christen our new bed.” Brittany grins, pulling her shirt over her head and undoing her jeans. 

Santana follows Brittany’s lead, and she gets fully undressed. Normally, they’d undress each other slowly, but given how excited they both are about this, they don’t waste any time getting fully naked. Santana squirms a little, unsure of what exactly to do next, but Brittany eases her nerves by kissing her and palming her breasts, waiting until she’s putty in her hands before she makes the next move. Santana lays back into the pillows, nodding that she’s totally okay with being beneath Brittany, and when Brittany carefully lowers herself onto her face, Santana gives a rare wanton moan of pleasure.

It’s the weirdest sensation, Santana thinks, simultaneously pleasuring and being pleasured like this, but it only makes her work harder to make this the absolute best for Brittany. When she feels herself on the verge of coming, and knows that Brittany’s not quite there yet, she doubles down, squeezing her ass and pulling her closer in until she almost feels like she can’t breathe. She’s lightheaded, and when she actually falls apart, it’s almost surreal how good it feels for her. She can’t believe they’ve never done this before, and as vanilla as she thought she was, maybe she’s a little kinky somewhere deep inside—at least the kind of kinky that sort of gets off on not being able to breathe. 

Afterwards, Brittany seems especially tender with her, kissing all over her face, stroking her hair and body, wrapping her up in the blanket on their bed. As good as orgasms are, it’s the little afterwards intimacies that are Santana’s favorite thing in the world, and she curls up into Brittany’s arms, content like a little kitten. She feels like Brittany’s most special thing in those times, and she tucks her face into the crook of Brittany’s neck, smelling her lingering perfume, the sweat from their activities, just her natural Brittany smell. It feels so good to be back in her arms, and Santana sighs contentedly. 

“Good?” Brittany asks, and Santana nods. “Me too.”

“I really don’t want to get up ever again. That was like...the most perfect thing, having you back is the most perfect thing.”

“Seriously, can we do internships next summer so we can just stay here?”

“Can we not talk about next summer at all? Please?”

“I’m sorry.” Brittany kisses her lips. “I won’t anymore. Do you want cold pizza?”

“Sure.” Santana smiles, almost asking Brittany if she’s really ready to get up already, before thinking better of it. “Iced tea too?”

“Anything you want. Just stay right here.”

[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

Rambles, not reviews.....

Catching up. The fact I was watching a movie about pregnancy followed by one about a baby didn’t occur to me until just now.

I saw:

Juno- A teenage girl gets pregnant from hete friend boy. During the course of the pregnancy she arranges an adoption by a seemingly ideal couple, only to discover discontent marital beneath the surface. She also figures out that maybe her friend boy could, kinda, maybe be her boy friend. 

Through out the movie the hyper articulate girl demonstrates a true talent for continually using her particular brand of humor to distract from the emotional. Not that even she can avoid a bit of feeling oozing out around the edges of that verbal cork. Though saying “cork” conjures up images of it shoved in her mouth like the apple in the snout of a roast pig, which considering all the chatter she does it’s kinda the exact opposite. And ewww, roast pig...not only do I not eat red meat (despite evolution making me an omnivore)  I have a pet pig and if anyone tried to roast Ryoga I know who would end up jammed on a spit and it wouldn’t be the one with the hooves......

Sorry. I’ve had a draining day, so now my brain is running on empty. Too bad I’ve never figured out what fuel it takes or....

Sorry, sorry! Really living up to the “rambles”part tonight....

Anyway, the humor curiously managing to seem both emotionally valid and moves  it a step or two from reality. I can’t say no one talks like that, because lots of people do....just not all the time. And speaking of unreality, the kid sure had an ideal time of an unplanned under age pregnancy, because the girls I knew that got pregnant in school had a tougher time of it.  (my first knocked up classmate happened in 7th grade and she wasn’t the last by a long shot) She’s the casually cool bright teen gal that carries a pregnancy, up until the birth anyway, with minimal physical or emotional stress and with the instant full support of all her family and friends.....

But, you know, movies are mostly fantasies. It just happens to be a teen pregnancy fantasy instead of superheroes saving the world or opposites that end up in a screwball romance type.

On the plus side it depicted a pregnant teen who wasn’t defined by it. It wasn’t going moralistic, trying to warn teens that sex causes suffering punishing her. It kept her in charge of decisions about herself and true to her nature, even if that nature is a lot more wisecracks and angst than most folks in her situation would experience. 

So, I dunno. It was amusing.

The Boss Baby- An imaginative little boy finds out that the new baby brother, rocking a suit and toting a briefcase, is not what he seems to the adults. The baby is actually an infant executive from the company responsible for all babies. He’s been sent on a mission because the world has started to shift to thinking puppies are cuter than babies (Well, duh! They are!!) and it’s been discovered that the head of the company the kids’ parents work for has developed a mysterious new puppy that could doom babies to loose out entirely in the love market. While the little boy and the baby corporate spy fight like brothers at first, they soon have to work together to save both the world from the emotional blackhole that would be puppies that never age and save their parents. 

You know, I went into this expecting the worst. The idea of an adult voiced and behaving baby has been done to death in animation, after all. But to my surprise I actually enjoyed it. 

 Yeah, it does poop and fart jokes. Kids movies seem addicted to them since that taboo got broken years ago. But it  also has the solid emotional hook of sibling rivalry. 

Better still, the animation could take gorgeous turns particularly during the little boy’s flights of fantasy. Varying animation styles, color schemes, compositions and so were employed, and while maybe not pushed to the extreme of some art film it certainly played around with the look more than the average studio animated film. It reminded me at times a bit of certain old cartoons like the ones Chuck Jones did about a daydreaming little boy. I’d been baffled about it’s academy award nomination until I saw it.

Which is NOT to say it should have won. It isn’t even to say there weren’t other movies from 2017 I should have been nominated in it’s place. But the fact is, it is skillfully made with some lovely visual touches and and enjoyable story. I have no interest in them making sequels (not that I have a choice), but I liked it.

That said, the fact it inverts the situation with my brother got me a bit emotional.  What I mean is, I was delighted to have a baby brother and we were incredibly close until he was about 8. Stuff  at our hell school planted a seed that would grow into something horrible, twisting him all up and making me the focus of all his rage. So now, as adults, our relationship...well, let’s just say that it’s bad with no hope of getting better. Best to remember the bad times to remind myself it might sadly be for the best. (no really, it was bad. Bad enough I used to start trembling at the sound of his car. Bad enough I don’t want to post about it) Feel good movies about sibling love make me miss my brother. Or at least what were to each other and what might still be if only.................

So anyway, of the 2017 best animated feature academy award nominees I’d rank them

1) The Breadwinner 2) Loving Vincent 3) Coco 4) Ferdinand 5) The Boss Baby

To be honest, those last two are very close in quality so I could easily switch them depending on what I feel like focusing on.

[thorne93]

Just My Luck (Part 5)

Prompt: Imagine accidentally walking into the men’s bathroom and seeing this fine specimen (James McAvoy)

Word Count: 1300+

Warnings: Language, fight

Notes: Collab fic with my girl @cocosierra94!!! Internal thoughts are in Italics, texts are in bold

Tags: @marvel-imagines-yes-please @nilalovessadness @tacohead13 @captain-fuckinglevi @bohemianrhapsody @amarvelouswritings @cocosierra94 @essie1876 @magpiegirl80 @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @harleyquinnandscarletwitch @iamwarrenspeace @marvel-imagines-yes-please @superwholocked527 @myparadise19982sand @missinstantgratification

@thejulesworld

~~~~~~~~~

“I'm guessing James is back in London today?”  Rachel asked you cautiously, she could tell you were a bit frazzled by his departure.

“Yeah….And before you even ask, I'm okay,” you said, smiling a little, just to reassure your friend and possibly even yourself of your well being.

It had been a wonderful couple of weeks that you and James had spent together and you knew he had to go back to work, but it didn't make the pain any different to watch him leave for the airport.

“So are things getting pretty serious between you two? I mean I know it's only been a few months since you two met, but I mean... come on, I haven't seen you smile this much since you got your first camera.”

“Oh shut up.” You playfully pushed her, smiling down to the ground. “I…. do think it's getting serious. Ugh, Rachel! I get all nervous around him, he makes me laugh, respects me, makes me feel safe, he makes me feel--”

“Love… Y/n, you're in love.”

“I'm …Rachel what do I do?!” you asked in a panic. Love scared the shit out of you. After Michael, you didn’t want anything to do with relationships or love. Love lead to hate.

“Enjoy it! It's a good feeling, especially when it's real.”

“Well should I tell him? When? What should I even say?”

“First of all, duh! Don’t worry, I'll help you.. but you'll need to take a week off.”

You frowned at your best friend. “What, a week? Why?”

“Because here.” She handed you a plain white envelope.

“Rachel, what is this? This better not be your funny way of firing m--” You stopped as soon as you saw the contents of the envelope. “This is a ticket to Spain. Why am I going to Spain?”

“James called me asking if I would be interested in going to Spain, but I told him you'd probably enjoy it more than me.” She laughed as she wrinkled her nose at you as she sat on your desk.

You sat with the ticket in your hand, stunned.

“Spain. But...but..but I have work!” you spluttered, your head spinning.

Rachel grinned and responded, “And now you don't. Since you've been working for me the most you've ever taken off was two days to go see your family. It's time you used vacation for its true purpose!”

“What's that?” you asked innocently.

“To have fun! You do remember how to do that, right?”

“Rachel...I don't know. A foreign country with a man I just started dating. Is it too soon?”

“Well, what do you think? Are things moving too fast?”

You blushed and responded meekly, “Well no.”

“Then go. What's the worst that'll happen? You have a good time with a great looking guy?”

“I guess you're right.”

“Come on. It'll be fun. We’ll go shopping after work for some things.”

“Shopping? I've got clothing.”

“No, you have clothes for work and clothes for being a hermit. You don't have clothes for shaking your money maker on a beach”

“Rachel!” you chastised, blushing.

“What? It's true. You need some sexy numbers.”

You sighed with humor.

-------

After work, Rachel and you went to some high end shops in Soho. She picked out some things that were entirely too revealing. A leather mini skirt, a white shirt that tied around the waist, a loose maxi dress with spaghetti straps, and a few skimpy bikinis. You were trying everything on and showing her.

“Come out! Come on!” Rachel urged as she browsed mindlessly for herself.

“No!” you shouted back. “I can't do this. I look stupid.”

“No, you don't! Come on!”

You sighed and came out, covering yourself with your arms. You were in one of the skimpy bikinis with a wrap around sheer skirt.

“Rachel, this is too much!”

“No it's perfect! Now all you have to do is a little strip tease,” she cooed as she danced around you.

“I most certainly will not!” you said adamantly, blushing.

“Well if you don't tease him at least wear this stuff.”

“Why? Why do you care so much?”

“Because I'm living through you and you need to slut it up for me. If not for me, do it for James.”

“But so far he likes me in my over sized shirt and jeans self.”

“And now he'll get to see what you're hiding under all that, sweetie.”

“You really think he'll like it?” you wondered, chancing a peek at your reflection. You did look somewhat good. But good enough for James? Maybe not.

“I know so. Good rule of thumb, if you feel comfortable, you're doing it wrong. Cleavage out, butt up, legs shaved.”

She slapped your ass and you yelped.

“Now. Grab that and I'll let you wear my black bikini. Next, we need lingerie.”

“Lingerie?” you said in a small voice.

---------

The next week came quicker than you expected. You had decided not to tell James you were coming, telling him you were sick. Instead, you made plans with his personal assistant to surprise him. She arranged for a car to pick you up at the airport and take you to the hotel he was staying at. Suitcase in tote, you headed up to the penthouse suite.

You could hear him in the room talking to his personal assistant, “ ...I just feel bad I'm not there taking care of her. Maybe I should just leave tomorrow to go see her.”

Your heart did a somersault at his thoughtfulness, there was also a hint of guilt because he was worrying for nothing. To quiet the beating of your heart, you knocked on the door, and announced, “Room service!”

James was probably frowning, stating, “I didn't order room ser--”

He opened the door, beholding the sight of you before him. His eyes went wide and he seemed shocked into speechlessness.

“Surprise!” you said with a wide grin and a laugh.

“Y/n! You're here!” He swiftly moved to embrace you. He wrapped you in a tight hug before finally telling his assistant that he didn’t need her any more and hanging up. “Y/N--You--you’re---how did you get here?”

“I thought you were smart,” you said sarcastically with a grin. “The plane ticket?”

“Right! I’m sorry. I forgot, I’ve been so worried about you...and apparently for nothing!” he reprimanded, shaking you a little. “Well come inside!” He ushered you in. “I have the whole week planned! There is so much I want you to see and do!”

“Well good,” you said with a laugh. “I’ve never been to Spain so...You’ll have to be my tour guide.”

“I bet I’m the most handsome tour guide you’ve ever had,” he said in a low voice as he slowly leaned in to kiss you.

You nodded your head side to side. “Eh, maybe top five,” you joked. In a more serious tone, you admitted, “I missed you, a lot.”

“I missed you too.”

----------------------------

The next couple of days were incredible!  The architecture was stunning. The perfect place to photograph. James was patient with you while you stopped to snap pictures of people, places, animals, the sky, nature, cars. Literally everything caught your eye. He took you to the beach two days in a row and at first you were incredibly insecure, until he continued to hold you, play with you, splash you in the water, and you caught him admiring you a handful of times and your worry started to melt away a little bit.

Tonight, he said he had a special surprise for you. He lead you through the warm streets just as evening was starting to a sort of club. It was a restaurant but most people went for the dancing.

“Come on, Y/N,” he urged as he grabbed your hand.

“What? No! No! James, I can’t dance!”

“Nonsense, just let the music move your body. I know how to lead.”

“But--”

“Have I steered you wrong yet?” he asked seriously, those sparkling blue eyes piercing yours.

“Well...no…”

“Then come.”

You nodded as you obliged. He lead you in the middle of several bodies, already warm and sweating from dancing all night in the heat.

This was, unsurprisingly, out of your comfort zone. It wasn't like you were a terrible dancer, you could keep up with the rhythm fairly well, you just weren't used to dancing with other people around. Especially not A list actor people.

“He’s handsome, a great cook, a great dancer..  what's not to love.”

“Y/n, stop thinking so much, love! Just focus on the music. What is the beat telling you to do?” He glided his hand down to your hips and guided them from side to side, swaying to the beat. You closed your eyes and listen to the Spanish melody playing around you.

“Despacito

Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito

Deja que te diga cosas al oído

Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo”

In that heated moment, your body knew exactly what to do. He lead your every sensually slow movement. Dancing closer and closer, you could feel him breathing in your neck slowly, driving you insane.

“I love this song,” you spoke with a soft rasp in your voice.

“Why is that?” he practically growled in your ear.

“It's about a man wanting to enjoy every second of being with his woman...slowly.”

“Is that so?” he purred before he turned you so that your legs were positioned between each others. His hands still on your waist as he guided your hips, so that they were swaying with every movement. Before you knew it, the people around you had slipped away, as if you were the only people in the room. Naturally, you began slightly grinding on his leg as his hands dug into your hips, gripping you even harder, making your arousal spike.  

You looked at him, eyes glazed with ecstasy. “He wants to remember every detail of her body… slowly.”

“I definitely understand how he feels.”

You could feel just how well he understood as he pressed himself against you. You tried not to, but you let out a small whimper. You bit your lip trying to get a hold of yourself.

“Why don't we get out of here and go back to the room?” he whispered in your ear, nipping at it slightly, rendering you speechless.

All you could do was nod as your mouth went dry.

Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the music, maybe it was the way everyone was sensually moving around you, maybe it was the mystique and adventure of a new and foreign land. Whatever it was - you wanted James, now.

Immediately, he grabbed your hand and you two nearly ran through the streets like children on a quest. Laughter erupted from your mouths, until, James pulled you aside in an alleyway, a few blocks from your hotel.

“James, our hotel--” you started but he interrupted.

“I know, but I need you now. I can’t wait any longer,” he nearly growled, desperation in his voice as both hands went to cup your face before his lips crashed onto yours in a furious frenzy of passion. He backed you up against a stucco structure, your backside feeling the building behind you as he pressed into you.

Uncontrolled by you, a gasp and moan escaped your mouth as he kissed your neck, trailing down to your collarbone. Your hands wrapped around his back, your fingers digging into the blades.

In a swift, unforeseen motion, he grabbed your thighs and hoisted you so your thighs wrapped around him and your dress fell to the side.

“Are you alright with this?” he questioned, want and permission making his pupils balloon out.

“Mhm,” you said as you nodded, slightly grinding against his groin.

“Alright then,” he agreed before going back to work on you….

------------

Morning came and your body felt as if you got a new skin. A night with James was surely one to remember. Especially when he made magical moments happen in an alley and three times back at the hotel room.

James suggested going down to the beach and you happily said yes. You could finally put on the infamous black bikini that Rachel had worn on numerous occasions that won over at least a dozen men each time. You could’ve sworn it had magical power. And now that James had seen you naked, you weren’t nearly as nervous being in it.

You put on the sexy little number, wrapped a beach wrap around you so you could surprise James when you got to the beach, and you two headed out, hand in hand.

Once you got down there, you both realized you needed towels. James said he’d be right back to fetch some from a small shop right on the beach. He gave you a chaste kiss and raced off. As soon as he was gone, you dropped your beach wrap, hoping that when James got back, the lacey black ensemble would send him reeling.

“Want some help with that?” a random voice asked as you looked up into the bright sun, not a cloud in the sky.

“I’m sorry?” you said once your eyes focused. It was a tan man with long black hair, a close shaved black beard, and muscles you usually only see on the cover of sports magazines.

“I said, would you like some help? Applying the sunscreen?” he asked again, his voice having a bit of an accent. You figured he was probably a local.

“Oh, yeah, sure! Thanks! Could you get my back?”

“Absolutely.”

He knelt down and handled the sunscreen, meanwhile, your boyfriend was watching another man rub all over you in the skimpiest thing he’d ever seen you wear.

“I love your bikini,” he noted.

“Thank you, it’s my friend’s. She’s letting me borrow it while I’m on vacation.”

“Oh, are you here with anyone?”

“She’s here with me,” James voice said as he stood over you two.

“Oh, hey there,” the stranger greeted as he got up.

“Hi, thank you for taking care of my girlfriend but I’ll be assisting her now.”

“Fine by me. Have yourselves a lovely day,” he said as he walked off. James stared after his form.

“Thanks for getting the towels,” you said sweetly as he fanned one out and sat on it.

“Yeah,” he noted, not his usual sparky self.

“Would you like me to get your back with the sunscreen?” you offered.

“No, no thanks.”

“Well...would you like to go in the water?”

“I’m fine right here,” he quipped.

“Okay...Well, I’d like to cool off,” you noted as you stood up. “Do you like my bathing suit?”

“It’s alright I suppose. It certainly got that local’s attention…”

“What’s with you?” you asked, wondering where the sour mood came from.

“Nothing, just--  go enjoy the water, love.” Agitation filled the space between you two.

You scoffed at his poor attempt of trying hide his emotions, “Okay well when you're ready to be an adult and talk about what's bothering you, you know where to find me.”

You couldn't understand why he was being so moody. You were determined not to let it bother you, “He said it was nothing, so don't think about it! Just relax.”

The more you tried to put it out of your mind, the more you thought about how suddenly his mood had changed. What exactly caused the atmosphere to go from being warm and inviting to cold and distant? You looked back at James only to find, he wasn't there.

---------------------------

You found yourself staring at the empty beach chair in disbelief.

“Are you freaking kidding me?!”  you thought.

In one swift, furious second you were striding up the beach to grab your belongings and head to the room.

Thankfully you managed to remember the spare room key, you opened the door to find him on the couch flipping through the tv channels.

“Back so soon?”

“Cut the crap, James, why the hell did you leave me down there?”

“I told you I didn't feel like swimming.”

“Okay but you were fine when we left, so what changed? And don't bullshit me either!”

He paused for a brief moment, debating on whether or not to be completely honest with you.

Taking in a deep breath, he spoke calmly, “I didn't appreciate the way that guy had his hands on you.”

It took you just a second to gather your wits. Wondering if you misheard him, you said, “Are you serious?! He was just being nice!”

“No, he wasn't! I saw the way he and his friends were watching you, the same way I was watching you. Which I can assure you was not in a friendly way!”

“So this is about you being jealous?!”

“No! Y/n, this is about you being too naive to see when a guy is trying to hit on you!”

You were floored by the anger in his voice. The words were like a swarm of hornets attacking your heart. Tears brimmed your eyes threatening to fall.

“Look, I didn't mean it like that, I just---”

“No, James, I know what you meant. Don't worry, my naivety and I will be out of your way from now on. I'll just get my stuff and go back home.” You b-lined it to bedroom, locking the door behind you.

“Y/n, please, don't leave. I'm sorry.” Hearing the pain in his voice pushed you to your breaking point. Those tears gave way. He could hear you quietly crying, trying to comfort yourself. You didn't know it, but hearing your sobs, knowing he caused the hurt, pushed him to his breaking point. He couldn't bear to watch you leave. He grabbed his phone and stepped out on the balcony.

In a flurry of anger and hurt, you threw your belongings into your suitcase in a somewhat manageable manner, grabbed your bags, and heaved a sigh. You asked yourself if you were really going to leave. You decided that if he stopped you on the way out, you would reconsider, if he didn’t, then it wasn’t meant to be.

You stepped out of the bedroom and glanced around for him. You saw him on the balcony faced partially away from you, but if he just turned slightly, he would see your pain stricken form in front of him. He was on a phone call. You waited, you waited longer than you wanted to, but he apparently seemed too preoccupied to deal with it than to come after you.

With that, you silently turned, opened the hotel door, and left for the airport.

-------------------------

“Rachel,” you sobbed as she opened the door.

“Y/N? You’re supposed to be in Spain! What are you doing here?”

An answer couldn’t come though as you fell into her arms.

“Oh, honey, what happened?”

“He--he…”

“Did he hurt you?” she demanded in an angry tone. “Did he take advantage of you?”

You shook your head. “No, no, nothing like that.”

“Well, tell me,” she informed as she walked you over to the couch.

“He...he called me naive. A guy on the beach was helping me put sunscreen on and he got jealous and we had a fight.”

“I see.”

“So...I just left.”

“You’re not naive, Y/N.”

“I don’t know, maybe I am. I mean, I thought me and James could work. But how could we? He’s a celebrity with tons of gorgeous, smarter, funnier women that he could have. I’m just...a nobody. I’m an assistant, an errand girl.”

“Stop that,” Rachel commanded in a chastising tone. “Out of all of the women he could be with, he chose you.There just might be women that are smarter or prettier than you….”

“Rachel, you aren't really making me feel better,” you interrupted her.

“Let me finish. Yes, there might be women that are smarter or prettier than you, but none of them are you. None of them have a heart made of pure gold like you do. You would give up EVERYTHING for the people you love and even a little bit for people you don't know. So no, you aren't naive. You choose to see the good in everyone. However, when people try and take advantage of that kindness, it makes us, the people who love you, wanna rip them to shreds!”

You sniffled, smiling a bit at her.

“Thank you. I just...I think I got in over my head with him…”

“Well, he’s handsome and Scottish, no one can blame you,” she eased as she tucked hair out of your face.

You smiled again and she went to the restroom, by the time she got back, you had fallen asleep on the couch. Between your emotions and the jet lag, you were happy to let sleep take over.

She covered you up and turned out the light. Being kinda tired herself she headed to her room.

“15 missed calls? Jeez who's been blowing up my phone?”

She clicked on the notification and noted 5 of the 15 were from James. Figuring the rest of calls could be dealt with tomorrow, she called him back.

“Hello?”

“James… why is your girlfriend here with me crying and you're in Spain?” she demanded immediately. There were no times for pleasantries.

“ I -- I messed everything up. I shouldn't have said anything! She hates me Rachel, and I'm sure she'll never want to see me again.”

“I'm sure you're over exaggerating a bit. Is she upset? Yes, but that doesn't mean she hates you. Just give her a day to cool down. Trust me by the time you get your ass here to New York, she'll be fine.”

“I don't know, you didn't see the way she looked at me Rachel, I've broken her heart.”

“James McAvoy, you listen to me and you listen good! I've known this girl my entire life. I've seen her get through some hard times and good ones too. I will tell you this is the first time I have ever seen her look at someone the way she looks at you, speak about someone the way she speaks of you and dammit, she has NEVER EVER said she's been in love with anyone before you. Now, do you love Y/N?”

“Y-yes. Of course, more than anything!”

“If you love her like you say you do then get your Scottish ass on the next flight out of Spain and to New York now! Prove to her you love her no matter what! Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, ma'am...Thank you, Rachel.”

“Yea yea, hook me up with Fassbender and we'll call it even, haha!”

“Deal, heheh, talk to you later.””

---------------

The next morning, you woke up a little stiff. Rachel already had coffee and toast ready.

“Mornin, sunshine!” she greeted.

“Hey,” you softly said. “I think I’m gonna head home.”

“What? Why?”

“I just kind of want to be alone, and I need to start unpacking.”

“Hmm, alright. Are you sure you’ll be okay? I can take a vacation day.”

“No, no, that’s fine. I’ll be fine. I just need to be in my own bed, ya know?”

“Fair enough. Call me if you need anything at all.”

“You know I will,” you promised.

The ride home on the subway and walking seemed exhausting. Once you finally got home though, you threw the suitcases down, promising to unpack later in the day, but for now, you just wanted sleep.

You went to your bed, got undressed to t-shirt and underwear, and crawled in. You were just about to drift back to sleep when a knock at the door came. For a split second, you thought about ignoring it. Maybe it was James, if not, you didn’t care to speak to whoever it was. But, then you realized you needed to be an adult like you told him to be and face this problem. So you got up and went to the door.

“James--” you started as you opened the door.

“So the Scottish prick isn’t here, huh?”