#I had a lot of fun with tangos hair gave it a little heart and everything :)

[theroseyhues]

Days #22 and #23!! Iskall and Tango :D

[edith-hyde]

Norman Osborn X Female Reader

I Forgot My Umbrella - Part 7

Word Count: 3694

Summary: Your college friends stop by for a visit and the worst thing possible happens. But you also finally give a name to those "Unnamed Feelings" you have for your Boss.

Warnings: Age gap. Drama. One mention of "The Devil's Tango" and if you don't know what that is... figure it out. Let's say because of that, this episode is rated PG. *shrug*

A/N: Sadly, Norman himself does not appear in this episode BUT he is mentioned a lot. And I am so sorry this episode is on the longer side. I got a little carried away while writing. I tried to cut it in half but it was hard to find a good breaking point. [It was originally well over 4000 words.] Plus, I wanna get to Part 8 as soon as possible. Self-indulgent fluff is in our future, folks!

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If there’s one thing that can be said about artists, it’s that they can tend to be a bit… obsessive. And you were no exception. Since the day you had met Norman you had found everything about his appearance appealing. From his fluffy brown hair down to his fancy dress shoes- you liked every bit of him.

And, as with most things you liked, you wanted to draw it.

The day after you met him, you had gone home and opened a brand new sketchbook just to practice drawing him. You started out just drawing his suits and ties as they were always different each day. You also doodled his office and the New York skyline on a few pages. The pages following those were filled with attempts to get Norman’s face just right. You wished he was here so you could draw him properly, but your memory would have to do for now. You loved drawing his tousled hair, intense eyes, sharp teeth, and even his slightly crooked nose. You knew he wasn’t ‘handsome’ by other people’s standards.

But you didn’t care about other people’s standards.

His strong features just made him all the more fun to draw. His happy toothy grin would forever make you smile in return. Even with his tooth gap- you loved his smile. So you were grinning to yourself as you finished a sketch of him smiling. You were so engrossed in your artistic high that, before you knew it, you had filled another four pages with sketches. Several were of his face and others featured him sitting or standing by your desk. You even had a few drawings of just his hands and a close up of his watch.

It was at this point you realized just how deeply you were entrenched in your feelings for Norman.

And you know what?

You didn’t care.

The feeling made you happy and you loved having the inspiration to draw again. You were on your fifth page of sketches when your door suddenly burst open and three very loud people came crashing into your apartment.

“Y/N! WHATCHA DOIN’!?”

You gave a surprised yelp, slammed your sketchbook shut and about leapt out of your skin. You were assaulted with an excessive amount of laughing as you fully registered that your college friends had stopped in for a surprise visit.

And they abused the key you gave one of them.

Again.

“Key privileges revoked!” you shouted angrily, “Give it here, Dan!”

“Oh come on, don’t be like that!”

You glowered at your three friends. Dan, Tracy, and Kevin were three of your closest friends during your years studying art. And while you didn’t get to see them often, they still liked to crash your place every once in a while. Dan was usually the perpetrator of this. He was by far the most annoying one out of the group. If he wasn’t dating Tracy, you probably never would have befriended him on your own. You were never too fond of his obnoxious childish demeanor.

“Give it up,” you demanded as you stalked towards them, “I told you if you did that again I would take the key back. Now give.”

“You’re no fun,” the blonde haired man pouted as he gave you the key, “Lighten up.”

“You gave me a heart attack!” You snapped as you snatched the key, “And you two! Stop laughing!”

Tracy and Kevin’s laughter tapered off but they were still grinning at you. You fixed them with a glare and Tracy cocked an eyebrow.

“Why is your face all red?”

“Yeah, you look like a kid who got caught doin’ something they weren’t supposed to,” Kevin added.

You could now feel the heat in your face. You had almost been caught drawing an excessive amount of pictures of your boss. Of course you were blushing. And the fact that they had noticed just made it worse.

“It’s because I’m mad,” you snapped, “What are you guys doing here anyways?”

You stomped back to the couch and plopped down. You made sure to tuck your sketchbook behind your back to keep it hidden. The last thing you needed was for them to know what you had been drawing. You weren’t ready to talk about your “unnamed feelings” for Norman yet.

“We had some free time and thought we’d stop by,” Dan explained, “We haven’t seen ya since Christmas. How’s job hunting goin’?”

Your three friends took different seats around your small apartment. Dan sat at the other end of the couch, Kevin sat on the coffee table, and Tracy sat on the arm of the couch by Dan. The curly headed woman started playing with Dan’s hair- something she always did to show she had a claim on him.

“I got a job,” you said proudly, “Been workin’ there a week now.”

“Right on,” Kevin offered you a fist bump, “So what is it? You an art teacher?”

“Personal assistant actually.”

Your friends all shared a confused look and Dan piped up first.

“What was the art degree for then?”

Tracy smacked him on the top of the head.

“Rude.”

“No he’s got a point,” you laughed, “This is just a temporary thing. Ya know. To get job experience.”

As you said the words, you felt your heart fall into oblivion. Temporary. That had been your plan when you applied. But now… You honestly didn’t want to work anywhere else. The idea of leaving OSCORP, leaving Norman, made your stomach twist. Yeah… you had it bad.

“So where’s this personal assistant job at?” Tracy asked.

“OSCORP,” you answered with excitement, “You know, the big tower a few blocks over. I work directly for the CEO, Norman Osborn.”

Tracy instantly grimaced.

“Why the heck would you wanna work there? Are you out of your mind?”

You furrowed your brow.

“No? I like working there.”

Tracy shook her head, still looking at you with disgust.

“They’re a weapons manufacturer. Within city limits! You don’t think that’s even a little bit messed up?”

“They don’t develop weapons anymore,” you said with a roll of your eyes, “They’ve got labs researching clean energy and limb regeneration. Norma- I mean, Dr. Osborn has taken the company in a completely different direction.”

“My dad calls Norman Osborn, Dr. Dirtbag,” Dan laughed, “Says he’d sell ya to the devil for a cornchip.”

“He would not!” You snapped.

This response earned you concerned stares from all of them. Dan scowled and shifted to lean forward, pulling his head away from Tracy’s hands.

“Why are you so defensive over it?”

“Dr. Osborn is very nice,” you stated proudly.

You almost started gushing about how nice it was to work with Norman and how much of a gentleman he was, but you held your tongue. You were starting to get the feeling that your friends would NOT understand.

“I think it’s cool,” Kevin declared loudly, “I always wanted to go in there. Thought the architecture looked cool. What’s the lobby look like? I feel like it should have an Art Deco vibe but I could also see it havin’ a Neoclassical look maybe.”

You gave a little chuckle as you shrugged.

“I’m not an architect, Kevin. I don’t know… it’s clean? Black floors?”

Kevin grinned.

“You should take some pictures of the inside, dude. I wanna see it.”

“I am not taking pictures, Kevin,” you laughed, “I have to work. I can’t take my polaroid everywhere.”

“Why are you still using a polaroid?” Dan laughed, “Get a digital camera for goodness sake.”

You gave an expression of mock-hurt.

“Go digital? Are you insane? Why I would never! I like having the physical photo as soon as possible.”

You were glad the conversation was leaving the topic of OSCORP. You really didn’t feel like having to defend Norman, but you would if you had to. He wasn’t a bad man and they had never even met him. They had no right to pass judgment. But more importantly, you didn’t want them to figure out you had feelings for him.

You knew that would not go well.

—

Several hours passed as you and your friends caught up on everything. You did your best to keep the conversation away from your job, choosing instead to indulge Dan in his desire to talk about himself.

“I’m hungry,” Tracy whined after a while, “Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Ooo! Yeah! And Y/N can pay since she’s got the devil’s money.”

You glared at Dan and he held his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright, I’m done. Jeez. Learn to take a joke, Y/N. You didn’t used to be this uptight.”

“I am not uptight,” you glowered, “I just don’t like you judging people without actually meeting them.”

“That’s kinda my job,” Dan laughed as he pointed at himself, “Journalist remember?”

“I would hardly call you a journalist,” you smirked, “You write for a trashy tabloid. That’s hardly journalism.”

“Potato, Tomato,” Dan laughed, “One day I’ll be workin’ at the Daily Bugle writing slander about Spider-Man.”

You rolled your eyes.

“It would be liable, Dan. Slander is spoken.”

“Whatever.”

“And I wouldn’t be proud to write that kinda stuff. It’s all lies.”

Tracy hopped up from her seat.

“Come on!” she prompted, “We can argue about whether Spider-Man is a menace on the way to food!”

You all laughed as Tracy gestured wildly towards the door. Hopping up from your seat, you stepped ahead of everyone to grab your jacket off the hook by the door. You already had the door open when you heard Dan give a mischievous giggle.

“Oh ho ho! Lookie what I found! Y/N’s sketchbook! She was sitting on it. What could she be hiding, hmmm?”

Your blood ran cold.

No… Please, God, no…

By the time you turned he was already flipping through it. Tracy had come to look over his shoulder while Kevin was in the processes of retying his shoes. The horror of the moment was written all over your face as you dashed across the room.

“Stop it Dan!! Give it here!”

Dan jerked away from you and stepped around the couch.

“What’s your problem? You never cared before.”

You made another grab for it, desperation clear in your voice.

“Please, Dan!!”

“Dude,” Kevin grouched as he looked up from his shoes, “Give it back.”

“Oh it’s just a sketchbook!” Dan laughed, “What do you have to hide, huh? Been drawing lewd-”

Dan flipped the page and stopped. You tried to grab the book again, even going so far as to stand up on the couch. But once again he stepped out of your reach. His expression was unreadable but you knew what he was looking at.

“Please…”

You dropped to your knees on the couch cushions as Dan flipped the book around. Your drawing of Norman smiling was now in full view for everyone. Your face felt like it was on fire. You buried your face into the fabric on the back of the couch and felt the sting of tears.

You were so embarrassed!

No one, NO ONE, was supposed to see those!

They were your drawings.

Your private thoughts.

Dan had no right.

“Seriously, Y/N? This is why you were defending Norman Osborn so hard, huh? Look at all these, Trace. She’s totally obsessed with him.”

Dan flipped through the pages so Tracy could see and she grimaced.

“He looks so weird! Are his teeth really like that?”

Your blood began to boil as your hands turned into fists.

If they said one more thing…

“I know right? Seriously, what do you see in hi- HEY!”

You looked up to see Kevin bearing down on Dan, the sketchbook in his hand. Being much taller than Dan, he was able to easily hold it out of his reach.

“Give it back, man!”

“No.”

Dan made several attempts to reclaim the sketchbook, but to no avail. Finally he gave up.

“I think this is cause for an intervention,” Dan declared.

“It’s none of our business,” Kevin said in an even tone.

“You’re not the least bit worried about her having the hots for her boss?” Dan questioned.

“Not to mention, he’s Norman Osborn.” Tracy added, “He’s like, what? Twice her age? And he’s not a good guy. I mean, at least according to the newspapers he’s not…”

Kevin walked over to you and handed back the sketchbook. You quickly snatched it and hugged it to your chest. You couldn’t help the tears now and your jaw clenched. Tracy noticed your expression and she began to apologize.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. You were just drawing him because he’s got an interesting face, weren’t you? Like back in school when you drew that guy on the bus-”

“No,” you cut in, “It’s not that. I… I do… I am… I’m in love with him.”

Saying it out loud made it real.

The unnamed feelings now had a name. You loved him. You knew it was probably too early to call it love exactly, but there were only so many words in the English language. And ‘like’ was far too weak a word to describe the feelings you had for Norman.

“Are you… are the two of you…?”

You knew what she was trying to ask and you immediately shook your head.

“He doesn’t know how I feel. I haven’t… told him… yet.”

Dan rolled his eyes.

“You don’t actually think you could have a real relationship with a guy like him, do ya?”

You glanced up at him, eyebrows furrowed. The look you gave him said it all and Dan gave a look of disgust.

“You can’t be serious… What would the two of you even have in common? He’s old enough to be your dad. It’s honestly really gross.”

Dan gave a harsh laugh.

“Like, just imagine for a second, going on a date with him. People are gonna be so weirded out.”

You thought about going on a date with Norman and the visual made your butterflies dance. Having a candlelit dinner with him in some beautiful restaurant. Holding his hand from across the table as the two of you talked. It was a dream come true. You couldn’t care less what other people thought.

“I wouldn’t care,” you whispered, “Why should I worry about what other people think?”

“You should care,” Dan snapped, “Everybody at OSCORP is gonna think you’re doin’ the old Devil’s Tango with the boss.”

Full on rage bubbled inside of you as Dan laughed. He looked around the room as if he was going to gain encouragement but neither Tracy nor Kevin offered it. You actually saw Kevin tense up, his hands clenched into fists.

“Come on guys! Back me up here. We can’t just let her chase after this creepy old dude. I mean, seriously, he looks like a gargoyle.”

That was the last straw.

Before you could stop yourself, you were grabbing the nearest object and chucking it at Dan. Thankfully, it was just your eraser. Dan gave a yelp as it hit him in the side of the head.

“What the heck ma-”

“SHUT UP AND GET OUT!”

Dan gapped at you.

“Why? Because you know I’m right?”

Your tears were falling freely now as you pointed at the door.

“NO! MEAT-HEAD!!! It’s because you’re being a jerk! You had no right to look through my sketchbook. Especially after I asked you to stop!”

You took a deep breath and fixed Dan with a glare that could kill.

“And you have no right to make fun of me for FALLING IN LOVE WITH NORMAN OSBORN!! So leave. NOW.”

Your breathing was labored as you remained pointing at the door. Dan looked flabbergasted and tried to find aid in Kevin. But the taller man shook his head.

“You’re on your own, dude. Don’t look at me.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Dan said with a roll of his eyes, “Getting so bent out of shape over this is so stupid. Come on, Trace. Let’s go.”

Dan stalked out of the apartment, shaking his head. Tracy trailed along behind him, an apologetic look on her face. Before the two closed the door, Dan turned back and glared at you.

“If you wanna go chasing after gross older men, be my guest. But don’t be surprised when he just uses you and throws you to the side. That’s all guys like him do in places like that. You’re just gonna be another notch in the belt.”

With that, he and Tracy left. A sob left you as you crashed into the couch, hugging your sketchbook. Kevin came around to crouch beside you. He set his hand on your back and sighed.

“Dan’s a dirtbag,” he muttered, “And he’s gotten even worse since he started workin’ for that stupid trashy magazine.”

“I didn’t want anyone to see,” you hiccupped, “They’re mine… I just drew them for me…”

“And that’s cool,” Kevin shrugged, “You’re an artist. Art is how you cope. Wasn’t like you were drawin’ him shirtless or anything.”

You turned to look at him, your face bright red. Kevin grinned at you.

“Put that in your head, didn’t I?”

You glowered and turned your head into the fabric in an attempt to hide your blushing face.

“Jerk,” you mumbled.

Kevin chuckled as he moved to sit beside you on the couch. The two of you sat in silence for a long time before you let out a whoosh of air. Your anger was finally starting to calm.

“Maybe I overreacted a little,” you said, voice muffled by the cushion.

“Nah. Dan deserved it. I woulda chucked the sketchbook at him. I was honestly about to punch. But you don’t need me to defend you.”

You tilted your head up, beaming at your friend.

“Thanks Kevin. Good to know you’re still cool.”

“Always, dude. Cool is my middle name.”

The two of you shared a laugh as you sat up and wiped your eyes. Kevin pointed at the sketchbook.

“Can I see ‘em? It’s cool if ya don’t wanna show me. But I’ve always loved your art.”

You were hesitant but eventually you opened up the sketchbook to show him. He nodded as he flipped through the pages.

“These are pretty good, dude. You’re getting really good at drawing real people.”

“Thanks.”

Kevin inspected one of the sketches and bobbed his head.

“He does have an interesting face.”

You scowled.

“Is that code for ugly?”

“Nah,” Kevin flipped to the next page, “It’s code for- you can like whatever man you want.” He paused for a moment and scowled, “Unless he’s like a child or a serial killer. Then I might say something.”

You giggled as he handed the book back to you.

“Thanks.”

“Hey, no problem.”

You gave him a sideways glance. Hesitantly, you asked a question you were dreading the answer to.

“What are you really thinking? Do you think I’m being gross? Be honest.”

“You’re not being gross,” Kevin said quickly, “Weird? Maybe. Gross? Nah. Weird is right on par with you, dude. You’ve always had interesting tastes… So… are you serious about pursuing a relationship with him? Or are you happy with things as they are?”

You thought for a long moment.

“I want to be his friend,” you said quietly, “I know that sounds dumb and childish… but he’s interesting to me. And if I ever get the courage to tell him how I feel…”

Kevin nodded. After a moment, he heaved a sigh and gave his honest thoughts.

“I don’t think this will be easy. As much as I hate to admit it, Dan did have a point. What would the two of you have in common? I know a relationship is a lot more than just common interests, but… you gotta consider that a guy his age probably enjoys vastly different things than you. And more than likely, he’s gonna see your hobbies and interests as childish.”

You sighed and fell back against the couch.

“Yeah… But so far he hasn’t said anything like that. He’s listened to me talk about my hobbies and he’s never said anything judgmental about them. He said himself that he doesn’t have many hobbies, if any. He’s been a workaholic for the past several years. He’s been trying to break himself of that.”

You thought for a moment, trying to find something you and Norman shared.

“I know we both like good stories. He’s read a lot of classic books. Dude made it through the entirety of the Lord of the Rings.”

“Impressive,” Kevin admitted, “I gave up during the Two Towers.”

You laughed and nodded. They were hard books. And you weren’t about to share where you stopped, or if you had even bothered to read them at all.

“Speaking of Two Towers though, they’re still showing it in theaters.”

“Oh yeah?”

Kevin nodded but frowned.

“I ain’t got time to go see it though. Wish I could. School is kickin’ my butt.”

“Bummer. I meant to go see it back in December, but with no job, I couldn’t really justify spending money on a ticket.”

“Yeah. But now ya got dough,” Kevin grinned. “You could invite Norman to go watch it with you.”

You gapped at Kevin.

“Do you think… Do you think he’d want to? Cuz like, he did say he was trying to stop overworking. And he does enjoy movies, he just didn’t have time for them before.”

Kevin got to his feet.

“You’ll never know unless ya ask him,” Kevin stretched, “Now come on. Let’s go get somethin’ to eat. I’m starvin’.”

You rose to your feet and gave Kevin a quick hug.

“Thanks for being such a good friend, man.”

“Like I said, it’s no problem, dude.”

You and Kevin left your apartment and you felt strangely free. You had finally named that feeling that was growing inside you. You had been so scared to admit it before, but weirdly enough, Dan’s questioning of Norman helped you finally realize the only name you could call these feelings.

You could say it now.

You were in love with Norman Osborn.

[padfootdaredmetoo]

Hi!! I was wondering if maybe you could write a Wade x plus size reader? Maybe she’s an ex pro thief and gets put with him for a mission or smth?? I got no idea man just have fun with it aye

Thank you for the request!!!!! Sorry for the wait!

I wasn't sure if you wanted it to be dirty or not so I sectioned that part off in case it's not what you're looking for :)

You are my first ever request! So, thank you, thank you, thank you, and I hope you enjoy it <3

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Thieving, being exceptionally attractive while doing it. Wade on his best behaviour, Smut is sectioned off.

You haven't accepted a mission in 4 years.

You got out of the business and left those “friends” and “friend circles” behind you after you scored your dream internship. 4 years and you were running your own team and writing a semi successful blog. It was a quiet life, and you enjoyed it immensely. You liked your team members, and you felt they found you a fair and caring boss. Your cat Mr. Sparkles was a healthy weight and had finally committed to using the litter box.

You don't know why you answered when he called you, you don’t know why you agreed to such fuckery. But here you were pulling out a familiar black box out of the bottom of your cluttered closet. You picked it up and placed it on your bed. The dark colour contrasted with your bright and colourful décor. Something you found oddly reflective, once you moved on from that part of your life nothing was dark. Everything in your apartment was covered by color and patterns that made you happy.

You opened the box. You and Mr. Sparkles looked at the contents like there was a wild octopus about to come flying out of it.

“It was the right thing to do.” You said out loud. “And it's going to pay well.”

Pulling the tight outfit over your curves felt better than you thought it would. You figured that it would cause you panic or anxiety. Instead you felt a wave of confidence looking yourself over in the mirror that hung on the back of your bedroom door. Normally you were covered in bright flowy clothes, that's what you liked. Your whole life was built upon being invisible since you were little. Now that you were in charge every day was a celebration in its own way. However this made you feel sexy, the outfit was sleek and left nothing to the imagination. Pulling your long hair into a tight french braid you were ready to get out there and do some thieving.

You kissed Mr. Sparkles and gave your aloe vera plant a light touch on your way out the window. It was a hot summer night and the air was muggy. These were your favorite kinds of nights to sit out on the fire escape, have some drinks, read books, and watch the city. It was lonely, but enjoyable nonetheless.

You got up to the roof and plotted your course to the impossible house. You misstepped a couple of times before falling into your usual rhythm. You contemplated whether you were doing this because the small piece of art should be with the family it belongs too. Or if you were doing this because you had some kind of Ocean’s 11 complex that kept you hungry for such challenges. It was an impossible place to break into, the floor of the old house containing the art work was covered with laser security. A piece of knowledge that should make your stomach flip, but only makes your heart feel funny.

You got yourself into position on the roof of the low building that was across the street, you took a few minutes to survey and eventually came to the conclusion that conditions were perfect. You made your way to the 3rd floor balcony. You knew of the owner’s, an awfully cruel man and his lover. They were asleep on the 5th floor of the house. Well, city mansion? Whatever, the point is it didn't feel like a home, it felt like something a royal family would keep when they came to visit. Lots of expensive art and velvet curtains. Massive gold and crystal chandeliers hung from mirrored ceilings framed with fancy crown molding. You did your research in the few hours you had after the job request had come in, there was a - *insert super fancy techno security laser system name here.* And it was said to be unbeatable. No gymnast or other cat-like thief had been able to tango with it. You had been challenged by its precursors but had got out of the game by the time this puppy had made it out on the market.

You picked the lock on the double doors, and slid past the heavy curtains and disabled the basic alarm system for the floor. Surveying the area you saw the lasers slowly dancing like it was a Pink Floyd tribute at the local planetarium. (something you attend regularly) You took a deep breath and got ready to disco your way across the floor to the small framed painting of a sun set. You put a headphone in and set the song *put on a song you would rob a bank to*. You began the journey. People often felt that your size and shape made you incompetent or ungraceful. You learned early on in life not to listen to stupid people say stupid things. You were the best, perhaps because you weren't afraid to look stupid or ridiculous. You bended and snapped, ducked and dodged, twirled and flipped. And just like that you reached your target. The second you lifted it off the wall, the lasers stopped. You pulled your knife and twirled around ready for a fight. What you saw was not what you expected, across the room none other than Wade freaking Wilson was looking at you.. Normally you hated being stared at like that, but he was a “friend” you found particularly challenging to leave behind. The whites of his mask were wide. After making a whole bunch of strange gestures with his hands, he held up a finger motioning you to be quiet. He disappeared towards what you figured would be the staircase going up to the next floor. If he gave you a clear shot at an exit you knew he had trouble with him. So you took your out.

You got back up on the rooftop across the street, you grabbed the bag you left there and secured the painting. You pulled out a large black piece of cotton and tossed it around your shoulders like a shall. This made your outfit look less stealth and more passion for leather/night out on the town. Making your way down the fire escape on the side of the building you saw the target house explode.

I guess Wade hasn't changed any.

You picked up the pace feeling anxious to get to Sister Margrets. Making your way through the city unnoticed, you went into the shitty establishment through the alleyway door. You wasted no time moving through the hallway into the servers entrance spitting you out behind the bar. You kept by the entrance which kept you out of sight, you didn't want to see any more friends tonight. Weasel jumped when he turned around and saw you there looming in the shadows, spilling the drink he had just made.

“Fuck” He quickly remade the drink then moved back to where you were standing. He had a large envelope of cash for which you handed him the back pack. You felt slightly relieved.

“Hey I know you moved on, but thanks for this.”

“No problem”

You turned around and went out the way you came in. Opening the door that leads back to the alley way, you notice a very large and slightly singed body blocking your exit.

“Stay for a drink?” His voice caused something in you to stir. Something you were not going to explore.

“Sorry Wade but no can do” You pushed past him and began walking down the street.

“Pretty pleaseeeee” he said with a sing song voice. You tried not to smile. He caught up to you so he was walking beside you. “If your not a big drinker anymore we could go for diner, tacos!, Sushi, chicken nuggets, you always loved a good chicken nugget” You tuned him out as he kept chattering a list of every food he could remember eating together. You had to figure out somewhere to go as you weren't leading him back to your apartment. Going in random directions, he spoke up.

“I know you live on *Insert cute street name here*”

“What the fuck Wilson?”

“Well you disappeared and I wanted to make sure you weren't being unalived. This means if we head back to yours we can do take out and homemade drinks, which in my opinion is much better anyway. I make the best margaritas in the city.”

You started the walk back towards your apartment. Trying desperately to come up with a way to leave him at the front of the building. The thought of him in your very personal, very colourful, even bordering on childish apartment made you unbelievably anxious. Every time you looked over at his slightly charred body you couldn't help a strange feeling welling up inside you. You got to the front door to the building and turned to look up at him. There was a long pause as you struggled for words.

“It's alright. It was a nice walk.” You could hear the layers of sadness underneath his tone. You were going to tell him that it was a nice walk and that maybe one day when things were better for you they could get that drink. Then you were going to threaten him into keeping everything a secret.

“I don't have stuff for margaritas.” The wrong words left your mouth but for a fleeting moment you actually didn't want him to leave.

“Are you sure?” Hey sounded very serious which caught you off guard and confused you a little.

“Yeah, normally I just drink stuff out of a can” You were terrible at mixing drinks, they were always way too sweet and strong and lead to trouble. Wade gave a big laugh. “Are you okay to pick up the stuff if I get changed?”

“You betcha.” He did a twirl, blew you a kiss, then headed down the street.

You dashed up to your apartment and started to hide your more personal stuff. Grabbing an armful of clean laundry off the couch, tossing it into an empty bin in the closet. You were so busy trying to hide your stuffed animals and random fan art, that you didn't notice him standing in the fire escape landing looking at you from the large open window.

“Damn. This was not what I was expecting.” He said, sounding surprised. “This isn't what your old place looked like at all”

“Uh” Your face got hot and you refused to look at him. “I ah don't have people over so um yeah. You can go now.”

“Nonononononono. This is a huge bit of progress from everything being varying shades of grey and uncomfortable.” Wade took the place in as he made his way to your kitchen. Placing the big brown bags on the counter top, and sliding the blender out from against the bright backsplash.

"Uh I'm going to get cleaned up. Help yourself to everything." You ran into the bathroom and freshened up and were very grateful to be out of the leather and into your summer pj's. They were more on the revealing side but you never found Wade the type to care or be creepy.

Coming out you found him very comfortable whirling around the kitchen. It looked like he had made a giant frying pan of pad thai and the blender was full. Turning around to see you he picked you up and sat you on the counter top like you were nothing more than a bottle of the many sauces he currently had out. He handed you one of your favorite rainbow glasses filled with margarita. Your brain was still trying to calm down from him picking you up like that.

"Thanks" you said with an even redder face.

"No problem, hot stuff" he divided the food into two plates, you led him out to sit on the fire escape with you. It was a sacred space, it felt weird to be there with a real live person. After the most delicious plate of food ever, many drinks, and laughs about the good old days things quieted down leaving a thick tension between the two of you. You realized you owed him an apology of sorts.

"Wade, I'm sorry I didn't give you a proper goodbye. I just had a life of running and I couldn't risk anyone fucking me over again."

"It's alright babe. I understand why you did it." His voice was low and sad and it made your heart hurt. You didn't want the night to end.

"Thanks for keeping my place here a secret."

"No problem. Do you think mayyybe now that I know about your situation we could do this again sometime?"

"You have no idea how nice that would be." You really meant it having him around was the most fun you'd had in a very long time. You didn't have to pretend or beat around the bush about anything with Wade. Nothing was too dark or silly or messed up.

"Well I guess this is my cue." He made to stand up but you grabbed his knee without thinking.

"Uh if you want to. You could also stay for a while." He turned his head to the side, bright eyes looking you over. "You could take a shower and I've definitely got a shirt and some boxers I could lend you." His eyes got wider. "They're mine. They're really…. comfy…" you would never understand how he made you so embarrassed.

"Uh, not sure about that… it just…" he motioned to the rest of his body.

"I've seen your face. It won't bother me" you looked up at him with empathetic eyes, part of you hoping that maybe they came across as bedroom eyes. You gave yourself a mental slap.

"If you're uncomfortable, that's okay too." You said, giving him a kind smile. You could tell there was an internal battle. So you gave him a minute.

"Alright that sounds nice. It's a fucking mess under here tho."

You went into your bathroom and found your gentlest scent free soap and a soft towel. Then into your room to find a giant t-shirt and your biggest pair of boxer shorts.

You put it into a nice pile in the bathroom.

"Okay there's some nice soap, it's natural scent free, made of angel's tears or some shit and a clean towel and clothes in there for you."

Wade shifted around you into the bathroom. "Thanks"

You flopped onto your bed and looked up at your glow star collection that littered the ceiling. You heard the water start running and you closed your eyes. Until your herd some very loud and off key Britney Spears. You couldn't help but laugh. Soon enough he was out and flopped onto the bed next to you.

"Man this is the best sleepover ever."

"If this has been your best sleepover with a chick I feel sorry for you. And her." You joked.

"Sorry enough for a pity cuddle." You know what the look he gave you meant. He was testing the waters to see what kind of night this was gonna be. You couldn't help but feel the need to challenge it.

"We could cuddle… or we could do other stuff then cuddle." You'd thought of all the reasons this was a bad idea. But voices weren't loud enough over the sound of your heart beating. He leaned in closer, fingers brushing your cheek.

"You sure that's not a margaritas talking?"

"Very sure." You said eyes locked with his.

"Why now?" It was a good question. One you had to think about.

"I don't think I ever was really myself. Like I was as much of myself as I could be while hurting that much. Now I'm happy and I enjoy things differently"

"Hmmm I noticed that. I think I got to know you more in the past few hours than I had when we were friends. You actually laugh now. At jokes and not just crazy like when things are exploding" he moved his hand to run through your hair and you couldn't hold back a soft moan. It had been so very long since someone had touched you.

You felt his lips press into your forehead. You'd thought about Wade before but he was in a relationship, then she died, and Wade wasn't himself for a long time. You'd figured if you were something he wanted he'd make it clear considering the dude flirted with everyone. You'd always had a secret fear that maybe you went his type. Vanessa was short and very tiny, other than her you were only sure of one other and that was Cable, who was serious, fit, tall, and massive. You were a good height and curvy as all hell. Suddenly you felt self conscious. But then he put his hands on either side of your face tilting your head up to meet his. You opened your eyes and they focused in on his lips. They were so close it caused the air in your lungs to get stuck.

"You're pretty quiet. You sure you wanna try to do other things. We can jump right to cuddling if that's better for right now?"

You looked up to meet his eyes.

"Is that what you want?" You tried your best to have it come out casually.

"Not really."

Your eyes migrated back down to his lips and you shuffled closer. You wanted to kiss him so badly you felt like your body was on fire.

"You can take whatever you want baby"

******************PSA: Dirty stuff below ;)*********************

That's all the permission you needed. You moved in and softly pressed your lips into his, then took things deeper. It didn’t take much for your breathing to become ragged, you were trying desperately to take the kiss further.

Eventually you bit his bottom lip and whimpered, finally he agreed, his hands tightened on your face and your tongues started to battle it out. You wanted to win, so you moved to straddle him. Finally accomplishing some friction between the two of you, you could feel your panties sliding against your wet folds. This only lasted for a few glorious seconds, before he flipped you on to your back quickly moving to pin your arms above your head.

He started moving south leaving a red hot trail of destruction behind him. There was only so much your tank top would allow, Wade seemed very content palming your right breast while biting on the flesh beneath your left collar bone. You on the other hand wanted your goddamn clothes off.

You tried to break his grip and moaned when you realized such a task would only be accomplished by hurting him. He really had you trapped there, a piece of knowledge that only made you want your clothes off more. His grip on your breast tightened and his smirking lips took a long pull on the hardened nub that was poking up benthe the cotton of your top. You couldn't help your back arching. Finally, after paying respects to your other breast, he pulled back to look at you. He squeezed your wrists.

“Stay”

God he was so bossy. Something that divided you internally. A part of you wanted to push it, see how hard he would dig into you, and the other part was desperate to behave and be good. You decided you would be good, for now. He sat up, leaning back on his knees in between your legs. Slowly his fingers brushed across the soft skin of your stomach, then his hands ran up along your torso taking your shirt with them. Feeling his scarred hands trail lightly across you sent shivers through your body. You felt him cup and knead your breasts for a moment before pulling your top over your head. He took a long look at you which made you feel delicious. No one had ever pulled out this side of you before. Kissing down your stomach he stopped at the waistband of your shorts. He took your left leg and used it to flip you over, somehow taking your shorts off at the same time. There you were ass up naked and loving every second of it. His big hands came down to smack your ass, a loud noise of please ran out of your mouth along with most of the air in your lungs. Enjoying the response he did it again then started kneading the flesh.

“Fuck you are so fucking sexy.” You felt his hands slide down to grip the tops of your thighs. You arched your back further resting your head on the bed. “Good girl.” The words hit you like a bullet but before you had time to find your footing his hot mouth was all over you wet folds.

His skilled tongue painting some kind of masterpiece, he was touching you everywhere but where you really desperately wanted it. But this seemed to be the way he operated, and you weren't complaining. After feeling like he had been everywhere, he started to circle that tight ball of nerves and you couldn't help but let out a shout. Pleasure was ripping through your body, things were starting to get hot and tight inside you, when all of a sudden those glorious lips closed in and created some heavenly suction. You couldn't stop your hips from bucking, this earned a heavy slap on your right ass cheek.

“Fuck fuck fuckf cukkkk ah” It quickly became too much, your orgasm hit you like a train, whole body tensing up then finally crashing down. Wade kept up the rhythm letting you ride it out. Finally pulling away when it became too much. He snaked his arm up your front to grab the front of your neck pulling you up on to your knees, angling your face so he could kiss you deeply. Putting on a show of how good you tasted. After a long moment of heated kissing, he positioned you so you were laying on your back again. Giving you a few moments to catch your breath.

“You wanna keep going?” he asked softly.

“Yes please.” you answered politely.

“Alright but, it's everywhere. All over me. So doggy style is generally best for this next part. If you wanna do it that way, I'm also just happy making you scream like this too.”

“Wade, we can stop if you need to. But I would much rather you fuck me like this. Or let me choke on you for a while then fuck me like this. On my back where I can kiss you and love you back. Ya feel me?”

He looked at you with searching eyes. You realized what you said probably sounded a bit off. Love you back probably wasn't the right thing to say, but you were operating with limited brain function at this point.

“This normally doesn't end well for me.”

“Hmmm. What part, how do you like to uh finish?” You asked slightly confused. Wade only laughed.

“That's not the problem, I almost got off just from you screaming like that. No, I just want to make sure you actually enjoy it. It's hard to enjoy things when you are looking up at someone who looks like they lost a fight with an industrial paper shredder that happened to be on fire.”

You snorted.

“Wade I never knew you before, but I’ve wanted you since I met you. Okay? There's no spooky feelings here.” Your words seemed enough to convince him. He leaned in for a soft kiss, one that made you want to misbehave. You pulled the shirt up, running your hands across the well defined muscles of his torso, then broke the kiss to pull it up over his head. You didn't give him a chance to be chatty, you resumed the heavy kiss, palming his erection. He moaned into your mouth. Feeling accomplished, you pulled the boxers off letting his heavy cock slap up against his stomach. You couldn't help but break the kiss, looking down you watched your hand slide over his impressive, throbbing length. You wanted to take him in your mouth, but before you could push him back onto the bed, he was already pinning you in place beneath him.

You felt him slide himself through your heat. Finally lining himself up with your entrance, his thumb set a steady pace on your clit as he pushed into you slowly. You were grateful he took his time opening you up. You let out a strangled sound when he bottomed out, you felt so full. He set a slow pace giving you lots of time to adjust, this only made you more desperate and needy. When he finally decided you’d had enough, you felt his hand squeeze the back of your neck as he set into a ruthless pace.

“FUCK” He was too much, his heavy body keeping you in place as your hips rose to meet every single thrust. you wanted to feel him as deeply as you possibly could. His hot mouth was biting into the flesh at the bottom of your neck. The heat inside you started to build and you were near your breaking point.

‘Wade” You breathed in a high, desperate tone.

“Cum for me baby” And just like that you felt it take over, your hips snapped up and your feet cramped up. You could feel your walls clench around him tightly, and you choked when he pushed through them even rougher than before. That thumb on your clit never gave up, keeping you trapped riding out the waves of pleasure. You felt it take him over, letting out a deep growl you felt him fill you. He held himself deep inside you, moving both his hands so his forearms were on either side of you trying to keep his weight from crushing you.

His forehead pressed against yours as you both tried to catch your breath. Eventually he moved out of you and he flopped onto his back. You got up and quickly went pee and cleaned yourself up. You grabbed another washcloth and went back to clean him up. You realised that getting up might have been a mistake. Wade was on his side with his eyes screwed shut.

“Hey, you okay?” You asked softly and grabbed the sides of his face and kissed his forehead.

“Better now.” He whispered.

“Sorry for getting up, I should have said something. Can I clean you up?” He gave you a strange look, like he was waiting for you to suddenly disappear. He took the washcloth and wiped himself down, you took it back throwing it into the bathroom. You looked down at him hoping that the voices weren't giving him a hard time. You sat next to him holding his hand, giving him some time.

**********************************************************************

“So about those cuddles?” He asked softly, and you wondered how many times people had hurt him or thrown him out.

You got under the light quilt on your bed motioning for him to do the same. He followed you, laying on his back, you tucked yourself into his side, enjoying his big arms wrapping around you. You gave his neck a light kiss.

“I missed you.” you said softly

“You have no idea how bad I missed being around you.”

“I won't leave again, if you wanted to make this either a regular thing… or a proper thing… if you're into that?” You felt a tight ball of nerves in your stomach.

“I’d really like that.” He kissed your forehead. You thought about all the things you would have to do to make this relationship compatible with your new life. But that was a later you problem, right now you were the best kind of exhausted. You both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Thank you again for the request!!!! <3

[drabbles-mc]

Reckless

Michael ‘Riz’ Ariza x OC (Mariella Reyes)

Request from @rizoldlady​: I would love to see story about him dancing with an oc female character. Baby sister to Ez and Angel. Possibly they are dating in secret and Riz blows the secret while dancing with her at a Mayan party. Tango or cha cha. I can see angel getting pissed at riz for kissing his baby sister. Please please pretty please.

Warnings: language, protective and nosey brothers

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N: This was my first time writing for Riz, so please be gentle with me haha. I really loved this prompt though, and had a lot of fun with it! Hope you all enjoy it xo

(I’m a visual person so with OC’s I always have to have photos to help with the pictures in my head so here’s a little something to help if that’s how your brain works too)

There was a knock at the front door. She smiled into the mirror as she put her earrings in and shouted, “It’s open!”

She heard the sound of boots on the floor and moments later she caught Riz’s reflection in her mirror as he poked his head around the doorframe into her bedroom. She smiled at him through the reflection, shaking her head slowly.

“We’re gonna see each other in less than an hour,” she turned to face him, grin still plastered on her face.

He walked up, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his forehead against hers. He placed a kiss on her nose, “I couldn’t wait. Besides,” his hands slid lower, dipping into her back pockets, “I don’t get to do this once we’re there.”

She laughed, shaking her head slightly, “I know, I know. Lo siento, mi amor,” she cupped his face and kissed him on the lips, “I’ll tell them soon, I promise.”

“Better be soon,” he said with a smirk, “Don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep my hands off of you.”

“Michael,” she laughed, her head falling back slightly as she did.

“Mariella,” he chuckled, taking the opportunity to kiss her exposed skin of her neck.

She ran her fingers through his hair, letting them come to rest on the back of his neck. He slid his hands up underneath the fabric of her top, fingertips pressing slightly into her back to keep her pressed flush against him. She let out a small, content sigh as she let him melt into her.

They’d started seeing each other a few months ago, and truthfully, she didn’t see it coming. Riz had always been a flirt, just like every other guy in the club. But eventually the playful flirting turned into real conversations, and then those real conversations turned into late nights at her place after parties. And now here they were. The secrecy wasn’t too much of an issue at first when everything was still new and they were figuring it all out, but now it was getting harder to keep it under wraps. The two of them had had more than one close call with her brothers popping in to visit and check on her.

She didn’t know how they were actually going to respond when they found out that she and Riz were dating, but her mind was instantly jumping to the worst possible scenarios and outcomes. Angel and EZ really never asked her for much, but they had asked her, very nicely, not to date anyone in the club. She partially understood it—they knew things about all the guys that she never would and that made them wary. But they were all adults now, and they could only pull the, “You’re our baby sister,” card so many times before it started to lose its effectiveness.

Riz pulled back and cupped her face gently in his hands. He traces his thumbs along her cheekbones as he looked at her eyes, and the freckles that were scattered along the bridge of her nose. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips, his heart warming as he felt her smile.

“I have to finish getting ready, cariño,” she placed her hands over his.

He smiled, “Uno más,” and before she could say anything else, he pressed his lips against hers again.

She laughed, leaning into the kiss. The urge to show up late to the party so they could have a little extra time together was tempting, but she knew that she’d blow their cover and she would never hear the end of it from her brothers. She finally managed to pull herself away from him, keeping her fingers interlocked with his as she stepped back.

“I’ll see you soon, okay?” she knew that if it was up to him, they’d never leave.

“Kicking me out, hermosa?” he pressed one hand over his heart with a pained look on his face.

She laughed, nodding, “Just for now. You can come over later.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise,” she gave him another quick peck on the lips before nudging him back towards the door to her room, “Now go and let me finish getting ready.”

He walked towards the door, pausing for a moment and taking one last look at her before exiting her bedroom. She heard the front door open and shut, followed shortly by the sound of his bike roaring to life. She chuckled to herself and shook her head—he certainly kept her on her toes.

By the time she showed up to the party, there were already a good amount of people there. She managed to weave her way through the crowd to find her brothers. Angel’s height made him one of the easiest to find in a crowd, and she was forever thankful for it because it seemed as though their parents ran out of good height genes by the time they had her.

He wrapped her in a hug, “Mari,” he kissed the top of her head, “I was starting to think that you weren’t going to make it.”

“And miss the chance to embarrass my brothers at a club function? No way,” she laughed, “Where’s EZ at, anyway?”

He scanned the room, “Over at the bar,” he nudged her in that direction, “Go tell him he owes us both a beer.”

She chuckled as she weaved through the small clusters of people and found EZ, clapping him on the back as she settled in next to him at the bar. He smiled and draped his arm around her shoulders, “Glad you made it.”

“Angel says you owe us each a beer.”

He rolled his eyes, “Of course he does,” he asked the bartender for two more bottles before turning back to his sister, “Your man was looking for you earlier.”

She froze for a moment, “Wh-what? Who?”

He laughed, “Tranq. I swear he asks about you more than Pops does.”

“That’s because Pops knows he doesn’t have to worry about me,” she grabbed her beer bottle and took a sip, “I’ll find him eventually. Thanks for the beers, mano,” she smirked as she grabbed the bottle for Angel and took off into the crowd again.

As the night wore on, she found herself sitting by the fire pit outside with her brothers, Bishop, and Tranq. The five of them sat around chatting and watching the chaos unfold around them. Mariella was usually able to stay on the outskirts of it all, content to watch everyone else get themselves into trouble. It was extra rewarding if the people getting into trouble were her brothers.

She felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder and she looked up to see Riz smiling down at her. “Sorry to interrupt,” he crouched down so he was eye-level with her, “can I steal you for a couple minutes?”

She smiled, trying to keep her composure so no one would think that anything was going on, “Sure, everything alright?”

He stood up, pulling her from the chair, “Yea. Got time for a dance, querida?”

She smiled but she couldn’t pretend that it didn’t send a jolt of fear down her spine, “Michael, don’t get reckless.”

“It’s one dance,” he tugged her towards where everyone was dancing, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

At first, the guys didn’t pay much mind to the fact that she had gotten swept away by Riz. She was friends with all of them and had long since progressed past the need to have one of her brothers with her all the time. They were wrapped up in their own conversations, bouncing back and forth between talking business and talking shit.

Bishop was the first one to notice the two of them getting a little cozier than usual on the dancefloor. He smirked to himself and decided not to comment on it as he took a swig of his beer and returned to the conversation at hand. If Riz and Mari wanted to dig themselves into that hole, it wasn’t really his place to say anything about it. That wasn’t a club matter.

Tranq, on the other hand, was not as subtle. Once he clocked it, he instantly nudged Angel and nodded in their direction, “You know anything about that?”

Angel and EZ both turned their heads to see what he was talking about. They saw the way Riz was holding their sister close, hands set on her waist. They saw the way that she leaned in so he could whisper into her ear, whatever he said causing her to laugh. Her hands toyed with his hair for a moment before they came to rest gently on the back of his neck. They were dancing a little too close, a little too lost in their own world despite the noise and crowds around them, for anyone to think that it was just platonic. Riz stepped back and spun her around, and the look of pure joy on her face as she twirled right back into his arms and against his chest was enough to make anyone believe in love again.

Except for Angel, who was halfway out of his chair before EZ threw his arm out to stop him, “Leave it, Angel. Don’t make a scene.”

“You fuckin’ serious?” he looked down at his brother in disbelief, “You gonna let him be all up on our baby sister like that?”

EZ chuckled, “She doesn’t seem too upset about it. They’re both adults, you know.”

Angel collapsed back down into his seat, “Fuckin’ unbelievable. He didn’t say shit to us.”

“Neither did she,” EZ chimed in, “and why do you think that is?” he gave his brother a pointed look.

“Don’t look at me like that, little brother. You told Mari the same as me not to date anybody in the club.”

EZ chuckled, “Yea, when she was seventeen and stupid. You gotta stop treating her like she’s still a teenager, man. She’s gonna deck you one of these days.”

Riz and Mariella were wrapped up in the music, and each other, for a while before they finally left the dance floor and headed for the bar. She was giggling the whole way, Riz keeping his hand lightly pressed against the small of her back as they walked.

She sat down on a stool at the bar, “You and I have very different definitions of ‘one dance’, Michael,” she laughed.

His heart sped up a little every time she called him by his actual name, “Can’t help it,” he rested his hand on her leg, “And I’m not sorry about it, either.”

She laughed and shook her head as she grabbed the beer the bartender handed her, “Didn’t think that you would be.”

Riz reached forward to grab his beer off the surface of the bar, stealing a quick kiss from the young woman in front of him as he did. Mari’s face got hot and she tried her best to bite back the smile that wanted to spread across her face. He was always a little reckless but she adored that about him.

The smile dropped from her face when Angel’s hands came clapping down on Riz’s shoulders. He cleared his throat and Riz’s entire body tensed up for a moment. He shut his eyes for a moment, accepting defeat before he even turned around to face the man behind him. EZ was standing behind his brother, there solely to play referee if needed. He personally wasn’t that upset about the situation, but he knew that trying to talk Angel down was futile.

“What the fuck, Riz?”

“Angel,” Mariella stood up and wedged herself between the two men, placing one hand on Angel’s chest, “don’t be an asshole about this.”

“You ever gonna get around to sayin’ something about this?” he looked back and forth between his sister and Riz.

“Michael wanted to,” Mariella spoke up before Riz could, “but I told him not to. Because for some reason I thought it might not go over well and I didn’t wanna ruin a good thing before it even got started.” EZ tried and failed to stifle a laugh, reveling in the fact that he was right. Mariella gave him a knowing smile before continuing, “I’m not a kid anymore, Angel, and you don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do.”

Despite the fact that he had just over a foot of height on his sister, she still stood and tried to get face-to-face with him as best she could. Her size had never been an issue when she carried herself with all the confidence in the world. She and Angel locked eyes for a few moments before his body finally untensed.

He pulled her into a hug with a sigh, “Don’t fuckin’ lie to me anymore, alright?”

She nodded with a smile, “Don’t be a fuckin’ drama queen anymore, alright?”

He laughed and gave her a quick squeeze before letting her go. He turned his attention to Riz, who was still processing what he had just witnessed between his girlfriend and her brother. Angel stepped in close to him, “One wrong step and you’re dead fuckin’ meat, got it?”

Riz nodded, holding his hands up in mock surrender, “Got it, mano.”

Angel walked away, shaking his head as he strode off. EZ just offered up a laugh as he clapped Riz on the back before following Angel’s trail back outside. Riz and Mariella were left the way they started—just the two of them sitting at the bar.

He looked at her with a smirk, “Could’ve gone worse, hermosa.”

She shook her head and gave him a playful shove, “Told you not to get reckless.”

He leaned in and kissed her on the lips, letting it linger this time knowing they didn’t have to hide it anymore. She smiled, placing one hand on the back of his neck and pulling him closer to her. He chuckled as he pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.

“Do I still get to come over later?”

She nodded, a giggle escaping past her lips, “Yea, I guess so. How can I say no to this face?” she rested one hand on his cheek.

He pressed a kiss into her palm, “Remember that you said that.”

She leaned back, taking a sip of her beer with a smile on her face, “I’m regretting it already.”

[ceilingfan5]

taakitz fake dating+bodyguard+proposal :))))

“I don’t want a bodyguard! I want to go places on my own! I want to have some fucking freedom again! What’s the point of being rich if I can’t be in charge of myself??” Taako’s horrible mood seems to radiate off of him, threatening to kill the houseplants. 

“You know that just isn’t possible,” Lucretia sighs. “I’ve been your manager and done your PR for a long time now, Taako, and we both know-”

“Augh!” Taako pops a piece of gum in his mouth and chews angrily, loudly snapping it like he’s imagining sinking his teeth into any stray fingers that might dare approach him. “Don’t tell me that ‘we both know’ speech again! I’ve heard it! I get it! I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.”

“Taako, you aren’t-”

Taako very nearly growls at her. Kravitz clears his throat. 

“Ah, yes,” Lucretia says, almost another sigh. “You know Kravitz. He’s got an excellent resume, he’s been your bodyguard before. How about today, you two go solo? Rather than a whole team?”

It’s a compromise. Taako hates compromises. But he wants out of the fucking house, so he complies. 

“Sure. Fine. Whatever. But you have to keep up with me.” He glares at Kravitz, in his nice black suit, with his rippling muscles and nonplussed expression and high cheekbones and gold in his hair, which is just gorgeous. He’d be sexy even if he couldn’t bench press three Taakos. Taako pops his gum again, thinking. “And I’ve got a plan.”

“Oh dear,” Lucretia says. 

“Whatever it takes,” Kravitz says, looking and sounding very professional. Taako’s going to fix that. If he can’t have some alone time, he’s going to cause mischief until they wish he was alone. He spits his gum into the nearest plant. 

“Let’s go. I’m driving.”

“You are not-” Lucretia’s voice gets a little more tense. “You don’t have a valid license!”

“I’ll drive you,” Kravitz says, still cool as a cucumber popsicle. Taako rolls his eyes. 

At least Kravitz drives fast. 

“So here’s my plan,” Taako says, gesturing dramatically. 

“I’m listening.” Kravitz passes another car that seems like it’s standing still. Excellent. 

“You’re not my bodyguard today. You’re gonna be my boyfriend.”

“I’m sorry?” 

“Keep up, big guy. You’re going to be my boyfriend. We’re dating. Hot new goss. Delicious and fresh. Everybody will want to know the tasty celebrity deets.” He smacks his fist into his palm, getting excited. And then the paparazzi will swarm, and Taako will be able to slip out of the crowd and run off. It’s perfect. 

“I take it you’re going to insist on this.”

“I sure am.”

“Then, I suppose we’re boyfriends,” Kravitz intones, deadpan. “Yay.”

Taako snickers. 

It’s harder to lose Kravitz than he thought. The dating made for a lot of attention, but it also gave Kravitz an excuse to literally hold him by the arm when the cameras got close. So what if Taako’s heart beat faster when Kravitz slipped them out of the hot zone, running three blocks half-carrying him in the process? So what if they share a hot dog and an indirect kiss? The suit is a little conspicuous, so Taako makes Kravitz wear a shiny purple shawl he finds in a second hand shop. Taako shouldn’t even be going into second hand shops. That makes it great. The look on Kravitz’s face? Greater. 

He tries to slip away again after lunch, but the mustard incident barely phases Kravitz, and neither does the old bathroom trick. Kravitz is stuck to him like glue. 

“Taako! Who’s your new boyfriend??” People with expensive cameras call. And, okay, maybe it’s fun to bask in it. It’s been a while since he had someone on his arm, and that last someone wasn’t half as fine as Kravitz. It’s almost...nice. He thinks less about slipping away and more about wiping that blank look off Kravitz’s face. And he knows just what will do the trick, too. 

Sorry, Lucy. Here comes a PR disaster. 

They slip into a jewelry shop, and Taako buys several things, quite sneaky like, while Kravitz, bored, admires the security cameras. Taako suggests they go for ice cream as they step out into the sunshine, and within minutes, they’re swarmed by paps again. Perfect. 

“Hey Krav,” Taako says, sweet as butter. 

“Hm?” Kravitz looks at him. Taako splits into a dangerous grin, and then he gets down on one knee. 

Kravitz blinks. 

“What are you doing?”

“Tying my shoe,” Taako quips, sliding around in his designer flip-flops. “What does it look like?”

Kravitz squints at him.

“Everybody, gather round!” 

“Taako, no.” 

“Kravitz,” Taako grins so hard his teeth are going to fall out, and he’s going to step on one, and it’s going to hurt, but God, will it be worth it. “I love you so much.”

Kravitz’s jaw drops. His eyes are full of confusion, embarrassment, intrigue. They almost sparkle. 

“You make every day of my life so happy.” Taako pulls out the little ring box. Kravitz covers his mouth. “Will you make my day, and every day after that? Be with me forever.” 

“I,” Kravitz stumbles. He looks around at the paparazzi, who are very much swarming. “Don’t know what to say.” His voice is a weird kind of tense, and Taako pushes it as far as it will go.

“Say yes, baby. Be mine.” And he tilts his head and gives Kravitz the smoulder that got him into a dozen blockbuster films. Several passsersby swoon. 

Kravitz is making a funny noise. Taako frowns a little, thinking he’s choking at first, but Krav’s hand can’t cover it-- he’s laughing. And he’s laughing hard. The more he tries to stop, the worse it gets, and he doubles over, coughing, spluttering, giggling, wheezing. It’s a beautiful show, but Taako’s embarrassed. 

“Well?” he demands. He’s invested now, even if it is fake. Kravitz gets the hint and tries to stop laughing, but his smile is warbly and barely keeping the snickers in. He bends down and pulls Taako up and kisses him, for real, on the mouth and everything, and Taako forgets the ruse for a minute and really kisses back, swooning just like the gawking commonfolk. 

“Of course I will,” Kravitz says nice and loud, and then he leans in and whispers in Taako’s ear, “How are you going to slip out of this one, hm?”

Taako flushes brightly. So maybe Kravitz was a more challenging opponent than he thought. Two can play at this tango. 

“He said yes!” Taako declares, and the crowd cheers. In an instant, Taako’s phone is buzzing so hard he could fry an egg on it. 

“She found out,” he says out of the side of his mouth. 

“She always does.” Kravitz smiles-- really, despite the rest of it, he’s so glad he got to see that gorgeous smile--and he kisses Taako again, once for the tabloids and once more to let him know he’s really fucked it up this time. 

[dianaburnwood]

HITMAN 3: First Impressions

This post is full of SPOILERS. Also, it is LONG, so.... yeah. Be prepared lol 

HITMAN 3. Also known as: Diana’s Game. 

Dear GOD I am in love. 

I’m going to do my best to make this coherent. But. I am still freaking out. And I have SO much more to explore!!!! This won’t be very in-depth because I played each map exactly once so far. There’s so much left to see, conversations to overhear, opportunities to exploit - but, I DO have some first impressions, oh hell yes. 

Menu: 

That menu music!!! I was not expecting that at all. It was a mix of choral and classical with previous themes intertwined, and it reminded me of Blood Money. Speaking of Blood Money, this game is Blood Money. 

Dubai: 

Very, very beautiful. Kinda thought Grey made it all about himself lol of course he wanted to say “in your face” to the partners, but it was like 47 was just there to pull the trigger, like he’d not been hurt by them too. But, I really liked it. Trapping them in a room and watching them freak while Grey watched me kill them?? Helloo??? Popping off HARD from the start and I love it.

So - here’s the thing. I don’t get the timing. Diana tells them then that Edwards escaped. Did he escape just before the boys got to Dubai? Or were they unavailable to reach until then? It seems that the message Grey got at the end of HAVEN was after Olivia hacked the HAVEN servers, and then the boys were out of reach so after Diana discovered Edwards was gone, she couldn’t tell them until Dubai? And it was shown to us in a different order to leave us hanging? I dunno. Maybe? It seems weird. 

THE CUTSCENE here omg - once again establishing that 47 and Diana are ride or die. “Diana will make it right, she always does” - BABE. BABE. SWEET BOY. His little face when Grey doesn’t trust Diana. OMGGG.

Dartmoor: 

I went the murder mystery route, of course. I figured it was Emma from her conversation with her husband, but I got all the clues after just to be sure. Can’t believe Carlisle just handed 47 the file on Edwards and then went out alone on the balcony like I wasn’t gonna kill her??? Bitch????? do you forget who i am?????? Anyway, the murder mystery was SO much fun, but I can’t wait to infiltrate this manor in other ways. Lots of Beldingford vibes here.

THE CUTSCENE bdsfgafhlsjfah WAHT????? Ok so HOW did Edwards know where they were? And - ok, so it made for an amazing scene, but Grey is a badass. He is a mercenary genius that duped the ICA and brought Providence to its knees. How did he get himself surrounded in the woods by CICADA? But he did, and it was beautiful, and he literally only shot himself to save 47, and the LOOK in 47′s eyes on his balaclava face - I just bfjKSFasad. I can’t believe he died so early tho. I was very sure he’d die somehow, but SO early. WOW. 

Berlin:

fucking hell. Berlin. fuck. fucckkkk. 

I wanna shout out to Mini (not gonna tag you in case you’re avoiding spoilers) but hot damn girl if you’re reading you were BANG ON about 47 wearing Grey’s coat. I really didn’t think it was his. It was. It is such a beautiful way for 47 to express his emotions about this death without actually saying anything. Omg. It was perfection. I’m crying thinking about it.

BERLIN was where this game really upped its... game. Like WOW. 5 targets, and it’s the ICA. Clearly Edwards went to the ICA board at this stage and was like uhhhh so you need to take these ppl out. HOWEVER I am amazed that the ICA is like “oh, ok”. DO you not remember what happened in SOUTH DAKOTA. 

But going after the ICA is a fucking trip and I love it. I love how 47 says each agent’s name to himself. I love how he listens in and the team handler realises it. I love how she pulls the rest of her team out once you get 5. I love that the ICA agents use disguises too!!! This is truly APEX PREDATOR and I love that they named it that. Y’all think you have the balls to go up against 47??? bitch?????

But the fact that you have to find the targets and none of them are marked is so fantastic. I found 6, but I have no idea how many are actually available - but I’m gonna find out!!! The club is HUGE as well, and lots of throwbacks to Contracts, especially with the biker gang. Amazing. Amazing level. I’m so excited to replay it. 

Also they really addressed the elephant in the room with the ICA agents describing 47 as a caucasian male, bald, average height and ppl being like uh that’s every man here, and then he said yeah but he’s got this big tattoo lmao 

Chongqing

ok this is where I started to think this game was my fanfiction. Inside the ICA? Showing off how truly international it is, and high tech. Hidden in plain sight. Ready to dismantle in 12 hours if needed. SO perfect. This lore builds on Absolution and Blood Money ICA lore in wonderful ways. 

Also, I don’t know why the IOI and DK of the logo looked different in the trailer, they must have been just hard to make out. Cos in the game, the ICA logo is the same as all previous games. 

Also, analysts do client vetting? Intrigue. Always assumed that was part of the handlers’ job. I take it all back Diana, you have never done anything wrong in your life, ever 

I killed Royce by firing the ppl she recommended so she’d get trapped in the data core cleaning. I killed Hush (what a name I love it) as his patient. 

Working with Olivia is really fun. I missed Diana, but Olivia brought a whole fresh perspective. I also really like how neither Grey nor Olivia are as good as Diana - they both fucked up while guiding 47 at least once. 

47 saying “...I will leave you to prepare” to Olivia, I yelled fdagsfa

Also I love how 47 decided to expose the ICA exactly like Diana did in Absolution. Those two. One of a kind. My heart. And his desire to protect her. I love that the files showed their start together. Olivia saying “I can see why you...” and then she stopped herself. We all KNOW what she was gonna say. 

AND AND AND AND 

the cutscene - I screamed

“47 has one weakness. Me.” 

I swear to fucking GOD, IO has seen into my soul. I’ve said all along that Diana is 47′s weakness, and he is hers. But to hear it said, aloud, by my girl? WHAT???!!!!!

Mendoza

Ok. OK. OKKKKKK. OK. I can’t even write about this one. This was where I was pretty sure I was hallucinating the entire level. This is my Diana and 47 dreams come true. This is insane. This is EVERYTHING.

So we have OUR MOMENT IN THE SUN. She puts her HAND on HIS HAND and he looks in fucking wonderment at it. ahugarhiewEG;FEJGHEFlejlhsgfes;gjrsgt. I can’t. I can barely get through writing about this. 

Diana - the dress, the Jolie thigh slit, the jewellery, the hair (they finally fixed her fucking hair), SASS. “I have tango fever” omg. 

How do these ppl not have a pic of 47 by now lol 

I followed Diana and Vidal around cos I was entranced by my girl. Diana was fucking amazing each time. So much sass. Little did I know I interrupted them enough times for Vidal to say “ok son let’s talk”. I saw the tango and I was like omg imagine if I could dance with Diana. 

well.

WELL. 

Anyway, got to kill Vidal via her own setup for me, and that was amazing. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I snuck into the house to kill Yates, and overheard him calling Edwards’ voicemail. Also, it is April 2021?? So, yeah. My previous dates were way wrong lol. 

And then, ALL MY DREAMS CAME TRUE. Diana and 47 fucking dancing the tango? I was pissed that I was in a security guard outfit, next time I play he will be in his tuxedo baby. 

Diana’s comments to 47 when he’s in disguise tho, I was freaking. As security “you look like a true professional. I feel so much safer with you gentlemen around” aaahhhh

UH HE FELL TO THE GROUND COS OF POISON fngjfagfljgnsdfa

I am so glad I was right about my baby girl tho. She even told him “you didn’t have a choice” about her parents. Good. I’m so glad I was right about that. But omg it broke my heart to have 47 so, SO, SOOO sure of Diana all along, defending her to Grey and Olivia, knowing, KNOWING that she was on his side, and then, he eventually started to doubt it. 

I was screaming at my screen - this is BLOOD MONEY! SHe is doing what she did in BLOOD MONEY!!!!

But, for a second, 47 wasn’t sure anymore. And Diana played her part well. 

Carpathian Mountains

Ok, what I love most about Contracts was how it gave us an insight into 47′s psyche, and this game upped that tenfold. Him seeing all his targets surround him? Him imagining Diana and the Constant dancing together? Him imagining her say terrible things about him, things he’s thought about himself deep down, always, omg, but he finally snapped out of it. Ironic that thinking about Grey snapped him out of it, when in life Grey had not trusted Diana. But 47 came to the realisation on his own. Diana would never betray him. 

opening that door and finding out you’re on a fucking train?????? I screamed. 

I am a bit disappointed that it turned out Romania wasn’t significant, they just happened to be passing through. But omg the fact that you are “subject 47″ again. I freaked. This is 47′s worst nightmare. 

I love that you have a free pass to kill everyone in this level. I did it in stealth anyway, cos it felt wonderfully tense to sneak through that train. But wow. This is another BIG risk that IO took. The train was straight out of Uncharted, and crafting a silencer for your pistol??? Hello The Last of Us????? But I don’t care. They used those elements super well. 

I think some people will be angry at this game because parts of it (especially the last level) were a departure from how HITMAN and HITMAN 2 worked. But I love it. I love that they took risks to tell the story they wanted to tell, and those risks paid off. 

47′s undying loyalty to Diana, omg. Telling Edwards bye bitch, I’ll never forget who I am again, and Diana thinks you suck. <3<3<3<3<3

ENDING

OH MY GOD. ONE YEAR LATER????? 47 obviously took some time off cos he fucking needed a break. But he’s back, baby. Ending on “it’s good to be back” was wonderful. The game ended where the 2015 trailer for HITMAN started, and I’m crying. He’s ready to continue with Diana, and not because it’s what he was made to do, not because he doesn’t know what else to do, but finally, because he CHOOSES to do that. 

But one year later? What does that mean? Has Diana rebuilt the ICA like in Blood Money, or will she and 47 work together without anyone else? They’ll need the infrastructure that an organisation like the ICA has though. Diana said she would dismantle Providence from the top down once Edwards was gone, but how? Does that mean dismantling what’s left of the ICA? They were one and the same by the end of the game. All that didn’t just disappear. I’m left with so many questions. 

I was disappointed Diana wasn’t in the cabin when 47 got there. And I wonder why she wasn’t. She knew he was coming, but they are clearly still on good terms. Maybe she wasn’t sure what to expect. But does that mean they hadn’t spoken in a year since??? But she didn’t sound surprised to hear him, and he had coordinates that he was following, so I think they arranged to meet. But her phone was in there when he arrived, and she wasn’t. Maybe he was tracking her phone? Did she come back there to him after????? 

BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT 

the game 

ended

with 47

smiling 

And for that I will be forever grateful. 

Ok bye, I need to play it again. RIP work tomorrow lol 

[melon-wing]

The Kissing Challenge 7/8

[PART 1] [PART 2] [PART 3] [PART 4] [PART 5] [PART 6] Grian grinned happily as he landed in the Hermitcraft Challenges area next to Mumbo. Apparently Mumbo had finished his challenge, which meant that Grian was also done with his, didn’t it? He’d be done with all the kissing… Not that it was that bad. He’d really gotten used to it and most of the other Hermit’s seemed to be more amused than annoyed by his new behaviour. He also didn’t know how he felt about suddenly stopping. It would mean he wouldn’t get to kiss...

“So I need to show you what I got”, Mumbo greeted him and then pulled out item after item from his shulker box. Grian wouldn’t admit it, but he was slightly impressed at how fast Mumbo had acquired all those things. Well… All those things except the bell maybe. That was rather unimpressive.

“I also brought something to show my progress”, Grian replied proudly once Mumbo was done and pulled out his book to throw it at his friend who barely managed to catch it. Turning the pages, a tiny blush began to appear on Mumbo’s cheek. Whether that was because he saw his own name or because of how many names were in there, Grian wasn’t sure.

“Well, I see Scar’s name in there quite a lot. Any Explanation?” Mumbo looked at him curiously, but Grian just shrugged.

“He is my neighbour, you know? I see him more often than the rest of you guys. And I don’t like to pass up any opportunity to make you happy.”

Mumbo raised an eyebrow, looking at him doubtfully, but he didn’t say anything else on that matter and Grian was thankful for it. He didn’t want to think about any of those kisses meaning anything. It was just a prank after all.

He took the book back after Mumbo had read all the pages.

“Now that that is done, I think I won my challenge, right? You need to ring the bell!”, Mumbo finally concluded, a bright smile lighting up his face again.

Grian grumbled a little, looking at the bell like it had personally offended him. But he still punched against the metal. Mumbo laughed and then hit the bell as well. This whole thing was so absurd. “Congratulations Mumbo, you won. You got good. Now that this is over,  I can stop with the kisses as well, right? You won, I didn’t.”

Mumbo only shook his head. “Oh no. Hermit Challenges is not about winning. It’s about the challenge. And I did challenge you for the whole season, didn’t I?”

“But you rang the bell!”

“Oh yeah I did… To tell you, good job so far, keep going!”

Grian frowned, but then a wicked grin appeared on his face. “Well you see Mumbo, if I’m not finished yet, that means I still have to keep going, right?”

Mumbo looked at him in confusion, but as he nodded something dawned on him and he shook his head. “Don’t you dare.”

“Oh but Mumbo… You said it yourself. I need to keep going.” Grian walked up to Mumbo, who was standing with his back to one of the pillars now. “So I’ll keep going until you ring that bell announcing my victory”, he finished, grabbing Mumbo’s tie to pull him down. “And until then I think I need to visit you more often.” Grian pressed his lips onto Mumbo’s and enjoyed the blush that appeared on the other’s face. He kept the kiss short and chaste, but it was still enough to get Mumbo pretty flustered.

~

Grian was whistling a cheerful tune on his way back, walking through the forest instead of flying, just enjoying the soft breeze blowing through the trees. Sure, he had to continue that stupid challenge, but somehow he didn’t mind. He had fun and he hadn’t even gotten to all of the Hermits yet. He really wanted to put all of their names into his notebook at least once before the season was over. If he did something, he always did it right.

A beep came from his communicator and Grian looked at it, a pained grimace appearing on his face. So Scar was fighting the Wither, huh? Why would he do something like that now? Guys like them were supposed to buy their beacons. They weren’t good enough at the whole fighting thing… But well, maybe Cub was helping him. They usually partnered up for stuff like that.

Grian couldn’t help but grumble a little at the thought. Cub should really be more careful at protecting Scar if they were really fighting together.

Grian kept walking and another death message popped up on his screen, making him wince.

<Grian> You alright? Need any help?

Grian kept walking into the direction of their bases, mentally already planning what he would need to gather to join in on the fight. A few minutes passed without a reply, but there had been two more death messages and it made Grian worry a little. Tango had now also send a message, offering his help.

<Grian> Scar? Tell me where you are! I’m coming over to help. Respawning so often can’t be good for you.

And finally – finally – there was an answer. Just the coordinates and a short thank you, but that was enough. Grian flew off towards his base, gathering his stuff and almost crashing through his door in a hurry to get to the mine Scar must be in.

He jogged through a long tunnel and the sounds of fighting and a Wither on the lose grew louder.

“FUCK!” Scar’s voice echoed through the tunnel and Grian’s communicator beeped once more. He didn’t have to look at it to know that Scar had respawned again. Grian reached him a minute later, next to a makeshift quarter.

“You alright Scar?”, he asked, startling the other a little.

“Yeah sure...”, Scar replied, slowly turning away from the chest and looking at Grian with a weird look in his eyes, looking him up and down, as if he was searching for something. “You came to help me?”

“Of course I did! I can’t have you dying here! You had me really worried. And we still have a dinner date to get to this week after all. Can’t have you miss that.”

Scar’s eyes widened and whatever had bothered him seemed to disappear, as he smiled again. He gently grabbed Grian’s arm and pulled him into a hug, resting his head on Grian’s shoulder. “I knew he was wrong...”, Scar murmured so quiet, that Grian wasn’t sure, he had even understood that right, but before he could reply, Scar had raised his head and pressed a soft kiss onto Grian’s cheek.

“Scar… Why are you even fighting that thing alone? You know it’s dangerous.”

Scar looked a little guilty at that, but he simply shrugged. “I just I needed to get some steam out of my system, you know?”

“Couldn’t you have gotten Cub to help you?”, Grian asked.

Scar’s face hardened after that, turning into a scowl. “We… No, he’s the reason for this. We had a fight. Just… some differing opinions on,” Scar took a deep breath. “things. He’ll come around and see how wrong he was. I don’t really want to talk about that now. I know I’m right and everything will turn out fine. I just… I… Let’s go and kick that Wither’s ass. And after that… Maybe we could celebrate together.” Grian smiled at the pleading look Scar gave him and nodded, leaving Scar’s embrace reluctantly.

Grian stood in the destroyed cave, trying to catch his breath. He hadn't thought battling a Wither would be this hard. They had managed, but it had cost him a lot. His armour had been blown to pieces and he had to retreat more than once to get suited up again. Not to mention the trouble Scar’s ridiculous bed placement skills had given him. Just as the dust of the Wither blew away he could hear loud footsteps and Tango came rushing into the cave, all decked out in shining diamond armour, sword ready in his hands, looking like a dashing hero right out of a fairytale.

“I’m here. I’m…” He looked at Grian, then at Scar and then to the Nether Star in Scar’s hands. “Oh…”

Grian laughed a little and pushed one singed strand of hair out of his face, before walking up to Tango. “Thank god, Tango. You saved us all. You are my saviour”, he said and pretended to faint right into Tango’s arms, putting one of his own arms around Tango’s shoulders.

Tango looked at him in confusion and then to Scar, who just shrugged, and giggled. “You are welcome?”

Grian grinned and put his free hand onto Tango’s cheek. “Let me give you a token of my gratitude, dear knight”, he whispered in a low voice and then put his lips onto Tango’s. He had planned to make it a chaste kiss. Nothing special. He wasn’t sure if it would make Tango uncomfortable. But Tango seemed to have other plans. Confused, Grian noticed, that Tango’s eyes were still on Scar for a few more seconds, before he buried his hands in Grian’s hair and pulled him flush against his body.

Grian gasped in surprise and a tongue entered his mouth. Well… That was unexpected. Unexpected, but not unwelcome. He’d just never thought Tango to be up to a spontaneous Make-out session. He felt his heart beating faster, pressing his mouth harder against Tango’s, their tongues moving against each other. He could taste Tango in his own mouth and it was exhilarating. All thoughts left his head as he just tried to get even closer to the other body. He felt one hand wandering under his jumper and he let out a tiny moan into the kiss. Oh god… This was good. This was…

“Guys?”

Oh damn. Scar!

Grian broke the kiss a little abruptly, completely out of breath. Tango seemed unaffected, still grinning happily, his eyes wandering from Grian to Scar and back again.

“Well that was nice. I need to save you more often, Grian”, he said mockingly, planted another soft kiss onto Grian’s lips and laughed. “I’ll leave you two to it then. I bet you have a lot to talk about. Call me when there’s another Wither to fight, alright?” Grian was still slightly dazed as Tango looked past him at Scar, his grin becoming almost demonic, before he turned around and left them.

Grian’s heart was still beating unbelievably fast. But no longer because of Tango. He suddenly dreaded turning around and facing Scar. And he didn’t even understand why he reacted like that. He surely must have kissed someone in front of Scar again. They were neighbours after all and if visitors dropped by he never passed up the opportunity for a kiss. And why would he care about how Scar reacted anyways? Why would Scar care? Grian took a deep breath. He was no coward. He had no reason to be scared. Slowly he turned around and for a second there was an absolutely devastated look on Scar’s face, but it disappeared so fast Grian almost thought he must have imagined it.

They stood there in an uncomfortable silence for about a minute, uncertain what to say or how to proceed. That was until Scar finally spoke up.

“So Cub was right, huh? You really do go around the server kissing everybody just for fun?”

Grian looked at Scar in confusion, but then shrugged. “It’s just a joke. I mean you must have known about Mumbo’s challenge. Almost everybody does. But don’t worry, I try to keep it all in fun. I don’t want anyone to be uncomfortable. Tango was a little unexpected though”, Grian replied, feeling even more heat rush to his face thinking about what had just happened.

“I see. Well… It’s all good then. Just some fun…” Scar smiled at him, but for some reason it felt off to Grian. He just couldn’t put his fingers onto it though. Maybe he was just tired after they fought the Wither together.

“Scar…?”

“Let’s go, Grian. We still have to talk payment for helping me with the Wither.”

Grian looked at Scar’s retreating back in confusion, but then shrugged it off. He was probably reading too much into it. Scar would have told him if something was wrong, wouldn’t he?

~

Grian slowly crept into the Guardian Shop. He needed Dark Prismarine. Again. It felt like the moment he had some of the materials he needed, there were already gone again. And the building of his mansion didn’t progress as fast as he had hoped. Impulse probably earned all of his diamonds from him. The problem was, Grian was almost out of diamonds. Between the building and planning he barely had time to go mining any more. And because his own shop wasn’t done yet he had no other real source of income. He was willing to sacrifice a lot for his base to look just like he wanted it to.

As he opened the chest an impressed whistle left his mouth. He was lucky. Impulse had restocked and nobody else had raided the shop yet. If he got all of the blocks, he might be able to finish the front. Then it would at least look finished from one angle.

In a rush, Grian took all of his diamonds from his Enderchest to switch them out for a few stacks of Dark Prismarine. He didn’t even get half of what Impulse had in stock. Maybe… Maybe he could take a little more. Maybe he’d just write an ‘I owe you’ note and get away with it. Such a note could be far more valuable than diamonds sometimes. Impulse could get almost anything from him with that note.

Having made up his mind, Grian put a paper onto the shulker box, bending over it to write. Just as he was finished he felt the warmth of a body against his as someone was leaning over him to read the note.

“‘I needed some more Dark Prismarine. I owe you, G.’… Well look at that. So early in the season and you are already getting into debt? That isn’t healthy at all, Grian. I can’t support that bad habit of yours.”

Grian hurriedly turned around, looking straight at Impulse, who smirked at him just like he always did, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“You could have just asked, you know. I’m sure I would have come up with a really creative payment method. Just like old times, when I helped you with your redstone and you got down onto your knees and…”

Grian hurriedly shut up Impulse by pressing one of his hands over the other’s mouth. He didn’t need to hear anything about that time. It had been just once and they had both been high on some stuff Ren had smoked with them.

“That was just once! You agreed that we wouldn’t talk about that again! I won’t ever pay you like that again. ‘m not that easy…”

Impulse eyes still looked amused and suddenly a tongue darted out of his mouth, licking over Grian’s hand. He pulled it away as fast as he could, stumbling back and landing in a sitting position on the barrel he had just emptied.

“We only agreed to never talk about it again in company. I don’t see anybody around here. But it’s fine with me. I only have fun with those who want to have fun. Not even an ‘I Owe you’ note changes that. I’m just wondering, what you are willing to do if I offer you a Shulker filled with Dark Prismarine for free… What is it worth to you, Grian? How badly do you need it?”, Impulse asked in a low voice, leaning against the wall, basically looming over Grian.

“I mean...” Grian felt heat rise into his cheek, as he averted his eyes. He had meant what he said, about no longer paying Impulse like that, but he couldn’t get the memory out of his mind. But that still left the question: What was he willing to offer? “What would you give me for a kiss?”, he finally made his offer, not sure if Impulse would really be satisfied with that. But hey, it would help Grian with his challenge… And he’d rather not repeat the failure that had been his experience with Doc… Though he was still pretty sure, that it had just been the stress getting to his head that time.

“Well if we talking of a peck I’d give you a stack. I’d say half a barrel for-”

Grian didn’t let Impulse finish, pulling him down by his shirt to smash their mouths together. He could hear Impulse chuckle against his lips and then Impulse pressed back with even more enthusiasm. They separated a few times only for their lips to meet again. Somewhere in between kisses Impulse had moved from his looming position to sitting in Grian’s lap, the barrel creaking below their combined weight, but none of them cared enough to notice.

Suddenly there was a hand on Grian’s back, moving lower and lower and making its way under his waistband. And Grian just froze. He didn’t even know why. It was like back at Doc’s mansion. It felt like he was doing something utterly wrong here and it all came crashing down on him.

Impulse’s hand retreated at once and he broke the kiss to look at Grian in worry.

“Sorry. I guess I misinterpreted the mood there. You alright, little guy?”

Grian shrugged helplessly. Was he okay? He didn’t know. He had always done these casual hookups before. Why wouldn’t they work for him anymore? A thought tried to come to the forefront of his mind, but Grian pushed it down as hard as he could. He was alright. He was just a little off, that’s all. He had been losing too much sleep over building. It had nothing to do with...

“It’s alright, Impulse. I’m… just not… I don’t know… feeling it?”

“You wanna talk about it?”

Grian opened his mouth, so close to spilling all of those things that had been on his mind lately. He really needed someone to talk about it and a sudden burst of courage overcame him to say aloud what he hadn’t even dared to think about before.

“I think I might be fall-”, Grian started, when someone slammed open the door to Impulse’s shop and froze. Etho stood in the door frame, with wide eyes, taking in the scene before him. The way Impulse still sat on Grian, both of them out of breath, their lips an angry red.

“Oh… Well that is interesting now isn’t it? Not the place I’d pick to get into the mood for a quick-” “Etho!”, both Impulse and Grian interrupted in unison, looking at Etho, who just shrugged, grinning at them.

“Hey, you fuck in the shopping district, you gotta live with the audience… Gotta admit, it’s a nice way to draw attention to your business, Impulse. Will that be the new add campaign? Buy this Prismarine and the hot guys will be falling for you?”, Etho kept on teasing, the smirk clearly visible below his mask. “I wouldn’t mind to have you sit on my lap as part of a business deal.”

Impulse groaned and finally stood up, turning his back onto Grian. “You are an idiot! I swear the next time you buy something here I’ll double the price!”

“Ooooh, so I get double the amount of kisses? Done! You got a deal, sir. No take-backs now!”

The two kept on bickering and Grian used the opportunity to compose himself, standing up slowly and taking a deep breath. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’ll leave now. I’ll just pick up the Prismarine next time I’m here.”

“Grian, wait...” Impulse tried to stop him, but Grian pressed past him and Etho, hurrying to get out of the shopping district. “Grian, please. We should talk. You’re not okay. I’m sorry, I...”

But Grian shook his head, fumbling to get his rockets out and soaring into the sky. The small moment in which he had almost been ready to talk about his feelings, or whatever was going on with him, had been long gone. Now all he wanted to do was throw himself head first into some more building.

Flying high over the island, he suddenly noticed a huge stage that hadn’t been there before and it caught his interest. Turning around once more to make sure Impulse had stayed back, Grian landed in the middle of the stage, looking at the signs. A head hunting game? Well that sounded like something that would help him relax a little. Nothing better than an opportunity to cause some chaos.

~

Grian smiled to himself as he put Zedaph’s head onto the board at Cleo’s minigame. He felt pretty good about his little stunt there. Nobody had expected him to interfere. He wasn’t that good at fighting after all. But being sneaky was probably the only way he could win this game at the moment. He wasn’t a total asshole, though.

He finished putting Zedaph’s stuff into a shulkerbox, intending to just leave it here for him to find. He didn’t want to be hit for being a nice guy after all. The only thing he had miscalculated was Zedaph’s spawn point. Apparently it hadn’t been in his base but right here in the shopping district.

The blonde was running up to him and Grian readied himself for another fight. That was until he saw the broad grin on Zedaph’s face. He also wasn’t armed at all. If Grian wanted to be mean, he could kill him all over again and get a few more points for a second head.

Well, it looked like both he and Zedaph knew he wouldn’t stoop so low.

“I collected your stuff”, he simply said, gesturing vaguely to the shulkerbox next to him.

“Thanks, mate! It would have been annoying to lose everything.”

Grian had never really interacted with Zedaph much last season and seeing him up close like that. Well he was nice on the eyes… And still missing for his challenge. Some small voice inside him, tried to hold back Grian, reminding him of his encounter with Impulse the day before, but he decided to ignore it.

“Hey how about a little thank you.”

“… For killing me?”

Grian blushed a little. Yeah, that might have sounded utterly stupid. “No for sticking around to get your stuff and risking being killed by you, Cleo or Keralis. I mean I am a good guy and do it out of the kindness of my heart, but if you were to give me a little thank you kiss, I wouldn’t say no to that.”

Zedaph stopped rummaging through the shulker, apparently frozen at such a blunt request. “What?!”

“Well you don’t have to, if you are scared…” Grian’s grin widened and he tried to look as innocent as possible. I just thought it would be nice to find out who’s the best kisser of Team ZIT. Tango and Impulse weren’t as reserved as you. Amazing kissers those two. But if you aren’t as brave as…”

Grian never got to finish that sentence as soft lips pressed onto his. And while Zedaph wasn’t as aggressive as Tango or Impulse had been, he wasn’t shy by any means. It only took a few seconds for a tongue to enter his mouth and hands to land on his butt.

When they separated, they both were a little out of breath, lips red and wet.

“So… Who is the best kisser of Team Zit, huh?” Zedaph looked at him in amusement before stepping back, a cheeky grin on his lips.

Grian couldn’t help but grin as well. Zedaph’s good mood was really infectious. “Would you let me kill you once more if I said you’re the best I ever had?”

Zedaph just laughed, shaking his head. “You probably say that to all the guys you kiss.”

[too-attached-to-fiction]

I’m No Cinderella | f.w.

Masterlist here

REQUESTS ARE OPEN!

Word count: 1.6k

Requested by anon

Request: Could you write a Fred or George Weasley imagine where the reader normally goes unnoticed but then one of twins practically falls head over heels for the reader at the Yule Ball? Reader goes alone/only with a friend, but it doesn’t become “social suicide” 😂 thank you so much, and I love your writing!! Especially anything with the twins 😅

A/N: hhh the shift key i normally use on my computer is broken so i had to relearn how to use shift with my right hand while i was writing this…. This certainly got away from me and it doesn’t have much of fred in it but I love how this turned out and I hope i didn’t disappoint, anon! also angelina is gay for nora, i don’t make up the rules,,,, Pic of your dress is all the way at the bottom.

~~~

For a Gryffindor, you were notably quiet. You and Hermione Granger certainly stuck out like a sore thumb, being considered Ravenclaws in a sea of Gryffindors. Before Granger had arrived at Hogwarts, though, you had spent two years with most believing you were in Ravenclaw. 

Not that it mattered in the end. No matter what people thought, you were a Gryffindor at heart - you just weren’t the type to show it off frequently. 

When the tournament started, you showed little interest compared to your classmates. You had only wanted a normal year, although you weren’t exactly sure what was normal, considering you went to school of magic.

Things got even worse for you when the Yule Ball was announced. You knew it was a popularity contest, but you secretly hoped someone would ask you. 

“This is all so ridiculous.” You complained to your best friend, Nora Iver. “They want to throw a party in the middle of this life-threatening tournament?” You sighed. 

“D’you reckon anyone’s going to ask us out?” Nora, to her credit, was optimistic. So much so that you didn’t have the heart to shoot her down. The two of you were the quietest, introverted people in your year in your house. You looked away. 

“Maybe.” You said, watching one of the Weasley twins ask Angelina Johnson to the ball. “I don’t want to jinx anything.”

“But (Y/N), don’t you want to have a date and find your Prince Charming?” Nora, a muggleborn, had been kind enough to describe every fairytale known to man to you when you asked. Even with the wizarding world on the brink of war, she believed in happy endings. 

You weren’t ready to tell her that happy endings didn’t come to people like you. 

“Isn’t your mum sending a dress for you? If I had known, I’d have shopped. Could you help me find one in that little boutique in Hogsmeade?”

“Sure.” You answered half-heartedly, your eyes still on the Weasley boy. He looked back at you and winked. 

Merlin, this ball was a waste of time. 

~~~

The weeks went by, and unfortunately, no one asked either of you. Two weeks before Christmas, Nora finally gave up. 

“I can’t believe it. No one’s asked.”

“We can still go together, without dates. It’ll be fun.” You tried to convince her. You were a little disappointed too - you had hoped that this time, your cynicism would be proved wrong. 

“What good is dancing by myself?”

“You can move around much more.” You said. “Dance the way you do at those Muggle weddings you always tell me about.”

“Only if you dance with me.” Nora pouted, and you laughed. 

“Don’t you still need to get a dress?”

That weekend, you went to Hogsmeade. The boutique was mostly empty, but most of the dresses were slim pickings. 

“What about this one?” You said, holding it up for her to see. It was a nice, sleek navy dress with a sweetheart neckline. 

“Do you think you could work your magic on this one, (Y/N)? Add a few more little details?” Nora begged. You were interested in clothing, with most of your clothes having a small personal twist to them, but you’d never made anything for anyone else like that. 

“Nora, I could ruin this-”

“You couldn’t. Please?”

“I’ll do my best, just pay for the bloody dress.”

The Yule Ball craze hit its peak the morning of. At six A.M. sharp, most of the girls in the dorm were awake, running around and yelling for shower slots. You, on the other hand, were finishing up Nora’s dress. 

You tried your best to embroider little constellations in the tulle carefully, and it was taking longer than you wanted. Finally, you put it on an excited Nora, who immediately twirled around once you zipped her up. 

“Oh, (Y/N), it’s absolutely stunning. Thank you.” 

The two of you didn’t start getting ready until after lunch, eating calmly in the empty Great Hall. In a few hours, the ball would be taking place. 

“Oh, I feel like a princess in this dress.” Nora said, twirling again behind you as you applied your makeup. Your hair had been cut to a near pixie cut, your hair slightly longer than the average boy’s. 

“I’ll meet you in the common room, N. I just need to put on my dress.” You said, and she flounced off. 

Careful to not mess up your makeup, you strode across the room and pulled out your dress from under your bed. You’d tried it on and admired it before, slipping it on now with no problem and grabbing your golden heels. 

You looked at yourself in the mirror, the red dress falling in all the right places, the halter neckline careful not to choke you. The last thing you put on was a small good luck charm bracelet and golden stud earrings before you made your way downstairs, clutch in hand. 

“You look incredible.” Nora gasped. “I still don’t understand why no one-”

“It’s just us tonight, Nora. No boys or girls or imaginary dates are going to ruin that.” You said, hooking your arm around hers. “We’re the queens of Hogwarts tonight, and we’re going to act like it.” You thrust your chin up in the air, leading her down to the Great Hall. 

Fred had been looking for you as students trickled into the hall. He’d considered taking you to the ball, but had chickened out at the last second, figuring Angelina was a safe bet. After all, she was only a friend to him, and she had definitely figured out his interest in you, however small it seemed. 

He saw you and Nora appear on the stairwell after Hermione and his jaw dropped instantly. Angelina whistled. 

“They certainly know their transfiguration when it comes to these things.” She remarked. “Hmm. Maybe I’ll ask Nora to dance with me while you dance with (Y/N).” 

After the awkward first dances with the champions, Nora practically dragged you out onto the dance floor. Among the waltzing couples, the two of you danced to your own rhythm, unknowingly starting the real party. 

The Weird Sisters cranked up the volume and the energy within minutes, and you tangoed with Nora, the two of you laughing all the way. 

Eventually the two of you decided to take a break, and as the less sore one out of the two, you offered to retrieve some refreshments. When you arrived, Fred was talking to Nora, Angelina nowhere in sight. 

“Fred.” You nodded in acknowledgement. “Pumpkin juice, Nor.” You handed it to her, and she grinned. 

“Yeah, we didn’t come with dates.” Nora shrugged. “I was a little upset in the beginning, but (Y/N) was right. It’s just as fun with your best friend.” She giggled. 

Angelina appeared. “Hey, Nora, want to dance with me?” She offered, and your friend gladly accepted, leaving you alone with Fred. 

“You look stunning.” Fred said with a genuine smile, and you blushed, looking at the ground. “Was Nora right? About not having dates?” He sat next to you, looking at you even though you were slowly burning a hole into the ground. 

“Yeah. Nora’s a muggleborn, and she’s obsessed with fairy tales, so she was quite disappointed when nothing happened. But she looks like she’s having a good time.” You looked up to where Nora and Angelina were dancing. 

“What about you? Were you disappointed?”

You dodged the question. “One of the fairytales Nora’s always talking about is this one, Cinderella. She’s a maid, taking care of her evil stepmother and step-sisters, and the prince throws a ball. Obviously, she wants to go, but her stepmother forbids it, shredding the dress Cinderella made for herself for the ball. But then, a witch appears, and turns Cinderella into a princess for the night, shocking everybody. The spell only lasts until midnight, but she dances with the prince at the ball anyways and they fall in love. The clock starts to strike twelve and she runs from the prince, leaving behind a glass slipper before she has to transform back into a maid. Eventually, the prince finds her, and they live happily ever after.” You stared out into the crowd. 

“Fascinating.”

You couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not, but you kept going. “So Nora has this idea that for this one night, we’re going to be princesses, and the whole school will change its mind about us, because we’re not exactly popular or anything. And she’d hoped to find a Prince Charming, and was especially set on me finding one too. I don’t know how on Earth she can believe in something like that. It’s just a silly children’s story.”

“Maybe it is, but we could try to make it real.” Fred mused. “Would you like to dance with me until the clock strikes midnight?” He asked. 

“What about Angelina?”

“We went as friends. Plus, I think she’s having a jolly good time with Nora over there.” He stood up, holding out his hand. “So what do you think?”

You looked at him with a small, shy smile. “I’d love to dance with you.” 

A few songs later, the two of you were swaying, too tired to actively dance. Anyways, it was a slow song. 

“I wanted to ask you to the ball, y’know. But I didn’t know if you’d accept, so I didn’t. That didn’t exactly work when you came down the stairs with Nora. Merlin, you’re beautiful.”

“Just tonight.” You reminded him. “Tomorrow I’ll be back to being invisible.”

“Not to me. You never could be.” He said, tucking a stray hair behind your ear. “I like you a lot, (Y/N). I’m not a prince, but would you like to go with me?” 

“I’m not Cinderella either.” You said with a smile. “Because I’d like to stay with you after midnight, and longer, if you’d let me.”

“Of course.” He said, twirling you gently. “There’s nothing I want more than that.”

[wwwafflewrites]

Never Fear (The Winchesters Are Here)

As a Kite

"Dean?!"

"Right here, kid. Right here," he yelled from below. His words were steady, but his heart was not. "You able to get down?" He was pacing, though he didn't stray too far from you.

You shuddered, held tighter to the inclined platform, and shouted down, "No." Most of your weight was on the backboard of the basketball hoop, which was held up horizontally by pulleys on the ceiling. It was a twenty foot drop from where you sat, which was a fatal fall—or worse, paralyzing. If Bobby was any indication, that wasn't fun.

"Do you want me to come up there?" He was already gauging the structure, figuring out how to get to you.

"No," you said miserably, stopping him. Because what would that do? Then you'd both be stuck up here.

"Okay, okay, just—" A loud banging from outside the gymnasium cut him off.

The minotaur was close.

"Dean, you need to get out of here," you urged.

A minotaur was not something you wanted to tango with unless you had the right weapon. They were bulls on steroids. If your research sessions with Sam had taught you anything, it was that bullets were hardly going to tickle this thing.

Dean edged closer. "No way." He was both frustrated and scared for you. "How did you even get up there?"

"Do you really not see the person sized hole in the ceiling?!"

"I see it, I just—" another banging rattled against the gym's doors, which made you both flinch. "I fail to see how you always end up in these kinds of situations!"

"Better this than five feet in any other direction!" Ironically, you were very lucky to land on the basketball hoop, and not straight down onto the polished hardwood floor.

"Right, I forgot. You're the luckiest unlucky person I've ever met, and that's saying something, considering I've met myself."

You snorted, but it felt forced.

Dean paced, raking a hand through his messy hair and looking desperately around the gym. Then, he abruptly stopped, muscles tensing as an idea came to him. "I got an idea, but you're not gonna like it," he said. "At all." He began walking over to the doors.

"Dean?" No reply. "Dean?!"

For a second, you thought he was going to open the doors for the minotaur, but then he paused right in front of the control panel and picked open the lock. "Do you trust me?!" he shouted across the gym. Even from so far away, the look in his eyes was intense.

"I—yes—but Dean—!"

He flipped a switch.

Without warning, the hoop lurched into motion. You scrambled, clutching onto any handhold for dear life as the backboard slowly got steeper. "DEAN?!"

"Easy, easy, I'm right here." He was beneath you again, watching your every move.

You were tense, heart beating against your ribs like a bat in a cage. "A little warning would have been nice!"

"Trust me, okay? Just sit tight, I'll catch you if you fall. You're going to be okay, you hear me?" His arms were ready just in case you slipped.

The hoop was halfway down when the wooden gym door shattered.

The minotaur had rammed through it, having heard your commotion, and it was huge. It had horns as long as your entire leg; beady, soulless eyes; and clouds of dust stirring from its flared nostrils.

Your blood ran cold. "Run!" You kicked your right leg for emphasis, despite the risk of falling.

Dean hesitated.

The minotaur charged, leaving Dean barely enough time to roll out of the way.

It's horns drove deep into the hardwood where he missed, tearing up the floor like butter.

Somewhat of a silence overcame the room, only to be filled by your hoop noisily clanking in place.

The minotaur paused, reared its massive head around to look at you, and growled.

For once, you were glad to be high up.

Until it stood, that is. It was at least nine feet tall, horns adding an extra few feet to its height. It could most certainly ram its head into the hoop and kill you.

Dean's eyes were blown wide as he made the same conclusion. "Hey, you!" he shouted, pulling out his gun. "Pick on someone your own size!" And he shot it point blank.

As predicted, it just made it angry—except, it was too stupid to know who to be angry at. Funny, since it had nested in a freaking public school—because apparently they were the modern day labyrinths. But mostly not funny, considering it attacked you.

It roared, and the entire gym trembled.

Dean booked it for the doors. You couldn't blame him, but... man, that was cold.

The minotaur stomped toward you until you could feel its furious breath in your face, its grunts sending all your hair flying back. This was it.

Without warning, everyone—including the minotaur—stopped to listen to another obnoxious creaking which overcame the room.

You were like a statue, still staring into the dark eyes of the beast, not even daring to turn your head in the direction of the sound.

The minotaur flared its nostrils once more, pivoting on an angry hoof to look at the basketball hoop that was slowly but surely descending from the other side of the gym.

Your heart lifted, and you spotted Dean beaming at you from the control panel, probably high on relief.

You gestured around you. Excellent work, but don't get too smug, now. We still gotta get me out of here.

Dean mouthed one word, pointing to his phone: 'Sam.'

Well, that was good news. If Sam was on his way, then he probably had a weapon to kill it.

You both jolted as the minotaur slammed its monstrous head into the adjacent hoop and ripped it to shreds. Glass and plastic the size of plates dropped and shattered on the surrounding floor. All that was left were the beams that once held the backboard.

That would have been me.

Dean ran to you—having set off the third, fourth, and fifth hoop—and urgently mimed for you to jump into his arms.

You mimed back that, no, that was not something you could do. But you paused, his words from before coming back to you. Do you trust me?

And, yeah, you trusted him. You trusted him with your life.

So you clamped a hand over your mouth to keep from screaming and pushed yourself off of the hoop.

Dean caught you with bent knees, cushioning the impact of your landing. One hand supporting your legs, and the other catching your back. He set you down, and, locking eyes, gave you a proud nod before turning a wary head toward the minotaur.

The hoops still occupied it, as it violently bashed its head into one hoop after another. Glass rained down in sheets, gliding dangerously on the polished ground until there was a small mountain of glass surrounding the minotaur.

You tried to stand—to get away—but your knees were weak.

Dean noticed, slipping your arm over his shoulder, hauling you up, and guiding you to the emergency exit all in one move. His priority was you.

You held your breath as a heavy rumble reverberated from outside the exit. At the moment, you wanted to strangle Sam for the worst timing ever.

You and Dean shared looks, glancing back at the minotaur who was aware of you once more.

Dean scooped you up, not even bothering to deal with your uncooperative legs, and tore his way to the exit. He barreled through the door, tumbling onto the concrete, with you falling out of his arms.

You watched, stunned, as the minotaur rammed at the door. It's horns were too large, locking in inside the building, for even it, for now, was no match for the sturdy brick that held it in place.

Dean interrupted your daze by breaking into a random fit of laughter. There he was, on the ground of a wet, public school parking lot, throwing his head back and enjoying himself for no obvious goddamn reason.

You weren’t sure whether to be concerned or laugh with him. "What the hell is so funny?"

"S—" he could barely spit it out. He couldn't breathe. "S-Sam's got a—ahaha—aha—hehehe's got a—haha—"

You turned to see what on earth Sam had and felt your eyebrows rise to your hairline as you watched a freaking wrecking ball crane align itself with the gym.

You had heard of the Winchesters 'borrowing' equipment, but this was next level. Where had he come across a wrecking ball?

And that bass you had heard from before? As Sam came nearer, it became more distinct.

Your jaw dropped.

Sam was blasting the song ‘Wrecking Ball’.

Dean's howling laughter only became louder as Sam drove closer.

You could tell Sam was smirking, obviously aware of what he was doing to Dean. As Sam hit the brakes, you could see him grin and chuckle—oh he was patting himself on the back for this one.

The minotaur, dumb as a rock, was still slamming itself at the doorway. If it had any brains, it would know to get out of the way because something much larger was about to come through those doors.

Dean eventually sighed, wiping tears, sitting up to watch the demolition.

"You think the cops'll show?" you asked.

Dean shook his head. "Nah. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be blasting music at midnight for the entire neighborhood to hear with a wrecking ball crane on school premises." He stood and offered you a hand.

You took it. "Good point."

The wrecking ball collided with the doorway. It caught the minotaur by the chest, crushing every bone in its body.

"If it isn't the Winchesters. And... Winchest-ee."  

Crowley.

"Did I miss the party?" When you both glared at him, he smiled. "Is Sam enjoying his little gift?"

"You gave it to him?"

Crowley hummed. "I'm letting him borrow it. In exchange for one minotaur."

"You want the dead minotaur?" you asked. "Why?"

"I'm going to mount it on my wall." Crowley shrugged.

"That's… it? Taxidermy?" Dean asked skeptically.

"Yes. Do I need a better reason? It's cool. Obviously, I want it in Hell. Why, did you expect I'd want his soul or something? Well... of course, I want his soul, but that would never happen. We all know he's smarter than that, Dean, no need to go full mama bear."

Once Sam dismounted the wrecking ball crane, it vanished with a dark smoke.

Crowley sighed. "Well, I suggest you skip town—I’m expecting the school won't be happy about your renovation." Crowley began walking toward the now destroyed exit, disappearing into the dust and not walking back out.

Sam made his way over, smirking at the ground with his hands in his pockets. "So, how did it go for you guys?"

"Horrible."

"Great."

Sam was glancing between you both. "Well, someone's lying."

You shot Dean an odd look. "If you count me getting stuck on a basketball hoop twenty feet in the air with a minotaur trying to kill us, then you have a twisted idea of 'great'."

"Oh, c'mon, you handled it like a champ."

Sam's eyebrows quirked. "You were on the basketball hoop?"

"I fell through the cheap ceiling."

Dean snorted. "Guess they needed a renovation anyway."

You socked him in the shoulder. "You're an idiot."

"You love me."

[mordoriscalling]

The Second Waltz (pt. 5/5)

(Part 1&2  Part 3  Part 4)

Wanda Pankratz observed the centre of the ballroom with rapt attention, her cornflower blue eyes glistening. She watched the two figures dance to “The Second Waltz” with astounding harmony. Both men were dressed in whites, black and blues, and they had eyes only for each other as they waltzed. Two other pairs danced close to the newlywed couple – two beautiful, blonde ladies with their witchers, one of them from the school of Griffin, the other from the school of Wolf. The Countess the Lettenhove’s lips curled into a tearful smile as she watched them. She then looked at her husband, who stood by her side and appeared just as moved.

“Oh, Alfred,” Lady Pankratz sighed, “we threw our children to the wolves.”

“But, my flower,” Lord Pankratz answered, “Coën is –”

Lady Pankratz tsked. “He’s an honorary Wolf!” she replied, “Please don’t spoil my delightful joke, dearest.”

Her husband chuckled but didn’t argue, then returned to gazing at Priscilla, Julian and Essi and their witchers together with his wife. Both their hearts swelled with love and ached all at once. Their children were happy and excited to begin travelling the country with their partners, yet this also meant that they would start their own lives and not visit home often at all.

Well, a year would have to pass before Essi departed for the Path with Eskel, which was due to Jaskier’s insistence. The Viscount had had a serious conversation with the Wolf witcher, and the rest of the family agreed with him on the matter, so Eskel couldn’t really object to Jaskier’s restrictions, no matter how much they upset Essi herself. The youngest Pankratz sibling had chosen a stage name for herself – Little Eye – and was already impatient to begin their partnership, and if it would bloom into a romantic relationship, then that would surprise precisely no one. Everybody could see how much the two admired each other already.

Priscilla renewing her partnership with Coën had certainly been a surprise. The Griffin witcher had of course been invited to Julian and Geralt’s wedding, for the Wolves treated him like their brother, yet no one had expected the reconciliation between the two to go quite the way it had.

When Priscilla and the witcher had been left alone in the room to discuss their issues, their conversation had quickly turned loud enough that everyone could hear it. The two had quite a set of lungs.

“Pris, you almost died!” Coën had cried, “You almost died and I couldn’t protect you!”

“You almost died,” Priscilla shot back, “because you threw yourself between me and that damned wyvern!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have followed me there like I told you to do!”

“And perhaps you should’ve understood when I told you I’d follow you everywhere!”

“No, I don’t understand it, Pris! You deserve so much better than just... me and the Path!”

“It doesn’t get better than you, Coën!”

After that, Priscilla’s family couldn’t hear anything more even if they strained their ears ( and they just so happened to be close), until the pair emerged from the room in high spirits. Although their hurt wasn’t mended, they were willing to travel together again and repair their relationship. As everyone observed them interact before and throughout the wedding, it became clear that they had been lovers after all.

The most surprising of all, however, was the fact that no one knew for certain whether Julian Pankratz and Geralt of Rivia had been lovers before their wedding or not, even though the possibility of it being true seemed to be high - the two always conversed in a very lively manner and their gazes lingered on each other. However, those who had seen their actual first dance were aware that the pair was just... like that.

When the White Wolf and his bard Jaskier danced their second waltz on their wedding day, it was a sight to see. The witcher led for the first half of the dance, then gave the lead to his husband, and the waltz ended with them kissing in a way quite inappropriate for polite company.

Attracting attention and scandalising everyone around seemed to become their trademark when they departed for the Path. The charismatic, colourful bard and the brooding, white-haired witcher made quite a pair. Curious looks followed them everywhere they went and Jaskier always took care to put on a show either by giving a great performance or showing affection for his witcher spouse unabashedly. The public definitely had a preference for the former – Jaskier was indeed an exceptional performer. He gathered great crowds and made them sing his songs all over the country, which resulted in the redemption of Geralt’s name and witchers having coins thrown at them.

Yet, there was no other occasion when Jaskier and Geralt captivated and shocked more than when they danced together. They didn’t frequent balls often, as such parties were too overwhelming for the witcher’s senses, but when they did, it was certain that they would steal the show.

“Husband,” Jaskier would address his witcher spouse sweetly, for he knew that Geralt couldn’t deny him anything when called this name by his betrothed, “dance with me.”

Geralt would agree of course, allowing to be led by Jaskier, or being the one to lead. Jaskier protests regarding the latter grew few and far in between over the years, and he let his witcher do a lot to him on the dancefloor, including the twirls up in the air.

The way the two of them moved together was always full of harmony and passion, which would make them gain both people’s admiration and scorn. Geralt and Jaskier didn’t particularly care for either in the moment.  

(Especially that they were capable of so much more. They had their “private” kind of dance that couldn’t be witnessed by anyone, as it involved their bodies moving against each other heatedly, their hands wandering everywhere. The sole purpose of it was to lead them to undressing and engaging in another kind of vigorous activity).

What mattered to them during a dance was the irreplaceable feeling of connectedness – the pleasant, comforting sensation of their bodies and minds becoming one as they immersed themselves in the music and motion.

“Still like your favourite pie?” Geralt would ask in a low, warm rumble on moments like this.

Jaskier would smile and answer, “Always, dear heart.”

END

***

A/N:  @siriusly-the-best-bi @sometimesiwrite

 What I imagine Jaskier and Geralt's "private" dance is a slow kind of tango... The thought of these two doing that makes me *combust*. Anyway, thank you for reading! Writing this was super fun and I hope you enjoyed it as well :D

This fic is also available on AO3.

[miss-pearlescent]

Hey Teach (M)

Jongin is the star soccer player on campus and you are his math tutor. Things get complicated. (¬‿¬)

You woke up with an arm around your waist and a boner against your butt.

It was just before dawn and there were many things on your to-do list today. Work, groceries, study...

But first, the walk of shame.

You let out a small sigh as you savoured the last moments of being a little spoon. You hadn’t really done the horizontal tango last night. The deed wasn’t signed without a signature; sex wasn’t sex without penetration.

Right?

You carefully eased the heavy arm off your stomach and crawled to the edge of the bed. You were so out of your element right now.

Your unofficial role on campus was a “nerd”. Not even one of the loud nerds like the debate kids. You just liked numbers and puzzles more than other things.

Turns out, you liked making out with Kim Jongin too.

You shook your head and adjusted your shirt, looking for your bra on the ground. It was weird to think that you were so eager to throw away your bra but insisted on keeping on your t-shirt and shorts.

It was weird to be here at all, really.

A groan came from the bed and you felt a hand graze your ankle. “Come back here.”

You hid your smile at Jongin’s sleepy voice. “I should get going,” you whispered even though he was clearly awake. “The sun is rising.”

He rolled onto his back, his broad bare shoulders taking up way too much of the bed. You focused your attention to looking at the ground, concentrating hard on that damn bra.

“So?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. “It’s Saturday. We don’t have class.”

“I have work this afternoon,” you said as you snatched the strap of your bra out from under the bed. “And I thought you had soccer practice this evening?”

It was a lame excuse and the both of you knew it in the silence that passed. You decided to ignore the tension in the room as you packed your notebooks away on the table.

You had arrived last night for what you thought was another tutoring session. Jongin had been struggling in one of his courses and you had offered to help him for a bit of extra money.

When he told you he had aced one of his recent tests yesterday morning, you decided to celebrate by ending his session with a toast and pizza.

He pulled up a movie on his laptop, dimmed the lights, and suddenly one thing led to another and you found yourself all over Kim Jongin, the school’s star soccer player.

Your cheeks heated at the memory, knowing you had come on way too strong. If it weren’t for these studying sessions, Jongin would never have even noticed you. You didn’t know what kinds of girls he dated, but you knew he probably had half the campus fawning over him.

And now you were part of that half.

Out of embarrassment, you slammed your textbook shut a little too hard.

“Will I see you tonight then?” he asked. There was a pause and then, “After my soccer practice, of course.” You couldn’t miss the playful note in his tone.

You inwardly groaned and shoved the textbook into your backpack. “Yeah,” you replied, avoiding his watchful gaze as you stuff your bra into your bag too. “Tonight.”

-

You shucked your apron and looked out at the heavy rain hitting the windows of the cafe. Your nerves had been on edge all day and now your mood was miserable too. Walking home was going to be a bitch.

You pulled out your phone, biting your lip for the hundredth time that day, and contemplated cancelling your study session. You knew you wouldn’t be able to concentrate—

Bzzt!

You almost dropped your phone as it vibrated in your hands.

Jongin was calling you.

You put the phone to your ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, you done work?”

“Um, yes.” You looked out the window and frowned. The rain was coming down in sheets. “But I’m stuck here for a bit. I might need to cancel—”

“Want me to pick you up?”

Your mouth stopped mid-sentence, unsure what to say. “I...The rain is really heavy,” you sputtered. “It’s too dangerous to drive.”

You could hear keys jingling in the background. “I’ll go slow.”

“Don’t you have soccer practice soon?”

“Cancelled,” he said. “‘Cause of the rain.”

Of course.

“Let’s just have our study session early today,” he continued. “Then we can end early and you can get home and sleep.”

You agreed, only because ending earlier meant that you might still have enough energy to stop yourself from climbing all over Jongin.

-

Your futile hopes didn’t work.

For the last forty-five minutes, you had been mashing mouths with Kim Jongin.

You couldn’t even believe people were able to mash mouths for that long.

You pulled away for some air, brushing the hair out of your face. You still had all your clothes on, and Jongin was only naked from the waist up. That had to be a good thing.

You licked your swollen lips, loving the way his gaze flickered down to watch your tongue.

“Still just friends?” he teased, referring to the conversation the two of you had shared in the car.

He had been the first to bring it up, and you had been the one to have the final say that the two of you were just friends. He had let you win with a slow nod and a wide smirk.

That smirk was dancing on his lips right now as he watched you.

You climbed off him and hugged a pillow instead. “I don’t know,” you confessed.

He sat up with you—his nearness was a little overwhelming—but didn’t touch you. You could see his bulge though, and you knew how much your own body was responding to him as well.

You were torturing the both of you.

“Then what do you know?” he asked.

The question surprised you.

You knew numbers and equations. Formulae and diagrams.

Feelings, though? They confused you.

“I know that I like this,” you answered, waving a hand between the two of you.

He had on a gentle smile as he leaned in. “Like what?”

You gulped, your hands waving a bit more frantically. “This. You and me.”

“But?”

Ah, great, this was the big question. He just didn’t get it, did he? That he was the popular guy in school and that after this was over, he would go on and have lots of fun with other girls and live a great ball-kicking life.

Whereas you would be back here, going over graphs, tables, and the feeling of his tongue grazing your skin. Because in all these years of your life, you had never gone this far with anybody.

And the probability of it ever happening again was slim.

“But I don’t want to get hurt,” you blurted out, staring hard at the pillow in your lap.

You felt a finger pick up a lock of your hair, playing with it, and then tucking it behind your ear. The motion made your heart ache a little.

“You think I would hurt you?” The edge of pain in his voice caused a pang in your chest and you absently rubbed at it.

You shook your head fervently because you knew he wouldn’t. “Not intentionally.” He was a nice guy who worked hard for the things he wanted. He lived life as life came, and you wished you could be like him.

But you were rigid and by the book. You didn’t know how to stray from what you knew.

“Let’s do this like a study session.”

You watched in confusion as he pulled the pillow from your arms. “What?”

“I want to touch you and you want to be touched,” he said as if it was the most logical fact in the world and not the most embarrassing. He raised his brow at you. “Am I correct?”

Your face was getting unbearably hot, but you still nodded.

“Then let’s do an anatomy lesson. You be the teach, I’m the student.” He tossed the pillow to the side and crossed his legs. “Like usual, right?”

Your eyes widened. “S-sure.”

He grinned. “Then lie down, oh wise one.”

Covering your laugh with your hand, you laid down on the bed, getting more comfortable now that you knew Jongin was being playful. He liked to call you weird names when he knew you were getting frustrated or nervous or impatient with him. Really, anytime at all.

He sprawled out next to you, propping himself up with one elbow. “Now,” he said, “how should I begin? Do you like gentle?”

He grazed his fingers along your stomach, causing a tickle. You tried hard not to be squeamish.

“Or not?” His hand came around to grab your butt, giving it a harsh squeeze.

You let out a harsh breath and squeezed your thighs together because suddenly you were getting wet again.

He didn’t let go of your ass as he patiently waited. “I need an answer, miss, or else I won’t know how to move onto the next question.”

“Not,” you choked out. “Not gentle.”

That was it. The floodgates were open. No turning back now.

Jongin gave a low chuckle and licked the ring of your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. “I’m glad I was right. I have a chance of passing.”

You wanted to tell him that he was usually right, that he was smart and knew how to figure out problems by himself. But now was not the time. Not when his hand was coming up your side and grazing underneath your breast.

Like last night, your bra was gone but your shirt was still on. You didn’t want him to see you naked, but you loved it when he palmed your breast.

He surprised you by taking your nipple in between his thumb and forefinger and giving it a tug.

You arched off the bed, looking down at the way your nipple strained through the thin fabric of the shirt.

“Oops,” Jongin remarked. “Wrong spot. I want to change my answer.”

He pinched the other nipple, sending you flying off the bed again.

Jongin made a contemplative noise. “Hmm, I don’t think that’s it either.”

Then he squeezed both nipples at the same time, all with a devilish smile as he watched you bite back a moan. He rolled your nipples between his fingers, worrying them through your shirt.

“Hey teach, I think I’ve got the hang of it. There can’t be more to this stuff, right?” he asked as he lazily flicked your nipples back and forth.

You shook your head, partly in answer to his question, and partly because he was being ridiculous with his play.

“Really?” he acted surprised. “I wonder what more there could be. I must be stupid because I can’t figure it out for the life of me.”

Oh, he was going to make you ask for it.

You refrained from rolling your eyes and instead parted your feet to either side just a bit.

His eyes followed the action but he didn’t move. “I don’t get it.”

The little fucker...

You opened your legs a bit more.

He blinked. “I don’t see anything.”

You made a noise of frustration. “This is an exception for you, Jongin,” you muttered as you unbuttoned your shorts and lifted your hips to take your pants off.

Your underwear snagged and came off with your shorts, but you were too embarrassed to backtrack. Instead, you cursed and shoved everything off, kicking it over the edge of the bed.

The cold instantly hit you and made you come to your senses. You closed your legs, realizing that you were flashing your vagina at Kim Jongin.

He grabbed your ankles and splayed your legs wide. “Just what I wanted to see!” he exclaimed with too much enthusiasm and too much gleam in his eyes. “My teacher’s juicy cunt!”

You slapped your hand over your mouth, unsure whether to laugh at his words or die of embarrassment. “Jongin!” you managed to shout over your giggles.

“What?” He leaned in, throwing your legs over his shoulders. “You have provided me with a real-life anatomical model. I must appreciate it.” He rubbed his thumbs up and down your folds.

You moaned, arching into his touch. “Don’t call it a cunt,” you chided.

“Then what should I call it?” he asked, sliding a finger into you. “A swollen pussy? Because that’s what it is.”

Not a second later, he was adding a second finger and then a third. You were panting like a dog. How had he managed to stretch you so quickly?

Those forty-five minutes of making out sure did the job.

“Oh teach, you’re sucking me in. Is this how you’re going to take a cock?” he teased as he pumped his fingers in and out. “My cock?”

You whimpered as you reached a hand down, tangling your fingers in his hair. You wanted more. His arm slithered under your shirt, pushing it up until it revealed your breasts and you watched as he squeezed a hard nipple.

But it wasn’t enough.

“Am I correct to assume that there are extra points for thinking outside the box?” he asked as he watched you writhe underneath him.

You nodded fervently. Whatever he was thinking, you needed it to happen.

“Then I think it’s time for me to give it 110%”

Jongin leaned down and moved his tongue over your folds, licking the juices that poured out from between his fingers. Then his tongue moved over your clit.

He flicked it. Once, twice.

You bucked from the bed.

He swirled his tongue around your clit, toying with it.

“Jongin,” you begged as you fisted your hand in his hair. His fingers made lewd noises as they plunged into your core.

He put his lips around your clit and sucked. Hard.

The orgasm hit you like a wave, crashing over you until you weren’t sure if your body was still on the bed or not. All you could feel was Jongin inside you, his mouth, his tongue, his hand.

Suddenly, he was on top of you, holding your hips up to his. You ground against the bulge in his jeans, rubbing out your orgasm to make it last.

“I’d fuck you like this,” he growled, thrusting his hips forward to give you more friction.

You cried out as another wave hit you.

He let go and pumped his hips frantically against your sensitive pussy, making sure that every thrust hit that sweet spot.

You thought you saw stars.

You clutched his shoulders as he groaned his release, but you were still coming off of your own.

Jongin cursed as he kneaded your ass, sending shockwaves down to your toes. “How did I do, teach?”

You could barely catch your breath as you lowered your hips out of his grip. “Good,” you managed while gasping for air. “Great. A-plus.”

He rolled on his back and pulled you in, tucking you under his arm. “Is it good enough to get another reward like the pizza last night?”

You laughed, the sound of it both exhausted and delirious. How many orgasms did you just have again? “You liked the pizza that much?”

“No,” he said, playing with a lock of your hair. “I have a favour to ask of you.”

“Hmm?” Your eyes were fluttering shut, too tired to stay open.

“Will you stay here tonight?” he murmured into your hair. “At least until the morning?”

You shifted your body, relaxing into his chest. You were so comfortable, he couldn’t pry you off of him if he tried. “I can’t do my walk of shame this time?” you joked.

His grip tightened. “Never.”

---

Can you believe it? I wrote two things in two days??? I must be on my period!! (I am T_T). Anyway, I’ve always wanted to write the teacher-student dynamic but never felt entirely comfortable with it LOOL Also I’m reading Devi’s Distraction by Ruby Dixon and the hero is like a jock and the heroine is the quiet nerd and he needs her help after a trauma to try to live a normal life and find a girlfriend AND ENDS UP LIKING HER AND IT’S TOO MANY FEELINGS FOR ME BECAUSE SHE’LL BE SO WRAPPED UP IN HER DINOSAUR RESEARCH AND THEN SUDDENLY HE’LL TEASE HER A LITTLE AND SHE GETS ALL FLUSTERED AND OMGGGGGG (dislaimer: this is a very condensed version of the plot). I have a huuuge soft spot for jock-nerd tropes ;___; Hope you guys liked the story and have a great day!

[azwriting]

A Jealous Tango (The Writer and The Photographer, Harry Holland x Reader) - Chapter Five

Hi everyone! Here is chapter five sorry it took so long, but nonetheless I hope you enjoy! Also the lack of Harry gifs is disturbing... Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! 

Summary: Harry and (Y/N) go to the mall where much to Harry’s dismay a pretty girl catches a lot of unwanted attention. 

Warning(s): Language, Not edited

Word Count: 2004

Kingston, England was on the verge of June, the warmth of the summer months beginning to stick, and Harry was happy? He felt like the word did little to sum up how he felt but everything was going well, he did not feel that gaping hole in his chest anymore. The vast black hole had seemed to vanish and the British boy had a sneaking suspicion on why.

Knocking on the dark blue door beforehand, Harry let himself into the neighbor’s flat. It had become a regular occurence, for the curly haired boy to let himself in over the past few weeks, his knocks were always drowned out by the blaring tunes. Kicking off his converse Harry tiptoed into the oddly silent house searching for any signs of life. At the white dining room table sat Hayley in a pair of sweatpants and what looked to be an old high school t-shirt, editing a book cover on her laptop. “Hey” She greeted her eyes barely lifting from the brightly lit screen.

 “Hey” Harry responded, scratching the back of his head as his eyes scanned the downstairs for a particular brunette. It’s not that he did not like the twin girls, in fact he got along with them quite well, many of the days and nights of the month of May spent over here. Harry had practically become their fourth roommate and first official British friend. It was just he had plans with one in particular today. 

“She’s upstairs.” Hayley laughed watching Harry’s roaming eyes. 

The boy spun back to face her, “Wha- I didn’t even ask where she was?” The one twin only remained silent, lifting her eyebrows into a ‘seriously’ look, a look which caused a faint blush to appear on Harry’s neck and cheeks.

 “She’s ‘writing’” Hayley added, her hands lifting from the keyboard to do air quotes as she said “writing.” 

Furrowing his eyebrows, Harry gave her a questioning look, “What does that mean?” He mimicked her air quotes. And as if on queue loud thumping was heard from ceiling, Hayley only snickering too herself. “Oh you’ll see.”

Trekking up the stairs Harry heard the faint sound of the thumping again and what he believed to be singing. At the top of the stairs were three white doors, one door to his right was cracked open slightly. He approached the door, the door that led to her room, knocking slightly before poking his head in. The humorous sight on display in front of him had Harry covering his mouth to hide his laughter. (Y/N) clad in black pjs, which to his luck included a pair of shorts, was dancing around her room wildly. Her headphones were in as she twirled and jumped around singing along to the song.

 “Ob la di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra. La-la, how the life goes on. Ob-la di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra. La-la, how the life goes on!” She shouted into her imaginary fist of a microphone, eyes closed and completely oblivious to the other person now in her bedroom. A malicious smile worked its way onto Harry’s face, she was practically asking for it. Quietly sneaking up behind her, Harry outstretched his hands ready to attack. (Y/N) continued on in her blissful ignorance, still shouting out the words to the song.

 Her arms shot up as the chorus came giving Harry the perfect opportunity to quickly grab her sides. A loud shriek escaped (Y/N)’s lips, eyes wide in horror as she spun to find Harry laughing and clutching at his chest.  “You fucker!” She screamed, ripping off her headphones, Harry only staggering back to fall onto her neatly made bed. (Y/N) only stood there trying to rein in her racing heartbeat, giving Harry a look that could kill. 

“The Beatles really?” 

“I hate you.” She deadpanned, ignoring his question, and lightly punching his arm. 

“I’m sorry, it was too perfect of an opportunity to give up!” (Y/N) rolled her eyes setting her headphones down onto her desk, still a bit startled. Propping himself up on her bed, Harry eyed her pajamas once again, “Did you forget we are going out today?” For the second time this morning, (Y/N)’s eyes widened. 

“Um..No?” (Y/N) grinned sheepishly at the boy, she had been attempting to get into the writing mood, but had gotten sidetracked. Harry rolled his eyes feigning annoyance but, his large smile betrayed him. 

“Hurry up and get dressed!” (Y/N) gave him a quick innocent smile before rushing into her bathroom with a pile of clothes tucked into her arms.

The Westfield Mall was… overwhelming. Sure (Y/N) had been to the Mall of America, but that was familiar places. As she walked around Westfield, eyes scanning the stores, she realized hadn’t even heard of half of them. Harry had been showing her around, introducing her to new stores for the past hour. The two were quite simply just having fun and enjoying each other’s company.

 “So did you always write or was it something you just stumbled upon?” Harry pondered as he took a large sip from his drink. (Y/N) peeled her eyes away from the patterns on the tile floor, her eyes falling onto his. Both of their hearts leaping just a tiny bit. 

“I think I was always meant to tell stories in some way or another. When I was little, before I could even write full sentences, I would create these little books of just drawings and I would tell stories based on the images to my classmates.” Harry laughed at that, earning him that shy smile of hers that was always destroying his heart piece by piece. “When I got into my early teens, I started writing fanfiction.” Harry lifted an eyebrow at that. “Don’t you say a word!” (Y/N) giggled into the palm of her hand before continuing. “So yes, I guess writing, storytelling, was always in the works for me.” Harry nodded imagining a little (Y/N), pigtails and wide eyes telling stories to the other toothless children in her classroom. 

“Is there a music store in here?” (Y/N) questioned as she swung her bags back and forth, in between her and Harry. “Ye-” Harry’s response was cut off by a high pitched squeal, piercing through the mall nearby. (Y/N) and Harry shared a concerned look before identifying the source, two teenage girls in their school uniforms. The two girls were wide eyed gawking at them from the other side of the hall.

 “Uh-Oh.” 

Harry muttered bracing himself for the ambush. Ever since Tom had risen to fame, Harry started getting noticed just for being Spiderman’s brother. He even had his own fanbase… The girls rushed over, shoes clacking heavily against the white tile.

 “Oh my god, it’s you!” One girl gushed her cheeks burning. 

Harry went to speak up when the second girl interrupted him, “I, well we absolutely love your book!” Harry’s jaw snapped back up in surprise, looking over to a grinning (Y/N). Sometimes he forgot she was famous. 

“Awe thank you!” (Y/N) responded making the girl’s giggle at the difference in accents. 

“Your book really helped me to embrace myself and my inner crazy. It helped me realize that it's okay to be different.” The first girl added. (Y/N)’s eyes shone in admiration, she would never get over hearing how her book had helped others. The book that had taught her to heal was now helping others, it was beautiful. 

“I’m so glad, would you like a picture?” The two girls nodded rapidly, the second retrieving her phone from her purse. “Well perhaps my trusty photographer can take the photo?” 

The girls finally looked over to Harry, eyes widening even more. “Harry Holland!” The girl handed him her phone, both of their eyes flickering back and forth between the Harry and (Y/N). “Are you two friends?” The girls both smirked.

 (Y/N) moved to stand in between the two girls, a large smile on her face. “Yeah, It’s a pretty small world isn’t it?”

(Y/N) and Harry continued on heading towards the music store, conveniently located on the other side of the shopping center. “You know it’s really nice meeting fans…” (Y/N) sighed, trailing off. 

“Yeah?” Harry pushed, of course he knew how amazing it was, but he sensed there was more to her statement. 

“I-I always felt like an outsider growing up, didn’t really fit in with the crowds. Things got better after I met the twins in high school, but I was still different. It warms my heart hearing from people that I, little ol’ me, helped them accept their differences and appreciate it.” Harry offered her a small smile. 

“I know what you mean, I still struggle with feeling on the outside, especially after Tom. Everyone does a great job of making sure my brothers and I don’t feel that way, but sometimes you can’t help feeling like your standing in his shadow. But I don’t feel that with you.” Harry would never admit it, but he felt like he was standing in the blistering hot sun when he was with her, no shadows to be found.

The two split up once they were inside the music store, (Y/N) hunting down a John Williams record while Harry sorted through the CD’s. He did not pay much mind to her until he heard a deep “Hi” echo throughout the store. Harry’s head instinctively lifted searching for the origin of the greeting, finding something much to his dismay. A tall brunette worker stood in front of (Y/N), grinning down at her. Harry stood up straight, the CD’s he was ransaking through now forgotten. He watched as the guy flirted shamelessly with (Y/N), who in return only smiled back. Maybe she was just being polite or maybe she thought he was cute. Whatever the case, Harry’s stomach dropped as he continued to watch the events unfold.

 “You’re American? That’s so cool!” He could not handle it anymore, he could not allow for it to get out of hand. What if he asked for her number? Harry quickly zigzagged through the aisles of music, stopping once he was in front of (Y/N). 

“Hey,” Harry pushed himself in between the tall brunette and his favorite American, “Um… your… Aunt… Jemima called she needs our help!” And with that, Harry wooshed (Y/N) out of the music store, her record hunt being abandoned. 

“Harry!” (Y/N) called in protest, but he only continued to guide her out into the main hall of the mall. “My Aunt Jemima? The syrup lady? What the hell was that about?” (Y/N) demanded once they were far enough from the store. She could almost laugh at his excuse, but she was not sure as to why he felt the need to use it. 

“I was saving you from that asshole back there.” Harry simply stated as they walked towards the exit.

 “What? Harry he was only helping me find my record!” 

He rolled his eyes at that, “Oh please! Helping my ass!” (Y/N) scoffed crossing her arms, her bags whacking Harry slightly.

 “Oh so what about the girl at the burrito place? Was she just helping make your burrito?” Harry’s head whipped over to look at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

 “This is different, she was just doing her job.” (Y/N) laughed at that, head dropping back for dramatics. 

“Oh did her job include being all over you and not so subtle winks?” That silenced Harry, he did not recall the girl being over the top like that. His attention had been elsewhere… 

“I didn’t notice.” 

(Y/N) sighed once again, uncrossing her arms. “I swear on everything, I’m going to kick your ass when we get home.” Harry smirked, nudging his shoulder into hers. 

“Oh… I’m getting a little excited!” (Y/N) bit back a laugh, both of the friends returning to their previous calm and joyful moods. Neither one wanting to admit that there bickering had been about the jealousy growing inside them. 

“Stop or else I’ll have to call Aunt Jemima.”

Taglist: 

@aloneinherroom​

@ineedabifriend​

@with-my-soul-and-heart​

[michiamotippete]

Can I have this dance?

HI! I’m really so so sorry for the long wait, guys! Finally, I can publish the second chapter of “Just Us”! I hope you’ll like it!

You can find the first part at this link!

OH! A special thanks to @lovelyluce that helped me!

_______________________________________________________________

She sighed. The warm water was melting her, relaxing her tense body. A soft scent of strawberries and vanilla lingering in the air, the candles surrounding her realising this calming mix. The light in the bathroom was dim, the only sources of light were the soft rays of the sunset entering her window and the flames of the candles. Blonde silk hair reflecting the light, making her messy bun seem a ball of molten gold.

She closed her eyes, sinking into the water until the suds were grazing her pointed chin. She sighed again. It had been a strange week; she needed this moment to distract herself from the thought of Natsu. The thought of his fanged grin and his oh-so-green eyes that made her legs turn into goo. She knew that she was falling for him  and she was worried about it. In the week she got to know him, she discovered he was  goofy, mischievous, brash and impulsive. Nonetheless, he was kind, funny and cared about her.  She groaned. They flirted all the time, he’d look at her with those jade eyes filled with lust and amusement and she’d bite her lip and squirm, aching for his touch.

She pushed herself up, her fingers wrinkled by now. She couldn’t understand how someone could be visibly interested in her and at the same time being completely indifferent. Wrapping a fluffy pink towel around her curves, she made a promise to herself. She’ll go out with her girls and stop thinking about that sexy fireman.

Two hours after her bath, she met with her colleagues in a bar. She was feeling confident, her pale skin lighted up by the moon and by the gentle light of the outdoor bar. Her hips swinging to the beat of the music. Her bare back grazed by the chill breeze. In her hand a pink-ish drink and on her lips a content smile. Lucy was having fun, despite the glances of some males, grazing her figure clad in a long dress with a rip from the hip.

Cana took the other hand of Lucy, taking her in the middle of the dancefloor. Blonde hair flowing around and laughs echo in the air and in that moment, warm hands slid along her column.

She gasped, rough hands drawing delicate patterns on her skin. Her breath hitched, her eyes wide and Cana smirking.

“I’m gonna drink something Lucy,” she said waving her hand, ”have fun you two!”

Lucy’s checks were ablaze. Goosebumps were raising along her arms. A strong arm circled  her waist, while his hand moved from the back to the bare skin of her ribs. His thumb grazing the side of her breast. She couldn’t breathe. He was making her mind go numb.

“Can I have this dance, Luce?” his voice rough, husky, sending shivers through her spine.

She nodded. His chapped lips were inches from her ear, making her throat dry. With a slow movement, the arm around her waist moved; a firm hand now pressed against her abdomen, pushing her against his chest. She shivered. His body was warm, almost boiling, but it wasn’t too much, it was something that made her feel safe. Her fingers trailed along his muscles, a sensual caress. She reached her goal: the back of his neck; she cupped it with her hand, intertwining her fingers in his surprisingly soft pink locks. He rested his chin on the top of her naked shoulder, avoiding her stretching to reach his neck.

They started dancing. It was slow, but sensual. They moved their hips in sync; he never stopped pressing her, making her ache for more. It was painful how slow they were moving. His breath caressing her neck making her sigh.

Smoke, spices and warmth flooded her senses making her head dizzy. His hands guiding her, pressing her against him and moving her around. He made her spin, now they were face to face; his now onyx eyes boring into hers.

“You’re so pretty…“ he whispered against her lips. She didn’t understand what was going on, he paralyzed her with his movement; she was putty in his hands.

Rough lips met plump ones. He was gentle, considerate; her eyes wide open, incredulous. After what seemed an eternity, he pulled away.

“Sorry, I thought-“ she didn’t wait for him to finish, instead she intertwined her fingers through pink hair. Lucy pressed her lips against Natsu’s, soft curves meeting hard muscles; he gave in, sneaking his arms around her petite figure. Their lips found soon a rhythm and all around them dissolved, she was aware only of his lips on hers. His calloused hands ghosting the skin of her back, sending shivers down her spine. She licked his bottom lip and he granted her access, his wet muscle battling hers to asserts dominance.

The music changed; an upbeat song came up. Bodies started to bump into them, disturbing their little space of heaven; they separated from each other, a thin trail of spit connecting their mouths. A sly smile break free on her face, his eyes fixated on her swollen lips; his hands squeezed her hips, then one moved oh-so-slowly down her figure. He grasped her bottom, plump flesh spilling through his fingers. She gasped, biting her lip.

“Let’s go somewhere else, Natsu…” she said, trailing off at the end. Her legs were wobbly, but she wanted him pressed against herself. These few moments with him lighted a fire in her body, making her feel alive; she never felt like that, he was like a breath of fresh air inside a crowded room. She wanted him to need her like she was needing him right now.

He didn’t answer, he let her drag him wherever she liked to go. His eyes scanning her figure, hunger swirling in them. She was so beautiful, the moonlight making her pale skin glow. Golden hair flowing in the air with every step she took; vanilla and strawberries filling his nostrils making his mouth water. From the moment he saw her,  he wanted to taste her, to touch her, to worship her.

She turned around, facing him. Big brown orbs sparkling in the night; rosy cheeks making her even more cute.

“Let’s go to my flat!” she said in a whisper. For the first time since she took his hand, he looked around him. The parking lot was desert; the moon light was dim, replaced by the orange light coming from the lamppost. In the distance the music from the outdoor bar, the notes of a tango echoing in the air; he grinned, sneaking an arm around her waist and heaved her against his chest. He made her bend, an arm supporting her spine while the other stretched on her torso. His hand caressed gently her cheek, tracing a path from her jaw to her breast. His fingertips barely touching her skin, lingering on her perky peaks; a gasp escaped her lips. He chuckled lightly; golden flakes present in his eyes making him even more attractive. He continued his journey until he rested his palm flat on her abdomen, with a fluid movement he made her twirl. She stopped, facing him, sneaking a thigh up his leg, which he grasped and held. She was pressed again against him, he couldn’t stop; the feeling of her soft curves against his strong chest driving him insane.

He reduced the space between their lips, keeping just a few inches apart. Eyes locked together.

“Hop on, Luce” he growled, pointed teeth poking from his lips. She shivered, aching for the feeling of those teeth scraping her skin.

He let her go, mounting on his loyal motorcycle. The sensation of her thighs pressed firmly against him fuelled a fire in his belly, a feeling that only this woman caused.

She told him her address and he started the engine, a powerful motor rumbled underneath them. He started driving, the light of his loyal bike the only thing illuminating the dark night surrounding them. Lucy looked around, but her eyes couldn’t make out figures clearly. A blur of shapes and colours passing before her eyes. She closed her eyes, inhaling his scent; a small content smile grazed her lips. She sighed, resting her cheek against Natsu’s broad back. His warmth seeping through his shirt clothes, strong muscles tensed against her face.

Her arms were crossed around his stomach, she moved a hand to gently stroke his chest. She continued with her innocent ministration, a rumble shocked his torso. It seemed a purr, she chuckled to herself.

The sound of the motorcycle was like a lullaby and the scent of smoke and spices had a calming effect on her, she wanted this moment to last forever. Just the two of them, riding off in the night. It was romantic and a little cliché, but she didn’t care. She wanted him, not just for a one night stand. She wanted him to stay with her. It was destiny when he entered the diner where she worked, she knew she fell for him even though she didn’t know him.

Love at first sight.

That was it. Lucy always dreamed of a love like this, a love that could be born just from a simple smile; and he had smiled to her, a perfect goofy grin that made her stomach do flips and her heart flutter.

Natsu was the one for her.

Suddenly, they came to a stop, tearing her away from her daydreaming. She looked around and it dawned on her, they had arrived at their destination.

The flaming passion that burned her, now completely gone; the motorbike trip had lulled her enough, the only thing she wanted now was to sleep, but then Natsu glanced at her above his shoulder. That glance made her squirm, hunger and lust clouding his eyes. She felt warm coil into her stomach, he did all of this just with a glance.

She hopped off the bike, careful not to trip with her high heels. He took her hand, his thumb gently stroking her skin.

“Let’s go Luce” he said pushing a lock of blond hair behind her ear. He bend over, his lips brushed against her jaw. A shiver run down her spine, her panties starting to be uncomfortable.

“You’re gonna scream my name tonight” he whispered, leaving a trail of kisses along her jaw.

[dakarimainink]

Chapter 5

WARNING: Mild language

Mark stood waiting outside the entrance of my building with an umbrella. He had short and dark brown curly hair, partnered with a pair of brown eyes with hints of golden flakes. His warm smile made me almost forget about the rain as I approached him. He stretched out his hand and I gently shook it. “Nice to meet you, Luna.” He began. His hand was warm and soft by the touch. “The café is down this street.” He gestured towards down the road.

“Let’s go then.” I smiled and we made our way down the road. We walked close to each other to seek shelter under the umbrella. There were no one else walking down the road and not a car in sight. As we made our way down, a warm light emitted from the other side of the road. A wooden sign with the words; Midnight Coffee, were painted on.

Mark opened the glass door and let me through first. There were a few people sitting around, drinking coffee and reading a book or a paper. It had an old English style to it with dark red and brown tones, leather wingback chairs, wooden tables, a fake fireplace at the end of the room and a warm and low light. The smell of freshly ground coffee mixed with fruity tea seeped through my nostrils as we walked up to the barista. It was completely silent in the café, except for a distance chime of the spoon stirring in a cup and the sound of fire crackling.

The barista only greeted us with a smile. On the wall behind her was a small selection of coffee and tea. We made our orders quietly in order to not disturb anyone and sat down by one of the tables.

“It’s so quiet and nice in here.” I remarked and glanced around in the room. “I’ve never been here before.”

“This is my go-to place whenever I can’t sleep. Not a lot of people know it’s a 24-hour open café. It’s like my own little hideout at night.” He smiled and leaned back in his chair. “So, what kept you up tonight?”

I looked over at him. I knew I couldn’t tell him a handsome stranger kept me up, so I decided to go with a half truth instead. “Work. I have a lot of responsibility with one of the projects and it just keeps me up.” I rubbed the back of my neck as I felt a sting of guilt for lying. “What about you?” I asked and leaned forward on my elbows.

“Just regular insomnia. Been seeing a therapist about it, but they don’t know the cause, so they just prescribed pills for me.” He chuckled.

“Isn’t that the solution for everything these days?” I laughed.

“Indeed.”

The barista came over with our coffee and tea and silently placed it on the table. I reached forward to take a sip. Fuck! Too hot! I felt the sting linger on the tip of my tongue. I never learned from previous mistakes, how old would I be until I finally learned that tea is hot and should cool down before consumed.

“What do you work as?” He asked.

I ribbed the tip of my tongue against my palate. It helped some to linger the pain, but deep down I wished I had something cold. “I’m a freelance copywriter for Hopper Media. It’s a good job, but I think I am seeking something else in life.” I answered and kept my hands wrapped around the warm cup of tea. It was a nice contrast to the chilly rain outside. “What do you work as?”

“I’m a surgeon. More specifically a Cardiothoracic surgeon.” He replied. My eyebrows shot up before tying themselves together. He let out a chuckle as he saw my face expression change. “It means I specialize in surgical procedures of the heart, lungs and other organs in the chest.” He explained and I nodded in understanding. It sounded impressive that he was a surgeon. I had never been to the hospital to get any kind of operation, as I was a careful woman. I hadn’t even broken a single bone in my life, I considered it a small achievement. “I managed to get a week off, but still on calling duty. So if I get a call, I gotta go.”

“Do you enjoy it?” I asked. I myself had no trouble with blood but thinking of opening up a person and see the insides gave me chills. I had great respect for anyone working on bodies in general.

“Yes I do. It’s an interesting job, I feel you learn something new each day and I get to truly put my skills to the test every day. I have great colleagues as well.” He answered honestly. “And it pays well.” He cackled out and a stranger hushed at him. He sucked in his lips while trying to keep back a grin. He leaned forward and took a sip from his coffee. “You said you wanted something else in life. You’re not happy where you are?”

I gently bit my lower lip as my eyes glanced at my tea. “Well, I like where I am now, it’s much better than where I used to be. But I feel that copywriting isn’t really my thing. I want to write and act. I want to contribute to this world and leave a piece of me that people can remember for ages.” I admitted and fiddled with my own fingers. “I am contempt, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I feel like I could offer the world something else.”

“You know, Luna, life isn’t about leaving the biggest mark on this world, it’s about leaving a small piece of yourself, no matter how small it is. If you can change only one life, even if that is your own, then that – for me at least – is more than enough of a mark.” He grinned at me with his chocolate eyes. I felt my stomach do a small flip as I felt his words hit my heart.

He was right in some way, but a part of me was greedy and if I could leave behind a mark to reach more people, then I would definitely go for it. “Seems easy to say for a man who changes and saves lives every day.” The words came out harsher than I wanted them to. I covered my mouth with one hand as my eyes widened out. “That didn’t sound right, I am sorry.”

He just chuckled and leaned forward in his seat. “No, you’re right.” He scanned my face with a wide smile. “I appreciate your honesty.”

We continued to talk for another while. Enjoying each other’s company as we drank our beverages and talked about everything we could. I learned that Mark liked to dance tango, play guitar and to cook. As a child he wanted to become a firefighter but followed his father’s footsteps and became a surgeon instead. He used to be bullied for his looks and brains as a child and for the fact that he was mostly home-schooled. His pet peeve was loud chewing, line cutters and slow walkers, (which I of course agreed with, because slow walkers were the worst). At the end of our conversation, we realised we had been going on for about two hours talking non-stop. The thing that brought our attention to the time was my wide yawn mid-sentence.

“Perhaps we should get going. You seem a bit heavy-eyed.” He chuckled and stood up from his chair. I nodded in agreement and we made our way out of the café. The rain had calmed down to a slight drizzle.

We made our way to outside my apartment building. Without thinking I leaned forward and hugged him. He hugged me back in a warm embrace and I couldn’t help but smile. “I had a great time getting to know you, Luna. I hope we can meet up another time.” He said and we let go of each other.

I took a step back to give ourselves some breathing room. “I would like that, Mark. I had a lot of fun. Much better than tossing in bed.” I laughed.

“Agreed.” He remarked. “You have my number, so give me a text when you want to meet up and I’ll see where I can squeeze in some time.” He smiled.

I smiled back at him before entering the building. I looked over my shoulder and saw he waved at me as I was about to walk up the stairs. I waved back before walking up to my apartment.

I entered my apartment and locked the door behind me. Mozart was lying in the windowsill sleeping. I walked over to him and stroked his body. He let out a meow followed by purring. I slid out of my clothes and crashed down into bed. Mozart followed pursuit and lay down on the second pillow. The thought of Mark made me smile, as I thought back on our conversation and how open he had been.

My eyes suddenly popped open and widened out. Oh god… another man to dream about. Fuck me!

CHAPTER LIST

[chungledown-bimothy]

Music and the Mirror (and the chance to dance with you)

Hey look! I actually finished something! :D

AO3     Masterlist

Summary: It had been five years, and Virgil was finally ready to dance again. The last thing he expected was Roman and that goddamn tongue piercing.

Warnings: some swearing, sympathetic deceit, accidental misgendering, dysphoria. lmk if i missed anything!

Pairing(s): prinxiety, background remceit and logicality

Word Count: 4,739

Tag List:  @ren-allen​ @ccecode​ @emo-sanders-sides-loving-unicorn​ @ilovemygaydad​ @bloodropsblog​ @funsizedgremlin​ @raygelkitty​ @roxiefox23​ @thomasthesandersengine​

If I don't do this now, I never will, and I'll regret it for the rest of my life. Virgil took a deep breath, staring at the cursor blinking in the empty search bar. After a few minutes and a significant amount of emotional effort, he searched for 'adult dance classes'. Almost immediately, the screen was full of dance studios offering classes, and he had to breathe through the knot of anxiety that formed from the sheer number of options. He scrolled past ballet (I couldn't do ballet back when I was in shape), hip hop (I'm not nearly confident enough for that), and tango (No way I'm getting that close to a stranger), but none of them felt right. It had been so long; if he made the wrong choice, it would destroy what little confidence he had, potentially stopping him from ever dancing again. That's a bit dramatic, the small, logical part of his brain insisted. Dancing is part of you; it's in your blood. You could never give it up forever. You're here now, after everything that happened. That voice, however, was drowned out by his anxiety. Until he saw it.

Beginner West Coast Swing! No experience or partner needed. 8-9pm Tuesdays. $18 drop-in, $45 all 3 weeks.

West Coast Swing. Perfect. Upbeat and energetic, but not too technically demanding at first, and half the fun is in the tension held in the space between partners. And it starts tomorrow, so there's no time to chicken out. He followed the website's registration process, signing up for all four weeks. It's only four hours over the course of the month, he figured. Even if it went horribly, he'd gotten through worse.

After registering, he quickly shut his laptop and went to dig out his old dance shoes. Hopefully they still fit; a lot has changed over the last five years. They did, just barely.

-

Tuesday

Virgil walked into the studio at 7:55, his heart pounding. Immediately, he was greeted by a very tall man, likely in his early thirties, with a clipboard in one hand.

"Hello, and welcome! I am Logan Sanders; I own the studio. Are you here for west coast swing?" Logan stuck his hand out.

"Uh, hi, nice to meet you. My name's Virgil." Virgil shook his hand. "Yeah, I registered online yesterday." Logan checked the clipboard, and looked back up at Virgil.

"Wonderful, I have you right here. Follow me, your class is going to be held in the Blue Room." Virgil followed him through a huge room with floor-to-ceiling mirrors and through a door off to the side. Silently, he thanked whatever deities that might be listening that the class wasn't in that room and prayed that the Blue Room would have fewer mirrors. Fortunately, it only had a few mirrors on the far wall; it was clear that they would rarely, if ever, use them. "Alright, here we are. Have fun, and please do not hesitate to let me know if there are any issues." Logan gave him a small smile and adjusted his glasses before practically gliding out of the room. That man did decades of ballet; I'd bet my life on it.

Virgil slunk around the fifteen or so people who were milling about on the dance floor waiting for the class to start. Once he got to a bench in the corner, he changed into his dance shoes and reluctantly took off his hoodie. Instead of joining his classmates on the floor; he took this opportunity to observe them. They were largely what he expected, most of them looked to be between twenty-five and thirty, with the exceptions of himself, at twenty-two, and a couple who were probably around sixty.

"Good evening! My name is Patton Sanders, and I'm your west coast swing teacher! Alright, let's line up; leads to my left, and follows to my right."

Virgil froze. He hadn't considered if he'd rather lead or follow. He felt the teacher's eyes on him, however, and had to make a decision. Something in his gut told him to follow, so he fell in line to Patton's right. He immediately noticed that there were more follows than leads, and briefly chastised himself for choosing wrong. Fortunately, Patton's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I see a bunch of familiar faces tonight; thank you so much for coming back! Your focus this month should be on moving beyond the basics. Focus on your posture, your technique, and your styling." Patton looked at all of his students, giving them all a blinding smile. "New students, thank you for joining us! West Coast Swing is incredibly unique. Unlike most other ballroom dances, what really matters is the energy and elasticity between partners, and each partner is given far more independence than in other styles. But listen to me, getting ahead of myself," Patton giggled. "None of that matters if you don't know how to move your feet! Okay, let's start with the leads." Patton walked them through the basic step, giving Virgil a chance to assess his future partners. The dance snob he used to be scoffed; he was not impressed with anything that he was seeing, but some of them seemed to have potential. Reminding himself that he won't be good at this at first either, he focused on the leads' basic step and constructing the most likely follows' counterpart.

"Fantastic, now ladies, your basic is very similar," Virgil flinched. In the excitement of starting to dance again, he'd forgotten about his wide hips, and he didn't have a binder in the right size to exercise without potentially causing a lot of damage. Just dance, Virgil. Remember how it all fades away. Focus on the steps, so you can build a foundation strong enough that you will be able to leave everything but the music behind. Virgil did just that, quickly picking up the step.

"Awesome! Okay, let's partner up; I'll put on the music and come dance with y'all who don't have partners." Virgil was one of the two follows without a partner, and he stifled a laugh when "Madness" by Muse started playing through the speakers. It probably does seem kind of mad, doing this alone. Patton called out "5, 6, 7, 8!" and they all started moving. Virgil did his best alone, but it wasn't long until Patton took his hand and started leading. Virgil only then realized that his posture had been terrible. He straightened up and looked Patton in the eye, and he thought he saw approval there. They danced for a little bit longer before Patton gave him a thumbs-up and went to turn off the music.

"That looked really great, you guys. That's officially all the time we have, but I'll put some music on for a bit longer if any of you want to hang around and keep dancing!" Virgil wanted to stay for a while longer. It felt so good to be dancing again, to feel that powerful and confident, but he saw himself in the mirror and practically ran to put his hoodie back on and change his shoes so he could leave. When he got to the door, he hesitated and looked back, but he quickly turned back around and went home, deciding to not risk getting misgendered again and ruining his post-dance elation.

--

The next week, Virgil approached Patton after class, heart hammering in his chest.

"Uh, Patton? Can we talk for a minute?"

"Of course! Virgil, right? What's up?"

Virgil looked down, afraid of what he might see in his teacher's eyes. "My pronouns are he/him. I know I don't look it, but…." Virgil hesitated, not sure how to finish the thought, "yeah. He/him."

"Oh, my! Thanks for letting me know! I won't misgender you again." Surprised, Virgil looked up to see a smile on Patton's face. "By the way, what's your dance history, if you don't mind me asking? You clearly have a whole bunch." Virgil hoped his blush wasn't as strong as it felt.

"Um, it was pretty much all in high school. Dance classes for PE credit, danced in all of the musicals, and I took some jazz classes outside of school. Haven't danced since graduating, though." Clearly Patton read between the lines; his face softened, but it was with understanding, not pity, as Virgil had feared.

"Well, whatever happened back then, welcome back. You've got a lot of talent, and I'm excited to see where it takes you, if you choose to stick with it. See you next week, kiddo!" Virgil thanked him and left, head held high.

-

The following class passed without incident. Virgil learned and grew as a dancer immensely, and, when given the opportunity, he signed up for the next cycle, excited to learn more. Nothing could have prepared him for that next class.

--------

The class started completely normally. Virgil arrived, put on his new dance shoes, and waited for Patton to start the class. He was so wrapped up in mentally reviewing the patterns from the previous weeks, he didn't notice that there were new students until Patton had them partner up and someone took his hand.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Virgil Raine is very, very gay. He had had his fair share of Gay Panic moments, but none of them compared to what happened in Virgil's head when he made eye contact with the stranger holding his hand. He was shorter than Virgil, with curly black hair and eyes like brown enstatite that sparkled with confidence.

The stranger gave him a blinding smile. "Pleasure to meet you; I'm Roman."

"V- Virgil." He was amazed that his voice worked, and he thanked every deity he could think of that Patton cut him off, giving the class a pattern and counting them off.

Virgil stood tall, more confident in his abilities to dance than to talk to Roman, and then they started moving. Virgil's biggest struggle in west coast swing was the concept of connection, of creating and maintaining the elasticity that is a fundamental part of the dance. With Roman, however, the connection was instant and perfect. As Roman led him through a left-side pass into a whip, he felt alive in ways he hadn't in years, especially since Patton hadn't said anything about doing a whip. He knew it was cliche as hell, but he could have sworn that the rest of the world stopped existing- for those short minutes, all that existed was him, Roman, and the music.

All too soon, however, the music stopped, and the spell was broken. Virgil stepped back, painfully aware of how much he was blushing.

"Looking good, y'all! Leads, rotate, and let's do it again!"

Roman winked. "Thanks for the dance, stormcloud," he said before turning and walking down the line, not giving Virgil a chance to respond. Stunned, Virgil took his new partner's hand and went through the pattern by rote, too distracted to pay attention to connection or styling.

The rest of the class passed in a similar fashion- Virgil trying to keep his cool and not look at Roman too much. They were partnered once more before class ended. Neither of them said anything, but the connection and energy was even more intense, if anything, and Roman's flamboyant styling left Virgil reeling. As soon as class ended, he put his headphones on, turned his music up, changed his shoes, and left. He felt a pair of eyes on him as he left the studio. He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted that feeling to be correct.

Once he was safely out of the building, he texted his best friend, Declan.

[Emo]: askfkaldjsl there's a really cute guy in my west coast swing class, and he can Dance. By far the best dancer in the class who isn't the teacher. Extra as hell, based on two interactions. I'm literally too gay to function help

[Snek]: Gay panic is so pure

[Snek]: Fuck YEAH dude

[Emo]: Helpful as always, D.

[Snek]: You know I just call it like it is. So are you gonna make a move, or just write another fanfic that basically is just a self-insert about what could have been if you weren't a coward?

[Emo]: Hey, I only did that ONCE, and I didn't even finish it, let alone post it.

[Snek]: *raises an eyebrow* are you sure about that?

[Emo]: Okay, twice, and yeah I posted that second one. But it wasn't even really a fic, just a list of ideas that developed something like a plot.

[Snek]: So….? What are you gonna do about this unnamed hottie?

[Emo]: Play it by ear. Two more weeks of class gives me two more weeks to gather information.

[Snek]: No comment on not knowing his name?

[Emo]: Damn i was hoping that'd slide by. It's Roman.

[Snek]: Good strong name. Maybe I'll show up and take a shot at him

[Emo]: *hiss* Fuck off he's mine. Besides, you have someone. Someone you still refUSE TO TELL ME ABOUT, BITCH

[Snek]: Love you too <3

Virgil closed his phone and drove home, in desperate need of a shower and a good night's sleep.

--

Virgil walked into the studio, head low with his hood up and headphones playing louder than was safe for him or the electronics, but he didn't care. What mattered was quieting the voice in his head that had been saying 'Why would he look twice at you? You're a mediocre dancer at best, and you know he's misgendering you in his head. You know from experience how few people want to date trans guys. Wrong parts for gay guys, wrong gender for straight guys. Putting yourself out there would be a disaster' for the last week. I'm here to dance, he reminded himself, not to flirt.

He quickly got to the Blue Room and changed his shoes, not bothering to take off his hoodie or headphones until the last possible minute- nothing calmed his nerves like Gerard Way not being okay either. When the time came, he reluctantly shed his armor and took his place in the line of follows.

Class began as normal; a brief review of previous lessons and a few warm-up patterns. Virgil kept his attention on Patton or his current partner. While this strategy kept his eyes and mind (mostly) off of Roman, it meant that he was entirely unprepared when it was their turn to dance together.

"Virgil, right?" Roman asked, eyes still infuriatingly bright.

"Yep. What's up, Roman?" Virgil smirked, surprising even himself. Patton counted them off, but that didn't stop Roman from responding as they went through the series.

"Ah, you can speak! I'm doing fabulously. And you?"

"Fine. Just trying to learn, princey." To Virgil's surprise, Roman was silent for the rest of the dance, and didn't say anything before moving to his next partner, either. Shit. Good job, Virgil. Why did you even call him that? Figuring there wasn't really anything he could do about it, Virgil tried to put it out of his mind and keep focusing on Patton's lesson.

As in the previous class, he danced with Roman one more time, right at the end. The pattern was complex, and the music was fast, so there wasn't any opportunity to talk until after the music stopped and Patton dismissed the class.

"Thanks for the dances, Roman. You're a great dancer." He turned to leave, not wanting to stick around for small talk.

"Wait, Virgil!" He turned around to see a look on Roman's face that he couldn't quite figure out. "Why'd you call me 'princey'? How did you know?"

Virgil furrowed his brow, confused. "Know what? Dunno where the nickname came from, you just kinda carry yourself like you think you're royalty or something."

"You really didn't know that my last name is Prince?" Roman looked up at him, incredulous.

"I swear I didn't. While we're on the topic of nicknames, why did you call me 'stormcloud' last week?" Virgil was surprised to see Roman look down and fidget with the hem of his shirt.

"Your hoodie. It has that purple stormcloud on it. And your energy isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows."

Virgil chucked. "I didn't think you were that observant. See you next week, princey." Virgil smirked.

"Looking forward to it," Roman responded. Well, Virgil thought that's what he said. His brain short-circuited when Roman said 'looking' and revealed a silver stud in the middle of his tongue.

Completely unable to speak, Virgil turned and hurried to his stuff, shoving his headphones in his ears and changing his shoes as fast as possible. He didn't even take the time to put his hoodie back on before practically running out of the studio to his car.

[Emo]: 911 HE HAS A FUCKING TONGUE PIERCING I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I WAS INTO THAT

[Snek]: Who, roman? Oh shit. I distinctly remember you telling me once that you definitely *aren't* into tongue piercings. Damn you are SO WHIPPED. This guy must be a fuckin Adonis

[Emo]: I'm not whipped. He just really is that hot. And sassy. And observant. And funny.

[Snek]: …

[Emo]: ah, fuck. I really am whipped. But I think it might not be one-sided. You know how terrible I am at flirting?

[Snek]: Whatever could you possibly mean? Being a sarcastic ass is peak flirting. *Everyone* knows that.

[Emo]: No need to be a bitch about it. Anyway, I unintentionally did a whole bunch of it, and he gave it right back. Maybe even better than I did?

[Snek]: Boy that's your fuckin soulmate. If you really pulled a You as a first conversation and didn't scare him off, hold the fuck on to him

[Emo]: you know I hate it when you do that. And yeah, I don't plan on letting him go. Next week is the last week of the class. I'll ask him out after. That way, if he rejects me, we never see each other again. No harm, no foul.

[Snek]: Solid plan. I gotta go- date night. Talk later?

[Emo]: You gotta tell me who this mystery person is. It's been *months*, and I still don't know anything about them.

[Snek]: About whomst? Significant other? I don't know her.

Rolling his eyes at his enigmatic friend, Virgil drove home.

----

The next week, unlike previous weeks, he walked into the studio, head held high, not wearing headphones. He had a plan and the confidence of a man with nothing to lose.

Virgil danced through the class better than he ever had before. As usual, he was partnered with Roman a few times, but aside from a brief greeting, neither of them said anything, but Virgil thought he felt a silent conversation between them as they danced- a meeting of two souls consumed by a love of dance.

Before he knew it, class was over. He took a moment to collect his thoughts under the guise of changing his shoes before looking around to find Roman. When he did, his heart stopped. Roman was in the middle of the dance floor, gliding effortlessly through what appeared to be an argentine tango. His partner was about Virgil's height, with sharp, high cheekbones and a flawless jawline. He couldn't see their eyes; they were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. What really made Virgil's stomach knot was the fact that their styling was likely in violation of public indecency laws- the two of them clearly knew each other intimately. Blinking away tears, Virgil grabbed his things and ran to his car. He went to text Declan and saw that he already had a message from him.

[Snek]: So how'd it go, loverboy? When's the date?

[Emo]: There won't be a date. He's with someone. A gorgeous someone. I didn't know an argentine tango could look *that* much like sex on the dance floor.

[Snek]: Oh shit, Virge, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to kill that guy for you? Because it sounds like he sucks, and I will totally kill him for you.

[Emo]: thanks, but no. I can't fucking breathe, D. Why the fuck do I always do this? Why can't I feel things a normal amount? Why do I let my heart run away like this?

[Snek]: I could give you a smartass answer about your childhood traumas, but the bottom line is that it's because you are a deeply good and caring person. The fact that you choose to see the best in people despite everything you've been through is incredible, Virgil. Now, get your cute butt home. I'll meet you there with ice cream, and we're gonna watch Nightmare Before Christmas and talk it out, okay?

[Emo]: Give me half an hour to get home and showered. Love you <3

Ten minutes later, Virgil unlocked his front door and turned on the light.

"Well helloooo, Virgil," a familiar voice drawled.

Virgil let out a scream that neither man knew he was capable of. "Declan you sack of shit I'm going to fucking murder you. My internal organs have had enough stress today, thank you very fucking much. I said half an hour."

"I know you did, but I also know you. Right now, you're spiraling into self-loathing, and the easiest outlet for that is dysphoria. I would be a terrible friend if I let you suffer through that alone."

"I thought we agreed that you weren't gonna psychoanalyze me." Virgil cocked an eyebrow, his heart rate returning to almost normal. "Are you offering to shower with me?"

"It's not psychoanalysis. It's just knowing my best friend and his self-destructive tendencies. And no, I'm not. I'm just here for emotional support. We both know that that smart brain of yours likes to tell you all sorts of lies, and-"

"And you're a human polygraph. I got it. Thanks, Dec. I'll be back out as soon as possible. Make yourself at home- you know where everything is." Virgil turned and walked towards the bathroom.

"Easy on the hair product- it your hair is full of goop, it'll fuck my eczema up, so I won't cuddle you!" Declan called out after him. Virgil flipped him off, but they both knew that he would not only eschew hair products but also use the eczema-friendly body wash they both pretended he hadn't bought just so they could cuddle more comfortably for Declan.

Fifteen minutes later, Virgil returned to the living room. He expected Declan to make him talk through the storm that was going on in his head, but instead they watched movies and joked around all night. The only talk of dancing that night was Virgil confirming that he would not give it up for anything, let alone some guy, no matter how cute.

--

Virgil had been so wrapped up in thoughts of Roman, he missed why the following week's class was a one-day workshop instead of a new cycle, but he figured it didn't really matter. He was there to dance, logistical semantics be damned.

His resolution to stick with the classes no matter what was immediately tested when he entered the ballroom and saw Roman on the floor dancing with the same man from the previous week. At least it's west coast swing this time, Virgil mused as he changed his shoes and tried not to stare. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Patton started the class.

Unfortunately, it also wasn't long before Virgil and Roman were partners.

"Hello again, stormcloud!" Roman said as he began leading Virgil through the pattern.

Virgil nodded curtly. "Roman."

"What's with the attitude, Edgar Allen Woe?" Virgil told himself he was imagining the hurt in Roman's voice.

"We're here to dance, not chit-chat." Roman tried to lead Virgil through a turn, but he tripped over his own feet. Because Virgil was in the middle of that turn, he was thrown off balance as well. In an instant, both men were on the floor, Roman on top of Virgil.

"Well hello there," Roman laughed.

"Get. Off. Now." Virgil shoved Roman off of him and scrambled back to his feet, praying that his blush wasn't as scarlet as it felt. The blush was, of course, completely from the embarrassment of falling in front of the class and had nothing to do with being underneath Roman.

Patton, fully aware of the tension between the two dancers as well as Virgil's shyness, quickly grabbed the class' attention and moved on with the lesson. Patton showed mercy on Virgil and prolonged the time between partner rotations to keep him from having to dance with Roman again. I hope those kiddos work out whatever's going on between them, but they can't do it during my class time.

For the rest of the hour, Virgil kept his head down unless absolutely necessary and tried to learn as much as possible, but he just couldn't focus. Remembering how close Roman was with flecks of gold in his eyes and clearly as muscular as Virgil had imagined had him grateful for the first and only time that he wasn't assigned male at birth- the situation would have been far more awkward than it already was if there was even the slightest possibility of a boner to deal with.

Eventually, the class ended, and Virgil hurried out of the studio as per usual. This time, however, he was followed. He was barely out of the studio when Roman called after him.

"Virgil! Wait! Please!"

Virgil turned to face him, anxiety about this conversation manifesting in anger. "What do you want, Roman?"

"A date with you." Roman's shoulders dropped, and he suddenly seemed very interested in his shoes.

"W- what?" Roman stood tall and looked Virgil in the eye.

"Will you go out with me? I know you felt what I did when we danced. Before tonight, I mean. Please, go out with me, let's give that energy a shot off of the dance floor." Virgil's eyes flashed with hope, want, and caution.

"What about your boyfriend?" Virgil spat.

"What are you talking about? What boyfriend?"

"I'm not an idiot, Roman. Tall, sunglasses, dances with you with a chemistry I've never seen before? WHAT?" Virgil snapped, when Roman started laughing.

"That, Virgil, is Remy. My best friend. My best friend who agreed to pick me up last time and come with me today to help me show off for you. We've been dancing together since we were eight; of course we have damn good chemistry. But that connection is nothing to what I felt when we danced that first time. We have something special, Virgil. Please, tell me you felt it too." Virgil stepped forward, closing the gap between them.

"I- I'm not good with words," he whispered, gently tilting Roman's head up and leaning down so that their lips were almost touching. "Yes, I felt it too." Virgil searched his face, looking for discomfort. "Can I kiss you, Roman?"

Instead of responding, Roman lifted onto the balls of his feet and pressed his lips to Virgil's. After a split second of shock, Virgil deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around Roman's torso and lifted him to his height. He quickly put him down, however, when they heard a wolf-whistle and a "WHOOP!".

Embarrassed, Virgil and Roman looked to see Remy and Declan standing at the door of the studio, smiling and laughing.

"I told you not to sweat it, girl. I couldn't tell you how bad my boy has it for yours, because he made me promise not to tell anyone, but look at that." Remy winked at Declan.

"Yes, and this totally wouldn't have been easier if we just told them how the other felt, like I definitely didn't suggest weeks ago." Declan rolled his eyes.

Virgil looked at the two of them suspiciously. "You two know each other?"

"Obviously, babe. Who do you think D's been seeing all these months?"

Virgil turned to Roman. "Did you know about this?"

"I mean, I knew Remy was seeing Declan, but I had no idea he was your friend. You know what this means though, right?"

"What does it mean?" Virgil asked, apprehensive.

"The most epic double dates of all time!" Roman punctuated his proclamation with a flourish. Virgil, Declan, and Remy all let out a groan.

The four men swapped numbers as needed and parted ways with promises to see each other again soon.

[fluffyjoeck]

Hi!!! First of all I love your writing so much and I am so happy that you’re back. Second of all... Could you write one where Joe is acting weird after the new years kiss and Jack is convinced that it’s because he’s disgusted or doesn’t like him that way? And then you can write it however you’d like but the boys find a way to confront them and confess or smthg. Pleaaaase and thank you! xx

It’s been a month, and he thinks he’s spoken to Joe only a couple of times. It’s not even half the amount of times when he thinks back to the times they’ve been alone together. And it’s frustrating, because there’s only so many times he can put up with missed calls, ignored texts and Snapchats, and excuses made from Joe that gets him out of meeting with their friends.

At first he doesn’t know what has happened, and he’s genuinely worried about Joe. They’re not even in the same country, so it’s not like he can go and find out if there’s anything the matter with him. 

And then, Joe uploads his vlog. It’s not that Jack had forgotten the kiss - in fact, he was sure there was no way he could ever forget it - it’s seeing it from an outsider’s perspective that it starts to click in Jack’s mind. And he almost feels sick to his stomach, with the crushing realisation that he’s ruined one of his closest friendships by letting a silly schoolboy crush get in the way. 

(It’s not a schoolboy crush though, and he knows it. He knows it’s not normal to dream of someone the way he does - he doesn’t just want the fun, dirty times. He wants the real moments, he wants to share every part of his life with Joe. It’s crazy, but he’s never felt this way about someone before and it scares him, so he refuses to acknowledge the missing piece of his heart that’s been gone since Joe’s stopped talking to him.)

They’d been a little flirty towards each other throughout the trip, which gave drunk Jack the confidence to kiss Joe. It wasn’t the most romantic kiss, or the most magical first kiss to have with someone, but it hadn’t stopped them from enjoying the rest of the night together. So why was Joe ignoring him?

It took two to tango, Jack thought to himself, so he soon stopped making the effort to speak to Joe again. 

“You’re being ridiculous,” Mikey groans one night, as he throws his jacket on. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking,” he answered, stubbornly. It was the second night out that he had decided to miss, which was a miracle in itself. “I have so much work to do.” Mikey doesn’t say anything back, but Jack doesn’t miss the look in his friend’s eye. It never meant anything good for him when they were growing up.

He doesn’t hear anything about it again, and he thinks that his life might be returning back to some degree of normality. That is, until there’s a knock at his door. He expects Conor to be standing at the other side of the door, showing up unannounced like always, but instead it’s Joe.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, and he sees that Joe’s taken back by his tone. 

“Mikey asked me to meet him here,” Joe tells him, and Jack knows that Mikey’s behind something. “He said he needed my help with a video, and that he’d come meet me on the way from yours.”

“He’s not here,” he tells Joe, and watches as his old friend starts to walk away. He hates that he’s so disappointed by it, but Jack knows he deserves better than this. “You can’t even be in the same room as me for a couple of minutes. Real mature Joe.”

He doesn’t expect Joe to react, but he watches as the older man turns around. “You clearly don’t want me here.”

“Why should I bother, when you obviously hate my guts?” he counters, crossing his arms. “All of the times I’ve tried to talk to you, you’ve just cut me off. And now, we’re finally in the same room, and you can’t even look me in the eye.”

“You think I hate you?” he asks, and Jack’s completely frustrated by the way Joe’s acting.

“How can I not?” Jack shouts. “You’re not answering my calls or my texts. You’re busy when we try to get you to come out. It’s like you’re a complete stranger!” 

“If anyone hates the other, it’s you that hates me!” Joe replies, equally as angry. “Where have you been these past few nights? Conor kept telling me you didn’t want to come out.”

Jack’s not expecting that. Why was Joe asking about him? “I didn’t want to make it awkward for everyone else. You don’t want to talk to me, so why bother everyone else with your petty excuses?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” Joe tells him, his words coming out in almost a whisper.

“I’ve given you plenty of chances Joe,” he says, growing tired. “Why have you been ignoring me?”

“Because I didn’t know what to say!” Joe answers, pausing as he looks up into Jack’s eyes. “I was so scared, because I’ve messed everything up. I kissed you on New Years, and then acted like nothing happened. I don’t even know what I was thinking that night. You were obviously joking, but I’ve wanted it for so long. I was scared that I’d let the chance slip away, so I kissed you. I shouldn’t have done that, I know. And then I panicked the next day, when I remembered what I had done. I thought you were going to hate me! Or worse, I thought you’d just pity me or something. That next morning when you came to talk to me, I pretended that I had forgotten it, because I didn’t know what you’d say.”

Jack remembers it all too well. He had tried to work up the courage to talk to Joe, to see if there was any chance of a proper kiss this time. But he was practically blanked, and it was soul crushing. 

“I never meant to mess up our friendship, okay?” Joe sighs. “I just...I got scared. Because I’ve liked you for so long, and then I went and bloody kissed you, and I was scared I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I didn’t know what to say when you tried calling. It’s kind of hard to pick up the phone and say ‘oh hi Jack! Wish you were still here, we’re having lots of fun. By the way, I’m in love with you’ don’t you think? And then it was just awkward. I let the situation get so much worse. If I knew I was hurting you, I wouldn’t have done it. That’s the last thing I’d ever want to do.”

“You’re in love with me?” he asks, watching as Joe lets his words sink in.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to say that,” Joe says quickly, his cheeks turning a bright red. “I should have never come over. I knew Mikey was up to something. Let’s just forget this ever happened, yeah?”

“I don’t want to,” Jack tells him, as he begins to close the distance between the two. “Joe, you absolute fucking idiot, I love you too.”

Joe’s about to speak, but Jack stops mid-sentence by pressing his mouth on his. It’s a bit awkward at first, seeing as Joe’s mouth was open and he nearly consumes Jack’s face whole but then Jack laughs, slides his fingers into the hair at the back of Joe’s head and gives him a second before he kisses him again.

The kiss doesn’t end. It keeps going and going and going until his lips are tingling and he almost feels lightheaded. Every time their mouths tip together again Jack feels a little bit closer to heaven. After an indeterminable length of time they break to catch their breath, foreheads leaning against one another and breathing in each other’s air when Joe huffs out a tiny laugh.

“I really am an absolute fucking idiot,” Joe repeats, and he can’t help but laugh.

“I still love you though,” Jack says, not used to the feeling of getting to say those words aloud. He hopes he never tires of it, or stops getting the same reaction out of Joe. He feels his veins buzz with contentment as Joe wraps his arms around him, and he knows he’s never felt like this before.

He’s hit with the sense that this is real happiness. And he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.