#I just wish my camera was better because all my pictures are like blurry and even the videos I took just don’t do it justice

[beebeetheclown]

Happy F*cking Birthday

Jeryd Mencken x fem!reader Headcanon

So.. I’m horny and have been struggling to write a Mencken one shot, I put the two problems together and bam! I have created this💀 I hope I did okay?? I don’t do head canons often and am used to writing for Kendall but.. enjoy!😉😋

Tags: f/m, Jeryd Mencken x reader, smut

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🖤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

★ You were known as Mencken’s mistress in society. Photographers and writers would often put you in their works to write about some drama scheme to sell their articles faster, people loved the drama and schemes. Some people hated you, others admired you. You told yourself that the ones that hated you were just jealous of you and wished they had what you had. It wasn’t narcissism in your eyes, you were just confident. Men like Jeryd Mencken loved confident women.

★ Your relationship with Jeryd wasn’t a normal relationship. Sometimes, the two of you would sleep with other people. You’d occasionally get angry with him for sleeping with another girl even though you slept with other men, Kendall Roy being one of them. You would hit him in the arm or even sometimes give him a slap across the face when you heard that he slept with someone else, but doing so only turned you both on. Every time the two of you would argue about something like sleeping with someone else, you would end up having sex until you were both too exhausted to go any longer.

★ Jeryd liked to think that he was a very powerful man and always made sure that you knew that it was true. He’d tell you that none of the other pathetic men you would sleep with could fuck you better than he could. Sometimes when he would tell you this, you would push his buttons just so you could get him to fuck you harder.

★ Jeryd had first started to see you when he met you at some get-together that you were forced to attend. The two of you only lasted about ten minutes of small talk before he took you into a separate room. From the small talk, he could already tell how catty you were and he liked that about you, he loved to be challenged and put catty women in their place. He was seeing someone at the time of this get-together but he gave you his number after the two of you fucked. Later, you both went back out to the group of people and acted like nothing happened, not speaking to each other for the rest of the party.

★ The truth was, you knew he was right about everything, how no other man could fuck you like he did. Some could take you over the edge but Jeryd made your vision go blurry. You never used any kind of toy or had ever been tied up, it was always just casual but causal didn’t mean gentle. He praised you sometimes but it was mostly his degrades that made you crazy for him.

★ Whenever you were out together and there were photographers snapping pictures, you never cared to act innocent, you gave them what they wanted because it entertained you. You would wear skimpy outfits for the cameras just for fun. You’d flirt with guys when Jeryd was right by your side just to get him annoyed.

★ When his birthday came, he didn’t have a huge party, it was a dinner party which you did not attend. You knew he must have been at the dinner party between five and six p.m. and you knew it would be a formal thing, so you thought it would be funny to send him a photo. You sent a photo to him of you in your baby-pink bra, it was his favourite bra. He saw the picture when he was at dinner and he smirked to himself, he knew the game you were playing.

★ Two hours after the dinner party when everyone left, he didn’t want to give in so easily, but his hard on made him give up on the game and he called you, you picked up right away,

“Happy Birthday Mr. President.” You say in the teasing tone you knew he loved.

“Was that picture my birthday present, or do I get something more?”

“Ungrateful are we?”

“No, I am not ungrateful. I’m just wondering if that’s all I get.”

“Well, what else would you like?”

“Why don’t you come over and give me what I want.”

“I would, but I actually have another gift for you here.”

“Oh yeah? And what would that be?”

“That would be spoiling the surprise.”

★ When he was on his way to your house, you stripped out of your clothes and got a roll of wrapping paper and measured it by putting it around your body. You cut the wrapping paper with your measurements and wrapped it around your body then wrapped a ribbon around your waist and tied it in the front so the paper stayed wrapped around your figure. To top it off, you put a bow on the top of your head. When he arrived at the door, you had to walk so carefully so the paper wouldn’t rip.

★ His eyes immediately lit up when he looked down at you and saw you in nothing but wrapping paper,

“Well, what do I have here?” He asked with a grin.

“It’s your present.”

“And since you're my present, does that mean I get to do what I want with you?”

“I think you’ll have to unwrap the gift first, silly.”

He closed the door behind him and backed you into a wall. He took the bow off your head first before he brought his fingers down to start tearing the paper apart. He tore the top half first, making your chest exposed to him. He kissed your breast before getting the bottom half off. He untied the ribbon so slowly and when the ribbon was in his hands, the paper fell to the ground.

★ Without a word, he grabbed your shoulders and spun you around so that you would be facing the wall. He told you to put your hands on the wall and you did so. You just looked straight ahead at the grey wall until the colour changed to a red, he was putting the ribbon over your eyes, using it as a blindfold. You didn’t ask him any questions and just listened to him undress. You were breathing so heavily now, your breath and the sound of his belt clattering were the only sounds that filled the room. After a few seconds, he spun you around again, quickly and harshly,

“It’s my fucking birthday, say it.”

You couldn’t see him, but you could feel his hot breath on your lips,

“It’s your birthday Mr. Mencken.” You whisper back.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s my birthday and you're my birthday gift.”

“And what is your birthday wish Mr. Mencken?”

“My birthday wish is to have you how I want you, no excuses.”

★ As you couldn’t see, you didn’t know what his next move would be. You didn’t know if he would get down on his knees for you, didn’t know if he’d pick you up and take you to the bed, you had no choice but to wait for what was to come next. He picked your one leg up to wrap it around his hip and he began to fuck you against the wall. With his first thrust, you already felt as if you were going to lose your balance and fall over. You breathed out his name as he continued to rock his hips into you; you seriously needed for him to put you down on the bed or couch as your one leg that was keeping you up was already shaking. He only stopped his movements when he knew that you were close to the edge. He pulled out just before you could cum.

★ Leaving the ribbon over your eyes, he picked you up and walked you towards the couch and set you down. He was too eager and impatient to make it to the bedroom. He spread your legs and began to fuck you again. His hips meeting your skin along with the noises coming from your mouth were the only sounds that could be heard echoing through the house. The windows were open, meaning that the neighbours or anyone who was outside could hear, but that didn’t stop you from calling out his name. You wanted the people to hear what Jeryd Mencken could do to you.

★ You finished together, you finished around him and he spilled inside you. He only took the ribbon off your eyes when he had gotten dressed again, teasing you and not letting you see him exposed. When the ribbon did come off your eyes, he looked at you deeply, “Thank you for my present, I enjoyed it. When do I get another one?”

“Christmas.”

“That’s too far away.”

“A good gentleman has patience.”

[alovesreading]

Constant Repeat | Part 5

Summary: Having worked at Focus Creeps for a year, Ella knows that as a production assistant and part of the crew, there’s one important rule: don’t interact with the talent unless it’s needed. But once she meets Arctic Monkeys, and the recording of the music videos for their upcoming fourth studio album starts, the band seem to become her exception. Not only because they treat her more like a friend than just someone else they’re working with but when Alex continuously makes her blush with his flirting, so enthralled by her that he forgets he’s got a girlfriend, Ella finds herself growing closer to him. As videos are filmed, wrapped and edited, the friendship lines become blurry. Situations unfold, secrets are told and others are kept under lock and key, but how long can Alex and Ella endure being stuck in each other’s minds on constant repeat.

Word Count: 20.2k 

Story Warnings: Throughout this series there will be suggestive talk, jealousy, cheating, alcohol and drug use, angst, smut.

A/N:  Currently not able to stay still because this is one of my favorite chapters and it's been one I have been excited to share ever since I finished writing it. So since imagine-that-100 and I are posting part 4 of Chicken Shop Date next week, I thought I would bring this chapter forward a week hehe, though this means you'll have to wait a week longer for the next one since I'll stick to posting it on the original date it was supposed to which is April 7th. But right now, I truly cannot wait to see your reactions to this one. I have a feeling you might yell at me lolll. Enjoy!!! xx

Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 |

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

(17/09/11 10:28) Congrats on the suck it and see video, compliments the song brilliantly.

(17/09/11 10:31) Thank you for that and for helping us with it x

(17/09/11 10:39) Nothing to thank, that's my literal job Al hahaha

(17/09/11 10:40) Hahaha that's true. Well then thanks for making it such a great time for us.

(17/09/11 10:44) My pleasure :) Send my love to everyone over there, I hope tour is going smoothly x

(17/09/11 10:44) Will do x And it is! Kinda wish you were here to see the madness x

(17/09/11 10:45) We better hope America treats you just as well next time you come, I'll definitely be there :) x

•••

(27/10/11 13:16) I'm so glad Helders had the idea of going to Vegas and filming it.

(27/10/11 13:18) It was quite a lovely time, congrats on the music video Al!

(27/10/11 13:18) Even though most of it is just Bre and Matt, I'm happy to see that day after all this time x

(27/10/11 13:20) C'mon Turner, it's only been a couple months x

(27/10/11 13:21) Fair enough but, don't tell this to anyone, I miss America quite a bit.

(27/10/11 13:27) Any particular reasons?

(27/10/11 13:29) A couple come to mind...

(27/10/11 13:33) Any with first and last names?

(27/10/11 13:33) Are you trying to trick me into saying something?

(27/10/11 13:34) Maybe...

(27/10/11 13:48) I do miss you Ellie xx

(27/10/11 13:49) Well, that's good to hear xx

(27/10/11 13:49) I miss you following me around with your camera on my face x

(27/10/11 13:50) Anyone would think I'm a crazy pap from that sentence alone.

(27/10/11 13:50) Aren't you? x

(27/10/11 13:52) Alright Turner, I'm not saying i miss you too then.

(27/10/11 13:56) I joke, I joke x

(27/10/11 13:57) Hahaha I know, I do miss you xx

(27/10/11 14:02) Well, that's good to hear xx

•••

(05/11/11 02:22) Helders got a new film camera!

(05/11/11 02:22) No way?! Show me!!!

(05/11/11 02:24) *picture of Matt holding a Leica M6 to his face squinting his left eye*

(05/11/11 02:25) I'm so jealous! A Leica M6?! She's stunning!!!

(05/11/11 02:26) He's also been pestering me for your phone number, he might've stolen it from my contact book already.

(05/11/11 02:28) He did and texted me last night. Remind me again why you don't have a password? He's going to be the death of me.

(05/11/11 02:29) You said you missed the lads the other day, and I delivered the message. You didn't expect it to be that easy to escape him, did you?

(05/11/11 02:30) This is what I get for being a caring friend.

(05/11/11 02:31) It has its cons x

(05/11/11 02:46) It wasn't only Helders breaking into your phone, by the way.

(05/11/11 02:49) What do you mean?

(05/11/11 02:49) Nick and Jamie texted me earlier too hahaha

(05/11/11 02:49) Sorry? x

(05/11/11 02:50) Don't! I suppose you're gonna have a little rest from me now that I have more people to annoy x

(05/11/11 02:51) You're never annoying Ellie x

(05/11/11 02:51) I find that hard to believe x

(05/11/11 02:53) You really aren't x I actually think if you stop sending me your weekly film reviews and song recommendations I might go in a weird type of withdrawal xx

(05/11/11 02:53) I'll keep them coming for you then ;)

(05/11/11 02:54) I really hope you do xx

•••

(24/12/11 16:12) Just double checked and since it's already the 25th where you are, Merry Christmas Alex!!!

(24/12/11 16:17) Thank you Ellie, merry christmas to you too xx

(24/12/11 16:18) I hope Sinatra is playing on repeat all day today x

(24/12/11 16:21) You know he is. It's snowing later today as well, will send you pictures xx

(24/12/11 16:23) You're gonna make me miss home, I haven't had a white christmas in a while now :((

(24/12/11 16:24) We should do a video call then, make some hot chocolate and pretend you're here x

(24/12/11 16:25) Sounds lovely to me x See you later then, Al :)

(24/12/11 16:26) See ya Ellie xx

•••

(31/12/11 15:09) It feels weird having Bre here but not you, the group feels incomplete xx

(31/12/11 15:09) So sorry I said no, I had already planned on spending this one in Tennessee. And I would rather eat a cup of dirt than have you pay for my whole holiday in the uk!

(31/12/11 15:10) You don't have to be sorry, I know you missed your family x And you stubborn woman! Will you ever let me pay for anything for you without having to physically distract you when it comes to it?

(31/12/11 15:12) Never ;))) But you'll be pleased to know I have started saving up for my own trip, just give me some months and I'll be on your side of the pond x

(31/12/11 15:13) Can't wait to see how poorly you do in the cold once again, I'll have my coats ready for you to steal xx

(31/12/11 15:15) You're mean!

(31/12/11 15:16) I'm actually very kind, i'll be letting you take them all xx

(31/12/11 15:17) I think whatever you're having is getting to you already, go enjoy the party for me Turner! (I'm there in spirit x).

(31/12/11 15:17) I'm the most sober in here right now. Nick's pissed already and Matt is following very closely behind. (I can weirdly feel your presence in the room xx).

(31/12/11 15:18) Oh I would pay to see that!!

(31/12/11 15:18) Well lucky for you I won't charge you for the following videos x *video of Nick and Matt messily racing to chug down a pint of beer, video of Nick and Matt singing karaoke*

(31/12/11 15:19) You've just made my entire year with that HAHAHA

(31/12/11 15:22) Glad to hear it x

(31/12/11 16:00) Happy New Year from my side of the pond, Ellie xxxx

(31/12/11 16:03) Happy New Year Al xxxx Feels weird saying that at four in the afternoon haha

(31/12/11 16:04) Haha, time zones are mental, aren't they? Let me know when it's 2012 for you too xx

(01/01/2012 00:00) Happy New Year!!!! We just caught up to you hahah xx

(01/01/2012 00:00) Thank you, darling x How's it going with your family? xx

(01/01/2012 00:01) Absolutely insane but I had missed the madness that it was to spend the holidays with them :') Thinking about how crazy it would be if y'all were here to celebrate with us xx

(01/01/2012 00:04) Let's hope for 2013 xx

(01/01/2012 00:05) Yeah let's hope for that xx What about you? Starting the year with a hangover?

(01/01/2012 00:09) Thankfully no, but with a headache from inspiration and too much to write x

(01/01/2012 00:10) Don't stress yourself too much, it's always a perfect record x

(01/01/2012 00:11) Now you're just being nice x

(01/01/2012 00:12) Stop it, you know how good you are! I also have a feeling this one is gonna make history all around the world xx

(01/01/2012 00:15) We shall see about that xx

•••

(05/01/2012 12:21) I love how you regretted flipping the camera off and tried to cover it up with a peace sign.

(05/01/2012 12:34) I'm confused...

(05/01/2012 12:35) Black treacle just came out! Fill me in on Bre and Matt's fight after it.

(05/01/2012 12:36) You're still after Bre, I see x

(05/01/2012 12:38) Well if Matt fucks up then I need to be a good friend, don't I? x

(05/01/2012 12:39) Oh you think you're slick x

(05/01/2012 12:39) I'm smoother than you, that's for sure x

(05/01/2012 12:39) Hey what's that meant to mean?!

(05/01/2012 12:40) Hahaha nothing Turner, it means nothing.

(05/01/2012 12:41) How about I give you something? xx

(05/01/2012 12:41) And what would that be? xx

(05/01/2012 12:42) Remember how I promised you another music video? xx

Her jaw dropped at the same time her phone hit the kitchen counter, and in a delayed reaction she went to check if she'd cracked it but was relieved to see it intact. What the fuck?! was all that she could hear inside her brain, chanting to herself as she frantically opened her contact book to call Alex but, of course, the singer beat her to it. The room echoed with the ringing of his incoming call and she was quick to answer.

A loud "Are you serious?!" came out of her mouth like an instinct, not even giving him time to say hello.

His breathy laugh came through the speaker, "Do you think I'd be joking about that?"

She was screaming on the inside, her tummy fluttering as she thought about how the countdown to see him again would start right at that moment. "I don't– I just– When? Do Aaron and Ben know?"

He was lying on his settee, with his phone pressed to his ear and his ceiling was witnessing one of the brightest smiles he'd ever wore in his life. "I reckon our manager is getting in contact with them next monday, and possibly for the beginning of February. You know, we're doing a brief US west coast tour before we go back into the shadows to record the next one."

"Oh my god, really?! That's so soon!" Ella hadn't felt this much excitement since she got accepted in her first job in LA, everything felt light suddenly and she just couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

She's adorable, he thought with his cheeks aching. He could feel her happiness through the phone and she had this way of calming him down by just talking to him, that's why they had called each other so many times throughout the past months they hadn't seen each other.

"It is! And you're coming with..." Alex bit his lip trying especially hard to catch her reaction and when he got a tiny gasp, he freed his lip from his teeth and smirked, "Well, at least I was hoping you will– We, we were hoping you will." He cleared his throat, hoping the correction wasn't too noticeable.

Of course she noticed, her heart skipped a beat at that and her cheeks had warmed. Keep it cool, keep it cool, she reminded herself. "I would need to ask Ben and Aaron but I'd love to." She was giddy but then she realized what touring meant and her questions just came out in full force, "Wait... How many days would it be? Are we staying in hotels or just on the bus? We're not flying anywhere, are we? Who can I speak with from your team to pay for it?"

His chuckle was out before he could think of containing it, "It would just be a week of tour. No flying anywhere, no—we're moving on the tour bus like we did for Vegas. And as for the expenses you really don't have to worry, everything is paid for."

"But–"

He tutted, "No, Ella. I'll just let you pay for whatever you want to buy wherever we go but you're not paying for anything else if it's already covered."

She sighed feeling defeated but her excitement bubbled up again when she remembered what she had just accepted, "Oh I'm so excited!"

Alex decided to tease her and test the waters, "That eager to see me?"

She laughed at his advances, "Nope, just excited for the gigs and the free alcohol."

He laughed with her, "Glad to see where your loyalty lies."

Ella hummed and nodded, instantly feeling dumb when she saw her reaction reflected on the microwave realizing Alex was not seeing it. "And I'm glad you're understanding of my priorities."

"Talking about priorities, how come you're not at work? What have you been up to?" The thought of her casually picking up the phone at this time, when she'd normally pick up to whisper that she was at the office and that she'd have to keep whispering throughout the call, had been swirling around the back of his head and he was curious to know what had happened to change the situation.

She sighed, turning to rest her hips on the side of her kitchen counter and watching her guest bedroom door behind which her sister had been getting ready for almost twenty minutes. "Not much, just took the day off to pick my sister up from the airport."

He smiled at the news, thinking back to the many times Ella had mentioned her sister, the memories she shared with her and how many 'i miss her's he had heard after each anecdote. "Is she visiting?"

Her smile could be felt through the phone from the tone of her voice, and Alex couldn't help but count how many days it had been since he had witnessed that sight. "Yeah, she's staying for the week so I'm gonna show her every corner I love in LA."

A deep hum came from his side, "So she's getting a VIP Ella – Los Angeles tour..."

She let out a little chuckle, "Exactly that."

"Sort of jealous she gets one and I haven't gotten one yet."

With a smirk on her face Ella was quick to reply, "Well Mr. Rockstar, you haven't been here in a while and every time we've seen each other has been for filming."

He let out a breathy laugh that made her insides coat with warmth, "Fair enough. I'll be sure to get enough time in February to get a tour."

Her stomach flipped hearing him say he'd make time for her, even if it was just a joke she couldn't help the way it made her giddy and her cheeks light up. "Alright then...I'll give you a good discount, don't worry."

"You'll probably get a date before we even know of one, so I hope you have flexibility when it comes to changing reservation dates for those tours of yours." Alex kept the banter going, loving how most of the time her replies would surprise him and keep him thinking if she had really just said that.

"Of course I do! Mates rates, didn't you say it was?" She was about to continue when her guest bedroom door opened to reveal her sister all ready and putting her earrings on. "Speak of the devil... my lovely sister just finished getting ready so I'm gonna have to leave you Al, sorry." She sighed, sad that she had to cut the conversation short once again despite not being at work.

"Don't apologize Ellie, s'alright." His voice was soft and she hoped she could continue to listen to it for as long as life would allow her. "Hope you enjoy yourselves, send my regards to your sister."

She melted inside, her rational side yelling at her emotional counterpart that it was a simple thing to say and not something to swoon over but she was blind. Maybe that was his effect, pure blindness to everything else and only being able to see him. "Thanks Al, will tell her you said hi. Hope to hear from you soon."

"You definitely will," he promised, "Goodnight Ella."

Ella's eyes were on the ten in the morning sun coming through her windows and smiled to herself, "Goodnight Alex."

The room was filled with silence as she pressed the red button to end the call. A bright grin was set on her face with no intention to disappear, her cheeks were slightly pink but it was the tiny squeal that she accidentally let out that caused her older sister, Lily, to speak up.

"So you do have a crush!" Lily's index finger was pointing accusingly at Ella.

She turned her head so fast she was surprised she didn't get whiplash, "What?" She asked too defensive to make the situation seem casual.

Lily smirked at her, reading her face easily, "I was right, you do like him."

"Oh shut up, I do not." Ella's voice sounded annoyed but her sister knew that tone of hers, it was pure denial.

The older sister just sighed and rolled her eyes, "When are you ever gonna stop being so stubborn?"

"The day I die." Ella replied quickly and proceeded to grab her car keys from the counter and put her phone in the pocket of her jeans. "Let's go."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Wednesday, the 8th of February had been the day Ben and Aaron had been informed the lads would touch down on American soil again and the day had rolled around fairly quickly.

It felt as if the countdown to the day of the band's arrival had been fast forwarded and for that she was grateful. She wasn't a fan of having to wake up early but she had woken up to a picture of the lads at the airport and several texts from all of them, and it made her grin like a mad woman as she got ready.

(08/02/2012 06:12) *picture of Matt flipping the camera off at the baggage claim area* Fair to say he's excited to see you.

(08/02/2012 06:26) Tell him I'm just as enthusiastic to see him, Cookie.

•••

(08/02/2012 06:20) My darling Ella, hope you're up and ready to see us. Alex said something about getting a tour from you...

(08/02/2012 06:27) Definitely up, and slowly getting ready. If there's one thing you should know, is that I need a good cup of coffee to properly function this early in the morning. And yes, I'm driving y'all and giving you a tour around LA.

(08/02/2012 06:28) Noted, gonna get you loads of coffee for the tour. Can't wait to see how poorly you drive xx

(08/02/2012 06:28) Alright O'Malley, rude.

•••

(08/02/2012 06:34) I bet you're celebrating I'm back in your land already.

(08/02/2012 06:35) You have the biggest head, has anyone told you that?

(08/02/2012 06:35) Been told something similar, if you know what I mean ;)

(08/02/2012 06:35) You're actually disgusting, Helders.

(08/02/2012 06:36) Yeah, yeah, you love me.

(08/02/2012 06:36) You certainly wish.

(08/02/2012 06:37) You're just in denial. We're about an hour away from the hotel by the way, you better be on your way missy x

(08/02/2012 06:38) I'm about to leave. Dreading seeing you though x

(08/02/2012 06:39) You keep telling yourself that x

•••

(08/02/2012 06:40) Can't wait to see you! We're an hour away xx

(08/02/2012 06:41) Give your friends a smack in the back of their heads for me please, haven't even seen you yet and I'm getting bullied already x

(08/02/2012 06:42) Will do. I'm guessing Helders gets double? x

(08/02/2012 06:43) Atta boy, you're so smart x I'm on my way, see you soon Al! x

To say she was giddy on the drive to their hotel was an understatement. Ella had been bouncing on her seat, not even minding having to sit in the traffic for longer than she would've liked to, singing her favorite songs a little bit louder than usual, with a bright grin permanently on her face throughout the whole drive.

She found a spot in the parking lot of the hotel quite easily and with a skip in her step, she made her way through the big window doors and into the lobby. The guys were all distracted on their phones, so many people were walking around the hotel lobby that the echo of her steps was lost in between the pattern.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Arctic Monkeys." Ella's voice was playful, a smirk on her face as she saw them turn their heads in her direction.

The four of them pocketed their phones and yelled her name, a little bit too loud for the hotel staff's liking. Ella was enveloped in a group hug and she swore she could cry when it hit her then just how much she'd missed them the past six months.

"Missed you guys." She said once the group hug was done and she went around giving them all hugs.

Alex was the last one, kissing the top of her head before he let go, "Missed you too."

She was melting, having missed the singer more than she would ever admit but the moment was cut short when Matt said, "Couldn't live without us huh?" A big smirk on his face, his eyes as playful as ever.

"Matthew, I will leave you here." She looked at the drummer with a serious expression, that was broken when she saw his film camera hanging from his neck.

Matt threw his arms up in defeat, "Alright, alright. But you couldn't though." He added the last bit quickly and quietly.

She chuckled and rolled her eyes, "If that helps you sleep at night."

After asking them if they were ready to go, and all of them nodding, she guided them to her car. It was big enough for all of them to fit comfortably so it didn't take them much time to get inside the vehicle and start driving. Alex was sitting on the passenger seat, while the rest took the backseats.

The little mirrorball was hanging from her rearview mirror with a tiny cowboy hat on top and it caught their attention. They all pointed at it with giggles whilst Alex could only think about how long it had been since the first time he saw it and how that day had been. Soon enough she turned on the car and started driving out of the parking lot.

Nick, who was in the middle, rested his arms on the front seats and looked around them all before saying, "Anyone want to share their last words before we get on the motorway?"

They all laughed hard, Ella looked through the rearview mirror at them and shook her head. She took her right hand and swatted at Nick's leg, leaving the steering wheel alone for a second which made Matt dramatically yell.

"Jesus Christ, I hate y'all." She sighed, placing her hand back where it was and focusing back on the road.

Jamie, who was sitting behind her, patted her arm. "Except you don't."

She opted to put her music on, letting the speakers drown the car with Ozzy Osbourne's voice. No one complained, which she was thankful for, they were just chatting over the music from time to time until they made it to Venice beach.

She took them walking through the Venice canals, the little suburb which was an American version of the Italian city. She had found it once while looking for a parking place when she was going to the beach with her friends, loving how quiet the place was and how pretty the scenery was. She had gone back multiple times to take pictures there, some of her favorite pictures were from the canals under the colors casted by the rising sun.

They had used the neighborhood as a backdrop to them walking around and catching up, them telling her tour anecdotes and how Nick's wedding plans were going, her telling them about the things they had been filming at Focus Creeps—which were now steering away from adverts and onto short films and artists trying to work with them after the Arctic Monkeys videos had been posted—and the shoots she'd been doing with Breana, which she promised Matt to show.

It was early, so the streets were rather empty, and it was February so it wasn't unbearably hot either.

Ella had her camera with her, constantly stopping to take pictures and it sent Alex back to Vegas. The way she would shiver despite having her jean jacket on sent him back to the day they had met. This time though, she would share her frames and exchange tips with Matt—he had her take pictures of certain places, she was helping him get the perfect shot—and Alex was melting inside. She was beyond adorable when her face lit up while sharing her passions.

After they gave the neighborhood a full walk-around, they went back to the car and she drove them over to the Old Los Angeles Zoo. The drive was long, over an hour, which was filled with her music and lots of chatter. She turned the volume down, the Talking Heads song fading to the background, so that she could give them a small preface of where it was that they were going.

"Okay so before you say anything about the LA Zoo signs, I'm actually taking you to the old abandoned one. It's very apocalyptic looking, but it has character."

Soon enough they were parking on the side of the road, and they could see an old rusty sign that read 'Picnic Area'. She guided them into the place, agile while scurrying and crouching down and through the stone ruins.

They were walking around and seeing every one of the forgotten cages, the lads getting inside of them and getting their pictures taken by Ella while they made weird faces or they tried to act like the animals they'd guess had lived in those cages.

Matt had trapped Ella into one of the cages, making her curse him through the metal bars as the band waved at her and faked leaving her behind. Alex taking a quick picture of her with his phone, she flipped him off and he smiled even harder.

Ella had gotten her payback when they were in a particularly claustrophobic cage that had a very steep staircase. Matt had been resting his palms against the graffitied walls at the top, as he slowly leaned his body forward to look down but he screeched when Ella had purposely nudged his hip and made his balance waver.

"You little–" The drummer had mumbled sternly before setting off to chase behind her, not hard to know where she went since she had run away giggling and they could still hear her.

Another thirty minutes of them messing about went by, before they were back in her car. She sighed as she settled in the driver's seat. Everyone shuffled into their seats but before she could start the engine, she had to make her mind up about where to take them next.

Her fingers drummed on the steering wheel as she looked through the rearview mirror at them. "Alright, so do you wanna go to the Hollywood sign or am I good to take you to the next place?"

They had already gone to the iconic landmark multiple times before so it wasn't hard for them to shrug and agree on moving onto the next place, which ended up being Los Feliz and they drove through the Shakespeare bridge on their way there, which she had pointed out enthusiastically.

Ella loved this part of the city of Los Angeles, she would visit it at least once a week to have some food at La Pergoletta and then go to the Los Feliz Theater which was just a couple blocks away. And that's exactly what they did. They sat at the Italian restaurant to have some early lunch—Ella giving them all recommendations of what they should get and fighting them to pay for the meal when the check arrived—, and then they went over to walk by the theater and the rest of Los Feliz Boulevard.

With their stomachs full and yet another roll of film gone, they went back to the car. Jamie walked ahead of the group as he claimed to remember exactly where they had parked, Nick and Matt talking as they followed closely behind, Alex and Ella on the very back of the group smoking.

"Are you excited to go on tour with us?" Alex inquired after he took a drag of his cigarette.

A puff of smoke left her lips, "I certainly am, though I can feel my back hurting already."

"Bunk beds are lovely, aren't they?" He looked at her with a playful smirk that made her chuckle.

"I bet you love going to the chiropractor." She sighed, exhaling the smoke and flicking some of the ashes to the floor.

"I've never been to one actually." the singer admitted after thinking for a second, trying to recount any visit to a chiropractor.

"Are you serious?" Ella asked with a gasp, and when he shook his head, she shrugged. "Well you should, it's the weirdest relief."

Alex thought about it but then frowned, "Doesn't the cracking noise freak you out?"

"Kind of? The first time he cracked my neck I fully thought I had died and was seeing the other side." She recalled, shuddering at the memory and the wind that had hit her.

He snorted, "That's exactly why I'll stick to massages, thanks very much."

"Are you gonna share your masseuse's number then?" She jokingly replied, but actually thinking of ways to alleviate her upcoming backache during the tour in the back of her mind.

Alex looked straight ahead towards his friends and pointed to the one in the front. "That would be Jamie actually, he knows his shit when it comes to a good back massage."

She hummed, looking at the man walking confidently ahead of the group. "Good to know." A few seconds of silence passed as they kept smoking and she thought of taking a picture of them, like that, in a mundane LA setting so she turned to the singer. "Alright Alex, c'mon go walk with them I wanna take a picture of y'all."

He nodded, smoking the last of his cigarette before tossing it to the pavement and stepping on it. "Tired of me, are you? The tour hasn't even started yet." He teased with a raised eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes, smiling at his behavior. "Shut up, idiot."

He smirked back, before starting to walk faster ahead of her. "How do you want me then?"

"Just keep walking and turn around when I call you." Ella instructed with a point of her finger.

Alex nodded and complied, walking right behind Nick and Matt who nodded at him in acknowledgement but kept talking between themselves. He was waiting for her voice to call out to him, watching his feet move, the sound of every step he took hitting his ears as the city noise became more background noise than anything.

When he heard a soft "Al" being called, he turned around with a soft smile—a smile that she captured, with the perfect focus and he looked stunning so the thought just escaped her.

"Stunning." Her voice was soft as she rolled the film with the lever, sticking it back into its place right after. Turning the device off since she wasn't taking any more pictures, she let it hit her upper stomach and when she looked up, she was met with his gaze.

"Is that so?" Alex nudged her hip with his and Ella blushed.

"Yes but don't let it get to your head," her cheeks stayed warm as she tried to play it cool, "Or else I'll have to take it upon myself to keep you humble."

He hummed as he pursed his lips trying not to grin, "I'm sure you'd enjoy that."

"You're right, I truly would." She nudged him this time and he tripped on his feet making her laugh out loud, the lads turned around to see him stumble and joined in her laughter. "Told you I would." She added smugly.

Alex looked at her mesmerized, Ella was just so hypnotizing to him. With everything she did, what she said and how she looked, he couldn't help but stare. She flushed under his gaze and was saved by the bell when Jamie indeed found her car and she had to speed her walk to unlock it for them.

Once inside, she ignited the engine and clapped her hands, "The next place I'm taking you is probably one of my favorite places in the whole world, I spend hours here every time I go and it's beautiful so..." she ranted before turning her music on, Stevie Nicks' voice now drowning the vehicle as they moved through the streets and back onto the highway.

It took them less than thirty minutes to get to the place, which had felt way faster after Matt decided to tease her about being born in the wrong generation as her playlist was filled with 70s and early 80s songs rather than more modern music; she hadn't gotten a chance to even fight their argument because when Alex started skipping through the songs, their point was backed. Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Talking Heads, The Cure, Pink Floyd, Bowie, Dolly Parton, Fleetwood Mac. Ella blushed as she slapped Alex's hand away from her phone, Bowie's voice lost in the background as everyone laughed.

When they stepped through the threshold of the bookstore, Ella's breath was taken from her by the views, as if she didn't frequent the place and she wasn't acquainted with the people who worked there.

Even Matt, who couldn't be arsed to be in a bookstore, was taken aback by the way the place looked. The way the books were arranged and the eccentric decor of each room was like nothing he'd ever seen before. It was like a Disneyland themed room, but it was just a bookstore.

"Just wait until you see the book tunnel." Ella's voice was giddy, her smile growing as she stepped further inside, with them following closely behind.

And soon enough, while she gave them a tour of the place—saying "Hi!" to people working there who greeted her back and knew her name—, they were met with a room which had a tunnel against a wall, entirely made with books. Further ahead a wall with what had been arranged to look like flying books, that reminded them of Harry Potter.

After agreeing to spend half an hour there, since they had to be at the hotel in about two hours and she had to pick her stuff up and Breana to meet them back again, they separated to look through the endless selection of books the store offered.

Of course they had left Alex and Ella by themselves, but she was too entranced by the worn out spines on the shelves to see Matt winking at his best mate before leaving with Jamie and Nick.

"You know, I found an annotated original copy of Pride and Prejudice here the first time I came. It was titled 'Elizabeth Bennet' rather than Pride and Prejudice and I found out that that was the title of some copies when they first got here in 1832. Have been coming here since then." Her smile was soft at the memory, her eyes glimmering under the dull yellow lights.

He hummed, mirroring her gentle grin, "That must be worth a fortune."

"Oh definitely, but that book is not leaving me ever. If I don't get buried with it, then I will pass it down to my kids." She laughed at herself by the end, shaking her head at her thoughts and started walking to turn into another aisle.

He giggled with her, eyes wondering from her figure to the books. Some old, some new but all equally hypnotizing to her as she picked them out and inspected them.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

"They better," Ella said absentmindedly as she put the book back in its place, "Or else I will haunt them."

Alex let out a breathy laugh as he reached for a book on the top shelf that had caught his eye. "You'd be the worst ghost, if they even exist."

She clicked her tongue, turning to look at him, book left forgotten in his hands as he met her gaze. "C'mon Turner, you need to have some faith or else I won't be able to haunt Helders for the rest of his life."

His smirk grew playful, "You'll make him miserable?"

She winked, "You know it."

Time flew by like it always did, purposely forcing the needles on the clock to spin faster when it knew Alex was with her, wind blowing the sand from the hourglass so they ran out of minutes when they were together. And as if they had been the embodiment of an alarm clock, the other three members of the group appeared, precisely on the dot of the time they had agreed on.

Back in the car, she sighed as she saw them all take in their assigned seats. "So how was it class? Did you like your road trip?"

Nick shrugged in the middle, his lips pressed to avoid smiling. "Eh. Could've been better."

And before Ella could retaliate, Matt added, "I'm pretty sure the driver tried to kill us a fair few times." to which Alex and Jamie agreed with "'Yeah, yeah."

She just rolled her eyes through the rear view mirror, and took advantage of having the singer next to her so she could smack the back of his head. "I can't stand any of you." She muttered as the engine hummed alive, making them all erupt in laughter at the way Alex had jumped in his seat.

The drive back to their hotel had grown amusing when 'Still Take You Home' came on, and she turned the volume up after saying with a massive smirk "See? How's that for modern music boys?"

She started singing along, copying Alex's accent and exaggerating it to an obnoxious extent but they were loving it. She made a full show, playing an imaginary guitar, getting cheered on by the lads and when the song was over she did a little curtsy with her eyes on the road.

Jamie patted Alex's shoulder, making him turn around and see a smirk on his friend's face. "Sorry Al, you're being replaced."

The singer only sighed, keeping up with the charade, "Just like that, huh?"

"Sorry mate." added Matt, a faux-comforting grasp of his shoulder as he apologized.

Ella grabbed his hand and squeezed it, "Sorry Al, but it's clear who's better if the decision was that easy." A frown on her face as she acted on putting a face that exuded fake pity.

He only shook his head, grabbing the phone. Unlocking it easily with a swipe on the screen and he searched through her music. "But do you know..." He trailed off as he pressed on the track. The quick drum pattern of 'Pretty Visitors' coming through the speakers and her pout faltered.

"Won't even try because I can barely understand what you say in it." Her cheeks tinted pink as the other three hollered in the back of the car.

"Looks like you're back mate." said Nick, backtracking their previous statement.

Alex smirked at Ella, who caught the sight of him for a quick second before turning back around to look at the road. "That's what I thought."

In an hour, she had dropped them off at the hotel so they could get ready before the tour bus got there later and picked them all up. She rushed home to pick up her suitcase—which she had forced herself to keep light and small—and then went over Breana's to get her.

The sun was setting as they talked, laughed and sang, driving down the highway and on their way back to the hotel. The closer the hotel's exit got, the more nervous she felt. Bre noticed, but she kept making jokes that made her loosen up. After all, nothing bad would happen; the worst could be that however she felt about Alex got nowhere and she'd stay silently crushing over a man out of her reach. And she somehow was okay with that, as long as she still could have him as a friend.

It was muscle memory that made her find a parking spot and turn off the engine of her car at the hotel. With a blink, she realized just how dangerous that had been, because she couldn't recall those last five minutes of the drive. The thought of him was dangerous.

The tiny wheels on their suitcases scratched down the pavement as they met the band at the hotel's main entrance. She had to quickly reach for Bre's suitcase when she let go of it to run into Matt's arms, catching it right before it hit the ground.

Jamie sighed, "Thanks Bre, we missed you too." Sarcasm so clear in his words, Matt chuckled and only held his girlfriend tighter.

Eventually, the lovebirds let go of each other and Breana could properly greet everyone. They all lit cigarettes up as they waited for the bus, which according to the text Alex had gotten, would be there in about fifteen minutes.

It was all laughter and chatter, a taste of what the upcoming week was going to be like, and Ella found it refreshing. Yes she loved her job, but there was something about driving down the west coast along with her friends, who happened to be musicians, enjoying their art and whatever the cities had to offer.

She wished she could go on tour more often already but since she knew this was gonna be the first and last time she'd get to go on one, she'd make the best out of the experience and enjoy every second of it.

A few minutes earlier than anticipated, the bus arrived. Tall black coach with dark windows that made her wonder if you could even look through them at all. She found that she could, after they all left their luggage where they had been instructed to place it and they walked up the steps and into the vehicle.

"Holy shit," Ella could barely keep her jaw from falling at the size of it, "It's bigger than the last one."

Matt walked up to her, throwing an arm around her shoulder and his other arm hugged Breana tighter to his side. "Had to upgrade since we're taking on two very special guests."

"Awh, I knew I was special to you." Ella cooed playfully before jabbing the drummer in his ribs.

He flinched and tried to get her back but she moved faster, "Don't go pushing your luck now, Ellie."

She giggled before she was swept away by Breana, who grabbed her hand and took her to the next few steps that led into the rest of the bus. There were far too many bunks for just the six of them but they looked bigger and more comfortable than the ones in the tour bus they had taken to Las Vegas so she wouldn't go complaining about anything. She was sure she could go without a hotel throughout the week, seeing that they had a perfectly sized bathroom inside as well, with a small shower and all.

Nick walked into the hallway, standing by the door that separated the bunks from the rest of the bus. "Yous can choose your beds first."

Bre turned to her with a playful smirk, shrugging her shoulders mischievously. "Chivalry is not dead I see..." the model trailed off, getting a hold of Ella's hand again to bring her back down the hallway.

And after leaving their coats on top of the beds they had chosen, which were facing each other, they went back down to the lounge area. The driver was at the bottom of the stairs telling them they'd be setting off in five minutes and made sure there was nothing else they were missing.

Five minutes after the confirmation that they were good to go, the bus started moving. They felt the change of rhythm as they got off onto the highway whilst they chatted, scattered around the settees in the lounge area.

"So Ella, are you ready for the groupie lifestyle?" Matt's voice was teasing, a slight pitch higher as the anticipation of her reaction bubbled inside of him. Breana giggled against her boyfriend's side which she was pressed against.

As per usual, Ella was starting to blush. Her cheeks tinted a faint pink as her lips pursed, "Groupie? That's a big commitment."

"Well I know a few people that would love to come to an agreement with you." The drummer let his eyes wander to his best friend who was about to break his jaw with how hard he was clenching it.

Ella knew exactly who Matt was staring at so her cheeks turned a very obvious red now, even the tips of her ears matching the color on her face.

She sighed, letting her head drop just a little bit for a few seconds before looking to her left and staring at the other three musicians. "How long is this tour again?"

Matt snorted, Breana laughing just as hard as Nick was. "Eight days." Jamie ended up replying, holding back laughter.

Her eyes were still on the rest of the band and she gave them a pitiful shake of her head, "Can't believe you can stand months of this one on the road. I'd pull all of my hair out."

Alex agreed with her then, "I'm fairly close to that point every tour."

"Sure mate, I'd pay to see you bald." Dared the drummer to which he only received an eye roll and a lovely middle finger from the singer.

Ella could only think how unforgettable those eight days were going to be.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Ella had been right.

She had it all imprinted in her mind.

Every kiss to her cheek followed by a 'good morning', an arm snaking around her waist giving it a firm squeeze before letting go and leaving her breathless.

Every time an arm came around her shoulders and rubbed her arm up and down when she was shivering because of the strong winds outside the venues as the sky turned from lilac and orange to a velvety blue.

Every whiskey glass turned into a slurred 'you look stunning, darling', that somehow always led to shared cigarettes outside bars and his giggles in her ear as he leaned into her every time she'd make him laugh.

Every picture she had taken of their views and their surroundings, that turned into a plea to take a picture of her with whatever it was in her previous shot as a background.

Every late night chat they had as they were always the last ones to go to bed. It be on the tour bus' lounge or a hotel bar, the walls of these places being confidants to everything they'd shared: stories from their childhoods, a movie they never really got over, a hobby they always wanted to get into but never could, their already gone dreams that would forever stay as that, the intricacies of existence they'd come to terms with never really understanding.

She was sure she had never blushed more in her life compared to how she had been in the past five days. Her cheeks were sore from grinning after everything Alex did, whatever little things he'd say to her.

They had grown closer, always next to each other. Their behavior had earned them plenty of eye rolls from the rest of the band, but they didn't truly care anymore.

That Tuesday she had woken up with a groan. They had been in Vegas the day before and, whilst their stay had been shorter and tamer than the last time they had been in the city, they still had had plenty to drink. A headache was all she felt, softer than she would've expected and she found a bit of hope in the fact that she could nurse it with a couple of painkillers.

Her phone screen flashed in front of her, a notification from the weather app telling her it would be a sunny but windy day in San Diego. Eyes going up to the time, nine in the morning and she took a deep breath but it got stuck in her throat when she realized the date. Fucking Valentine's Day.

Ella had grown to have good memories of the holiday, but they had all been tarnished by people's decisions and time. She didn't care much for it anymore, or she forced herself not to. Now all she could think was how she would hate the decision of having Breana sleep just across from her, she'd have to sleep blasting music in order not to hear anything. It had already worked for her the days before, so she would hold on tight to her earphones and her playlists to drown out whatever the lovebirds would get up to that night.

She shivered just thinking about it.

Slowly pushing the curtain aside, Ella slid out of the bunk. Landing with a thud on the floor, before she walked out to the lounge to make herself a cup of coffee on the fancy Keurig the tour bus had.

Nick had kept his promise of asking for loads of it. It had been an exaggerated amount but it was of a really really nice kind so she wouldn't complain.

Surprisingly everyone rose up not long after her, she thought it was probably the coffee's smell that had guided them out of bed and into the lounge. First came Jamie, who stood beside her, leaning against the makeshift kitchen counter as they sipped on their coffees.

Nick and Breana followed, the girl claiming Matt was still asleep but they'd be going out when he woke up, which meant the other four of the group were gonna be left alone without the lovers.

She had been teasing Breana along with Nick and Jamie—laughing as they managed to make the model blush and hide behind her hands—when Alex came out looking freshly changed, wearing a plain white shirt with a leather jacket, dark jeans and his usual chelsea boots. Gold chain around his neck and she had to pinch herself to stop her mind going places.

He took her breath away and it was shown in the way her exhale pushed the steam of her second coffee cup forwards.

"Morning everyone." The singer greeted in a low voice, morning's effect still over it as it sounded husky and slightly raspy.

They all said morning back, Ella turning around to pour him a mug of coffee. A spoonful and a half of sugar, the way she now knew he liked his coffee.

When she held it up for him to take he got closer, pressing a kiss to her cheek and whispering "Thank you, Ellie."

He took a long sip of the beverage before he cleared his throat, "You should get ready, we're going out in a little bit."

She frowned, cup slowly leaving her lips. "But–" she turned to Jamie then, who was still standing beside her, "Didn't we not have plans?"

Jamie smirked, looking from Ella to Alex, "We didn't."

"Just us, you deserve a break from these two idiots." He tried to downplay it, not wanting to say he was taking her on a date but he was.

Her hand was still frozen, the cup of coffee midair as she slowly broke out of her shocked state. "Alright..." she trailed off, her voice barely a whisper.

Nick got up, taking the mug from her hand. "Go on, I'll wash this for you."

Breathlessly she replied, "Thank you," before she, in panic, looked at Breana who had the biggest grin on her face.

The model jumped up onto her feet and ran away into the bunk beds with Ella's hand tightly clutched. They moved onto the empty bunk area, and closed the door behind them to not wake Matt up.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Breana whisper-yelled and it only made her more nervous.

Ella waved her hands to calm her down, "Stop! Stop!" She shouted back in a whisper.

Bre sighed, "He's totally asked you on a date."

"No he hasn't, it's just– We're just going out." Ella fought back, stuttering as she made her point.

"Going out. On a date." The model stated in a tone that said it was obvious.

"Fuck." She swore under her breath and Breana shrieked. "Shush! I don't want to get my hopes up."

The admission made Bre stop in her place, she grabbed Ella's arms and squeezed affectionately, "Everything will be okay, alright? Whatever happens, it will be a good day and you'll remember it as such."

She inhaled and exhaled, twice, long deep breaths to calm her down but they did nothing really. She needed a cigarette, desperately, but she needed to get ready first. "What do I even wear?! I have nothing date-appropriate to wear."

"Lucky you have me, babe." Breana wasted no time before she crouched down to pull her case towards herself, unzipping it and showing a mess of fabrics.

Ten minutes later, after she had been pushed into the bathroom to get ready and then change into the clothes Breana and her had chosen, she was putting some mascara on. Breana pushed one of her lip glosses into the pocket of the cheetah print coat she had lent Ella.

The coat had been decided into the outfit after Ella claimed she'd get too cold without one as she was just wearing a satin top, that looked like the top half of a slip-on dress, and her high waisted blue jeans. She fished her packet of Marlboro reds and her lighter after spraying some perfume on the way out, her camera already hanging on her shoulder and her phone in the back pocket of her jeans.

Her boots clicked as she walked down the few steps that led into the lounge. And Alex swallowed hard when she fully came in view. He didn't have it in him to feel shy or embarrassed to be heard by his mates when he went over to her, clutched her hand and told her, "You look beautiful, Ellie." followed by a kiss on her cheek.

His lips burned on the already heated skin of her cheeks. She just had it in her to say back a quiet, "Thank you, Al. So do you."

He quickly said goodbye to everyone before they could say anything, and he thanked his lucky stars that Matt wasn't there or else she would've shied away from it all with his teasing. She said bye too, quietly as the nerves bit away at her slowly with every step they took in direction to the bus door.

Once outside he decided to tease her, joke around to have her loosen up because he could feel just how stiff and nervous she was. "Beautiful am I then?"

She chuckled, blushing again. "Shut up." she replied with her head down, her voice directed at the floor. "Where are we going anyway?" She put a strand of hair behind her ear as she inquired.

Alex smiled softly at her, "We're renting a car and I'm taking you to this place I've always wanted to go but never had the chance to."

"Mysterious." She let her words hang in the air as they walked, she had no idea where they were going and that made her more nervous yet she was growing giddy too. The bus had stopped at the venue, so they took an exit through a door all the way around, where the fans weren't queuing up for later.

Just like he had been saying, there was a car rental place a few blocks away and it wasn't long before they were driving down San Diego's coast. About twenty minutes later, when she had asked many times where they were going and he was not telling her, Ella was able to see the outline of a rollercoaster beside the sea and it made her gasp.

"Are we going to Belmont Park?!" Her pitch was high as she couldn't contain her excitement, and Alex grinned hard when he took a quick glance at her and saw her practically beaming.

He hummed like he didn't want to let a pathetic happy squeal, "We are."

She couldn't stay still and she was aware that she probably looked like a child but she had always wanted to come to this place, and she was fairly sure she had mentioned it to him when they found themselves chatting over a few drinks at the bar of the hotel they had stayed in when they were in San Francisco.

It came back faintly to her mind then. Alex had mentioned that San Diego was the last place before they would drive back up to Los Angeles and Ella had gone on an alcohol-induced rant about how she'd been dying to go to Belmont Park but the few times she had gone down to San Diego, no one had wanted to go with her or something happened that kept her from going.

Her insides filled with a feeling she had been trying to ignore for the past few days, just thinking about how he had remembered all that when she had almost forgotten even mentioning it in between the cocktails.

Alex rolled the windows down, wind blowing their hair around. Not even her hair on her face could hide her grin and it only got bigger as they parked and got to the ticket booth.

The place was less crowded than she expected it to be, with kids back in school and it being winter, so they were walking freely and enjoying the controlled noise from the people already there.

The orange wristbands they had gotten allowed them to go on any ride they wanted so they went walking around the place, drinking in everything they could do throughout the day and seeing what caught their eyes first.

"We're definitely saving the roller coaster for last." She pointed out, her ears filling with the yells of people on the ride's trains as they came down the big slope.

He nodded, "Yep, but we're going in the first row." He was wearing dark sunglasses but she could see his teasing gaze behind them.

She smirked at him, "Okay, deal." putting her hand out for him to shake and that he did, firmly and matching her smirk.

A few minutes later they had found a mini golf course, safari themed that they deemed the best way to start the day. They picked up their score card, a pencil, their balls and putters and off they went into the course.

Ella turned to him as they approached the first hole, "Don't laugh at me," her finger threatening as it pointed straight at her face. "My dad tried to get me into golfing but I've always been shit at it."

His lips pressed hard against each other, trying to hide his smile. "Sure. Promise I won't laugh."

But when she hit the ball first and it awkwardly landed in the furthest spot from the hole, completely missing it by a foot, he snorted and she huffed as she turned around. "You said you wouldn't laugh!"

Her pout tugged at his heart strings, "Sorry darling," he pressed a kiss to her temple before placing his ball on the tee, "But you really are bad."

"I know." She whined, a soft chuckle leaving her lips seeing how far her ball was and how funny she found her own lack of golfing skills. Jesus, that's fucking embarrassing, she thought.

Ella didn't mind keeping the score, she was just a little embarrassed by the end when Alex won by having half her points. She blushed when he asked who had won, only wanting to tease her because he knew it was him.

Alex had compensated it by getting her ice cream, which they were eating away blissfully as they walked around.

The wind kept blowing her hair around, making her curse as she tried to keep it away from the ice cream. He stopped and handed her his cup, she was confused until he stood behind her and brushed her hair back to then start braiding it.

Her face was heating up, as she stared ahead of her, feeling his fingers on her hair. "What are you doing?" The words were so soft they almost sounded weak.

"A plait, so your hair doesn't blow on your face." Alex responded just as softly, his breath hitting the back of her neck. He could see the goosebumps erupting on her skin so he smirked, purposely brushing his finger against her neck soothingly.

He didn't take long to finish it, tying it with an elastic she had on her wrist. He squeezed her shoulders to indicate he was done and she turned around on her heels, "Thanks, Al."

"No worries." He smiled, getting his ice cream back from her.

"Where did you learn how to braid? I'm curious now."

Alex chuckled at her eyes clearly showing her curiosity. "I used to have long hair y'know."

She paused, "Wait– like long long? Longer than when we met?"

He nodded, "Way longer."

"Oh I'm gonna have a good time on google later." Ella elbowed him softly to tease him, cheeky smile breaking out despite the spoon between her teeth.

He rolled his eyes in faux annoyance, "Sure you will. Will have a good time chatting shit with Matt too, I bet."

She beamed and joked, "You know me so well."

Ella kept on walking then to taunt him some more, leaving him to keep up with her as her strides got faster. She got a playful shove when he caught up beside her which ended in her laughing.

Teenagers were running around with their friends, laughter came from all around the place, the sun was shining bright behind the clouds that stubbornly chased the star around. It was all perfect and it only got better as the day went by.

They had gone on the bumper cars twice, the drop tower, the beach blaster—which had gotten them so dizzy they ended up riding the carrousel afterwards, earning frowns from certain parents who were holding their toddlers up on the horses—, the go karts, the fun house and even a laser maze.

It was around lunch time when they were walking past a line of stands filled with food you could only find at a fair. Sweetness bold in the air, making their mouths water.

"What's that? Smells very nice." asked Alex when they passed a funnel cake kiosk.

Ella stopped in her tracks, grabbing his wrist to drag him to the back of the short line. "Funnel cake and we're getting some," she fished for her card to keep it in hand and pay before he could, like he had done all day. "Have you ever tried it?"

He hadn't even heard of the term before, "No, is it good?"

She sighed in delight just thinking about it, "It tastes like heaven."

Ten minutes later they were sitting on a little wooden table with two funnel cakes—that she proudly and quickly paid for—sitting on top of it. One had whipped cream and caramel drizzled all over, while the other had a scoop of vanilla ice cream, chopped strawberries and chocolate fudge.

"This is like asking for a diabetic coma." The singer joked, watching the dessert filling the plates.

She smiled at that, "Welcome to America baby," she quipped back with a playful tone on her voice.

The phrase came out of her mouth without her even having time to realize the pet name, but she played off her flushing cheeks as excitement as she moved one of the plates towards him and pulled the other in front of her.

Plastic forks dug into the fried batter and, just as Ella had described, it tasted amazing. She made him take bites out of hers, claiming he had to try it or else he'd regret it, so he did and she watched him take it in as she wiped some caramel from the corner of her mouth.

Alex savored the bite, thinking about how if he kissed her, she'd taste just as sweet and just that thought made his mouth water even more.

She had been taking pictures, and he thought about how he'd never grow tired of seeing her like that: so adamant on catching the perfect shot, sometimes slightly crouching down or standing on her tippy toes, nose scrunching as she closed one of her eyes to focus the frame, finger so delicate yet precise when pressing the shutter and that beaming grin after capturing it.

The same grin she was giving him now after she had taken a picture of him and the funnel cakes, the rest of the attendees so oblivious to her heart swelling up at his soft smile and the way his eyes crinkled.

Once they finished their food, they stood up and kept on walking until they stumbled on a photobooth on the left side of the boardwalk. He paid before she could notice, and when they were sitting on the flat red leather seat, she awkwardly smiled at the screen.

There was a five second countdown that made her internally freak out until she settled on just smiling, eyes closed from how big it was and he copied it as he also faced the camera.

Once the shutter sound went off she sighed, "I have no idea what to do, I'm usually the photographer!"

He chuckled and threw his arm around her shoulder to hug her into him, cheek pressed against her temple making her giggle. The sound of her bubbly laughter was interrupted by the shutter and she couldn't wait to see how that one had turned out.

She let out a small shriek, desperately trying to think of something to do. "Okay Mr. Rockstar, rock on." Ella said quickly before doing the rock 'n' roll sign with her right hand, tongue sticking out to the camera. He mirrored her actions, both of them bursting out with laughter right after. "Sorry I panicked, didn't know what to do."

Alex just shook his head and she scrunched up her nose looking at his blissed expression. "You're something else." He said almost breathlessly, getting lost in her pretty eyes.

"Is that a compliment?" Her voice was shy as her cheeks tinted pink for the hundredth time in the day.

He smirked, "Definitely."

And with that the shutter went off capturing the last picture. When they came out of the booth and saw the freshly printed pictures, they laughed. They laughed to hide how the strip of photos actually made them feel, her skin erupted in goosebumps at the sight of the last one: both of them just smiling wide at each other, eyes staring into the other's like nothing else mattered.

He held the little sleeve in which the two strips were now saved, and delicately placed it on the pocket inside of his jacket, so ironically over his heart.

Not long after, they were on the line for the roller coaster which they had agreed would be their last ride before they went out to eat at this Mexican restaurant she loved that wasn't too far away.

She had always hated the long queues at amusement parks, the wait making her body catch onto just how sore her feet were or how her back begged for a resting place but it was easy with Alex. They would get caught in conversations so quickly, effortlessly flowing through topics and stories, making the forty minutes of wait seem shorter.

He had asked for them to be seated in the front row, having to wait for five more minutes before they got the instruction to sit and when they did she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans.

"Are you nervous?" Alex asked, half teasing and half worried.

Ella cleared her throat to begin explaining, "I love roller coasters but hate heights. Just a walking contradiction I am."

He squeezed her thigh to then pull on the black bar set firmly atop of their hips, "Don't worry, this won't budge."

And before she could nod the trains started moving and her eyes widened, a chesty laugh falling from his lips at her reaction. A few seconds later they were in complete darkness and then the light of day could be seen at the end of the tunnel.

Once the light hit them again, the trains started going up and she turned to him in warning. "Just so you know, I tend to laugh like a maniac when I'm scared on a ride."

"Very excited to see that." Alex was teasing her but not quite, he actually wanted to hear every version of her laugh.

Ella could see the drop coming up and suddenly she remembered the lack of protection her top provided, words spilling out of her mouth with no filter as the anticipation built up. "My fucking tits are gonna fall off this top!" She shouted through her teeth, just loud enough for only them both to hear.

In comparison, his laugh was loud, "Well I wouldn't mind seeing that either."

She scoffed, one hand on the bar on top of them and the other holding the fabric of her strappy top to her exposed chest. "Of course you wouldn't you cheeky– Fuck!"

The car dipped faster than she expected and she closed her eyes for a second after her curse flew out into the wind. He was laughing beside her, making her laugh with him and as the trains went up and down, a funny feeling on her stomach made her giggle away uncontrollably.

The ride ended after a brief minute of ups, downs and tilts to the sides, and as they came to a stop at the loading bay of the attraction, Alex turned to ask her, "You wanna go again?"

In all honesty, he didn't want to make another almost-hour-long line but the whole time he had been looking at her and hearing her in the ride, and he selfishly wanted to experience it all again.

"If the line wasn't as long, then I'd say yes. But maybe next time yeah?" Ella replied, patting his cheek before the worker lifted the security bar and they got out.

They had laughed at her reaction on the way back to the car, the sunset creeping on behind them. She gasped at the colors in the sky as she opened the car door so she stopped to take a picture before getting inside.

"Got it?" The singer asked softly with a small smile on his face.

"Mhm." She nodded, shy smile reciprocating his.

And then they drove as she sang to the songs from her phone. Smirking when 'Suck It And See' came on shuffle, "Oh what a lovely coincidence, isn't it Turner?" she had said before singing along to his voice booming through the speakers.

He had only shook his head as he looked at the road but whenever he turned to see her singing to her heart's content, with the pink and lilac casted behind her as the sun fell slowly to kiss the horizon, he took a mental picture of it all. Not because of nature's wonders but of her, in all her glory, she was far more captivating than any of the most stunning skies he had ever seen.

"A picture would last you longer, Turner." Ella played, feeling his burning gaze as she scrolled through her music on her phone.

His cheeks heated slightly from being caught, "It would. Quite gutted I'm driving right now."

She blushed but leaned into the console to get closer to him and kissed his cheek, "Your memory better do then."

When they stopped at the restaurant, she came out of the car with a bounce on her step. "Oh thank god! I was starving." she admitted, holding his hand as she rushed them into the place. When the tune of the bell greeted them inside, two heads turned and were quick to say 'hello' and sit them down.

"Alright so," she started, clasping her hands in front of her on top of the table, "My guilty pleasure is Mexican coke and I'm just so lucky that we always have it here in the south so we're getting some first. It's so much better than the American one, far sweeter."

He hummed at her, thinking back to remember if he'd ever had Mexican coke but barely even remembering the last instance he'd had a can of regular coke. So when someone came back to take their orders, the first thing she asked for was two bottles of Mexican coke along with carne asada tacos and chips with guacamole.

They ended up ordering another pair of Cokes to wash down the food. She desperately wanted one to nurse the numbness the hot chili sauce had left on her mouth and when the two new bottles were left on the table, she thanked the waitress and quickly enclosed her fingers around one of them.

Condensation dripped down her palm and wrist, as her swollen red lips found purchase around the tip of the bottle. She took a long sip, her throat bobbing up and down as she swallowed the carbonated liquid. Alex suddenly wanted to be the bottle, to feel her lips on his in any way he could, to feel them around him. There was nothing he wouldn't do to be in the place of that damn bottle.

It was about an hour, the time they had spent at the restaurant. They paid—he did, despite her arguing with him about it—, and they were on their way back to the venue shortly after. When they got to the theater, they parked by the back entrance and ran inside seeing they only had fifteen minutes left before Alex had to be on stage.

He got waved over by one of the sound guys, telling him they needed him to check his in-ears before it was show time and he promised he'd be over soon, the man leaving after telling him where they were gonna be waiting for him.

She blushed at the tension in the air, she felt it so thick over her like the humidity after a hot summer rainfall. So shyly she held his hand, rubbing her thumb on the back of it. "Thank you for today." her tone was so timid, it made his need to kiss her shyness away even bigger.

He gave her a soft smile, so genuine that it melted her. "I should be the one thanking you, darling. Had the best day."

Someone in the distance shouted his name, and she could've bet money on it being none other than Matt 'Cockblocker' Helders. But before the drummer could've come to completely ruin the moment, she took it in her own hands to seal the day with a golden ribbon.

With a tinge of courage she started, "Well, happy Valentine's day Al." and before he could say it back, she was standing on her tippy toes and pressing a chaste kiss on his lips.

For merely a few seconds he felt her plush pink lips on his, they were soft and hot, still a bit swollen from the hot sauce. They were seconds that felt like an eternity but way too short for his own liking. Just that moment felt like it had caused a domino effect that somehow provoked a new universe to be created in space, a new black hole to be born and suck everything around it.

She practically ran off before he could do anything else, following the signs that guided her towards the crowd where she knew Breana would be, like every other gig in the past days.

Matt yelled out his name once again but Alex was just standing in the middle of the hallway staring at the wall with the sensation of her lips still pressed against his.

"What the fuck are you doing just standing there like an absolute melt?" The drummer asked with a frown on his face, watching the clock ticking on the wall in front of him.

Alex sighed, wishing time would stop just so he could sit on the feeling and replay the moment over and over until it was permanently engraved in his mind, frame by frame. "Matt, would you just shut up?"

"What? Was the date bad or–?" Matt inquired, teasingly and ready to annoy his best mate.

The singer sighed and cut him off before he could continue with his taunting, "Shut up Matthew." To which the drummer frowned when he saw the big smile breaking out on Alex's face as he turned around.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

After the band got off stage, they all got back in the tour bus and when the lads had finished taking turns to shower, they suddenly decided it was a night worthy of some wine.

Four bottles of red wine later, Ella found herself giggling away as she rested her head on Alex's shoulder. Their cheeks were flushed due to the alcohol and she felt like she was about to start sweating but she couldn't find it in herself to peel away from his side.

Not that Alex wanted her to, that's why his arm was firmly stuck around her waist as he kept her cuddled into his side. He would pinch her side when she made a dig at him, and rub soothing circles on her stomach over the satin of her top when she would laugh or snuggle further into him.

It was nearly three in the morning when they all started to quiet down and he noticed how Ella seemed to have fallen asleep on his shoulder, face hidden on the crook of his neck.

He couldn't find it in himself to wake her up, that's why he stayed until the latest he could, watching everyone wave him goodnight before disappearing up the steps. Eventually, his eyes started closing as he felt the exhaustion catching up to him. He rubbed her arm, up and down until she started squirming under his touch.

"Darling, shall we go to bed now?"

She mumbled something, her lips brushing against the base of his throat, making him almost shiver.

"Should I carry you to bed?" He suggested, his fingers pinching her side softly as he continued, "Huh? Lazy."

She groaned, "I can walk Al. Just–" she paused to yawn behind her hand, "Gonna keep my eyes closed though, so just guide me yeah?"

He nodded, "Alright." So he did what she had asked, saying "Step, another step, last step." his hands around her waist as he walked behind her and guided her back into the bunk beds. When he slowly opened the door, he noticed Jamie and Nick inside their bunks, snoring away peacefully. Bre and Matt were nowhere to be found but he could bet they were on any of the other beds from the room that followed the one they all slept at. At least they are considerate today, he thought.

When they were in front of her bed, he brushed her hair back and away from her face. "We have arrived at your destination, darling."

She hummed slightly in annoyance as she now had to open her eyes to slide into her resting space. "Thank you," her eyes opened just a tiny bit, hissing at the light hitting her corneas. "Fuck, that's bright."

His chuckle made her smile, a loopy grin before she slid into her bunk. "You comfortable?" Alex asked as she slithered further inside the bunk.

She sighed content to finally be in bed, "Very much so," she poked her head out, squinting to see him and decided she was sleepy enough to not care about what she did anymore so she leaned into him to give him another kiss. A peck that ended up being delivered to the corner of his mouth but he wouldn't complain, not when her voice sounded so mellow when she said "Sweet dreams, Al."

And they were sweet dreams, the ones he had, as he fell asleep with the whole day playing on his mind in a never ending loop that he wasn't getting tired of, and the feeling of her lips on his haunting him.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Ella woke up the next day with another headache and a long list of questions. The memories of the previous day helped lull the ache in her skull but it only added to every single one of her inquiries and worries. She had no idea if things would change or if it would stay all the same.

That was answered sooner than she expected when she went out to meet everyone after brushing her teeth. It seemed like it all was the same but different at the same time, because he still told her good morning followed by a kiss on her cheek but whatever she felt about the things he did before had grown exponentially, and it was like her stomach was flipping on its own over and over.

It happened throughout the whole day, her insides melting at every single embrace, the kisses on her cheek or her temple, the laughs in her ear. And Alex wasn't too far behind, feeling his insides coat with warmth when she would hug his waist every time he came beside her and threw an arm around her shoulders, the way she'd play with his fingers as she chatted with the guys, how she would brush his hair out of his face when the strands got in his eyes.

They had driven back to Los Angeles that morning, meaning they had arrived at the venue just in time for lunch and they weren't planning on doing anything else other than stay in the greenroom until showtime.

After their meal, the band had done a quick soundcheck before the show. Bre and Ella, cheering for them, playfully telling them they could do better and doing silly little dances that didn't match the songs at all.

Back in the greenroom, they had started drinking and playing truth or dare. Ella had rolled her eyes but agreed to participating, despite being nervous about what she'd be dared to do or say.

It was Nick's turn to choose someone and that person ended up being Ella. Her sigh was heard by the whole group, making them laugh.

"Ella, truth or dare?" The bassist's eyes indicated nothing but trouble.

She sipped on her margarita before choosing, "Truth."

Nick paused for a few seconds before he straightened up and smirked, "What was your worst sexual encounter?"

She blew the air out of her mouth dramatically, "You wanna know the worst worst one?"

Everyone nodded along with Nick, all curious to know.

"Okay, erm– Fuck, alright. Just be ready 'cause it's really bad." She started, putting her drink down on the closest table. "A little preface though, this was back when I was confused and seeing if I actually did like men or if I was just a lesbian so bear with me."

She cleared her throat before she could start and took a deep breath, "It was sophomore year in university, we were all in Florida for spring break and I took the chance to just... Y'know," her cheeks reddened at the thought of saying her motives to her friends, "Fuck around." she finished quietly and they all laughed making her face heat up even more.

"Anyway, so I found this guy at the beach who was really hot and he ended up buying me a drink and whatever. Long story short, he told me he had a room in this hotel across the street and we had both been pretty obvious about our intentions so we went up to his room." They all saw how she grew impossibly redder as she reminisced, "So we got down to it..."

Breana interrupted with a gasp, "He went down on you?"

Ella just shook her head, "I wish." The words left her lips before she could think about them and everyone chuckled at her bluntness. "We were just getting off for a while, you know, dry humping and whatnot until we got to bed." She sighed, grimacing at what was coming next. "We took our clothes off and all, he put a condom on after I asked him to and then he started going at it. Only that he never went inside me..." She trailed off, her voice rising in pitch as she got more embarrassed.

"He was on top and we were basically in missionary, but when he went to, erm– put it in, he just put it between my ass and the bed and started thrusting. Mind you, I wasn't making a single noise because I was genuinely confused while he was moaning like a mad man." She turned to grab her glass back up and take a swig of it, the tequila pushing her to finish the story. "He finished so quick and had the nerve to ask if I had finished, I just stood up, said 'no but probably the duvet did', put my shit back on and left him."

Jamie whistled, "Mental."

Matt had the deepest frown on his face, "How do you not notice it's not in?"

"He said something about that being the reason he doesn't wear condoms as I walked away." Ella shrugged, before taking another sip of her drink. "Thanks to him I almost entirely gave up on men."

Breana snickered then, "Oh, but do tell who gave you back hope."

"That's for you to find out if I choose truth in another turn." Ella winked at the model with rosy cheeks, bluffing as she definitely wasn't choosing truth then because one sex story was enough for the day.

Nick interrupted then, "Alright Ella, who are you choosing now?"

"Jamie." She decided after a few seconds of internal debate. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." The guitarist uttered, taking a sip of his own drink.

"I dare you to reenact for us your favorite position." She had a smirk on her face, wanting to tease the man just for the laugh.

"Can't do it alone though." Jamie argued just to see if that would get him out of the dare.

But to Jamie's dismay, she pointed at the man standing right beside him, "Well you've got Alex right there don't you?"

When Jamie dragged Alex to the settee and pulled him on top of him as he laid on it, the rest of the group started hollering, Matt wolf whistling as Alex hovered above Jamie's lap in a cowgirl position, swinging an imaginary laso above his head.

"I see the vision, Ella." Bre approved playfully between giggles which got her giggling too as she went to retrieve her polaroid camera.

She pointed at the two guys on the sofa and ordered them, "Stay there, I'm taking a picture of this." as she turned the device on, and ten seconds later the shutter had gone off and the picture was getting printed out.

Matt took the opportunity, seeing as Jamie got off the sofa leaving Alex sat there alone, to dare Ella to do the same using Alex as her partner. "Go on then Ella, it's your turn to show us yours."

"Says who? It's Jamie's turn to choose." She chatted back knowing exactly what Matt was trying to do.

But before she could continue, Jamie clocked onto what the drummer was doing and egged her on. "I choose you and you're doing that same dare."

She rolled her eyes, cheeks growing more flushed despite them being already pink from the alcohol. Her legs hit the sofa and she laid on it just like Jamie had done, only she pressed her feet on the settee but before she lifted her hips up, she grabbed Alex's hand and guided him on top of her.

He was about to tease her, about to say 'Oh so you like being on the bottom?' when she knocked the breath out of his lungs by saying, "Hop on, you be me." loud enough for everyone to hear and gasp in shock.

Once Alex was on top of her, she pushed his hands to be just above her shoulders so his chest was almost pressed against her and his collarbone was straight on top of her face. She lifted her hips up and pressed them on his ass for a quick second, winking at him before dropping back down.

Matt was quick to comment, with a heavy smirk on his face. "Oh she is dirty."

Nick followed, "Naughty!"

And Jamie topped it all off by asking, "How long have you been thinking about that one? You worked that out with Alex really quick."

She hid behind her hands, her palms feeling the growing heat on her whole face. "I'm never drinking with y'all ever again."

Everyone laughed away, even Alex but he did it in her ear as he dropped further into her fully sitting on her lap.

"Uncover your face for me darling." He ordered with such a raspy voice she wanted to squeeze her thighs together but she couldn't so she just did as he said. He smirked, pulling back a few inches to see her from that angle, all flustered and with her hair disheveled over the settee. What a stunning view.

"That's it." His eyes looked at her adoringly and she felt like she was melting onto the settee under his gaze, but Ella completely froze and burnt over at the same time when Alex whispered to her, "Good girl."

As if he hadn't just said that, he got up and walked over to get another cup of whiskey. She was left gathering her thoughts on the sofa, head all scrambled and her very human needs screaming at her to do something about the man.

She got up eventually, Breana winking at her as she walked past her and to the table which had the bottle of tequila. She needed a shot, or two. So she poured them and downed them instantly, needing herself to calm down.

After that moment, it felt like everything had gotten even more intense. Maybe it was the sexual tension suffocating them whilst they were in the same room and she wondered if their friends around them could feel it too.

Alex would come up behind her and hug her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as he rubbed circles on the skin that showed in between her black dress pants and her shirt. Ella would relax in his arms, drowning in his scent as she indulged in the sweetness of his touch.

He would press kisses to her face before he went anywhere, brushing his fingers on her arm or her waist as he walked past. She would turn over her shoulder to see him and scrunch her nose at him before leaving a peck on his cheek that made a toothy grin break out on his face.

She was drinking it all in, knowing that the next day, when her coworkers from the crew came over to the venue for the gig and later on they moved to the place they'd film at, she would force herself to distance herself from Alex just to appear professional and not have everyone talking and asking questions.

That's why that night, she was in front of the barricade beside Breana recording every single bit of the gig that her phone allowed her. He had noticed, of course he had, since he spent most of the time on stage looking at her so he decided to tease her for a bit.

"You ready? You recording?" Alex asked into the mic with his eyes on her and everyone in the crowd looked to their left to see her.

Her eyes went wide like a deer caught in headlights so she just lowered her phone down with her signature pink cheeks.

He wanted to coo at her, "No, no. Record this one, it's your favorite." The singer added before he put the mic back on its stand and started playing 'Teddy Picker'.

She had recorded it all and when she went back to see the videos before falling asleep, she found every glance he took at her forever captured, every point of his finger as he sang, every little dance of his that she knew where the one's she had made fun of him for. She had it all.

And just as she had predicted, the next and last day of the little tour had arrived, making her wake up melancholic. She savored every hug, every feel of his lips against her skin, every graze of his fingers on her body, before her bosses and coworkers got to the venue.

When the Focus Creep crew arrived, a few hours before the show, Alex instantly noticed the change in her behavior and he knew why that was, so he would respect it. He kept to stolen glances and fleeting touches, no constant kisses on her cheek or her temple, no hugging her every chance he got but definitely some embraces here and there.

The limited affection had already sparked questions and talks from her coworkers so he understood her position, which he had heard in echoes and passing comments, and on top of that was Ben who attentively was watching them and then smirking at Alex like he knew exactly what was happening.

Ella had decided to be a part of the crowd that night, standing almost in the middle of the crowd, about five rows from the barricade but she had a perfect view of the stage so she wasn't complaining. Some of her friends from work stood beside her and Breana did too, they all had a drink in hand, sipping absentmindedly as they waited for the show to start.

When they had all finished their drinks is when the band had gone on stage, causing the sea of people to push forward and make her stumble. He had found her in between all the faces fairly quickly, winking at her before greeting the audience and starting the gig.

She knew by then that the sixth song was always one he would sing looking at her since she loved it, so before they were due to start it she puckered up and blew a cheeky kiss to him when his eyes had landed on her.

He smiled before puckering up himself and blowing her multiple kisses. Bre shook her by her shoulders and shrieked in her ear very not subtly, making her wince inside but her smile couldn't be brighter and she couldn't care less if her work friends had seen, because she was incredibly happy.

She was sure by the end of the night she'd grow the courage to properly kiss him. Finally.

So with that goal set in her mind, she kept going about her night with a smile and a skip in her step. She had a beaming smile on her face even as she picked her blue clipboard and saw the massive list of things she had to make sure were in order for the shoot.

The location in which they were filming had only been ten minutes away, and they had come to it almost ready. There was a car which looked the exact same as the one on the Black Treacle music video and about twenty feet in front of it, by the end of a dirt trail, was a circular spinning platform that was homing a drum kit made to look exactly like Matt's on stage.

Around the place were tents in which Matt and Alex were being touched up to be ready for filming, and two tents down the row from the lads were the models getting their makeup done and changed into costume. Caroline and Arielle were the lovely models and Ella had just introduced herself to them before she got called away by one of the camera men.

When Ella went back to the tents to check up on the models, she walked past Alex and Arielle chatting away a few feet away from the tents and beside the big lights that were up around the site, soft smiles on both their faces as they dove into conversation. She felt a small pinch in her chest, one that she decided to ignore the best she could because Alex was a nice person, he was kind and welcoming and she had no reason to feel and react that way at the fact that he was only talking to someone else who she had heard was his friend.

Her feet took her to check up on Caroline who was almost ready, and Matt who was getting his hair fixed. She instructed both of them to go back into the filming area as soon as they were done so the filming could be started.

After that she left to go stand beside Nick, talking to him about random stuff like how long it usually took the crew to set up shoots like that or how Nick had been doing with the wedding planning as she'd heard him on the phone in the morning with Kelly.

When the four people who were gonna appear in the video were ready, Ella told them to follow her up to the directors. Ben and Aaron told them they would rehearse a few goes before properly filming the whole thing, since it was a single-shot video and it would be filmed by Alex and Matt at the start.

First went Alex and Matt, to get instructed exactly what they should do when they got in the car and how they got out, the musicians brainstorming the things they could do whilst they filmed themselves in the car.

As they went over and over again, for about six or seven times, Ella had been standing next to Arielle. They had been talking about lots of things: Arielle's modeling career, Ella's photography hobby, how Arielle had been auditioning for a few commercials and small acting gigs, how Ella had moved to LA and a year later landed a job with Ben and Aaron. The girls had gotten on fairly well, following each other on Instagram and laughing about the things Alex and Matt were doing in front of the camera.

After that, Ella got called over as the two brits got let off after almost half an hour. Matt had gotten off the car and gave her a smile, Alex side hugged her quickly before walking off with the drummer. She had smiled back at him when he let go but he missed it as his eyes were set on the model standing a few feet behind the PA, his smile being directed towards Arielle rather than her.

She had had to act cool, as if that minimal detail wasn't begging to claim her every thought, nodding as her bosses told her to stay close and annotate as they gave instructions to the crew on set.

Someone drove the car back down the dirt trail, Ben guiding the two cameramen on the angles he wanted to be captured and the setting on the light. Ella had helped move some of the lights, her eyes focused on Aaron as he moved his hands from side to side and sometimes rotating them.

Her eyes had slipped in Alex's direction a fair few times and she had noticed just how much closer Arielle and him looked, as they didn't leave each other's side even if she got called over by the makeup department or he was called over by Ben to ask if he was alright with that angle and the timing.

By the time she was done with the lights, Ella had gotten sent to check if the platform was spinning correctly, she pressed the button and as she heard it turn she also heard Alex's voice a tad louder than the creaks of the spinning object.

"So have you got a map?" He asked Arielle, his shoulder brushing the model's.

Arielle frowned with a smile on her face, "Of LA?" The singer nodded quickly, "No I don't, why?" she had asked back just as quickly.

"Just wanted one 'cause I keep getting lost in your eyes." Hiss tone was cheeky, and Arielle let out a bubbly laugh. Her perfect smile on full display as she nudged Alex's shoulder with hers.

"That was a nice one." Arielle had replied back, still smiling hard at him.

Ella had spun the platform back around by the time she had heard the end of the interaction and she rolled her eyes before walking back to the directors. She couldn't be annoyed though, she had no right to be, he was probably just being funny like he always was.

Breathe in, breathe out, she told herself.

As the directors went over to Nick to tell him exactly how he'd be sitting in the back between the two models, Matt came to stand beside Ella. Her eyes were glued to the scene in front of her as Arielle was still very much stuck beside the singer and he was leaning into her more and more making her laugh.

"Seems like you make a great matchmaker." lightheartedly joked the drummer, looking at the same thing she was.

She frowned, confused as she turned to Matt, "What do you mean?" Matt pointed at Alex and Arielle with a tilt of his chin and she frowned even deeper before adding, "It wasn't my decision to choose her."

It was Matt's turn to frown then, "Whose was it then?"

"Well I was told by your team she was selected by you because you already knew her."

Matt sighed, "We've seen her a couple times in artists sections in festivals, yes, but the only one who was a slight bit more of an acquaintance with her is Alex."

Ella hummed, "That answers the question then, doesn't it?" She finished up, a tight lip smile that was way too forced and Matt started to feel bad. It got worse when Arielle broke out in a very loud laugh that had Alex covering her mouth with his hand, fully hugging her as they swayed from her weak attempts to break from his hold.

Ella's heart was sinking, but she had to remind herself she had no leg to stand on to go and complain about his behavior, to be openly jealous about it because nothing serious had happened between her and Alex. At least not serious enough for him, if he was going around acting this way with Arielle after being so close with her the week before.

Ben called everyone to their places, meaning Ella saw Arielle and Alex separate for the first time in thirty minutes. She had no idea what to think anymore, the way he was acting with the model reminded her how he was with her and she hated it.

She tried to push it in her mind that he and Arielle were friends already, so maybe there was a trust to act that way with each other. She tried, but it did nothing to the way her guts twisted at the image of those two together like that.

They did one take but something had seemed off from the cameras, the settings seemed too different from the car to the outside shot so the directors got to fixing it up the quickest they could after they yelled cut.

Out of the corner of her eye she had caught Alex and Arielle leaving for the furthest tent and getting behind it, her giggles could be heard as they walked away from everyone and she slowly felt like she was going to be sick.

It took about ten minutes to get it all sorted out, Ben's voice called everyone up again to start filming again and everyone listened. Aaron called the models in first, giving them a second rundown of their duties and how they should get in frame. As the director talked, Alex had walked over to Ella and hugged her from behind like he had gotten used to throughout the tour.

Ella hadn't want anything more than that, as she had been deprived of his touch for a fair while since they had gotten to the set, but when she tried to relax into his chest and rest her head on his shoulder, she had smelt the model's perfume and it had make her freeze in her spot. Alex had felt her tense up but brushed it off, his mind too aware that he had the attention of two stunning women and it had gotten his ego boosted up a little too high.

She didn't reciprocate the embrace like before: only one of her hands on top of his, her back inches apart from his chest, her head not weighing down on his shoulder, no kisses on his cheek, no cheeky glances or nose scrunches. But he didn't really wonder about it since he was too busy staring at the other American girl that was dressed in costume right in front of him. A few seconds later, he got called over and he easily let go of Ella, leaving her with a faint squeeze of her waist.

She had noticed how enthusiastic he got every time he was able to get back beside the model, always a smirk on his face as he kept brushing shoulders with her or whispering things in her ear before he got in the car for each take.

Alex was looking amazing for the shoot as well, meaning Ella could see Arielle so painfully obvious checking Alex out and him doing the same to the model when she turned around.

It was probably the twelfth official take they had done, almost running off of the flares the models walked with to the drum kit as they kept repeating the video over and over. The new song that she had already learned the lyrics to, now completely engraved in her mind since they had it playing on loop with almost no breaks in between each play.

The question now replayed in her mind, bringing back memories. Are you mine? His gaze stuck on hers while singing the chorus. Are you mine? Her wink after she sang 'are you mine tomorrow? Or just mine tonight' that night at the very last gig, making his smirk grow and a tinge of blush show on his face. Are you mine? His eyes no longer on her now, but stuck on Arielle even when he had her in his arms. Are you mine? Ella just wanted to turn the song off to stop it all coming to the forefront of her mind.

They were about to start the thirteenth take, after the directors went over the last bit of footage the last take had given them, when she walked past the quiet place Arielle and Alex were cooped up in. It was near a corner, behind a line of four big lights and away enough from everyone from the crew. Ella had been walking around the site, the edges of it taking her straight behind them, and that's why she had heard them.

"I've got another question..." Alex had started with that tone that meant he was gonna say one of his cheesy flirt lines and Ella just had to stay and listen to what he'd say, she thought her head was cooler by then and she might find it funny but she had no idea what she was about to get. "How does it feel like being the most gorgeous girl in the room?"

Ella's blood ran cold then, the familiar words coming back to her like a bucket of ice cold water and as Arielle giggled and leaned into him touching his arm, she felt herself feeling faint.

She didn't even think about her following actions, as she scoffed much louder than she anticipated but still quiet enough for it to only be heard by her and the other two. Her feet took her faster than she was thinking, accidentally barging into Alex's shoulder as she made a beeline towards her bosses.

He whipped his head around so fast, forgetting about the model beside him and catching a glimpse of Ella's pale complexion. But his worry was brief as he turned back around to the model, who was now fully leaning into him to continue flirting with him. A smile broke out on his face, seeing Arielle's reaction.

Ella felt like those fifteen feet of walk had actually been a whole mile, her heart hammering in her chest as if trying to keep her up until she could finally break down. As soon as she got beside Ben, she tapped his shoulder. The man saw her worried face, the lack of color on it and he got preoccupied.

"Are you alright Ella?" Ben asked softly, his inquiry making Aaron pause what he was doing to check on their PA.

She sighed, feeling everything coming up her throat and wanting to leave her body. "I'm not feeling well guys, I– I, uhm, I think it would be better if I just go home."

Aaron nodded, they didn't have much left anyways and Ella was so dedicated to her job, they knew that if she was asking to leave, it was because of something serious. "Of course, you have a way to get home?"

She thought about her car, being parked at the hotel an hour away from home but she'd take a taxi. She didn't care anymore, she just didn't want to be there. "Yes, someone is coming to get me, don't worry."

And just like that they let her go. She practically ran to the Monkeys' tour bus to retrieve everything she had there, and she thanked the fact that Bre had to leave right after the show for having encouraged her to have her suitcase ready well before the gig.

Ella called a cab company and told them to pick her up at a McDonald's that was a block away. As she walked, she felt like she wanted to cry and it infuriated her even more. Because why would she cry? They weren't anything at all, a date didn't mean shit apparently and much less would the touches they shared.

She cursed herself for getting attached when she knew she shouldn't have. It all came back to who they were, even if he hadn't done what he had that night, by the end of it she'd be getting dropped off at her house and he'd be leaving to travel around the world. It would've never worked out.

When she remembered how she had strived to properly kiss him goodbye that night, before they parted ways once again, she allowed herself to let the tears fall. And she cried on the way back home, when she saw their photo booth pictures sticking out of the inside pocket of her purse.

She wanted to throw it away but she couldn't, that's what she did when somebody hurt her: cling onto every last beautiful thing they gave her even if the memory stung like a wound being sprayed with salt. She was half tempted to burn it as she lit the cigarette she had just placed between her lips before finding the pictures but when she flipped it, she found something written down.

'only the sweetest of dreams for you, miss tennessee xxxx'

It came over her how every sweet memory of him would taste bitter now, and how it would up until the moment she'd finally decide she was over it. And that's when it all started tasting more bitter, and then it turned sour and her sadness turned into anger.

The audacity he had had, to just drop her like a toy he had gotten bored of, and maybe he had had other intentions but seeing how shy she was and how he wasn't getting anywhere, he decided to change her the first chance he got.

And there it was, that feeling of being so easily replaceable dawning over her head like the darkest cloud in the sky that swore to bring the heaviest precipitation of the year. The heartache she had felt when she got cheated over by the one person she swore was the one, and it was insane to her how she could feel a similar way about someone she knew for so little doing her wrong too. But she couldn't downplay it either, not when it opened a wound back up that had taken so long to close.

In her head she was asking herself repeatedly, 'am I that easy to replace?' until each word lost its meaning but the feeling was still the same, if not worse.

She cried a little more when she got home, feeling the familiar walls like an embrace that she longed for. The tears were falling as she showered, slowly and without permission, making her wipe them with more force than necessary, leaving her cheeks red raw. But it had been slightly relieving to cry under the shower for she confused her tears with the water falling over her and it made her feel less pathetic.

By the time she was out of the shower and she slowly finished getting ready to sleep, the filming had been wrapped up. The crew were quick to pick everything up and load it into the production company's coach.

Matt walked over to Alex, who was too busy staring at Arielle's ass as she walked away to get out of costume that he didn't notice his presence until he cleared his throat.

"Y'Alright?" asked Matt, still confused about his friend's antics throughout the day.

Alex nodded with a tight lip smile, "You?"

"Wonderful." The drummer answered, a slight hint of irony in his voice that the singer decided to ignore.

The both of them had stayed quiet, watching the organized chaos going around. And it wasn't until Alex saw Ben with Ella's blue clipboard as he waved goodbye to them that he realized she was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Ella?" The singer seemed worried, it dawning on him then how he hadn't seen her since she barged into him.

Matt shrugged, "Dunno. She left running earlier and the driver said she got her case from the bus."

Alex's heart dropped, thinking about all the endless possibilities of something happening to her, "I'm gonna text her and see if she's okay."

"Well, she probably isn't after she's played cupid against herself." Matt sassily replied.

Alex frowned, "What do you mean?"

Matt sighed, almost annoyed at his best mate's lack of common sense, "Mate, there was something there between you two after Valentine's day, and tonight you've just gone and switched her for Arielle."

"No I haven't. Me and Arielle, that's just banter." He explained back like it was obvious.

The drummer didn't want to get deeper into the situation, he had already said what he had seen and all that was left was for his friend to realize so, "Whatever you say Al." was all he mustered before leaving him, going straight back to their tour bus.

Ten minutes Alex was left thinking, taking the first few minutes to text Ella and the rest to thoroughly think about what Matt had just said. He knew she must've heard him talking to Arielle and maybe it wasn't the best of things to listen to after everything that had happened during the past week but it was just lighthearted banter to him, a joke to keep them entertained during the filming process.

It was all a misunderstanding and he would tell her if that's what she had gotten upset over. Surely it has to be something else though, he thought.

(16/02/2012 23:13) Ellie, are you alright? Don't know what happened but I hope you're okay darling x

(16/02/2012 23:14) Matt said you left running and he saw you getting your stuff out of the tour bus, please let me know you're alright xx

(16/02/2012 23:15) We didn't even get to say goodbye properly but I hope to see you soon yeah? xx

(16/02/2012 23:17) As soon as you see this, please let me know you're okay xx

(16/02/2012 23:19) Maybe you're home and asleep already, if that's it then text me in the morning? Sweet dreams darling, see you soon xxx

Their drive to LAX had been going fine. They were relatively quiet in comparison to how they usually were but it was because they were tired: the days of tour, driving and walking around plus the late night filming had caught up to them. Alex was mixing his concern about Ella with his exhaustion making it even worse, the sways of the tour bus not helping with the headache he could feel brewing in the back of his skull.

Alex's thoughts were interrupted then by Matt laughing at his phone, the light of his device reflecting on his eyes.

(16/02/2012 23:32) Is everything good Ella? Saw you running to leave the set.

(16/02/2012 23:48) Everything is good Matt! Sorry for leaving like that and not saying bye, I was feeling kinda sick and I couldn't keep it together any longer. (Feel like a bitch for not saying goodbye knowing I'm not going to see you for god knows how long :()

(16/02/2012 23:48) Yeah probably not the best to have you projectile vomiting in the middle of our music video!! (You don't have to feel like one, you're one already xxxx)

(16/02/2012 23:49) You're the absolute worst...

(16/02/2012 23:49) HAHA love you Ellie!! Hope to see you very soon xx

(16/02/2012 23:49) Love you too dickhead. See you soon xx

Before Alex could complain about the unnecessary noise coming from Matt, he informed them all, "Ella's fine, she was just feeling ill." which made Alex snap his eyes open to look at him.

Jamie snorted then, cheekily suggesting, "Ask her if she's sure she isn't pregnant."

Leaning over Matt's shoulders, Nick and Jamie started laughing as the drummer's fingers started typing what the guitarist had said.

Alex frowned, not only at his friends acting like kids but at the fact that Ella had replied to Matt and not him. There wasn't a day she didn't reply to him within minutes if she was awake. He thought for a second then that he might've gotten a reply but hadn't noticed it, so to make sure he unlocked his phone.

But he hadn't expected what he saw, and he thought back to what Matt had said and just how bad of a confusion the end of the night had been when he was met with the proof that she had just plainly ignored him.

(16/02/2012 23:13) Ellie, are you alright? Don't know what happened but I hope you're okay darling x

(16/02/2012 23:14) Matt said you left running and he saw you getting your stuff out of the tour bus, please let me know you're alright xx

(16/02/2012 23:15) We didn't even get to say goodbye properly but I hope to see you soon yeah? xx

(16/02/2012 23:17) As soon as you see this, please let me know you're okay xx

(16/02/2012 23:19) Maybe you're home and asleep already, if that's it then text me in the morning? Sweet dreams darling, see you soon xxx

read at 23:41

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

A/N: Uh oh... Well now I don't even know if I should ask if you liked it hahaha, but I really hope you did. Shit only gets more interesting from here so I hope you lot are just as eager as me to see how it unfolds. Thanks a million for reading, I appreciate it so much!! I hope you have the best weekend and I'll see you April 7th for the next one xx

Taglist:  @imagine-that-100​ @red---moon​ @kennedy-brooke​ @faveficz​ @indierockgirrl​ @ladydraculasthings @moonvr​ @unwantedlovergirl​ @eaglestar31 @nikisfwn​ @funniestpersoninnyc​

[ilikedetectives]

Hi! Would you mind sharing your DOF settings (if you use Otis DOF addon or just reshade dof) please? because i love how the circles/bokeh dof looks in your pictures but I cant really manage to get that result myself :(( thank you so much!

Hi anon,

Sharing my DoF settings wouldn't help your photo specifically, because I have to change them every time I take a photo (even when it's literally the same scene), none of the photos I take has the same DoF settings. DoF varies depending on where you place the camera and what your FoV is; the moment you change one of these two (or both), well DoF will need to be recalibrated (irl cameras work this way too especially in manual mode). This is why if you leave FoV on in the game settings and activate the freecam, the moment you move the cam around and/or zoom, DoF will go out of whack everything goes blurry, but it looks great during cutscenes when the cam is in its original location. IGCSDoF comprehensive guide (x) has what you need.

I put some general guidelines below for IGCSDOF, but it really boils down to a lot of practice (both in-game and irl) and how the in-game lightings are like in that given moment. A lot of what I do is always trial and error until it looks 'right' (this is highly subjective).

Highlight boost factor: I usually put to 1.0, but there are cases I tone it down to 0.3-0.5

Highlight gamma factor: 3.0 - 5.0, but some cases I do tone it down to 0.8 - 2.0 if the game is already bright

Quality: 13-16

Number of points of innermost ring: 4 - 8

Look for the right background: usually uniform background like trees on a bright day or starry sky/christmas lights at night work better than let's say a cabinet inside a dimly light house or a crowd of people in baldur's gate city. This article explains it nicely #3 to #7 (x)

CinematicDoF is similar but again, this varies by the scene and wildly different from game to game. I wish there's a one setting fits all but that's not the case. The other method is postprocessing in PS by adding them in manually. These are taken with Cinematic DoF (I just want an excuse to repost my Kassandra pics lol).

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

Can you write something with Crowley discussing his angel sightings with either anathema or aziraphale or both and being extremely Yhe Truth is Out There?

Crowley probably has a corkboard in his room with bits of string connecting things together at this point. He's gonna solve this mystery.

On with the fic!

--

"Here!"

A folder was slapped down on the picnic table and Aziraphale blinked, looking at it before looking up at Crowley.

"What is this?" Anathema asked, setting down her sandwich to open the folder. Aziraphale looked at the contents with her, photos, lots and lots of odd photos. Along with drawings and Crowley's chicken scratch handwriting.

"All my photos and notes so far on the Angel." Crowley replied before sitting down across from them, folding his hands, staring intently.

Anathema snorted. "Is this because I told you that your video looked fake?"

"It's not fake! It's real, completely real! I filmed the Angel!"

Aziraphale picked up one of the printed photos. It was an odd one, clearly of him in the sky, but he must have been moving fast because it was dreadfully blurry. "I think this is just a flashlight's light." Anathema commented, looking at the photo.

"No, it was the Angel flying! I should know, I've seen it a number of times now!" Crowley huffed. He then pointed at another photo. "This one is from the other night, I caught them up on the mountain range! I've noticed that they tend to go up to the mountains often, but this was the best photo I've been able to take of them up there!"

The photo was a little better, focused on a bright, glowing object of an indeterminable length. It was clearly of Aziraphale and he remembered being up in the mountains the other night, happily enjoying a nice moonlight bath.

"Photoshop." Anathema shrugged and Crowley groaned, dragging his hands down his face.

"I don't have photoshop."

"Then one of those other editing programs." She replied, returning to her lunch.

As they argued, Aziraphale decided to look over the photos some more. He found a few of them to be too blurry, and was surprised to find one of one of his eyes, staring right at the camera-

Ah.

Yes, he remembered this one, he had noticed Crowley trying to take pictures and decided to have a little fun with his human. Was it cruel to tease him like this? Probably, but he was just having such a delightful time with the pretty human who captivated him so! How could he not tease a little!

"What about this one?" Anathema asked, snatching up one of the photos that Aziraphale hadn't looked at.

"I'm not sure, honestly." Crowley sighed. "It's weird, they're glowing, but they're man-shaped."

Aziraphale blinked and looked at the photo, nearly blanching at the image.

It was clearly of him, dreadfully blurry, but still of him. He was man-shaped in the image, and his halo was on display, along with some of his eyes. He seemed to be walking away, and it wasn't exactly the best looking image, goodness, how unflattering! Even the blurry images of him in his true form looked nicer!

"Probably just someone in reflective gear, some visitors wear it just in case." Anathema replied, putting the image back.

"Yeah, that's probably what that is. I doubt a real angel would want to appear human, not when they look like that." Crowley nodded.

Aziraphale coughed hard, looking away. "Right, yes, a true angel wouldn't wish to walk about in a human corporation. They probably don't even know the first thing about being a human."

"I think you're right on that." Crowley replied. "Besides, if I looked like an eldritch, ethereal being, I'd rather keep that form than look like a human."

"Ah, but you're such a gorgeous looking human, Crowley." Aziraphale commented, before realizing that sounded rather odd to say.

Luckily for him, Crowley smiled at the compliment. "Ah, thanks, you look really nice for a human as well."

Aziraphale beamed at this and heard Anathema make a gagging sound at them. "You two are so cheesy, I think I'm lactose intolerant now."

"You're just jealous that Aziraphale thinks I'm a gorgeous looking human." Crowley smirked and got an empty bag of chips thrown at him for that. "Oi, don't litter!"

"It's your job to pick up trash." She sniffed.

"I'm on my break!"

They returned to squabbling and Aziraphale decided to look back at the pictures. They weren't the best quality, but there was some clear evidence that something was lurking in the forests. He wondered if Crowley's snooping about could cause problems for him, but... well...

It all seemed like harmless fun, what's the worse that could happen, really?

--

Crowley and Aziraphale are terrible flirts, and Aziraphale continues to not properly act like a human. But he's trying, really.

Also the man-shaped photo is totally Aziraphale in the infamous Bigfoot pose, by the way.

[bratkook]

like you used to. jjk

“So kill me like you used to...”

part two.

pairing. ex boyfriend!jungkook x reader genre. angst, mentions of smut, toxic exes warnings. very toxic depictions of relationships, hints at infidelity, drunken mistakes, they’re both very toxic for each other and just can’t stay away, brief mentions of smut word count. 2.9k note. this is just a lump of angst that my mind conjured at 1am last night, i just love angst and messy relationships that are destined to fail 😌(its not edited so if u see a typo no u dont)

It always started with a phone call. 

Whether it was from you or him always changed. Sometimes he’d get the call at two in the morning, vision blurry as he brought the phone to his face and saw your name illuminated on the screen, that old goofy selfie you had together still set as your contact photo. He’d hesitate for a moment just to keep you on your toes before pressing accept, already getting up and putting pants on because he knew just what you were calling for. 

Tonight was your turn to be on the receiving end, laying in bed comfortably as you scrolled through random posts to try to help you sleep, the flash of his face fills your phone, it’s a random close up photo of his eyes staring right into the camera, crinkled up in a smile. Even though his name is changed in your contacts, no longer having the cute bunny emoji tacked to the end, you know you’ll still pick up in a heartbeat. And you do. 

The second you press accept you’re met with the familiar sound of his voice, slurred and thick as he speaks so jumbled up you would barely be able to understand him if you didn’t already know what he was saying. It was the same things he always said whenever he got like this, proclamations of love that only cut up your freshly scabbed over wounds, salt rubbing into them when he cries about how he misses you, promises to change. 

They get cut off when the phone is yanked away from his grasp, the second familiar voice belonging to his buddy Yugyeom now speaking into the receiver. “You gotta pick him up Y/N.”

The annoyance is evident in his voice, the babbling of Jungkook still heard in the background along with the dull beat of whatever place they were outside of. 

“He’s not my responsibility Yugyeom.”

He simply sighs into the phone, staring at his mess of a friend before rubbing his jaw, sore and aching from where he had just been socked after attempting to force him into an uber. “Yeah well he won’t let anyone else take him home, he’s drunk as fuck. I’ll send you the location.”

Not waiting for a response he hangs up and sends you a pin of where they’re at, thrusting the phone back into his friend’s hands before getting into that uber and leaving Jungkook alone while he whines against the dirty bar wall, crouching down onto the filthy sidewalk as the car drove off. 

Yugyeom knew you would come to his rescue like you always did, never once saying no and letting Jungkook fend for himself because on the rare occasions where you’d call him drunk and crying he’d do the same. 

Getting into the car still dressed in your pajamas, shoes thrown on without being laced up, hair still messy, it felt like routine now from how often it happened. Jungkook called you sober, text you while in a sane state of mind, but without fail at least once a month he’d get absolutely shit faced and call you, leaving you what he thought were heartfelt voicemails if by some chance you didn’t answer. 

It was the same bar every time, a bar you used to frequent with him, knowing the location and all the small side streets to get you there without needing directions. Doing this felt like such a normal part of your life it almost made you forget that you and Jungkook weren’t together anymore. It’s been a year since you split and you still find yourself thinking if things could be different. 

Would it have been best if you never confessed to each other, never admitted to the small inkling of a crush before it was able to fully blossom? It was hard not to wonder how different life would be now if you had walked away the first time things went south, if he had walked away after the first argument. 

Whenever he called you, pulled you in with those drunken promises it was easy to convince yourself that your relationship was perfect, that it was worth all of the struggles. Your brain morphed each fight, each time you cried alone, twisted it around and molded it to make it easier to consume, easier to believe you were meant to be. 

You thought you were soulmates, and maybe you were, two people destined to be together, meeting at the wrong time, under the wrong circumstances. What was meant to be perfect puzzle pieces connected had slowly turned into jagged edges that no longer clicked regardless of how hard you tried to jam them together, foolishly thinking you could spill your love into the gaps to mend the spaces, making the pieces whole once more. 

Love was never enough. 

Love made you stupid, made you blind and gullible, smiling through lies to avoid arguments, going to bed angry until he was hovering over you, coaxing you into forgiveness with soft kisses and gentle touches. It always went this way, regardless of who’s fault it was without fail he’d end up slot between your legs, the only time the puzzle pieces connected perfectly, allowing him to fuck you as if he’d never see you again. Murmurs of love and adoration were passed between panting breaths, sloppy kisses, shared moans to mask the empty promises you made every time.

Staying away from each other was a hard habit to kick, the two of you stuck on an endless game of seesaw, neither of you having the guts to get off and move on. All it took was a simple drunk phone call for you to go his way, the slur of his voice as he cries into the receiver about how much he loved you, missed you, needed you next to him, wanted to try again. It reeled you in so easily, winding you up until you were hauling your sloppy ex boyfriend off the dirty floor and into your small car. 

He remembers none of this, he never did, not fully anyways. Small tidbits of words he said flash in his mind as he comes to, drool on his cheek and neck sore from the unfortunate position he had slept in, groggy and unaware of his surroundings. 

He knew your apartment too well, recognized the green wall he had helped you paint, now holding endless pictures of you and your friends. None of Jungkook anymore. 

All of those photos were gone now, not burned or shredded in some ritual to get over him, simply tucked into a box and shoved so far into your closet you hoped you would forget it. You never did of course, the way the box laid dust free made it clear how often you pulled it out and sorted through the photos whenever you had too much wine, whenever you had off days where you just felt so alone and wished you could go back to the times you had convinced yourself were better. They weren’t, you knew they weren’t once you sobered up and balanced out your emotions.

Jungkook doesn’t feel bothered that not a trace of him remained visible in your home, he knew his presence lingered in the cracks, buried so deep in the crevices of your mind he knew you would always think of him. 

He groans softly as his eyes roam the interior of your home, the throbbing in his temples making him stop and shut his lids, not needing to analyze the place he was at less than two weeks ago when you had called him over. Jungkook briefly wonders if he should sneak his way out, not used to waking up on the couch instead of in your bed right beside you, maybe he had said something last night that crossed the line and landed him on the couch as a punishment. 

As you finally emerge from your room his plan of escape is put to a stop, his eyes gravitating towards your bedroom door, seeing the way you cautiously step out. Having heard Jungkook wake up since you had already been awake for the past hour, your body not allowing you to sleep while knowing he was in the other room, it took a few minutes of courage before you were able to face him. 

Spotting him on your couch shows how much he doesn’t belong, the pinned leather jacket he wore looking so harsh against the light coloring of your furniture, his dark disheveled hair contrasting with the tidy way you organized your apartment. He senses it, the skin crawling sensation that spreads the longer you stare at him, how he felt so out of place somewhere he used to call home at one point. 

“Thank you for picking me up.” He chooses to break the silence, voice raspy, his internal self screaming at him for always doing this. His eyes are sincere, genuinely meaning it, knowing just how messy he got when he had too much to drink, how his friends could never handle him when he crossed the line and began to call for you. 

Like always his words were routine so he expects it when you huff and say, “You need better friends Jungkook.”

“I know.” Because he did, he knew his friends enabled him, riled him up and once he became too much they pushed him onto you, knowing Jungkook’s grip on you was still too strong for you to ever say no. 

“What if I hadn’t picked you up? Would they have left you on the side of the bar to fend for yourself?”

“Probably,” he shrugs, from past experiences he knows very well they would have. His friends had dealt with Jungkook crying over you far too much, their patience fully stamped out, no longer able to tolerate him when he became like this. 

Not even realizing when he begins to smile as he thought of the nights you didn’t pick up, how he had ended up in the most random locations because he refused to go home to a place you weren’t, he snaps out of it when you scoff. “It’s not funny Jungkook, you could have gotten hurt or something.”

There it was, the reason you were upset. Not because he had called you and spewed the same bullshit he always did, no that you could tolerate. You were upset, and worried, that you’d get a following call from someone stating he had injured himself while calling for you. 

“I know.”

You pause to breathe, his short responses not irking you like it should, arms crossed over your chest as you observe your ex boyfriend still sitting on the couch, looking like a scolded child. 

“You can’t call me anymore Jungkook.” How you have the nerve to say that to him is funny, acting as if ten days ago you weren’t the one doing this to him, telling him you missed him, securing your anchor around his foot and dragging him back under with you. 

This is the checklist you needed to go down, a formality of the morning after so he doesn’t mind it. Instead he frowns at the way you continue to say his name, the way it rolls off your tongue makes him wince, missing the way you’d call him Kookie, playful pet names like Bunny, something he swore he hated but secretly loved. Jungkook wished he could hear you say it again, humor you with that damned bunny eared headband he’d wear to hear you laugh, squeal as he posed and dance for whatever silly video you recorded as you shouted out the ridiculous nickname. 

The last time he heard those words spill out of your mouth had been too long ago. 

“I’m sorry.” he admits, he knew he had to stop, couldn’t continue to hold onto the past, knowing how wrong you were for each other but he wasn’t the only one. Those were the same words you told him ten days ago, apologizing with guilty eyes for asking him to come over when you were lonely, needing a familiar body to occupy the space next to you, wanting his hands to soothe you, make you feel whole again just for a night. 

Once the sun came up it was back to normal, the two of you having the repeat conversation you had every time, the exact one you were having now. A formality. Nothing more, just mindless words that you would both agree to just to move along, to make you both feel better, more secure with yourself until the next time the phone rang. 

Your heart twists in your chest as you look at him, the same toxic love you had for him brewing in your heart, spilling over and burning you but you ignore the pain, convince yourself you don’t feel it as you breathe in. That same rope latches around Jungkook’s ankle as you avert your eyes for a brief second before looking back at him with a small sigh. “Do you want breakfast? I know how you get when you have a hangover.”

He smiles for the first time, charming as always, looking up at you through the subtle waves in his hair. “I probably shouldn’t.”

You know this. He definitely shouldn’t because breakfast will turn into words exchanged, civil at first, flirty the next, a coin flipped to decide if a petty argument would begin or if you’d reminisce about the good times. Regardless of the outcome, what always followed ended with you moaning out his name as he rocked into you, those same empty promises spilling through his lips that you swallowed with a kiss. 

A brief moment of bliss, a small dose of the past that only serves to hurt you further but you crave it, loving the small rush that came with arguing, the roughness of his hands as he pushed you around before sliding home, burying his face into your neck as he broke you down all over again. 

Normally you’d try to convince him further, but as your mouth opens to protest you get flashes of the night before, how you had carried Jungkook up your flight of stairs, hearing him ramble about nonsense so slurred together you paid it no mind. You would have had him sleep in your bed beside you like you always did but when you fish his phone out and begin to slide his jacket off it buzzes to life. 

Always being nosey you type in his password, smiling when you realize it was still your old anniversary but when you unlock it and see a flood of messages from a girl named Natalie, calling him babe, asking where he was, the smile falls from your face as you start to snoop. 

It doesn’t take much scrolling through their thread of messages to easily discover she was his girlfriend, blissfully unaware that he was shit faced and calling you, confessing to his love for you while she laid at home and wondered if he was having fun with his friends. She reminded you of yourself, of the way you used to be with him and it left a sour feeling on your tongue. 

“Yeah you probably shouldn’t.” 

He stands up now, following you slowly as you approach the door, heavy boots thumping on the hardwood as he reluctantly steps closer to the exit. He doesn’t want to leave, wants you to try to convince him to stay, not knowing that you knew the dirty secret he was hiding buried in his phone. 

You don’t decide to tell him you know, it was pointless. That was just how Jungkook was wired, so much love to give he had to spread it out, give everyone a fair share of it, choosing to pretend he wasn’t being selfish. It was naive to believe it, to think all the love he held was strictly for you, it was why he was able to pull the hood over your eyes so easily. 

Even when you pull the door open and give him a tightlipped smile he knows you’ll still call him, forget all about Natalie when you’re lonely once more. So when you look him in the eyes and sigh, “Goodbye Jungkook.” He knows it’s not for long, maybe a week or so, maybe less. 

He simply smiles, stuffing his hands into his jeans as he shuffles out, turning to face you as he steps backwards. “See you later Y/N.” And his words sting in a way he doesn’t mean, knowing just how right he was. 

Jungkook would never mind how heavy the anchor you hooked on his ankle was because he knew you would forever be a sucker for him. 

As you shut the door behind you it feels like a small weight starts to hang from your shoulders, the same tug starting from your chest, guiding you into your room until you’re pulling out the cursed box and sorting through those damned photos. With stinging eyes you flip through them for a moment, focusing on all the laughs captured on film, blurry vision moving to your phone beside you, hands already itching to call him again. 

It’s as if he knows, still inside your building, lingering in the lobby to give you a moment and it doesn’t take long. Once his phone starts to vibrate he smiles, staring at the photo of you as you call him like clockwork. With a clear of his throat he answers the phone, barely saying hello before he hears a small sniffle through the speaker. 

“I miss you Kookie.” 

Jungkook lets his eyes shut as he presses the elevator button, loving the feeling of being needed by you, already knowing to head back up because this was routine. 

“I know you do baby, I’ll be right up.”

And just like that you’re once again desperately trying to make those stupid puzzle pieces fit together, hoping that maybe this time love would be enough.

[teddy06writes]

the quackity + karl irl stream but add y/n ✨ (and maybe sapnap if that's not too hard to write 😳😳)

quackity x karl x reader (I tried to Fit in Sapnap but it didn’t work with the way the meet up actually went)

trigger warnings: swearing

premise: you finally get to meet your long distance boyfriends in person, the stream that follows is WACK

(y/s/n) - your screen name

(y/n/n) - your nickname

“Blep” talking

‘blep’ texting

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“WE’RE POPPING OFF! WE’RE POPPIN OFF!”

You roared with laughter, doing your best to stay out of the way as Alex and Karl started swinging guitars around.

~~

two and a half hours earlier:

You had gotten off the plane in NC, practically buzzing with nervous energy, or maybe it was the coffee you’d gotten on the plane, combined with the two energy drinks earlier in the day, but hey! it was a long flight, and it was already late.

It was nearly 10:30 by the time you got your bag, and pulled out your phone to check the new messages from Karl and Alex.

You had all planed to meet up originally at Karl’s house but then plans had changed when you and Alex figured it’d be cheaper to uber together, even if it ruined the plan of all of you meeting at once.

‘I just got my bag where are you?’ you texted Alex.

‘I only just got off the plane, I should get down to baggage claim soon tho’

You smiled, ‘I’ll see you them <3′

‘nerd’         ‘<3′

You stood against a wall, quietly scrolling through twitter as you waited, until a new message from Alex popped up.

It was a fairly blurry photo of a crowded airport, with a red circle drawn around one person.

‘that is you right?’

You chuckled, zooming in on the picture to determine that is was indeed you, ‘yup, that’s little ole me... stalker’

You looked up as you sent the text, rising on your toes to look over the crowd, trying to spot him, pulling out your camera you quietly explained what was going on and then:

“(Y/n)!” Alex emerged from the crowd, and immediately you grinned, throwing your arms around him.

“Alex!”

You pulled away long enough for Alex to ask, “Can I kiss you?”

Laughing you nodded, and his lips met yours, as your hands came to rest on the sides of his face.

When you pulled away Alex muttered, “wow.”

“That bad? Sorry.” You glanced down sheepishly.

“Not that-” he said quickly, taking a half step back, “It’s just- wow, you know. Like, we’re actually here together, and about to go meet up with Karl, and wow.”

You chuckled, “I guess that makes sense.”

He garbed your hand, “C’mon, I already called an uber.”

~~

The whole way to Karl’s you sat nervously fiddling the cuffs of your hoodie, occasionally glancing at Alex, who smiled back reassuringly.

You sent a message to the group chat the three of you were in saying you would be there in two minutes at which he sent back a long string of emojis you could only take to mean that he was excited.

The car pulled up in front of the house and you got out, thanking the driver as Alex got your suitcases from the back.

Quietly you pulled out your camera, just as you had at the airport.

“Why are you filming everything?” Alex asked as you walked up to the house.

“We’re gonna do what George could never.” You laughed.

“Yeah but the lightings gonna be shit, it’s dark out here.”

“It’ll still be better than George!”

Alex laughed, high fiving you, “True!”

Almost as soon as you knocked, the door opened and Karl came barreling out, tackling both of you in a hug, “YOUR HERE!”

Alex barley kept him from falling over, “Yeah!”

“It’s almost like we planned it.” You couldn’t help but scoff at the camera.

Karl grinned, quickly pecking at your lips, and then Alex’s as he let go of you, “I am so excited that you guys are here!”

“Woah Karl where's the consent?!” Alex feigned shock.

“Oops?” He giggled.

You rolled your eyes with a chuckle, “Can we come in? It’s cold out here!”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, come in, come in!” Karl quickly moved back inside, waving you and Alex in, “Sorry.”

~~

After getting your suitcases inside and being formally introduced to Shaun, Karl all but demanded for you to take pictures together, resulting in many shots that were blurry from too much laughter, but a few good ones, like the picture with the boys on either side of you, kissing your cheeks, which later went up on Instagram, and a picture of Karl, mid laugh looking back at you up on Alex’s back.

All of your previous anxiety was very much gone.

You laughed, looking at Karl’s phone as he showed the picture, “Oh my god!”

“That is amazing!” Alex agreed, leaning over you to look.

“It’s gonna be the stream announcement!” Karl declared, pulling up twitter.

You glanced at your phone, “Karl it’s almost one in the morning, no one would show up to a stream.”

Karl laughed, “You seriously underestimate the fans.”

The next thing you knew you were up upstairs, sitting off to the side of Karl’s streaming set up as Alex grabbed the guitar from the corner, “Karl you don’t even actually play, why do you have this?”

“Because I can?” He said absently, starting to set up for a stream.

The air was thick with excitement as Karl hit ‘go live’, and handed you and Alex extra sets of headphones.

Alex was still messing with the guitar, and you barley stifled laughs as he began to sing Country roads in a strange accent, and the chat filled with people.

“It’s pop off time!” Karl announced in a high pitched voice, making you laugh even more.

The face cam was turned on, and the yelling began.

After a few moments, and a couple more terrible bars of country roads, Karl grinned, “Everyone! This is, Quackity, our, uh, our guitarist for the day!”

Alex laughed, “We’re poppin off! We’re poppin off!”

“And (y/s/n)s here too!” Karl dragged your chair further in frame, “Welcome! Welcome!”

“It’s pop off central tonight boys!” You chuckled.

The alert box went insane as did the chat as Alex finally sat down next to you, and Karl stopped laughing enough to sit back up.

“Guys! Chill! You’re gonna break the alert box!”

You laughed again, “Yeah just tell your chat to stop, just knock it off, leave we’re done!”

Alex snorted, “It’s over!”

Karl pulled his chair closer to the desk, “Thanks for uh, being here, with the boys, uhh.”

He turned to Alex who was now essentially just spamming random chords, yelling, “I can’t hear you!”

You berried your face in your hands, trying to control your laughter.

Karl sighed and pulled his headphones off, “You know what? I’ll be right back, I’ll be right back.”

You immediately hopped seats as he left, “Hello chat! Hello!”

Alex leaned over, trying to grab the mic to pull it towards him, “hell-” part of the stand snapped, “Oh my god!”

“Oh my god you fucking broke it!” You yelled, pushing away from the desk.

“Oh god, hold on!”

He did his best to fix it, leaning in to talk to the chat, while Karl came back with another guitar.

“Why do you have two of them?” You laughed.

Karl grinned, “Technically it’s Shaun's!”

“OH WE”RE POPPING OFF! WE”RE POPPING OFF!”

You roared with laughter, quickly moving back out of the way as Karl jokingly swung the guitar at Alex.

Once you calmed down you caught a glimpse of the chat, “Guys I think you fucked something up!”

“Oh god!” Alex muttered.

“Wait- hold on- did-” Karl examined the mic, “Wait its unplugged!”

It took a few minutes to get things sorted out, and as Karl and Alex went back to yelling about popping off you spun around in your desk chair, “Pop off crew! Pop off crew!”

Things settled down again when you moved your chair back to between them, a sub goal was set for a height check, and you started to try and get things some what orderly.

“So yeah this isn’t just a Minecraft stream, I think we’re just hanging out, Popping off, you know, we’re gonna talk to chat-”

Karl began to laugh, and Alex tried not to chuckle as he said, “He’s laughing at you (y/n) he’s just laughing at you! What are you gonna do about it?”

“Listen man, I’m trying to get your fucking stream in order. If you just wanna fucking ignore me then fine!” You held your hands up in surrender.

“Well, I mean-”

Karl started to stand up, and you knew he was going for the fit check but Alex screeched, shoving his chair back, “Fuck off!”

“Wha?”

You laughed, “He thought you were going for the Hight check early man!”

“Dude it’s the fit check!”

Alex laughed as Karl sat back down, “Holy shit- cash app with the hundred tear ones!”

You giggled at the message, “They wanna see the height check! Who wants to see the height check? Who wants to see the height check chat?”

“No no no no! No height check early! It- it doesn’t matter, cause height is stupid, and a choice!” Alex struggled for words.

You shook your head whispering, “He just looks short next to Karl and he’s scared.”

“Shut up!”

~~

A while later, after both Karl and Alex’s stream descended into chaos or partial chaos, you found yourself tucked between them on the couch.

Karl’s fingers were intertwined with yours, and Alex’s head lay on your shoulder.

“I’m glad to have finally met you guys.” You murmured.

“Yeah,” Alex hummed, “Actually being able to cuddle is much better than the online thing.”

Karl hummed in agreement, “I wish you guys could be here all the time.”

“Let’s get a house somewhere.” You mused.

“Somewhere convenient for you two nerds to go to school.” Karl chuckled.

Alex yawned, “Somewhere near good take out.”

You smiled sleepily, “Anywhere with you guys is fine by me.”

Distantly a clock on the wall read 4:23 am.

[fukurodaze]

tryhard

pairing: suna rintarou x fem!reader genre: flangst wc: 3.2k warnings: cursing!!, uncomfy vibes, it’s the ‘good friend but shitty boyfriend’ type beat synopsis: inarizaki high’s second year trip to kyoto is infamous for its many rendezvous. you just happen to want to follow the trend.

special thanks to kei @keistays​ for beta reading! ily <3

LISTEN TO: gimme love - joji; cool girl - dodie; bags - clairo

“hey.” your hands are shoved in your coat pockets, your boots hitting against the asphalt as a small puff of smoke escapes your mouth. you meet him at the back entrance of the inn. 

he looks up from his phone. “oh, hey. let’s go.”

his shoulders are lax, but his feet tell you otherwise. he scurries along the street, then stops to wait for your slower footsteps. the stoplight is green, but he doesn’t mind waiting for you.

you don’t say anything as he looks at you with tired eyes, a light red across his cheeks. you wish it wasn’t so cold - maybe then you’d know if it was you who had that effect on him.

the light is red now, and you feel your heart pound in your chest as you stand beside him, eyes flickering every now and then to check his blank face. 

“where are we going again?” you inhale a bit of the cold air, nuzzling your face into the thick scarf around your neck. 

“kamo river.” 

“can we walk along gion too?”

suna shrugs. he tells you, “sure. whatever you want.”

the cars are less at night. only the bright green-yellow-red of traffic lights and the faraway warm glow of street lamps stay behind. kyoto’s beautiful, you think. you wish you could hang around for hours here with suna without a care for anyone else.

as soon as you two cross the first road, he lets out a sigh of relief. you then see him chuckle, almost silently. the sight of it makes you smile.

“are you hungry?” he asks.

“we can get snacks, maybe.” you’re caught off-guard at his sudden change of demeanour. or maybe you just don’t know him enough yet.

you’ve had so many questions about this boy for so long, and now that you’re here in kyoto with him - when you’re not allowed to be out, nonetheless - you’re not sure where you stand with him. 

you were introduced to suna rintarou as osamu’s friend and the notorious middle blocker of the school volleyball team. you’re friends with the girls on the cheer squad - the same ones who would always teeter between the lines of friendship and romance with some of the boys on the school's sports teams. you only know the middle blocker by association. your interactions were limited to random glances as you brought your math paper down the room and the rare hello’s when you’d pass by his desk in the morning. 

there was also the one time when the volleyball club planned a birthday surprise for suna and just had to assign you the role of the “distraction” because you weren’t in any “important clubs.” firstly, ouch, and second, why you?

yet it seemed like suna didn’t have a problem as you awkwardly approached him on the morning of his seventeenth birthday, seeing as osamu had weirdly been absent on his best friend’s birthday. 

suna talked to you like a friend, and though he seemed uninterested in you at first, you made sure to spare him the purple chuupets from the canteen, telling him that you’d rather have the white ones instead.

you didn’t really think it was a coincidence when he left you three white chuupets on your desk on valentines day. so when you texted him about it, he gladly told you they were from him. since then, there always seemed to be an elephant that entered the room whenever you were with him.

it didn’t bother you at first, but as text conversations run late and a fluttering feeling in your chest arose, there’s a question that repeats itself in your head.

you heard it the most when he texted you tonight, telling you he couldn’t sleep, and judging from the way you had stayed up until the crack of dawn texting him on multiple occasions, it only felt right for him to ask you. you told him to meet you outside, discreetly, at half past midnight, when the teachers had stopped patrolling.

suna rintarou only texts you when nobody else is awake. suna rintarou only smiles at you after the first crosswalk, when you’re further away from the inn. 

but suna rintarou also follows your every word with a question. suna rintarou also gave you, only you, something for valentine’s.

the question still stands: what are we?

the convenience store is no different to any of the ones back in hyogo. bright saturated colours and white fluorescent lights make you squirm in your almost sleepy daze. but your heart beats so fast and your skin is so cold that you’ve convinced yourself that sleep is not an option. 

suna’s arm brushes yours as you two walk through the aisles, and he reaches for the warm drinks.

“we’re going to be walking some distance to the gion. better not have you fall asleep.”

you pick out a pack of chips from the shelf, and you raise your eyebrows at him, silently asking him if he wanted any. he nods, and you take four.

suna offers to carry the shopping bags as you two begin your little adventure through the city, wary of the closed shops and dark alleyways but enamoured by the old town nonetheless. you’re not surprised to be the one leading the conversation, seeing as he had always been the one to listen. but you notice how he hums with every interjection, how he laughs with every sarcastic remark, and how he makes sure to look at you whenever you tell him something about yourself that he didn’t know before. 

when he speaks, there’s always a quiet attentiveness to him, suddenly so interested in the most useless topics and rambles you would otherwise think he’d dismiss. you notice how he tries to prolong any and all dialogue, like silence was to be untouched. you like it.

“hey, y/n,” the two of you stop and what seems to be the umpteenth red light, the area lined with closed shops and a late market just around the corner. 

he turns to you, and you look at him “yeah?”

he hands you a can of coffee. you take it, confused, and he tells you, “it’s warm. could you just hold it for now?”

a shy smile creeps onto your face, and you nod slowly. he’s sweet, isn’t he?

you watch as puffs of cold air run out of his mouth, his voice low and mellow. when you think about it, you don’t really know him. you don’t know what he likes, you don’t know how he feels, you don’t know what makes him laugh or cry.

but you want to know. you want to know everything about him.

yet, there’s doubt tugging at your heartstrings that tells you he won’t let you. (you ignore it.)

"how was your trip?” suna asks.

‘you are my trip,’ you want to tell him, having secretly anticipated his asking you out. inarizaki’s second-year class trip to kyoto was infamous for its midnight rendezvous, where people would confess and go on dates in the freedom of an ancient city before the pressure of exams in the third year would temporarily keep everyone’s love lives on hold - at least that’s what you’ve heard. though you had told yourself they were only rumours, you can’t help but grin to yourself at the idea of a late night adventure with suna. 

now, as you look down at the little can of coffee in your hands, you find that they were never just rumours.

“my group went to so many shrines...” you say, “at some point it just became the same thing over and over again, and the souvenirs just had to get more and more expensive. it was pretty, though.”

suna exhales through his nose, “all my group did was eat.”

you chuckle, “that’s to be expected when you’re with miya osamu.”

“i got good pictures, though.”

“oh? can i see?” 

suna stops to shuffle his phone out of his coat pocket and hands it to you. he unlocks it in your hand, and you tell yourself to keep quiet at the brush of his large hands around yours. 

it’s between your shock and his photos that you’re given a glimpse of the rest of his phone before you’re scrolling through a gallery of photos. for a second, you’re close to complimenting him on their beauty - you take it back when you click on the first one you see.

“suna, these are all blurry.” you deadpan jokingly.

“wasn’t my fault we were running all the time.”

you giggle, “why were you running?”

“for some reason class two and class one have overlapping routes, so the twins met.”

you nod in acknowledgement, “they don’t ever stop, do they.”

you click away from the pictures app and instead go onto the camera. he’s off talking about something funny that happened today, and as you laugh along with him, you snap a few (many) low quality pictures of you both from below, and then a video, just barely tilting the phone so that the underside of his head is visible in frame. you hope he’ll see them later - maybe even keep them in his gallery, you know, for keepsake. 

you hand his phone back to him, “here.”

he sees your little grin and questions it, but he pockets his phone and continues speaking.

you start to wonder if you’re dreaming when he holds your hand.

the air is colder when you two are seated along the kamo river.

“do you think we’ll get caught sneaking out?” suna says. you reckon it’s the first time you’ve seen him talk so much and so enthusiastically all at once. 

you shrug, snickering, “i think we already have. they just don’t care because everyone goes out anyways.”

“nights of romantic rendezvous, they say.” he turns his head to you, a ghost of a smirk evident on his lips.

though you give a playful push to his shoulder, you scoot even closer.

“doesn’t that make us one of them?” you cringe at the question. you find your body turning to him, and it seems like he’s doing the same.

are we going too fast?

you don’t miss his mouth parting and his eyes staring at your lips. you can hear him breathe - he’s so close. 

you hesitate a little; a lot. you succumb to small looks over his shoulder and quick glances back at the water until your mind starts to wander off into uncertainties and questions you don’t even know how to answer - because you can’t. you ponder why you’ve never really heard him laugh before tonight; if he’s keeping close to you because he wants your warmth or just simply hates the cold; why you find yourself second-guessing the moment you’ve wanted to happen since valentine’s day.

although your head is loud, your surroundings are quiet. then it becomes a matter of head and heart.

so you listen to your heart. 

you want to kiss him, and that is what you know. the hunches and hesitations in your head aren’t concrete - at least not yet.

slowly, little by little, you let his lips collide with yours, closing the space in between. it’s cold and dry, yet the feeling is enough to enshroud you in a blanket of warmth. it’s short, as you expected, like a prolonged peck. you still feel a tingling sensation on your lips afterwards.

it’s then, for a fleeting moment, that you start to think that maybe you could find comfort in this fluttering feeling.

“have you seen anyone else going out?” suna asks like nothing happened.

you shake your head, “mina-chan snuck out with ayane-chan, and i think sakuragi-san with hirai-san... but that’s all i know.”

suna’s eyes widen at the mention of your friend, ayane. not that he cares about her, of course. he clears his throat.

“ayane? dating mina?”

“all the girls think they’re dating, but i guess it seems like a friendship for others.”

you inhale the cold air, and you feel yourself starting to regret the mention of her name. “i know ayane’s been out for a while. i’m glad that everyone’s been so accepting, too. she seems so lively all the time.”

suna’s eyes bottom into a sullen gaze, “yeah, ayane. i’m happy for her too.”

you snicker, “could’ve said that with more enthusiasm, no?”

suna shrugs, “we’re- yeah.”

perhaps he does care about her.

but suna stops himself as his eyes meet yours, “anyways, i bet sakuragi and hirai just wanna find a love hotel.”

you reply with a laugh.

“and i think akagi’s getting close to someone lately.”

you take a sip of your coffee, “really?”

“yeah,” suna zips up his coat tightly, “shit, it’s cold...”

you agree with him. 

despite suna’s conscious efforts, conversation dies out when it’s meant to die. whether it be the tens of questions swimming in your head, the hundreds of i-told-you-sos that play in your mind, or the biting wind, you know neither of you can’t stall anymore. 

it’s so pathetic, you think. you just kissed this boy and now you don’t know if it’s the coffee or his lips because the truth leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.

“suna, what are we?”

he doesn’t answer. he doesn’t even do so much as to react to your words, like if he prayed your words away, you never said them. his eyes bear holes into the ground, skimming through a mental encyclopaedia of answers he could form without hurting your feelings.

it’s then that the distance between you and him feels as wide as the river. it’s two in the morning, and you find yourself hugging your own legs instead of hugging him.

it feels like betrayal, almost.

not that he betrayed you; more like you betrayed yourself. in truth, you were tired of chuupets, always fighting your sleepiness when he texted you late at night, willing to put up with his shit talk behind everyone else’s backs. 

yet you still worried that your legs wouldn’t look just right to him in the jeans you wore tonight.

you take a bag of chips from the shopping bag with snacks you two had splurged on earlier. it makes a quick pop as you open it, and suna hears a crunching sound beside him, away from his peripheral vision.

he’s frozen when you reach the bag out to him, offering him a chip. you’re relaxed, he thinks, even after asking that. it’s okay, he tells himself.

suna still shakes his head in decline and takes another sip from his convenience store coffee. he braces himself, because it’s only now that he’s realised the mess he’s put himself into.

“we’re-” he pauses.

you take another chip in your mouth, savouring its saltiness as you inwardly flinch at his hesitation. 

suna takes a deep breath, “i mean, not everyone who goes out is-”

you see it now; you should’ve listened to your head.

“it’s ayane, isn’t it?” you brush it off. all of it.

he’s unmoving, not daring to even blink. but he opens his mouth to speak.

“i wanted it to be you.”

you want to laugh at him. at least he didn’t deny any of it.

“but it’s not, right?” you shake your head, bitter chuckles falling from your mouth, “and you have no choice because she likes girls, huh.”

“i’m sorry. i fucked up.”

you know you can’t cry, but you sure as hell would like to. maybe then he’d really feel bad about it, after knowing so well even back when he’d given you sweets on valentine’s that you were just a compromise. 

“yeah, you did,” you pick at the grass around your soles, “what was even more fucked up is that i still thought i had a chance.”

“i still care about you.”

you exhale, hating the words that fall from his mouth. “of course you do! i’m your friend, osamu’s friend, ayane’s friend.”

you hate that you can’t hate him. you hate that you can’t hate how you genuinely get along with him, how his laughter and words hold no lies, how he’s honest with you. but that doesn’t change the way you hate how he’s led you on - and how you let him.

“is that why you were so smiley and eager tonight? because you were trying so hard to ‘win me over’ so you could forget about her?”

suna sighs. he needs to say something, he tells himself, because it’s only starting to sink in that he might even lose you as a friend. he kissed you, damn it, and held your hand, and asked you out on what everyone calls a date.

what a ‘friend’, huh?

“i’m so sorry.”

you wish he could at least say more. you feel a slash of anger, and though it stops quickly, you make a jab at him.

“you’re too lazy with your words. too lazy with your feelings.”

silence.

“i wanted to be wrong, but,” you shrug, “turns out you have a few things to work out yourself.”

his shoulders fall even lower, “i’ll stay out of your sight. i’m sorry.”

you laugh again, bitterly. your feet bring themselves to stand, and you decide to take the shopping bag and hug it. you think it’d look funny from afar, but you know it’s only to fill the hollow feeling in your chest and the burning embarrassment on your cheeks.

you look back at him, and his eyes are full of worry. they’re so wide that you almost feel flattered at his display of regret. you know he regrets it. you know osamu’s going to beat him up for it. you know the cheerleaders will talk about it. but you’ve forced all your focus on the bags of chips you’re holding and the feeling of a soft mattress back at the inn. the plan to gion is long forgotten.

suna stands up immediately, shoving his hands into his coat pockets, just trailing behind as you make no effort to slow down. you only speed up, briskly walking through the streets you remember from tonight.

you even cross the road on different green lights. 

you don’t wait for him. not anymore. 

the inn is a fresh breath of heated air, the reception dark and the stairs creaky. you tiptoe every inch of the way, not once looking back. 

eventually, when you reach your room, you slide the door open, seeing nothing but your friend’s nightlight. you take care to place the bag of snacks in a corner of the room, hidden yet still available for any of your roommates to see. you’re quick to shed your coat and change into the gym clothes everyone’s been wearing since dinner, sliding into your futon and forcing your eyes closed like you hadn’t just drank an entire can of coffee. 

you don’t cry, you don’t sob, you simply lay there. now you want to laugh at yourself, for knowing that something definitely was wrong, but having too big of a hopeful pride to even consider it.

your hands crinkle the thick futon and bring it up to your neck as you curl yourself up. warm. not electric nor addictive, just comfortable. 

you wanted electric.

you wanted to take back all your words and ignore everything because he kissed you and held your hand and waited for you at the crosswalk, only for you to be some replacement for someone he can’t be with. it makes you wonder if he thought of her when he kissed you. 

you hear the creaking of the wood boards and two voices. you know that it’s other people returning from their own little kyoto dates. their voices are high and squeaky and one of them had whispered something that you could hear three rooms away. 

it stings even more. too bad.

“fucking embarrassing,” you mutter under your breath, turning in your futon, “so fucking embarrassing.”

you’ll tell osamu that you’ll be hanging out with the kids in class 3 for a while. you’ll ask your friends to save a seat for you on the train tomorrow. you’ll make sure to give away the snacks to everyone later. it’ll be a hassle, but you’ll do what you have to do.

at least you can let yourself sleep now.

[annie-mit-ie]

Glimpses: Part 12 (Kathryn Hahn x Fem!Reader)

Part 1 // previous chapter <<< >>> next chapter

Summary: Will you be able to go with Kathryn?

Word Count: 2k

A/N: This is a little shorter, I know, but I hope all of you still enjoy it. Look at this little tag list we have going on now!! - I might actually get a little emotional that so many of you are still reading this little story. With all that being said, here we gooooo. xx

Tag List: @danvers97 @zafirosreverie @srtamercurio @wanatag @pulledbythestars17 @plantowl​

Don't forget to check out the new official Playlist! :)

_____________________________________________________________________________

“You can’t take her.” Jennifer is walking up and down in Kathryn’s office. She arrived here right after you had left, ready to plan to thrip to New York, as well as the upcoming project. Kathryn shifts her focus from her hand to her manager and huffs. 

“NO. Kathryn, no. You know it yourself. First of all, she is a distraction. Yes, you like her, I KNOW, but this is not you. This is not how you do your job.” Jennifer looks at her boss with pleading eyes.

Running her fingers through her long mane, Kathryn bites the insides of her cheek. “you’re right, I know you are, but at the same time…”

“NO BUTS, Kathryn.” Jennifer interrupts her, prompting Kathryn to shoot her a short glare. 

“…but at the same time I haven’t been this happy in years.” Thinking back at the time you spent with her, a small smile creeps onto her face.

Jennifer gets it. She understands Kathryn’s point, but as her manager it’s her job to secure the actress’ job, which is why she needs to make sure there are as few distractions from work as possible included in the trip.

Placing a hand on her arm, Jennifer looks at Kathryn with warm eyes. “Sweetie, I know you don’t like it. I don’t like it either, because I know how good the time with her is for your heart. But we can’t have this. Not now. Not during your shining moment. Yeah?”

Slowly but surely, Kathryn starts to nod as she can feel the sadness rise in her chest.

Meanwhile, you and Alex are having the same conversation back in your room. She tries to talk sense into you and talks animatedly to her phone, as you try to find a way to accompany Kathryn.

“Honey, you simply can’t. There is no way. It’s during the exam phase. You can’t be abroad for that.” She shakes her head.

Considering your options, you try to talk against her. “I could ask for online exams.”

“… there is a multiple hour time difference - you can’t be serious, Y/N.”

“I could postpone exams?” You raise an eyebrow.

Alex shakes her head harder now. “NO GIRL. No. Kathryn wouldn’t want you screwing up your education for this. You have leftover classes, exams to write and then you’ll have to write term papers you have to prepare for,” you take a visible breath. “Yes love, I am aware you could write those on set but we all know you wouldn’t. It’s better for you to stay.”

You want to argue. You really do. But there are a few things holding you back. First of all, you know Alex makes a valid point. Second of all, you don’t even know where you are standing with Kathryn. What are you to her? What is happening with her? The lines are so blurry that it’s hard for you to see, so you think it might be better not to assume and make a fuss about all of it.

Lastly, you don’t even know if she wants to have you by her side in the first place, because, again, it’s not like she is your girlfriend or anything. Not that you wouldn’t want her to be.

So, just like Kathryn does with Jennifer, you agree to what Alex says and make your decision to stay, even though it hurts your heart just as much as it hurts hers.

Given the fact, that she has to leave for New York right the next morning, it’s not possible for you to see her again. You think back at the soft kiss she planted on your lips as you left her house under yesterday’s hot afternoon sun. You feel so good with her and you can’t stop to think back at how beautiful her eyes look up close - even more beautiful than on all her pictures that Alex and you have been sending back and forth whenever Kathryn did a new promo shoot.

It’s late afternoon as you’re lying on your bed and stare at the ceiling, a random Marvel movie running in the background.  Alex has been trying to hype you up all day, but, given the fact that Kathryn is gone for an unforeseen time, you still feel sad.

You turn off the movie because you can’t seem to concentrate and connect your phone to the speakers to play some music. You remember that you can sit on your windowsill that’s facing the backyard and and decide to sit down and watch the birds in the tree outside your window as you open Spotify and it starts playing the last song you stopped on. “She” by dodie fills the room and you don’t think you related to a song like that ever before.

It really describes the feelings of uncertainty that you have right now. It doesn’t help that you never really took the chance to talk to her about all of not. Not properly, at least. This mistake leaves you with this endless feeling of emptiness that seems like it’s eating you up from the inside as you don’t even know if she feels the same in any way. 

Your phone chimes and you nearly fall off the windowsill as you shoot up to reach for it. It’s the group chat you thought had died a while ago that you joined right after Kathryn appeared on Wandavision. 

Apparently, news of Kathryn’s casting already sank through and everyone is screaming about it. Unwilling to share any knowledge, and also way too careful with it, you want to put your phone away as it chimes again and your eyes widen.

You immediately click the message.

“New York is wild! Haven’t had time to get to you yet. Seems like everyone and their mom wants to speak to me today. Just left my second meeting and now I have to leave for a work dinner in a few. How’s the day going back home? xxx K.”

A bright smile creeps onto your face as you realize she uses the “everyone and their mom” phrase that you use so much whenever you describe difficult situations to her. You decide not to reply immediately - you don’t want her to assume you are sitting on your phone just waiting for her. 

Instead you opt to create some art and grab your supplies. There is an empty canvas behind your bed and you feel like there are enough feelings trapped in you to create something cool on it.

Your mom works long on Mondays, so you haven't realized just how much time has passed as you perform the last of the night and call it a day. Your picture is colorful. Very much so. The acrylic paint hasn’t even dried yet, but there are already tons of ideas floating around in your head about what to do with the artwork from here on out. Maybe you should get some fine liners and work out the edges, maybe do some highlighting as well, you don't know yet.

Just as you want to put the brush aside your phone lights up on your bed. You can't pick it up just now because the slowly drying paint sticks to your fingers and you anxiously reach for the closest paper towel to white it off as best as you can. Not expecting anything, you finally reach for your phone and pick up the call before reading the name - an automatic reaction to late night calls from Alex.

You are greeted by a very familiar, yet unexpected, face. Kathryn smiles into the camera and adjusts the lights around her. She is clearly in her pjs, with no make up on, her hair open and messy, falling off her shoulder. You can see she is wearing a loose gray shirt and your whole body starts tingling as you realize it's the shirt she gave you to sleep in last weekend. Immediately, your brain runs wild and you try to figure out if she packed this exact shirt on purpose or just grabbed the one that was available easiest as she was probably in a rush.

Luckily, Kathryn interrupts your train of thought. “Hey! Hiya hon! I just wanted to check in. Make sure you’re alright because you haven’t replied to my message.”

For the first time you look at the clock. It’s 8.30pm and you haven’t had dinner yet.

“Shit.”, you mutter and your hand flies to cover your mouth immediately. 

Kathryn, who hasn’t heard your muttering, looks confused. “Sweetheart, is everything alright?”

You smile thankfully. “Yes! Yes it is. I guess I was just wrapped up in my art and you pulled me out of it and I always need a minute to adjust. I’m fine. It’s late though and I haven’t eaten yet. Thank you for reminding me.”

“Good. Do you want me to order you pizza or something. Because I totally would.” She reaches for a notepad.

“Alright Mom…” she looks at you for a moment and you can’t tell if she is shocked or amused or anything really because she stopped reacting completely and just stares at you. Right when you are about to start panicking about the situation she bursts into laughter.

“I mean I’M SORRY. How dare I offer pizza.” She continues laughing. You love this. This is easy and light and you realize once again just how much you enjoy her company. Gosh, you miss her already.

You remember her message as you make your way downstairs. “How was dinner, Kathryn? And the rest of your day? Tell me about it!”

For the next 10 minutes, as you prepare your own dinner, she tells you about her day and the plans for the next few weeks. The two of you laugh and make jokes and for a moment it seems like both of you have forgotten that you won’t see each other for a while. After she finishes talking, you fall into a comfortable silence and just look and smile at each other for a moment.

“I like you, you know?” She is the one to interrupt the silence. “Spending time with you makes me really happy and I’m sad you can’t come to Europe with me. I need you to know. I wish I could’ve taken you with me.”

Your heart melts and your hands start to shake as you realize Kathryn might indeed feel the same way. You put the knife, that’s in your hand from making dinner, aside. You’re unable to answer right away and fight for the right words, so she continues on with her short monologue.

“I just wanted to call tonight to check in and see how you are doing since I had to kick you out so abruptly last night and maybe we can do this from time to time, check in on each other? I would love that.”

Check in on each other? Why is she so vague all the time? For a moment you thought she’d confess her feelings for you but here you are again, uncertain of what she really thinks about you. You smile, though, and try to keep it calm because you don’t want her to get annoyed with you already.

You realize it’s getting close to 9pm, which means it should be about midnight at her place. Taking responsibility, you send her off to sleep and have a short dinner followed by some reading yourself.

Before Kathryn hangs up, she promises you to call again before leaving for Europe completely. She also wants to know if you want a souvenir from NYC (why is she so cute?) and tells you to call her anytime you need something or someone. With that, she shoots you the brightest smile and leaves you to it.

The ecstatic feeling you felt when you talked to her fades quickly as you come down from the call. Suddenly, your home feels all quiet and lonely and the silence is killing you. You walk back up to your room to sit on your bed and stare out of your window to enjoy the night sky. The tree right next to your room is slowly moving in the wind as its branches scratch the glasses surface.

You decide to call it a day as the week ahead is full of work and school and the weekend was eventful, so you change into comfy clothes and get ready for bed immediately. You fall onto your bed a few minutes later just as your phone lights up again.

"Good night, Sweetheart. It was great seeing your face. xxx K."

[dandelionflower]

(Some salt fic september)

Francois DuPont was an artistic school. With talented students varying from designers, to journalists, to DJs, to comic artists and writers. The art room of the school was always the busiest, the loudest, and the favorite room of the school.

So it would make sense for the school to have a yearly showcase. It was called a talent show once upon a time, but eventually the staff and students agreed that ‘talent show’ didn’t suit the talents the students were bringing to the table. Thus, the Francois DuPont showcase was born.

Students worked for months on their piece for the showcase. More than fifty percent of the works in the art room were pieces for the showcase.

It wasn’t mandatory by any means, but most students with a talent in the arts would participate. But with almost all the students participating and some having more than one piece to showcase, the show usually lasted a few days.

Lila, of course, didn’t know any of that so when asked if she was participating in the showcase in a few months, she grinned and said “Of course!”

Alya lit up. “Great! It’s going to be my first showcase too, and I want someone who knows what I’m going through. C’mon, we have to sign up.” And she dragged her into the halls.

Sign up? But it’s in three months. Lila shrugged and allowed herself to be pulled to the sign up sheets.

Alya immediately wrote her name underneath the ‘verbal’ column, putting a ‘journalism’ next to it.

Lila surveyed the options. The easiest thing to fake would probably be photography, so she marked her name under ‘media’ and wrote a ‘photography’ next to it.

“Ooh, photography? What do you take pictures of? Because I know Mari’s been looking for a partner to take pictures of her designs with her.”

Lila bit back a grimace. “Thanks, but I prefer to take pictures of...” Art? Buildings? “Nature. I find that taking pictures of people is narcissistic as a society.”

“Aren’t you a model?” A judgmental voice came from behind her.

“I- well-“ She stuttered.

“It’s completely different, Felix! Lila doesn’t think her photo shoots are art worthy, she’s just doing it as a job.” Alya snapped, throwing an arm out to almost shield Lila from the chill radiating from Felix’s entire person.

“Very well.” Felix stepped around the two and signed his name in perfect cursive beneath Lila’s name and walked away without another word.

“That guy gives me the creeps.” Alix remarked as she scratched her name under the ‘performance’ column, then the ‘piece of art that cannot be moved’ section.

“And he’s doing photography too! Don’t worry Lila, there’s no way he’s better than you.” Alya grabbed her arm reassuringly and began walking with her back to class.

“Yeah, right...” Lila held in a wince as she found her way back to her seat.

Surely photography can’t be that hard.

—

It was that hard.

Lila had waited one week before the showcase to start taking pictures on her phone. She walked to the park and snapped a few pictures, called it a day, and went home.

They were terrible. Blurry, ugly, terrible.

The next thing she tried was looking up stock images and photoshopping the watermark off.

She was awful at photoshop.

Finally, she resorted to her escape plan.

“Sorry, Alya. But I completely forgot that I’m volunteering at the elementary school all day on the day of the showcase, and I can’t just cancel on them. I’m so sorry.”

“Girl, it’s no problem! Marinette told me that the showcase is going to go on for four days. We’ll just reschedule your slot. It’s no problem at all.”

“Great.” She muttered through gritted teeth. “See you then.”

...crap.

She had only one plan now.

And it was risky.

—

Lila walked into class on Monday, prepared for her showcase.

She explained to Alya that when she explained what was going on to the leader of her organization, they gave her a rain check.

“I’m just so thankful.” She brushed away a tear. “I really wanted to make sure I could see everyone’s talents.”

“That’s so sweet!” Rose cooed. “I can’t wait to see your pictures either!”

“I just hope they correctly portray the beauty of my subject...” Lila pressed a hand to her chest in modesty.

“Students, I need all of the media students to come to the art classroom with your flash drives and cameras.” Miss Bustier put her phone down and smiled. “And anyone who paired with a media student for their talent please also join the students in the art room.”

Lila stood and gave everyone a hug. “Wish me luck!”

She noticed Sabrina stand as well and accept a half hearted hug from Chloe and a nod of support from Max. Juleka stood too and hugged Rose tight.

“Bye Alya! Wish me luck.” Marinette appeared from seemingly nowhere and hugged Alya tight. “And don’t be worried about your presentation. We’ll find some time to rehearse before tomorrow.”

“Thanks girl. Look after Lila for me? She’s just as new as I am.”

Marinette’s eyes darkened for just a second, but she quickly broke into a grin. “No problem. And don’t be worried, Lila. I’m sure your photos are just unimaginable.”

“Thanks Marinette. That’s just so sweet of you.” They linked arms and waltzed out of the room.

The moment they were out of eye shot of any of their classmates, they stepped aside.

“You don’t even have pictures, do you?” Marinette growled.

“What do you mean Marinette? Of course I have pictures.” She smirked. Or at least, I will in just a minute.

—

The art room was bustling and chaotic. Perfect for a camera or flash drive to go missing.

Marinette was bombarded by a group of kids from Felix’s class.

“Ready to see the product of our hard work?” A girl with two dark buns on the top of her head asked.

“I hope so.” She gave them a bashful smile.

Lila stopped paying attention. She had a goal in mind.

Her eyes landed on an expensive looking camera sitting on a desk at the side of the room. A sitting duck.

With a side glance for witnesses, Lila walked right by the camera and slipped the memory card right out and into her awaiting palm.

With her goal met, she sat primly in her chair, waiting for them to be called to the stage.

“Alright, photographers, models, actors, directors!” The art teacher stood. “Let’s go!”

Lila skipped up to him, a look of concern on her face. “Sir?”

“Yes Lila?”

“My camera broke on my way here and all I have left of it is my memory card; is there still a way for me to present my photos?”

“Of course there is. Don’t you worry a bit.”

“Perfect!” She grinned.

Once backstage, each student needed to give the teacher their SD cards or cameras and wait to be called onstage to describe their works to the audience.

Lila spared a quick glance towards the onlookers. Talent scouts of every kind were sitting in plush, reserved seats, notebooks and pens at the ready.

She was the first one up, the first one they would see and, unless she used all of her charisma and improvising skill, the first one they would forget.

“...and now, Lila Rossi with her photography!”

Lila strutted out to the greetings of applause.

“Hello, and let me just say I am so honored to be here today, especially considering that a year ago I wasn’t expected to be able to walk to school every day. Photography was really the only thing that got me through the day.”

A murmur of pity rippled through the crowd.

“Pictures like this one.” She pressed the clicker and a picture appeared on the screen behind her.

A picture of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, mid-twirl in a beautiful hand-made dress.

Lila heard Alya gasp.

“I wanted to show simultaneously the mundanity of walking and the undeniable splendor of it. My dear friend Marinette had some designs she was willing to model for me to help achieve my goal. Marinette, come on out!” She held a hand out, daring Marinette to come out from where she was waiting to go next along with her other friends.

Felix stood behind her with a look of horror and disgust on his face; and a particularly fancy camera hanging around his neck. A very familiar camera.

“No? Okay then.” She turned back to the crowd. “She’ll be out with a different group; Mari doesn’t want me to have to share the spotlight, isn’t she sweet?”

The crowd applauded and Lila continued making up technical terms and thought processes for each photo, all of which were of Marinette in different designs.

“Thank you.” She bowed deep before walking off the stage.

Now to hold her breath and hope that Marinette, Felix and all their friends were too chicken to call her out onstage.

—

“Now, with their short film; ‘solving love,’ please welcome Bridgette Cheng, Claude Lambert, Mercury Bernard, Allegra Harthorn, Felix Culpa, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Hey everybody!” A boy with brown hair and a blue striped shirt grabbed the mic and shouted. “How are we doing today?”

A scattered amount of applause.

“Nice! I’m Claude, and this is Bridgette.”

The girl with the buns waved.

“We were the main idea folks for this video; but the idea only came after the filming.”

Bridgette grabbed the mic. “We asked out friends if we could film them, and then a few weeks ago, we reviewed the film and noticed something... interesting.”

“Allegra here,” a girl with a long blonde braid waved, “did the music and Mercury,” a boy with dark glasses and a green beret, “did the narration. You’ll be seeing more of them soon. My cousin Mari,” Marinette waved, “and Felix are the main subjects of the film. You would have seen more of them, but for some reason Felix’s memory card went missing.”

Lila swallowed, this wasn’t great. The seeds of dissent were planted and now she had to risk either spinning another fake story or hoping that it all went well.

It’s not like they had any proof though; she should be fine.

“Anyway, here’s ‘Solving Love.’”

They all stepped to the side and the video began with a smooth piano.

“Love.” The screen showed couples going up to Andre’s and sharing ice cream. “The answer to everything. To ourselves, to the meaning of life, to the questions we cannot ask.”

“But how? How do we get from complete strangers, to people so close they are the same person?” The video changed to a showing of Marinette and Felix shaking hands, both with sardonic smirks. “People rarely get to see the entire process of when people fall in love; there are always pieces missing, hidden moments only for the people in question to recall. Love is left for the investigator to discover for themselves, when the time is right.”

“But maybe,” it showed Marinette talking animatedly, as Felix yawns beside her, “maybe one day, we’ll be lucky enough to see most of the picture.” Felix’s eyes droop and his head falls to rest atop Marinette’s, in the beginnings of a nap. Marinette flushes red.

The rest of the video shows the stages of Marinette and Felix’s relationship, from sarcastic rivals, to peers, to friends, to partners. The narrator described different relationships and how love is a constant through all of them.

The video showed Marinette dancing, twirling in a brilliant dress as Felix kneels and snaps pictures. “Ah, but is this all of it?” They lean down for a swift kiss. The image pauses there. “The full picture? Or is it only a snapshot,” the screen lights up white, “a minor clue, to solving love?”

The auditorium was quiet for what seemed like minutes. Then, the room burst into uproarious applause; a standing ovation.

Lila growled as she turned to sulk and maybe get her makeup so she could fake an injury and get some pity points to heal her bruised ego.

She ran face first into the grey suit of Mr. Damocles.

“Oh, hello sir.” She beamed. “Is there a problem?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Yes Miss Rossi, there is. Did you take those pictures of Miss Dupain-Cheng? Because that video tells a different story.”

“Yes sir, I swear it.”

“You swear it, huh? Well you best come with me to the office. Miss Dupain-Cheng and her friends will join us when they’re done.”

“What?”

“Miss Rossi, you are accused of stealing Mr Culpa and Miss Dupain-Cheng’s creative work. We will be calling your mother to discuss this.”

Back on stage the crowd of students and talent agents alike had taken to shouting questions to the group of students.

[amysteriousmessenger]

If you are accepting requests what about first date headcanons with the RFA (if that is too many characters what about just Yoosung? 😊) hope you have a great day xx

I hope this okay anon!! I added Saeran and V into this just for my own serotonin <3 oh to think about Saeran’s first date~ Reminder that I have a giveaway open!

Yoosung Kim First Date Headcanons 

Oh, he is so nervous. He’s never been on a date before, so cutscene to him asking Zen and Seven what he should do: with Zen suggesting that he should be as suave as possible, presenting you with bouquets and chocolates and Seven telling the boy that he should only speak backwards to prove that he was cool. Definitely not trying to just make him look like an idiot.

He’s a poor student, so your first date would be somewhere relatively cheap, most likely the cinema and then go get some food afterwards! Yoosung would believe he had to be chivalrous and let you pick the movie and where you wanted to eat, and would try to pay for your ticket and food since he’s the one who asked you out.

He’ll be internally panicking the entire time in the cinema, wondering whether he was allowed to wrap his arm around you or touch your hand. He really wanted to, but he didn’t want you to think he was moving too fast. So, when you lean your head on his shoulder he swears his heart stops. He won’t move a single muscle for the rest of the movie because he doesn’t want to disturb you. 

He’ll try to work up the courage to hold your hand on the walk home and he’ll actually manage it when you’re about two minutes away from where you live. It’s the thought that counts.

Zen/Hyun Ryu First Date Headcanons

On the outside, Zen’s cool and collected. He knows how to flirt and how to look good whilst doing it. He’s had a girlfriend before but that was a while ago, so he would be ever so slightly worried that perhaps he’ll be a little rusty. He spends extra long looking himself over in the mirror making sure that he looks his absolute best before he comes to meet you.

Your date would be an evening in the bar, sharing a couple of drinks and getting to be more comfortable in one another’s presence. Zen’s usually flirty, but he’s even more so after he’s had a couple of beers. He’ll be throwing compliments and winks at you like there’s no tomorrow: but that’s okay because you’re definitely enjoying the attention. 

You’ll talk about everything under the sun, the RFA, his work, your hobbies, how much he hates Jumin, how weird funny Seven is.

Zen will make sure you’re into it before he touches you, but he’ll be quick to wrap his arm around your waist or lightly touch your hand, using his finger tips to trace around the inside of your wrist. He won’t admit it, but seeing you so happy for his affection and even reciprocating it flusters him a little because it’s so genuine and sweet. 

Zen insists on walking you home, especially because it’s late and he wants to personally make sure you get home safe. He’ll swap between holding your hand and holding you by the waist as you walk, and will kiss your cheek before you go into your house. He doesn’t want to push his luck or overstep any boundaries, he’s a gentleman afterall, but he’s very pleasantly surprise when you pull him in for another kiss on the lips.

Jaehee Kang First Date Headcanons 

Jaehee’s also rather nervous before the first date, but tries her best to keep calm. She figures that you wouldn’t have agreed to the date if you didn’t already like her, but she’ll still doubt herself in that you should be with someone more interesting and less plain.

She’ll invite you to a lunch date at her favourite coffee shop, and will enthusiastically explain all the different types of coffee beans and processes to you. Your heart flutters at the sparkle in her eye and she apologises for getting too excited, please reassure her that you love listening to what she has to say. 

When you both order and sit down, Jaehee gives you the Zen DVDs she offered to lend you, and the two of you talk about the different musicals and extra behind the scenes, and Zen, and you promise to guard these DVDs with your life. 

You listen as she slightly vents about Jumin, which is very understandable and you console her for having to catsit Elizabeth the 3rd once again. Jaehee gets a little bit flustered when you read across the table to hold her hand, but her gentle smile indicates that she’s enjoying the affection.

When it’s time for you to part, after Jaehee got another coffee to go whilst muttering that she just got another two emails from Jumin, Jaehee’s a little hesitant on the appropriate goodbye, she isn’t quite sure what to do since it was only a first date. The two of you hug, and she’’’ be so worried you’ll feel how much her heart is racing.

Jumin Han First Date Headcanons

Pulls out all the stops. You continuously assure him that he doesn’t need to and that you’re on the date to spend time with him, not his money. And whilst he understands that, he wants to treat you to a pleasant first date that you won’t forget and just believes that it should be standard to treat his partner.

He’ll have Driver Kim pick you up and bring you to Jumin’s favourite restaurant, where he’s (Jaehee) made reservations for the two of you. It’ll be an evening meal, shared over a bottle of horrifically expensive wine.

He’ll show you another one of his beautifully captured blurry images of Elizabeth the 3rd. He’ll even offer to show you the livestream he has on his phone, showing you watch Elizabeth was currently curled up asleep on the sofa.

He’s more interested in hearing about you than talking about himself. Jumin doesn’t mean to worry you with his forwardness. He’s very intent on being nothing like his father in terms of dating, and wants you to know that he doesn’t go into anything half-hearted, his lovelife included. 

You offer to pay your share, but Jumin declines. He insists that he was raised to pay for his partner’s meal, but he appreciates the sentiment that you were not depending on him to cover your bill, even though he always intended to do so anyway. 

You’ll share Driver Kim’s car on the way back, with Jumin taking your hand and kissing it as you left the car, telling you that he had a wonderful time and hoped that you did too, a small smile present on his face. 

Saeyoung Choi First Date Headcanons

Seven is very stressed. Firstly, he can’t believe that he even asked you on a date, let alone the fact that you said yes. Who would want to date someone like him? He’s a mess. But regardless, he’s getting himself all worked up and it’s only a slap in the back of the head from Vanderwood that sorts him out. 

Your first date would be to an arcade during the evening. You let Seven pick the date, and you laughed when you heard what he had chosen. It was so him: fun, childish, a bit chaotic. 

He’s very good on the claw machines, and will make a point of winning you any stuffed animal you want. He’ll also just win any particularly cursed plushies that he sees. This means that you’ll end up with an entire bag of cute stuffed animals, a minion, a bootleg Shrek, a fish with no eyes and a random sock that somehow made it’s way in. 

As a joke, you bring the bootleg Shrek up to your lips and kiss it before pressing it against Seven’s lips to also kiss the stuffed toy. His heart is racing and he sends a flustered, very speedy message of ‘ASDFGWESHARED AN INDRECT KIS WITH SHREK!!!’ to Vanderwood, and completely received an ‘I don’t care’ in reply. 

The two of you take a selfie to send to the chatroom, and Seven’s heart is fluttering so fast, you’re so close to him and oh god he can even smell your perfume and it’s so nice and- Snap. You took the picture, and laughed at how Seven wasn’t even looking at the camera in the photograph, he was glancing at at you with the softest expression on his face. He’s so embarrassed.

You get a ride home in one of his babies, and once you collect all of your stuffed toys out of the backseat, you root around in the back and give Seven the bootleg Shrek you both kissed. He wishes you a goodnight and turns to turn the radio on after you get out the car. He wasn’t looking at you, so his heart was not prepared for when you planted a kiss on his cheek before promptly running back into your home. Oh. He’s fallen, hard.

Saeran Choi First Date Headcanons

Saeran had never been on a date before, he’d never even had anyone romantically interested in him or been romantically interested in anyone before he met you. There was no way he was going to ask his idiot brother for advice, even though Seven was quite literally begging him to do so. He’d relented to the extent of briefly looking it up online, but nothing seemed quite right. 

He’d settle on a picnic and a walk around the park, since it was simple and sweet. He was a little nervous, so hoped that the flowers and sky would calm him down and he’d be able to talk to you about any flowers that the two of you found. 

He’d make the picnic food all on his own (letting his brother eat any of the scraps from the preparation) after asking what your favourite foods were. He’s so happy to see you enjoying what he made, it fills him with a warmth he still cannot quite pinpoint, but he knows he wants to feel it again and again. 

He’d take your hand in his as you walked around the park, where he could point out the different flowers and tell you their meaning, and how pretty they would look braided into your hair. When the two of you see an ice-cream van, he immediately suggests going over to buy some, and your heart clenches at the sheer childlike joy at getting to eat it. It’s so sweet and tender to watch. 

He swears he can see a poof of red hair every now and then from behind a tree, or in the reflection of a shop. Surely not. He must be imagining things. He had better just be imagining it. 

V/Jihyun Kim First Date Headcanons

V isn’t particularly picky when it comes to dates, as long as it’s doing something that you would enjoy. If you left it down to him, which you did this time since it was your first date and he was the one that asked you out, it would be spending time together at his house over a bottle of wine. He’s not as formal as Jumin, so he doesn’t mind you coming over straight away. V’s not expecting you to spend the time, so he’s already arranged for one of Jumin’s drivers to come and pick you up afterwards, as a personal favour to Jumin. 

Genuinely, V just wants to know more about you. He’ll ask you about your likes and interests, what you hate, how you love, what your world views are, how you see yourself and what art means to you. He’s not a particularly great cook, but he’ll make dinner for the two of you and pour you a glass to go with it. 

He doesn’t regard himself as an interesting enough person to warrant your attention, but he’ll answer almost any question you ask him about himself. He’s trying to be a more open and honest person, especially to you. Whilst there are some things he’s tentative to talk about, he’ll freely share his world and artistic views with you.

V will show you some of his photographs, and more intimately his paintings, in his studio and let you see his workspace. He’ll show you around his private collections and, if you’re comfortable with it, will ask to take pictures of you since there’s not enough time to paint you- although he definitely mentions wanting to do that at a later date too.

[jaskiersvalley]

Lockdown Lovers

The pandemic had gone on long enough. By his very nature Jaskier was a social creature and he missed company. Sure, he could hang out online with friends, play games and chatter away but it didn’t scratch the itch that was getting desperate. Stupid lockdown and its apparent determination to deny Jaskier even a simple hug. As much as he loved living on his own and keeping whatever hours he wanted, he still found he very much missed human contact.

In a desperate attempt to connect with a fellow human, Jaskier took to dating apps. Not that he could realistically meet anyone and do anything but part of him hoped there might be a connection. Swiping dejectedly, he ignored yet another promise of knowing a quiet corner of a park or alley where they could get off in a socially distanced manner. It just didn’t hold appeal. Plus, it was cold, Jaskier very much doubted he’d be treated to the sight of the bodies the pictures promised. Most were too far away anyway, Jaskier wasn’t going to walk 8 miles for a mediocre mutual wank behind a dumpster in a dingy alley. Just as he was about to give up, another profile flashed up in his phone.

Looking for a socially distanced park buddy. Must like goats.

The profile photo was of a rather cute goat and, as Jaskier scrolled through the pictures, all he got in terms of glimpses of the owner was a large hand with thick fingers, scarred and definitely most intriguing. What kind of large man had a pet goat who he bought ribbons and outfits for?

I don’t have my own goat to bring to park, would that be an issue?

There was no reply but it wasn’t like Jaskier was really expecting one. Such a profile was probably a joke one set up to stave off lockdown boredom. Whoever had it probably had a great deal of fun finding goat pictures. Mentally, Jaskier wished them well and set his phone aside. There were better things to do than scroll endlessly through profiles and know he didn’t really want anything to do with any of them. Which was why, when he checked the time a few hour later, he was surprised to find a reply.

Not at all. I only have Bleats until the weekend anyway. Can you do 10am in Vizima Park on Thursday?

Eager (not desperate) for the connection, Jaskier jumped at the chance. He had no problems with walking to Vizima, it was only up the road and well within the advised “stay local” rule. There was no doubt he’d be able to recognise his new park buddy, Bleats would be an absolute give away in terms of identity. To make it easier to be recognised, Jaskier pulled his fanciest mask from the hook, the one with wings curving out along his jaw.

In the park Jaskier was glad for his mask because it kept his jaw from dropping to the ground. Bleats was cute for sure but her owner was otherworldly. Large, broad and the warmest, friendliest eyes Jaskier had ever seen. The scar that was peeking out from under the mask and hidden by hair was a whole story that would hopefully come out.

“Bleats and owner?” Jaskier called, waving from a distance.

“You can call me Eskel,” the mountain of a man replied. “And her full name is Little Bleater but she ignored Bleats just the same.”

Delighted, Jaskier wished he could get closer. As it was, they made a slow loop of the park together, Jaskier chattering away while Eskel listened and chipped in. “You said you’ve only got Little Bleater until the weekend?”

“She goes back to my brother’s farm. I only have her when she’s poorly and needs a bit of extra attention. Her arthritis flared up with the cold snap we had so she came to me for cuddles.”

Jaskier knew he fell in love too easily but this was a new record even for him. He looked at Eskel, took in the sight of his red leather jacket, the dragon scale pattern of his mask, the ease with which he kept Little Bleater’s leash from turning into a knot and Jaskier was gone already.

The first walk turned into a second one, that one without a goat and Jaskier found he adored Eskel’s company. Quiet but not silent, respectful and gentle until Jaskier pushed him for stories and he quickly realised that Eskel wasn’t quite the stoic, mild man he seemed to be. Stories about parties, sneaking around late at night, even a hint at what sounded like a joyride in his foster father’s car with his younger brother. They only served to make Jaskier even more intrigued. Which led him down a bit of a rabbit hole into social media. He found Eskel but there wasn’t much up there. The most recent picture was from over a year ago, probably taken on a night out by Lambert (who looked to be his brother), it was blurry, Eskel turning away from the camera but at least Jaskier could see his jaw and lips. It wasn’t the side with the scar but that was okay. What was more interesting was how Eskel looked a little worse for wear, probably drunk though, if Jaskier had to put money on it, he would have maybe said there was more than alcohol blowing Eskel’s pupils wide and giving him a slightly glassy glaze. The only other photo was from probably about 15 years ago, a much younger Eskel grinned at the camera with two other boys. A scan of the comments revealed it was Lambert and Geralt.

On the whole, Jaskier decided that Eskel was an enigma and he wanted to know more. So the walks in the park continued, even became jogs when Eskel admitted he missed going to the gym. While Jaskier knew he wasn’t the embodiment of fitness, he quickly realised he was vastly out of shape in comparison to Eskel. One loop of Vizima wsa more than enough for Jaskier while Eskel did another couple before he even got out of breath. Frankly it was unfair, mostly because Jaskier got to watch him lope around the park and he could only watch from a sensible distance.

“We should have a picnic,” Jaskier declared as the weather turned nicer. “We can figure out a menu together and bring our own portions.”

There was a moment of hesitation in Eskel and Jaskier wondered what he’d said wrong.

“Okay. As long as we don’t have any seafood, it should be fine.”

Their picnic had no seafood in it, Jaskier wasn’t a fan either so it was no great sacrifice to make. They settled 2 meters apart on their own blankets and pulled out their picnics. Despite their months of friendship and messaging back and forth, there was a tension between them that had Jaskier worried. He tried to ignore it and pulled his mask off, sending Eskel was cheeky smile. It was the first time he’d been without a mask around his friend.

Watching as Eskel reached for his own mask, Jaskier could see a soft hesitation, a fortifying breath expanding Eskel chest before the mask was pulled down. It revealed scars that stretched all down his cheek, snagged his lip into a permanent snarl.

“You sure you still want to have a picnic with me?” Eskel asked, head dipped as if that would hide his scars.

Rather than answer directly, Jaskier took a deep breath. “You haven’t formed a support bubble with anyone, have you?”

Confused, Eskel shook his head.

“Neither have I so-” Jaskier stood up and he saw hurt flash through Eskel’s face as he gathered up his picnic and blanket before moving closer. “-bubble with me?”

Eskel stared, wide eyed as Jaskier arranged his picnic blanket next to his and sat down on his right, not trying to avoid sight of his scars. In the silence, Jaskier reached for one of those big, scarred hands he had spotted from the very first photo he saw of Eskel and linked their fingers. He beamed happily when the limp hand curled around his in a gentle hold.

[moon-stars01]

Screaming Colors

Minghao x Reader

Author:chimout

Summary:She watches him as he obliviously paints an evening sky he has never seen, and decides that he is the most beautiful art she has ever seen.

Gene:blind Minghao,fluffy fluff,art student au,high school au,cute,photography

Rating:General Audiences

•Screaming Colors•

He is standing there, his eyes clouded over, unfocused gaze wavering through the air. His hands are in his pockets, his dog's tight leash wrapped firmly in his grasp, and she wonders how such a beautiful and stunning person could even manage to exist. Her heart thumps in her chest as her breathing stops short, and she watches as he reaches down to pet the dog, his eyes still skimming over the busy trail in front of him. And, as the scene traps her in a boundless vortex, her fingers reach for her camera, and snaps the moment into a single frame.

Her first shot of him was in art class; he sat two seats away, a dazed gaze always flitting off into some unbound space she could not comprehend. His focus never seemed to stay fixed, and she can still remember their teacher's desperate voice as they tried to gather his attention back towards the matter at hand. But his gaze continued to stray towards some unknown abyss, and she wondered what he was dreaming of, because his photography and graphic designs could never tell her so much. They were blurry and insignificant, earning him questionable grades, and she wondered why the boy was in such an advanced class in the first place. He never seemed to truly care about his subject; the matter was always a sort of point and shoot, and the lack of thought was maddening on her behalf.

She never toyed with the idea that he is, most probably, blind, until one day she saw him in the art room alone, his hands coated in dry paint, pools of liquid spilling onto the floor below as a canvas screaming with curious colours stood in awe in front of him. There were no brushes lying about; he had painted the masterpiece with his own two hands.

And his gaze was still aimed at the sky.

Her curiosity only grew steadily from then on. Quietly, she'd follow him, watching him from the corner of her eyes as he dipped his fingers into red and blue and yellow, and allowed his fingers to dance across white sheets as they painted the evening sky. And the more curious she becomes, the more her heart speeds at the mere sight of his breathtaking form.

She watches him as he turns towards the sound of her camera, the dog beside him merely panting in recognition as it barks softly at the scurrying squirrels around them, excitement splurging in vivid pace. He tilts his head in confusion, his eyebrows digging deeper into the bridge of his nose, the haunting blank stare now somehow focused on her. "Is anybody there?"

A small breath escapes her nose as she presses her lips together, unsure whether to reveal her ghostly presence. She stares at the camera in her hands, her fingers shyly skimming through past pictures she took of him; her mouth aches to share words with the model she has long admired.

"Hi," she whispers, and she is unsure if he could hear her until she sees his frown lessen. "Sorry for scaring you."

"Do I know you?" he asks, and her heart is thumping because she wishes he would somehow recognise her. But she barely speaks in class, and she has yet to hold a conversation with him, and she finds it impossible that he would somehow find familiarity in her voice unless—

"You feel familiar."

She freezes and swallows softly as he elicits an awkward laugh, his hand finding the back of his neck almost instinctively, and the dog beside him whimpers and the sudden tug. "Sorry, that may have sounded strange. I mean, it feels like we've met before."

That much is true; he is as much of a stranger as she is to him, despite the lingering watch she keeps on him. She ponders upon her words, trying to hide the stalkerish secret she keeps. "We haven't met before. . . but we do share a class."

"You're the one who keeps taking pictures of me!" She freezes, and she finds him grinning, a blush on his cheeks as his stare seemed to wander away from her figure and towards the nature around them. "I was wondering who my personal photographer was."

"I—I'm sorry—"

He blushes deeper, and the shade of red against his cheeks is the most beautiful shade she's ever seen. "It's alright. It's actually quite flattering. I'm Minghao. I don't think I've caught your name."

"Y/n," she replies instinctively, and her fingers ache to capture the smile he directs at her. "You're a really great artist, by the way." This time, her cheeks are the ones wearing crimson hues. "Your paintings—they're remarkable."

"I've never seen them for myself." He wears a coy smile, as though there is a joke that only he and he alone could understand. "As you can see, I'm blind."

She smiles shyly back, silently musing over his subtle pun. "Um, yeah. I didn't realise when I first noticed you."

He cocks an eyebrow. "My photographs weren't obvious clues? Either they somehow all came out really good, or you suck as a photographer."

A laughter escapes her before she could stop it, and she sees him smiling wider at the sound. "No, they were really horrible. I just thought—I don't know—that you maybe had a lack of interest in the arts."

"Art is my favourite subject, actually," he corrects, and leans down to pet his guide dog that has been obediently quiet ever since the chattering animals around them disappeared. "But I can't do anything with things I can't touch. Which is why painting is my favourite medium."

"Because your hands are your brushes," she realises, and he nods, his fingers dancing on his thighs. "You can feel where the colours go just by touching the canvas."

He laughs, and it sounds almost nervous and shy, as though this is the longest conversation he has held with a complete stranger. She doesn't blame him; her chest is aching by now, and her mind is still having trouble grasping at the fact the conversation is even reality. The whole scenario simply seems somehow surreal in both their eyes.

"Kind of. I can roughly imagine the image I'm painting, but I can't actually see the colours. I usually dip my hands in some paint and hope the colours come out alright. Usually, my friends would tease me because I'm painting the sky yellow and the sun black." His face is red as though the confession is a crime, and she is astounded by his obvious luck and talent as she remembers the first evening sky she ever saw him paint.

The question slips before she could even consider it: "What if I described the colours to you?"

He chuckles. "My friends have tried, trust me. They just go, 'Yellow is the sun, and black is dark.' Which is nice of them, but it doesn't help much, since I've never seen the sun and everything looks dark to me."

She laughs. "Well, they are right. The sun is yellow, and black is dark, but yellow is also the colour of warmth, that fuzzy feeling when you laugh so much your stomach hurts, when the world suddenly seems so bright. And then black is that feeling when you're really sad and everything just seem so out of reach, like you're falling into an abyss that you can't escape. It's the colour of depression."

"You're better at this than they are," he says, and she laughs again, and he smiles suddenly, his face glowing gold. "Your laughter sounds like yellow to me."

"Is that how'd you paint me?"

"A giant blob of yellow on a blank canvas," he agrees, chuckling softly in amusement as his dull irises sparkle in new life. "You could start helping me paint from now on."

"Yeah?"

"As long you stop taking pictures of me when I'm unaware," he compromises. "I swear those pictures must be really embarrassing."

"Actually, you look quite charming in them."

He smiles. "What colour am I, then?"

She ponders silently as she watches the white clouds float past, the butterflies in her stomach finally settling somewhere deep. "You're a multitude of colours, Minghao," she decides, and she could feel his smile stretching, her answer obviously pleasing him. "You're yellow and black and everything in between. You're screaming with colours."

[moonflms]

➷｡˚wishes —nct/superm mark lee

requested by anon! note, use of media (twice only dw)

next request: jaehyun

PROLOGUE ༄ — mark takes you out on a friendly date to watch the total lunar eclipse by the park! but oh how we wished the date was real.

PAIRING ༄ - non-idol! mark x fem! reader

GENREs ༄ - fluff, semi-onesided love, stars, eclipse, moongazing, under the night sky, semi-socmed, ed sheeran

W. COUNT ༄ - around 1.5k+

NETWORKS༄ - @multifandomnet

TAGS ༄ - @cupfullofjeno (maddie imy :( ) @jungwon-luv-bot-pt3 (if you wanna be tagged in my stories then feel free to reach out to me ! <3)

➷｡min's letter ༄ - i honestly feel like this one sucked bc i honestly didn't know how to write a cute prompt anon sent kdfhjkdf

do not repost. copyright belongs to @moonflms 2021. reblogs and likes are deeply appreciated! originally posted on my wattpad (@johnsparrot) . enjoy reading!

masterlist

"i get it that you're into astronomy and the likes but mark, it's past six." you reasoned out from the front seat as you talk to your best friend who was by the trunk arranging whatever he packed. "first, i'm not that deep into the study unlike professionals and astrophiles but you already agreed so shut up!" mark looks at you from the back as he smiles at you who was slightly annoyed.

"a pillow or moomin?" mark walked to your side, barricading you to your seat as he slightly leans towards you, a hand on the door keeping the car wide open as the other rested near the headrest. "moomin please" you pushed mark slightly away as you watched him dash into the house for the soft plushie. you chuckled at how he treats you like a kid— what he always does when you're having those rough weeks. you watched him lock the house and come back with the white plush in hand.

he gets settled in the driver's seat as he starts buckles up, royally handing the toy over to you "one moomin m'lady" he slightly bows down while handing it over, another episode of him being goofy. you played along and smiled before mark fully started the drive towards the park.

the drive was not silent as mark kept the atmosphere busy with a few of ed sheeran's songs playing through his stereo. with the songs playing mark felt vague; he felt butterflies yet he felt his chest gradually getting heavier. photograph, thinking out loud and eventually to happier. playing those songs he realized, no, he knew very well that they had something in common.

that they all reminded him of you.

his gallery and even actual photographs always had you beside him, complete attendance from his adorable childhood to his questionable high school era. thinking out loud because he sees you much more as his confidant, his best friend. all the 'i love you's he showered you with from time to time meant much more than how you saught it as. he feels at peace by seeing you smile and his heart never fails to flutter when he feels your head cozied up by his chest.

and to happier as he knows that you were least likely to become his. he hesitated to confess despite all his others friends convinced you felt the same way. he wouldn't want to go through the pain of rejection and turn the years of friendship all awkward of a sudden.

it has been going on for a great while and the only thing mark could do was to show signs without making it obvious, like how he queued the songs in that order.

you had a rough week and it only seems to get rougher. what hurt you hurt mark as well, so he always goes berserk just to make you lighten up from your burdening feelings.

you and mark always had a bucket list of stuff you both wanted to do. and mark felt it was a perfect time to cross one out; a date under the night sky.

a friendly date despite how mark wanted it to be an actual one.

mark felt lucky knowing that same night had a lunar eclipse (and surprisingly a super moon) was supposed to show and he just had to seize the opportunity. he made sure to bring binoculars, comfy blankets to rest on and of course, the requested moomin plush renjun gifted him for christmas.

the park was nearby and mark felt giddy. focused on humming and driving mark overheard a few shutters and felt the gut feeling of a camera pointing at him. "i better look hot in those" he joked as he glanced at you through the mirror. "i was taking pictures of the cherry blossom, dumbass" you chuckled as you proceeded to snap a few pictures of mark. you then moved over to your instagram to spam about the sudden trip. "one last, look" you scooted closer to mark's side to take a pic with him, just before the traffic light switched to green. both of you looking sweet, you smiled to yourself.

-

you were finally settling down on the blanket sprawled over the grass, the view of the waters from the distance and the moon above continuing its eclipse. mark who was sitting up, set aside the binoculars, and laid beside you. he turned to his side as he watched you. "so, a check on the bucket list?" mark smiled hoping you'd say yes.

"well, my best friend is much better than other than an invisible boyfriend." mark smiled through the stinging pain. 'yeah, best friend'  he thought to himself.

"don't you get tired of being by my side?" you looked up to the sky, feeling a bit doubtful.

"and why would you think so?"

"it's more or less two decades of us constantly by each other's side. and the things you'd do just to get me out of my—"

"y/n, if you're hurt, i get hurt too. i'm always here for you, no matter how stupid and annoying you could be at times. if i went through my whole life with you by my side, why would i suddenly stray away?" mark softly patted your cheek, drying off the few tears that rolled down. you came closer to mark and hugged him, nuzzling by his chest and scent. "and you know how much i love you right?" you nodded as you continued to nest under him.

mark would've been jumping in joy. but tracing back a few words, there he reminded himself of the word 'best friend'.

mark hugged you back as he secretly logged into his instagram as well, he distracted himself by viewing a few of the stories. your story came in after a few taps and there showed a picture of him driving, captioned with a black heart. "sure, keep on hoping minhyung."  he thought to himself once again.

he finally decided to create his own with the picture he secretly took of you earlier. he thought of the caption for a while until he ended up with "wished you we're mine." he posts storied like these on the daily, he just made sure to set it into the close friends setting to avoid you from seeing it. he quickly tapped the post option as he felt you move and sat up.

"look! it's red!" you pointed at the moon, smiling as you were amazed by the phenomenon. you pulled mark up from his position and continued to look at the dark sky. it indeed was beautiful. mark inserted his phone back into his pocket as he cupped your shoulder, watching you admire the heavenly bodies above.

feeling done, you glanced at mark who was still looking up. you watched your best friend enjoy his own time as you felt a small vibrate off your phone. you quickly checked the notification as it came from... mark?

" [y/nmais_vu] : @onyourm__mark posted a new story ! "

checking it, you wondered when mark was able to snap a quick photo of you, but you wondered more about the caption. you felt your heartbeats go rapid and your stomach starts to churn. "y/n?" mark called as you quickly locked your phone. "you alright?"

"yeah... nothing much, just story notifs." you smiled and sat closer to mark. he hums as he proceeds to wrap his free arm around your shoulders, continuing to watch over the distance. "did you make a wish?" you asked mark who was finally looking back at you with an unsure expression. "we're supposed to wish! go on, "  you nudged mark as he spaced out for a moment, staring at a star. "starlight, star bright, the first star i see tonight!" you both burst into laughs "what are we? pre-school?" mark smiled as he continued to stay silent.

"you made me wish on a star now tell me what you asked for," mark turns facing you. you stayed silent for a while as you looked up to the ending eclipse above. "i actually had two wishes" you pulled out a few blades of grass, avoiding his eyes. "first, was for your wish to come true," you fully faced mark as you took the plush into your hands, fiddling with it.

"second, ... i also wished for you to be mine" you smiled at mark whose face was indecipherable. "wait, what?" you noticed how his cheeks were lightly brushed with blush. "it was your notif, mark."

right there, mark realized that he failed to upload the story to the selected option. "i... well, you did suddenly moved and made me panic." mark chuckled as he continues to study your eyes that were glistening under the soft lights of the surroundings. "your turn. what did you wish for?"

mark came closer to you as he tucks some hair behind your ear, "it just came true." he whispered as he quickly diverted his vision towards the tree nearby. you softly held mark's chin as you got him to face you, your body suddenly heating up inside the white crewneck sweatshirt you were wearing. you both felt euphoric as the sudden confession still felt unreal. you both felt rewarded after keeping in the hopes and feelings for one another.

unconsciously, you both started to close in while the background started to seem blurry, and the only things that were clear to your visions were each other. "can i?" granting him permission mark closed the gap in between both of you, feeling his own soft set above yours. you returned the favor as you cautiously mimicked what mark did, creating a slow rhythm for the both of you.

lasting a good few seconds, you both broke away with heated cheeks and pleased hearts. mark pulled you closer as he now has you in between in him, hugging you from behind. he laid you back into his chest and placed one more kiss, smiling afterward. you locked your phone once again after posting another story. (check below) you both were glad that the wishes of becoming each other's pair were finally granted. mark continued to sway you in his arm, looking up at the succeeding eclipse. "hey y/n,"

"the moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

———

(for those who doesn't know it actually means 'i love you' !)

[supercorpkid]

Lights! Camera! Action!

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader

Word count: 2070.

“Miss Luthor-Danvers, please get your things and come with me.” The principal of the school says and you look at Jamie, surprised. You know for sure you haven’t done anything wrong this time, so you have no idea why you’re being called out of class and into her office. You don’t take long collecting your things and following her, only to find Kara sitting at her office waiting for you.

“I didn’t do it.” You say as soon as you walk in the room.

“Did what?” She asks standing up, you shrug in response.

“I don’t know, whatever she called you here for.”

“She didn’t call me. I’m here to pick you up.” Kara smiles, putting a hand on your shoulder. She looks at the principal. “Thank you!”

Kara guides you down the corridor in silence, but you can’t wait to know why you’re leaving school in the middle of the morning.

“What happened? Is mom ok?” You ask and Kara agrees with her head.

“Your mom is fine, baby. Relax, it’s nothing bad.” She says, making you furrow your brows at her. “Well, at least not like you’re imagining.”

“Can you just tell me already?”

“Let’s fly to CatCo so I can show you, instead.” Kara guides you to the nearby alley, and you fly with her to her office at CatCo. She goes inside and shows you one picture that was sitting on her desk. “I’m sorry, kid.”

“What’s this?” You ask looking at the blurry picture of you, from the day before. Someone caught you flying in your super suit, and even though the picture is a little blurry, it’s pretty obvious it is not from one of the known Supers.

“I’ve been sent another ten of these.” She points at her desk and you can see yourself flying in different positions. “There isn’t one of your face yet.”

“Yet?” You ask, surprised.

“Baby, you did such a good job against those spaceships.” Kara takes the picture from your hand, putting back on the desk. She puts each hand on the side of your arms and strokes them gently. “You should be so proud of yourself, my love.”

“I am.” But you aren’t really proud. You’re just thinking that you did what you had to. And you know that if it wasn’t for Jamie you wouldn’t have had the courage, and if it wasn’t for Supergirl a lot of the wreckage would’ve damaged the city, and they would have blamed you for it. “I just don’t want people to know who I am. Not yet, anyways.”

“I understand the sentiment.” Kara pulls you in for a hug and kisses your temple. “That’s why you’re here. CatCo is going to publish it.”

“What? You just told me you understand!” You let go of her and walk to the other side of the room. “Publishing is not understanding!”

“Kid, I wish I could do something…”

“You can!” You go to the pictures on her desk and you tear them all in pieces. “I won’t let you.”

“Little one, you know those are not the only copies we have, right?” Kara says and you huff upset. “Listen…” She goes to you, but you move away. “Baby, please listen. It is huge news, what kind of media company would we be if we didn’t publish this?”

“I don’t know! The momma kind?” You cross your arms. “Do it! Publish it! I’ll have mom sue CatCo!”

“Baby, no. Please, c’mere. Sit down, let’s talk.” Kara begs when she sees you going to the balcony.

“I’ll get a lawyer! I’ll use all my savings, I don’t care!” You try to hold your tears. “Do it! Publish it! I dare you!”

You didn’t have to dare, because she is obviously doing it with or without a dare, but you had to make your point. You fly to L Corp and barge into Lena’s office and you don’t even care about her assistant running after you, telling you she’s in an important call.

“You have to stop her!” You open the door, making your mom jump in her seat. She looks at you with wide eyes and a few seconds later her assistant shows up at the door looking like she just ran after you, which is exactly what happened.

“Mr. Tak, please excuse me, but there’s an emergency I have to deal with right now. I’ll ask my assistant to get in contact with you, so we can finish this.” She then turns off her phone and looks at you like she’s about to spit fire.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Luthor, she-she is so fast!” Her assistant says and Lena holds her hand up, telling her not to worry.

“It’s ok. Please, leave us.” Lena says and her assistant quickly leaves, closing the door behind her. “Someone better be bleeding or on fire right now.”

“I could as well be!” You complain, sitting down in front of her and crossing your arms. “Your wife wants to publish a picture of me dressed in my super suit!”

“That doesn’t sound life-threatening.”

“You’re not listening!” You put your arms up and Lena raises one eyebrow at you. “Mom, if she publishes that there is a new superhero in town, you know what will happen?” You stand up, and you lean over her desk to make your point. “Super villains will know about my existence and will want to kill me. Now, would you like that?”

“Of course not!” Lena furrows her eyebrows.

“Then you have to stop her! Tell her you will sue CatCo! Tell her you will buy CatCo again so you can stop this publishing!” You look back at Lena, who is currently looking at you like she’s not going to do any of that. “Tell her you will divorce her!”

“I’m not divorcing her.” She replies quickly.

“Uh, can you take my side for once?” You slap your hands on your thighs making a loud sound.

“Baby, come here.” Lena calls you with her hand and you move closer. She takes your hair out of your face delicately, putting it behind your ears. “If she doesn’t publish it, someone else will. It’s only a matter of time until every news company gets a hold of the pictures and publishes them before CatCo does. Now, would you rather your momma write about you with nothing but love in her heart, or people who don’t even know who you are?”

“Momma.” You mumble under your breath.

“What?”

“Momma, obviously.” You repeat and she smiles at you.

“Great.” Lena stands up to hug you and she walks you to her door. “Go tell her that I’m not suing CatCo, nor divorcing her. And you, probably, have to apologize for something else.” She looks at you like she knows that if you marched in there like that, it probably means you left in the same emotional state. “Also, next time you walk in here like this, you will be in serious trouble.”

“I’m really sorry.” You apologize looking down and Lena hugs you. You breathe out feeling her comfort. “I’m scared.”

“What?” Lena lets you go and holds your chin up so you can look at her. “What are you scared of?”

“I don’t know. The future?” You can’t help a tear that is falling and Lena bites her lower lip thinking about what to do. She guides you to the couch and you sit there, looking at her. She goes to the door and tells her assistant to hold every call. She then grabs her phone and you hear that she is calling your momma.

Lena sits back on the couch with you, but she doesn’t say anything. You know she is waiting on Kara to get there.

“Wow, you called momma.” You look at her next to you. “You must be really pissed at me.”

“Baby…” Lena pulls you in, holding your head against her chest and you try to hold back the tears, you really do, but you can’t. It’s not long until Kara lands on the balcony and walks in, kneeling in front of you, and wiping your tears.

“I’m sorry, little one.” Kara says and you move away from Lena to look at her.

“It’s not your fault. Mom said that if you don’t publish it then someone else will, so…”

“Baby, you said you were scared of the future.” Lena says and you see Kara’s surprised to hear that. She sits on the couch next to you.

“I’m just… We all know I’m not that good at this superhero stuff.” You start and Kara mentions to interrupt you, but you don’t let her. “Come on, momma. You know it’s true, you saw me up there. I had no control over what I was doing, it was like… I don’t know. Like the powers took over me, and I was obeying them and not the other way around. And I’m scared people will expect me to be like Supergirl and, I will never.”

“My love.” It’s all Kara can say, because she is crying very hard. You look back at Lena who also looks like is about to cry.

“And, besides, I’m just a kid, right?” You say to Lena who weakly agrees with her head. “I don’t want to save the world every day. I like coming here and working with tech, and I also like going on adventures with Superboy, and playing video games with Jamie.” You breathe deep trying to get to your point. “What I’m trying to say is… I always thought I would have more time to choose what I want to do with my life, and I’m scared that now people will make that decision for me.”

Kara and Lena both hug you at the same time, like they have no idea what to tell you. Kara cleans your face and kisses your temple a while later.

“Listen to me, baby. We have an incredible power, and we can help people with it, but we are not obligated to do so, and I don’t want you to feel that you have to.” Kara cups your face with both hands. “You might not believe me, but I think you are an incredible superhero...” You open your mouth to argue, but she goes on. “A superhero is not someone who shoots ray, and punches bad guys. A superhero is a good, genuinely good person, who helps people out of the goodness of their heart, and not out of obligation.”

“And may I add.” Lena says and you look at her on your other side. “Your inventions can also save people, if you wish to do so. And even if you don’t want to become a superhero, I have to say…” She stares right at your soul. “You already are my hero.”

“So, you think I shouldn’t worry?” You bite your bottom lip.

“I think that the fact that you worry, is what makes you a great superhero and an even more awesome person.” Lena answers with a smile, making you smile back.

“Ok. I think I’m ready.” You look at Kara and she smiles at you.

“Great. I’m going back to CatCo and I promise I will write a light news piece, ok?” Kara holds your face and places a kiss on your forehead. “I love you, little one.”

“I love you, momma.” You smile and she flashes you a big one before flying away. You look at Lena, and stand up right after. “I should get out of your way.”

“Not without telling me you love me, you won’t.” Lena says and you laugh before hugging her tight.

“I love you, mom.” You kiss her cheek and she smiles from ear to ear.

“I love you, my little hero.” She winks at you and you smile again, before getting out of her office.

When Kara comes home that night, she shows you and Lena the piece she wrote, and you three just sit on the couch reading it together. She made sure to write that Superkid is, in fact, just a kid. And that even though National City could have the occasional help from her, the city still has a lot of other superheroes to go around. You like what she published, and if you’re being honest, there’s a small part of you that is kind of happy and anxious about what is coming next.

Notes:

@hermen0404 is clearly filled with awesome ideas. Thank you 💙❤️

[lluvguts]

Cool Blue ; Chapter Three

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚

recurring visions of such sweet days

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚

☽ warnings: slight nsfw (wet dreams, unresolved tension)

☽ fic masterlist

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫���˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚

He stashed the photos--really he flung them like a frisbee--onto his unmade bed and slammed the door shut before Giulia could inquire about his back pressed to the door, hands on the knob, a cross of a nervous grin and a suspicious glaze over his wavering eyes. But, after careful consideration and with both his sister and father's backs turned, Alberto wiggled back into his room to retrieve the precious pictures and put them carefully on the nightstand. He felt dirty knowing he'd tossed them onto his rumpled sheets, sitting there like he didn't care about them.

But he did.

He didn't expect to register all that had truly happened until tomorrow. His eyes dropped to the glass of tepid water from that morning and the pile of photos next to it, the memories coming back.

Luca's expectant yellow eyes watching him as he traced his shapes and scales with a paintbrush on the canvas.

When Luca grinned like a little puppy and pointed at the painting Alberto had propped on his knees, of none other than the boy himself.

Luca's chin jutting out in defiance when Alberto offered to take Luca's picture home, since keeping it at his home would only result in ruining it.

And, equally defying, the sharp curve of Luca's jawbone as he stuck his tongue out at the sky, leaving Alberto still. He could see his soft features working under there. The faint pulse of his throat, a thrumming instrument but all the same slightly animal. When he had rolled his eyes and begrudgingly scooted his own painting over with a claw, splattering water on the edge, Alberto's eyes fixed on his scales ripple and shift on display when Luca moved.

Somewhere on the surface of the ocean, (the ocean skin as Luca called it fondly, but Alberto couldn't possibly think of that now) a boat's amber light hung in the darkness, the only thing to see from outside and, Alberto bit his lip, holding one meaning.

They were hunting for sea monsters on that boat. Ercole's parents, no doubt.

He walked by the bed to the window, almost in a trance, and slammed it shut. The smells of the sea were cut off, night sounds silenced. He wished he wasn't able to see it anymore, but Massimo's aged house hardly had the proper plumbing to operate let alone some goddamn curtains. It frustrated him that though the mental image of Ercole's father on the boat had lifted, that glowing yellow light remained to taunt him.

Luca said he had a family. A mother and father who cared for him and maybe loved him enough to keep him safe from the surface. But where was he now? These men, more monsters than people, with spears and blades sharper than Massimo's, scanning the calm sea with searchlights? Would the lights scare Luca?

He caught himself on the ledge of the windowsill, holding the wood frame tight. He felt it sigh under his weight it was so old.

What was happening?

"Fratello! Papa is not happy that you're letting his dinner get cold! Again!" Giulia, as Alberto could tell by her voice, was pressed to his closed door and resorted to gleeful knocking again and again.

Alberto slid the lock into place on the window, staring out into the night for a breath. Once, twice, then cleared his throat and called back.

"I'll be just a minute!" He tried to wipe the thought of Luca thrashing in the grip of a fisherman's net from his mind as he spoke, but his words came out wobbly and restrained.

Giulia's annoying pounding on the door stopped. "Okay, but I'm not doing your stupid chores for you anymore! Papa says so!" He saw her shadow hover by the bottom doorframe then whisk away to the light of the kitchen.

But through all of the sweaty panic Alberto cherished the quiet moments spent eating. Neither asked where he'd hurried off to so early in the morning while he wolfed down his dinner. (Truly Alberto wasn't sure of the answer himself, he only figured that if Luca was indeed a sea monster, maybe he was up with the rising of the sun like the fish Massimo and Alberto caught at dawn). But they, mostly Giulia, did however beg to know where that pasta was going if all Alberto did during his free time was sit and draw. They didn't know it took grueling work to paddle out to the island, and equally challenging talent to wrestle your way out of a sea monster's grip. He kept that to himself, of course, even if Machiavelli was snippier than usual at Alberto's presence when he thought about it, bringing a suspicion on what he did during the day that neither Giulia or Massimo seemed to care about.

Alberto nudged the pouchy white cat with his bare foot and Machi bit down on his heel. He pulled his legs back under the chair as far as they could go and as an apology for the fishy smell on him, and for trying to make him move, he dropped a few pieces of sausage down on the floor. He was sure that if no one else in the house was to know, Machiavelli was on Alberto's case, but the cat only growled and ate the peace offering.

He sighed. He was safe for the time being. That made him laugh around his bite of salad.

"Think of something funny, son?" Massimo looked up from his plate. Giulia had finished long ago and was only spinning her fork around in circles on the tablecloth.

Alberto nodded with a smile. "The cat."

"Speaking of cats! There's one that I keep seeing in the alley by the Gelataria, Papa, and I think that Machiavelli likes her!" Giulia perked up and was speaking with passion to Massimo now, Alberto's little quip forgotten.

"The black cat? Giulia, they're bad luck," Massimo put on his best apologetic face but it only spurred Giulia on. Alberto stared at his empty plate and debated whether now was the opportune time to slip away to his room with them distracted.

"But please, Papa! We could have kittens!" Giulia pleaded, hands splayed on the table for effect. From under Alberto's chair Machi was stewing. He stood from the table and took their plates, looking calm. Massimo was holding Giulia's small hand softly in his larger one, but it looked as though the girl was next to tears.

Alberto knew she was faking it, though. He listened smugly with his back to them while rinsing the plates and cutlery.

"Kittens are a lot of work."

"Alberto is a lot of work, but we still keep him around!"

"Giuletta. Manners."

"Sorry, Papa."

"Where would they sleep, Giulia? In your bed with you? You are allergic, my dear."

"Only mildly! And besides, if I start sneezing or something, they can stay in Alberto's room! Plain and simple."

"Excuse me?" Alberto whipped around. "Who said that I was okay with having roommates?"

Giulia giggled until her nose went pink. "You've been sharing that Pescaria smell with the two of us since yesterday, and last I checked, we didn't ask. So think of it as an upgrade."

"Like you smell any better!"

"Actually, Alberto." Massimo turned to him. "It...is an odd smell on you. It's not entirely fish."

"Yeah fratello. It's worse."

"Okay, that's it. I'm excusing myself now. Giulia you get to pick the record to play tonight."

"Go take a shower!" Giulia hollered at him, earning a grumble of disapproval on Massimo's part.

"Y-Yeah, sure thing!"

But the whole time his mind was reeling. Massimo had caught it. Giulia had caught it. Even the cat noticed it, too. Alberto pulled his tank up and over his head once the door was shut, bringing it to his nose. It smelled like sweat and salt, the usual things, but he was right. There was something else. It was mild with his nose so close, but still sharp and tangy, as if the sea-sprinkled wind had a personality that stuck to his clothes.

But that wasn't it. It was...oh no.

It was Luca.

Despite his efforts, it took him a solid ten minutes of scrubbing in the shower to get rid of Luca's smell. It wasn't that he hated it, he was used to smelling like fish from hours spent on Massimo's boat--but Machi had kept Alberto up almost all night yesterday, growling and scratching at Alberto's door because of the smell on him.

From in the kitchen, Giulia had chosen one of Massimo's more upbeat records to listen to while they finished cleaning up. He could hear her off-key singing, and Massimo's baritone jumping in with her, which made him smile.

The polaroids were still there, sticking out from underneath a sliver of the water glass. But of course they were, why wouldn't they be? Door locked, window overlooking the sea mostly covered, Alberto let his bath towel fall to his ankles. A line of shower water tickled his chin, or maybe it was sweat, he wasn't sure. He needed to get dressed. But he picked up the first of five photos.

A blurry little square of the pool that morning, just to test the camera, but around the edges sprigs of grass sprouted up through cracks in the island rock, making the picture much more beautiful than he thought.

The next three were of Luca. All taken as close to the top of the water as Alberto could get, too afraid to stick a hand under and gesture Luca to the surface, and also because it wasn't his camera. Body curled under the water, examining things along the walls of the pool too far to see, tail moving slow and practiced. His dorsal fins were the only things that translated best over film, a brilliant cool blue that Alberto had checked (and double-checked) he had the right color paint for.

He let out a tiny sigh at the final photo. Luca facing him from below, his expression a scowl, looking so human it was hard to believe that he wasn't.

But, as Alberto's fingers pinched the corners of the photos, of Luca, holding his breath as he knew it was definitely sweat he was now feeling on his neck, wasn't he human?

His chest ached, drumming a painful harmony from his frantic heart all the way down his abdomen, and if he moved the photos from his line of vision and looked down--

Oh no.

He relentlessly put everything he had into hurrying to throw on some clothes and turn off the lights. crawling into bed, so transfixed on the polaroids and—was it possible? Really? Had he just…?

No. He refused to encourage that line of thinking.

Luca was a sea monster, and probably asleep someplace far below the surface with his family, dreaming of seaweed or whatever else things that were not human thought about.

But, as Alberto lay there rigid and aching, staring at the ceiling waiting for that to go away, part of him wished he could be there with him. To make sure he was okay.

Pfft, sure. Make sure he's alright. That's all.

/ / /

Luca was not dreaming of seaweed.

But he was convinced he had died in his sleep, over a dream of soft touches. Phantom hands running down his scales, someone's calloused fingertips grazing the hollow of his throat so tenderly it made Luca squirm. Luca grabbed his imaginary person's forearm, begging to be touched. One hand remained tracing patterns on his chest while Luca felt another take hold of the side of his face, rubbing circles into his gills until he was sure he was going to pass out from the stimulation. He was so...sensitive there. Around his cheeks and his gills and especially his tail. But all he could do was tilt his face back in guilty bliss and allow whatever was happening to him to continue.

He'd never in all of his years had a dream quite like this.

"P-Please..." Luca whispered. Please stop, or please keep going? Even he didn't know.

He swore he heard a chuckle echo, a familiar chuckle, a confident one, but some sort of reaction all the same.

Luca blinked in his dream, almost crying out because the touch was gone, but then he realized it had only moved. The imaginary touches returned, this time a cool fingertip along his dorsal fin to his tail, while Luca shivered around it, biting his cheek. His legs twitched, and his tail curled around the forearm of this imaginary hand, feeling safe and comfortable enough to do so even if it was touching him in ways his mother had warned him about. The air around him (around them? no one was there) felt absurdly warm, but he realized it was only coming from his scales. The smell that hung in the air was overpowering, thick and heady in sweetness with just a trace of salt that Luca could almost taste in the air. A familiar smell...

He couldn't take much more of it. He had to wake up before...something happened. Something bad.

The cold water of his bedroom startled him into consciousness, the subdued blues and greys in much starker contrast to the tropical greens he'd dreamt of. That white-hot feeling came back, this time stronger and with a ripple of pain that burned in the pit of his stomach. When he opened his eyes the water around his bed felt warmer, like it had in the dream, and when Luca stretched out a hand his fingers were cool though his forearm was not, as if he was the one causing all of this heat.

Huh. Weird.

The last memories of the dream were still a thick haze on his thoughts, racing around and replaying the scenes over and over again until Luca buried his face into the sewn kelp of his bed to keep from whimpering.

He let his hand press to his belly, where it hurt the most, then slip down the waistband of his pants to rest between his legs. His fingers came back covered in something slick.

"Alberto..." Luca whined, rolling onto his stomach to alleviate some of the discomfort.

His eyes flung open. Alberto?

Oh.

Oh no.

[falsewings]

Curious Archer Pride Month, week 3 - Events

So, ever since the series finale, I had this idea for a fic about Alice & Robin's wedding (and the planning of said wedding). Unfortunately, I'm very bad writing schedules and writing chapter fic (which is how I envisioned this). So while I don't have a fic for this week's prompt, I do have a list of meta/head canons. Maybe one day I'll get to write this fic. But until then, I hope this gives you some entertainment

Okay so first, Robin gives Alice an engagement ring that's super flashy and noticable (the one Rose Reynolds chose for her character)

I wrote less than a page for this fic but one of the few things I did write was this: "The ring is rather large, ostentatious and a little gaudy. So Robin knows Alice will love it."

Alice gives Robin a ring in exchange: a flat silver ring with a heart and arrow engraved

In my head, each chapter of the fic would deal with a different stage of wedding planning

I'm not sure how, but I wanted to work in Wish!Hook teaching them both how to sail the Jolly Rodger

Robin expected that Alice would want a small simple wedding, and if the curse hadn't happened, she would have. But now that Alice has Tilly's knowledge of American weddings, she wants at least some of those traditions

They both go through magazines and wedding blogs to figure out which parts they like and which parts they don't want to do

I think their color theme is yellow (if they do have a color theme at least). I feel like yellow is just a really happy color and somewhat unconventional for weddings? Like, this is 100% influenced by the fact that one of friends told me her wedding color was yellow and everyone gave her shit for it and complained that no one looked good in yellow. But imo, her wedding pictures look great.

I'm torn between them keeping the "can't see the brides and the wedding dress on the day of" tradition and them having a private "seeing each other in our bridal gowns before walking down the aisle" kinda thing

On the one hand, capturing the moment on film when the couples to be see each other in their wedding outfits for the first time is so beautiful. I loved that part of my brother's wedding.

On the other hand, is that in character for Alice and Robin? Would it better to have them do something unconventional and nonstandard?

They both get wedding rings in addition to their mutual engagement rings: matching plain gold bands

Their honeymoon is definitely them exploring different worlds together for like a year

I know Regina magically combined all the worlds to fit in Story Brooke but I like the idea of Alice traveling to all the worlds she previously visited but this time happy and with someone she loves

They either have a wedding cake with orange marmalade filling or a ton of mismatched cupcakes that Alice, Tiana, Hook, Cinderella and Lucy all help ice. So some of them cupcakes look professionally done while others like they belong on "Nailed It"

The ceremony is either held in woodsy area in the enchanted forest (which makes transporting everything there a bit of a hassle) or it's in that little area with the giant statue

They get a legit photographer for the ceremony (because Zelena and Regina insist on it) but the reception is photographed by their guests via disposable cameras

Those photos eventually get scrapbooked together but I'm not sure who is the one who does it? Maybe it's a group effort?

The photos are chaotic, and sometimes blurry and people aren't always looking in the same direction

But they capture the moment

Separate wedding dress shopping trips but Hook, Zelena, Regina, Tiana, Cinderella and Henry are there for both "say yes to the dress" outings (complete with champagne. Alice gets a little tipsy during her dress chosing)

There's no official wedding party roles but Hook walks Alice down the aisle while Zelena and Regina walks Robin down the aisle

They write their own vows! Which of course use their nicknames for each other (Nobin and Tower Girl). There's also a mention of Targo bc that scene is still hilarious to me

That's all I can think of for now. If I have anymore ideas for the wedding (both the day of and the events leading up to it), I'll reblog this post with a new list