#I finally got my parents to fully hear what I’ve been saying

[blackprivilege]

I’m home this weekend 👍🏽

I will also be home for the long weekend, and then I will continue to be home every other weekend, because my suffering has ended, and next year I will no longer be a residential student 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[writeonwhiskey]

the skz house: ch 17

a/n: thank you to @bahablastplz for editing. check out her writing if you haven't already! she's amazing.

Summary: Welcome to Sigma Kappa Zeta, the most popular fraternity on campus. When you, down on your luck and looking for a place to live, see their ad for ‘IN-HOUSE STAY’. You're one of the four girls chosen and find that your duties for the rest of the school year will be cooking, cleaning, and pleasing your assigned house members: Hyunjin & Chan.

[ read chapter sixteen here ]

Chapter Seventeen: Of Futures & Flights

Lee Know was right—your least favorite string of words in the English language. Hyunjin will be going to Korea for winter break and now your only option is to see what Chan has planned. You knock on the door to his room before entering. He’s sitting at his desk, laptop in front of him. He turns to face you as you enter. A hint of a smile tugs at his lips when he sees you and you immediately feel your face flush. 

“Hey,” you say meekly. 

Lately with just one look from him you’re overcome with flashbacks of being handcuffed to his bed. And he knows it. It hadn’t been awkward or uncomfortable in the days that followed, but he certainly was finding a lot of joy in catching your eye from across the room and winking or smirking. He always got a kick out of your reaction. 

“Hey,” he replies smoothly.

You walk over to your bed and sit on the edge, facing him.

“I wanted to ask about your plan for winter break,” you cut straight to the chase. “Are you going to visit your family?”

“Maybe. Why?” he asks, crossing his hands in front of his chest as he leans back in the chair. “Got a more tempting suggestion?”

Of course, he must already have some idea why you’re here. Lee Know or Hyunjin could have mentioned it. But he wants to hear you ask anyways.

“I want to use the trip I won around that time and Hyunjin is going home, so…”

“So…I’m your backup?”

“N-No,” you stutter. Though you can’t deny how it must come off from his point of view. 

“Hmmm,” he hums, not taking his eyes off you. “Where you planning to go?”

“I was thinking somewhere warm, like Miami. I’ve never been.”

“And you actually want me to go with you?” he asks, arching an eyebrow. “You could take one of the other members.” 

Is he suggesting that you should choose someone else? That he doesn’t want to go with you? He does so damn well at playing serious when he’s messing with you, you can never tell.

“I’d prefer to spend it with you…”

“Since Hyunjin isn’t available?”

“Chan.” you sigh. 

He chuckles at your exasperation and gives up. 

“I’ll go.”

You wish you had something nearby on the bed to hit him with. Internally you’re jumping for joy. 

The next day, you’re in the kitchen with plastic gloves on your hands. Hyunjin’s long body is laying on the marble countertop, feet hanging off the edge, head over the sink with a folded towel under his neck for support. He has hands clasped in the center of his chest. A bottle of black hair dye sits next to the faucet as you work your fingers through his newly darkened locs to rinse it out.

You keep turning your head to the side as you work, trying to fully picture him with dark hair as you’ve only ever seen him as a bleached blonde. The darker strands definitely look more natural on him and enhance his features.

It’s finals week and you’ve decided to take a break from reading to help Hyunjin out. The house has been relatively calm lately as everyone cracks down on studying. Some go at it alone, others pair up to quiz each other. 

“Would your parents really lose their shit if you came home with blonde hair?” you ask, turning the water off when the black dye has finally stopped dripping.

“Yeah ,” he replies. “And that’s an understatement. My dad would behead me, then drag my headless body around before letting me show up at company events like that. It’s ‘unprofessional’,” he says, using air quotes.

He jokes about it so casually, but it makes you wonder what their parents are like. It’s so different to the supportive upbringing you had. Well, it is supportive in a way—their parents are doing what they believe is best for their child’s future. It just seems like it doesn’t leave room for them to be themselves once they return home.

You know, from talking to Han, the general idea of what’s expected of them after graduation. You previously assumed, though, that just meant a continued sexual relationship was off the table. After what Lee Know said, you now understand that you are forbidden to have contact with them at all.

As you’ve grown more curious about it, Hyunjin has been rather receptive of your prying questions. When you asked why he was so open, he mentioned the NDA in that cursed contract you skim read through in desperation all those weeks ago.

“So do you immediately start working after you graduate?” you ask, taking off the plastic gloves and setting them aside.

“Not straight away. There will be a few months spent doing whatever I want…traveling, probably. Then I’ll work directly under my father. Essentially until he’s ready to retire or trusts that I won’t fuck up the family business.”

This feels like such a heavy topic, but Hyunjin grazes over it with ease. Like it’s not a big deal. From his perspective, maybe it isn’t. He’s known the path his life would take since he was very young. They all do. There isn’t much to guess or worry about like most of us. Hell, it doesn’t seem like they get to choose much of anything for themselves. Your thoughts drift to Chan for a second as you wring the water out from Hyunjin’s hair. 

You take the towel from under his head and guide him to sit up so you can dry it.

“And when it comes to love and marriage and children and all that…what sort of freedom do you have?”

Hyunjin makes a face like he’s going to throw up at your words. You roll your eyes and throw one end of the towel at him, so it covers his dramatic face.

“Come upstairs,” you say as you walk out of the kitchen.

When you’re both back in his room, after he stopped to grab his blow dryer, you have him sit in his desk chair. You stand behind him, combing your fingers through his hair.

“So…marriage, love? What’s that look like for you guys?” you ask again.

“At some point I’ll be encouraged to date, then marry. Exclusively from a list of women vetted by my parents,” he tells you.

You chew on your bottom lip; thankful he’s not looking directly at you. From your perspective, it all sounds concerning the more you learn, but you know it’s not your place to speak on it. What is there for you to even say? They’ve probably all already come to terms with it. Would your opinion even matter? In the grand scheme of things, you living with them this year is just a blip on their radar.

“Like an arranged marriage?”

“Kinda,” he says nonchalantly. “I will have some say in it, though.”

You turn on the blow dryer, using it as a distraction to sort through the thoughts arising from the information he provided.

Hyunjin previously mentioned the main function of the SKZ house was to provide them the ability to focus on their studies without allowing love and romance to distract them. Having a dedicated girl each year to meet their needs…to take care of them in more ways than one. It’s almost like this is a trial run for their futures. Though, from the sounds of it, the women vetted by their parents will probably also come from wealthy families and possess the feminine qualities they desire in a daughter-in-law. Certainly no one like you.

You grew up fairly well–your mom and dad played active roles in your upbringing. They were able to dote on you as an only child and you don’t recall ever wanting for much. You weren’t poor, but nowhere near the level of wealth their families have amassed. They supported you with all they had and there was never much fuss or drama. You’ve always been a good kid with your head on straight–focused on your own dreams and goals.

Having gotten to know Hyunjin the past couple of months, you know one day he will make an amazing husband. He’s gentle when needed, thoughtful, caring and extremely empathetic, while still maintaining his masculinity. Which makes him even more attractive. Chan, on the other hand…

You feel a sharp pain in your chest–maybe Chan is holding back with you because he’s saving himself or really only willing to open up to his future wife. That hurts to think about. 

You turn the blow dryer off and sit it on the desk. Hyunjin reaches out for your hand and pulls you around the front of the chair. You sit on his lap, straddling him and cupping his face with your hands.

You take in his new appearance. His blow-dried hair looks full and fluffy, and it’s grown a lot in length, reaching beneath his collar bones. The dark hair looks good on him—it gives meaning to the ‘tall, dark and handsome’ trope.

“What happens if you don’t like anyone on the list?”

“They’ll compile another one,” he shrugs.

“That seems unfair,” you reply. “What if you meet someone organically and fall in love?”

“I could date them,” he says, hands sliding up your thighs to rest on your hips. “But nothing would come of it.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

He considers the question for a beat.

“Not in the way you might think,” he replies.

“Well, I think anyone would be right to be bothered at having so little say in the outcome of their life…”

“I don’t mind that aspect of it. Being on this path ensures I will live a good life,” he says matter-of-factly. 

“What’s your take on it, then?” you ask, making note that he said good life and not happy.

“I’ve never been fond of the ‘forever partner’ idea.”

You lean back a little, sliding your hands down to his shoulders. You’re a little surprised at his words. The kind, caring and doting Hyunjin? Does not believe in soulmates? 

“I have no problem being committed and dedicated to one woman at a time, but…forever?” he asks rhetorically. “I think we’re meant to connect on a deep level with a lot of people at different times in our lives. Do you know how many people there are on this planet? And I’m supposed to find a lifelong match from a list? To meet all my needs, even as they change over time?”

You can completely understand, and have experienced, his commitment and loyalty in the way he immediately opened up to you and was there for you. But maybe this experience has made him grow accustomed to having a new woman in his life every year. 

“New people make things exciting and fresh,” he continues as he slips his thumbs beneath the hem of your shirt, rubbing circles against your skin, “…how you meet, learning about them, being intimate with them.”

You had never taken him for the playboy type. Though the way he’s explaining it doesn’t sound like he will be running around trying to fuck anything that walks. Just that he’d prefer to entertain the idea of a woman without any real commitment for certain stretches of time, for the rest of his life. 

“So you worry you’ll become bored?” you ask. 

“Maybe,” he answers honestly, as always. “I don’t doubt my ability to remain faithful—to be a good dad and husband when the time comes. But I do want to take my time getting there. I’m in no rush. Maybe in 30 years or so.”

You roll your eyes at that.

“I cannot with you,” you say, reaching your hands up to run them through his newly darkened locs. You tug on the strands, and he tilts his head back, shutting his eyes. 

His hands fall from your hips to cup your ass. In one swift move he stands, holding you to him as he walks towards the bed. You rest your forehead against his, and nuzzle his nose.

“Well. I certainly can with you.” He gives your lips a peck with his before tossing you onto the bed. 

You squeal as you land, then start moving backwards on the bed. You can’t help but smile and giggle as he crawls towards you. His dark, fluffy hair falls in front of his eyes and he looks so fucking sexy as he looks down at you.

“Where you going, jagiya?” He asks, straightening his back but still on his knees. He reaches for your leg. “Two weeks without you? We have to make up for the time we’re losing.”

You let out another squeal as he grabs your leg and pulls you towards him. He places his arms on either side of you, caging you in, in the best way possible. You hook your arms around his neck and pull him down towards you. 

After finals are done, it feels like there’s less tension in the house. Everyone’s interacting again versus being huddled up in a corner studying. The house steadily becomes empty as those who are going away for break take their leave. You drop Hyunjin at the airport and try not to think of what it will be like when you have to say goodbye to him for good.

Soon enough, it’s your turn to get dropped off at the airport. Jeongin and Charlotte wave goodbye to you and Chan. They’ll both have the house alone until Jeongin leaves for Korea and you can only imagine what they’ll get up to. You make a mental note to sanitize every communal surface when you get back. 

In the airport, you and Chan barely speak. He has his headphones on and keeps a blank expression plastered to his face. The last couple days his mood seemed to turn sour, and you have no idea what caused it. You have an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach–this is exactly how you did not want to spend the trip.

You busy yourself with checking the destination on your ticket multiple times. With Lee Know in charge of organizing this trip, you couldn’t be sure enough that he hadn’t booked you a flight to Miami, Oklahoma instead of Miami, Florida. 

A few hours later, you and Chan are settled into your business class seats. A few minutes after takeoff, you finally release his hand you’d been clutching for dear life. 

“Sorry,” you apologize, watching him stretch his fingers out. 

He reclines his seat a bit and shifts around to get comfortable. He leans back in the seat and closes his eyes. You lift the window shade and look out at the clouds as you fly through them, trying your best to tame your annoyance. 

You don’t know how long passes, but being an overthinker you’ve gone through several scenarios and outcomes about how this trip could crash and burn if you don’t say something now. You can’t just let his silence go unchecked. You refuse to spend your vacation, that he agreed to come on, this way. You reach over to move his headphones from his right ear. 

“Chan,” you begin, “I haven’t had a real vacation, alone and not with my parents, in almost two years so I’m really looking forward to this, but…”

He’s absentmindedly chewing on his bottom lip as he listens. 

“You’ve been in a shitty mood the last couple days. I want this to be a good trip, I want us to have fun…if you were planning to be miserable, you really didn’t have to come.”

“Planning to be miserable?” He repeats. 

“Your sudden change in attitude?” You shrug. “I would have rather rescheduled the trip, if you were going to be like this. And don’t say like what—you know how you’re treating me.” 

He becomes quiet at your words. You feel proud of yourself for getting them out. There’s no way he doesn’t realize when he’s shutting you out. You look away from him, seeing the stewardess start coming down the aisle with her cart. 

“I’m sorry,” he finally says. “I wanna take this trip with you, y/n, I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

“You always say that,” you shake your head. 

“That doesn’t mean it’s not true,” he replies. 

You let out a soft sigh. 

“Well, isn’t that what vacations are for?” you ask. “You can travel somewhere far away and leave all the bullshit behind. Forget about school…the future,” you look away from him at that, “you can be someone entirely different when you get to your destination. For a little while, anyway.”

He mulls your words over. 

“Is that what we’re doing?” He pulls his headphones down, so they hang around his neck. 

It certainly hadn’t been your intention, but you spot the sudden playful glint in his eyes and nod your head. You want to smack him. Or yourself. You cannot figure out if it’s him and his bad mood that causes the tension, or you allowing him to sulk in it instead of confronting him about it. 

“And who are we pretending to be?” 

You shrug, “Hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

The stewardess stops next to him with her cart, smiling as she opens the cabinet and produces two champagne flutes. She then fills them up with wine. She hasn’t even asked your drink choice, so you assume she’s preparing it for the pair across the aisle. When she politely reaches over Chan to pull out your tray and sits the drink down, you throw a confused look at him. 

Maybe it’s complimentary…but still, wouldn’t she ask if you wanted it?

“I’m sorry,” you finally speak up. “We didn’t ordered this…could I just get a Sprite?”

“Oh, of course, dear,” she says, but still proceeds to pull out Chan’s tray and sits a drink in front of him too. “These drinks are free to you, on behalf of the flight crew. Congratulations on your engagement–future Mr. and Mrs. Bang.”

You stare and blink, dumbfounded. 

Chan clicks his tongue and mutters something in Korean under his breath. 

“Thank you,” he says with a tight-lipped smile. 

“My pleasure,” she replies. “What else can I get you, sir?”

“Water, please,” he tells her. 

She provides you both a cup filled with ice, and your requested Sprite and water before turning to assist the pair on the other side of the aisle. 

“I’m gonna fucking strangle Lee Know,” you say through gritted teeth. 

“Oh, he’s the first call I’m making when we land,” he concurs. 

The man can’t even be trusted to book flight tickets without some kind of shenanigans attached to it. 

Chan picks up his wine glass and sighs, but there’s a hint of a smile on his face. 

“I guess we have our roles,” he says, tilting the rim of his glass towards you. 

You grab your own, but don’t cheers his yet. 

“I don’t know…I was thinking more along the lines of coworkers on a business trip or annoying vloggers or something like that,” you tell him. 

“So you wanna call off the engagement already?” He asks, feigning a hurt look. 

It never ceases to baffle you–how quickly he can go from cold and distant to warm and teasing you. And vice versa. 

“You’re okay with pretending to be my fiancé?” 

He shrugs, “It could be fun. It’ll help take my mind off some things.”

“Really?”

“I’m a committed actor. Very convincing…don’t you remember?”

Of course you remember his stint as Professor Bang. You wouldn’t mind taking a class with him again. But this? Chan pretending to be your fiancé? After your talk with Hyunjin, you know you won’t ever know what it’s like to actually even date him. Let alone fathom marrying him. 

“Okay,” you reply, choosing to indulge. You tap your glass against his before taking a drink. 

You’re so happy that the dark cloud looming over him seems to have dissipated, that it doesn’t even cross your mind how much you might regret this later. Having a sample of this version of Chan? It’s like you’re setting yourself up to get hurt. But you’ll keep telling yourself you’re strong enough to remember it’s not real. That when the time comes to say goodbye to this man, you won’t think about these moments and what could have been. You’ll keep lying to yourself this entire trip.

[ read chapter 18 here ]

a/n: the chan we've been dying to experience is almost here. thank you all so much for your continued support. your feedback, comments, asks, reblogs, etc., ALL your interactions fill my heart with happiness. it encourages me to write more because i don't want to leave you all hanging for too long lol but seriously, tysm!

taglist: i have no idea why it's not letting me tag everyone. i know there's a limit of tags per post but even if i type less than the limit, it's not working :( tagging on hiatus til I can figure it out, i'm sorry.

[srjlvr]

SEVEN ROYALTIES

,, once upon a time there was a princess who managed to melt the prince’s cold heart ” — park jay.

park jay x fem!reader genre: arranged marriage , one sided love at first , angst , fluff ! warnings: curse words , mentions of food (nothing serious, just dinner breakfast and all) , uhh dunno if it’s really a warning but just a rude behavior. | NOT FULLY PROOFREAD!!

WORD-COUNT ; 5.1k+

NOTE. it took me a while to finish it forgive me my loves. i’ve been in london and came back so i couldn’t really write it for a few hours straight. i reaalllllllly hope you’d find a way to like jay’s part as it’s not really my fav so far i’m sorry- i love you all!! hints of jake’s story are dropped in here as well ;)

royal life sucks.

at least that’s what you believe. others would say it’s the best thing that a person can wish for—and by others you mean your parents.

ever since you were a child you were taught how to behave, how to speak formally and how to treat others like a princess should.

oh and of course how can your silly little brain forget? you need to get ready for marriage as soon as you’re born into a royal family.

so royal life does suck. a lot.

you’ve met numerous princes from all across the country. with you’re parents forcing you to meet any prince they see—it’s quite hard to avoid all of them.

on one of the days, you wanted to catch a breath, so you went to the forest that was the nearest to your own castle.

groaning as you heard your parents yelling at you to take the guards with you, you quickly turned your heels and walked away. the guards will eventually find you anyway.

you sat by one of the trees as soon as you dived deep in the forest. you opened your favorite book you took from your library and started reading it.

you fell asleep after a while, being too tired of life in general and your parents’ constant screams about finding a prince to marry didn’t help any of that at all.

you woke up to a rustle noise and put your hands up since you thought you were caught by the royal guards.

it wasn’t the case at all.

you got up and noticed a little child roaming around the forest. you were about to go up and help him until something stopped you.

“hey! kid! what are you doing here all by yourself?” to be more specific, it was someone.

he wore a uniform only a royal blood would wear—he’s definitely a prince.

you looked at the prince and god, he was so breathtaking. his uniform suit him the best, and his jawline was definitely one to stare at. how come you’ve never met him?

“i-i got lost in the forest, i don’t know the way back” the kid’s eyes were filled with tears.

“hey, it’s okay, don’t cry” he smiled and grabbed the child’s hand, “let’s get you out of this forest”

the kid nodded, “what is your name?” he asked.

“my name is jay” the prince held a hand over his chest as a friendly gesture and the kid smiled, “i’ll tell my mother about you jay”

the prince laughed and shook his hand, “no need to! you should keep that as a secret”

the prince and the kid kept walking until they were nowhere in sight and you finally released a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

you have to meet that prince jay no matter what.

his kindness was what attract you the most to him. who can blame you? beside his outstanding visual, he seemed so kind and generous. definitely a one you’d like to marry.

you came back to the castle and prepared yourself to hear loads of screamings from your parents, but instead you were greeted with a wide smile smeared over their face.

“what’s with that face? you’re scaring me” you sighed.

they looked at each other and cheered at the same time, “we found the perfect husband for you!”

“what?” you spit out.

“we have everything closed! a husband, a place and of course, a date!” they clapped.

“you didn’t even ask me about it!” you shout and they rolled their eyes, “you’re getting old already y/n, and we’re definitely not getting younger. you need to marry someone already so we decided to help you a little”

“this is ridiculous, i can’t believe on you” you shook your head and went back to your room.

“be ready for the meeting tomorrow at ten in the morning!” they shout as you harshly closed the door.

“good morning your majesty, the queen asked me to wake you up early today and help you get ready” one of your servants softly caressed your hair.

you sighed and nodded, “thank you”

you got up and your servants helped you to get ready to meet your soon-to-be husband.

you thought about running away multiple times before, but now you’re definitely considering it as your only way out.

“what if i’ll just run away?” you mumbled while your servants were busy fixing your dress, “don’t be like that your majesty, you’re our only hope in this kingdom after your parents” one of them answered.

they’re actually right. as an only child it is your responsibility to take after your parents when their time will come to an end.

“come on, quickly! we don’t want to be late” you mother waved her hand at you and signaled you to get into the car quicker.

you sighed heavily, an obvious look of disappointment and sadness is smeared all over your face.

“we’re driving to hybe’s kingdom now, i’m sure you’ve heard of them” your father excitedly explained, “you’re going to meet prince jay, your soon-to-be husband”

your eyes light up, did he just say prince jay?

“prince jay?” you asked and your parents nodded.

“his mother is a good friend of mine, when she heard that we’ve been searching for a husband for you she told me one of her sons needs to marry off to someone too!” the queen smiled, “in order to take the throne he has to marry someone, which means you’re getting a kingdom for yourself!”

“it’s not my kingdom” you murmured, “but i am excited to meet my soon-to-be husband”

your parents clapped hearing the exciting news. they never thought you’d get so excited to meet the person you’re off to marry.

“good afternoon” hybe’s queen greeted your parents with a lovely smile and a welcoming hug.

“afternoon! how have you been?” you mother asked her while you curtsy in front of the other queen, “wonderf—oh what a pleasing surprise to see such a beautiful face here in this kingdom”

you smiled widely, “good afternoon, your majesty. i’m l/n y/n”

she then giggled, covering her mouth with her fingers as a formal gesture, “you don’t need to be so formal with me young lady, i’m your mother in law already”

“your mother told me a lot about you! i had to get one of my sons to marry you no matter what” she added.

the king then called everyone to gather in the dining hall and you did as he told.

“it’s nice to finally meet you, my future wife”

as soon as you arrived into the dining hall you were greeted by prince jay, your soon-to-be husband with a kiss on your hand and a slight bow.

before you even noticed it, you were already a blushing mess. this man surely knows how to fluster people!

“it’s nice to meet you too, my future husband” you smiled and curtsy in front of him.

he stared at you and you couldn’t deny his breathtaking visuals. you held your breath, suddenly feeling so nervous around the prince.

your parents made you sit next to jay, you were between him and your parents, as jay was between you and his family.

“so,” one of the seven siblings started speaking, “i’m heeseung, the next one as you already know is jay, then jake, sunghoon, sunoo, jungwon and riki”

you nodded, “it’s nice to meet you all, i’m l/n y/n”

their parents then clapped, “we’ll be leaving now with your parents! stay here and chat for a bit, we’ll tell you all the details later today”

you nodded again, this time a bit hesitated since you’re going to stay alone with your future husband and his six other siblings.

or so you thought.

“we’ll be going now as well, after all you do need some privacy” jake smiled warmly at you.

you looked at the rest of the siblings and they all mouthed you a goodluck,

why were they looking at you with such pity in their eyes?

“so—” you planned on starting your little speech now that you’re alone with jay, but he cut you off before you could even continue.

“don’t get the wrong idea, i’m doing all of this for the throne and my kingdom,” he groaned, “in order to get my kingdom i need to marry, you’re the best option i have right now”

you were taken aback, completely speechless and disappointed.

“shouldn’t you give this a chance? we’re marrying anyway so we should try to—“

“i don’t believe in love anyway,” he scoffed, “especially not when it comes to marrying off to someone like you”

“someone like me?”

he nodded and replied, “a spoiled princess who marries off to a prince”

“i saw you yesterday, in the woods, helping a little boy,” at this point tears started to form in your eyes, “you were so kind to him, why am i different?”

now he’s the speechless one. it took him a while to think of an answer and as he was about to reply both of your parents entered the room again.

you pressed on your eyes to clean the tears that were threatening to fall and smiled at yours and his parents.

“the wedding will be held next week! it’s official and it’ll happen in our ballroom” your mother-in-law smiled warmly at you.

she seemed kind, unlike one of her children.

you nodded and your parents cheered, “i can’t believe my daughter is going to marry” your mother pat your head and you tried not to cringe.

“you’ll pay a visit in your kingdom in a few days as well” your father-in-law added.

this whole idea feels surreal. you? marrying off to a prince? and you didn’t even do anything against it!

you believe that sooner or later, jay will find a way to fall in love with you and find some interest in you as you already did in him.

“morning! i’m taking you to choose a wedding dress today” your mother woke you up with a big smile on her face.

the whole idea about being able to marry a prince you finally found some interest in really excited you.

you’re almost sure that he didn’t mean what he said yesterday, and it’s probably because he got stressed about the whole wedding thing. keyword, almost.

you decided to give him time, and maybe after the wedding he’ll calm down.

“you look so beautiful” your mother held her hands over her mouth and tried really hard not to cry.

you held her hands and smiled, “thank you mom, i got my beauty from you”

the whole week passed in a blink of an eye, and you were already getting ready for your own wedding, held in hybe’s huge castle.

loads of princes and princesses from all over came to congratulate the new couple and to your request, a few important citizens were invited as well.

your visit in your new kingdom that was held a few days ago was nothing but humiliating.

you were busy greeting the citizens while jay went to the other side of the town, completely as far away from you.

the citizens kept asking you if you’re doing okay and if you’re sure about that marriage since prince jay doesn’t seem to treat you right, but you just giggled and shrugged it off, telling them it’s ‘completely normal for a couple to have a fight a few days before their wedding’.

you then arrived to your new castle together, “walking with me around the town isn’t something bad to do, you know that right?” you asked him before you entered but all he did was to ignore you.

you took a few moments to take in the beauty of your castle and your garden, forgetting about the fact that jay is standing next to you with fierce eyes.

“you’ll be taking the room at the end of this hall and i’ll be taking the one on the other side” he started speaking, “don’t talk to me unless it’s important” he added and you scoffed.

did he really have to separated your bedrooms too?

“jay we’re going to be a married couple, don’t you think that—“

“i already told you i don’t care about this marriage, you should be thankful i’m letting you in the castle anyway” he rolled his eyes and entered his new room.

you stayed there, dumbfounded and speechless again for the nth time.

“it’s okay, he’s probably just stressed, that’s all” you convinced yourself to calm down and forced a smile.

the guards that came to accompany you looked at you with an apologetic look, feeling sorry for what just happened and what is about to happen in the future.

as you were now pronounced as a husband and a wife, you couldn’t help but take a look at jay, who was standing right next to you and holding your hand.

for the first time ever since you first met, he smiled at you.

maybe there’s a chance for the both of you?

your wedding was more than amazing, your parents kept on smiling and laughing, it honestly made you feel relieved about the whole situation.

the rest of the guests kept congratulating you and complimenting you about how good you look.

your mother-in-law kept hugging you and showing you off to her friends.

jay couldn’t stop smiling at you and staring at you as well and honestly? that felt so good.

until the moment you were left alone in your new castle. thinking that maybe, only maybe now jay will show some interest and ask you how do you feel about the wedding and the whole situation.

instead, he just got inside his room, not before commenting something like “don’t talk to me unless it’s something important” for the second time.

jay was always known as the cold hearted prince in his family. he can’t explain why and won’t even budge to explain as well. his ego is boosted enough to care about himself and himself only. and well, maybe sometimes his family.

when his parents said the exciting news about getting a kingdom in terms of marriage, he was the first one to jump and ask from his parents a little help, that’s the only reason he got married before the first prince, heeseung.

he doesn’t believe in love. he thinks it’s stupid and distractful, he likes being alone.

when he saw you, he couldn’t deny your beauty, he got a bit taken aback by your gorgeous smile that was smeared all over your face.

but he couldn’t show how mesmerized he was, not when his image is the cold hearted prince and his ego is up in the sky.

he couldn’t deny the fact that he likes your presence, even if both of you spent about an hour alone.

he still remembers the first time he saw you. he was around the woods, walking around and exploring the view, until he saw a figure laying besides a tree.

he walked a bit closer and that’s when he noticed your peacefully sleeping face. god, you looked so pretty even when you slept.

he didn’t know you nor your name, but he felt so relaxed when he saw you.

until he heard some rustles and was sure someone or something was about to attack you.

when he noticed it was a little child his eyes softened and he ran to the child in order to help him.

on a usual day he wouldn’t care about the lost child, but something about your presence made him want to help out and take care of the child.

as soon as he saw that he was going to marry you, he had to push you away at any cost.

you’d be a distraction for him, and that’s a big no.

you on the other side however, held hope about this marriage, after all you weren’t being taught about marriage and how to be good to your family your whole life for nothing, were you?

the first morning after your marriage was quite weird to say the least.

you weren’t awaken up by your parents’ annoying remarks about marriage, and you weren’t even being called into breakfast.

you quickly got ready and went down to the dining hall, already seeing jay sitting in one of the chairs and eating his breakfast already.

“you could’ve called me for breakfast…” you whispered but it was enough for him to hear.

“why would i?” he asked and you were left speechless, “nevermind” you shrugged and sat on one of the chairs across the table.

breakfast was awkward and quiet. none of you spoke, only sounds of muffling were heard between the two of you.

“should we walk around the town today? i feel like we—“

jay sighed, cutting you off, “no, i don’t see a reason to do so”

you replied with a quiet ‘oh’ and nodded, “either way i’ll be going out to—“

“i don’t care” he cut you off again.

you pressed your lips together and nodded again, leaving your seat and going back to your room.

you had to do something about it, there’s no way he hates you that much, right?

that evening, after committing all your duties for the day, you arrived to the castle’s kitchen, greeting all the servants with a kind smile and asking them to teach you how to cook.

“your majesty, a royal blood like you shouldn’t cook your own dinner” they said but you shrugged them, “i insist, i want to make my husband a small surprise, even though i’m not the best cook”

they all nodded and taught you everything you need to know.

at dinner, you sat at the same seat you took at breakfast. right across jay, who was busy daydreaming about something.

you waited for him to finish the food and asked him, “how was the food?”

“appetizing” he answered coldly and pushed back his chair to get up and walk back to his room.

you were bored. you had no one to rely on. the servants became your best friends now ever since you asked them to help you at the kitchen.

you asked them to teach you how to do laundry, cook, clean and much more.

you had nothing to do anyway so why not?

you did most of those things to impress jay. but all you got in return was scoffs and ignorance from his side.

it sucked. and if you thought royal life sucks, this is ten times more awful than royal life only.

he got sick? you’re the one who’s running around with medicine. he felt a bit hungry? you’d be the one to cook him meals. not even minding the facts you have tons of servants in the castle.

after a while into your marriage, and your dozens attempts of making jay have a slight interest in you, you got tired of it.

you felt drained. you felt tired. you felt unwanted.

in one of the days you paid a visit in your parents’ castle.

your one and only home.

you looked at them, eyes full with nothing but love when they looked at each other. you won’t ever see them doing something by themselves, always having to rely on each other no matter what.

you envy them, you feel jealousy whenever you’re watching them and you don’t know what to do about it.

“i was thinking,” you called out in your dinner with your parents, “it’s been a while since we’ve been together and i really miss the both of you”

you sighed, “can i come over for a few days?”

you had to do it. even though all your parents did was to worry about you getting married, they still showed you and showered you with love.

you need to feel loved now, you need those few days with them now. and maybe even eventually you’ll never go back to your current kingdom.

your parents looked at each other shocked, “is everything okay between you and jay?” your mother asked.

not wanting to ruin jay’s image, you nodded, “nothing bad happened, i just miss you two”

“if that is the case then of course! you know this is your own kingdom as well” your father opened his arms out and you hugged him.

you got back to the castle without even having your usual dinner with jay.

he felt frustrated, were you busy doing something more important than a dinner with him?

he knew it wasn’t his place to brag, heck he shouldn’t even feel frustrated, but he can’t help it.

“the food tastes different today” he mumbled, “i wonder why”

of course he doesn’t know you’re the one the always cooked him his meals so far.

you made the servants swear on their own life that they’ll keep that as a secret for their whole life.

and for the first time ever since your marriage and ever since you were taught how to cook, you didn’t cook for him. and he couldn’t understand why it tasted so different for him to the point that he didn’t even want to finish his meal.

the next morning you packed your stuff and stood by the door, you looked over jay who tilt his head in confusion, “i’ll be leaving now” you started.

“i don’t know for how long, and i’m sure you don’t even care. so don’t mind me” you took your last bag and walked away.

jay was left speechless. did you really just admit that you’re leaving him? does that mean you’re planning to divorce him?

why does he even care?

“she’ll be back” he whispered and went to have his breakfast.

he was so wrong for that.

it has been a few days, even weeks since he last saw you.

people started talking and spreading rumors about a divorce between you two, and his parents paid a visit in the kingdom.

he used a lame excuse of “she’s on duties, she told me she’ll be back late and is extremely sorry for not being able to greet you two” and they believed him.

a few days later he was invited to hybe’s kingdom, to meet the person his older brother heeseung fell in love with.

when he heard about the person being the same commoner he warned heeseung about, he couldn’t understand him.

how dare he break the rule of not marrying a commoner?

how did he even managed to fall in love with such a commoner?

he only then realized how messed up he was the moment he heard heeseung’s partner explaining how much she loves him.

he felt even more devastated when he heard how much his older brother is willing to sacrifice in order to marry the commoner.

there’s got to be something that he’s been doing wrong.

you, on the other hand really missed jay. even if he wasn’t even sparing you a glance, even though he ignored you most of the time, even though he denied anything you suggested, you can’t lie you just want to start all over again with him.

there’s something about him that kept you attracted to him, you can’t let go of that feeling.

spending the last few days with your parents made you realize that all you had to do was to confront him instead of going around in circles and trying to get his attention.

jay’s guilty feelings were eating him alive.

just now he heard from the servants that you were the one who took care of him all the time.

this is the only reason his food tasted differently lately, and the medicine he takes when he’s sick has changed.

he’s got to do something about it, but what and how?

“hey, sunghoon,” jay called his brother and sunghoon answered with a short ‘hm’. “have you seen jake?”

sunghoon looked up at jay and slowly shook his head, “i don’t know where he has been lately, he has been gone for a few days already, i’ve been lying to mom and dad about his whereabouts but i really don’t know where he is”

damn. he wasn’t expecting that answer. jake? running away from royalty? what has been going on lately in the little mind of his?

jake is known as the best advice giver, and jay wanted to ask him for some advice about his marriage life. but now that he’s a runaway prince who can jay talk to?

“jungwon,” jay knocked on his younger brother’s door and opened it right after.

“is everything okay?” jungwon asked worriedly.

“i need help,” he sighed, “i messed up, big time”

“is this about your marriage?” jungwon already knew. he was expecting his older brother to mess up his marriage. after all, he wasn’t expecting from much when his brother’s ego is boosted up.

“you should go to her” before jay could even speak again, jungwon put his hand on jay’s shoulder, “admitting that you messed up in front of her is the best thing you can do right now”

jay nodded slowly, “how did you—“

“lying to mom and dad and telling them she’s on duties? not showing up with her for dinner with everyone? come on! it’s so obvious”

“thank you” jay smiled and ruffled the younger’s hair, “update me with whatever is happening” jungwon chuckled.

“you should update me with whatever is happened with jake! where is that idiot?”

jungwon shrugged and sighed, “all he said is that he might be back in a few months, or never”

“what about mom and dad?”

“they don’t know anything, they’re sure he’s staying in his friend’s kingdom for a bit”

jay shook his hand, “let’s hope he’ll be back soon”

that night jay could barely sleep. he spent hours over hours thinking about a way to get you back to him.

he only now realized how much he cares about you, how much he likes your presence, how much he misses you and needs you.

he wanted to tell you all of this but didn’t know how to put it in words, what can he do?

the moment he woke up he cursed under his breath. he knows you’re at your parents’ kingdom, which means he has to tell your parents what happened as well.

can his life be more miserable? he can’t blame anyone but himself honestly.

he took a deep breath before entering your castle.

bowing in front of your parents and waiting for a response from them.

“jay! what a pleasant surprise to see such a king in our home” the queen smiled warmly at them.

“how can we help you?” the king asked.

“i’d like to see your daughter and my wife, y/n” he gulped, nervous and scared of their reaction.

“it’s really been a while since she went back to your home, i guess she missed us that much!” the queen giggled.

jay froze for a second. you didn’t tell them about the whole situation at all? why do you still care so much about him when he treated you so bad?

he couldn’t take it anymore and as soon as your parents guided him to your room, his eyes roamed around and finally softened when he found you.

“jay?” you asked. you were facing the window and took in the view, until you heard your door opening and turned around to welcome the guest, “what are you doing here?”

“y/n” he whispered and got closer to you.

you frozed, it was the first time he called your name ever since your wedding. what happened to him?

you tried to read his eyes but couldn’t. his fierce gaze is long gone, his softened eyes replaced it.

“i’m so sorry” he stopped when he felt he was too close to you. he was actually one step from caging you in his arms, but was scared you’re too angry and hurt to care about him.

“you’re…” you breathed, “sorry?”

you’re almost certain this whole situation is a one big dream.

prince jay? the cold hearted prince? just apologized? in front of you?

“i’m sorry, i was being a jerk, i wasn’t thinking straight” he shook his head, “i thought that if i’d let myself get distracted by you i’d get lost, but i was so wrong. i’m so lost without you”

you couldn’t believe what you’ve just heard. it feels too surreal to see jay almost begging on his knees for forgiveness.

you could see his eyes filled with tears that were threatening to fall. “when i first saw you i was so taken aback by your beauty, you’re so pretty y/n. i loved your presence, even if it was for just a few seconds because i was being a jerk and always ran away from you”

when he noticed your soft gaze he finally stepped closer and caged you in his arms, “i was so wrong. i was scared to fall in love but i already did. it took me so much time to realize that i’m sorry y/n” he whispered in your ear.

he felt so relieved when you wrapped your hands around him and buried your face in his neck.

“it took you so long, idiot” you chuckled, “i’m glad you finally realized how much of a jerk you were and i’m expecting for a payback”

he giggled and nodded, “i’ll give you anything you want as long as you promise to stay with me” he held out a pinky and you interlocked your own with his, “i promise”

not even a day passed and you were already back in your kingdom. yours and jay’s kingdom.

he promised to love you forever, and even planned a little wedding for the both of you, saying that “that wedding was nothing but toxic, you deserve a new and a better wedding”

you played along with him and remarried him again, this time with both of your hearts full with love and affection to each other.

“did you know?” he asked and you hummed, “what?”

he kissed your sweet lips and smiled through the kiss, “i love you so much”

you playfully pushed him and giggled, “i love you so much too, jay”

a few days passed and ni-ki’s birthday was held in hybe’s kingdom.

jay introduced you to heeseung and his future wife and after a while of talking ni-ki called you and you had to go.

jay smiled at heeseung and his partner, apologizing for acting like a jerk and thanking them for saving his marriage.

he went back to you right after that and pecked your lips while holding you tightly.

“by the way, ni-ki asked me to adopt him and i agreed”

“why would you do that—“

“my new parents! i love you!” ni-ki hugged the both of you as you both giggled and held him tightly.

TAG-LIST ; @jaeneohee @hsgwrld @enhastolemyheart @enhacatalog @kaykay11sworld @ipoststuffandyeah @beomsbeanie @queestionmark @ineedsomezzz @yenqa @ikayyyyyy @nshmrarki @asteriaskingdom @loumin908

PERM TAG-LIST ; @sungwhoonz @ohdudehesflirting @unlikelysublimekryptonite @deobiis @manooffline @miumiuoi @in-somnias-world @lovelovelovebts

••• copyright © srjlvr all rights are reserved.

[mignonricciardo]

holidaze | mv33

i am being delusional and manifesting an alternate world where max is not with kelly... ANYWHO please enjoy holiday max bc carefree maxie is my favorite and this is an entirely self-indulgent fic to play on that

summary: after one night in the club, max has some ideas on the yacht. family vacation? that won't stop him. (4.3k words) warnings: p in v, straight smut, unprotected sex, some plot, mention of max as brother's best friend, cursing, hook position and potential mating press (oops)

With waves of the Adriatic Sea lapping against the yacht, I’ve never been more grateful for my parents’ friendships to influence my own growing up. As a kid, my mum would take my brother and I to races where my dad worked and Max’s dad raced. Max and my brother raced karts together, traveling constantly back and forth between Belgium and the Netherlands, and I tagged along as much as I could with Victoria. The family had long been close friends with our mothers being best friends, and even as life threw constant change at us, we always managed to stay close. Even now, after 25 years, I lay sprawled out on the plush benches on the bow of Max’s yacht soaking up the Croatian sun. Max’s yacht has always been one of my favorite places, and invites to the floating dollar sign picked up after his most recent break up. 

Beyond the confines of the yacht, Max and my brother Dion zip around on jet skis. I can hear their laughing and hollering as they send water flying at each other as they race. Despite Max’s successful racing career and Dion’s pivot into finance, they were still competitive over who was quicker at everything. Hanna, Dion’s fiance and my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, sighs as the pair of boys are particularly loud as they zip by. 

“You’ve got to learn to tune them out,” Victoria, Max’s sister, grins from her spot on the bow. “It becomes a lot easier once you do.”

“You've both got it figured out,” she says, sitting up from her spot tanning. 

I turn to her, lowering my sunglasses just enough, “We have years of practice. You’ll get there.”

“I’ll need to,” she smirks, wiggling her brows. “At this rate, it looks like Max will be around even more.”

I groan loudly, throwing an arm over my face so Victoria can’t see the blush lighting up my cheeks. Hanna laughs as Victoria looks at both of us with a confused expression.

“Alright, what the hell did I miss?” 

She’s fully seated now, and any intentions of her dropping the conversation are gone along with my hopes of continuing my tan in peace. I drop my arm away from my face, craning my neck to look at her before Hanna can get any of her conspiracies out.

“As you know, we went to some clubs the other night. Hanna here thinks Max and I were a little close for being family friends, but we were both drunk. That was literally it.”

Hanna gasps, flying up from her seat, “It was more than that! Victoria, you should have seen it. Max could not stop staring at her ass, and she was totally checking him out all night. Her arm was looped through his anytime we walked to another club, and he was constantly helping her up from seats with hands on the waist. Dion and I felt like we were interrupting something, and we’re the engaged ones.”

“Finally!” Victoria cheers, causing my jaw to drop and Hanna to bust into laughter. “You’ve only been thirsting after him for years. It’s foul because that’s my brother, but you can finally act out whatever perverted fantasies you’ve had since we were teenagers.”

“Why am I just finding this out?” Hanna calls.

“Oh, there are years of history here. Just wait until I-”

“Hi! It’s my life, so can we please stop here?!” I snap at the two women who just snicker at me. 

Victoria lets a moment of silence pass before turning to me, “Can I at least find out what I missed the other night?”

I pinch my brows but eventually nod, giving Hanna the go ahead to tell the entire story to Victoria. She starts with her typical theatrics, using her hands and animated expressions as she talks about the club. 

“... Next thing you know, Dion and I are looking for them to let them know we’re good to go whenever they want to leave, and we can’t find them anywhere. After making our way around the bar, Dion sees them and nearly keels over. They’re on the dance floor, and she’s fully shaking ass on a more than happy Max.”

“Hanna, gross, that’s my brother,” Victoria cringes at the image Hanna is painting. 

She continues nonetheless, “I mean, it was filthy. Dion’s head nearly explodes, but I stop him from storming over there with the reminder that they’re both adults and both so drunk they had no clue what they were doing. To avoid an incident, I go over to tell them we’re ready to go while Dion tries to look anywhere else. Thankfully, the two of them lose some of the haze and sober up and follow us out. No one said a word in the cab back to the villa.”

My cheeks are bright red at the hazy memory, remembering how I melted into his touch and the weight of his hands on my hips. The feeling of my ass pressed against him still crept up when I least expected it in the days since the incident, so I’ve been doing my best to avoid Max. Victoria looks at me, jaw agape and eyes knowing.

“It didn’t stop there, did it?” she says, and Hanna turns to me with eyes wide. 

“What?!”

I pinch my brows, muttering quietly and avoiding the gazes of both women, “Yes and no. He came to my room at the villa while you and Dion were in the shower. I was drunk, so nothing happened, but he stayed the night.”

The two women have abandoned any sense of our previous sunbathing, with sunglasses discarded and sitting at full attention now as I reveal the end of the night. The two chatter to one another, gossiping about Max and I right in front of me. Once they;ve said anything there is to say, they turn back to me with expectant ears.

“Promise me you won’t say anything and you’ll drop it?” I ask with a defeated sigh. 

“Fine,” Hanna says, settling back into the lounger.

Victoria echoes her sentiment, “Since it’s my brother, I’m disgusted, but I do approve, babe. You’re good for each other, even if it's just sex.”

My cheeks burn from more than the sun, no matter how much time has passed since the conversation with the girls ended. Rehashing the incident causes all of the fragmented memories to resurface, and I can’t shake the memory of his hands on my waist or the unshared detail of his lips on my neck. The sun feels a few degrees too hot, and my skin is itching with heat. I try to ignore it and mimic the zen of Hanna and Victoria, but I cave and secure the bikini straps over my shoulders before diving into the blue water. It’s refreshing — the cool waves lapping against my skin and evaporating the prickling heat. When I resurface, pushing wet hair back over my shoulders, I bob in the wake of Max who zips by on a jet ski. He kills the engine, grinning at me as he quirks his eyebrows.

“Want some company?”

I try desperately not to stare, a weak attempt at ignoring the water dripping down his neck from his hair or hands wrapped tightly around the handles of the jet ski. His biceps flex ever so subtly as he leans forward on the handle bars, and he smiles softly as he catches me staring. I run my hands over my hair, pushing the soaking strands back from my face. I grin as he watches my movements, eyes dipping to the water hitting right at my shoulders. 

“Are you trying to get us in more trouble?”

He laughs, eyes squinting, “I’m just trying to swim with one of my lifelong friends. Or take her for a ride on the jet ski.”

I stare at him for a moment, running my hands over my hair to push the wet strands back from my face. All it takes from Max is a quirk of his eyebrow and hint of a grin, and I give in to his request. 

“Got a life vest for me?” I ask, taking his outstretched hand as I hoist myself on to the lip of the jet ski.

I can feel Max’s eyes on my ass as I haul my legs up onto the lip, hand gripping his knee as I rise precariously. The jet ski bobs in the water at the unbalanced movement, and Max’s hands steady my waist as I pitch forward. I dangle over the blue sea briefly, acutely aware of his hands on me keeping me from tumbling over. When it feels steady enough, I throw a leg over the seat, sliding in toward Max. 

He looks over his shoulder at me, “You’ve got to hang on, liefje. I don’t bite.”

I roll my eyes, sliding my arms around his waist as the velcro of the life vest presses into my forearms, “Do you want Dion to kill us?”

“He’d have my head if I let you fly off the jet ski, so we’re in trouble either way, aren’t we?”

“Hanna told Victoria about the club,” I admit to him, unable to keep from telling him as he slowly steers us toward the yacht. “I told them you stayed the night, but that nothing happened.”

“But that’s not entirely true, is it?” he says, and I just stare at the back of his head as he comes to a stall near the yacht. 

He grabs my hand again, steadying me as I step onto the yacht to grab a life vest of my own. He watches me secure it across my chest, and I catch his eyes firmly planted on my chest being squeezed by the neoprene. I roll my eyes at him, muttering how he’s lucky Dion can’t see us, and he grins as he helps me back onto the jet ski. My arms wrap around his waist again, fingers brushing the exposed skin of his stomach, and he inhales sharply at the contact. 

“You alright there?” I grin, my index finger doing another pass over his skin. 

He breathes in again, “Hold on, liefje. I’d hate to have to dive in after you.”

“In your dreams,” I start, turning into squealing laughter as Max sends us flying away from the yacht. 

My arms tighten around him, squeezing around his waist as my hips slip toward him on the soaked seat. My knees hug the outside of his thighs as we zip through the water, and my skin slides against his as the waves jostle us. My chest presses to his back, and I can’t help but become hyper aware of the lack of space between us and the warmth spreading through my limbs. Once he’s had his go at showing off, he slows the jet ski to a steady pace thats farther from the yacht. One of his hands releases his grip on the handle bars, resting over mine wrapped tightly around his waist. 

He laughs airily as his fingers rest on mine, “If you wanted to touch me like this, all you had to do was ask, liefje. You’ve got a death grip.”

A surge of confidence flows through my veins at the rasp in his voice, “Touch you like what, Max?”

My hand not covered by his runs across the elastic at the top of his shorts, skimming across skin and through the scattering of hair around his navel. I smirk as his breath catches and stomach clenched at my touch. 

I lean toward his ear, “Touch you like this?”

He takes a steadying breath, voice raspy as he speaks, “Please, don’t start something we can’t finish. It’s not your fault, but I can’t take it again.”

“That was nice of you, Maxie,” I say sweetly, leaning my chin on his shoulder. “Saying no because I was drunk even though I was begging for you.”

“It was the right thing,” he shrugs gently, breathing in sharply as my index finger continues its slow journey across his skin. “You were nearly impossible, though. Begging to suck me off like a good girl.”

“And if I still want to?” I hum, stopping my hands. 

“Then we need to figure out a way to be discreet,” he answers, craning his neck to look at me over his shoulder. “They’re probably wondering where we’ve gone now, and I don’t need your brother mad at me again in regard to you.”

“Then, let me drive,” I say to him, taking in his side profile beneath the beating sun. “We’ll say you were teaching me. Discreet, right?”

Surprisingly, it doesn’t take much convincing for Max to agree to letting me pilot the Red Bull branded jet ski. I reluctantly let go of his waist, fingers falling away from his waistband, and I notice his breath return to normal when I do. Max throws his arm out again, gripping my hand tightly to help me balance as I shimmy along the lip of the jet ski and over him to switch spots. He slides in behind me when I settle in front of the handlebars, and I notice the gap of space he leaves on purpose between us. His knees press against the outside of my thighs, and his arms wrap over mine to touch the handles. He does a crash course on piloting the jet ski, and while I pay some attention, I’m more focused on his voice in my ear and the closing gap between us. 

“You want to give it a go?” he asks, hands dropping from mine to settle at my waist instead. I nod, and he continues, “Ease onto the throttle, and hold tight to the handles.”

I follow his instructions, sending us gliding across the water in a crawl much slower than Max’s turn. As our speed picks up some, I let out a laugh as the waves batter against the hull of the jet ski. Max’s chest bumps into my back with the force of the waves, and his hips slide closer to mine. I feel him bump into my ass, and his breath hitches as it does. To test my theory, I arch my back ever so slightly, smirking when his hands tighten on my hips enough to leave soft bruises in their wake. He’s straining against his board shorts, nestled against my ass with every bump from the waves, and he groans when I look at him over my shoulder. 

“You’re such a tease,” his voice is strained. “You’re going to get us into trouble.”

“Us or you?” I hum, arching my back again as he sucks in air through his teeth. “I can control myself, Maxie.”

One of his hands slides to my inner thigh, fingers ghosting across the skin and skimming the seam of my red swimsuit bottoms. I gasp as he grins, white knuckling the handlebars, and the nickname I’ve used for him hangs heavy in the air. He leans forward, fingers stilling but resting heavy on my skin, and mutters lowly, “Do I need to remind you how you were begging?”

I arch my back into him, feeling his hardness press into me and his hand press into my leg, “Do I need to again?”

His fingers climb my inner thigh, rubbing circles across the supple skin, and I slump back into him at the sensation. Hands ease off the handlebars as the jet ski comes to a stall. Max’s laugh is quiet in my ear, his breath fanning across my neck, “It sounds like you don’t need any convincing.”

“Max,” I gasp, his fingers setting fire across my skin in their wake. “Max, please. I don’t care that they’re all here. I’ll make up an excuse.”

“Liefje, you and I both know it’s not a good idea,” he whispers quietly, fingers continuing their slow crawl on my skin. “No matter how bad I want to.”

“What happened to no teasing?” my chest heaves, fingers wrapping around his wrist. 

The waves lap against the jet ski, and Max chuckles quietly at my labored breathing. I arch my back again, pressing myself against Max, and he curses quietly at the pressure. One of his hands slides around my thigh, gripping the skin firmly as I gasp.

“You really want to do this now?” his voice is rough in my ear, clawing for any sense of clarity with my ass pressed against him. I nod my head against his shoulder, fingers gripping at his wrist tightly. He continues against my ear, “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to take us back to the yacht. You’re going to act like you’re going to be sick, and I’m just a helpful friend. If anyone asks later, I was helping you clean up after you got sick, got it?”

I nod my head, “And what is actually going to happen?”

“We find out how good of a listener you are,” he says, and I let out a whine at his words. 

Making it back to the yacht happens in a blur as I’m too consumed with images of what's to come, and lying to them on the bow is easy as Victoria asks where we’re headed. My distracted state helps sell the story, and I stumble into one of the bedrooms on the massive yacht. Max shuts the door behind him, making sure to click the lock on it, before facing me. I stand dumbly near the bed, watching his every move and ripple of his muscle as he takes steadying breaths. When our eyes meet, it’s like telepathy. 

We simultaneously launch at one another, lips clashing in a familiar dance with a ferocious pace. The club had been hazy, distant memories of his hands on my hips and in my hair and his lips on my skin, but this — this is the feeling of my skin being lit from within. His hands are in my hair, tugging at the strands with a force that makes me weak, and my fingers curl into his hair as he walks us toward the bed in the middle of the room. My knees hit the duvet, and we break apart long enough to scramble onto the bed before resuming our desperate dance. 

“Max, please,” I breathe as his lips work down my neck.

My hips press into his as his hands skim down my hips, “So impatient, liefje.”

“Need you to fuck me,” I say, and he groans as I do. 

Max looks up from stomach, his eyes hooded and grin on his face. The image of him between my legs and my hands in his hair nearly causes me to combust, but I could care less about how desperate I look. 

“You’re lucky we don’t have much time,” he answers, fingers reaching behind my back to tug at the bikini strings. 

The red top falls away from me, and Max’s fingers pull the damp material away to expose my chest. His hands palm my breasts, fingers gripping at peaked nipples as I moan into his touch. Desperate pleas fall from my lips at his ministrations, and my nails scrape lightly along his back. 

He groans quietly, lips brushing against my chest as he continues his tortuous touches, “Next time, when we have more time, I want to taste you.”

“Next time?” I grin, turning to a moan as his fingers dip into my swimsuit bottoms.

He nods, humming as he pulls the red bottoms down my legs, “You know there will be a next time, liefje. There’s too many things we want to do.”

I kick the bottoms off my legs in assistance, watching as he tosses them carelessly to the side before his hands tug at the waistband of his board shorts. My hands settle over his, and he slows his movements as he watches my every move. 

“Let me,” I whisper, hands replacing his as I tug slowly at the elastic band. 

He lets me, dropping one of his hands to his side and letting the other settle in my hair. I look up at him, biting back a grin and relishing in the power he holds over me. My fingers tug his board shorts down his thighs, hands stuttering as his cock leaps to attention when the barrier is gone. The board shorts are discarded along with my bikini in record time, and I take a moment to admire him towering over me. Fingers wrap around his shaft, and he watches with a sigh as my lips find him, wrapping around the head slowly before returning to my spot admiring him. 

“You’ll get to, liefje,” he grunts quietly, nudging me back toward the bed. “When we have more time. Right now, fucking you is all I can think about.”

I curse at his words, letting him maneuver me among the pillows as he crawls over top of me. Our lips meet again, swollen lips clashing as his hips press against mine. I moan into the kiss, feeling the weight of him on my body and desperate for me. One of his hands slips between us, finding my clit to rub slow circles while his other hand slides down my leg, gently wrapping around my calf. He lifts my leg, fingers pressing into my calf, and lets it rest against his arm hooked at my hip. With another plea and minimal thought, he hoists my other leg before sliding into me. The press of him against me is mind-altering, causing my eyes to squeeze shut as my nails sink into his shoulders. The moan that falls from my lips as he slides all the way into me should be embarrassing, but I can’t think about anything else but Max.

“I know, babe,” he groans, stilling as he heaves for air. “God, you’re perfect.”

“Max, I-” I start, eyes opening to meet his. “You feel so good.”

“Fuck, we’re doing this again,” he mutters, hands pressing into my hips as he moves slowly. 

My eyes flutter shut at the sensation, another moan as he begins a slow pace into me, “I never want it to end.”

“We never have to,” he answers, sweat beginning to bead at his hairline. 

The pace he picks up is relentless, and the slap of his skin against mine is obscene. I can’t bring myself to care, too focused on the way Max fills me and his hands leave bruises on my skin. He hoists my legs higher to rest on his shoulders, and he hits a spot so deep within me that my eyes screw shit as I let out a pathetic whimper. 

“There you go, baby,” he grunts, keeping his relentless pace. “Let me hear it, doll. I feel it, too.”

“Max, fuck,” I choke, eyes beginning to roll into the back of my head. “I’m going to-”

“I know, liefje,” he groans, voice a rasp in my ear. “I’m nearly there. Tell me where you want me.”

“Want you in me,” I answer, fingers gripping his shoulders tightly as a desperate attempt to keep from spiraling over the edge. “Please.”

“Fuck, I can’t say no to you,” he mutters, hips stuttering at a crushing pace against me. 

I try to tell him — to warn him that I’m too far gone — but I can’t get any words out as the sensation overwhelms me. My eyes screw shut as I slump against the pillows, and Max isn’t far behind as I clench around him. I’m filled with warmth, and in the haze of what we’d just done, I find comfort in his body pressed to mine and our intimate connection. He lingers for a moment as he regains his senses, pulling out gently to which I protest, but he returns with tissues to clean me up as best as he can before reaching for my bathing suit for me. He props my still shaking body up, tying my bikini straps for me and sliding straps up my shoulders. 

“C’mon, up you go,” he whispers, helping to pull my red bottoms up my legs and tugging at the waistband to cover my bruised hips. “There you go, pretty girl.”

He tugs his board shorts on himself, and I watch as he tucks himself into the waistband. Red scratches and indents adorn the milky skin of his back, and my cheeks burn red at the damage I’ve done.

“You’ll need a shirt to go back down, I’m sorry,” I whisper. 

He laughs as he leans forward, kissing my lips gently, “I’ll tell them its from the jet ski if they ask. You got scared when I went too fast, but you were good and took it, didn’t you?”

“Fuck you,” I groan. “How am I supposed to go down there and pretend I didn’t have the best sex of my life?”

He grabs my hand to help pull me up from the mattress, “I’d agree with that statement.”

As we head to the end of the hallway, lingering at the top of the stairs to take us back to the bow, I turn to Max, hand resting on his chest as our eyes meet. We both grin when we meet eyes, and I laugh quietly as he wiggles his eyes.

“The rest of holiday, can we do this?” I ask gently, rubbing gentle circles into his skin.

“More than just holiday,” he answers, caressing my ass as we walk down the steps. I swat at him as we near the steps, but he continues, “Tonight after dinner. My room. We have no schedule.”

I watch as he heads toward Dion, leaving me to go back to the girls. God, I’m screwed.

[fuckinthewholetown]

Fallingforyou - Matty Healy Chapter One

I’m kind of shitting myself posting this but, it is what it is. If you think it’s shit, feel free to tell me, but please be nice or I will cry. I’ve also only skimmed over this so if there’s any typos, please tell me so I can fix this.

Tags: Slight angst, swearing, mentions of religion, gay, probably bad writing

Word Count: 2309

As much as you love touring, you’re the first person to admit it can get repetitive. Wake up in a random hotel room, get to the venue, sound check, perform, and repeat.

However, today is different. Today you’re performing a sold out show at Wembley Stadium to 90,000 people. This is the day you’ve dreamt about since you were five, giving one woman performances to your parents in your living room. And the cherry on top is you get to do it with four of your best mates.

Your day starts off as normal, doing your skincare routine in a hotel bathroom in the heart of London. You’re living the dream. That is until you hear a knock at your door. As you’re walking over to answer it, you pull your hair out of the makeshift pony tail it was in previously. Before you could fully open the door, it barges open and your guitarist and best friend Maddie O’Connell storms into the room.

“We need to talk.” She says, pacing back and forth.

“Ok, calm down. There’s absolutely no reason to be this stressed. Take a crystal.” You say, pulling some green agate out of your bra. You’re met with no response, just a deadpan stare. “Noted, not in a crystals mood. What’s up, this is the best day of our careers, it must be something big to get you this stressed.”

“You have to look me in the eye and promise that you’re not going to freak out” She says, sitting down on a seat in the corner of the room.

“I promise. Unless you’re shagging Matty Healy or Harry Styles, then I revoke that promise”

“Not exactly… It’s Ross” She says, refusing to look you in the eye. You stay silent, internally freaking out but refusing to break the promise you made to her. She takes this as you not understanding what she’s on about “Ross Macdonald… The bassist of the”

“Yes, I know who you’re on about!” You say, cutting her off before she can say anything else and send you into even more of a mental breakdown. You stand up, now it’s your turn to pace the room. “You’re fucking the bassist of my favourite band and you just conveniently don’t tell me until 5 hours before the biggest show of our careers? I love you to death, but you need to get better timing babes”

“I know,” she says, still refusing to make eye contact with you, “and we’re not fucking. Well, we are but it’s more than that. I like him, and I think he likes me.”

“How long?”

“Six months…”

“Six months!” This information is enough to stop you in your tracks, “you’ve been shagging the human equivalent of Jesus for 6 months and you forgot to mention it!”

“I’m sorry! I knew you’d freak out because you’re a big fan and I wanted to make sure it was serious before I got your hopes up. However, I’ve kinda been forced into telling you.”

You sit back down, confused over her last statement. “What do you mean forced into telling me? If one of the girls is secretly a bitch and forcing you into this, we can become a group of four. I’m a big boy, I can sing and play an instrument at the same time.” That half joke is enough to make her finally make eye contact with you.

“It’s nothing like that, the girls don’t know yet you’re the first person I told. I’ve been forced into telling you because they’re coming tonight, all four of them are watching the show.” And that statement is the straw that broke the camels back, you’re officially freaking out.

“What? They’re watching us tonight? All four of them are watching us? Oh god, I have to look Matty Healy in the eyes knowing I’ve read the dirtiest tumblr fanfiction about him. I read one of him as a priest, oh god I’m going to hell!” You say, putting your head into your hands. Maddie on the other hand does not see the seriousness of this situation and bursts out laughing.

“Him as a priest? Didn’t strike you as the religious type.” A chuckle escapes your lips as you finally return the eye contact.

“I went to an all girls catholic school actually, I love Jesus.”

“You came out of that school with minor alcoholism and even more gay than you were when you went in, I think Jesus would be disappointed.” She quips back. You laugh, standing back up from your slight mental breakdown.

“I’m happy for you, I really am. When are they getting here?”

“Just before sound check.”

“Before sound check?” You respond, falling back into your mental breakdown. “That’s in less than an hour. I’m meeting my celebrity crush and your new fuck buddy in less than an hour? Get the fuck out, I need to do a full face in 20 minutes!”

You all but push her out the hotel room, scrambling to get ready for the biggest moment of your life.

After somehow managing to do your hair, makeup, and put on a hot ass outfit in under an hour, you walked into the green room at Wembley Stadium. What met your eyes was what could best be described as a sight out of 16 year olds you’s wet dream. All four members of The 1975 sat around the table, gossiping about who knows what. As you walk in, the room goes silent. Luckily, your bandmates are there to quell the awkwardness. The pianist of your band, Sienna Turner is the first to speak.

“Boys,” She says, standing up and dragging you by the forearm into the circle, “this is Y/N!” You were expecting to be met with blank stares, but instead the boys jump up to greet you, tackling you into bear hugs. It’s a warm welcome off everyone. Well, mostly everyone. The man you’ve loved since you were a teenager stays sat in the corner of the room, closed off and refusing to even acknowledge your existence. You figure it’s probably just him being an introvert, so you go over to introduce yourself personally.

“Hey.” You say, hoping for any kind of response. You don’t get one. No acknowledgement, no hey back, not even a snarky comment, he just ignores you. This is not how you imagined this day would go.

“Damn,” you follow up, “I knew you’re an Aries, but I didn’t think you’d act so much like one.” You let out a slight chuckle. He, on the other hand, does not find this so funny.

“Good God.” He responds, rolling his eyes and taking another sip of his drink.

He hates you. The man you’ve been enamored by for almost 10 years despises you. The only possible explanation is he’s seen your private TikTok reposts of endless thirst traps of himself. Nevertheless, you had a show to do. And if there’s on thing you can do despite external feelings, it’s fucking shit up on stage. You nail sound check, sounding better than you ever have. Probably a mix of adrenaline and frustration over the fact that your childhood crush seemingly hates you for absolutely no reason.

You exit stage after sound check, immediately going back to the green room to get ready for the actual show. As you’re getting your makeup and hair done, conversation flows. You and your friends are talking to the boys as if you’ve been friends for years and you didn’t just meet them an hour ago.

“So, Y/N. You’re into like crystals and shit aren’t you? What’s that like, I don’t really get it.” George says, turning all eyes on you.

“It’s not for everyone, but I find comfort in manifestation and things like that. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think incense will cure cancer but keeping rose quartz in my bra definitely isn’t going to hinder my love life.” You laugh, trying to keep your response brief.

“Bullshit.” Comes from the corner of the room. The first words you’ve heard from Matty since your brief conversation earlier in the day. The room falls silent and you feel a red hue cover your face. The longer the silence, the thicker the tension in the air. You clear your throat, trying to restrain yourself from going over to him and giving him a black eye.

“Like I said, it isn’t for everyone. I was cleansing my room once and my mum thought I was smoking weed. When I told her what I was doing, I think she’d have preferred if I was doing drugs.” Everyone starts laughing and the room erupts into conversation again as if nothing happened. Every so often, you catch a glimpse of Matty in the corner of your eye. He never seems to move, his phone in one hand and a beer in the other. As you zone out of the conversation, your mind moves to deciphering why on Earth he could hate you so much. Nothing comes to mind, you’ve never met him before and you’ve definitely said nothing bad about him publically. Quite the opposite in fact, as last year a drunk video of you singing Robbers went viral on TikTok.

You zoned out for so long, before you knew it it was time to go on stage and perform the biggest show of your life.

“Ok girlies!” Ava Fletcher, the drummer in your band and also the member you’ve known the longest, speaks up. “This is it. No pressure but there’s 90 thousand people out there who’ve come specifically to watch us, so if we put on a shit performance our careers are probably over. But absolutely no pressure, just have a good show.” You laugh, leaning into the group hug you do before every show however this one felt different. The sense of adrenaline and fear within the group was unlike anything before. There was a lot riding on this show, and if you fucked it up a lot of people would be disappointed. However, all of these feelings are washed away when you’re wrapped into a hug by George.

“Blow their fucking minds out their.” He whispers into your ear. All feelings of nervousness are washed away when you realise you’re being hugged by the drummer of your favourite band. You go around, being given motivational speeches by every member of the band. Well, almost every member other than, you guessed it, Matty. He encouraged every member of your band except you, walking off before you could get to him.

The beginning of every show is always the worst. Hearing the roaring crowds increases your heart rate tenfold, but the stakes are even higher for this show. With one last group hug, you put your in ears in and run on stage, ready to start the show. As the show goes on, you occasionally glance side of stage to where the boys are standing. Everytime you make eye contact with them, they give you an encouraging smile or thumbs up. Matty on the other hand continues to evade eye contact, choosing to watch a different member of the band. However that didn’t stop you from putting on one hell of a show, and that’s what you did. You blew the metaphorical roof of that stadium, it was arguably the best show you ever did. The adrenaline high you had once you ran off stage couldn’t be ruined, even by a moody former celebrity crush.

The moment you exit stage, you’re immediately crushed by a massive group hug involving your band and the boys. Despite all of this, the only thing you can focus on is the hand around your waist. It’s Matty. You don’t think he meant it, instinctively putting it there when he was dragged into the hug. Nonetheless the area he was holding felt like it was burning under his touch, his calloused hands leaving marks on the skin underneath them. The group hug is cut short when he pulls away, clearing his throat slightly and going back to cradling his drink.

You do the rounds, talking to everyone backstage and discussing the nuances of the show and how amazing the audience were. This repetitive conversation continues until you get back around to him. You expect to be met with no eye contact, maybe an eye roll if you were lucky, but what happens next surprises you.

“You did alright out there, Princess.” The confusion on your face is palpable, at both the nickname and his sudden talkative nature. “Princess, like Princess Kida from The Lost City of Atlantis. It’s funny because,” you cut him off.

“Our band name is Lost Atlantis, yeah I get it. It’s funny.” You respond, a dead pan expression on your face. The tension was obvious, you could cut it with a knife. That is until Moon Dixon, your bassist, comes up behind you and wraps you in a hug.

“We’re all going back to Maddie's place to have a few drinks, you joining us?” She says, mostly to you but including Matty in the conversation as well.

“Yeah, let me get into something less sweaty and gross first though.” You laugh, trying to hide your disappointment as he walks off to join the rest of his band.

Get over yourself, you thought to yourself as you walked back up to your dressing room. Just because Mattys a dick doesn’t take away from the fact that this is the best day of your life. You just performed your biggest show ever, and three out of the four members are lovely. But despite this, you can’t get the curly haired man out of your mind. You see him every time you blink. How have you gone from badass pop girlie to pathetic simp in the space of three hours?

Chapter Two

[oneatlatime]

Hiii!!! I’ve been binging through your blog for the past few weeks and I noticed how you talk about how Kataang(Katara x Aang) is portrayed in the show. Honestly yeah, I will admit I didn’t like it at first but now I just don’t really care for it. But I’d be interested hearing an in-depth opinion on the ship(unless you already did and I just never noticed or forgot 😭).

Another question, do you think you’re going to read the comics that came out the series? If you’re asking my opinion I’d say they’re a uuuh 7-8 out of 10 IG?

I do have thoughts on Kataang which I haven't shared yet. Part of me thinks I should wait to answer your ask until I've finished the series; it's obvious to me that these two are being set up to be the big finale couple, which means if I talk about them now I'm probably missing the pieces I need to have a full, well-rounded opinion. But you know what? I feel like talking about them now. So here goes.

Short answer: It peeves me that Aang comes from a culture that seemingly doesn't even have parents, yet he still manages to date his mother.

Long answer: they're both way too young. I'm a huge fan of letting the kids be kids for as long as possible. Especially with these kids, who have been prevented from being kids by the war. As Katara points out in the opening scene of the very first episode, she's been the mother since her own died (or at least she feels like she has had to be the mother). Call me crazy, but I'd rather Katara spend a few years after the war doing dumb childish stuff to recapture that lost childhood than jump straight into a relationship. Isn't the safety and space to do dumb childish stuff one of the things those who are trying to end the war are fighting for? Shouldn't she get to enjoy that? And Aang is just way too young no matter what way you look at it. He's 12 right? I think that would make him a grade 6 student. Back in my day (yells at cloud) Grade 6 students collected yugioh cards and feuded over who had the snazzier lunch box. I could picture a 12 year old having a crush on a slightly older girl that goes to the same school, but it would be short lived and unactionable. I guess Katara would be around 14? So, a grade 8 student. A grade 8 girl would not date a grade 6 boy. It would just never happen.

They've both got bigger fish to fry. Aang is the last Air Nomad AND the current Avatar. When he fully takes on both of those positions, what time will he have for a girlfriend? Katara is the only Southern Waterbender. Whether or not she wants the responsibility, it will be her duty to single-handedly reconstruct a huge portion of her nation's culture from the ground up once she returns south. Does she have the time to ping pong around the globe mothering her boyfriend as he rides giant animals or does Avatar stuff? Say she wants to: what will her family and the rest of her tribe think of the only person who can access such a huge part of their culture riding off into the sunset?

Their current relationship dynamic is still too mother/son. This is more obvious in season 1 than in season 2 (maybe that's growth?) but you can't depict a male/female pair as pieta and then expect me to ship. I think this could change somewhat, but I've already been disappointed in that. I thought that once Katara had mastered waterbending and therefore felt she had something other than mothering to contribute to the group, she would back off with the mothering. And she did, a little, but not enough for my tastes. Maybe as Aang fully steps into the Avatar role and the last Air Nomad role (sidenote: no idea what the latter would look like) he'll move on to a more equal relationship with Katara.

I think Katara is meant for better things than rebirthing a nation. Bending seems to be at least somewhat genetic. So if Aang wants Airbending in any form to survive after his death, he's going to need a billion kids. While I could definitely see Katara wanting children, I don't see her as the barefoot pregnant type.

I'm not convinced that Aang has a clear picture of Katara. She has flaws, which is good! Does Aang see them?

I get the feeling that, while they are helping each others' skills grow as they travel the globe, they are also preventing each others' personalities from growing. As long as Aang is around, Katara has someone to mother. As long as Katara is around, Aang has someone who prevents him from feeling the full weight of his responsibilities. Again, this is worse in season 1, but how often did Katara deny that Aang was to blame for something that was at least somewhat his fault? Aang will never become a fully rounded person until he can look at his flaws and mistakes dead on and say "my bad" without a Katara in the background going "no you're perfect!" Katara deserves to find out what kind of person she is outside of a nurturing role. Quick thought experiment: what if you pair Katara with someone who needs no nurturing, or better yet, nurtures her? And what if you pair Aang with someone as bluntly truthful as Toph? Katara and Aang might find both of those situations uncomfortable at first, but I think it would contribute to their growth.

Aang having a crush on an oblivious Katara would be a great single season arc. I think it would fit both of their characters well, and I think Aang growing past latching on to the first person he saw after the iceberg would be a good way to show that he's rooting himself in his time-displaced present, and fully committing to ending the war. And don't get me wrong, I love Aang and Katara both as a fighting team and as friends.

These kids are all fighting a war, and all kids. I don't mind the supporting characters having romances, because it's not like Sokka or Suki can end the war, no matter how hard they try/might want to. But I'm a big believer in doing one thing at a time, and I think if you're the only person in the whole world who can end a war, then ending the war should take precedence over dating. I'm aware that that's an unrealistic expectation and out of step with the show's theme of balance. In the real world, birth rates skyrocket during war time because people live for the moment and grab happiness (read boinking) wherever they see it. But both these kids are pre-boinking age so I'm going to be a cranky old fart about it.

Being the wife of the Avatar is a position that will often come with being relegated to second place, especially with the amount of work that undoing a century of war will take. Although she works well in a team, Katara is a naturally dominant personality. Katara did enough of putting herself in second place before the series started. I think Katara could very easily fall into the pattern of subjugating her own needs and desires and putting her husband's first, but I don't want that to happen. And one way to prevent that from happening is to prevent her from dating the single most politically important person in the universe. (To be clear, Aang would never deliberately squish a wife like that, I just think the workload of being Avatar and last air nomad would cause that to happen)

A lot of my objections to this pairing are very adult objections. I don't know what I would have thought about this pairing when I was the age of the show's target audience. It undoubtedly would have bothered me less, although I probably would have been put off by how twee it is. As an adult, all I can see are babies playing house.

As for the comics, I hadn't made any concrete plans to read them. I don't know where I'd get access to them. I'm not sure how canonical they are. I guess I should probably decide whether or not I want to read them after I've finished the whole series. I've been told that my girl Jin appears in one of them, so I definitely have some interest. I have also had the Avatar Kyoshi novels strenuously recommended to me. But so much of Avatar's charm, to me, is in the medium. And while comics are closer to animation than books are, they're still static. Avatar does movement so well.

[spot-of-tea]

Okay headcanon time.

So for ages I’ve always wondered whether magic can be inherited or not. So like if your parents are powerful wizards chances are you’ll be one too. So the main reason I've always thought this is due to the fact that whenever you see a powerful character and are then introduced to a family members of theirs, that family member is as powerful or more so.

And I have examples. But I am gonna put a read more cause this is gonna get looooooong.

There's also gonna be spoilers beyond this point if you haven't watched the anime or read the manga.

So first off Laxus is a powerful wizard, he's an s-class wizard at a young age. While you could always say that that is due to his lacrima, I've always believed him to have the potential for powerful magic but because he was born sickly he could never fully achieve it. But then you look at his family and both his dad and grandfather are both powerful wizards. I mean Makarov is a wizard saint, not many get more powerful than that. Even looking back further, while we don't see the full extent of Yuri's magic in action he does appear to be somewhat powerful from the get go.

Then we move onto Cana. Guildarts is considered the most powerful member of Fairytail, the top ranked S-class mage who was even allowed to try a 100 years quest. Cana has shown multiple times how powerful she is, she's the only person in the guild whos been able to wield fairy glitter.

Then we have Erza, now from the very beginning Erza is shown to be an absolute powerhouse, from meeting her it would be easy to assume that she gained her power through grit and determination. However, we are then introduced to one Irene Belserion. Now Irene is cast as a pretty badass person from the start so you can definitely see where Erza gets parts of her personality from. Magically speaking Irene is said to be one of the top members of the spriggan twelve. Now when we first meet a member of the spriggan twelve we meet Brandish who is most likely one of the less powerful ones, but still her magic is described as overwhelming, so Irene's magic must be even more so.

Now Lucy is an interesting case, while Layla did in fact open (and likely closed) the eclipse gate on her own when it required both Lucy and Yukino to do so later, she (if I remember correctly) also had a pre-existing condition which made her magic less powerful? That being said it's shown that she was already a remarkable wizard and even held the respect of Aquarius who seems to have taken her death very hard. Going further back though we also have Anna Heartfilia, Lucy's ancestor. She's described as being one of the most powerful celestial spirit mage of all time.

Now finally while we don't ever learn about their parents or see if either was canonically powerful. I feel it's safe to assume that at least one of their parents was quite powerful. Natsu and Zeref are revealed to be canonically siblings. Now before we get this reveal you would assume that Zeref is only that powerful because of how long he's been alive for and has accumulated that power over the centuries. But we can then assume that he was already pretty powerful at a young age, I imagine had things worked out he would've used the eclipse gate himself instead of teaming up with Anna. We also see that Natsu is already one of Fairytail's powerhouses (honestly why he's not S-class yet is something I'll never understand). So I can imagine that the both of them had the potential for being powerful wizards long before either of them cast their first spell.

Whew. okay I'm done, I'm sorry this got so long, it's been bugging me for so long. I do want to stress that this may not be 100% accurate but this is just my own interpretation and headcanon.

But yeh let me know what you think and if you want to add anything else to this go ahead, I'm always interested to hear what others have to say.

[xoxof4ye]

WY@??

ch. 2 m.list ex choso x freader

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

five years ago

“i don’t understand why i can’t go with you!” you're sitting in your living room with your parents being in your junior year and 17; you just wanted to live out “the best year of your life” before you had to grow up, but unfortunately for you, your parents had other plans. “honey, we just can’t take you with us. you don’t know what america is like. we would be too busy to help you settle in." you sat there with a frown at the thought, “your moms right, i'm sorry, but it’s best if you stay with your grandma; she needs the company, and you two get along well together." your father smiled sweetly, thinking about the time you would visit her and how happy the both of you were.

she practically helped raise you while your parents were always working. he understood how you felt.

“i promise you, i promise i’ll try to visit as much as i can.” you didn’t have a bad relationship with your father. yes, you guys were distant, but there were always those little times that you two never forgot “f/n! don’t make a promise you can’t keep, plus it’d be too much work. let’s just come back every other holiday, or we’ll fly her out when we can."

your mother, on the other hand, was different. there were a lot of turns in your relationship, but you knew she was trying her best, and you knew you’d do anything for her, and she would do anything for you too. it's just the fact that you get your stubbornness and temper from her.

you knew there was nothing else you could say.

sitting out at the nearby park was your go-to when you felt lost. there was a small breeze with a little drizzle. it was the best weather for a moment like this. in the corner of your eye, you can see your best friend yuji walking up to you with a plastic bag in his hand. you take your headphones off and pause your music.

"y/n, there's no way you’re listening to rosyln." you laugh “what’s wrong with rosyln?" taking the plastic bag that he set down and opened to see if he had some of your favorite snacks. 

“yuji, im moving." you don’t look at him when you say this; you’re too anxious to see how he will react. "i know my brother told me."

what.

his brother, when you hear that, you look up. he's your ex, but before he was your best friend, now you're just strangers who know everything about each other. “what do you mean, how does he know?” “your mom went over and told my mom, and he just happened to be there listening. he told me after i got home from training. i don’t know what happened between you two, but i know he still cares."

weird, why did you guys break up? you couldn’t even seem to remember it. it all happened so fast. the one person who you felt understood you was now nothing. you weren’t even sure if you fully got over him, but you definitely didn’t expect yuji to say he still cared. he definitely didn’t act like it. 

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

i’m so sorry guys😞 deadass as i got my whole idea for this and posted it SCHOOL decided to be funny like i had sats(i hate my score i’m retaking that bitch next year) and then work and then I HAVE A FREAKINF AP EXAM TMR LIKE OMG i didn’t even want to take APLAC they just put me in there☹️☹️yeah and i’ve been traveling too like i’m fr omw back home from michigan🕺might skip school again and go back on wednesday even tho i live like 4hrs away HAHA anyways sorry for the yap session once i finish finals next week for sure i’ll be able to give this more attention love y’all always (i read the new jjk leaks and fell to my knees y’all don’t even understand)

[meenawrites]

Humanized Spider: Pt 3

So I've made my peace that I'm not getting work done until I get this all out of my system. 

SO

Ronal's leading Spider's physical therapy, he goes on patrol walks with Tonowari through the village. 

The Metkayina seeing both their leaders doting on this kid just kind of accept it, like they trust them and their judgment and I mean the kid's smile is infectious, people kind of wait for him to smile and are like awwwww (because I said so, he should be loved damnit)

Neytiri still isn't allowed anywhere near him or even within his line of sight. She's definitely calmed down since her altercation with Ronal and has been using this time to reflect on herself, especially with Neteyam's clear protectiveness of the boy and Kiri honestly not really talking to her. Hearing what he's been through and what state he was in really put things in perspective for her and she spends a lot of time communing with Eywa in the cove of ancestors and just thinking over her past with Spider. I'd like to think she realizes how her trauma has allowed her to mistreat a child, but yeah. 

Jake doesn't have as many prohibitions on him of seeing the boy, but he avoids him a lot tbh. Guilt is eating away at him and he can't bear to look at Spider, nor his kids tbh cause they're all so angry with both parents, except Tuk (cause she doesn't really get it).

Aonung also starts kind of taking Spider around with him (I haven't forgotten about him). He was pretty reluctant at first about the human but when his mom of all people went all mama bear over him he was like, well there's no reason for me to be reticent then. His big bro senses are tingling every time he sees Spider now and he's just like must protect, he's so SMOL.

Kiri and Spider spend a lot of alone time together, which doesn't go unnoticed by Ronal and Tonowari (and Neteyam, he knows what's up). They're always holding each other in some way or Spider just kind of shoves his head into her shoulder when he wants attention. She takes him out to the reef and shows him everything she's wanted to show him since the moment she got here. Sometimes they just do activities in silence, basking in the other's presence, other times they'll just talk back and forth nonstop for hours. Kiri makes sure to kiss his growing hair every night and run her fingers through it or pulling at his curls and watching them bounce back up so he knows she loves them. 

Eventually, Kiri does confess to him. I'd like to imagine it's during a night where she's snatched Spider away from Neteyam's protective grasp and takes him out on her ikran for a night flight. Spider's has always loved Pandora's night sky and the stars so she gives it to him. He leans back into her and reaches his hands into the sky as if he could touch them and he looks more carefree than she's seen him since he came back. They land atop one of the few trees near Awa'atlu and settle back against its branches. She tells him she wants to talk to him about something and the seriousness of her expression sobers him up quickly. She says it kind of haltingly, and talks in a bit of a circle before she gets frustrated with herself and just kind of yells, "I LOVE YOU!" then immediately slaps her hands to her mouth, peering at him through her lashes. Spider is just completely slack-jawed and speechless. Like he legit can't believe this is real and actually slaps himself across the face, which serves only to jostle his mask painfully and Kiri hurries to grab his face like what the hell are you doing. And then Spider just starts laughing, his hands coming to cover her own. He can't stop laughing but he's also crying (happy tears yall) and knocks his masked forehead against her own and it comes out of him like an animal that's finally been released from its cage, "I love you, Kiri, so much, since I met you" and BAM adorable beans. I'm trying really hard not to slip into writing a fic rn so moving on. 

Spider's pretty much fully recovered by this point and Ronal and Tonowari finally take him aside and seriously ask him if they can adopt him. Well, Ronal kind of just declares they're adopting him and Tonowari has to correct her and is like, "only if you would permit it. We'd like to officially take you in as family." At this point Spider's cried more than he thinks he has in his entire life during his time with the Metkayina clan but he's still surprised when he tears up again and is just like, "are you serious? Really? Like adopt me like you're my parents?" He obviously can't believe it. And Tonowari's like, "yes, we'd like to be your spirit parents." Spider looks to Ronal for confirmation and wildly wonders if this is some sick joke but she looks just about as serious as he's ever seen her. And he just full on cries. Ronal can't hold back anymore and just pulls him to her side and lets him cry while Tonowari lays a hand on the back of his neck. 

But before officially being adopted, Spider thinks it's time to get some closure with the Sully's. So he has Neteyam ask Neytiri and Jake if they'd be willing to meet with him. It's Neytiri who says yes first, surprising all of them. Neteyam is quick to give a lecture to his parents, the first ever and it feels good tbh, about how they've treated Spider, how Neteyam feels about it, and that he cannot stand by and watch as they mistreat him any longer. He's been obedient for a lot of things, but he's choosing to take a stand against this officially. Obviously all the kids side with him. Tuk doesn't really understand what's going on but she adds in her two cents of, "I love Spider I don't want to see him hurt, please don't hurt him."

They go to meet Spider who has Ronal and Tonowari at his back at their insistence. Ronal is fuming and is dying to say something but she respects her new son's wishes. Tonowari is also angry obviously but he's just happy the kid has agreed and he can try to make up for how he has been treated. Spider flinches when he sees Neytiri but he forces himself to stay sitting. Jake can barely look at him but Neytiri actually looks him head on, and for the first time, he doesn't see a trace of dislike in her gaze, just an eerie calm and an edge of softness that's never been directed at him before. 

Spider takes the lead first. He's spent a lot of time thinking about his past and his relationship with the Sully's (or lack thereof) and a lot of Kiri, Neteyam, Tonowari, Ronal, and even Lo'ak (in a clumsy but endearing way) constantly telling him that he had deserved to be treated better, that who his parents were and had done wasn't his fault, that he was worthy, that it was wrong of them to leave him with the RDA. He couldn't really accept it at first, even vehemently denied it saying he understood. And while his understanding of their actions being motivated by trauma and stuff remained the same, he'd finally come to accept that he had deserved better. And he says as much to the two of them. It's nerve-wracking as hell, but it feels amazing to say, to finally express to them how hurt he felt by Neytiri's dislike for him, how awful it had been to have Jake be kind to him but pull away when it began to feel like anything. I lowkey think Jake starts crying tbh while Neytiri just listens calmly and takes everything in.

When he's done, Neytiri speaks first and wholeheartedly apologizes to him, not averting her gaze or anything. She says that he's right, that her experiences clouded her judgment and hardened her heart against him unfairly. It had drawn a thick veil over her eyes and she'd never tried to see him for who he was and not his blood. She makes no excuses for the way she treated him and says she doesn't dare ask for his forgiveness because she doesn't deserve it. She ignored one of the Great Mother's most important teachings and that will weigh on her always. She doesn't apologize for cutting him on the ship because she did what she felt needed to be done to save her daughter. And frankly Spider agrees which has Ronal about to go off in protest, but Spider smiles at her and she backs down reluctantly. Neytiri apologizes for everything else though and swears to Eywa that she will never do or say anything to consciously hurt Spider again, which seriously shocks him. An oath to Eywa is a big deal after all. He almost chokes up because of it. And then actually does when she says, "I see you" and he can feel she really does. 

Jake frankly has no words but tries his best to blubber through an apology about keeping him at arms length, not making sure he as cared for better, for leaving him behind and never attempting to rescue him. I'm not super invested in his apology as I'm writing this rn so I'm gonna skip past it but yeah. 

Spider steals himself then because he's about to admit something big to them. He's already told his new parents and they've coached him on how best to broach the subject. So he tells them that he knows they don't want to hear about Quarritch but it goes hand in hand with their treatment of his and his overall lack of adult care in his life. He explains with some difficulty what was done to him by the RDA, that Quarritch pulled him out of the torture, gave him more care than he'd ever received before and had been the first adult to genuinely care for his life despite how messed up that was. And then he admits to having saved Quarritch, that he made that split second decision because he couldn't just sit and let the only person who'd ever really cared about him drown. Neytiri is shocked to her core. She wants to run and scream but she sees Spider now, truly, and made an oath to Eywa, so she can't help but face up to the fact that this development was her fault. In her fear of how Spider would turn out like his father, she'd inadvertently contributed to this decision. In not going back for him and just taking Kiri with her and leaving, she had created this situation. So she doesn't get mad, doesn't feel like she's allowed to and apologizes to him again, but makes sure he knows that if she ever sees Quarritch again, she will kill him with no hesitation. 

AND THAT'S THAT YALL! For now anyway, I'd accept any asks about this AU (would love to receive some) because I've had a lot of fun writing this even if it hurts me. Spider is adopted by Tonowari and Ronal, recovers, finds his place in the village. Kiri and him go public and Kiri's ready to beat up anyone who says anything about it. Lo'ak is shook and Neteyam's just like FINALLY. Spider and Neteyam are closer than they've ever been. Obviously shit's gonna happen since the RDA is gone but Spider finally feels like he's rooted somewhere, like he's okay and doesn't only have to rely on himself to take care of himself. He's got a family now who fusses over him obsessively. He's about to become a big brother. The love of his life LOVES HIM BACK! And he starts wearing his hair mostly curly and finds his own sense of identity, no longer trying to copy Jake or try so hard to fit in. 

I'd like to say he's eventually blessed by Eywa and can breathe their air BECAUSE HE DESERVES IT! But yeah that's enough for now. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!

PS Ronal and Tonowari begin making him a new songcord.

[sweetyyhippyy]

Little Tadpole. Dad!Eddie series. *FLUFF*

(I made a header!! 🥰)

Summary: Eddie finds out that he’s going to be a dad 🥹

Word count: 809

TW: Pregnancy. Mentions of nausea. Soft fluff 🥹

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All she could do was pace around their room as she thought out how she was going to tell Eddie the news. 

It wasn’t like they were really trying to not get pregnant; condoms were something they stopped using a long time ago, she had stopped taking her birth control right before their wedding, and they just weren’t careful in general. Their look on it was if they got pregnant, they got pregnant. But this wasn’t something they were expecting so soon. 

The past few weeks she hadn’t felt like herself. She had the run of the mill pregnancy symptoms: nausea in the morning, tired body, sensitive to certain smells, and late period. Finally she went to the doctor and they confirmed she was indeed pregnant, just a little over 9 weeks to be exact. 

She could hear the front door squeak open and shut, Eddie’s keys jingling as he put them down in the dish by the door. 

“Babe? You home?” He calls out. 

“Y-yeah hold on I’m coming.” She gathers herself mentally and heads down the hall to Eddie who's in the kitchen looking for a snack. “Hi baby, how was work?” She hops onto the kitchen counter, sitting while she waits for Eddie to turn back around and look at her. 

“Work was pretty good. Finally finished working on that ‘67 Impala that I’ve been working on for months. It came out looking so good.” Eddie beamed as he talked about the hard work he put into the car, trying to explain to her how he restored it. “Sorry, I’m probably boring you.” 

“No, you’re not. I like when you’re proud of yourself, and I like hearing about it. My mind is just kinda elsewhere right now.” 

“Oh? What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” He asks, moving his torso in between her legs as he looks up at her. 

“Um… well, you know I haven’t been feeling good lately. And I went to the doctor today to see why I haven’t been myself.” 

Eddie is fully concentrating on her words, slightly nervous that she was going to say that she has some incurable disease. 

“They did a few tests on me, but one of them said that I’m pregnant.” The words flow out of her mouth all at once. 

Eddie’s brown eyes widen slightly, his mouth dropping open slightly. “You’re what?” 

Her heart starts racing, having to repeat herself. “We’re going to have a baby.” She tried to sound cheerful but it came out way more scared and nervous. 

He exhales, taking a step back while he tries to think clearly. “A baby? We’re going to have a baby?” He questions. 

She nods her head, feeling her stomach twist at his lack of reaction. “I know this wasn’t exactly part of our plan yet… We have a few months to figure it out but I think we can kick ass at this parenting thing.” 

He had no expression on his face, leaning on his hands pressed to the counter. “A baby?” He repeats.

“Eddie!” She whines, over the fact that he hasn’t said anything else. “Come on, I'm scared here too! But I need you to give me something other than two words.” 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just taking me a minute to think. I mean… a baby, we’re going to have a little human to take care of and make sure they’re a functioning member of society.” 

She drops his gaze and looks down at her hands. “So… are you not ready for that?” 

“Shit, I didn’t mean it like that baby, read the room Munson.” He mutters to himself. “That was me talking out loud. It’s a scary thought, but you’re right, I know we can do it. I am a little scared but I got both of you forever, I’m not going to let either of you down.” Eddie says in a mellow, calming voice. 

Her eyes started to glisten with tears at his words, her hand coming down to cup his face in her hands. “You never heard the expression ‘don’t make a pregnant woman cry’?” She laughs, sniffling. 

Eddie smiles up at her, his own big doe eyes filling with his own tears. “We’re going to be parents.” He says in disbelief, his hands finding her stomach. “Our baby is in there.” 

“Yeah they are. I’m glad I’m doing this with you.” 

Eddie stretches his neck up to kiss his wife, the mother of his future child, kissing her so tenderly but full of love. “I love you so much. And I love you so much already, little tadpole.” 

She can’t help but laugh at Eddie. “Did you just call our baby a tadpole? They aren’t a frog, Eds.” 

“Eh, it’s the first thing I could come up with. But I think it’ll stick. It’s kinda cute.” 

[sweepweep]

@bonsaa actually asked for me to continue my Kamukura Project ramblings and I’ve never been more thrilled, this gives me a great excuse to continue.

Continuing with the idea of how marvelously fucked up the Project was in the first place: the project was sketchy from the start. For one, I’m pretty sure Hajime’s parents were NOT aware of it at all. If they were, they either would’ve 1: signed Hajime away to it, not giving him a choice. Or 2: disagreed with it and also would’ve not given him the choice. The fact that the chairman ASKED Hajime whether or not he’d come to a decision shows this.

There was also the fact that whatever Hajime signed was a blatant lie. Going into the building after he’d agreed to it, Hajime says that he’ll become someone Chiaki could be proud of, someone with a talent. He was convinced that HE would be coming out of it, same person, same personality, just with a talent. If he was told that he would’ve been erased, he wouldn’t have done it. Why? Because if he came out a different person, the whole “Chiaki can be proud of” thing would be for nothing.

So of course, now we’re at the point and time for the start of the surgeries. Izuru has super strength and super speed. That has to have been given to him while he was still Hajime. Because if they created Izuru with average human abilities, THEN given him speed and strength, Izuru would’ve figured out what he was before the scientists got a chance to use him as intended. Just imagine that. Hajime is told he’ll be going into the first surgery to get a talent. He comes out of it and now has to function in a completely different and strange body. He goes to pick up a fork to eat and accidentally mangles it. That sounds like an exaggeration, but Izuru threw Junko and Mukuro across the room by flicking his wrist. Izuru was “born” with abilities like that so it would’ve been normal to him. Hajime on the other hand, then would’ve had to adapt from what he was used to.

And you can’t just erase someone’s entire existence in one surgery. The scientists and doctors probably cut off all of his contact with the world so that he didn’t have any reminder of who he was. They probably referred to him as Izuru Kamukura throughout the process to condition his mind to respond as if it was his name. On that note, Izuru was described as a “super weapon” and a “tool for hope”. That is objectification. The scientists probably didn’t consider Hajime or Izuru human. I can imagine they referred to him as an object, not only so that Izuru would think of himself as a weapon for Hope’s Peak (sure that was a lot of it), but also to clear their own consciousnesses. It would’ve been a lot easier for them to think about preforming a lobotomy on a non-human object than on a person.

And of course we all saw the room Izuru was kept in. They probably kept Hajime in the same room so that 1: he didn’t have any self-reminders. And 2: so that Izuru would be more likely to consider it his room when he was created. We saw from Chiaki’s death scene that Izuru kept some of Hajime’s feelings, so if Izuru considered that empty box his room, he’d be less likely to want something more habitable, as he’d be used to it.

And when it comes to the surgical procedures themselves, I did a little digging on sedatives. Just going to start off by saying that Hope’s Peak probably didn’t fully sedate him, in hopes of increasing pain tolerance. But what I found, was that many even heavily sedated patients are award of their surroundings. It’s recommended people talk to them because they can hear and comprehend what they are hearing. The only issue being, they can’t respond. Now when working with sedated patients, the doctors will close the patient’s eyes and put something over them. If you look at Hajime just as he’s going into the final surgery, his eyes are not covered. He was probably listening and seeing as the doctors spoke about what they planned on doing. And while it would’ve gotten fuzzy when they started on his brain, sedated patients have spoken about how they remember a lot, but just chalked it up to a vivid hallucination or nightmare. So Izuru would’ve retained a lot of that.

Keeping with the topic of sedation and awareness, we’re going to circle back to the muscle and body modifications Hajime would’ve had to go through. Everyone talks about his main lobotomy scar on his head, but Izuru came out of everything super strong and fast. Post-Neo World Hajime wouldn’t have just had a scar wrapping around his head, but so many along every muscle in his body. Reminder that Izuru took down the SHSL Soldier with a wrist flick. Imagine the modifications that would’ve had to have been done to allow him to do that. Post-Game Hajime would’ve had scars all over his body, accompanied by memories of the slicing done to get them.

Now during the surgery, once Hajime realized that they planned on erasing him, or even when they cut off his contact with everything and everyone he knew, he would’ve tried to fight back. He fought the Ultimate Boxer as a Reserve Course Student. Being even stronger (and knowing that) he wouldn’t have wanted to stick around for long, so why not use his new strength to just fight his way out. The scientists would’ve known about this and put him on a crap ton of mood-changers to keep him remotely cooperative. His food was probably drugged left and right, and that along with the entire project would’ve led to a truck-load of trust issues that would take years to undo.

Thanks for listening to my hyperfixated ramble. I wish I could finish my WIPs with this kind of dedication.

Original post

[reigningqueenofwords]

Move In?

Pairing: Bruce x Reader Word count: 2,045

Read on AO3

Part 3 of Without Me

Pulling your hair up, you made your way back towards where Bruce still slept in his bed. It had been two months since the night at Hole in the Wall already. Your life had changed dramatically since you began seeing Bruce, and you couldn’t be happier. Crawling up the bed, you smiled at how peaceful he looked. Carefully, you barely touched his cheek, silently giggling when he scrunched his nose. You got back under the covers and started trailing your fingers up and down his back.

He let out a soft noise instantly, but took a few minutes to wake up. “Mm.” He nuzzled into you. “So comfy.” He mumbled.

“Calling me squishy?” You gently scratched his back with a grin.

“Nope.” He let out a small yawn. “What time is it?” He hugged you to him as he rolled on his back.

“Almost nine.” You kissed his nose. “Got the coffee started…” You smiled. “I was thinking I’d make us breakfast, too.”

“Hmm. You’re amazing.” He kissed your jaw, fully awake now. “I gotta say, that’s the best I’ve slept in ages.” He admitted.

“I wonder why.” You grinned. Reaching up, you ran your fingers through his hair.

He chuckled. “Might have something to do with this hot chick that spent the night.” He flirted with you.

You blushed. “Sweet talker.” You grinned. Your head was on his chest, and you enjoyed listening to his heart beat. “It’s almost the end of the school year.” You said softly.

“Which is a fucking relief.” He chuckled. “Though finals are going to kill me. Literally.” He shook his head.

“You do realize I usually head home for part of the summer, right?” You said softly.

He blinked and looked at you. “You do, don’t you?” He frowned. “This year, too?”

You shrugged a shoulder. “I’d like to see my family, but I might shorten my trip. Or...you could come, too?”

He tilted his head into the pillow. “You’d let me meet your family?” He asked, surprised.

You nodded. “Only if you wanted to…” You traces a pattern on his jaw. “I won’t force you.” Did he ever meet the parents of his girlfriends?

He thought about it for a moment. “I usually just kick it here. So I’d love to spend more time with you.” He felt you smile against your chest. “Your dad won’t try to kill me, right?” He asked playfully.

You hummed. “He might. Then ask you about the latest type of car you have. It’ll keep him entertained for days.” You giggled. “My younger brother will be your shadow.”

He grinned, tracing patterns on your back. “Whatever makes my woman happy.” You blushed like crazy and buried your face in his chest. He kissed your head with a chuckle. “Do we need to fly there?”

“You’d love that. Some private jet.” You teased. “I usually drive, it’s about 8 hours.”

“I love to show off.” He admitted with ease. “But 8 hours alone sound great.” He squeezed your waist. “Maybe make it longer by making stops along the way?” He suggested.

“Road trip?” You brightened.

“Road trip.” He agreed happily, surprising even himself.

You grinned and kissed him happily. You were very excited for him to meet your family. It meant a ton to you, but you had a good feeling about Bruce. Even Kyle seemed to be rooting for the pair of you.

Bruce squeezed you. “How about I help with that breakfast?” He offered, feeling very domestic with you.

“You can look pretty and watch.” You giggled. “Mr. I-burn-toast.” You teased. “I'd hate to see what you do to pancakes.”

“It was once.” He nipped your shoulder with a chuckle. Hearing you laugh, he moved to tickle you.

You gasped before letting out a series of laughs, slapping his hands. “Bruce!!” You wiggled. “I’ll kick you!” You warmed through your squeals.

“Worth it!” He grinned above you, dodging your arms. He pinned your arms and attacked you with kisses. “You’re so fucking cute.” He said between kisses. “And I can't believe you're mine sometimes.”

You smiled lazily and looked at him. “I can’t believe you’re mine either. My sweet, boyfriend.”

Bruce kissed you softly. His mind swam with emotions as he poured what he felt for you, something that never had come so easy. You easily returned them.

The ending of the semester came quickly, but for a couple weeks you and Bruce had barely seen each other since you were swamped with last minute projects. It was starting to get to you. You weren’t clingy, but you missed crashing at his place. You texted all the time, or as much as you both could anyway, but it wasn’t the same as hugging or seeing him.

Finally, you were getting home from your last final to see his car parked in your driveway. You silently cheered and rushed to get inside. “Bruce!” You nearly tackled him.

He lifted you with ease into a hug. “Hey, baby.” He grinned, kissing your cheek. “I’ve missed you!”

“I’ve missed you more.” You hugged him tight. “Are you all finished?!” You asked excitedly. “I am!”

He pecked your lips. “All done. I wanted to come celebrate with you.” He grinned. “Pack a bag, I’m taking you away for a weekend.” He said excitedly.

“I have work.” You pouted.

“Ditch. Call in. Quit.” He shrugged as if it was nothing.

You blinked. “And I’d be unable to pay my bills.” You reminded him. “My phone would get cut off, I’d lose my room here, car insurance would go bye-bye…”

He whined. “But I could provide all that for you.”

That took you by surprise. “Is the Bruce Wayne wanting to get serious by moving in together?”

He blushed, a rarity for him. “I’m crazy about you…” He nodded. “So, move in with me? Quit your job and let me take care of you?”

You stared at him. “That’s a huge step.” You ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not saying no, either. Just wanna make sure this is really what you want.” You’d never heard of him living with a girlfriend before.

He smiled. “I’ve never been more sure. These past couple weeks have only assured my decision.” He told you honestly. “Hell, we can go apartment hunting, too.”

You couldn’t help but smile. “I’m so into you. I can’t believe I’m about to agree to this.” You teased. “Let’s do it.”

He fist pumped the air and twirled you. “So weekend away it is?” He looked like a kid at Christmas.

“I’m officially all yours.” You grinned. “How's that sound?”

“The best thing I’ve ever heard.” He let you go. “Go pack.” He grinned. “I'll make reservations.”

You made a happy noise and rushed off happily. Life was really looking up. You weren’t one to move in so quickly with a boyfriend, but you didn’t bother talking yourself out of it. It just felt right.

Bruce leaned against your counter, making some calls and emails to set up the perfect weekend. He couldn't wait to have you to himself for a few days. The past couple of weeks dragged without you. It felt like part of him was missing. He smiled now that he could have you uninterrupted from school work. Even just lounging around would be welcome.

When you came out with a couple of bags, he beamed. “Ready?” He asked, moving to take them.

“More than. I don’t even know what I packed.” You giggled. “I just was excited to spend time with you.”

“You’re perfect.” He kissed your shoulder and followed you out. “How would you feel about meeting my parents?”

You looked up at him. “Your parents? You’d want me to?” You asked shyly, your cheeks tinted pink.

“I’d be so proud to show you off to them.” He said earnestly. “Dinner this weekend?”

“But...I’m not rich.” You weren’t like anything like the girls in his past. You were terrified they wouldn't like you.

“And?” He put your bags in the trunk. “Why does that matter?”

“Well, I mean...I don’t know. Won’t they not approve of my...class?” You didn’t know how to put it. You were a poor college student like many of your classmates. “I'm just scared they won't like me.”

“They’ll love you.” He told you. “They know you’ve been keeping me on my toes.” He smiled. “My mom loves that you call me a brat!” He laughed.

“You are! My brat now though.” You brightened a little. “No fancy dinners, though?”

“Hmm. That’ll be hard. Unlike me, they have zero knowledge of Hole in the Wall like places.” He rolled his eyes but chuckled.

You giggled. “Should we introduce them to something like bowling?” You asked playfully.

He snorted and laughed. “I’d pay to see that.” He told you as you both got into the car. “I can’t see my parents bowling .” He shook his head. “They’d buy new bowling balls and shoes and probably make their own bowling place.” He cracked up at the idea.

You smirked slightly. “It’s a suggestion!” You giggled. “There’s also roller skating.” You laughed.

He lost it, laughing so hard he went silent as he rested his forehead on the steering wheel. You grinned at the sight. “That’s great.” He squeaked. “So great.”

“You’re freaking adorable right now.” You shook your head. You’d never seen him like this.

“You’re adorable with your suggestions.” He wiped his eyes before leaning over to kiss your cheek. “I love them. And you.”

You blushed and grinned widely. “I love you, too, Bruce.” You tapped his nose. It had been the first time the pair of you had said it. It had warmed up your entire chest and stomach and you giggled as he nuzzled in your neck. His arms wrapped around you tightly.

He let out a breath. “I was going to tell you this weekend, but I couldn’t help myself.” He kissed your neck gently. “You’re just so amazing.” He smiled against your skin.

“So are you!” You squeezed him. “My life has changed with you in it.” You said happily.

“Same here. You’ve made me a better man.” He said easily. “I’m not looking forward to cheap thrills and shit.”

“Glad to hear it.” You ran a hand through his hair. “Now, let’s get away for the weekend, my love.”

“With hopefully a lot of pleasure.” He winked and sat up. Seeing you blush never got old.

“Holding you to that.” You mumbled shyly.

When the pair of you pulled up to a hotel, you blinked. “I'll never get used to this.”

He grinned. “I love seeing your surprise.” He said as the valet came out. He took your hand as you both got out while people gathered your bags. You were so bashful about being treated like this. It was something he really enjoyed. You weren’t in it for the glam. You were with him because you enjoyed his company- no matter what the pair of you were doing. “I wanted to really treat you this weekend.” He added. “Show you how much you mean to me.”

“You already do that.” You said lovingly. “But I won’t complain to a bubble bath. I’m sure they have huge ones.” You told him, winking.

He licked his lips. “You just like to tease.” He ruffled your hair. “I’ll get you back.”

“You do it without meaning to so I’m sure.” You grinned, sticking by his side as he checked in. Your hand was on his back, your head on his shoulder as he did all the talking.

The receptionist smiled at you every so often before finally handing the keys over. “Best suite we have, Mr. Wayne.” He assured him. “Complementary basket, as well.”

“Perfect.” Bruce winked at him before wrapping his arm around your shoulders. “Shall we?” He motioned to the elevators.

“Yes please.” You stayed close to him. “Burgers from room service for dinner?” You asked.

He laughed. “I love how we can have the best steaks, and you want burgers.”

You grinned. “I love burgers. And fries. They’re from different places.” You shrugged.

“Cows and potatoes?” He teased.

You shoved him lightly. “Fancy and not fancy!” You laughed. “Smartass.”

“Your smartass.” He nudged you back.

[myfairkatiecat]

Kate Wetherall, Katherine Pulitzer, and your Keefe boy :)

Aaaaaahh yes yes yes these are really good ones ahdkdhsnbdjshssj

Kate Wetherall:

Ok so. The reason I say she works best as a part of a dynamic is because while she’s awesome on her own, she is MOST compelling with the rest of the mysterious Benedict society!!!the four of them together are so special to me

Also I’m a Kate apologist, she’s never done anything wrong and I stand by it :)

(And yeah if you see the way I write Kate you may see me projecting. It might have something to do with me being in sixth grade when I first read the books and going “omg we have the same name!!!”)

Katherine Pulitzer:

Look I relate to this girl SO MUCH you don’t even understand 😭

And the fandom has a tendency to villainize her or make her seem problematic simply for being complex, which… is a problem I’ve been seeing a lot of lately, actually.

I love her SO MUCH. She’s kinda scary but also she’s me

AND FINALLY

Keefe Sencen:

Once again flattered by your interest in hearing me talk abut my interests that you don’t share 🥹

Okay look. I LOVE KEEFE. And I initially colored in “they’ve never done anything wrong” cause I have tendency to be a Keefe apologist, but if I’m being real here he’s definitely done stuff wrong 😭 @phtalogreenpoison has heard me talk about his character in detail and knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Why the tiny scribble on “too much screen time”? Well…….it’s technically true. He does get too much screen time, and for not being the MC, he’s started getting a lot of his POV in Sophie’s story. However, I EAT IT UP cause I’m a pretty standard basic Keefe girlie. So while I understand the side of the fandom that’s beginning to want more of some other characters, and I think that’s soooo valid, I also am totally eating up all the Keefe screen time. SO EXCITED for the Keefe book that’s coming out this fall. I love this boy. So much.

Also would I marry him irl?? uhhhhhhh if Sophie didn’t exist then YES he’s mine. But I’m a girl’s girl and he belongs to Sophie <3 they’re so cute together, too!!

Somebody is gonna come at me for saying he’s deeper than he seems cause we actually get quite a bit of insight into his character depth, but I think even what we do see doesn’t fully cover it. Keefe is more open with his friends than he’s ever been with anyone else… but he definitely has a LOT of defense mechanisms in place, which is why he has that cool-kid-doesn’t-care-doesn’t-work-only-flirts vibe going on in the first book, and the first time we REALLY get slapped in the face with “haha you knew he had a facade but here have a GUT PUNCH” is the quote in the beginning of book three when Sophie suggests they stop by Keefe’s house and he just sorta looks down and says “I…don’t bring friends home.”

Like. We knew his parents sucked. But something about seeing him vulnerable like that. Ahdkfhdjshdjdshs

I think the mischief making and flirting is also a real aspect of his personality, but a lot of the sorta bad-boy-ish reputation he’s got going on at school in the beginning books is a front to cover his ✨issues✨ and I don’t think we even see the full depth of how much the reveal of his mother as a villain and her constant attempts to make him “embrace the change” and have a “legacy” tied to her evil thoughts impact him. We know it’s hard for him and we totally see that, but even in Keefe’s POV he avoids thinking about it, and… honestly it’s up to us fanfic writers to really delve into that angst. Shannon sorta tells us it sucks for him, but doesn’t really show us (not fully, at least) cause Sophie is the main character, not him.

And do I project my issues on him? …maybe a little…his particular brand of the “using humor to cover up my problems” trope hits very close to home for me. I deflect with humor in the exact same flippant way, and just like with Keefe, sometimes it works and sometimes it gets me in trouble with my friends when I need to be serious.

(Yes I want to carry Keefe in a hand a like a tiny dog. Not elaborating.)

Wasn’t sure whether or not to say he gets done dirty by the fans. Historically, this fandom is head over heels in love with him, but right now there’s been a bit of a turn towards combating Fitz hate (another character that often gets pitted against Keefe unjustly bc of shipping discourse) with Keefe hate and saying he’s problematic when he’s really just complex.

So yeah I’m not normal about Keefe at all, if you couldn’t tell.

I managed to talk for a very long time about him

You can tell where the brain bees are buzzing rn can’t you

[majickth]

i’ve returned from the small mountain forest town with some ideas!

parents always tell their children to never play in the river, especially by the bridge, not just because or currents or animals but because three children always play there, always. they never say anything if prompted, though they will stare, only to adults though they speak to other children, but last time another child went to play with them, the amount of children found playing went up from two to three. they never seem to age, tire, or stop playing, but rumor has it one of the children has been their longer then the town, though those are only rumors of course.

then up on a hill is a tree that unlike others never moves, but every time you look at it, it appears different, occasionally it will even become a different species. it’s also advised to not harm it, no one ever has, but it’s still advised, never know what it could do.

finally for people who pass through the town or are new if they walk alone through the town at night one vacant lot only once per person will not be vacant. a small restaurant, with burgers, fish, fries, tator tots, and sodas will appear. upon entering it will be completely empty besides for one worker behind the counter, order whatever you like, you can then sit down and wait, it will be given to you, it will be delicious but when you ask about paying they simply state “aw don’t worry, you can just pay next time,” but the second you leave it will disappear, including any leftovers you had, though you will still be full. it looks different every time but keeps the same name. and if you ask the worker why no one else is there they’ll say something along the lines of “oh you just missed the regular, he’s probably almost back to the mines by now, working the mines is hungry work!”

grian discovering all of this found a few things, the children no matter what in photos will always appear blurry, regardless if they were standing still or not, and if on phone or camera. the bush only changes with you turn your head, blinking or looking away with your eyes doesn’t change it, and it strangely enough always looks the same in photos taken on cameras. then finally when he went to the restaurant after hearing about it he found no matter how much he ate he was never fully full, and the food never got cold, the worker also was very friendly and after he could have sworn seeing the worker around town but every time he looked again there was no one.

(sorry it’s long and feel free if any of this doesn’t fit to change or disregard it! the kids i though of like hermes, tiny tom, mandy mane, ect if your curious.all of this is based on things that happened just less super natural, like the kids was me and my friend (both teens ofc) chilling by/in the river by the bridge every day. the tree being a bush on top of a mountain that looked like a rat. and the restaurant being this really good place we go too every time that serves that food (called shotgun willie’s if anyone is curious lmao))

OH I am rotating these ideas in my head, thank you, these are so good!! (Also, these being based on irl experiences is really wholesome!)

Something about the kids on the hill playing reminds me so much of the Ben Drowned creepypasta lmao, like of the kids playing around the tree and perhaps knowing too much. The eeriness of it all, I love it, thank you!!

[wallaballabingbang]

Run away | H.J Granger

Post war, Readers gender not specified <3

Summary | your parents were either killed or imprisoned during the battle of hogwarts and you need so a fresh start away from everything, what happens when a familiar face comes knocking on you door a year later?

After finishing school you decided to move into the city - London, wanting a change in scenery from where you’d spent the majority of your life: Hogwarts.

It was nice at the start, you had a normal muggle job and had no contact with the wizarding world. Your family had been avid followers of ‘you know who’ and had either been killed during the final battle or sent to Azkaban for eternity, it did you a favour though, not to say that you didn’t miss having a parent or sibling around but you could achieve more in the wizarding world, if you wanted to now.

Although gradually you’d started noticing things that to the muggle eye seemed normal, but to your eyes, definitely stuck out of place. Each time you saw something you’d note them down mentally, one that stuck out to you was the pet shop which had recently opened on a street nearby.

The pet shop itself wasn’t the odd thing, it was the customers that were coming and going. All of them had at least one child with them, all wearing long cloaks, cloaks you knew all too well. You remember wearing one yourself many times growing up as you and your mother had been preparing to travel to the ministry via floo powder.

That could only mean one thing: wizards in the vicinity.

You’d spent so long trying to hide yourself from the wizarding society, you’d almost had a heart attack at the realisation that wizards and witches were travelling back and forth near where you lived.

You’d rushed home quickly and splashed freezing water on your face, attempting to wake yourself up from this nightmare which was reality.

You’d gone from your bathroom into your bedroom to change into some more comfortable clothes when someone had knocked at your front door. You’d ran to look out the window to see who could be knocking at your house- you never got post and always went out to buy things instead of shopping online, so when you saw Hermione Granger on your front steps you fell back from the window in disbelief.

You’d been best friends since the first year of hogwarts and in fourth year you’d gotten together, in your getaway from the magic lifestyle, you’d cut everyone off including her. She’d sent you letters asking if you were okay and then asking what she did wrong, you’d never replied of course, otherwise what was the point of running away?

You’d opened the door slightly, enough to see her in person and for her to see the side of your face. You’d re-closed it and then opened it fully asking why she was here and that you were sorry for what you’d done, it seemed that she hadn’t heard you or ignored you as she’d walked past you and taken a seat on your couch, looking at you expectantly, beckoning you to sit down as well.

That was where you both were now.

“So how come your here?” You asked sheepishly as you sat next to her. She hadn’t changed only matured more, her hair sat in a braid on her shoulder as she stared at the carpeted floor.

“I’ve been looking for you, you know.” She muttered and finally looked at you. “After you ran away I figured it was because you needed time to grieve, so I gave It to you. I left you alone, but then you never came back and not once did you reply to my letters.” She moved so her whole body was facing you and you wanted the ground to swallow you up more than ever.

“I missed you.” As the words fell from her lips, a tear escaped from her eye which she quickly wiped away hoping you hadn’t noticed. You did.

“Don’t cry.” You whispered as moved closer to her and hugger her for the first time over a year, it probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear but you said it anyway. As you sat there with her, you realised how selfish and thoughtless you’d been. Yes, you’d needed time to come to sense of what had happened, but did you really need to cut the only person left who loved you?

“I’m sorry, if I could go back in time I would never have done this. I would’ve stayed with you, Harry and Ron and we could’ve helped each other.” You admitted and she stayed silent so you continued speaking: “you didn’t do anything wrong, my whole family were death eaters and had been killed or sent to prison. I wanted a fresh start, away from everythin-”

“-away from me?” She murmured, you could barely hear her ask the question but you did. You chuckled and tapped her back, pulling away from the hug.

“No, I loved you more than anything and still do. What I did was stupid, I didn’t think and I was so used to you being there that it seemed like you were always going to be there, so when I ran away I hadn’t realised that I’d left you, like everyone else, with no note or nothing until it was too late.” She nodded at you before standing up, taking her bag off and placing it on your coffee table.

She looked down at you from where she was stood and told you to stand up and hugged you again, you gladly returned it, it was long overdue and one wasn’t enough.

“We’ll I’m going to be here now and it’s not a choice.” She told you and you rose an eyebrow her, confused as to what she was as talking about. She rolled her eyes at you and tried to hide her smile: “I mean that I’m not leaving your house until you tell me everything that’s happened since you left.”

You laughed and gave a heavy sigh, you owed her it. “only if we can act like nothing happened and go back to how we used to be.” You stated and rested your hands on your hips.

She didn’t answer you but instead slowly pecked your lips, as she pulled away you kept her in her place by holding onto her wrists and pulling her down onto you as sat on the couch again, beginning to tell her the long list of things that had happened since you’d been apart.

I’m already seeing a pattern that I post during the night ._.

[wandawiccan60]

Why Me?

An Alfie Solomon’s X Sylvia Voltaire(OC) One-Shot

A/N: Hello guys and welcome back to another Alfie Solomons One-Shot. I know it’s crazy to see myself this active again believe me it feels good. But I wanted to come in say this has been the most fun writing I’ve ever had in a while and I really hope I get to every single character of Tom Hardy. I still need to catch up on the other films of his including Lawless which by looking at the small clips of Forrest Bondurant… oh boy is he such a cute man. But as always guys thank you for coming by and reading my fics. Thank you for sharing and liking and I’ll see you all later.

ALFIE SOLOMONS MASTERLIST

Camden Town: 1920’s 

Out of all the places in the entire country of London, Sylvia and her family had no choice but to stay in a place called Camden Town. They weren’t welcome that was for sure. As none residents, gypsies were considered to be nothing but untrustworthy, scum, and the lowest of the low. Knowing that they have to live and remind themselves that was how they were born and raised.

They had a wonderful life back in their hometown in France. There was a piece of land right off the coast, where it was peaceful, safe, calm, and overall where they were far away from the city. Her father Andre, had a job there as a carpenter but he did get little pay for what it was. The amount of money he would win almost went entire to have food on the table. Until one day the owner decided to let him go swing that his business wasn’t making as much as before. And leaving their lovely home behind they ended up in the city across the ocean. 

Even for a family of 6 including Sylvia, it was hard to cope seeing that her mother Kezia, has to take care mostly the baby of the family Kaven. Her two baby sisters Zana and Risa are at the age of heading to their womanhood. Knowing that both of her parents with a heavy heart need to send of their daughters to find good suitors that will take care of them. Sylvia as being the oldest, isn’t fully prepare to have to go with someone she doesn’t even love or know about much. Even for a place like London where everyone wouldn’t even want glimpse her way for one bit. 

Once they arrived to their new home a year ago, It was hard to get use to the amount of new surroundings. The tall grass fields were something to enjoy and being around. Thought the amount of strangers passing by with their automobiles was something that bothered the Voltaire family the most. Even through the year they at one point already got use to seeing many travelers and car machines so many times. Seeing that his father was trying his best to find a job around town, it seemed that he wasn’t going anywhere knowing that he was an outcast.

“Papa, maman, why can’t we just leave this place already?” Said Risa in their French tongue while they had late night dinner around the campfire.

“Because your papá my dear has some news to tell you all, and darling please try to speak your English a bit more,” Kezia said while attending the now 6 month old Kaven in one arm poking around the wood for the fire to still be on.

“My dear Kezia please, let them speak the tongue we have been born to learn,” said Andre to her which she just nodded her head quietly until he gave the big news. “My dear girls, I finally found a new job that will finally help us not go without any food on the anymore. And I will start by tomorrow.”

Risa, Zana, and Sylvia all looked at each other as if his father is telling a lie. 

“Wait papa, are you certain of this? How did you manage to convince the owner of this new job?” Asked Sylvia not believing what her ears are hearing.

“It is true, and the wonderful thing is a bakery which you all know that I use to make some great bread back home. And I wanted to share with you all that I will start tomorrow,” said Andre feeling a lot of hope for such a new opportunity that he has been waiting for so long.

“Papa what wonderful news, but does the owner know that you are well a gypsy?” Sylvia said feeling worried that if the owner of the shop finds out that they are outsiders.

“I only mentioned that we are a family of 6 and that we have been poor for a very long time. He didn’t ask for my background and instead he understood about our situation. He saw me as a human being and not a stranger, and he gave me the job right away,” Andre said though in reality the owner was more then just a simple baker and something that he had to keep to himself.

“We can finally go back home, to our small and beautiful beach again,” said Risa having an excited smile on her face knowing that she had enough of this place.

“We will go back home my children, I promise you all that with as much money as I can collect we will go back. But that is all tonight we should all get some rest now, goodnight my girls,” said Andre getting up on his feet while Risa and Zana did the same. 

As every made their way to their individual tents Sylvia heard her name called out by her father.

“Yes father, is there something wrong?” She anxiously said hoping that it was nothing bad.

“Nothings wrong my dear, me and your mother wanted to talk with you alone without the girls being here,” her father said which Sylvia was confused with why she needed to be there alone.

Though Sylvia didn’t want to question it to much she instead took a seat on top of a wooden log. 

“What is it that you and mother want to speak about with me me?” 

Both her mother and father looked at each other without any words. Knowing that what her father will say next will make their oldest daughter upset.

“My lovely dear, promise me that you will not be in what I will say to you next. Just always removed that I and your mother love you with all of our hearts and soul,” Andre said as he placed a gentle hand on top of Sylvia’s left knee which she just stood quiet, “The owner of the bakery requested that if you would like to work for him as his own personal book keeper. And that he would like to meet you tomorrow, I know this sounds much but I also think and pray that maybe this man could be a potential suitor for you. It’ll be a way for you to have a good life for you knowing that we want what’s best you my love.”

“Father aren’t you hearing yourself? You think this man that you just met think he could bring me happiness not knowing if he might have any bad intentions? No, I will not work for him even if the money seems fair but I won’t accept it,” Sylvia said not believing in what she is hearing. 

How could her mother agree to this not knowing what type of men could be dangerous out there especially if they are not gypsy by blood.

“Sylvia please, listen to your father. What if he is right, what if this man could give you everything you could ask for? And not live the way we do? I want also the best for you and for your sisters and Kaven. I don’t want to see any of you continue living like we are doing at this moment. Just go with your father and see the owner for yourself. But don’t forget to always keep your guard up my dear like we have always taught you,” Kezia begged knowing that she didn’t like where this was going but she also hoped for something good to come from this man.

The oldest daughter only sighed in defeat and agreed to go with his father to the bakery. Knowing that whatever this man is offering for her and her father is for good fortune.

****

The Next Morning

Sylvia and her father walked in a busy and noisy street as they made their way to where the bakery was located. From being on the fields for a year long this was more than what she expected. Some horses pulling wagons, men of all ages covered in dust and black powder from head to toe and the smell of coal and steel was in the air. It was a busy morning as they picked up the pace, trying to get to their meeting with the owner of the bakery in time. Sylvia wore something that would look presentable and clean though she ended up wearing one her mothers old black long sleeve dress. Which she was grateful to wear but also it made her look like if she was going to meet her doom. As some time went by they finally made it to the place where Andre knocked on two wooden doors a couple of times. The door was then opened which they were greeted by a young man who was in his mid to late 20’s.

“Mr. Voltaire, I presume yes?” The man asked which Andre took his brown cap off from his head.

“Yes I am he, and I also brought with me my daughter Sylvia. Does your owner want to see us already?” Andre asked while he wiped a bit of sweat that formed in front of his forehead.

“Mr. Solomon’s does want to see you both already. Come in,” said the young man directing them more deeper inside the brown lit shop.

There were mountains of barrels stacked from side of side, the smell of fresh dough being made and oddly enough there was a hint of of rum witching the same smell. Making their way to another pair of wooden doors, there was another long hallway with many men working from one station to another. Until one particular man was making their way towards Sylvia and Andre the one that everyone feared the most throughout the town of Camden.

“Mr. Solomon’s, this is Andre the one who was asking for a job yesterday. He wants to speak with you,” Ollie said which his boss didn’t say a thing until he was standing in front of them.

“Righ’ well Mr. Voltaire, a very good mornin’ to you sir. And yes i would to still go over some discussions with you about the job. And where I me manners, but who is this lovely woman here with you?” Said Alfie looking at his direction towards Sylvia which she just stood quiet but felt warm inside.

“My daughter Mr. Solomon’s, Sylvia Voltaire she is the oldest of the three. I brought her along to see if you wanted to still find someone with who to keep your booking. And I thought my Sylvia would be a good use in your business sir. She might not have the experience but we would be grateful if you can teach her,” Andre said hoping that it would convince Alfie to bring her in.

Alfie was quiet for a moment until he looked at Sylvia’s way looking at her up and down. She didn’t know what else to say or do she only could stay still while the bearded man thought for a moment or two if she looked like a good fit for a place like this. Though something did caught her eye about him, which it was odd to say the least. He seemed grumpy, broad, intelligent, and overall very attractive. Like from the looks of his body structure he seems to know what he does for a living and that this place itself has been booming for quite a while. She also caught a glimpse of his right hand with a small tattoo crown not knowing if it means something or just for display. Feeling like time has gone by so slowly, Alfie then finally spoke up.

“She will do, don’ you worry Mr. Voltaire, Ollie here will teach your daughter what she needs to do with me book keeping’s. Don’t you worry, I know she will be a good helping around here,” said Alfie giving a small smirk at Sylvia which she just bow her head in acknowledgment.

“Thank you Mr.Solomon’s for the opportunity, I promise to be of great use to you and for your work environment. But I also would like to thank you more for giving my father this job, we are grateful to find someone like you sir,” Sylvia said hoping that she didn’t sound very overly thankful.

“It’s nothin’ love and for next time don’t call sir or Mr. Solomon’s. Form now on yea, you will address as alfie and nothin’ more alrigh’?” He said while he liked her already for how polite she is.

As the morning went by, it suddenly became 2 o’ clock in the afternoon. Both Sylvia and her father have seen and learned so much in just almost a whole day. Andre knew what to expect since Mr. Solomon’s told him that he had an underground business that not even the coppers don’t know about. Though it did worry for the safety of Sylvia, and the rest of his family. Wondering if this was the right thing to bring her daughter to such a place and to be part of gangster organization. It was a lot to think for Andre to take in and he didn’t know if he should continue this path or not. 

“Well now you and your daughter can go home for today, but starting tomorrow right’ is when it will get serious. And Mr. Voltaire is it possible if I could have a word alone with Sylvia,” Alfie said to which Andre felt nervous to be asked such a question but he did agree.

Sylvia and Ollie didn’t mind what time of day it was, as they were mostly bust sorting papers and writing down on the big note books. She did manage to learn quickly right away seeing that it was just writing many sorts of name items and to calculate how many sales were being sold. Knowing that she didn’t speak much English and her reading wasn’t the best, Sylvia was determined to not give up on this opportunity. Knowing that this will help not only for herself but for her family as well even if it means that she needs to stay some long nights. While she tried to know what papers have to properly be placed on the door to the small office was opened seeing her father in the entrance. 

“Sylvia, umm… Mr. Solomons would like to have a moment with you,” Andre said to her in their native tongue which she looked confused but she didn’t ask another word.

Once they made it to Alfie’s office, which the oldest daughter was a bit confused as to why Alfie needs tor see her. Though once inside, he saw him sitting on the side of his big long desk filled with many piles of papers, the smell of whiskey, and dust above the atmosphere. He didn’t notice their presence right away, as Andre ands Sylvia walked up in front of the desk.

“Ah, righ’ Sylvia. I would like to speak to you about your position here in me bakery. It’s nothing bad if that’s what you are thinking love, but please have a seat,” Alfie said standing up on his feat and guiding the gypsy girl to sit.

She looked back at her father for a moment, which he just gave her a look of reassurance and that everything is fine. Though Andre and Alfie did have a talk earlier about having to bring Sylvia to this business. But it is something that Alfie himself that should tell her and it gave Andre some hope.

“I’ll leave you both alone, I’ll wait for you outside my dear,” said Andre lastly making his way out of the room hearing the door closed shut.

“You’re wondering why I need here alone with me love, and I’ll explain everything in a moment. But firstly righ’, what do you think of this job overall?” Alfie then asked taking his seat once more letting out a low sigh grunt.

“Well it is quite easy actually, however even if my English isn’t very well and my reading is a bit low I don’t see why I should not stop coming here and learn more. I honestly am doing this for my father and my family, we have been poor for a year. We had to leave home from France because well, my fathers old job wasn’t doing no good, and that is why we are here in London. Faith has always been on our side and I believe fate has come to us so quickly because of you Alfie. And I want to say again that we are very grateful that you accepted us as hard workers and not something else,” Sylvia said while Alfie listen to everything that almost what Andre said to him and he knew that this family was in need to help.

“I am sorry to hear that love, I can’ imagine that you all had to move across the ocean to land here. But I also want to say this. Your father and I have come to an agreement about you being here in me bakery, but promised him that I’ll be keeping an eye on you including my partner Ollie. As you can see yea, there are many men in this place as you have noticed. However, yea, if they ever try to lay a finger on you even give you the eye to your way, they are fuckin’ dead and will never see the light of day ever again. I know it sounds harsh for you but it is a promise that I am keeping for yous and your dear old father. How does that sound to you lass?” Alfie said seeing Sylvia’s facial expression change to confusion.

“Wait, my, my father told you all about us, but why would you try to help us?” Sylvia said trying to understand why her father would mention about everyone in the family.

“Your father asked for a favor he feels that if you are around with me you will be safe. And I could be very protective when it comes to having women around in me shop. But you don’t have to worry about that love, and well you all seem to be good people and I have been at my lowest before and I know how that life is like. However righ’, you and your family are under me eyes now starting tomorrow and showing you my humbleness towards you all and you deserve it,” alfie said in the end giving a small smile at Sylvia which she did return the smirk.

“Thank you Alfie, but how can we repay you back? This is just so much to take in.”

“No need to my dear, besides a pretty woman like you is worth saving and having around,” he added to which Sylvia could only blush at his comment.

“Again thank you Mr. Solomons. I mean, Alfie, but I will see you in the morning along with my father. But may I ask you a question and don’t take this in a wrong way. Why me and not another woman?” She asked knowing that there is more girls out there that would interest Alfie more than her.

“Is that really a question to ask treacle? You want to know the truth of why I see something in you than any other woman in this town?” He said standing up on his feet once again resting his hands on top of his hips while Sylvia felt a lump forming in her throat seeing while she sat still. “Because you’re different, and I like to know who you really are truly Sylvia Voltaire. And well, maybe if you would like to go out sometime to dinner with me if that’s what you wish for that is.”

Sylvia had nothing much to say but she stood quiet for a moment. Her fathers boss is asking her for dinner and wants to get to know her better is something out of this word. No man has ever said such a thing to her before until now. Especially Alfie that was not of gypsy origin but is willing to have some interest in her and wanting to get to know her better. 

“Oh… well Alfie I don’t know what to say about all of this. I mean you are the first man to ask me out which that has never happened to me before. Though may I have to think about this, its just its soon to say but I need a moment to give you my word,” she then said hoping that it didn’t bother Alfie for one bit.

But to her surprise, Sylvia didn’t expect to what Alfie had to say next.

“No love please, by all means have all the time that you need. And your righ’, I’m sorry for askin’ out of nowhere. Please forgive me for sounding like an eager prick,” Alfie said knowing that this was a bad idea to ask in the first place.

“No Alfie, you should not apologize its just… you asked me so politely and I think that’s very attractive coming from you,” she said without thinking wishing she could take back what she just said right now.

“Did I now? Well I am flattered to be your first then love. But you should head home now, yea. I’ll see you both here again tomorrow morning. Is it alright if I could escort yous out? If that is fine with you of course?” Alfie said while Sylvia was caught with surprise again.

Is this man gone out of his head???…

“I. Well… yes that would be lovely thank you Alfie,” Sylvia said without stopping herself to which Alfie nodded his head.

As they both made their way outside of the entrance, both Alfie and Sylvia exchanged their last goodbyes. While doing so, she extended her hand out to Alfie both of their hands were clasp together. 

“Thank you again Alfie, and see you soon again,” she lastly said feeling her hand against his larger hand feeling butterflies fluttering inside her stomach.

Once they shook hands, she made her way to where her father was waiting, as Alfie looked on seeing Sylvia leave. She then looked back for a moment, giving a small smile towards his way to which he did the same without noticing it himself. 

This will be something exciting to look forward to… and I hope it is for the best….

****

Margate: Two Years Later

Waking up to the sound of the ocean waves was what Sylvia have missed for so long. She never thought she would be close to the sea ever again, but it has finally come true once again. And that was all on Alfie that gave her everything that she could ever wish for. After being at his so call bakery everyday, they both became closer together. And she did ended up going out with Alfie whenever no one was looking or listening especially her father. They did their best to pretend to be just partners from work, but in reality both Sylvia and Alfie started to build a bond together. Having a hard time not wanting to be separated from each other. Whenever he had meetings to attend too or some “errands” to go too, he would tell her to stay for her safety. Though Sylvia did at some point found out that he was this infamous gangster of Camden Town, but it didn’t make her look at him differently. What she cared about the most was the way he cared for her, keeping her safe from harm, and overall being treated like what a girl should be treated. Until now everything was perfect and grateful for everything that this life has given to her and her family. They were given another opportunity to be able to live like actual people, and as for Alfie generosity and humbleness, he did make a propose to Sylvia and her family. 

“Sylvia, wake up, wake up, let’s go down to the seashore again. There are so many sea shells here then we have sene back home. Come on wake up,” Risa exclaimed gently tugging on her sisters right hand which she just grunted in reply. 

“Hmmm, Risa please, its to early in the morning, can’t you wait later in the afternoon,” Sylvia said in a lazy voice, recasting turning her head the other way. 

“Awww your no fun, please sister just this one time. I promise I wont ask you again next time,” she begged again to which Sylvia became quiet for a moment.

“Fine just give me a moment yes?” She mumbled to which she just heard her little sister said “yay” hearing her footsteps fade away.

She suddenly felt a shift on her left side along with a strong arm wrapping around her stomach.

“Good mornin’ my pet,” said a huskily Alfie also trying his best to wake up from his semi sleep.

“Hmm, good morning to you as well my love,” Sylvia said back as they both exchange a long kiss. 

She then wrapped her arms around his strong, broad chest as they press their lips closer together. 

“Sylvia. Come down please,” Zana called out this time, to which Sylvia groaned in annoyance. 

“Well this kiss didn’t last so long as it did last night,” Sylvia joked making Alfie chuckle.

“Well don’t be so disappointed my dove, there is more of that later tonight. I promise you,” he said giving her a cheeky wink 

It was has been almost a year of being together since Alfie asked Sylvia to be hers. It shocked her at first but she knew right away that she found her one true love. Even thought they came from different origins their love for each other was nothing to ignore. Alfie embraced Sylvia’s culture he was even willingly to learn French from her which he had approved very well. As for the rest of her family, they ended up having a home build in Margate next to Alfie’s. Which Andre and Kezia felt nothing but grateful towards Alfie’s knowing that this man was sent from the heavens. They have long for some peace and quiet and they their dreams did came true.

“Come on then love, let’s see what today awaits us ahead yea?” Alfie then asked making Sylvia come back to her senses.

“You lead the way my king.” 

****