#I love little interactions like that it’s so nice

[dilemmaontwolegs]

It Started With A... || CarLandOscar

Summary: Whoever thought love was limited to one person was an idiot. Love had no limits and you knew that better than most when a rookie found himself carving out a third of your heart. Warnings: established relationships, fluff, angst, pining. WC: 7.5k

It started with a smile. It was stiff and polite and made you pity the rookie who was being introduced to everyone so fast he would surely forget their names. 

“It took me a few months, but you’ll figure out who is who,” you encouraged him as the welcome committee went back to work in the factory and Oscar looked for guidance on where he was meant to go next. 

“I hope so. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” he admitted sheepishly. “Are you in the PR team?”

You looked down at your black skirt and white blouse and thought you probably did look like someone from PR or legal. “Contrary to belief, I am actually what people would call a PR nightmare,” you said as you held your hand out. “Y/N Y/L/N, Lando’s girlfriend.”

“It's nice to meet you. I suppose I’ll see you around here a lot then.”

You smiled ruefully and shook your head. “I’m studying at Royal Holloway but we wanted to be here for your first day so we stopped by.”

You looked around for Lando and found him returning from the cafeteria with a takeaway coffee cup in his hand. “I wondered where you went,” you teased as you happily accepted the hot drink and the kiss he placed on your cheek. 

“Figured you needed this, love. I kept you up pretty late for a school night.” Lando nudged Oscar and winked. 

The Australian’s ears turned pink and you rolled your eyes at your boyfriend's humour. “He was steaming until some ridiculous hour this morning. You’ll probably find him crashed out on a couch somewhere this afternoon while I will be struggling through lab tech.”

“You’re the smartest person I know, I don’t think you even need to go to class.” Lando tipped your chin back, giving you a deep kiss without care that his new teammate was watching the interaction. “We should go, love, don’t want to make you late again. You want to come for a ride too?”

“Shouldn’t I go inside?” Oscar asked as he looked to the double doors that led into the employee only section.

“They want us to do a few icebreaker promo vids to get to know each other so you’ll just be waiting around for me to get back anyway.”

“You should probably get used to that, he likes to keep people waiting,” you joked. 

“When have I ever kept you waiting?”

“I’m still waiting for a win.”

Lando chuckled and playfully swatted your ass. “I’m working on that. Hard.”

You cupped his cheek and ran the pad of your thumb over his pouting bottom lip. “I know you are, baby, and it’s gonna come.”

Oscar cleared his throat and jutted a thumb over his shoulder. “I can just go wait inside.”

“Nah, come on,” Lando said as he grabbed his keys from his pockets. “You should see where her classes are in case there's an emergency.”

You frowned in confusion. “An emergency?”

“Yeah, like if I’m running late.” Lando draped an arm over your shoulder and led the way to the handful of reserved parking spots near the front door. “It’s only 15 minutes down the road.”

Lando opened the passenger door to his Range Rover and you glanced at Oscar who just smiled and opened the back door. “I’m okay back here,” he said as he climbed in. You settled into your usual seat but adjusted it to give Oscar’s longer legs some extra room. 

The drive took a little longer with the tail end of rush hour traffic but it seemed to pass quickly with Lando and Oscar making small talk. You could almost feel Lando’s excitement vibrating off him when he spoke about the upcoming season while Oscar was far more reserved. You quickly understood that he was merely the quiet type, not that he wasn’t excited. 

“You should come over for dinner,” Lando said, one hand resting on your thigh while the other steered. “I’m heading back to Monaco this afternoon but I’ll be back for the weekend.”

He squeezed your leg when he caught your eyes dropping down at the reminder. “It’s only a few days, love.”

“I know, doesn’t stop me from missing you.”

Oscar tried to turn his attention to the scenery out the window, feeling intrusive in the intimate moment, but Lando caught his eyes as they glanced over you. “Oscar could keep you company. Maybe you could show him around Surrey?”

Oscar’s eyes widened as if he had been caught red handed and his cheeks flamed again. “I, uh, sure, I mean, you’re probably busy studying though.”

“I can make time. I actually get through it a lot quicker without this distraction in the house. Who would have thought?”

Lando gasped, “Me, a distraction?”

“Mhmm, you always need attention, baby. But that’s okay, I still love you.”

“Good to know.” Lando dropped a lopsided grin and winked before pulling up to the front of the Science Block. “I love you too, and don’t forget Carlos is picking you up this afternoon.” 

You leaned across the gearbox and kissed Lando farewell before turning to Oscar. “It was really lovely to meet you.”

“You too. Should I get your phone number?”

“Asking for my girlfriend’s number in front of me,” Lando scoffed. “Mate, that’s fucking rude.”

You slapped Lando’s arm and he burst out laughing. “You should have seen your face. Classic.”

You smiled apologetically to the Aussie. “I’ll put it in your phone,” you offered as you held out your hand for the device. You quickly entered the number and hit the green icon until your phone rang in your pocket before taking a selfie and adding it to the contact. “There, now you’ll remember who the name belongs to.”

“Thanks,” he chuckled, taking the phone back. “I would’ve just put ‘Lando’s Missus’.”

“I like that, you can still update it,” Lando chuckled. “It’s a good title.”

“One I’m still waiting for,” you said as you waved your empty ring finger. The movement drew your attention to the watch on your wrist and you swore as you saw class was about to begin. “Bye, baby, have a safe flight.”

You bundled up your bag but when you reached for the door it was already opening and you gave Oscar a quick hug as you stepped out. “Bye, Osc.”

Half the students had disappeared into the halls and you speed walked up to the heritage building where you would spend the first half of your day.

Lando watched you walk away while Oscar took the front seat. “You’ve done something right,” he commented as he put the SUV in reverse, “it took me two weeks to get a nickname.”

A dark blue Ferrari was surrounded by dozens of students when you left your last class and you cradled your textbooks tighter, prepared to bustle your way in. Carlos had been keeping an eye out and was quick to spot you leaving the building. He moved assertively through the crowd and met you at the edge of the circle so he could use his body to shield you. 

“Nice and inconspicuous,” you teased him when you were safely deposited into the passenger seat.

“Sorry, hermosa, the flight was delayed. I didn’t have time to go home and switch cars.” He drove slowly as the last of the fans moved aside and tried to peer through the tinted glass. “How was school?”

“I didn’t fall asleep, so there’s that,” you said with a yawn and felt Carlos’ hand close around yours as you closed your eyes. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Carlos lifted your hand to his lips and kissed your knuckles before resting them on his lap. “Lando said you made a new friend.”

You smiled and opened your eyes to see Carlos glancing across the car as he sped along the highway home. “You two are the worst gossips. Oscar’s nice. I think they will get along well as teammates.”

“Better than me?”

“No one could beat you and Lando as teammates, baby, that was pure magic.” You rubbed soothingly along his thigh to reassure him. “I don’t know if he will get more vocal as he gets comfortable but I get the feeling Oscar is just a quiet person. He’s very different from Lando, and you and Daniel, which could be a good thing.”

Carlos chuckled to himself. “It sounds like you have spent a lot of time thinking about him.”

“There may have been moments,” you admitted. “But there was someone I thought about a lot more.”

A wicked grin grew and Carlos’s hand drew yours higher up his leg as he turned onto the narrow lane that led to the private property Lando had bought. Set halfway between the McLaren factory and your university, it was the idyllic spot to live and Carlos could fly in from the Ferrari HQ in Maranello whenever he had free time, or, when Lando didn’t want to leave you on your own. 

“And who exactly did you think about?” Carlos asked as the front gates opened. “Was he handsome?”

“Very, very handsome, with dark hair and a sexy accent. And he’s so fucking fit, I could break my teeth on his abs,” you hummed happily as the car pulled into one of the few spaces left in the large garage. “I could go on and on about him. Charles is just-”

“Cha-“ Carlos’ foot fell heavy on the brake and the car jutted to a sharp stop. “Charles!”

Your giggle filled the empty car as Carlos ran around the front and opened your door. The world tipped over as he grabbed you out of the seat and tossed you over his shoulder, swatting your ass as he marched you into the house. 

“I’m sorry, I was joking,” you spluttered between laughing and gasping as he spanked you again. “I was thinking about you, doing something surprisingly similar to this actually, just less clothes.”

The world spun again as he tossed you on the bed and caged you beneath his body, his bottom lip pushed out in a pout. “You hurt my feelings, mi amor.”

You wrapped your legs around his waist and combed a hand through his thick dark hair that had grown in the week he had been gone. “Then let me make it better.”  

It started with a text, asking if you had any recommendations for the local takeaways. It was Oscar’s cheat day and you were feeling like you could use a little pick me up of greasy food so you offered to show him your favourite spot. Carlos had been called away a day earlier than planned so you had the whole house to yourself and its grand size always seemed scary on your own. 

The buzzer from the gates sounded and you hit the remote button to open it after, swearing as you realised you lost track of time. Open textbooks covered the kitchen table and highlighters were strewn amongst them as you tried to colour code the notes you had made on post-its. It was a mess, but it was too late to clean up as Oscar knocked on the front door.

“I promise I didn’t forget you were coming, I just thought I had time to finish my homework first,” you said as you opened the door and waved him in. You looked down at the grey sweatpants that came from Carlos’ drawer and the hoodie that came from Lando’s, not quite what you had planned to wear into town. “Obviously, I thought wrong. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll just get changed real quick.”

“You don’t have to get dressed up,” he said as he took his shoes off and closed the door behind him. “I’d rather you be comfortable.”

You smiled at the sincerity and gave him a quick hug, inhaling the musky cologne that clung to his shirt. “You’re sweet, Osc, but you’re a rookie and it shows.”

He frowned as you pulled away and started to head to the stairs for the second floor where the bedrooms were. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

You paused at the bottom step and looked over your shoulder. “You’ll see in an hour.”

The chicken shop had been almost empty when you entered before the dinner rush but there was a crowd growing outside. You were used to having cameras pointed your way after publicly dating Lando for over two years, but Oscar had only shot to fame in the last month when his infamous tweet aired on Drive to Survive. He hadn’t been known outside of the smaller F2 circle but now he was a household name. 

“I see what you mean,” he said as he did his best to ignore the people knocking on the glass. 

“You get used to it, eventually.” You popped a hot chip in your mouth and chewed it while you watched him, a small frown tugging his brows together. “The trick is deciding early on what your position is.”

“What position?”

“With the fans, the paparazzi, all of it.” You glanced at the window and waved. “When we started dating, Lando tried to protect me from them and hide our relationship but they were like sharks after blood. We found we had more privacy if we acknowledged them, then they just moved on.”

You didn’t try hiding with Carlos so no one ever dug too deep into it. Everyone just assumed you were close friends given how close Lando and him were too. It was easier for everyone to believe you were just friends.

Oscar turned to the glass window and forced a smile before waving to the children. Cameras flashed as the fans got the face shots they wanted and then they dispersed back about their day, with the exception of a few stragglers. “Huh. Are you sure you’re not in PR?”

“I’m sure,” you said with a smirk. You weren’t joking when you said you were a PR nightmare - if the world found out about the unorthodox relationship between you, Lando and Carlos it would be. “I have just been through it all before so I can be your personal guide.”

“Thank you.”

You pushed the leftover plate of fries his way knowing he was probably like every other driver who had the ability to consume three times their weight in carbs on a cheat day. “You can thank me with another dinner date, it beats going cross-eyed studying.”

“I’m not sure your boyfriend would appreciate that,” he said as he dragged the plate of fries closer and finished the last of them.

“Lando appreciated what makes me happy, and he’s secure enough to trust what we have isn’t going anywhere.” 

The idea was foreign to him and you could see the doubt he had about it, but he settled instead for a polite, “That must be nice.”

“Your PR team is going to love you,” you chuckled as you grabbed your wallet to pay. “A driver who actually keeps his thoughts to himself, that’s a rarity.”

Oscar’s long legs quickly overtook you and he had some cash out ready. “I invited you,” he said with a stern look that caught you by surprise. “I’m paying.”

Raising your hands in defeat, you smirked and slipped your wallet back into your handbag. “Yes, sir.”

You watched his eyes linger on your lips before he shook his head of the wayward thought and led the way out of the store. “So what do you usually do when Lando is in Monaco?”

“Carlos usually comes and keeps me company, or I just study. Not exactly the epitome of excitement but it’s my last year and then I’ll go to Monaco too.”

Oscar quietly accepted the knowledge without questioning it, though you could see them swirling in his eyes. He wanted to know about Carlos but he was too polite to ask, or maybe he knew it wasn’t something you could answer. “Well, you have my number so if you get sick of studying you can always call me.”

"You can call me too, Osc.”

Term break arrived with as much turbulence as the plane you took to Austria. On one hand you were excited to be able to travel to a few races but on the other you nervously awaited two assessment results and continuously checked your phone for updates until Carlos locked it in the hotel safe. “You can get it back when you promise to relax.” 

“I won’t relax until I know what I got,” you argued but between him and Lando they distracted you well enough, for a while at least.

“We need to get going,” Lando reluctantly said as he climbed out of bed and tried to restore some control over his mussed hair. “You can have your phone back, but just so we can contact you, not so that you can worry about your damn exams.”

Carlos laughed as he unlocked the safe that also had your passports and valuables stored. “I’m sure she will listen to you,” he said as he handed the phone over and saw the unread text messages from Oscar light up the screen. “Though maybe she won’t have time to check her emails now.”

The two managed to shower in a matter of seconds before they reappeared and sorted through the pile of clothes on the floor, tossing red one way and papaya the other. 

“Is Oscar on his way?” Lando asked when he was dressed and ready to go to the track. 

“He’s already there,” you replied, barely looking up from the messages that were coming in rapidfire succession except to kiss Lando goodbye. “And he said you’re going to be late again if you don’t hurry up.”

“I was on time yesterday,” Lando grumbled, pulling his shoes on as he hopped to the door. “I just looked late because I was the last to arrive.”

“Better than coming too soon,” Carlos joked as he leant down to give you a kiss too. “See you later, mi amor.”

You arrived at the track just before the driver’s parade began, when everyone was too busy making their way to the grandstands so the paddock was much easier to navigate. The results had been posted and a smile had been plastered on your face since seeing the grade, but you wanted to tell Lando and Carlos in person. 

“Hey, you’re actually here.” The aussie twang greeted your ears before you turned and found Oscar opening his door opposite Lando’s. “I was starting to believe you were a figment of my imagination.”

Oscar opened his arms and you stepped into the hug you were pretty sure you had trained him into expecting every time you met. He was already in his fireproof skins and they hugged every inch of his torso so you could feel the muscle that lay beneath. 

“I got in last night,” you said as you brushed a hand through his soft hair and giggled when it flopped back over his forehead. “How has your week been?”

“I’m pretty sure you know almost everything that’s happened.” Referring to the hundreds of texts that were religiously exchanged. 

“It’s not the same without seeing your face, I can’t tell if you’re lying or not.”

He tucked your head back into his collar and held you a little tighter. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“You would if you thought it was protecting me.”

He didn’t have a response for that, at least not before Lando’s door opened and he leaned against the panel with an amused look on his face. 

“Are we celebrating or commiserating, love?”

You had completely forgotten why you had come to the building and a bright smile lit up your face as you bounced on the balls of your feet. “A+, baby.”

“Knew you could do it!” Lando wrapped his arms around you and, incidentally, Oscar too. “Fuck the diet, we are going out tonight.”

You looked up at Oscar. “You’ll come too right?”

“Of course he’s coming,” Lando answered with a wink. “Gotta thank the guy that looks after my girl when I’m away. She would never get her nose out of a book if you didn’t take her out.”

You had quickly learned that it didn’t take much to make Oscar blush and Lando loved to make it happen. 

“It’s no problem,” Oscar murmured as he scratched his heated neck. 

Oscar understood more than anyone why there were always rumours about Carlos. Every time pictures were snapped of you and the Spaniard, or all three of you, the gossip began anew. After spending quite a bit of time with you over the last six months he had his own fair share of rumours but he knew nothing had happened with you. It was hard not to gravitate closer to you or to hug you at any given chance - there was a magnetism he couldn’t explain and he didn’t want to fight it. 

“You saved me from total starvation on numerous occasions,” you praised, rising on your toes to kiss his pink cheek. “My hero.”

Oscar’s face grew another shade deeper and he tried to change his racing thoughts to something other than the feel of your lips. It was impossible, he was too far gone and was helpless to his own feelings that wanted more than you could offer. He couldn’t even look at Lando after the betrayal he had just imagined doing. That was his teammate and you were his boyfriend.

“I’m going to head to the garage,” he choked as he took a step back and grabbed his balaclava from his room. He could feel your eyes in him as he left and when he reached the end of the corridor he turned with a frown as he realised he had missed something. “Congratulations on the grade, you deserve it after the effort you put in.”

Those eyes he had come to love in the last six months softened and you smiled. “Thank you, Osc. Good luck out there.”

It started with a kiss. While Lando and Carlos were celebrating the points they had earned, you were keeping Oscar’s glass full as he stewed in his mind over what he could have done better. You could almost see the calculations running through his head as he swirled the amber liquid in his glass and it was like he couldn’t even hear the music in the nightclub. 

“If you don’t drink that I will, and you don’t want to see what happens to me when I have whisky,” you warned him. 

He looked at the glass and sighed, putting it down. “I think I should just call it a night. You should go have fun with them.” You followed his sight to Carlos and Lando jumping with the crowd, Lando’s mouth moving with the words and Carlos’ arm draped over his shoulder.

“They can keep each other company, I want to be here with you.” You took his glass and lifted it to your lips. “Last warning…” The liquor burned down your throat and you rushed to take a gulp of your fruity cocktail to wash away the taste before a shiver rolled down your spine. “Oh god, how can you drink that?”

You poured another glass from the bottle on the table and held it out until he took it with a small laugh. “It’s meant to be sipped, not shot,” he clarified before drinking a small amount.

The whisky hit your stomach and you felt warmth spread across your skin. The bar menu suddenly became a necessity and you fanned your face with the cardboard as the flush reached your hairline. “We should dance.”

“I, I’m not a good dancer,” he said, looking concerned at the idea.

“No one is good at dancing,” you pointed out, the crowd basically just jumping to the beat or moving side to side. “Just follow my lead.”

He accepted your hand and you grinned triumphantly as you towed him to the dancefloor before turning and stepping closer to his body. Your hands came to rest on his chest and you swayed your hips to the beat before realising he really did need to be led because his hands were still limp at his sides. 

“You can touch me,” you teased as you grabbed his hands and put them on your hips. “Just relax and feel the rhythm.”

Oscar’s fingers flexed when he felt you start moving again, your body brushing against his, and he released a shuddering breath when you turned in his arms and tipped your head back on his shoulder to look up at him. 

“You okay?” you asked as you watched his blue eyes darken in the laser lights.

“You’re beautiful.”

You turned to face him with one of those smiles of pure joy that always made his day better and he forgot about his poor race result. He could hardly breathe when your hands roamed his body, climbing the thick column of his neck to rest on his racing pulse. He was pretty sure he was going to pass out when you rose on your tiptoes, eyes closed and lips pursed to give him one of those sweet kisses on his cheek.

Someone knocked into him and he turned to growl a warning but then your lips were there, pressed to his lips and he lost the words. Time slowed to the space between one heartbeat and the next as he savoured the sweet taste of your drink, unable to stop himself from taking a little more. 

You had kissed his cheek enough times to memorise the feel of them and knew it was not what you were kissing. A soft gasp slipped past when his tongue parted your lips and your fingers found themselves tangled in his hair, tugging him closer as your body yearned for more.

“Uh-oh, someone’s had a bit of frisky whisky,” Lando purred in your ear.

Oscar startled back and wiped his lips that were the same shade as your lipstick. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, it was an accident. Someone pushed me,” he stammered as he looked around but had no idea who had barged into him when there were hundreds of people in the club.

“Relax, mate,” Lando said with a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder. You cozied into Lando’s arm and tried to process what had happened while your lips tingled from the kiss and your heart fluttered. “It’s the whisky.”

You wanted to tell him the whisky hadn’t kicked in yet but kept quiet as Oscar exhaled in relief. Hiding your face in the crook of Lando’s neck, you screwed your eyes shut and pushed away the image that told you he had regretted the kiss. The knowledge settled in your gut that twisted and turned and you gripped Lando’s shirt harder at the rejection. 

“Can we go?” you begged quietly. “Please?” 

Lando kissed your forehead and nodded. “Okay, love, let me just tell Carlos.”

Your hands were left empty as Lando darted back into the melee to find Carlos who would probably stay until the club shut down. For the first time since meeting him you felt awkward in Oscar’s presence knowing you had made him uncomfortable. You didn’t know what to say and it was clear he didn’t either as he buried his hands in the pockets of his jeans. 

“I’m sorry,” you mouthed as you took a step away, hoping the crowd would swallow you whole.

When you woke the next morning for a moment you could pretend it was some strange dream, or nightmare, until Lando blinked his sleep eyes open and pulled you into his arms. “Good morning, beautiful.” The timbre of his voice when he was just waking could always bring a smile to your face but your lips merely wobbled and he sat up concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“I fucked up, with Oscar.”

“Baby, it was just a kiss and you were both drunk, I’m sure he’s probably already forgotten about it.”

The thought that he could forget something that to you was so profound only compounded the ache in your chest. You didn’t want him to forget, you didn’t want him to regret, and you voiced as much to Lando as you cried in his arms.

“Sweetheart,” Lando murmured softly as he wiped away your tears. “I think this is a conversation we should have with Carlos.”

“It doesn’t matter,” you grumbled, tearing yourself from his embrace. “It wouldn’t work out anyway.”

Lando got up and followed you to the bathroom as you turned the shower onto the hottest setting. “Why wouldn’t it work?”

“You and Carlos are best friends, and while you are always close to your teammates I know he doesn’t have the same interest in Oscar.” You stepped under the cascade and welcomed the burning heat that rained down. “I don’t want to lose what we have by wanting more.”

You didn’t hear Lando leave as the steam fogged up the glass and you let your head fall against the cold tile wall. He left you to your thoughts and gave you the space needed to reconcile your feelings to the past.

It started with a phone call. The urge had woken you from a deep sleep and you couldn’t shake the need to reach for your phone and dial the number you knew by heart. It had been a good weekend for the McLaren team with double podiums both in the Sprint and Grand Prix. The two third place caps were hung on the post of the bed as testament to the productive weekend but Lando had gone to bed deflated. 

Oscar had won his maiden race before him. A rookie had done what he had waited years for, what he still waited for. 

“Hello?”

You had assumed the call would go to voicemail after ringing for so long so you weren’t prepared to hear Oscar’s sleepy voice in your ear.

“Hey, sorry to wake you.”

“It’s okay, is everything alright?”

You swallowed and shook your head before remembering he couldn’t see. “I just wanted to say congratulations, I thought you would still be out celebrating.”

“There’s no one to go celebrating with,” he said so quietly you wondered if it was even meant to be said out loud. 

“I’m sorry.” You weren’t sure what for exactly but you felt the need to say it anyway. It was about the only thing you had said to him in weeks. “I should let you get back to sleep.”

“It’s, uh, it’s good to hear your voice,” he admitted and you a little bit of the weight on your shoulders eased as you realised whatever you had wasn’t completely ruined.

“You too, Osc. Good night.”

“Night.”

It was naive to think that one phone call could repair the divide that had chasmed between you because when you returned home for your last semester you still felt his absence everywhere. There were no daily text messages, or invitations to dinner, no sudden appearances as you left class. He was a memory that haunted you and it was always worse when both Lando and Carlos were away.

Four Months Later

It started with a bouquet. The small card was almost lost in the overflowing explosion of blossoms that left a sweet scent in the air but when you flipped it over your heart skipped a beat. Congratulations, OP x 

You were still smiling just as brightly an hour later when you arrived at the graduation ceremony to receive your Honours degree. You had kept the bouquet with you and inhaled the fresh scent as you waited for your name to be called. A loud cheer erupted from the rows where Lando, Carlos, your friends and family sat but it was the lonely cheer at the back of the hall that caught your attention. 

Unfortunately it may have been a hopeful hallucination as you didn’t see him again after that or at the celebration Lando threw for you at home.

“Pack your bags, baby, it’s time for Monaco!” Lando engulfed you in a hug and spun you around so your ceremonial robes billowed out and you clutched your cap to keep it from flying off. “I’m so selfish, I can’t wait to wake up to you every fucking day.”

Another set of arms tugged you away and you fell into Carlos’ embrace. “I’m so proud of you, hermosa.”

You were practically a marionette the way you were passed from one person to the next until finally the bottles of champagne ran dry and the party came to an end. You collapsed onto your bed with a giddy laugh that the long journey was finally over and you toed your heels off, letting them fall to the floor. 

“You can’t sleep in your dress, amor,” Carlos chuckled as he walked into the room with Lando after locking the house up. 

“Then you will have to undress me,” you teased with a beckoning finger that faltered when you saw Lando had the bouquet in a vase that he had found downstairs and he placed it on the bedside drawers beside your phone. “I saw him.”

“I know,” Lando said as he straightened the card among the roses. “I invited him.”

“Thank you.”

The next bouquet was one that you sent to him on his birthday. He barely kept the flowers alive for a week but he did keep the card that was attached. The two little xx’s you signed off with were almost faded from how often he traced his thumb over them before slipping it back into his wallet. He was no longer a rookie but he found this season harder to bear without your companionship and he wished he could somehow fix what he broke.

The problem was that he couldn’t settle for just your friendship anymore so he had to keep his distance instead. He had tasted your lips and nothing less could sate the addiction that had festered in the absence of another hit.

Miami was torturous for Oscar. The car was running great and his qualifying was great, but after five rounds of racing he was still stunned every time he watched you enter the paddock. At least in China the weather was horrible so you were bundled up in Lando’s hoodie but Miami, Miami was hot. Monaco had been influential in your fashion and the dress you wore was worthy of the runways in Paris. 

Stacks of passes hung around your neck and fell into your cleavage as you entered the grid and joined Lando where he was talking to Carlos. Oscar watched with envy as you hugged them both and kissed their cheek with well wishes for the race while he failed to hear what his race engineer was explaining. He was distracted by the fact you had seen him, and smiled. It was small and shy, but it was a smile nonetheless and one of his own growing as you waved your fingers and disappeared back into the garage.

One hundred and ten races he kept you waiting, but finally Lando won his maiden race and there was nothing that could bring him down. He had not stopped smiling, or dancing, or talking since winning and he wasn’t even sure if any of it made sense. The hours were a whirlwind of alcohol and noise until it all turned black and Carlos had to help you get him into bed.

Lando was fast asleep with his mouth open and snoring, which heavily down to the copious amounts of alcohol he had consumed at the after party. He didn’t even stir as you slipped out of the bed and left the room to answer the call that lit up your phone. 

“Hey.” You kept your voice low even though you knew nothing short of a fire alarm would wake your boyfriend.

“Hey.” You could hear the smile in that word and your own lips curled up in response. “I’m sorry if I woke you, I just needed to hear your voice.”

You navigated your way through the dark hotel suite to the balcony and opened the door just wide enough to fit through before closing it. The humidity was instant and the satin nightgown clung to your warm skin as you hung up the phone. “You didn’t wake me.”

Oscar was so close you could almost touch him, but the balcony one room over was just too far away. He even looked down the gap to see the fifteen storey high plunge and you could see his brows burrow together like he was calculating his chances of making the leap across. 

“Don’t you dare,” you warned him. “I didn’t come out here to see you fall to your death.”

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the railing and he sighed in defeat. A smirk soon tugged at his lips and he brushed his hair back over his ear as he eyed the sheer slip you wore. “But you did come out here to see me.”

You crossed your arms over your chest, aware of how thin the material was and all it bared. “I wanted to check how you were.”

Oscar’s lips pursed at the reminder of his poor race result. 

“Could have done without your boyfriend’s boyfriend crashing into me.”

He didn’t know how close to the truth he was with that statement and you wondered if he knew about the relationship that Lando and Carlos had or if he was just playing on an old fan rumour. You wondered how shocked he would be if he knew that Carlos was passed out on the other side of Lando right now. 

“It is a part of racing,” you reminded him. “There’s always a risk battling it out.”

Oscar dropped his head with a little laugh. “It’s a good thing I didn’t call you for sympathy or I would be disappointed.”

“Why did you call me?” 

You knew why.

“I told you, I wanted to hear your voice.”

“Osc,” you sighed, your hands falling to your side, and he lifted his head to look at you, his blue eyes so similar to his teammates.

“I’m not an idiot,” he said as he let go of the rail he leaned on and rose to his full height. “I know you love him.”

“I do,” you confirmed with a small nod, unable to look in his direction as you turned your focus to the view of the ocean instead. 

You didn’t hear him move until his feet landed quietly on the concrete behind you and you spun around to face him. A small shocked gasp escaped your lips when his palm glided over the satin at your waist and pulled you closer to his body. Your hands found their own space on his chest and he froze as he waited for you to push him away, but your fingers curled into the white shirt he wore.

“I know you love him,” he whispered, his lips brushing the shell of your ear. “But I think you might love me too.”

“You have ignored me for months.” It wasn’t a denial and he caught the admission of those missing words.

“I can never ignore you, and now I know I can’t even keep my distance from you.” He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against yours as his large hands cradled your face. “I need you, Y/N.”

“You don’t know what you are asking for,” you whispered as you fought the urge to tell him just how much you needed him too. 

“I’m asking for a chance to show you how perfect we are for each other.” He pulled back to see tears shimmering in your eyes and he sighed. “I shouldn’t have called. I didn’t think. I’m sorry.”

“Wait-”

“No, you don‘t have to say anything. I shouldn’t have put you in that position. I don't want you to cheat on Lando.” He kept backing away but you followed with each step until his back was pressed to the railing. 

“Lando isn’t the problem,” you promised as you reached for his face and cradled his sharp jawline. “Remember when I said I was a PR nightmare?”

Oscar nodded as his brows furrowed together. 

“I’m trusting you with a secret no one else knows.” His confusion grew as you took his hand and led him inside the suite. You pressed a finger to your lips as you reached the bedroom door and nudged it wider so he could see what was inside. In the dim light it was hard to make out what he was looking at but then everything came into focus like the Ferrari shirt on the floor and the CS55 cap on the nightstand. 

Oscar’s jaw slackened as he recognised the two bodies spread across the sheets and he eyed the empty space that you had filled. A thousand questions muddled in his head and he swallowed them down until you had closed the door again. His hand slipped out of yours as you walked back to the balcony and you wondered if that was the last time you would ever hold it.

“No one can know, please,” you whispered as you hugged yourself and stared at the moonlight on the waves. 

“Help me to understand what I just saw. Are the rumours true then?”

You laughed and turned to face him, crossing your legs and you leant against the rail. “They're not wrong,” you admitted with an evasive shrug. “They love each other and have a relationship, but it’s not the same relationship that I have with them.”

“You’re not exactly helping me to understand this,” he muttered, dragging a hand down his face as he sat heavily on the outdoor settee. 

You had never needed to explain it before, the addition of Carlos to yours and Lando’s relationship had naturally fallen into place and been accepted without having to understand why you all felt the way you did or how it was going to work. But now you were going to try.

“I met Lando first and what we had was instant, he was funny and sweet and kind. Then he introduced me to Carlos who was so charismatic it was impossible not to love him too. It didn’t mean I loved Lando any less so he supported me having a relationship with Carlos too.” 

“Okay.” He nodded like it made some sense and it gave you a slither of hope. “But what about them?”

You watched Oscar’s eyes linger on the skin bared by the satin and they darkened when you uncrossed your legs to step closer. He sat up straighter as you approached and his legs opened for you to step between and he did nothing to stop you when you took a seat on his lap. 

“You want to know if it's a package deal?” you teased, toying with the strands of his dirty blonde hair. “You want to know if you can have me, but at what price?”

His throat bounced with a deep swallow and his tongue wet his dry lips before he could speak again. “Is it?”

You thought about teasing him more but you settled for the truth. “No, like I said, they don’t have that sort of relationship. Yes, we may sleep in the same bed more often than not and on occasion they share me, but that is as far as they go. That is where the rumours are wrong.”

“Share you as in…”

“Threesome, Oscar,” you confirmed with a laugh as his cheeks turned pink. Seeing that colour again reminded you of the kiss and you shifted on his lap to straddle his hips. “I can’t stop thinking about you. It feels like a part of me has been missing for months.”

His hands slid up your back and pulled you closer. “I know what you mean.” 

His lips were so close you could feel their warmth and they begged you to close the distance, but you couldn’t just yet. “I want you, Osc, and you’re right, I do love you.”

You could see the sadness in his eyes as he asked, “But?”

“But I don’t know how this works when you and Carlos are battling each other every week.”

“I know things sound heated on the radio but that is just on the track,” he promised, his thumbs drawing soothing circles over your spine. “I have no problem with Carlos, I swear.”

Carlos had said the same thing but you weren’t sure if they were just trying to placate you. Only time would tell.

“It’s not just my heart that will break if this doesn’t work,” you whispered as your eyes fluttered shut and you surrendered yourself to him.

“Then we will just have to make this work.”

[everythingne]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ ➛ miss diaz (fa14)

with fernando's new appreciation of tik tok, fans begin to wonder where he's getting the ideas from, until he ends up racing alongside his previously unknown daughter... who is already a driver, and in her twenties.

warnings/notes: fernando my dad fr, this is the silliest little fic i loved making it?? I have never written this man and i regret it hes so silly, quite short and sweet, i might make this a verse? idk. i have too many series' rn, but if people like it ...

faceclaim: none :D!

"Ay, papá, ¡no! [You're gonna get yourself hurt!]"

The Alonso house was never quiet. This was something your mother had come to realize long ago. But now she was concerned. What the hell could you and Fernando be doing that would lead to him getting hurt? Despite your insistence of being well mannered and quiet, your mother knew you could tend to get up to the same level of quirkiness as your father.

It didn't help you were smashing records in Formula 1 Academy, racing alongside women like Lia Block and the Al Qubaisi sisters, all while hiding your identity.

Someone had bashed it into you at twelve you'd only be known as Little Alonso if you continued racing under your fathers name, hence why you had insisted you dropped Alonso and continued with Diaz.

Which you did... after six months of convincing your father.

Who is currently shouting, "I'll be fine, ¡bebita!"

"You have old bones!" Is your remark as your mother gets up from where she's tending to the online store she runs for her business. Sort of like a branch out of her Etsy store. She made really nice custom embroidery on top of her working for a media company that outsourced and trained employees for PR teams.

"I'm not that old!" Fernando's shout makes her laugh into her hand as she steps into the kitchen to see you've got a whole plethora of items out and around you.

"What are you two doing..?" She hums, leaning on the doorframe and watching as both you and Fernando turn to her like deer in headlights.

And then you smile, "Papá wants to make a Tik Tok."

Verónica laughs, watching as her husband attempts to tape his phone to the ceiling fan and she puts her hands up and walks out of the room with a quick sentence over her shoulder, "[I'm not explaining this to Aston Martin!]"

fernandoalonso

liked by missdiaz, astonmartinf1, veronicadiaz, and 683k others...

fernandoalonso: race weekend monaco edition 💚

user1: whos teenage daughter ghost wrote this caption?? how old is ur social media admin nando.

veronicadiaz: mi vida <3

⤷ fernandoalonso: mi corazón <3

⤷ user2: PARENNNTSSS

user3: i love my grid dad fr

missdiaz: youngest rookie on the grid!!

⤷ fernandoalonso: rookie of the year!

⤷ user4: yn and nando interaction. my heart is FULL!!

missdiaz

liked by astonmartinf1, f1academy, fernandoalonso, and 348k others...

missdiaz: monaco pit stop <3

astonmartinf1: thats our favorite academy driver!!

⤷ missdiaz: love u am xx

user1: mother is mothering fr

fernandoalonso: rookie of the year!!

⤷ missdiaz: youngest rookie on the grid!!

⤷ user2: nando become her grid dad pls i beg

user3: shut up shes in monaco.

user4: SO PRETTYYY

You read the headline for a third time, 'F1 Academy driver Y/N Diaz to replace ill Lance Stroll for the Monaco GP.'

There's a happy buzz in the Aston Martin garage, even with Lance being terribly ill this weekend. He'd still shown up in full support of his team, but was too woozy to actually get in the car. Too much of a risk. So, Aston Martin had called on you, and you were genuinely excited to race. So your father escorts you into the garage with a tiny proud smile, and all of Aston Martin knows who you actually are.

But media does not. Neither do some of the other drivers.

Hence how you end up talking with Lando during a press event, and when he gives you a soft smile and edges around asking your age, you have to poke your father's thigh to keep him from commenting on it. Lando has no idea he's blatantly flirting with you in front of your dad, but across from him Lewis is trying not to burst into laughter.

"I feel like I'm missing something." Lando says when the reporter comments on the eyes you, Lewis, and Fernando are giving each other. You look at Fernando and he nods,

"Yeah go for it, hermosa." Fernando taps your knee and you smirk, leaning on your fathers shoulder as you say,

"So my full name is Y/N Diaz Alonso, but I go by Diaz because y'know, my dad's got a pretty good legacy--"

"You're his daughter?!" Lando shouts and the audience starts screaming. Lewis is in practical tears with how hard he's laughing and Fernando's laughing as well. Lando curses, "Shit, man!"

"No hard feelings, man." Fernando reaches over to pats Lando's shoulder, who looks like he'd rather sink into the floor and die than be seen right now. Lewis is literally in tears.

"The fact Nando managed to keep this a secret for so long is unsurprising to me," Lewis says, "I mean, I knew because she was young when I first got to F1 and a lot of the older drivers know--plus Max, I think, because of the Piquets."

"Funnily enough," You giggle into the back of your hand, "Mark Webber's my godfather."

"Really?!" The reporters eyes widen and you nod.

"He's a bad influence, truly. Him and Jenson, oh and Seb, they were teaching me curse words at like four years old." You grin and Fernando laughs, now happily laying his arm across your shoulder to tug you to his side.

"And honestly, she's just like me at her age, so the boys on the track might wanna watch out." Fernando sends a pointed glance to Lando that has you whacking your fathers chest with a giggle.

"I'm more like him in the sense of goofy Renault celebrations Fernando, not like "I knew he'd brake because he has a wife and kids at home" Fernando." You clarify, but a knowing glance from Lewis has you shrugging while your father sits in smug confidence that his daughter will be fine.

And you would be. You were closer to the comments than the celebrations in actuality. Though, you'd never admit that.

[key-rk]

(Close up)

Y'all, it's them again, I love them sosososo muchhhh (another ramble🤞)

I really do like it when they just spend time in each other's company (I think my posts make that very obvious HAHHA)

But even the way they interact w each other is so important to me, especially Drake cause it's shown very clearly through his character that he doesn't particularly tolerate people unless they're inside his little circle–and even then, he tends to lose his temper or ignore them from time to time. While he does do that with Lp, numerous times he apologised and tried to tone his frustrations down for his sake, which, the fact that Drake goes through that effort speaks volumes. (YALLL...)

Just in general, their abilities to be together without getting tired is nice, Launchpad is really the only person Drake allows to be a part of both lives;crime fighting and civilian. With Morgana he mainly only wants to see her as 'Darkwing', with Gosalyn and Honker, he would prefer they stay out of his work and stay safe–Launchpad on the other hand, is in both worlds, which truly just goes to show how much they trust each other. (Y'all that's my favourite little detail ever)

Let's hope that made sense 🤞

[shakingparadigm]

Hiiii!!! I’m relatively new to ALNST (as in I watched it all in one go in one night and cried) and I was wondering if you have any opinions or information about this,

What do you think about Till and Sua’s relationship? Do you think they’d share anything in common? Do you think they’d like each other? I’d like to think there’s at least one thing they share in common that’s led to be on good terms.

Sorry this is a bit long, thank you!

First of all, thank you anon. I've had thoughts on this for a while! Thanks for giving me a chance to talk about it!

Till and Sua don't often interact in canon, so it's pretty easy to assume that Sua would hate Till's guts because of his crush on Mizi (especially since that art of Mizi playing with Till includes Sua looking jealous on the side, sulking in the next page).

But something to note about the characters in ALNST is that they're actually quite respectful of each other despite the crush conflict (further seen by Ivan and Mizi being very friendly despite Ivan knowing Till loves Mizi). Everyone in the garden knew Till had a crush on Mizi, the goodbye notes state that it was very obvious.

Yet despite that one instance of Sua pouting at Mizi and Till together, Sua is never shown to dislike Till. In fact, she seems to be more conflicted with Ivan instead. In the few official arts we have of them together, they seem pretty neutral.

(Sua's collar is green, showing she's comfortable/doesn't mind Till. Till's collar is orange most likely because he's a little nervous/awkward.)

In the official Anakt Kit goodbye letters, Till and Sua write messages to each other. They're short and seem more of a polite gesture than an actual goodbye between friends, but nothenless it shows that they're pretty amicable. Till writes that Sua has a nice voice and that he hopes she gets a high score in Alien Stage, while Sua tells him to take care and that she'll see him there.

I think that Sua and Till actually have the potential to be pretty good friends, strangely enough.

As for similarities, there are quite a few!

The most significant similarity I see between Till and Sua is that they're both deeply sensitive. Due to this, they've developed different defense mechanisms in order to protect their feelings.

Till is actually known to be timid, rather closed off and "cold" to others. In an early stream, he's even stated to be the most timid character of the cast. He only reveals his energetic and fiery side when he's putting his full passion into something like performing his music, when he's provoked, or whenever Mizi is involved (she makes him "strong", the creators say). Of course this standoffish and aggressive behavior is a front for his softer, more vulnerable feelings. He was heavily mistreated as a child, which led him to become distrustful of most people. This plus other factors regarding his rebellious nature and more eccentric personality result in him being a "friendless idiot". Of course, once people get to know him they'll find that Till is actually quite the sweetheart, albeit a bit awkward.

Sua is quite similar in this way. The creators describe her as soft-hearted, which is why she tears up so quickly in the IvanSua comic and the aforementioned art of Till and Mizi playing together.

Sua, just like Till, seems to be mistreated by her alien guardian. Although to a less violent extent than Guardian Urak, Sua's parent is seen to aggressively handle her without care, grabbing her by the head and shoving her forward. She's also placed in uncomfortable clothing and neglected without consideration for her own feelings. It may be due to this cold and lonely upbringing that Sua learned to hide her emotions as a coping mechanism.

It's been said that getting to know more about Sua is very difficult, as she's closed off and only ever opens up to Mizi. She seems cold on the surface, but the truth is she is hiding her sensitivity so that she won't get hurt. Sua is also very timid in nature, seen in how she only writes in the corners of people's yearbook pages with small font, putting in extra effort to not take up too much space.

But just like Till, Sua has her bolder side. Occasionally she's known to say very blunt and suprising things that other people would not expect of her, and she feels very deeply for the people she cares about. Sua may be the more cool and collected half of MiziSua, but we must not forget that she was tender-hearted to the point where she could not imagine living a life without Mizi in it, thus her sacrifice.

Both Sua and Till's original colors are white, and both are the only characters in the main cast who have ear piercings/earrings. They're both prone to tears and play the role of "god" in their respective relationships.

Something I really like about the ALNST offrec/actor AU is that among all the characters, Till and Sua were chosen to be the seniors!! I found it really cute! Sua, who is the most petite and smallest of the cast + Till, who in canon is the youngest in age. These two are actually the experienced seniors of the actor AU! It's so fun to me lol

Anyways, sorry for all of this, maybe it was a bit much, haha. Till and Sua are my two favorites, and I've always seen similarities between the two of them. I think there's similarities across several of the characters in ALNST, actually, which I hope to talk about in the future!

Thank you for the ask!!

[juyuppang]

SAY YOU WON’T LET GO ᯓᡣ𐭩 | p.js

pairing: park jongseong x f!reader

genre: non-idol au! new guy in the city jay!

synopsis: you did not expect to fall for your little brother’s new guitar teacher nor did you expect him to show up in your class as a new student either

featuring: all of enha! (maknae line aged down to 12 for purpose of story!!) , ningning & karina from aespa, julie from kiss of life, taehyun & beomgyu from txt

word count: 9.8k words

warnings: mild cussing, kissing

author’s note: hewo everyone!! i wrote this in celebration of jay’s birthday and wanted to write a fluff one shot! he sang say you won’t let go during the oakland stop and WAHH he did so good :’) i thought it was a good idea to include this song into the story

for the setting, i was thinking of this story taking place in new york, but you can imagine it to be any state in the east coast honestly!! this oneshot spans out so there is a few time jumps here and there but it's not too much ~

happy reading <33

You walked into the music store with your 12-year-old brother Jungwon, hearing a song playing faintly in the background. You said a quick good morning to the lady at the front as she was ringing up a customer buying reeds for his clarinet.

As you carried Jungwon’s guitar case, he ecstatically looked at the guitar picks, waiting for his guitar lessons to start. You sat in the seats by the entrance, waiting for time to pass by, debating if you should get a pastry in the nearby bakery. 

It was the last Friday before school would start again. Jungwon chose his guitar lessons to be early in the morning during the summer, dragging you along with him. 

With your parents both at work and your grandma visiting your home country for the entire summer, you were asked to bring Jungwon to his guitar lessons.

As much as you hated waking up early, you always went because of your little crush on his guitar teacher Heeseung Lee. 

Heeseung went to your high school and was a year above you. You never made advances per se but always loved sparking up a conversation with him whenever the lesson would finish for the day. You remember the day you met him during your freshman orientation and you immediately were stunned by how friendly he was to you and your group. 

With the years passing by, you would just give him a wave or a how are you during passing period. It made your heart flutter even if it was just the smallest interaction. 

You admired him because he was sweet and kind- exactly what you looked for in a guy. You were miserable to find out he was going out of state for university, trying your best always to drop off Jungwon, just to be able to talk to him. 

Looking at the time at the clock, it was 9:58 AM meaning Jungwon’s lessons should start soon. You nudged Jungwon, telling him to go towards the hallway on the left to one of the practice rooms. 

The two of you walked towards the hallway and you handed him his guitar case as he walked into the practice room. You peeked in, surprised to find no one there. Heeseung was usually early, it was weird for him not to be. 

“Oh hey, sorry, I’m here.” You turned around to find an unfamiliar guy standing beside you. With his jet-black hair, tan skin, and catlike smirk, you gulp a little. As much as you were loyal to your little crush on Heeseung, you had to admit to yourself he was a bit too cute. 

The guy looked towards you as you raised your eyebrow. “Oh, is Heeseung not here today?” 

“Oh, he left already for uni.”

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you, my last lesson with him was last week…” You glanced towards Jungwon who started to whistle, slowly taking his guitar out of his case. 

Feeling like you were about to combust any moment, you calmed yourself down and let out a little smile. “Oh.” 

“I’m Jay by the way,” The guy extended his hand. “I’ll be Jungwon’s new guitar teacher.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Y/N, Jungwon’s sister.” You shook his hand.

“We’ll get to it then. Nice meeting you.” Jay smiled. 

You nodded your head as you waved bye to Jungwon, walking towards the outside of the music shop. You went straight to the bakery, wanting to eat your own heart out. 

You were heartbroken, to say the least, but you started to think to yourself that maybe it was truly the end of your little infatuation with Heeseung. 

“I am going to kill him, why did he not tell me?” You screamed into your pillow, in disbelief of what happened in the morning. 

After Jungwon’s lesson, you dropped him off at his friend Sunoo’s house. You were scolding him, annoyed that he did not tell you Heeseung was leaving. In his defense, Heeseung should have told you- which was a good point. You tried to think back if you zoned back in your past conversations if you missed him mentioning him leaving this week. He did not post anything about leaving on his Instagram either so you were gobsmacked. 

But then again, he already left, what can you do? 

You immediately called your best friend Ningning to tell her of your little encounter with Jay. She came running-literally running as soon as you got home, telling her to spill all the details of what happened. 

Ningning sat in your chair by your desk, eating a bag of potato chips. She looked towards you and shrugged. “Hey, but you admitted Won’s new teacher is cute.”

“That is not the point!” You sighed as you put down the pillow. “Heeseung left!”

“Girl, you did not say anything to him while he was still at school.” Ningning sighed. “I know he’s cute and all but maybe this is good for you.”

“I know Ning, but ugh.” 

“Hey, we start our last year this Monday. Come on, be excited. I know you’ll forget about him.”

“You just want to hear more about Won’s new teacher, don’t you?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Ningning giggled.

You sat in your Statistics class, yawning. It was only the first class of the day and you already wanted to go home. With your teacher reading the class syllabus out loud and the material shown on the projector, you slouched in your seat a little, ready to drift off into a nap.

A knock came from the door as you peered towards it. Your classmate opened the door as a familiar face walked through. You sat up in your chair a little, baffled by who was standing right in front of the classroom.

Jay?

“Listen up class, we have a new student transferring in from-”

“Seattle.”

“This is Jay Park and starting today he will be going here. Give him a warm welcome.”

The students all looked towards him giving him a polite hello. You can already see a few girls in your class, gawking in awe over Jay, fawning over his looks.

 As you realized there was an empty seat next to you, you blinked your eyes rapidly as he took a seat. You can already hear some girls whispering, looking at the both of you. 

“So we meet again Y/N.” Jay smiled as he took off his bag.

“Hello to you too Jay.” You replied, turning your head slowly back to the front of the classroom.

The ironic part of everything was that Jay had a lot of classes with you. Despite both of your electives being different, you had most of your classes together such as Statistics, Literature, Anatomy, and Government. And he sat next to you for each class.

As you set your belongings down, you waited for Ningning and your other friend Julie in the cafeteria. You parted ways with Jay after Government as he had Culinary and you had Yearbook. You were still in shock, your friend Taehyun asked you if you were okay in class, staring at the blank canvas that was on the computer screen.

“There you are!” Ningning smiled as she took a seat. Next to her, Julie took a seat too, putting her stuff down. “Hey Y/N!” 

“Hey…funny story.” You let out a dry laugh. “Guess who’s a new student in our grade.”

“No way,” Ningning replied.

“Is this the guy you were telling me about this morning?” Julie asked as you nodded your head. “My luck is so good guys, I swear.”

“My manifestations worked.” Ningning put her hands together as she smiled. “This year is about to get more interesting.”

You rolled your eyes as you took a sip from your water bottle. “Okay, you can stop it now.”

“Let me guess? You had a lot of classes with him too.” Julie asked as Ningning and her looked at you intently.

“Yes. But that’s beside the point, I already got some girls staring at me like a hawk. I just wanted peace this year.” You complained.

“First Heeseung now Jay, you can’t catch a break.” Ningning cooed.

“And I’ll see him again later to drop off Won.” You glanced up to find Jay already in the line with your other classmate Jake. 

You looked down at your food, feeling like you saw stars. Why was he everywhere?

It has been a week since Jay transferred to your school. You still were warming up to him, a bit quiet whenever you guys would sit next to each other in class. You guys did not talk about much. Your conversations usually consisted of classwork homework or any projects that would be due soon. 

You already had some girls in your classes who asked how you knew each other and if he had a girlfriend. You specified he was Jungwon’s music teacher and that’s how you knew each other. 

It was annoying to the point where you’d be in a bad mood whenever you were in class or just out and about ready to leave due to how many questions would be asked in a day.

Either you were still sad over Heeseung or just baffled he left. You felt bad because you did not mean to treat Jay like that, you just weren’t good at adapting to changes so quickly. 

As Jungwon unzipped his guitar case, you said a quick goodbye. Jay walked into the hallway as he waved. 

“Hey Y/N.” Jay smiled as you waved back. “Nice to see you again.”

Jay then crossed his arms as he leaned against the doorframe. “Jungwon told me you’re not used to me teaching him yet.” 

You looked to him in confusion then back to Jungwon who started to whistle. He then put his guitar down and walked out of the practice room. “Uh, I need to use the bathroom.” 

As he walked away you looked back to Jay in confusion. “What did my brother tell you?” 

“Well, he said that you had a little crush on Heeseung- don’t get mad at him though I swear I won’t say anything.” Jay chuckled a little as he rubbed his neck.

“Oh uh-oh-” You were too stunned to reply.

You didn’t know how to react. You were annoyed that Jungwon just exposed your little crush but also felt a bit bad because Jay seemed a bit more pressured than he should have been. 

“Don’t worry though I’ll prove that I’m a good teacher too,” Jay replied. “After all I’ve been playing guitar since I was small.” 

The both of you let out a small smile, not saying a word. You felt terrible. You did not realize your little actions made it seem like you hated Jay when honestly you did not know him to even act like that. 

“Jay, I’m so sorry, I hope my brother didn't make it seem like I hate you. I know you’re capable of teaching him.” 

“No, you’re good I get it.” Jay then stood from the doorframe and smiled. “I hope in these next few weeks, you’ll maybe change your mind on some things.” 

You muttered a little “huh” in confusion as Jungwon came back. He waved bye to you as Jay did the same.

What was that supposed to mean? 

For the next couple of weeks, your routine consisted of dropping off Jungwon at his guitar lessons after school and taking photos for the yearbook after the football games. You were exhausted, to say the least, wishing you could go back to sleep. You were glad your grandma picked up Jungwon from his guitar lessons so you could just stay after school for most of the week. 

Jay and you started to become acquaintances, talking here and there. You both would eventually work on classwork together and walk to your classes during the passing period. 

You were happy you gained a new friend- somewhat. You did feel sorry for that small misunderstanding but was glad it was resolved. 

You learned that Jay was a big baseball fan, loved all different kinds of music, and was an only child. You also learned he loved anime and could speak a few basic sentences of Japanese- you were impressed, to say the least.

You also found out that the owner of the music shop was his uncle and that’s how he became a part-time guitar teacher. With Heeseung being away, his uncle offered him the position, asking him if he could step in. 

You also learned that he moved here in hopes of scouting for places he could go to university in the future. With his mom still a bit worried he’ll be a bit too far from home, he thought the best option would be to stay with his Mom’s brother and his family in another state. 

Having some free time in the Yearbook, you decided to visit Jay in Culinary and take some photos of the class. Snapping photos of the variety of baked goods the students cooked, you could smell the aroma of cookies that lay in the back of the room. 

The assignment of today’s class was to bake a fresh batch of baked goods to start the semester. 

You walked by each of the tables, delighted by all the different goods. 

As you walked towards Jay, he was slicing the banana bread he made as he blew carefully on his fingers as it was still hot. He put the knife down as he glanced towards you, waving. “Y/N, try the banana bread.” 

You waved, setting the camera down. “Wow, someone’s a chef.” 

“Get a piece,” Jay said as he walked over towards the sink.

You said a quick thank you, taking a bite. You glanced back up at Jay and nodded your head. “Geez, this is good.”

“Thank you, thank you I try.” Jay smiled as he walked back towards you. “You know, you can get another slice before you leave.” 

“No, isn’t this for a grade?” You raised your eyebrow, unsure. 

“I made two, the other one is over there by the oven still.” Jay pointed towards the oven as you smiled. “You’re too kind.”

You got a paper towel put the sliced banana bread on it and smiled. “Thank you again.” 

You and Jay talked for a little as you headed back quickly to your classroom, seeing that class would end soon. 

When you got back, you set your banana bread down on the desk, packing your camera in its bag.

“Oo, that looks good who made that?” Taehyun asked as he stood by your desk.

“Jay did, here get a small piece.” You said as he ripped a piece off.

“Okay, you were not kidding this is good.” Taehyun nods his head. “Aren’t you lucky you have a friend who can make snacks for you during the day?” 

You smiled as you put on your backpack. “Mhm, I’m grateful he even shares it with me.” 

“You know Jay asks about you?” Jungwon said as he ate his chocolate ice cream.

The two of you sat on a bench in the park, enjoying the ice cream you just bought from the corner convenience store. 

It was a Saturday afternoon and you and Jungwon had nothing to do in the house so the two of you decided to just talk for a stroll in the park. The weather was nice today and you both were in the mood to have a sweet treat and just sit for a while. 

“Is that a good or bad thing?” You asked as Jungwon shrugged. “I don’t know, I think he may have a crush on you.”

“Are you not learning anything with him? Do I need to switch out your teacher?” You replied, trying to change the subject.

“I’m just saying! Plus Jay is a really good teacher, don’t switch him out.”

You laughed, shaking your head. “I’m just joking.”

“No but really, he asks me about your favorite songs, what you like to do. He asked me if you played any instruments if you played any sports…” 

“Oh.” You just continued eating your ice cream, hoping Jungwon did not see your cheeks turn a shade of red.

“I don’t know but I find it very cute. Can’t wait to tell Mom you’re getting a boyfriend soon.”

“Won, just eat your ice cream or no one is dropping you off to lessons after school on Monday!” 

It was homecoming week and you were running all over campus to get photos of the decorations. After dropping Jungwon to his lessons, you would go back to school and start snapping photos, occasionally helping your grade plan to decorate your section. 

With Friday approaching so quickly, you were relieved; ready to sleep the day after. You were happy your friends in Yearbook would cover the dance, as you decided not to go. You were not really into going to events, you just wanted to stay home and rest.

You were currently in the hallway where most of the seniors’ and juniors’ lockers were, decorating the ceiling with some long confetti pieces and streamers. The ladder was a bit unsteady so you decorated a bit slowly, trying not to make too much movement.

Jay was with you as he also decorated the left side of the hallway. With your other friends not involved with the Homecoming preparations, they all already left to go home. He was glad that the other guitar teacher was able to step in for him today- he wanted to help you out. 

You glanced towards him as he helped Taehyun straighten out the banner at the end of the hall. You felt your cheeks burn a little, thinking about your little talk with Jungwon. Was it possible that he may have had a small crush on you? You just met a few months ago- how did he fall so quickly if so? 

As Jay turned his head in your direction, you looked away as you put the last streamer up on the ceiling with some protective tape. As you were about to take a step down, you felt the ladder wobble, you tried to stay balanced but your foot stumbled a bit off the top step.

Jay ran to you as quickly as he could with Taehyun after him. He then caught you right in his arms right before you fell on the floor. 

“Y/N, are you okay?” Jay asked in a panic. He held you in your arms as you hiccuped a little. You nodded, covering your mouth. You had your arms wrapped around him, and the two of you stayed in the same position for a few more seconds. 

You could see Taehyun trying hard not to giggle as he looked away, pretending not to see anything.

Jay put you down gently as you scratched your head a little, embarrassed.

“Thanks for catching me, erm, do you mind helping me put the ladder away?” You asked Jay as he nodded his head.

“You sure you don’t need to see the nurse or anything?” Jay asked.

You nodded your head giving a thumbs up. “I’ll be okay.” 

The awkward silence between the both of you ensued when you walked towards the storage room.

Jungwon’s friends tagged along with you and Jungwon to his guitar lessons. They wanted to go to the arcade after he was done and agreed to wait with you outside the store. You decided to go with them too, as you had nothing to do after class. It was the one day you were free and only had homework to do in the evening- it felt like a relief.

As soon as Jungwon called you to tell you he was done, you and his friends Sunoo and Ni-Ki went to pick him up.

The three of you walked into the music store and towards the hallway to wait for Jungwon. As he walked out of the hallway, Jay walked behind him as he waved towards you.

“Jay, this is Sunoo and Ni-Ki, my best friends.” Jungwon smiled cheekily as the two boys waved to Jay.

“Nice to meet you two. Where you all heading?” Jay asked.

“We’re going to the arcade across the street,” Sunoo replied.

“You should come! Y/N is all alone.” Jungwon offered as you glanced at him in confusion.

Jay looked towards you as he shook his head. “Oh no guys-”

“There’s a plushie I’ve been wanting.” You blurted out loud as the boys looked at you. “You want to help me win it?” 

Jay’s eyes lit up a little as he looked at the time. “You know what the person after Jungwon canceled, I can come.” 

The boys cheered as he went back to get his bag and lock the practice room. He went to tell his uncle in the back he would be back later and met you guys outside. 

Jungwon nudged your arm a little as he smirked.

Oh how sneaky your little brother was. 

You and Jay were in front of the crane machine looking at the Pompompurin plushies that were scattered inside. You sighed a little in frustration- you’ve been wanting it for a month already. 

Knowing how the arcade changes its stock frequently, you were determined to win it this time.

“A month?” Jay asked as you nodded your head. “My luck is not good.”

Jungwon peeked behind the other crane machine as Sunoo and Niki did the same.

“Your sister is blushing red like a tomato.” Sunoo giggled. Ni-Ki shook his head. “Jay is worse, he seems nervous like he can’t win it."

“Shh guys, let’s see if he’s successful,” Jungwon told his friends, looking back towards you and Jay.

As Jay put a token into the coin slot, the circus music started to play from the machine as the crane started to let loose from its spot. Jay cracked his knuckles as he moved the crane around, focused.

You smiled to yourself, seeing how focused Jay was. He never seemed so determined in his life to get something and you appreciated he was doing it all for you. As he set the crane on top of the Pompompurin plushies that were laid down towards the right of the front side, he took in a deep breath. He looked from the side as you held your breath a little, hoping it would work out.

Jay then pressed the button, hoping it would pick up the plushie. As the crane went down and scooped the plushie, it dropped as soon as it reached the top. 

You heard Jay said “shit” as you shook your head, reassuring him it was okay. Jay shook his head, stretching his neck. “No, I will win it.”

Jungwon giggled from behind as he, Sunoo, and Ni-Ki were too invested. They decided to go towards you guys and see if Jay was successful this time.

“Moral support!” Sunoo cheered.

Jay’s face started to get pale; he did not want to embarrass himself even more right now. He put another token into the coin slot and took in a deep breath. He aimed for the same Pompompurin, asking the boys to go on the side and see if the angle was okay. 

The Pompompurin was dropped closer towards the exit- he hoped this time around it would work out.

As soon as he angled the crane, the boys looked at the side and gave him a thumbs up, telling him it was okay to press the button. 

The 5 of you looked towards the stuffed animal in hopes it would work. As soon as the crane got it, it stayed intact and was then dropped towards the exit. You all cheered and screamed in excitement, not caring if anyone was looking.

“Jay, holy shit, thank you!!” You squealed. 

You got a bit too excited and hugged Jay as he hugged you back. Not realizing the two of you were so close to each other, you both then let go as he rubbed his neck.

“No problem. I’m glad you got it.” Jay replied, trying not to bring attention to his flustered cheeks. 

Jungwon bent down to get your Pompompurin plushie and held it up. “He is finally going to a new home.”

“Jay, you need to help me get my Charmander plushie please!” Ni-Ki said as Jay nodded his head. “Oh yes, where is it?”

As he and Sunoo led Jay towards the other crane machine, Jungwon handed you the plushie.

“He’s a keeper!” Jungwon smiled as he walked quickly towards the others.

“What did you say?” You asked, rolling your eyes.

You then looked back towards your plushie, feeling too happy. You then felt your heart race a little as you held the plushie to your chest.

Why did your heart race as soon as you and Jay let go after your hug? 

With the month of November rolling around the corner, it meant that it was the annual talent show. Your school always had a talent show right before the Winter season, showcasing different grades and their variety of skills. 

Jay told you he and his friends Jake and Sunghoon signed up with him- as a dare from their classmates in their band class. You never heard Jay sing- from what Jungwon said, he had a nice voice. He did not want to give you any spoilers, saying that you would enjoy watching them sing. 

You told Ms.Ling, the Yearbook teacher, that you wanted to volunteer to take photos for the event and take over the page since it was still empty. So here you are now, getting ready and setting up all the cameras making sure the angle looked nice.

“What made you want to join the page for the talent show?” Taehyun asked as he walked up to you, holding his camera.

“Nothing, I just wanted to watch that’s all.” 

“Mhm, okay. Anyway, I saw the list, and seems like Jay and his friends are the 5th group to go.”

Taehyun scurried away as his friend Beomgyu was calling him from the front of the stage. You rolled your eyes, sitting down by the camera on the long tripod. 

People slowly started to walk in as the show would start soon. You had your camera in your hands, sitting back, waiting for time to pass. 

As it then was already 7 pm the front doors to the theaters closed and the lights started to dim. Your other friend Karina who was also in charge of the page took a seat next to you.

“Go ahead and take pictures from the side, I’ll help the school news team record.”

“You sure?” You ask as Karina nods her head, giving a thumbs up.

You then stood off saying Excuse me to the family on the left of you, walking towards the middle aisle.

The host of the evening which was Beomgyu stood in the center with the drama teacher welcoming the audience. You turned on your camera and started to adjust the brightness, ready to take photos. 

The first group was just introduced as you walked closer to the stage, taking photos as Taehyun did the same on the other side. You snapped a few from different angles, making sure the photos came out just right.

So far, the groups that performed were a dance team, another performed magic tricks, and another impersonated famous people. The group after was two people who juggled pins which you were very impressed by. 

Then it was time for Jay and his friends to come up. 

As soon as Beomgyu said their names, the three walked up and pulled up wooden stools in the middle. Beomgyu helped put a mic stand in front of Jay’s stool as Jake and Sunghoon held their own mics. 

Jay had his guitar with him and he smiled as soon as he spotted you in the aisle. You looked back, smiling, a bit excited to hear what they were about to sing.

As the trio introduced themselves, Jay then strummed his guitar, a familiar tune starting to play. The whole audience started to gasp, immediately whispering to themselves. 

You realized it was the song Say You Won’t Let Go.

As Jay sang the first part of the song, you started to snap photos- as in click the button as many times as you can. Seeing you already took a handful, you put your camera down to enjoy the performance.

Little cheers started to erupt as Jake took the chorus and Sunghoon took the part after. You started to cheer a little as Jay sang the second chorus, and the audience started to sing along. 

After the boys finished, everyone cheered as you clapped. As Jay caught your eye you gave him two thumbs up as he laughed a little, smiling. “Someone’s a fangirl.” You then looked next to you as Taehyun also cheered. You just laughed it off, letting Taehyun have it this time. 

“So what did you think?” 

You and Jay sat at the corner convenience store, drinking milk tea together. After the show ended, he introduced you to Jake and Sunghoon. As you knew of Jake already from your Algebra 2 class from last year and Sunghoon from PE in freshman year, this was the first time you had a conversation with them. They were nice people and you were glad Jay was taken in by them when he first arrived. 

The two figured Jay wanted alone time with you so they parted ways as soon as you guys got your drinks from the milk tea shop. 

“You’re so good at singing?? I was really surprised.” You replied as you took a bite of your pastry. 

“You didn’t think I would sound good?” Jay joked as you rolled your eyes. “Don’t get too cocky there Mr.”

“Thank you though for actually going, I thought you didn’t plan on going.” Jay smiled. 

As you looked up at him, you felt your heart race faster- just like it did when you guys first hugged at the arcade. It was a strange feeling for you because not once did your heart ever beat like this for anyone else, heck it never beat like this when you had a crush on Heeseung either.

“It’s no problem. Think of it as a thank you for being such a great friend and also a good teacher to Won.” 

“You are too sweet Y/N.” Jay took a sip of his milk tea as you poked to his cheeks. “Did I make you blush?” 

“No!” Jay choked out a little. 

“Aw, I made you blush.” You giggled as Jay shook his head. “You’re seeing things.” 

Maybe you are starting to believe that Jay did have a little crush on you. 

Jay still did not know his way around city- more like he just never got the chance to. With his uncle busy at the shop and his aunt still at home, taking care of his little cousins, he only knew the route to and from the school and the area around it.

You felt bad he never got to explore the area and decided to spend the entire day going to your favorite places. You thought it would be nice to unwind with Jay for the day- considering you both never went out on your before. 

You put on your sneakers, looking at the mirror on the top of the shoe cabinet.

As soon as you saw a notification pop up from your phone and saw Jay’s message, you opened the front door.

You said a quick bye to your grandma who was currently watching a game show on the TV. 

You walked outside, closed the front door, and saw Jay standing in front of your house. The both of you unknowingly color-coordinated today, both wearing dark blue and black jeans. 

“Good afternoon,” Jay said as you smiled,waving back. “You ready to go?”

“Yup, let’s go. I’m excited to see what you have planned.” 

The two of you walked then towards the bus stop by your house, waiting for the next bus to arrive. As soon as it came you both paid your fares and went to the middle as you took the window seat. 

You rode a bit further down to the other side of the city. The two of you talked for a little, him asking you what building was what and which parts of the city you go to often. 

You both then got off a few minutes after and stood in front of a beach walk. 

“Oh wow, it’s pretty over here,” Jay said in awe. 

“We can get some ice cream floats then walk on the beach. How does that sound?” You asked as he nodded his head. “You are in charge today, I’m just following you around.” 

The two of you then walked towards the small shops by the beach walk and went straight into the ice cream parlor. 

After enjoying large chocolate floats, the both of you walked on the beach as the breeze softly caressed both of your guys’ faces. You both decided to sit for a little and wait for the sunset. 

“Ah, thank you for showing me your favorite part of the city today, I enjoyed it.” Jay thanked you.

You smiled in relief. “I’m glad. I didn’t know if you would like it or not.” 

“I’m guessing you come here quite often?” 

“Yup. I used to come here often with my parents.” 

“What happened?” Jay asked as he leaned back a little.

“Well they just get busy that’s all. We don’t have time to go out anymore because they both work long-hour shifts. That’s how I figured out bus routes to certain places so I can take Won and me out whenever I have some free time.”

“You’re a really good sister, I hope you know that,” Jay replied. “I don’t have any siblings but I can tell that you care for Won a lot.” 

“Thanks, Jay, I try, I do.” You sighed. 

The two of you then looked at each other. You felt your cheeks burn a little as he sat a little closer next to you. You gulp as the sky slowly starts to turn a darker shade of pink. 

As the sun slowly started to set, Jay leaned in closer and he turned his neck a little, leaving a kiss on your lips. You did not pull away as you both stayed in the same position for a few more seconds. 

You both then sat aback, as a little smile left your lips. You tried not to show your smile, looking at your feet dig into the sand. 

Jay was your first kiss,

And you felt like you were floating on a cloud, glad it was him who took it. 

Ever since you shared a kiss with Jay, the two of you did everything together. It was to the point he and his friends also joined you guys at lunch in the cafeteria and even took the same bus going home. 

The two of you would subtly brush your hands against each other while walking, sometimes he’d intertwine them and sometimes he’d draw circles in your palms.

Your friends already got the hint something was going on between the both of you; they just let things be, waiting for you guys to admit to whatever was going on. 

You sat in the library with Ningning, Julie, Jay, and his friends. You guys sat at the large table, looking at your laptops reading each other’s college application essays. 

It honestly did not cross your mind about applying to college so soon. You decided just to stay locally as Ningning and Julie wanted to go out of state. You were too attached to stay home and did not know whether you wanted to leave just yet- also because you did not want to leave Jungwon yet either.

“Where did you plan to go?” You asked Jay as he closed a tab on his laptop. He sighed and shook his head. “Honestly I don’t know yet. I was thinking of just staying here.” The others smiled to themselves as Ningning and Julie held a giggle to themselves.

“Oh, you’re considering on staying here too?” 

“Yeah, why are you?”

“Mhm.” You nodded your head. “My parents are always busy with work, Grandma is getting old. I feel like Won will have no one, as much as he drives me off the walls, I don’t want him to be alone.” 

Jay nodded his head. “Makes sense.” 

“I’ll still apply though to other schools, it’ll be a second option if anything.” 

“Tell me which schools, maybe we can go to the same ones,” Jay replied as you nodded your head, showing him your possible schools. 

What you didn’t know was that Jay wanted to originally go to where Sunghoon and Jake were planning on going to- which was a school in Los Angeles. He planned to apply soon too but as soon as he heard you wanted to stay, he wanted to stay too.

He thought he was going insane when he made a choice so quickly but in fact, he probably fell in too deep when it came to you. He already had the change of scenery he wanted and he liked it here with you. He did not mind if he kept working at the music store and did not mind either if he had to stay with his uncle and his family still. He felt like it was just right to stay here. 

“That leaves the two of you to stay here, won’t you guys miss us.” Julie sighed as you shook your head. “Think of it this way, wherever you guys go, it gives us a reason to visit.”

“Fair enough,” Sunghoon replied as he and Jake switched their laptops.

You and Jay looked at each other’s essays, pointing out some grammar mistakes and poking fun at the little typing errors. 

You walked into the music shop to pick up Jungwon’s guitar. He and Jay inspected his guitar last week and figured it needed some quick repairs as some screws were loose. With Jungwon out on a volunteer trip for school, you decided just to pick it up for him.

It was the weekend after Thanksgiving and things were still calming down. You and your friends all submitted your college applications the week before, feeling a relief of calmness wash over all of you. 

You decided to apply to 3 schools as Jay applied to 4. He also applied to a school back in Seattle just in case things didn't work out here. 

You secretly hoped you both would be accepted to the nearby university which was 10 minutes away. Since everyone else was leaving, it would be nice just to have one person by your side-especially if it was Jay.

Now it was just a waiting game for the results. 

“Hi, I’m here to pick up-Heeseung?” 

As the boy turned around, he waved and smiled. “Hi Y/N, long time no see.”

“You’re back?” You replied in confusion.

“Oh no, I’m just visiting. I go back this Monday. I figured I’d say hi to Mr. Kim before I go back.” 

“And you’re working here for the day?” You asked, setting down your phone on the table.

“One of the workers called in sick and he asked if I could help out. I had nothing to do anyways.”  

Jay then walked out of the practice room, waving bye to his student. As he walked out towards the front, he saw you and Heeseung talking. With his guitar in one hand, he turned his head a little, realizing that it was the guy Jungwon was talking about.

He remembered his uncle saying that one of the old workers would take a shift for the day but did not expect it to be Heeseung. 

Jay saw your doe eyes and how they lit up a little. He saw you smile intently as you asked Heeseung how he was doing and how university was for him. He held on to his guitar, thinking if he should interrupt but just walked back to the hallway towards the back room, feeling a bit unamused. 

“Can you believe he joined their rugby team and is also part of the music department’s main singers for their events?” You said as you moved a few Christmas decorations to the living room. 

Jungwon tuned you out a little as he focused on putting the Christmas tree together. 

As your parents and your Grandma were out currently buying more Christmas decorations, you and Jungwon decided just to prepare the tree and put the stockings by the fireplace before they came back.

Setting down the last box, you sighed. “Won, did you hear anything of what I was saying?” 

“I mean I did for the first half,” Jungwon replied as he put the plastic pieces on the stand of the tree. “But then I didn’t hear anything you said for the second half.”

“I just wanted to let you know how Heeseung was doing.” 

“Mhm, about Jay, did you see him? He was working today.” 

“Oh really? I texted him and he said he wasn’t there.”

“Interesting,” Jungwon mumbled as he tried the put the middle of the tree together. 

“Why? I don’t like Heeseung like that anymore, it felt nice. It was like catching up with an old friend.” 

When you saw Heeseung again, you felt a wave of nostalgia hit you. You felt like a lot of things changed since he left and you felt like your little crush on him disappeared. It was cause your heart is now with someone else. 

And that someone is Jay.

“So are you openly admitting to me that you like Jay now?’ Jungwon’s eyes lit up. He waited patiently for an answer from you as you then threw a pillow at him from the couch. “I am not admitting to anything.”

“You’re boring.” Jungwon huffed as he then went back to fixing the tree. 

You smiled to yourself, humming the beginning of the song Jay sang at the talent show. 

“Yeah guys, it’s bad, I don’t know.” Jay sighed as he kicked the ball into the net. 

He and the boys were at the park playing soccer. He called the boys as soon as he got a call from his mom in Seattle, saying that his grandpa had fallen ill and was rushed to the hospital. He and his uncle were thinking of making a trip back to Seattle after Christmas to visit.

“We just hope everything will be okay man.” Jake sighed. “Have you told Y/N?” 

“Not yet. I sorta told her I could not hang out yesterday after I saw her talk to Heeseung, I feel like an idiot being a bit jealous right now.” 

Jay took a seat in the middle of the field with the soccer ball and rolled it in between his arms. Sunghoon and Jake also took a seat next to him, grabbing their water bottles.

“You’re acting like you guys did not just kiss a week or two ago,” Sunghoon said. “We see the way she looks at you.” 

“Yeah, she gets all smiley and giggly with you. There is no way she likes Heeseung like she used to.” Jake agreed.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a bit skeptical about how things will end.” 

“Enjoy for now then man, you got some time before Christmas,” Jake said as Sunghoon nodded his head. “You have some time, maybe you can finally tell her how you feel.” 

“I mean, I want to but-”

“But what?” Sunghoon asked.

“What if I don’t come back you know?”

“You are acting like you can’t visit or whatnot!” Jake sighs. “Come on, we’ll support you no matter what happens, I bet that’s the same for Y/N too.” 

“I’ll think of something…” Jay muttered. He wanted to make sure to spend a bit of time with you before he leaves. He was quite unsure whether his mom wanted him back home sooner than thought; he wanted everything to be perfect when it came to you. 

Jay sat nervously in the practice room. He asked Jungwon and his friends to help decorate the practice room the night before. With his uncle’s permission, they decorated the practice room in fairy lights and plated your favorite cookies and desserts from the bakery across the street. 

He had his guitar in his hands a bit nervous, shaking his head. He sang in front of a large crowd before heck, he’s done it so many times back at home for school events. Why was he so nervous with you just being his only audience? 

Jungwon told him that you’ve played the song he sang at the talent show around the house and in the car. He told Jay that it was your favorite song at the moment and it’s been like that for weeks already. 

Jay thought serenading you with the song would be a good idea. He asked his friends and your friends for their opinions and they all thought it was a sweet idea. And so everyone helped him with the past week's plan while Jungwon and his friends helped him decorate the practice room.

You thought Jungwon had lessons so you just dropped him off after class as per usual. You could not help but look at Jungwon on the bus as he was all smiles and giggles. You just figured he and his friends had a lot of fun in class beforehand.

As you got off the bus, the two of you went straight to the music shop. Mr.Kim was at the front desk and greeted you both. 

You both went straight to the practice room as the door was closed. Jungwon took his guitar case from you and smiled. “I think you should be the one to go in.” 

“Huh, what?” You replied in question.

“Thank me later.” Jungwon walked away towards Mr.Kim as you looked to him in confusion. 

You opened the door as you saw Jay sitting right in the middle of the room. He was sat on the wooden stool and had his guitar in his hands. You gasped a little, closing the door behind you. “J-jay?”

“Y/N,um I wanted to do something special for you,” Jay said a bit nervously. “I hope you like the song I’m about to sing.”

Jay started to strum his guitar and you instantly covered your mouth in shock. It was the song he sang at the talent show.

You felt tears well up in your eyes, a bit overwhelmed. No one has ever serenaded a song to you or ever done something special like this before. It felt like you were in your little romance movie and you were the main character. You were lost for words and could not believe it. 

Jay really did all of this for you. 

As soon as Jay finished singing, he looked up towards you and put his guitar down. He stood up and pouted. “Why are you crying? You didn’t like it?” He wiped the tears off your face, shocked by your reaction. 

You shook your head. “No, no. I’m just- no one has ever done this for me, thank you.” 

“I know it’s obvious but Y/N I like you a lot.” Jay took in a deep breath as he then held both of your hands in his. “Remember the first week I was here? I said I hope you change your mind on some things?”

“Gosh, how do you remember that?” You laughed a little, biting your lip. You tried to hold in more of the tears that streamed down your face.

“I liked you the first time I met you. The more I got to know you and the more I got to be around you, my heart started to save a spot just for you. I know we have a long way to go but I want to be with you.”

“It’s so funny how I despised you at first for no reason.” You let out a small chuckle. “But now, I really want you to stay in my life Jay. I really do.” 

“Can I be your boyfriend Y/N?” Jay asked.

“Yes, yes you can.” You smiled. “100 times yes.”

You swooped in and kissed Jay. He puts his hands on your cheeks and you can feel the tears subside. You did not want to let him go. He was all yours. 

You sat with Jay on the bus, on the way to the mall. Your friend group wanted to go watch a movie and get some milk tea before finals next week. 

“Y/N, I need to tell you something,” Jay spoke up.

“Mhm, what is it?” You asked.

“Well, you know how my Grandpa isn’t doing well? My mom wants my uncle and I to fly for a few weeks to go visit right after our break starts.” 

“Oh wow Jay, don’t even worry, you need to go.” You replied.

“She’s been talking with my dad about me coming back…” 

“Like permanently?” You asked. 

“I don’t know to be honest.” Jay sighed. He took your hand in his as he looked to you with a weary smile. “I don’t want to just leave you guys.”

“There is always FaceTime and we can always visit each other if you do need to stay.” 

You wanted Jay to focus on his time with his family. They needed him more than ever now and plus with him here, he could not give them his full support. He needed to be there. 

“Thank you for being so understanding Y/N,” Jay said as he kissed your forehead.

“We’ll get through this.” You smiled as he put his arm around you. You got your earbud as you put one in your ear and the other in his. “Here, let me show you my favorite song right now.” 

It has been around a month since you last saw Jay. He was currently in Seattle with his uncle to visit his Grandpa. You remember him putting his head on your shoulder, stressed about everything a day before he left. You reassured him that everything will be okay and that his Grandpa will recover soon. 

You spent Christmas and New Year at your Dad’s side of the family in New Jersey and stayed there for the entire winter break. You and your friends all facetimed during New Year's, staying up just for Jay to reach New Year's at his place. 

Jay did not come back in time for school to start. He was gone for the first and second week, telling you and your friends that his parents wanted more time with him before he came back. You admit you were a bit scared he would end up staying there. You did not want to say anything and just kept your thoughts and feelings to yourself. You just wish you had more time to do things as a couple if worse did come to worse. 

It was a Tuesday afternoon and the snow started to fall outside. You heard your classmates rush to the window in awe, happy that the snow finally fell after so long. You look as the snow starts to cover the trees and bushes and the parking lot having white specks on the pavement. 

With nothing to do in your free period, you just sat in the library, catching up on some schoolwork and some preparations for college. Ningning joined you as she had nothing to do in her free period either. 

You decided not to tell Jay yet that you got accepted to all the universities you applied to and got into the one in the city. It was a perfect distance from home to school and you could just take the bus still. He did not mention anything yet to you about his applications so you waited until he’d come back.

“Wow, the snow finally came,” Ningning muttered as the two of you looked towards the large window pane by the side entrance. “It seems heavier than usual.”

“We can finally have a snowball fight with the others.” You smiled. “I need to show Jay.” 

“He’s missing out that’s for sure,” Ningning replied as she looked back down to her work.

“I’m just relieved his grandpa is doing much better, Jay told me he can finally get some sleep.”

Jay’s grandpa made a recovery as soon as he and his uncle arrived. He assumed that his grandpa just missed him and what not. You were relieved knowing that his grandpa was doing better than before.

“Me too, that means he can come back to you.” Ningning cheered as she let out a cheeky smile.

“Yea, yea.” You smiled. 

You admit you did miss Jay but knew he needed time with his family. He was appreciative of how understanding you were and felt bad you could not celebrate your first month together physically. He even bought a small cake for both of you and blew it on FaceTime as a celebration. 

“Oh yea, don’t forget, we need to reply to the admissions offices to our chosen schools by the start of February.” 

“Mhm, I’ll get that done soon.” You replied, going back to work on your essay.

“You decided on where you want to go?” 

“Yeah, I think I’m going to stick to our local university.” 

“I’ll miss you Y/N, we really been together for so long.” Ningning pouted. 

“Don’t worry I will try to visit often and you need to give me a campus tour. We got a deal?” 

“Sounds like a plan.” 

You plop yourself on your bed, grabbing your phone from the top of your desk drawer. After helping your grandma load the dishwasher, you and Jungwon went up to your bedrooms to do some homework. You both were full from the delicious dinner your grandma made and could feel a nap coming in. 

 As Jungwon decided to stop lessons until Jay would get back, you were able to go home earlier and just work on homework. You both spent more time with your grandma, watching her favorite game shows. You and your friends would sometimes tag along with Jungwon and his friends to the arcade. Jake and Sunghoon were helping everyone get the stuffed animals they wanted you, Ningning, and Julie just sat back down, watching it all unfold. 

You glance towards the Pompompurin Jay won for you on the top of your pillows. You smiled to yourself, thinking of him. 

Jay has not texted since late last night. You wondered if everything was okay and decided to check on him. He usually was a fast replier too so you were curious if he was just busy with his family. 

As you were about to text him, his Caller ID appears on your phone screen.

“Jay!” 

“Y/N, I am super sorry, I got busy.” Jay said on the other line. You can hear him panting a little like he was out of breath.

“Are you okay, you seem like you ran a marathon?” You asked as you sat up.

“Look out your window.” 

“What?” 

You stood up from your bed and walked towards the window by your desk. You saw Jay on the side of the street, waving towards you. 

He was here. He was right in front of your window. 

“Oh my god-” 

“Surprise!” Jay said as he waved, jumping. 

“Stay right there, don’t move.” 

You ended the call, immediately getting your winter coat. You ran down the stairs, grabbing your boots, telling your Grandma you’d be back in a few minutes. You opened the front door and ran down the porch as Jay appeared right in front of you. You ran to him and into his arms as he held you tightly. You kissed him out of excitement and pulled away, holding his face in your hands. “You’re not a figment of my imagination right?”

“No, I’m here.” Jay chuckled. “I missed you so much.”

“You’re here for good or you’re heading once we graduate?” You ask. 

“Well… I wanted to tell you but I wanted to tell you in person.” Jay held you close. “I got into the university you wanted to go to. Well, more like we wanted to get into.” 

“Jay, wait, you too?” You smiled. “Me too.”

“I told my Mom I wanted to stay and go to school here. I told her I didn’t want to leave you plus it was the change of scenery I needed away from home.” 

“We are doing this?” You asked as he nodded his head. “I’m not letting you go that easily Y/N.” 

You hugged Jay again, smiling.

You had your fair share of crushes and infatuations, but never did it lead to anything. Jay proved to you that you do deserve someone who loves you just as much as you loved them. He showed through his actions that he cared deeply for you and that he wanted to stay with you even if things were a bit rough at the start. With the snow starting to fall again, the both of you looked up and back at each other. He came right in time to experience the first day of snow with you. 

“Come in, it’s freezing out here. I think my Grandma would like to meet you.” You smiled. “Lead the way,” Jay replied as you held his hand. 

You both walked back to the inside of your house as Jungwon stood on the front porch. Not knowing if he stood there the entire time, you looked at him as he clapped his hands, calling out to Jay. He waved to Jay and immediately hugged him. 

“Y/N move over, I missed my guitar teacher.” Jungwon joked as you laughed, letting him and Jay have their little reunion.

You then welcome Jay into your house as he meets your Grandma who instantly smiles upon seeing him remove his shoes. She greets him, telling him to take a seat. Jungwon stands next to him, immediately bringing over a baby photo of you from the top of the fireplace. 

You closed the front door, removing your shoes. You looked towards the sight in front of you, smiling. Jay looked back at you, holding your baby photo, gawking over how adorable you were.

“Y/N, come here, I’m going to make you guys some hot chocolate.” Your grandma motions to you as she walks into the kitchen.

You nodded your head, removing your coat, and walking over to the living room. You sat next to Jay as he started to go on and on about your missing two front teeth in your baby photo.

You giggled to yourself as Jungwon brought more photos over to him. 

Oh, how thankful you were for dropping Jungwon off to guitar lessons that one summer day back in August. 

© juyuppang , 2024

landing page | masterlist

[chaoticspeedrun]

saw ur recent post and thought

lets all stereotype the tmnt simps like they’re animals at a zoo together chaotic

[insert funny picture of us staring at the funny ppl in the cage with their desired turtles (i lowkey couldnt find a meme that would suite this 😠😠😠)]

raph simps ; either fiesty gremlins who’ll bite ur toes off if you go near them and spray them with water or sweet little souls who’ll tuck you in bed and give you forehead kisses. both simp types aren’t rare and are commonly found together as a pair, explaining their view on the himbo buff boy raph and how they can either “fix him” or “make him worse”.

leo simps ; traumatized beings, it doesnt matter if you’re a cocky and mean in a loving way or a i’ll do anything you say because you’re so great kind of leo simp, you’re traumatized in some sense, whether it be through fiction or real life. you guys lowkey ENJOYED giving ur oc’s or self inserts loads of angst when it came to the future and movie. man, you guys have so much love for this one turtle his ego is literally thru the roof.

donnie simps ; a true simp. let me guess— you like nerdy men who are also queer as hell, who is also straight as hell at the same time, who is also the type of man you’d expect him to do nice things for you to only throw you under the bus. listen up you simps, i understand that the few of you “down down bad” simps are into that and might sans fangirl your way into this— but let me explain and introduce you into the “ilovehimsomuchiwoulddieforhimandhisbigforehead” simps. you’d be an awesome duo trust.

mikey simps ; now i KNOW you guys got something beneath those precious and fluffy oc and self insert moments. there has gotta be SOME SORT OF EVIL ANGST AND TWISTY MOMENT YOU GOT GOING ON— much more worse than the leo trauma, FARTHER WORSE— teehee you guys got such a cute puppylove selfship going on teehee 😊😊WELL WHABAM!! the moment mikey gets his mystic powers n angsty moment in the movie out comes the freaking angst beast and comfort waves following behind it >:))))

— 🖼️🗝️ (guess whooo 🙃🙃🙃)

Not me looking at the way you signed and going "Who's Keyframe?" I AM HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME FIGURING THIS ONE OUT.

Also, I love psychoanalyzing people💖

In my opinion, from what I have seen at least, most Raph simps I've interacted with are like really sweet and anxious people that REALLY NEED A HUG just like my boy Raph.

The Leo simps, as I said earlier, enjoy bullying him so much- and with that I mean, they're most times the kind of people that tease or bully their crush, but they care so much about him and love adding so much depth to his character.

The Donnie simps I know can't drop the color purple for ONE DANG SECOND, the color is everywhere all the time all at once, they seem very curious and are some of the ones that I see the most active in the fandom.

And Mikey simps are freaking wild, one minute they're the sweetest and the next they're jumping around the walls and scaring you, I love those.

*Sips on coffee, staring at the cages*

Ah yes, what a wonderful and interesting set of specimens.

[bambi-slxt]

🤍𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 ~ 𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞🤍

𝕔𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕠 𝕩 𝕗𝕖𝕞

word count: 1.2k

genre/tropes: second chance, romance, lovers to strangers to...?

warnings: smut, gaslighting, dumbification, slight degredation if you squint, nothing super hardcore.

notes from bambi: this story starts off with chris and fmc as children - the smut does not happen here. obviously. enjoy!

I should have known the love of my life wouldn’t be someone who smacked me on the head with a meter stick, but I was thirteen and Christopher Sturniolo was cute. What was I supposed to do?

With science class almost over, students lined up at the door and ready to leave, Chris decided to enact his genius plan. He didn’t hit me hard, just enough to get my attention, and it worked–I turned to face him, shocked and a little curious. Above my head, the wooden stick, behind me in line, Christopher Sturniolo, though I wouldn’t learn his name until the next day. 

I reached for the nefarious weapon and he tilted it upward, just out of reach. A game. I liked games. I batted the air as a grin spread across his lips, still keeping his makeshift flirtation device out of my hands. A laugh escaped me and his eyes seemed to sparkle.

I thought about that interaction for the rest of the day–what did it all mean? The minds of the male species is almost incalculable in regards to flirtation, especially in middle school. But god, he managed to be the cutest kid around with that curly brown hair, with his uneven teeth that added such charm to his smile, his playful nature, and oh, his confidence–I practically ran to science the next day.

“‘M Chris,” he said, sitting behind me at the next table over. 

“You hit me yesterday,” I replied with a faux pout. 

“Had to get your attention somehow.” He hung one arm over the back of his chair and looked up at me through devastatingly long lashes. “Did I hurt ya?”

I sniffed. “No. Could have said my name like a civilized creature.”

“What is your name?” Chris asked smoothly–I walked into that one.

I told him and he tasted it on his tongue for a moment. “Nice to meet you,” he murmured and reached out to shake my hand. 

I pulled my ruler out of my pencil bag and handed it to him instead. “For the next time you need my attention.” His jaw dropped and his eyes got that sparkle again. Turning back around, I felt my stomach drop into a flurry of butterflies. By the end of class, I had his number, and before the week was out, I began to sit with him, his brothers, and his friends at lunch.

Our relationship progressed quickly, as most in middle school tend to, and he asked me to be his girlfriend three weeks later. 

I remember sneaking my phone into bed with me so we could call at night. He used to make me laugh so hard I thought for sure I’d wake my parents up. I remember going to the library with him so I could read and he could get out of class and nap on the beanbags (or give me my first kiss behind a bookshelf and a dandelion he found outside). I remember helping him in science when the formulas didn’t make sense or when he got tripped up on food webs. I remember cheering for him at Friday pep rallies when he would run out into the gym with his team, and later that night while I wore his jersey number at his game. I remember all of it. 

We stayed together for three years, Chris and I. His brothers and I hung out all the time. I became a regular at the Sturniolo house, dog-sitting Trevor on the off-chance that no one was home, spending weekends at the beach house, learning how to play Mario Kart from Justin, helping Mary Lou make dinner, Jimmy even taught me how to swing a golf club (or rather, he did his absolute best and demonstrated the patience of a saint–I didn’t learn shit, golf is hard).

I got my driver’s license a month and three days before Matt, which meant that for a month and two days, I held the illustrious title of Triplets + Nate’s chauffeur. An utterly thankless job, if you had asked me at the time, though now I would give anything to drive the boys around again. Chris broke up with me the day before Matt’s drivers test. I never found out if he did it then on purpose or not.

It took me a while to feel upset about it, if I’m being honest. We felt that we wanted different things in life, and that was all there was to it. I hugged him before I left class and he hugged me right back before we split down the hallway. The rest of that school year I was plagued from all sides about our relationship–”Why did you and Chris break up?”, “Did he cheat? Did you cheat?”, “What did he do to you?”, and the worst, “I bet you wanted one of his brothers instead.” Chris took a lot of heat for it as well and as a result, we stayed apart for a long time. 

We didn’t speak again until the summer before senior year. My life changed twelve times over between our last hug and the night he called me again. I’d had birthdays (my 18th was quite the event, my friends and I made friendship bracelets and stayed up until 2am), wonderful opportunities (substantial scholarships to our local college, all in my degree), terrible losses (I spent a week in a hospital for a rather severe injury), and had all but moved on. I felt like he made a mistake of some kind by dialing my cell–surely an accident on his part.

I sat in my room with a towel on my head and a bag of snacks in my lap. “No one told you life was gonna be this wayyy…” I hummed, crunching on a pretzel. “Oh my god, moisturizer.” I shoved the bag aside and reached for my bottle of lotion–I should have done this an hour ago. Spreading the sweet-smelling cream over my leg, I didn’t hear the buzz of my phone the first time. I didn’t even hear it the second time. It wasn’t until Joey Tribbiani plopped himself onto the couch in Central Perk on the TV and I opened the bottle cap over my shoulder that the vibrating device touched my skin and I must have cleared three feet of air between myself and the mattress. Lotion went flying, my remote fell into the abyss, my hair tumbled out of its now-disheveled towel, and I sat panting, poised to strike, staring at the screen.

Incoming call from: Christopher Sturniolo

Why? What does he want? I didn’t move as his name scrolled slowly across the top of my phone. If I let it go to voicemail, maybe he wouldn’t call back, and it would just be an accident. My phone ceased its’ buzzing and I picked it up with shaking hands, pausing my TV. Another vibration–a voicemail. Tapping on the notification, I held it up to my ear and Chris’s voice flowed over me.

“Hey…I’m sorry to call like this, I know it’s late but, um…can we talk?” He paused, his breath crackling through time and space and the 3.7 miles that lay between our houses. “I didn’t know who else to call. You don’t have to respond, if you don’t want to. Yeah. Bye.”

I set my phone on my thigh.

Don’t do it.

I stared blankly at the wall.

You don’t need this right now.

I looked down, clicked the telephone icon, raised the phone to my ear, and clutched my fist into the blanket.

Son of a bitch.

It rang all of twice.

Click.

“...Hi.”

My breath shook. “Hey, Chris.”

request to be on the taglist under this post right here

tags:

@pinksturniolo @malirosee @st7rnioioss @nonat-111 @cindylcuwho @evie-sturns @h3arts4harry @fanficsbymia @dazednmatthews @sturniolo-rat @mattsmad @sturniolo04 @bellasturn @blahbel668 @yomamaslays4lyfe @stasiesturn @pleasantlycrazyworld 

[sco07ut]

how did i feel about the way rvb19 treated iys female characters:

dylan: weird???? she felt so mischaracterised. between that and the new voice she fully felt like a new character ☹️ it also felt like she was forced in for like no reason. in s15 she seemed to be like a pretty esteemed journalist so idk why she would be stammering on stage in a nearly empty comic con. peculiar and i think they could’ve made the intro so much better if it had been a bit more like s15. dylan having some sort of interview maybe, talking about the disappearance of the rnbs and still getting cut off by the meta but in a way that like actually feels like her ? like she wasn’t particularly afraid of spencer porkinsensen (or whatever the fuck he was called)

kai: i was hoping she’d get a cameo but christ not that short. where in the name of god was my kai + grif interaction. i also think she could’ve killed the meta with sheer cunt force alone, my girl was held back !!!! also so disappointed that she never got to see tex again

sheila: i was not expecting you!!!! but it’s so good to see you again. did they rescue her from charon or something?? honestly quite sweet.

479er: Really wasn’t expecting you ! she contributed to the plot really nicely, it didn’t feel like she was forced in at all. it would’ve been nice to see more of her though, i feel like her scenes happened Very quickly. i also would’ve loved to see her interact with the other freelancers (particularly carolina and tex) but whatever i can’t complain too much about her

grey: what did they do to you!!!!!!! who are you!!!!! you are not the emily grey i know and love!! you would have so much more consideration for wash ☹️ another case of being mischaracterised so bad that i fully didn’t realise it was grey until wash said her name. this might also be because the infinite armour looks absolutely nothing like her but i don’t know jack abt infinite so i can’t really say anything

tex: I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I CANNOT BELIEVE RT ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGED HER PAST ENDING WAS SO DIRTY. wish she had maybe had a small conversation with the rnbs but honestly her saying ‘and in their memories i always kicked their asses’ was enough. she knows she’s the woman ever. i wasn’t expecting her to get sucked into the unit though :( like i suppose it makes sense to let her finally rest with whatever iteration of church was created when the ais merged but man i was looking forward to her joining the rnbs again and like idk getting to know her daughter properly this time?? severely missing tex and carolina content

carolina: where did you even come from girl!! where were you before you dropped out of the sky!!!!! i also wish she had spoke to the others & had like an actual scene where she was told sarge was dead bc they had like a weird little friendship going on and he’s just gone !! i feel like she barely did anything. she just dropped into the fight, did fuck all, and then revealed that wash has apparently been hallucinating the dead body of doc. erm

bonus ct + south: ct’s speech was alr i guess it wasn’t particularly memorable but it was nice that she was included tbh. though i was surprised south was in the freelancer lineup given she lowk bullied wash idk

in conclusion: my girls deserved better

[punkeropercyjackson]

My audhd brain won't stop telling me to do a full breakdown of the parallels between Percy and Hobie so i will.Alright,let's do this one last time!

Troubled but good kids

Afro-dominican New York/Jamaican-English(NY and England are where punk first started)

Anarchists,proffessional instigators,always helping out around communities(it's implied Percy participated in Rachel's protests and charities with her)and looking out for the little guy

So they're actual punks instead of just EdgyTM douchebags because they wanna do the right thing no matter what

No masking game autistics

Trans femmes who come across as masc only to normies

Chillaxed and super kind and love cute shit and people but also have major street credit,a huge edge and strong as fuck backbones and the reason they're so kind is that their childhood was beyond brutal so as they grew up they decided to be the positive older figure in younger people's lives they didn't take to have to the point they turned into Team Dad's

The EXACT same sense of humor

Blue-coded

Alt music lovers

Expressions are always either super intimidating or meme worthy goofy

Pet supernatural dog(Spidermutt and Mrs O'Leary)

Widely regarded as the coolest ever in-universe and correctly so but they're huge dorks when you get down to it but that only makes them even cooler-They were this cool the whole time

6'something with guitarist hands and described as so attractive it's shocking

Go by a nickname instead of their full name and have a common black surname

Oldest and most experienced heroes in their main casts

Hobie's dad is a deadbeat who left him as a baby to do supernatural shit

'I'm not a role model' 'I hate the a.m,i hate the p.m,i hate labels' 'I don't believe in consistency' / 'Was i a troubled kid?Yeah,you could say that' 'I AM impertenent' 'The sea does not like to be restrained'

'Calling yourself a hero makes you self-mythologizing'Hello???????????

Gwen is the Hazel to Hobie's Percy.She's a younger trans girl with a ghost motif who's a pastel ray of sunshine and runs her mouth as much as they do and has a dead mom,an abusive corrupted figure dad and their own impressive experiences in heroism before meeting them

Nico is another teen Ghostkid who Percy gifted a Ramones shirt and gave shelter to multiple times when he was homeless because Hades/Pluto is as much of a fucking cunt as George Stacy is.Nico is also a Miles kinnie because he's an optimistic softboy who's nerdy,a fast food lover and a lot stronger than he gives himself credit for and Percy is the big brother mentor to him the fandom thinks Hobie is to Miles(Nah fr Hobie and Miles are ambigious but Percy's canonically a grown ass man and Nico's Miles' age,P*rcicos pack it up and get over that your ship only works for transfem Percy proof)

Karl=Jason(the cooler St*ve R*gers,the actual voice of reason on the team but just as unhinged as the rest of them,very nice guy vibes and Hobie's righthand),Riri=Annabeth(Black girl genius who takes no shit but is still written as a person instead of a stereotype)and Mattea=Clarisse(red-coded,rowdy tomboy and war paint)

Mayday and Margo are basically just Estelle and Rachel,Jessica makes a pretty convincing Sally and Miguel reminds me of Poseidon but especially when he's interacting with Hobie

Sarcastic troublemaker smiles i've always found endearing(Rip to Annabeth but i'm different)(Also for Hobie i mean this platonically)

Immaculate rizz that's mostly unintentional but reaches critical levels when on purpose

Cocky asf and self-loathing at the same time

That one scene of Hobie leaving Gwen a Watch with the 'In case it don't work out' note with a lil doodle of him on it after getting her dad's ass/Percy sending the Olympians Medusa's head in a box after slaying her with a note saying 'Best wishes' to spite them

Goofy ahh who are nonetheless taken seriously cause Watch Out

They even both have terrible singing voices

And technically not the same thing but Hobie's also pink-coded so they're cotton candy colors and with Percy's white streak they can be the trans flag too!!

[katakaluptastrophy]

This may be something you have already covered, or considered and discarded, but. Thoughts on Jod being trans?

Because it seemed slightly odd to me, that a AMAB kid going to his grandmother’s house would be allowed to play with his mum’s toys. Especially if they’re “traditionally girly” toys, as opposed to being told to run around or given a ball to do sports.

Whereas a little AFAB kid would gladly be given his mum’s dolls by a traditional grandma and told to play nicely and quietly. Not identifying with the Barbies so much as finding them so pretty (especially compared to the Ken dolls that look nothing like him, which he feeds to Ulysses the dog).

And then, two or three decades later and finding that he is now God. He has consumed the Earth and her siblings and made her anew.

How easy is it to change the bits about himself he never felt were right? To remake himself as God in the flesh? To look upon himself and say, it is good?

"When I was seven, you know, all Nana had to play with in her house was some of Mum's old toys. And my favouite out of all of them..." He gave a long, shuddering sigh. "My favourite was her old Hollywood Hair Barbie," he murmured. "I loved her little gold outfit and her long yellow hair. She was the best. She got to have all the adventures. There was also a Bride's Dream Midge, but Mum had cut Midge's hair into this weird mullet. It was Barbie for me." She looked at him. He looked at her. He added, "Not Hollywood Hair Ken. Mum had him too, but he was a creep. I gave him to Nana's dog to eat."

This is what we get when John is describing the "scraps of id" that lead him to make Alecto look like some kind of nightmarish Barbie. The 'id' is, psychoanalytically, the most instinctual, basic part of the self. If John is being truthful here, then he's expressing something very basic about himself and his motivations in making Alecto.

I'm not convinced that we can infer anything about his Nana's attitude towards what toys a child should be allowed to play with. John is probably born somewhere between the mid 90s to the mid 20s, so it's just as possible that John playing with his mum's old Barbies is evidence that his family was fairly progressive. Or too poor to afford new toys. Or just ambivalent about the toys he played with.

In terms of John and gender, or at least John and masculinity, this interview has an interesting insight into what Tamsyn might be doing with that:

the God of the Locked Tomb IS a man; he IS the Father and the Teacher; it’s an inherently masc role played by someone who has an uneasy relationship himself to playing a Biblical patriarch. John falls back on hierarchies and roles because they’re familiar even when he’s struggling not to. Even he identifies himself as the God who became man and the man who became God.

Though of course, to quote a different interview, this is a series where "readers will end up STICKY and GREASY with GENDER and BIBLE" and where Lyctorhood is "a huge genderfuck".

So I think there's certainly scope for trans readings of John, which shift the framework for the way that John is positioning himself in relation to his masc roleplaying of god. There's a number of elements that would have a very different resonance in such readings, not least putting Alecto into such a specific version of a woman's body, and the tension between his own exercise of bodily autonomy and his utter restriction and violation of others' bodily autonomy.

Personally, my take is that John is meant to be a type of cis man I'm sure many of us have met - one who is at pains to demonstrate his feminism, who perhaps finds the boundaries of masculinity confining to some extent, but who is ultimately unwilling to examine how deeply those boundaries are part of the way he views the world and interacts with others. And with John, this is writ large, quite literally: endowed with godlike power, he falls back on the patriarchal image of god. John may go out of his way to tell us that the maternity problem was important to him, that he played with Barbies, that he *cares*, but at the end of the day that introspection doesn't translate into his actions.

Regardless of how John came to his relationship with masculinity, he's stuck with - or perhaps in context we could say haunted by - a very particular conception of patriarchal masculinity.

[daydreamingupandaway]

Okay y’all, I just finished episode 5, here are some of my thoughts on it!

SPOILERS

-Bruh this bald bitch Xavier is getting on my NERVES. Like I get why you did what you did but you REALLY had to go to get some space girlfriend instead of helping your X-Men? Like I think Magneto KNEW he was going to space because he even mentioned how Xavier went with his Shi’ar Queen- that’s WILD

-Also I didn’t think I realized the magnitude (heh heh, get it?) of what Magneto did until this episode. He does realize he’s probably killing an assload of mutants too right? Like bro has good points but I think killing thousands of people including mutants and like the entire planet may be a tad too far

-Why were they in space when Xavier met with President Kelly? Did I miss something?

-I wasn’t surprised that Rouge joined magneto, but Roberto joining threw me through the loop. I get why, I just didn’t expect it. I mean I’m proud of him though. I wish there was more time before the final battle so we could see Roberto interacting with Magneto and Rouge since we’ve only ever seen him and Jubilee together. (more in next bulletin point about those two) I just feel like there could have been more character interactions in general here. Too much was focused on just fighting. Like how the hell did we go from having 12 hours to 1 so quickly? The fuck????

-More about Rouge, loved her talk with Professor X, you tell ‘em Rouge! Also I love that she wore Gambit’s jacket, I thought it was really sweet.

-Roberto worrying about hurting Jubilee? AWKDKGBDLFN MY HEART AHENGELFKDK like I don’t really know how J feel about romance with them but their friendship and stuff is so adorable and then to have it break like that! Like of course Jubilee would be mad! Roberto effectively went against her family!

-My Queen, my absolute GODDESS storm returned! Yay! I loved the little sister moment Jean and her shared. She had some super cool fighting scenes though, I love how they animate her abilities. I don’t like how my QUEEN GOT MURKED AGAIN WHAT THE FUCK!!!!! So unfair

-Real talk why the FUCK did they send Wolverine to confront Magneto? Honestly Magneto could have done what he did at the end at literally any point, dude was playing it nice. Also, my Morphine loving ass really wishes there was a goodbye scene between Morph and Logan. I mean K know he’s gonna be okay though. It’s Wolverine. I hope we actually get to see more of his healing abilities, we never get too see those….. I mean he is going to be okay, right? My heart cannot take Logan dying he’s like one of my favorite X-Men. Honestly I feel like X-Men 97 haven’t really been doing him right. But it’s pretty much the Scott and Jean show so, go figure

-More on Morph: they got called THEM again!!! That made me so happy! :) but I was a little bit confused when Rouge said something along the lines of: “Morph barely joined our team for 30 minutes and we threw them to the wolves” what does that mean? Am I missing something? Is it from the original show? Because I didn’t watch it so if someone could explain please do!!

-As for Cable, it was really cool to see his powers get shown off! That was awesome. I like the interaction he had with Scott too. Honestly ever since they introduced Cable I was hoping for a Deadpool cameo, hopefully for season two. A girl can only dream.

-Then onto Nightcrawler! Once again my dude has AWESOME GOATED fighting skills!!!!!! We love him. I was surprised he didn’t really try to talk Rouge down during the battle but that fight was way too fast paced. I really liked the scene with the Rosary. I don’t really know why since I’m not religious or anything, I just thought that it was a nice touch.

-Gonna do Scott and Jean in one I guess. I liked the fight between Jean and Mr.Sinister. I think it’s crazy that she could telepathically communicate with Scott that far away. That’s cool. I hope Cable doesn’t kill her. On another note, I love Scott and Jean. Like this show has done WONDERS for Scott’s character but why does EVERYTHING have to be about them?! They’re like the only two characters that got like any character time the entire episode!

-And then because apparently I decided to do everyone I might as well say stuff about Beast, next I’ll do Magneto. (Can you tell this wasn’t planned at all and I’m just rambling lmao?) anyway, Beast was pretty chill here. I always like the little quips he throws out during a fight, and I like that he’s friends with Forge. He is a very swag dude. I’m a little surprised to see him hanging around near the reporter still, especially since she was revealed to be a sentient bot thing and like Roberto said, she somewhat chose to be turned into something that would fight against mutants. But beast is a very peaceful and forgiving person, so I suppose it makes sense.

-Finally, Magneto! Fun fact throughout this entire thing I kept spelling it magneato because I think he’s mag-neat-o (I should be burned at the stake). Well, I would say that if I didn’t think he was a FUCKING IDIOT! Bro another PLANET?! Please tell me how he was planning on loading every mutant up to another planet. I would LOVE to know. There were different ways he could have gone about it, but NOPE. Also- LEECH ACTUALLY DIED?! CKDIFNSKGKELGL SOBBING ACTUALLY SHED A TEAR- like I don’t know what I should have expected but I’m still sad about it. So I guess a huge part of this is a product of grief not just for Genosha but also Leech. God that’s so sad bro-

Forge- unfortunately not much to say here :( I do hope he’s okay though! He’s a really good pilot and very smart!

Overall, I just think this episode was way too rushed. I wish there were more character moments. I mean the professor isn’t dead? Hell I would have punched that old man in the face! I really think the first season should have been longer. I know people disagree but I just want to see more things between other characters that don’t feel so rushed. That’s all I want. I want to see more of my faves instead of having them constantly thrown to the side.

[mangofanarts]

hehe do Scott Smajor and also q!Tubbo :))))))) for the shipping thing

and also can you pls send me links to both tier lists?:)

Yes!! Absolutely!! I sent it :D!!

I really like pacbo actually - the way that Pac acts with Tubbo just feels like he has a constant crush on him and he's so nervous/excited about it, his constant trust in Tubbo, trying to not doubt Tubbo and just them in general <3 they're so cute and on top of the world actually Technically, Fit should also be in the Pac section because Fit has constantly been around Tubbo too and the things that these two say to each other, are just not platonic, but!! I like Pacbo more so it has it's own section in comparison to Fitbo Cucurucho and Tubbo's hatred for each other in the beginning - great stuff and I wish there was more of it again, I really enjoyed their dynamic like that! Also Fobo is them becoming husbands and moving in together! And hating on Badboyhalo as their bonding time! Good for them!! Slime and Tubbo are co-parents but their dynamic in of itself is just great and hilarious and I enjoy them as either platonic or romantic, now Willy is technically lower then the other ships but I put him in the same section because I do like him with Tubbo - more so out of an appeal to the idea. I used to be indifferent to Tubhalo but like.........the things Tubbo has said about Bad? Has made me grow to it a little bit, not fully, but a little bit <3 Okay, so, Smajor is actually my regular pov for traffic life because he was the first pov I saw of the series so I just kept up with him

Martyn was there for him all the way of limited life until the end of it and even then, Scott was proud of him!! He was happy for his mean gill winning!! I can't do this!! I really like how their jokes bounce off each other, how Martyn came to Scott apologizing after trying to explode him and the others at the second episode, Scott letting Martyn be the one to kill him while they were underwater, they stay winning <3 !! Scott and Cleo have such a close friendship with each other, she mentioned he was her favorite person and I found that so sweet and then them deciding to be each other's platonic soulmates is even nicer!! I really appreciate them, they care and get each other like no one else does and they have such a shared belief in how they view loyalty and taking that loyalty to their hearts - I love it sm, they're best friends !! Impulse and Scott during Secret life, yeah, that did it for me, also I just enjoy Skizz's interactions with Scott - they're usually so nice and sweet Also, I like the idea of Scott and Jimmy being messy exes, Jimmy asking when is the mean gills gonna be broken up, Scott asking for an ily and not getting it

[skidtheperson]

Relationship Chart

So people have made SC relationship charts, so I decided why not make one myself

Template

[ Relations ]

Explanation below : [It is long]

Bobby Bearhug :

Picky is nice. She likes to go over and eat at her house every once and a while, even helping her make food sometimes! She's kind, but can be a bit rough at times... Catnap is strange, that's the best way she can put it. He's not bad! She knows he's not very talkative, so she doesn't force him to talk. She also makes sure he's ok with her daily hugs, though she can be forgetful. And when she can't sleep... He's. ALWAYS THERE. Crafty! Her best friend ever! First person she met actually! She LOVES giving her hugs and complimenting her on her art when she can. She's such a talented artist! Bubba can be a bit much sometimes, but she doesn't mind at all. She listens to him talk on, and then she can share info she knows! But... She's a bit worried though, knowing the elephant, he stays up very often. Why he stays up, she doesn't know... She just hopes he's ok. Hoppy... Oh Hoppy. Where does she start? She's always at her games to cheer her on, even if she loses, she's there to congratulate her on being so cool! She loves watching her run around, kick the ball, everytime she cheers when she scores... It makes her heart soar!! ❤ She knows it's love, but she doesn't know how to tell her. Kickin is cool too! Not as cool as Hoppy, but still epic nonetheless. She likes being friends with him and he's actually really good at the sports he does. Though that chicken can be a little dumb sometimes, oh well. Dogday! The leader! He's always so sunny and cheerful! She loves talking with him, giving him hugs galore! He's the one that likes the hugs the most. His fur is so soft, and he even helps her out with valentine's day presents for everyone. Who could ask for a better leader?

Picky Piggy :

Bobby is a nice gal. Always there to cheer someone up. Hell, she's helped with gardening, keeping the barn good, and baking/cooking goods. Though, she can be TOO touchy sometimes, she's trying her best to learn boundaries, so she isn't pushing too much. Catnap, she doesn't care too much about. She stays out of his way, he stays out of hers. He's weird, yes, but as long as she's not bothering him, he doesn't interact. The only time they Eben kinda talk is during group activities or when they need to sleep... Creepy. Crafty is kinda silly sometimes. She makes great art, yet never seems to understand that! She always thinks she can be better, but she's already good enough. Picky herself has tried to paint, but isn't the best. Bubba is nice to talk to. He rambles on sometimes, but never really is too annoying. She doesn't mind being around him. Although he has insisted she eat less, and she's tried, but it ain't easy when you're a pig known for eating. She just ain't the best at that. Kickin and Hoppy are very similar in many ways, the most notable being they're both sporty and energetic. She likes them, they're not bad, but they have tried getting her to do a bunch of sports she doesn't care about. She's told them, and they backed off, but they keep doing it, and it's a bit annoying. Though she finds the sibling rivalry they have funny. Dogday is very nice! He's always happy and go lucky, with a big grin, an idea, and an adventure. He's energetic, yes, but not to the point she is annoyed by him. He's always trying to make sure everyone is happy and having fun, and she likes that about him.

Catnap :

He hates them all. They're so.. FUCKING ANNOYING. They talk and talk, running around.. They even pull him along on their shitty adventures! And they're always asking him to help when they can't sleep. Oh how he wishes.. HOW HE WISHES HE COULD MAKE THEM SLEEP FOREVER TO DIE AND FADE AWAY INTO OBSCURITY! He can... He knows he can, the red gas was made to put people to sleep so that [REDACTED]. But something is stopping. Not something. SOMEONE. That damn, annoying, cheerful dog. What was his problem? He was always smiles, tail wags, and happy arua and.. He... Didn't know why, but it made him feel something other than rage and anger... Something that made his own tail sway and made him heat up. What was wrong with him, why was he like this? He hated it, but also liked it..? That canine is the only reason he's even staying, why he even joined... He hates it. He hates this feeling, he hates everything but that dog! Stupid dog. .... He knows this will all come to an end. They'll figure it out eventually, that elephant already is trying to, he knows he is. He can see the elephant staring at him, analyzing him. He's seen nights where he stays up, looking up and reading through books. If he wasn't stealthy, he would have been caught by now. He wants to put him to sleep, but the chicken always comes and does that for him. That's the only time he's thankful that elephant is gay. He doesn't have to worry too much. But, still... He has to stop this. He can't let them find out. And he knows how.

CraftyCorn :

Bobby is also so kind and nice. She comes over everyday, and everyday, Crafty shows her her art! Whether that be a new piece, a WIP, an updated version of the art before, Bobby didn't care. Bobby just always loved to see how she improved, and Crafty always loved getting compliments from her. All of these love and affection she was getting showered with resulted in her gaining a bit of a crush on the lovey bear. Picky is an interesting person to be around. She's always making goods, and always sharing them with the others. Though Picky leaves most of it for herself, Crafty still finds their friendship good. So yeah. Picky isn't the best painter, but she can always teach her! Catnap is nice. She was the first person Dogday introduced him to, since they're close friends, and she found him nice. Crafty would often show him her art, knowing the cat didn't care or mind. She didn't need words, just needed a head nod and a thumbs up. They don't talk, and Crafty doesn't mind. She likes to sit in silence while Catnap just stared at her art. Or at her. She didn't know, but he was always quiet, and she never minded. Bubba and her talk. He's always supportive of her, and she can proudly show her art to him. Like a dad! She comes up to him, he asks what she needs, and she shows him her art, which he compliments. He also gives feedback and comments about her art to help her improve, which she enjoys. He explains and teaches her things too, like math and science. He's gotten her art tools to help with her art. Hoppy is nice to be around. She's energetic, fun, and loves getting dirty and messy with her. But she can be a bit too energetic and fast, which she can't keep up with at times. But they're good friends! Kickin is a prankster, but also one of the coolest people she knows! He's always doing some cool and awesome stunt fearlessly, and she appreciates that about him! She's the polar opposite of him, shy, reserved, nervous... He's so cool, she just wishes she could be even the factor of awesome he is! She gained a crush on him a while back and confessed, but he politely turned her down since he did not feel the same way. But they're still good friends, nothing changed there. The crush eventually went away. Dogday, one of her best friends! He's always running around playing, and she loves to join in. He's always showing her affection and helps plan out her art contests. She and Dogday like to go on walks through the park, and Dogday talks while Crafty sketches what she sees. She likes being around him. Though Catnap always stares at her when she hugs Dogday when he's around. Whatever..

Bubba Bubbaphant :

Bobby is a very kind and caring person. Every time he's down in the dust, she comes along to try and make him feel better. Sure she can be a bit TOO clingy and touchy sometimes, so he has to tap her shoulder with his trunk, but she's still very sweet and motherly to everyone. Though he doesn't like it when she tries to play match maker since that isn't how the mind works you can't just put people together and make it work. Picky and him don't really have a relationship in his eyes. He's tried helping with her eating a bunch of food, but she eventually gives up, so he's instead advised her to eat healthy foods. He's still trying, but it's not that easy. Catnap. He doesn't know what that.. Thing is. It's a cat, yes, but he's not like them. That weird smoke he produces, the fact they are obsessed with it when he breathes it out... Begging for more, begging to sleep... And the weird thing is, the others are just... FINE WITH THIS? This isn't normal, HE'S NOT NORMAL. He's tried researching everything, day and night, best he's found so far is that California Poppy flowers have been known to help with sleep disorders, they're no where near California! Dogday should have never taken this cat in, it's driving him insane trying to figure out what the hell Catnap is. He doesn't want to admit it but. Catnap scares him. He hates him, and yet, he's scared to anger him. Something is wrong with that cat.. He... Maybe he just needs more s l e e p... Crafty is basically his daughter. She's always looking towards him for help or guidance on her art, and he agrees, teaching her about color theory and how to draw certain things. He even gets her art supplies and other tools on her birthday and other holidays. He loves seeing her improve and get better over time. It makes him happy. Hoppy and him don't really have a relationship, much like Picky. He is impressed with her skill and endurance while sporting, but they don't really talk to much. Kickin, the dare devil, and his amazing boyfriend. He's always there for his games, to watch him surf (and also make sure he doesn't wipe out), and all in all being a supportive boyfriend. Kickin is so crazy sometimes, and Bubba can't help but find that so cute and adorable. Especially when he first met the guy. Bubba wishes he could be as strong and brave as him, but he knows Kickin loves him being the nerdy and smart guy he is, so he wouldn't change that for the world. When Bubba is stressed out and on the brink of a breakdown, he will ring up Kickin, who will rush down and comfort the elephant. This is the same for the amount of nights he's spent staying up researching. Kickin will just go into his house, and if Bubba's still up, he's dragging him to bed to sleep. He fights back, but it falls on deaf ears as he snuggles with him. He loves him as much as can. Dogday was always someone he found interesting. His huge bursts of energy, excitement, and the want to make sure everyone is included intrigued him. He never knew how the dog had so much in him, but he never cared too much. It is nice to see he was happy as always at least. He's tried asking and telling him about Catnap and how maybe getting them addicted to the red smoke he produced is not good for them, but he always has to look on the bright side of everyone. It's a nice trait, but it's also detrimental when Catnap is most likely hurting them. He just wishes the dog wasn't so naive...

Hoppy Hopscotch :

She and Bobby always had a great relationship, finding comfort in one another. Bobby cheers her on at her matches with Kickin, and she helps Bobby work out. Though what shocked her the most about the nice, respectable, motherly bear is the sheer strength that women possesses. She thought she was strong, yet that women had muscle. She always found it hot though, so she can't complaining. Especially when she can get carried after a tough match. So she happily takes it. She can't wait to ask her out. Picky is nice. She makes amazing food, and she likes rough housing sometimes. Though while she tries to get Picky to work out and pay sports, the gal always turns down the favor, not liking to or wanting to, which she respects (for the most part). But she's still nice! She doesn't mind Catnap. They don't get to interact much, since she's always running around and he much rather sleep the whole day. The only times they interact is when she accidentally bumps into him while he's sleeping or when he's helping them with sleep. Catnap seems like a nice guy though! Crafty was fun to tease sometimes. The girl is always shy and jumpy, so it can be funny to prank her sometimes. Though she knows she can be very easily scared, so she always puts it on the low for her pranks. She also knows that she shouldn't make her mad... That didn't go well when she ACCIDENTALLY ruined one of the paintings she was working on.. Hoppy couldn't play soccer with a broken leg. But they're good friends, even after that! Bubba can be annoying at times, always talking about his science mumbo jumbo, whatever (no clue what the hell Kickin sees in him). It can get very boring very fast for her, she doesn't really care at all about it. But he's not a bad person, he's the one they go to for medical help when they get hurt after all. He's trained and knows much more than she ever could, so she respects him for that. She just wishes he wouldn't ramble on sometimes. Ah, Kickin! Her enemy and rival... Or well, brother. She and Kickin have been siblings for a long time now, ever since her parents found the small egg in a bush while walking, thus took him in. She grown attached, and ever since, they've been the sporty duo who fight to win. Even though he has WAY too much of an ego sometimes, he's a good brother and she wouldn't ever ask for anyone else. She loves to pull his leg and mess with the ego filled chicken, though sometimes it backfires on her. Like the time she started the "prank wars" with him. It resulted in both her and him getting scolded and being put in "time out" essentially. She and Dogday get along very well! He's the most energetic out of everyone, even Kickin, so getting to run around with him and play all sorts of fun hyperactive games really helps with all the energy she saves up. He also is really good at fetch, so they will often play it. Fun guy all around! No wonder he's the leader.

KickinChicken :

Bobby and him get along, she loves to just show him affection to the max, and he doesn't mind it. Except for sometimes when she just runs up to him and hugs him out of the blue. He doesn't like that. He also hates it when she just states hugging him without asking. Though she had tried to improve and stop doing that, which he likes. So she's not that bad! He doesn't mind Picky that much. He wished she would play sports with them more, but he can't force her. She makes food for their events, which he enjoys, so she's not that bad. But they just don't interact a lot. Catnap is ok. He helps them sleep when they can't, like a thundering night or after a nightmare, so the guy's cook. But Bubba had gone on rants about the guy and how something wasn't right about him, making him a little afraid or scared of the guy. Though Bubba could just be anxious and paranoid, so he's still giving Catnap the benefit of the doubt. Crafty is a sweet girl! Kind, shy, nervous, and a great artist! Though he overlooks the girl due to her quietness, he also sees her as a friend. He tries to teach her how to speak louder and be more assertive, but the poor woman can't bring herself to do so, thinking she'll come off mean and rude, no matter how much he reassures her. Her art is amazing, but she's so shy she couldn't even show him at first since she thought he was gonna find it childish and dumb. He wishes she could express herself more. Bubba! What a sweet gentleman. Always telling him new facts and things he found out, and when he sees a cool plant, that man will list off what plant it is, how to grow it, and what not. He also helps him when he gets hurt, which is often, so he's thankful for that. He's there to comfort him when he gets scared (which is easily) and make sure he's ok. He loves playing with Bubba's big floppy ears when he's stressed. It calms him down, and helps him relax. Anyways, both he and Bubba make mistakes, yes, like the time he and him had a small argument because he accidentally broke one of Bubba's favorite mugs, but he wouldn't love anyone else. He just loves snuggling into that guy. He couldn't get enough! He also always helps the other with his sleeping issues, since that poor guy has been staying up more often. So he goes over, drags him to bed, then cuddles with him under a weighted blanket. It helps Bubba fall asleep. He wishes he could stop staying up multiple nights, but he insists that it's for a reason and that he has to continue his research. But he'll continue to help him, no matter what. Hoppy, his sister, is a pain in the ass. But also his friend. She always teases him and messes with him just to spite him. She's been like that for years. He and her fight about random small things, and always try to beat and top the other in what they're doing, causing a competition between them. A constant battle basically. They're always at each other trying to be better than the other, whether that be in sport, baking, running, anything. Like siblings always do. She's a great big sister though, has helped him through tough times, and he can't be more grateful. Dogday is like that guy you always see around the block. Always running, always doing things, always happy and excited, and just a great guy overall. He goes to him when he needs to plan things with the group or ask him when an we went is happening. He also goes to him just to pay video games and fetch with him, since the dog loves that game. He's so sweet sometimes.

Dogday :

He finds everyone as his best friend! They're all nice to him and, as their leader, he must make sure everyone is happy and included! However, Bubba has been telling him that Catnap could be a danger to the group, and how the red smoke is causing problems for them, and how maybe Catnap isn't a good person... He doesn't understand though! Catnap is such a sweet, adorable, quiet kitty that sleeps a lot. There's nothing wrong with him, he thinks that at least. Speaking of which, Catnap. He's been having these strange happy feelings lately around him. His purring is calming, the way he yawns and curls back up is so cute, and when he's all sleepy and tired.. He's just a ball of adorableness! Is that a word? He doesn't know. But it's how Catnap is! He just wants to give him all the kisses in the world! He's talked with Bobby about the feelings, and she says it's love. He's not sure yet though if it is love or not. Maybe he just... Really likes his best friend! That's it. Maybe...

[muqingapologist]

probably overthinking this subject but is it weird that i kind of don’t like most mxtx extras and tend to disregard them from what i imagine as the canon characters in my head and that i wish more fics did the same?

for example, i would love to see more post-canon scum villain fics that reimagined shen qingqiu’s journey of becoming more comfortable with his sexuality and with binghe all the way to their wedding starting right from the end of the main story. while the scum villain extras do have very nice moments (i do love the bingmei vs bingge conflict, sqq watching lbh’s memories in the dreamscape, the moments in between, etc), the extras just don’t feel fully satisfying and instead just seem like mxtx if providing the fan service that she left out of the main story. as is her right of course!

but i feel this lacking most significantly in the mdzs extras. so many missed opportunities for her to have rounded out the world and side characters, explored another layer of emotional depth with the main couple, whatever else, and we just got….incense burner and some other, much less memorable, stuff. not to mention that, while i’ve come to accept that wangxian in the book is incredibly different from their dynamic in the censored cdrama, the extras just kind of reinforce almost solely the physicality of their relationship and none of their actual day-to-day interactions as a couple or the emotional hurdles they still inevitably must cross together.

tgcf’s extras are the least offensive to me but they are also not super interesting to me. though hualian in general is probably the least interesting to me postcanon anyway since, more than wangxian and bingqiu, they seem quite in tune emotionally by the end of tgcf and so less opportunity for tension in that regard. but also the extras here being included in my perception of them doesn’t really negate the way i prefer their relationship to progress postcanon, unlike the other two couples.

anyway, this might make sense to no one at all and if so, ignore me. and if you love the extras for any or all of these, so happy for you and a little jealous! i guess my main point is that, while obviously they’re extras and just not meant to be integral to the overall story, i think that mxtx’s determination to just write what is effectively shitposting for her characters as extras is kind of frustrating to include in canon when in my mind, these couples are just entering these lifelong relationships, and there are still many things to unpack and learn about each other, and the extras just don’t align with how i think those relationships would go based on the main story, and so i wish more postcanon fan content pretended they didn’t exist lol…does anyone have similar feelings or am i just thinking too deeply about this…?

[sadao-tsuki]

Yes, I finally drew something..

Nah, here's a canvas filled with doodles of my bllk OC's

Yes, I made it with different brushes, how did you know?

I loved some and others.. well, not so much :p

Anyways, I wrote some things about those little doodles that I'll put under the pictures, so feel free to read and nah, just showing this thing I did (?

(remember that English isn't my first language, so if you find some errors then y'know why is it)

Starting with them..

THE BESTIESSSSS with my fellow @maochira 's OC Takumi teehee

Remember that thing about them taking Shidou's phone to text Sae?

I drew that EXACTLY, with a doodle of the boys interacting (they are talking about their crushes :0) and little Takumi smiling ;)

And a doodle of Lorenzo posing to the camera with Snuffy scolding the boys behind HAHAHA

He would surely post it with something like "pic with the boys getting scolded for some sh¡t"

(Ciro immediately showing that it wasn't his idea, cuz he's a good boy, and good boys don't do bad things, yeah yeah :D)

Btw, it was hard for me to understand Takumi's hair ahhh, I tried my best :')

I didn't do a lot of things here, just enjoying the smoothness of the brush that was literally delicious

So I did some expressions of Ciro hehe :)

Now I have a brush to draw some vent art muahahaha

Here I did some of Ciro's relationship with the boyssssss >:)

Ciro is always the dude that you can trust your secrets because he will never say it to anybody else, because he forgets about them the second you talk about something else haha

He mostly hears what others are talking about, and he only puts attention when it's something that the person really likes, if it's something that it's not serious (like in Sendou's little doodle) he surely won't pay attention to it

He's the same age as Aiku and Lorenzo (I want to think that Lorenzo is 19 years old, okay). The moment he told the rest of the team that he was 19 everybody was so confused cuz, hey, he looks like a 16/15 year old boy (because of his height and personality)

He reeeaaaaally loves his teammates (especially one of them)

He talks about some series or anime and watches movies with Niko, and even has that thing of having a random photoshoot with Aryu, since he looks majestic in random moments and wants to show him that (even if Aryu knows that already)

And

Oh..

His way of expressing his love is hard, with complimenting somebody's skills, showing interest in everything and just being there for them, and that's what he mostly does with Barou. He doesn't know how that guy managed to make him feel like that, but sure he enjoys it, and even if he can't express it with words he tries to show it anyways... Even if that confuses Barou as hell

And he mostly uses baggy clothes to hide his body, not because he's insecure.. just a little bit, but also because he likes how they look on him, he likes to look small on purpose haha

And yeah, I didn't forget about Amai tho

I didn't make so much content about him, but with this new chapter..

I needed to do something, y'know

Besides that little writing I put there

And what did I do?

Well, at first, I started with that ship with Kaiser jokingly, but I liked it so much that, well, I got obsessed (and this is just a small part of the content haha)

This guy is the most normal OC I did in my life, even if it started thanks to my bf haha

About him, he had a psychologist parents, or well, parents that care about mental health and so on, so it happened to him to know some things about psychology and he turned out to be the psychologist of Blue Lock (his office is literally his room HAHAHA)

The first friends he had were (ofc) Kaiser and Ness, that he met in the Bastard Munchen when they were younger. And their first Interaction was literally with Michael Kaiser himself, just a little compliment from Amai

"hey, I like your hair, it looks nice"

"uh? Ah, thanks dude"

And since then they started to talk and talk and then they become friends with the pass of the days hehe

That was in the past, in the present, he's not as close to him since Kaiser got, uh, weird, with the way he treats Ness and got a little bit too narcissistic, etc etc.. but he still cares deeply about him cuz he knows him, and it doesn't matter that they aren't close anymore, if he sees Kaiser bad he will go and comfort him with hugs, pats, maybe kisses since "it's still casual" between them

And, yeah, he surely doesn't get sad or shocked with other stories

BUT-

The moment he heard about Hiori's vent, about his parents and how he imagined that the zombies on the videogames were his parents..

Well

He kinda got a little bit like: "dude, you're clearly not okay" and it left him kinda restless and uneasy (?

Fun fact, his mother is Japanese and his father German, so the moment he got to Blue Lock he didn't need those things to understand the other's language cuz he's fluent in Japanese and German (?

Another fun fact..

Kaiser and Ness didn't know Amai could speak in Japanese.. or have Japanese blood LMAO.

I IMAGINED THEM BEING SILLY BY SOME REASON HAHAHA :'D

[inawickedlittletown]

You Can Find Me Where the Skies are Blue (BuckTommy fic) -6/7

Summary:

Soulmates are rare. So rare that it's actually incredible that Buck has two soulmate couples in his life. Statistics tell him it's very unlikely for him to meet his soulmate. Of course, then he meets Tommy. Too bad it happens at the worst possible moment.

Canon compliant soulmate AU where Buck is still a mess and Tommy is still very understanding.

Words: 4,050

Ao3

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

-

Part Six

“This is…it’s a platonic bond, isn’t it?”

Tommy heard the words, and they strangled something inside him. He knew what he’d said to Lucy, how he’d tried to tell himself that of course that was all it was. Even Eddie, earlier stating that Buck wasn’t gay was something he carried with him. Evan wasn’t into men. It wasn’t something that even a soulmate bond could change. 

“If that’s what you want it to be,” Tommy said. 

Evan nodded. He was still a little flushed pink from earlier, it made the birthmark over his eye stand out even more. It was such a distinctive thing to catch on his face, Tommy thought he would look strange without it. 

“There aren’t a lot,” Buck admitted. “But it does happen. These two girls on instagram…they run a podcast, actually, they met when one of them married the other’s brother and they’re soulmates. And there are other examples…people do it. Your most important relationship doesn’t have to be romantic. I mean…then you can date whoever you want and so can I. Not that it’s ever gone very well for me, but what I’m saying is that you can still have a girlfriend. Or…or a wife. Kids. It won’t stop us from being soulmates.” 

Tommy laughed. Evan looked so earnest, but in his eyes was something else that told Tommy a lot of it was Evan just being brave. That was yet more to be impressed by when it came to Evan. There was no denying he was a lucky man to have him as a soulmate. 

“That’s all very nice, Evan, but I’m not going to have a girlfriend. Or a wife.” He couldn’t help but chuckle again. 

Evan frowned. It was cute. It was really unfair how cute this man was. It wasn’t even like he was that much smaller than Tommy, though he was less broad. He still carried a lot of muscle, his short sleeved shirt straining where the sleeves ended. Somehow, he still managed to be cute. 

“What?” Evan asked. “What’s funny?” 

“I’ve been told I pass for straight,” Tommy said. “I never knew if it’s because I felt I needed to hide that part of myself for a long time, or because I was never going to fit the stereotype. I’m gay, Evan. So if anything, it’s a boyfriend. Husband…I don’t know.”

“You’re gay,” Evan said in a soft whisper. 

“Yeah,” Tommy said. 

Evan was…well, he was everything that Tommy ever really did look for in a romantic partner. Maybe there was something to it when it came to soulmates. He remembered thinking that Evan was attractive right off the back, and the few interactions they had shared so far had endeared him to Tommy. He was interested, and maybe in the right circumstance like if they met at a bar, maybe Tommy would have asked him out. 

“So,” Evan said and the blush was back, “you would be interested in this being a romantic bond? I mean, you…am I someone you could be attracted to? Not that…I’m an ally. I’ve always been an ally. I post a rainbow every June and I love Hen and Karen. And Josh…he works with Maddie. I have no problem with you being gay or — or gay people in general. It’s great. Men are great. So are women. I’m into women…although, who doesn’t check out a hot guy? Like at the gym…or at the park or just out and about. But I’m straight, it’s only ever been women for me and maybe they weren’t the best choices…I mean Taylor wrote that book and Abby ran off without even breaking up with me so maybe women aren’t the way to go or…I don’t know, but you kno—”

Tommy couldn’t watch it go on any longer. Evan talked with his hands, they moved in a distracting but fidgety way. He leaned forward and caught one of his hands between his own. Evan gasped and he tripped over his last word.

“Evan, there is a lot to unpack there.” 

Evan gulped. Evan’s fingers were callused, but the back of his hand was softer. He could feel where old scars remained on his skin too. He wanted to know about how the rest of him felt, what the job had marred and changed and left marked. 

“Do you want some water? Maybe something stronger?” Tommy asked. 

“Uh…yeah…there’s beer in the fridge.” 

Tommy stood up, felt the loss of no longer touching Evan as he rounded the island and headed to Evan’s fridge. There wasn’t much inside but a six pack of beer did sit front and center. He grabbed two. When he returned to Evan, it did look like he’d regained some of his composure, but he was still very very pink. It was beautiful. Tommy could watch him forever. 

Their fingers brushed when Tommy handed over the beer and Evan gasped. Tommy didn’t know what he was seeing. He was still trying to process the word salad that had come out of Evan. Had he said he checked out guys? And he did ask if Tommy was attracted to him, of that Tommy was sure. That needed to be addressed at once. 

“For the record, Evan, I am definitely attracted to you,” Tommy said. 

It was a bit of a gamble. He wanted to know how Evan would respond. He hadn’t thought that Evan could get any redder, but apparently he could and Tommy wondered how far down that might go. It was a train of thought he had to shake off. Tommy watched him as he opened his beer and took a few sips, keeping his eyes trained on the bottle or away from Tommy. It gave Tommy more room to just watch him. It meant that he caught Evan’s gaze when he finally looked up. 

“That shouldn’t shock you,” Tommy added. “Any girl or guy would be into you.” 

“Into me,” Evan whispered. “You — you’re saying you would want this to be romantic.” 

Tommy shook his head. “No, Evan. I’m saying that you’re not hard to look at. That shouldn’t be surprising to you.”

Evan stared at him. His lips twitched as if they were trying to form a smile, but they were unsure. 

“You, um, you too,” Evan said, dropping his gaze and blushing again. 

Oh, what he would do to be able to kiss that heated skin…what he would do to see Evan’s skin go pink for other reasons. 

“Me too?” Tommy asked and he couldn’t keep the shock from his voice. 

“You know what you look like,” Evan said, complete with a scoff. 

Tommy chuckled. “Evan, tell the truth, am I on that list of hot guys you’ve checked out?” 

His answer was written all over his face. Not just the blush, but the way that he couldn’t look at Tommy and how he turned away and then drank a big gulp of his beer. It was absolutely adorable and it also left Tommy with something to work with because despite what Evan might say, he was definitely not entirely straight. Tommy didn’t want to hope and yet he couldn’t tamp it all the way down. 

—

Tommy was gay.

It kept coming back in his head…a thought that wouldn’t go away and that maybe hadn’t even sunk in fully. He was gay. Gay as in into men. Gay as in attracted to Buck. It was somehow not at all what Buck had been expecting and maybe that was a bit his fault, for projecting what he expected a gay man to be like. Sort of like Josh who would never be able to deny his sexuality. 

It made Buck think. Well, a lot of it made Buck think. Mostly, it made him ignore all of the things that he’d thought he’d already figured out about their soulmate bond. Buck had been so sure it had to be platonic. But maybe he was wrong and maybe he was wrong about other things because he had eyes and even as he’d proposed the idea that Tommy could date women, he’d felt an uncomfortable churn in his gut. 

“You okay there?” Tommy asked. 

“I’m — yes.”

“Are you sure about that, Evan?” 

Tommy called him Evan. He’d been calling him Evan pretty much since they met and Buck had never wanted to tell him that actually everyone called him Buck. Buck had started back in the fire academy, a way to differentiate from the other Evans and it wasn’t that it stuck like a nickname, but that he became Buck. Buck was a firefighter, he was more than just the boy that had no idea what he wanted. Buck was brave. He found a place to belong. Buck was so many things that Evan wasn’t. When Maddie called him Evan, she said it in the tone that she’d used when he was kid and she was looking out for him. When his parents said it, it was like nails on a chalkboard the very disapproval they had always felt for him coming through way too clearly. 

With Tommy, Evan was something else. It was soft. It was gentle. It was fond. It was literally warm. He wanted to hear his name said like that for as long as possible. 

“I’m okay,” Buck responded a bit stronger. “I just didn’t — didn’t expect you to be into guys, I guess.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Tommy said with a chuckle. “Your, um, your ramble was very informative.” 

Buck dropped his chin, cringing a little. He didn’t even know what he’d said because words had just been coming out as he thought them until Tommy stopped him as if Buck could be stopped from embarrassing himself. 

“I am so sorry,” Buck said. 

“I’m not. It was adorable,” Tommy said. 

When Buck looked up, he found Tommy was still just watching him. Watching him like Buck was worth looking at. He hadn’t liked the idea of Tommy dating women or marrying some woman, he liked it even less to think that Tommy could date another guy. Not when…well, Buck was his soulmate and he was right there. 

“Do you think I’ve been wrong this whole time?” 

“About what?” Tommy asked. 

“About me,” Buck said. “I’ve always…there’s always been something missing.”

He had thought it was Daniel. When he finally had all that information, the thing that finally made him understand why his parents had never been very present, he’d thought that maybe that was it. But, though it explained some things, it didn’t explain others. 

“Evan, I can’t—”

“Can we…can I try something?” Buck said, cutting him off. 

Buck set his bottle down, wiping his hands on his jeans and then standing. 

“Try something?” Tommy asked. 

Buck rubbed the back of his neck, tried to shake off the nerves, but they wouldn’t go away. This should not be this hard. 

“Yeah, um, maybe come here?” 

It felt like an age between a bemused Tommy standing and walking towards Buck. Buck gulped. They were about the same height and yet Tommy felt taller. Buck didn’t know how to explain it, maybe it was because Buck was used to being taller in this type of situation. 

“Can I…this will sound crazy, but it’s the only thing I think will clear things up for me? I mean, maybe you don’t want to do this and I can understand, but—”

Tommy’s fingers made contact with his chin sending a jolt through him as he tipped Buck’s face up minutely just as Tommy leaned forward. He moved as if in slow motion, giving Buck every chance to pull away and change his mind. Somehow, it was still a shock when Tommy’s lips touched his, but Buck leaned into it, he felt the heat between them and the way that just a quick brush of Tommy’s lips on Buck’s lips could light him up. He kissed back because he wanted it, and because Tommy had to know. It didn’t last nearly as long as it should have, but what it did was answer questions in a way that words never would have been able to. 

One of his hands fluttered, reaching for Tommy, but Tommy pulled back too soon and Buck had to drop his hand. His whole world…it was shifting and Buck didn’t mind. He’d been put together a little jumbled, but everything was falling into place. 

“Was that okay?” Tommy asked, voice low. 

“Yeah,” Buck said. “More than okay.” 

“Good,” Tommy said. 

It wasn’t that it was different from kissing a woman. Maybe it was a little bit different, Tommy had a bit of facial hair and that felt different, but everything else…lips were still lips…but those lips belonged to Tommy. They belonged to his soulmate. And there was no denying that for a kiss so chaste, he was left more than a little flustered. 

“Good?” Buck asked. 

Tommy smiled wider. “Did you answer that question, Evan?” 

Buck chuckled nervously. “Maybe we’ll need to test that, you know for — for science?” 

Tommy laughed, and there was something just gorgeous about the depth of his laugh lines, how it changed his face. And, oh, his chin had a cleft. This was his soulmate. He’d kissed his soulmate. He wasn’t even freaking out…more like he was relieved. More than anything, he wanted to kiss him again. 

So, he did. 

—

Tommy almost didn’t expect it when Evan kissed him. How one of his hands wound up on his neck and Evan’s lips brushed on his own almost gently but with just enough pressure that it was something of a tease. And then, Evan deepened it and Tommy matched him, bringing him closer and parting his lips as Evan’s tongue darted out to meet his in a slow sweet slide that brought out a moan Tommy almost felt embarrassed by. 

As Evan eased back on the kiss, he chuckled and they panted against each other, Evan’s fingers traveling to the back of his neck and leaving a trail of warmth everywhere he touched. 

“Just, uh, needed to check,” Evan said. 

Tommy let out a small chuckle, he dropped his head to Evan’s shoulder and he felt Evan’s fingers in his hair, a gentle touch to his scalp. How had they made it from a question about them being platonic, to this? Not that he was complaining. 

“Verdict?” 

“May need more data,” Evan said, smiling. 

Tommy turned his head, breathed against Evan’s neck and felt Evan shiver.

“Tommy,” Evan whispered. 

Tommy pressed a kiss to his neck and then a little higher, to his jaw. He heard Evan gasp and he smiled against his scruffy cheek. 

“Is that enough?” 

“Nope,” Evan said, capturing his lips in yet another kiss. 

Tommy had kissed plenty of people. A few girls when he was a teenager, kisses that meant absolutely nothing. Then there had been boys at gay bars or clubs under the strobe lights or in the dimly-lit bathrooms. Kisses that served a single purpose, a prelude to getting off with a warm body that could be forgotten in a few hours or by morning. Tommy had been finding himself and sometimes he regretted how he’d rushed in without much care for what it might do to him. Eventually had come different kisses, the ones at the end of a date, the ones that didn’t lead anywhere. Hello kisses, and goodbye kisses, and heated ones too. Any and all of those experiences would forever be eclipsed by the way Evan kissed him. 

There was something to be said about enthusiasm, but there was more. Evan was a fantastic kisser. He knew just when to push for more and when to pull back and how to have Tommy chasing his touch and his lips and his tongue. By the time they were panting against each other again, foreheads pressed together, Tommy knew he was ruined for anyone else. Then again, maybe that’s how it was supposed to be with your soulmate.

“Evan, that was—”

“Yeah,” Evan said. “I think I have everything.” 

“For the science experiment?” Tommy asked. 

Evan made a sound that was almost a giggle. “For the soulmate experiment. It’s not platonic at all.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Evan said completely with a goofy grin and skin gone pink. 

“You know what that means, Evan?” 

Evan tilted his head. “What?”

“So much more kissing.” 

Their noses brushed as Evan went for another kiss, keeping that one languid and lazy. Soft. 

—

The door closed behind Tommy with a click. Buck wanted to pull it open and call Tommy to come back, but he held himself back. His fingers traveled to his lips where Tommy had placed one last kiss before he left. It had been a peck, barely even a kiss, but it was like some reminder of all the kisses that had come before. Buck had kissed his soulmate.

Buck had kissed his soulmate. His soulmate who was a guy. A guy who found Buck attractive. A guy who Buck wanted to kiss again and again and maybe even so much more. 

All the confusion, the surety that what they could have could only ever be platonic, it almost made Buck laugh. He just…he hadn’t known. Except he’d been aware of the draw that Tommy had on him, and like he’d told Tommy it wasn’t like he’d never looked at a guy and thought he was hot. Buck had just assumed it was normal and that everyone checked out men and women alike. Not that it was abnormal, it was just…it was just that Buck wasn’t straight. He was more than the ally he’d always said he was.

The weird part was feeling like he should have known…like he’d somehow been lying to himself his whole life because it was something that was obvious and that would have prepared him to have a male soulmate.

It was after he’d gone through his bathroom routine and he’d made it up the stairs, that Buck allowed himself to say it outloud. 

“I’m bisexual.” 

It felt right. It felt like him. It felt more freeing than anything ever had before. 

“I’m bisexual,” he repeated it to his ceiling while lying in bed. 

Sleep came easy and the next morning, he was woken up by his phone vibrating on his bedside table. 

He grabbed for it, answering the call without bothering to look at the ID. 

“Hello?” 

“Would it be presumptuous of your soulmate to ask you out for breakfast?” Tommy’s voice came through. 

Buck sat up at once. His duvet pooled at his waist. “Tommy,” he said. 

“Evan,” Tommy said and he said it in that tone of his, the one so full of fondness and warmth. 

“Breakfast? Uh…yeah, I can do that.” 

Tommy chuckled. “Okay. Good. I’ll pick you up in twenty.” 

“Oh. Uh. Sure. Sure.” 

Buck heard him laughing again before hanging up. 

Used to getting ready quickly, Buck rushed down to his bathroom and into the shower. Ten minutes later he was out with a towel around his waist, rubbing himself dry as he took the stairs to grab clothes. The knock on his door came before he’d gotten a chance to put any product in his hair or for that matter shoes. So barefoot, he walked down to open the door. 

Tommy stood on the other side, smiling. Sunglasses hung from the neck of his v-neck, giving Buck a good look at his clavicle, but also the hint of dark chest hair that likely went down farther and that Buck wanted to suddenly know a lot more about. 

“Hi, Evan,” Tommy said and opened his arms. 

Buck stepped into the hug, lingering for a few moments too long.

“You ready?” 

“Oh. No. Just need shoes and my wallet and keys and…”

Tommy just chuckled. “I would say I’m gonna sit on your couch, but you don’t have one. But, take your time.” 

“It really bothers you,” Buck said as he headed up the stairs.

“Not really. Just curious.” 

“I’ll tell you over breakfast,” Buck called back. 

He didn’t take long to get himself ready. Tommy hadn’t sat down while he was busy, instead wandering around the small space and even out onto the balcony. That’s where Buck found him, and he turned as Buck approached. His hands were in his jean pockets, and he looked fully relaxed. It was unfair, how hot he was. 

—

Tommy did think that it would have been a bit much to tell Evan he’d missed him. That as soon as he left the night before, he’d longed to be back with him. He had, though, and seeing him open the door like he’d only just finished getting dressed, it had hit him again how ridiculously attractive Evan was. Also, curls. Evan kept his hair short, and maybe dry and brushed it was more wavy than properly curly, but at the half-dry state it was in at the moment, the curls were defined and Tommy thought it made him look younger and even cuter if possible. Oh, he was already so far gone for him. 

While Evan ran back upstairs to finish getting ready, Tommy walked through the apartment. There wasn’t much to it, it was very much the kind of place that belonged to a single guy, but he hadn’t been lying when he said he was impressed because it was actually really nice. 

He found a door that led out to a small balcony. It wasn’t big or anything, but Evan did have a couple of chairs out there and Tommy could imagine just sitting there with Evan with the sun setting. Evan found him out there. 

“Hey,” Evan said.

“This is nice,” Tommy said. 

“I think it’s one of the reasons I really liked this place. Breakfast you said?” 

“I did,” Tommy said. “I woke up this morning and I really just wanted to see you again.” 

Evan blushed. “You did?” 

“Of course. Do you know how difficult it was to know you were within my reach and yet it took days for us to talk. It’s why last night I wasn’t going to sit at a bar when I knew where you were. I guess you could say I’m a little impatient.” 

Evan moved closer and while his blush never left his cheeks, neither did his smile. When his hands landed on Tommy’s shoulders, Tommy almost didn’t expect them, but he took his own hands out of his pockets to take Evan by the waist. 

“I said it yesterday,” Evan said. “I was jealous. I don’t think I realized what that meant…why I was feeling that way. Maybe I was a little impatient too.”

“Evan,” Tommy whispered. 

Evan kissed him. Tommy could do nothing but respond, because Evan was everything and he kissed Tommy like it mattered, like there was nothing more important. It wasn’t even a very passionate kiss, the type that led to other things, and yet it felt more intimate than anything Tommy had ever felt before. And when Evan ended the kiss, smile growing and his hands running down Tommy’s chest until they fell away, Tommy could see that Evan’s eyes were shining. 

“What is it?” Tommy asked. 

“I’m just happy. And I think you promised breakfast.” 

“I did,” Tommy said, drawing him in closer, Evan’s hands trapped between them. “After all, I wanted our first date to be right away.” 

“Date,” Evan said in little more than a surprised, but pleased whisper.

Evan’s hands were climbing up Tommy’s chest in a way that was far too distracting especially when his fingers hit bare skin right where Tommy’s shirt ended. His touches were tentative, almost like a tease. 

“Date,” Tommy repeated. “One of many.”

Evan grinned at him. He was simply adorable. One of his hands was touching Tommy’s neck, leaving behind a trail of electricity and then his hand climbed up to Tommy’s jaw, touched the corner of his lips and then the cleft on his chin. Holding Tommy’s chin he pecked his lips, a very soft and very quick kiss. 

Tommy couldn’t attribute it to their soulmate bond, or he couldn’t just attribute it to that. It was Evan and Tommy was just that lucky to call him his soulmate. 

When they left Evan’s apartment it was hand in hand, sharing smiles every time their eyes met.