#I’m gonna do my best not to scream since it’s very late at night and my roommate has work in the morning

[raetreaderarts]

Y’all are as excited about his episode as I am right??? It’s been AGES since I’ve drawn him and all of my other drawings of him look like big doodoo ass (please don’t search for them they suck so bad). Oh he still my beating HEART I can’t WAIT!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

[writing-for-marvel]

A Solid Foundation

Builder!Bucky Barnes x Fiancé!Fem!Reader

Summary: Your best friend suspects your fiancé of having an affair when he starts working late, but Bucky would never cheat on you, right?

Warnings: slight angst - discussion of Bucky potentially cheating (no actual cheating), soft fluff

Word count: 2.4k

A/N: thank you so much for this gorgeous inspiration my love 💕 this is my second entry for the Connect 4: Into an Alternate June-iverse Event by @buckybarnesevents, for the prompt ‘Modern AU’. Banners by @vase-of-lilies

Masterlist | Ask me anything! | Library

“Where’s Bucky? You two just got engaged, I would have thought he’d barely be able to keep his hands off you - he does at the best of times.” Nat jokes before taking a sip of her wine.

She had been stopping off at your apartment on her way home to drop some supplies for your engagement party next weekend, when you invited her to stay for a drink, wanting to take your mind off your fiancés absence.

“He’s been working late recently.” You try to say nonchalantly, but Nat’s far too observant to miss the disheartened edge to your voice.

“He’s a builder. Start early, finish early, what’s he doing still working at 6:30?” You didn’t know the answer to that question. And though part of you is curious as to what he’s up to, you’re also nervous to find out the truth.

It’s Bucky, the man who has loved you through every high and low, treasured every part of you, especially on those days where your insecurities were at their worst. Who has done the silliest, most embarrassing things just to hear your laugh. Who trusted you enough to reveal his deepest trauma, who comes to your arms for comfort through every nightmare.

You find it difficult to believe that man would be capable of hurting you, even knowing he hadn’t been completely forthcoming with you the past few weeks.

“I’m not sure, he’s been a little secretive since we got engaged. I don’t wanna push him to talk about it, I just wish he knew he can trust me with whatever it is.” You say as Nat supportively takes your hand, something of sympathy in her eyes.

“Oh sweetie, you are far too pure for this world. Working late, the ring, the secrecy - has it crossed your mind that he might be having an affair?”

“It crossed my mind for half a second before I scolded myself. It’s Bucky, he would never cheat on me.” You state with conviction, the memory of each night you’ve fallen to a peaceful sleep in Bucky’s arms only supporting your belief that he would never put himself in that position with someone else.

“As much as I want to believe you, you know I’m a cynic. In my experience men are pigs, you give them an inch and they take a mile. I know he’s sweet and you love him, but at the end of the day, he is a man.”

But Nat doesn’t know Bucky intimately like you do, hasn’t experienced his selfless and generous heart day after day for the past two years, hasn’t been loved all-encompassingly by him like you have.

You’ve never even thought to question his loyalty to you - Bucky has never given you reason to.

You hear keys rattle in the front door and shoot Nat a look which unquestionably screams don’t bring this up.

Bucky smiles instantly when he sees you seated at the dining table, that same adoration and serenity brimming in his eyes as when he always comes home to you. Though you do notice his skin is somewhat flushed, as if he’s just been physically exerting himself, his hair looks a complete mess and appears slightly darker with sweat.

You know exactly what’s running through Nat’s mind at this very moment.

“I’m gonna let you two talk.” She declares with a perceptible tension in her tone as she stands and grabs her purse. “But I swear if you ever hurt her Bucko, you’ll die a slow, painful death.” She vows with a glare that seals her promise. Though you know Nat well enough to perceive she isn’t joking, Bucky seems to think she’s kidding.

“Duly noted Nattie.” He chuckles as he watches Nat shoot you an encouraging look and then make her way out the front door Bucky just walked through. “What was that all about?”

“She’s just being protective.” You justify, not knowing how to, nor really wanting to tell him that your best friend suspects he’s having an affair. “I told her you’d been working late recently.”

“What… she thinks I should instead be here doting on you hand and foot?” Bucky asks as he moves behind where you’re seated, his hands reach for the back of your neck and begin massaging the tension from your shoulders which had built up from your long week at work. “You know I’d much prefer to be here with you than working.” You shudder slightly at his words as he places a gentle kiss to the skin where your neck curves into your shoulder, your body subconsciously revealing that you don’t fully believe he was working.

“What’s wrong, doll?” He asks, feeling your muscles tense even further underneath his hands, and you internally curse yourself for letting Nat’s speculation get under your skin.

“Where were you tonight?” It’s a simple, four word question, yet the weight of significance on his answer feels like your whole world could start crumbling before you depending on his response.

“I told you this morning: Steve needed me working late.” Bucky replies without hesitation. It’s a straightforward answer, yet there’s something about it you can’t quite believe - a half truth that he’s practised too much that doesn’t quite feel natural. “Why do you ask?” There’s a hint of worry to his voice, as if you’re getting a little too close to something he’d like to keep to himself.

“Nat thinks ‘working late’ is code for you cheating on me.” You comment, placing all the blame on your friends postulation rather than your own curiosity.

You hope Bucky won’t hate you too much for indulging in your friends theory, that he won’t completely resent you for insinuating he’s been unfaithful. Because you don’t think he’s cheating on you, but you also don’t believe he was working late tonight.

Instead, Bucky steps towards you and tentatively places two gentle fingers under your chin, tilting your face so that you’re gazing directly into his vulnerable, sincere eyes.

“Doll, you know I would never, ever, hurt you like that. I love you, you’re my whole world, I wanna marry you and spend the rest of my days making you feel as loved and cherished as you make me feel.” You sense the heaviness of your engagement ring on your left hand, you’re still getting used to carrying the small weight of it around with you everyday, though right now it feels substantial.

“I know you wouldn’t Buck, but since you proposed you’ve been a little secretive. Long days, working weekends. I mean you have to admit it’s slightly suspicious.”

He sighs, coming to some sort of internal decision when his gaze meets yours again. His thumb brushes over your bottom lip and for a moment you think he’s going to kiss you in an attempt to distract you from the topic of discussion.

“I promise you, I can explain everything, but I think it would be easier to show you.” His hands snake down your arms and when he takes both your hands, pulls you from your seated position at the dining table.

“Show me?” You query, having no idea what that could indicate he’s been keeping to himself.

“Yeah, care for a drive?”

* * *

The night is dark as you sit in the passenger seat watching the world pass you by, the empty roads only lit by periodically placed street lamps and the bright headlights of Bucky’s truck.

You have no idea where he’s taking you - you’ve never been to this part of town before and have no preconceived ideas as to what being here indicates for his unplanned surprise.

Bucky drives with one hand on the steering wheel, the other rests comfortingly on your thigh, an indicator that he’s not upset about you insinuating he could be having an affair, and that where he’s taking you to is not a revelation you should be anxious about.

Soon enough he turns down an innocuous street and pulls the car to a slow stop. You're in the middle of a suburban area with expansive blocks of land, stopped a few metres behind an SUV that has stickers of a family of five and a dog on their back window. Looking over at Bucky, you find he’s staring at you with an excited expectancy from the driver's seat.

You turn to look out the car window and the reason Bucky’s been ‘working late’ hits you like a bus.

You’re parked in front of a half built house - at the moment it’s just studs and partitions, with an unemptied skip out the front, but you can see the skeleton of a beautifully spacious two story house.

He’s building you a home.

“Bucky…” You comment under your breath, unable to articulate the swarm of thoughts buzzing around your head and the pure love blooming in your chest like a flower as he rounds the car and opens the passenger door for you.

“I know it doesn’t look like much yet, it’s just the frame and foundation, but soon there will be a roof, walls, windows, and a proper floor. It’ll really start taking shape.” He's nervous, you can tell by his shaky tone of voice, which you find adorable.

“You’re building us a house?” Your stomach contorts with guilt when he smiles crookedly and nods. How could you have ever been suspicious of his long working hours when they were spent building a physical monument to his love for you?

“I wanted to build our dream house, somewhere we can grow old together.” Your heart just about bursts when these words fall from his lips. Though the night is dark, the moon and the small torch Bucky keeps in his truck are the only source of light available, you can see the fondness in his eyes.

You give him a sweet kiss before approaching the house, an outline in chalk on the ground indicates where a front porch will be built and the entry to the house is currently only the rectangular frame of timber.

Bucky starts walking you through the house hand in hand, explaining what he had planned each room to be used for. There's only wooden studs outlining every room and a concrete slab for a floor, but you can already imagine what the space will look like when it’s all complete.

The entry foyer has high ceilings where you can currently see the stars shining, a large winding staircase connects the ground floor with the one above. To one side is a large garage, an offset office and bathroom, to the other has a large sitting room.

As Bucky pulls you further into the structure, the house opens up to a large, open plan living area. You can picture cooking together in the kitchen, room enough for a large island where you can sit and watch as Bucky cooks you breakfast, sneaking kisses in between breaking eggs. A smile grows on your features as you imagine what the future holds for you two, and what you envisage is beautiful.

He shows you where he thinks the lounge room television would go, before steering you to the right to an open room where the walls don’t have horizontal studs like all the other rooms you’ve seen so far.

“And this will be your sunroom.” He comments, eying you with a smile as your jaw drops in awe.

“A sunroom?” You ask as your voice cracks and hot tears well in your eyes.

Your dream house always seemed so far out of reach, you wondered if you would ever earn enough to own a place of your own. But it didn’t stop you from wishing for your dream house. That concept had changed over the years, but the one aspect which remained the same was it containing a sunroom. A place where you could sit in quiet contemplation and read your plethora of novels in peace, the warm afternoon sun heating the room as you draped your legs over beloveds, finding tranquillity together.

Bucky really is making all your dreams come true.

“It wouldn’t be our dream home if we didn’t have the sunroom you always wished for. This entire wall will be a huge built-in bookshelf, then the rest will be just glass, looking out over our backyard and have the perfect view of the setting sun.”

You find yourself completely lost for words, unable to articulate how remarkable this entire house is, that he built it for you, and how you will forever come home to a physical reminder of just how much Bucky loves you.

“If there’s anything you don’t like I’ll change it. I want it to be perfect, I want you to love it.” He says as if he can’t see that you already adore every inch of the house he’s built, thinking that your silence indicates aversion rather than pure amazement.

“Bucky, it’s already perfect.” You lean over to kiss him, slow and sweet, because you need to express the overwhelming gratitude and affection for him doing something so special for you. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you when you were putting in your spare hours to build us a home.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry, doll, I shouldn’t have lied to you about where I was and what I was doing, but I wanted it to be a surprise.” His arms snake around your middle and pull you closer to him so none of the cool night air separates you.

“It is a surprise, such a wonderful surprise. I love you so much and I can’t wait to spend our life together here.” You say, looking up at him with wide eyes, only closing them to kiss the stubble on his sharp jawline.

“I love you more than you’ll ever know.” Bucky places a kiss to your forehead, his voice soft but heartfelt and full of tenderness.

For a moment you stay cuddled into his strong, warm chest, his arms gently stroking up and down your back in soothing motions, feeling completely loved and so excited to start your marriage in a new home together.

“Will you show me the bedrooms upstairs?” You ask with a small voice, part of you not wanting to move from Bucky’s embrace, but also intrigued to see how much more work he’s done in the name of love for you.

“Of course, my love.”

He kisses you once more, for emphasis, before guiding you carefully upstairs to show you the spacious master bedroom where you will be spending your first nights as a married couple.

If you're interested in seeing the floorplan I based the house off, you can find that here

[krirebr]

More Than This 4

Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x f!reader, Steve Rogers & f!reader

Word Count: ~6.1k

Summary: Arranged marriages have always been used to solidify business deals among the ultra-wealthy. Your stepfather wants to be in business with Harlan Thrombey, so now it's your turn.

Warnings: Heavy angst, age difference, adult themes, institutional sexism, Linda being Linda, a panic attack, p in v sex, sex in maybe not the best mindset, explicit language, the slooowest burn - Warnings will be added as needed for subsequent parts. All of my work is 18+ - Minors DNI

Dividers by @saradika-graphics

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

A/N: I thought this was gonna be a short one. 😂

Gigantic thanks as always to @paperweight91 who helped me figure out what the problem was when I was really struggling to feel inspired on this one, and then later on when the narrative took a bit of a turn that I wasn't expecting, she helped me navigate it and come out the other side. Chelsea, you continue to be the very best!

And an additional hat tip to @thezombieprostitute, who left a comment on the last part that inspired part of Linda's visit here. Thanks, dear!!

Unsurprisingly probably, this is another sad one. But I hope it'll be worth it!

Any comment, reblog, or ask to let me know what you think will be greatly appreciated. And if you need to come scream at me, that's ok too!

As always, thank you so much for reading! 💜

You’ve reached the phone of Steve Rogers. Please leave a message after the beep.

“Hey, Steve. It’s me. Again. Your sister. Um, shit. Yeah, you’re at work now, aren’t you? Sorry, I still haven’t gotten used to the time difference. I got your texts, and, uh, everything is fine. I’m– I’m doing good. But I miss you. And it’d be nice to hear your voice. But I’m fine, I’m good, I promise. I just– I’ll try again soon. Love you. Ok. Bye.”

You hung up and sighed, setting your phone down beside you. You hadn’t actually spoken to Steve since you’d gotten on the plane a week ago. Which was fine. You were doing fine. He’d texted you. And he was busy. You knew he was. It’d be easier, you thought if you were too. But everything had been unpacked. The housekeeper took care of all the upkeep of the house and you got the distinct impression that she didn’t much care for your “help,” so now when she was here you mostly tried to stay out of her way. Even Lola was getting tired of going for walks around the neighborhood.

You’d barely seen your husband since your disastrous attempt at sex. He’d been avoiding you, leaving early in the morning and coming home late at night. You hadn’t talked about what happened. You’d barely talked about anything.  

You looked at your laptop on the coffee table and exited out of the WebMD entry on erectile dysfunction. That wasn’t helping. With nothing to do and no one to talk to, all you could do was think about what would happen to you if you couldn’t get Ransom to fuck you. If you didn’t get pregnant. You still hadn’t seen the contract and weren’t sure what the actual terms were, but you knew the consequences would be nothing good. 

Steve had had an aunt on his mother’s side who’d been found in breach of contract and had her marriage dissolved. You never really knew her, but you remembered how Joseph talked about her, about the desperate arrangement she’d eventually had to settle for, the sadness in Steve’s eyes whenever she came up. That wouldn’t be you, couldn’t be you. You knew you wouldn’t even start to feel secure in your arrangement until that part of the contract had been fulfilled. You just needed to figure out how.

But, dwelling on it wasn’t helping. Googling possible causes of Ransom’s issue wasn’t helping (although it was better than listening to the voice in your head that wouldn’t stop telling you that he just didn’t want to touch you). You needed something to do. Back in LA, you’d worked part-time at an art gallery Steve had introduced you to. You’d mostly answered the phones and greeted people as they came in, but you’d liked it. There had to be something like that available in Boston. And at least trying to find it would give you something to focus on.

So you lost yourself in compiling a list of galleries you could try to contact, sitting on the couch with Lola curled up beside you. When Ransom came home late that night, that’s how he found you. You looked up, startled when he came in the door, and found a similar expression on his face. 

“Oh,” he said. “You’re still up,” as he took off his coat and shoes.

“Yeah,” you said, not knowing what else to say.

He nodded and came as far as the beginning of the living area, then stopped and just stared at you for a moment. You waited for whatever it was he was going to say. Then, finally, “How was your day?”

“It was fine,” then, gathering your courage and hoping you wouldn’t be shut down, you added, “I started to look for a job.”

“Oh,” he looked mildly surprised. “Do you have any experience?”

You pushed down the tinge of hurt that bubbled up at that. The question wasn’t completely uncalled for. Many of your friends back home had never worked a day in their lives. But you couldn’t help feeling a little defensive when you answered, “Yes, I worked at the front desk of an art gallery back home. I liked it. I’d like to find something like that here.”

Ransom hummed thoughtfully as he nodded. “Well,” he said, looking off into the corner of the room, “uh, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help with that.”

“Oh,” you said, too surprised to say anything else for a moment. You’d been sure he’d say no. You weren’t quite sure what to do with an offer of help, of all things. And you would need his help if you got the job, with a way to get yourself there at the very least. But you didn’t want to jinx it or push things too far right now, so you just said, “Thank you. I will.” And then, “Uh, how was your day?”

“It was fine,” he said, stiffly. “Busy, I’ve been really busy. And I’m, uh, I’m exhausted now. So I’m going to go straight to bed. Feel free to stay up as late as you want. Obviously.” And just like that, he turned on his heel and left the room. 

You should’ve gone after him, maybe. Made him talk to you about it. Or just taken your clothes off while he was talking (although that hadn’t worked the first time). Something. But you were tired too and you just didn’t have it in you, as important as you knew it was. 

So, you gave it about half an hour before you went to bed yourself, going through your nighttime routine as quietly as you could in the ensuite. When you went back out to the bedroom, you found Lola already on the bed, curled up against Ransom’s side. You stopped, wondering if you should move her. She’d slept in the bed with you for the last four nights, ever since that awful night, and Ransom hadn’t said anything about making her stop. And he obviously hadn’t noticed her snuggling up next to him, so maybe it was fine. You climbed in next to her and wrapped your body around hers, ignoring the way it made you brush up against Ransom, too.

The next afternoon, you were busying yourself with trying to reorganize your walk-in closet, when you heard someone moving around downstairs. It wasn’t one of the housekeeper’s days, so you made sure you had your phone on you and started down the stairs with caution. 

When you got about halfway down, you saw Linda standing in the middle of the living room. “Linda!” you exclaimed, unable to hide your shock at her standing before you. “Ransom didn’t tell me you’d be stopping by. I didn’t know you had a key.”

“Of course, I do, I’m his mother. And I’m the one who set him up with this house.” She cast a judgemental eye on the room. “I see you’ve been moving some things around.”

“Oh,” you said, now at the bottom of the stairs and looking around a little worriedly. You’d tried so hard to disrupt as little as possible. “Not much, I don’t think. Just a little to make room for my own things.”

Linda hummed in a way that made you want to shrink inside yourself. “Well,” she said and held out a gift bag. “I brought you a little something.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” you said, forcing a smile as you took the gift, slightly afraid of what might be in it. You glanced inside, moving aside the tissue paper to find about a dozen pregnancy tests. “Oh,” you said, afraid if you said anything more you might burst into tears. It was fine it was fine it was fine.

“Just want you to be prepared,” she said.

“Thank you,” you forced out. “You really shouldn’t have.” 

“Well,” she clapped her hands together, “why don’t you get us some coffee?”

You forced another smile, trying to cover the panic you felt that she was staying. “Yes, of course.” You took your time getting the coffee prepared in the kitchen. Once it was ready, and you had the cream and sugar and everything else gathered on a tray, you couldn’t delay it any longer and brought everything out to the living room. Linda helped herself to a mug, finishing it to her liking as you did the same. You caught, though, the little face she made at her first sip. That was fine, it was her son’s fucking coffee.

“This is nice,” she said, in that particular syrupy tone of voice she had that meant she was trying too hard to seem friendly. “Just the two of us. Overdue.”

You made yourself nod. “Yes,” you said, “It’s great to see you.”

“I was talking to Ransom this morning, and he mentioned that you’re looking for a job?”

“Oh,” you started, something about her tone making you cautious, “yeah, you know, something to keep me occupied. I used to work at an art gallery and I’m hoping I can do something similar here.”

She took a sip of her coffee, then pursed her lips. “Well, that sounds lovely. But are you sure it’s a good idea with a baby on the way?”

You did your best to chuckle, trying to keep things light as you felt a sinking feeling in your stomach. “I’m not pregnant yet, Linda.”

“Maybe not, but you will be soon. And do you really think it’s fair to get a job when you’re just going to have to quit in a few weeks anyway?”

You stared at her confused, your own coffee now forgotten. “We don’t know exactly when I’ll get pregnant.” You may not care for Ransom much, but you certainly weren’t going to discuss his possible impotence with his mother. Or the fact that he just didn’t want you. “And I don’t understand why I would have to quit once I got pregnant anyway.”

“Well, I’m sure Ransom won’t want you working once you’re pregnant. He’ll want you to focus on growing his child and getting everything prepared for the baby.”

You felt the air go out of your lungs. All you could do was gape at her. What? You flashed back to the wedding, to Harlan telling you how good you were going to be for Ransom. To your mother telling you to keep him happy. To Joseph’s speech barely even mentioning you. It was like you as a person didn’t exist anymore. You were just here for him. Your whole life set up just to cater to him. You felt the tears starting to gather in your eyes, but you would not cry in front of this woman. 

“But,” you started, “you worked all through your pregnancy and Ransom’s childhood, didn’t you? I don’t understand why I wouldn’t be able to, too.”

“Oh,” she said, as she gave you the most condescending look you might have ever received, “I see. You think you and I are the same. Sweetheart, no. I helped my father choose my arraignment. I came into it with my own money, having already established myself. A real career, not some silly part-time gallery job. I’m the one who supports Richard. I’ve always had the power. I was never you. And you will never be me. So, how about you let Ransom take good care of you and you focus on the things that you can give him, hmm?”

You just stared at her, feeling suddenly numb. What the fuck were you supposed to say to that? You’d only spoken to her a few times and every single time she’d made you feel so small, insignificant, weak. 

She placed her mug on the table and stood up. “I’ll get out of your hair now, dear, but this was so nice. We’ll have to do it again soon.” She stood in front of you as all you could do was sit and stare. She raised her perfectly manicured eyebrow at you and you finally realized that she wanted you to stand. You robotically did so, still so numb from this short visit. As soon as you were upright, she gave you a stiff hug and patted you on the shoulder. “I’m so glad we were able to put this silly job idea to bed,” she said. “I’ll show myself out. Have a good rest of your day, darling.” And then she was gone and you were left standing alone in the middle of Ransom’s living room.

You spent the rest of the afternoon running Linda’s visit through your mind, over and over. The thing you couldn’t understand was why, if Ransom was so against you working, he hadn’t said anything about it last night. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just tell you no right away, rather than siccing his mother on you the next day? Why would he say yes? Was it just so that he could look like the good guy before he had his mom do his dirty work for him? Was he really that much of a chickenshit? 

When you got to a point when you thought you might actually drive yourself crazy if you thought about it anymore, you got your phone out and tried, once again, to call Steve. 

You’ve reached the phone of Steve Rogers. Please leave a message after the beep.

You wanted to scream. You were so fucking tired of talking to his machine. Every time you thought you couldn’t feel more alone, you just fell deeper.

“Hey, Steve. Um, I’d really love it if you could call me back. I know you’re busy. I don’t mean to– I’m sorry. I just– I just really miss you. I’d really like to talk to you. I love you. Ok. Bye.”

You hung up and then just stared at your black phone screen for a moment. You couldn’t just sit in the house anymore. “Lola!” you called out into the house, not sure of where she’d gotten off to. “Want to go for a walk?”

Ransom didn’t come home that night, the absolute fucking coward.

When you woke up the next day, you couldn’t tell if Ransom’s side of the bed had been slept in or not. Lola was sprawled across it, taking up much more space than her tiny body would indicate. You decided not to dwell on it.

There was a text message from Steve, sent in the middle of the night.

Hey chipmunk. I’m so sorry I keep missing your calls. I’ve been absolutely slammed this week. I’ll try to call you soon. Hope you’re doing ok. I miss you so much. Love you.

You couldn’t stop staring at it. The childhood nickname combined with the distance the message represented made your whole chest ache. 

As the day wore on, you didn’t know what to do with yourself. The housekeeper didn’t want you around. All the unpacking was done. You couldn’t look for a job. You tried to read but you couldn’t focus. You called Steve but he didn’t pick up, again, and you just didn’t have it in you to leave another message.  

You felt like you sleepwalked through the whole day, so when Ransom walked in in the evening, you were startled to realize the day was gone.

Lola lept off your lap on the couch and ran to him as soon as he came in the door, hopping up and down and prancing in front of him. He froze, his scarf halfway off his neck and caught in his hands. “What is it doing?” he asked, turning to you, absolutely bewildered.

“I– I don’t know,” you said, staring at your dog. It was stupid, you knew it was so stupid, but you couldn’t help the frisson of betrayal that ran through you. She was supposed to be yours. She was supposed to love you, only you. And now she was consorting with the enemy. And you were jealous of a dog. But what else did you have? Your husband wouldn’t touch you, your brother wouldn’t call you back, and now your dog loved someone else. It all made you want to sob. “I think she’s happy to see you.”

He looked at you aghast. “Why?!”

“I don’t know,” you said again. “Lola,” you called, but she was still hopping up and down in front of Ransom. “Lola!” She turned at your stern tone and reluctantly ran back to you. You picked her up and cradled her in your arms. “Sorry,” you said to Ransom, then quietly murmured, “What were you doing?” into her fur. You glanced at the time. “You’re home early.”

“Uh, yeah,” he said, somewhat sheepish. “Finally got out of work at a decent hour.”

“Oh.” It felt so weird to have him here. “I guess we could have dinner. Have you eaten?”

“Uh, no. Dinner sounds great.” He finally came out of the entryway and began digging through his fridge, pulling out two of the pre-prepared meals his housekeeper kept there. 

As he put them in the microwave, all you could do was stare at him. You’d had the last twenty-four hours to stew in your anger and sadness and now all you really felt was tired. There was nothing you could do. It was his house, his family that held the strings. You were far from home with no one to back you up. He’d seen to it that you didn’t have a job to fall back on. All you could do was go along with what he wanted. The only thing you could do was make your place here more secure. As he bent down to get a plate out of the microwave, you blurted out, “Why won’t you fuck me?”

He straightened up quickly and stared at you. “What the fuck?!”

“I just–” you tried, “Has that happened before? Your problem. I’ve read that as men get older that happens sometimes.”

“I’m thirty-five, not fucking sixty. What the actual fuck?” He loudly dropped the plate down in front of you. “Eat your fucking food. I’m not talking about this.”

You sullenly started in on your food, it was pasta. You barely tasted it. You needed to keep talking about this, but doing it while he was angry probably wasn’t the best approach. 

He heated up the other plate and then joined you, taking a seat next to you at the island. You both ate in silence, until he finally said, “I just don’t think this is anything we need to rush into. We have plenty of time.”

You looked up at him. Of course, he wouldn’t think there was any rush. Of course, he didn’t have any personal stakes in you getting pregnant. Of course, he could forbid you from working but then deny you the one thing that would give you something to fucking do here. Something that would take a portion of your anxiety away. “We don’t actually,” you growled. “We have no idea how long it’s going to take me to get pregnant.”

“You keep saying that, but I just– I think rushing it would be a mistake. We have more time than you think and putting this off until we know each other better is a good idea.”

And suddenly, you saw red. Every single fucking thing was on his terms. His hometown, his family, his house, his things, his staff, his single car, his timetable. “And how are we supposed to do that, huh?” you yelled, standing up now. “When you’re gone before I wake up and you cross your fingers I’m in bed before you get home. If you even come home! When exactly is this getting to know each other supposed to happen?!”

“Hey!” he yelled, standing up as well. Lola ran upstairs at the sound of his stool scraping against the hardwood. “Calm the fuck down! What is the big fucking deal if we wait a few months rather than doing it right now?”

“Because the longer we wait the less time I’ll have to get pregnant! And the more likely it’ll be that it won’t happen and we’ll nullify the contract and our marriage will be dissolved. And you’ll be fucking fine! You’ll still be your grandfather’s and your mother’s heir. Nothing will happen to you. But I’ll be sent back to Joseph. I’ll have to accept a second arrangement with anyone who will take me. I’ll– I’ll–” You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t breathe. The room was getting smaller, pressing in on you, and you couldn’t breathe. 

You sank down to the floor and suddenly Ransom was in front of you. He called your name, but it was hard to process it. He called it again and you made eye contact with him. “You’re having a panic attack. You’re ok. You’re alright. I’m here.” He was speaking so quietly, so gently. “I’m here to help you, ok? I’m going to stay with you.” You nodded as best you could. “Can I touch you?” he asked, and you immediately shook your head. “Ok,” he said quickly, “that’s fine. That’s ok. I won’t touch you. You’re breathing too fast, ok? You need to slow down. Can you breathe with me? Come on, do it with me.” And then he breathed in slowly and you tried to match his rhythm. In and out, in and out, so slowly. At some point, he started counting. In 1 2 3 4 5. Out 1 2 3 4 5. Eventually, you could do it on your own, without him coaching you. 

You spent a few more minutes on the floor with him, you both just breathing at each other. Then finally you were able to find your words. “I’m ok,” you said. “I’m alright. Sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for,” he said, still so gentle. “Nothing at all. Can you get up?” You nodded and he helped you up. “Are you hungry?” he asked and you shook your head. “Ok, I’ll clean the food up later. Can I help you upstairs?” You nodded and he, very carefully, put his hand on your back, so slowly that you had all the time in the world to pull away. His touch was warm, soft. His touch was always so soft with you.

He guided you to the bedroom where Lola was already on the bed, shaking steadily and looking at you with big, fearful eyes. You climbed on and curled up next to her. “You’re ok,” you whispered to her. “I’m sorry we scared you.” She scooted so she was snuggled up right against you and you carded your fingers through her fur, scratching gently.

Ransom hovered at the foot of the bed. “Thank you,” you said quietly.

“Of course,” he said. “Has that happened before?”

You shook your head. “No, I don’t think so. How did you know how to help?”

“Oh, uh,” he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, looking down at the floor, “I used to get them when I was a kid. I had a nanny who, uh, she was really good about them.”

You just nodded, feeling like you should tuck away that information. You knew so little about him, real things that hadn’t been in the binder. You wanted to file away everything you could.

“Are you– Will you be ok if I go take care of the food?”

You nodded again. “Yeah,” you said, softly. “I’ll be fine. Lola will take care of me. Won’t you, baby?” Lola flopped onto her back so that you could give her tummy scratches and you let out a soft giggle. You smiled up at Ransom, to reassure him. And he just sort of stopped. And stared at you. Your brow furrowed as you became self-conscious under his gaze and your smile started to drop. 

He suddenly shook himself out of whatever had been happening and nodded. “Yeah, ok. Yell if you need me,” and he darted out of the room. 

You weren’t sure exactly how long he was gone. You passed the time snuggling with Lola, taking comfort in her. You felt shaky and raw. And scared, still scared of everything that could happen, everything you’d yelled at Ransom about. And Ransom himself, how he would take to being yelled at like that, once he was done being worried. 

You heard his heavy footfalls at the top of the stairs and looked up as he came back into the room. He sat on the edge of the bed and turned so you could see half his face. “I didn’t–” he started and stopped. Then, after another moment, “I didn’t realize you were so worried about all of this.”

“How would you?” you asked, your eyes cast down, locked on Lola as you continued to pet her. “You’re never here. We never talk.”

“I’ve been really busy,” he said, just a tinge of defensiveness in his tone. “Work’s been awful.” He paused, then repeated, “I’ve been really busy.”

“Sure,” you said.

Neither of you said anything for long minutes. You just kept petting Lola, your hand moving over her body rhythmically. 

Then finally, Ransom said lowly, “We can work on it. Getting pregnant. If that will make you feel better. Make things easier for you.”

“Can we?” you asked. “I don’t know if what happened– if that was something that happens to you a lot, or if,” you looked back down, “or if you just don’t want me.”

He moved his hand so that his fingertips grazed yours on the bed. “It’s not that. It wasn’t ever that, ok?” You couldn’t help the way your whole body heated, just a bit, at the implication. You looked up just as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. “I just– You were clearly so scared. You wanted to be anywhere else, I could tell. You wouldn’t let me touch you, you wouldn’t even look at me. I can’t do it like that. I just can’t.” He opened his eyes and looked right at you. “I just can’t.”

“Oh,” you said quietly. “That’s– I’m sorry, I–”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not– I just thought you should know.”

You sat quietly together for a few moments. Then you took a deep breath and said, “I think we should try again.”

He gave you a surprised look. “Now?” You nodded resolutely but he shook his head back at you. “You’re still coming down from your panic attack. This can wait til tomorrow.”

In the aftermath of your anxiety, the anger you’d felt had mostly faded away, but now it bubbled back up again. You were so tired of him dictating how everything would go. “No,” you said firmly. “I don’t want to put it off anymore. I’m fine now. This will make things better.”

He just looked at you, searching your face for something. You tried to show him how calm you were now, how sure. Finally, he let out a long sigh. “Fine,” he said. Then he got off the bed and started taking off his clothes. You scrambled up onto your knees to take your top off, gently coaxing Lola off the bed. She looked up at you, waiting for you to join her, but Ransom, now clad only in his boxers, picked her up, gently you noted, and deposited her in the hallway, shutting the door behind her. He looked at you as you continued to strip down to just your bra and panties, his eyes running over your body, and for the first time, you felt it. Maybe he did want you.

He climbed back on the bed. “Can I kiss you?” he asked. You froze for just a second, then nodded. He slowly brought his mouth to yours and caressed your lips with his own. His lips were soft and warm. The kiss was hesitant on both sides, not exactly passionate, but not chaste either. Nowhere near the worst you’d ever had. A quiet arousal began to pool in your core. Not need, not exactly. But it would be enough, you thought. You broke the kiss and laid down on your back. “I’m not trying to shut you out,” you said, trying to keep your tone kind, “but it’ll be faster, I think, if we both just get ourselves ready.” You started the same as last time, one hand on your breast, the other slowly traveling down your body to play with the hem of your panties. “But you can watch,” you added. “If that’s something you like.” 

He cleared his throat and nodded. Then he reached over and lightly grabbed your underwear with both hands. “Is this ok?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you breathed, trying to push down your nerves. Everything was ok, this was what needed to happen. You were fine. You were ok.

He pulled your panties down your legs, then tossed them on top of his own clothes. You closed your eyes to focus again on your goto fantasy. The man standing over you. His voice in your ear. And again, you heard the sounds of Ransom getting himself ready. The snick of him opening the bottle of lube. The wet sounds of his hand working over his cock. This time you didn’t let it bother you. This time, you willed yourself not to flinch when you felt his hand on your leg. You had two fingers in your cunt and you worked yourself open, your thumb rubbing over your clit. Once you were wet enough, stretched enough, you opened your eyes and sat up. Ransom was staring at you, one hand on his hard cock, kneeling in front of you. 

“Ok,” you said, “I think I’m ready.” He started to move forward, but you stopped him with a hand on his bare chest. “Can I be on top?” you asked. “Is that ok?”

He looked down at where you were touching him and then back up at your face. “Yeah,” he grunted. “Yeah.”

You switched places as he laid down and you moved over him, straddling his pelvis and then carefully lowering yourself onto his cock. You tried not to grimace as he stretched you. He grunted again, as you slowly took more and more of him. Both of his hands came up to grasp your hips as you began to ride him, slowly at first, then picking up your pace. He was staring at your body and it was– it was a lot. Too much. You closed your eyes against it, hoping you just looked like you were into it. As he got closer, he started to buck up into you. You couldn't help but gasp at it. One of his hands moved from your hip to rub circles with his thumb over your clit, the rest of his hand splayed over your pelvis. You breathed through it, trying to let go enough to let yourself come, but you could tell that wasn’t going to happen. That was ok. That didn’t need to happen. Only one of you needed to come tonight.

He continued to buck up into you, his movements becoming more erratic. You balanced yourself with your hands on his shoulders. “Can I–” he grunted. “I’m gonna– Can I move you?”

“Yeah,” you whispered. “Yeah.”

He sat up and tucked you into him, rolling you both over so that you were now on your back and he was on top of you. He thrust back into you, once, twice, three times, and then he was coming, filling you up. His whole body stuttered over you and then collapsed on top of you. He breathed into your neck for countless moments and you didn’t know why, but you brought your hand up to gently stroke at the short hairs at the base of his skull. “Do you need me to–” he started to ask.

“No,” you said, knowing he was offering to help you finish. “I’m fine. Good. I’m good.”

You felt him nod, just a little, but he didn’t say anything else. It was so quiet, just the sounds of him catching his breath. Then he placed a soft kiss where your neck met your shoulder and lifted himself up and off you. You whimpered, just a little, as he pulled out. 

You quickly lifted your hips up to keep his cum inside of you. You reached blindly next to your head until you found a pillow that you shoved under your lower back to keep your pelvis canted up. Ransom moved around the room, picking his underwear off the floor, and then into the bathroom. A few minutes later he came back out with a washcloth. He moved it towards your cunt and you shot a hand out. “No! Wait.”

“Hey,” he said softly, “it’s ok. Just for your thighs. I know. I understand.” He gently moved the warm washcloth over your legs. “Are you alright?” He asked, not quite meeting your eyes. “Was that ok?”

“Yeah,” you said, moving your hand to brush along his forearm. “I’m alright. That was good.”

You lay in bed as Ransom lightly snored on his stomach next to you, Lola curled up between you. You couldn’t sleep. You’d been tossing and turning for about an hour, probably. You sat up. It was no use. Your mind was too busy. Sleep wasn’t going to come.

You grabbed your phone and got out of bed, moving downstairs to the living room as quietly as you could. You curled up on the couch and hugged your knees. You weren’t sure how you felt. It had been fine. Parts of it had even been good, maybe. It’d just, it’d been a long night. You’d gone through so many feelings, and now– Now, you just felt a little empty.

You looked at your phone. It was just before midnight. That meant it’d be a little before nine in LA. Steve hopefully wouldn’t still be working, but he wouldn’t be asleep yet either. He might be out, or painting, or busy some other way, but. It was worth a shot. 

It only rang once. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” Steve gasped. “Work has been a fucking nightmare, but that’s no excuse. I was going to try to call you tomorrow, but I’m so, so glad you called me now. How are you? Are you ok?”

The tears had started as soon as you heard your brother’s voice. “Steve,” was all you could get out before you were full-on crying.

“Oh, chipmunk, no. What’s wrong?”

You wiped your eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get yourself together. You finally had your brother on the phone. You weren’t going to waste the whole conversation crying. “Nothing,” you managed. “I’m ok, I just– I’m just so happy to talk to you.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, and you thought that maybe his voice sounded a little thick too. “Me too. I’m so happy to talk to you. I’m so sorry it’s been so long. How are you doing? Your messages, you sounded– Are you ok?”

You sniffled as you tried to nod and then realized he couldn’t see it. “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m good. It’s just a little lonely here. I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too. Everything’s so different here without you. Shit, it’s late there. What are you doing up?”

You shrugged. “Just couldn’t sleep. It’s been a long day.”

Steve hummed and there was a tone to it you couldn’t quite decipher. “Is Ransom there?”

“Yeah, he’s asleep upstairs.”

“And how is he?” Steve’s tone was decidedly cold now.

“He’s fine,” you said, ignoring it. “His work’s been really busy too.”

“And how’s he been to you?” he asked and you definitely didn’t miss the challenge there.

“He’s been fine, Steve,” you said and you weren’t sure whether or not it was a lie. “Everything’s fine.” You’d already decided you weren’t going to tell him about the job thing. That wouldn’t do anything but upset him. Get him on a plane here, maybe, so he could try throwing his weight around. You rolled your eyes. It was better this way. “I’ve just been unpacking mostly. Nothing too exciting. What about you? What’s going on with you? I want to hear everything.”

“You’re sure it’s not too late there?”

“No, not at all. I’m wide awake. And nothing much to get up for in the morning anyway. But if you’re busy or need to go to bed or something, you can go whenever you need to.”

“Not a chance. I wanna talk to you as long as I can,” Steve said. And you knew he couldn’t see it, but you grinned into the phone anyway.

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[loonylesbian]

ok i am very much so not a writer, or at least not creatively. but i had this idea and i couldn’t get it out of my head so i decided to write it out. it ended up being 6.1k words so feel free to not finish it cause i’m sure it’s not good. however if you do read the entire thing i hope you like it and don’t clown on me too hard. long story short either you’re welcome for this or i’m sorry for this. there is no inbetween

naked in manhattan // k. martin

10 years ago

“Kate can you believe it! We’re starting high school!!!” you scream, hugging your best friend on the last day of summer. If you were being totally honest, you were nervous never being good at making friends, always relying on Kate for that. Her being so outgoing and friendly, it’s not that you weren’t nice, you really were, if anyone asked Kate would say that you’re the sweetest person she’s ever met, you were just shy. Talking to just about anyone made you nervous, in fact, you had a short list of people who didn’t make you nervous.

“I know! It’s gonna be great, I’m gonna do my best in basketball and volleyball, and you, my little genius, are gonna be the best in every class, and make tons of new friends,” she reassured you as if she could feel the nerves radiating off of you in waves. You were grateful for that, she had always been able to know exactly what you were feeling and how to help, even if you didn’t. It was one of your favorite things about her, sure there were too many things you loved about her to count, but that was one of your absolute favorites.

“I promise I’m gonna do my best to make it to each and every single game of yours,” you told her holding up your pinky while looking up at her, she giggled and interlocked her pinky with yours in a pinky promise, something you have insisted on doing since you met. You swore that it was more real than a regular promise, and made it to where the universe let the promise happen, not just the people involved.

“Well if it’s a pinky promise, I know you're never gonna miss a game,” she replied with a smile reserved just for you.

7 years ago

So far your promise had held, not without some struggle, but you had still attended every game Kate had for both sports she played, and just about every other game she just wanted to watch. There were a few games where you were late because of your job, studying, or other things that had gotten in the way, and the two times where you sat as far away from everyone else as humanly possible because you didn’t want to get them sick but also didn’t want to miss Kate’s game, but for the most part you sat right at the front to cheer on your best friend.

After the game tonight you guys were gonna have a sleepover as tradition for Friday night games, whether it resulted in a win or a loss. Either way, you usually ended up in her arms bringing her comfort, whether that be her knowing that she deserves it because she played well and won to bring her down from that high or wishing she had done things differently to change that loss and you reassuring her that it wasn’t all her fault, because as far as your were concerned basketball was a team sport and a loss couldn’t hang solely on one person's shoulders. After all, you were her number one supporter, never failing to let her know how proud of her you are and how much you love her no matter how she feels. You made everything feel okay for her, but it was the least you could do, afterall she did that and more for you.

when i sing that lana song it makes you cry

On the drive back to her house listening to the radio, she couldn’t help but look at you as much as she could without crashing the car. She couldn't help but feeling like she was was really listening to the song for the first time as you were singing along to “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Ray. She didn’t quite know what it was but when she looked at you and listened to you singing she couldn't help but feel her heart race and her body flush, she swore she could listen to you forever. Had someone told her in that moment she would never get to hear you sing like that, she would swear she’d cry And if anyone asked, she would tell them she liked girls, it wasn’t like it was a secret, and she’s had crushes before, she knows what it feels like. But she never thought she would have a crush on you, purely because you were her best friend, she couldn’t do that, it could ruin your friendship. That wasn't something she was willing, or at least wanted, to risk. A friendship that you've had since kindergarten, although now that she thought about it, it was basically a lesbian right of passage to fall in love with your best friend and-

mean girls we watch every night, and we both have a crush on regina george

“So wanna watch Mean Girls?” you ask abruptly interrupting her thoughts. Truth be told she’s glad that you did, it was probably best that she didn’t dwell on those thoughts for too long. Little did she know she wasn’t the only one who wasn’t having completely friendly thoughts about the other. She was just the only one who wasn’t in total denial about liking girls in the first place.

“Obviously. As if we would watch anything else first,” she replies with a scoff as if it were crazy for you to even ask. Although, to be fair it was crazy of you to ask because that was the first movie you watched anytime you had a sleepover, and it had been that way for years.

“Sorry. Sorry. I forgot you had a crush on Regina George,” you said with a small chuckle, brushing off the twinge of pain you felt at the idea of Kate having a crush on anyone else, even if it was a fictional character from a movie. Because why would you be sad or jealous about that? She was just your best friend, right?

Kate flushed even more red at this comment if that were possible with the combination of the game she had just played and watching you. Even though it was chilly outside and in the car, in that moment it felt like it was 100°. She wasn’t sure if it was nerves or joy that was causing her to feel that way, but she did. In that moment life was perfect, the chill in the air, the rain falling around the car they sat in, the now soft music coming from the speakers, and most importantly you. She wished she could stay in that moment forever, just taking you in, stuck in that perfect moment forever. She let out a slightly nervous chuckle, lightly biting her lip, before she replied, not wanting to break the peace she felt.

“Okay, okay, don’t act like you don’t have a crush on her too. I know you have a thing for blondes.” She finally lets out trying to wave you off and ignore her pounding heartbeat, all while trying to steal another glance at you. What she doesn’t notice, however, is your face flushing or your fists clenching when she says that as if she uncovered a deep dark secret, that you hadn’t told anybody. And to be fair that’s exactly how you felt, you did have a crush on this mean girl and you did have a thing for blondes, but you hadn’t quite come to terms with that yourself, let alone talk to anybody about it. So if anyone asked, the blondes you had a thing for were blonde guys, but you were hoping nobody would ask. Even if that person was Kate, your best friend.

And you didn’t notice her grip on the steering wheel tighten a little bit, waiting for a response. Hoping you would do or say anything to acknowledge what she had said, telling her she was right or wrong, waving her off altogether, laughing. She waited for any acknowledgment of what she had said for the rest of the ride home, but it never came. Instead, you changed the subject all together after sitting in silence for a few minutes. You hoped she didn’t notice that, but she did.

And so you followed your typical Friday night game routine, going to her house, watching Mean Girls, finding yourselves tangled up together but never acknowledging it, and then turning on some other random show or movie before falling asleep. Still in each other's arms. Still, just best friends.

6 years ago

Today was the day, the last full day before your crush best friend was leaving you. Ok well not you per se, but she was leaving. And yes you were also going to leave and go even farther in a few weeks, but that’s beside the point. It still felt like she was leaving you and it just didn’t feel right. You couldn’t exactly put into words how or why you felt so badly about it, but you did. Maybe the fact that you had never been apart for longer than a week played a part in it. Sure, you were both gonna go off and hopefully live your dreams, but it just didn’t feel right to do that away from each other. However, she was going to Iowa and you were going to New York and there's nothing you could do to change that now. And you did genuinely think about going to Iowa instead, but New York was your dream, so when you got into culinary school there you decided to go. You knew you loved it and you knew that New York was a great place to start, not to get started on the fact that it could take you literally anywhere you wanted to go. That didn’t make the decision any less painful though.

“I’m gonna miss you so much,” you whispered in Kate’s ear giving her a hug. You honestly don’t know why you’re saying it right now, it’s not like she's leaving right this second, but you still need to say it, and you’ll probably say it about 1,000 more times before you actually have to say goodbye in the morning after your final Friday night sleepover, even if it didn’t follow a game you guys have grown into the habit of doing this almost every Friday night. She squeezes you tighter if possible when she hears this, trying to burn that moment into her memory, knowing she loves you but it’s too late to do anything about it now, at least not anything serious. It wouldn’t be fair to either of you, to admit her feelings for you after years of friendship less than 24 hours before you guys go to different states for college. It would be cruel, and she told herself it would almost be more cruel if you felt the same way about her. She knew that you came to terms with being queer, at least enough to admit it to her and yourself, what she didn’t know is that a big part of that was you coming to terms with being in love with her. But still, it was too late and she had to let that be.

“I’m gonna miss you too,” Kate said with a big sigh before releasing you, muttering a quick “more than you could know,” under her breath, hoping you didn’t hear. Happy when you showed no indication of hearing the last part.

“But we still have a whole afternoon/night to do all of our favorite things together before I leave. And we can go get our favorite breakfast in the morning,” she said with a more upbeat tone, poking your sides slightly, trying to lighten your spirits too. Slightly succeeding when she saw you perk up a little, putting a small smile on her face.

“Okay, okay, so what do you say to popcorn, Mean Girls, and a bunch of candy?” you asked, slightly mimicking her accent. She replies with an eager nod. Grabbing your hand and pulling you to her room after making a pit stop for the snacks, failing to notice the blush that covered your cheeks. You simply follow her rushed pace, happy you decided to wear sweats and a tank top, as opposed to something like jeans to lounge around in.

By the time you were about halfway through the movie, you found yourself wrapped in her arms, like usual. But for some reason not knowing when you’ll see her again after this, and the cheesy high school coming-of-age movie in the background made you a little more confident. Not super confident to where you would outright tell Kate that you’re in love with her, but confident enough to try and hint at something, which is more than you’d ever been willing to do with anyone else. So that’s what you do. Especially after spending years denying your feelings, and almost a whole extra year hiding them.

“You know what sucks,” you start off looking up at her waiting for any kind of acknowledgment. She finally looks down at you with a light “Hmm?”

“I’m about to go to college and I haven’t even had my first kiss,” you say unable to stop your eyes from glancing down to her lips. This statement took her off guard, sure, you had never talked about anyone, guys or girls, but you’re you and she figured you had your first kiss and in your typical shy fashion, you just hadn't wanted to bring it up.

“What? No way!” she says laughing a little only realizing her mistake when she saw your face drop.

“No no no, I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t get how you of all people haven’t had your first kiss yet!” she exclaims “I mean you’re literally perfect, you’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re funny, you’re a great cook, I mean you're my favorite person in the world. I just don’t get how no one’s kissed you yet!” she finished off her little rant with a small huff.

“Well no one’s wanted to,” you mumble looking down a little bit, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden.

“That’s not true,” she mumbles quieter now than she had been before, suddenly feeling almost as shy as you while taking you off guard. It was pretty obvious what she meant, no hidden meaning laced in with her words, unable to pick her gaze back up to your eyes once they dropped down to your lips.

“I mean would you?” you question with a little more confidence once you notice where she's looking. You can’t help but follow her lead and look down to her lips, before going back up to her eyes, even though she still wasn’t looking.

touch me baby, put your lips on mine

“It doesn’t have to be weird or anything, it's just you’re my best friend, and I’ve never kissed anyone, and you’re leaving tomorrow and I don’t want to go to college without at least having my first kiss,” you kind of spit out hoping you don’t sound pathetic or desperate, or make her want to kick you out.

“Would you want me to?” she questions back, already knowing your answer but just wanting to ask to know that you were sure.

“Yeah, I’d like that” You rush out in a kind of whisper to her nodding, so she nods back to you. You can both tell that you’re nervous, each for different reasons. All it takes for you to start leaning into each other is locking your eyes again. In that moment she looks like an angel, with the soft glow of the lamp making her hair look even more golden than usual, to the way she was looking at you, not to mention how you felt about the grip she had on you. You barely even had time to actually look at her before her lips crashed onto yours. And that’s exactly what it felt like in that moment, like waves crashing onto cliffs, a completely overwhelming feeling, yet still, it brought you a newfound sense of peace. She pulled you as close to her as possible, knowing that this may be the only time you get to do this, not wanting to be even an inch away from you. At this point you were basically straddling her while she was leaning up against her headboard, both wanting nothing more than to be together, knowing you couldn’t.

You had never kissed anyone before but thought to yourself that in that moment that if this is what it is like you never wanted to stop. Kate had kissed people before, and you knew that, but what you didn’t know was that none of those felt anything like with you. They couldn’t compare. Not by a long shot. If she didn’t know how much she loved you before, she definitely knew now. The only issue is that she knows this, it’s gonna make it even harder to leave you in the morning.

By the time you guys pull away breathless from a mixture of kissing, nerves, and giddiness, you can’t help but feel at peace, resting your foreheads against each other’s. Sure you knew that nothing could come of this, that nothing would come of this, at least not right now. But you were happy. Happy that you got to show her how much you love her in one small way, one new way. Happy that you got to know her, and happy that she felt the same way about you. Even if you guys didn’t necessarily talk about it, or say outright say it, you both knew that was always one of the best things about your friendship, you didn’t have to actually talk in order to communicate and get your point across, and even when you did need words you didn’t need many of them.

So when you guys make eye contact again you come to a silent agreement, you have that night, and the next morning to talk if you want. You know you love each other, but also that there's realistically nothing you can do for you to start a relationship at that moment and have it work out. Not when you were about to be nearly 1,000 miles apart. It wasn’t right to risk it. And you both know that you’re too important to each other to risk your friendship, especially when almost all of the circumstances are pointing to it not working out. So, you have that night, after that, you’re friends again, maybe not even best friends, and if it works out you can be together in the future when you can be closer. But for the time being this is for the best, this is safe.

April 2024 || Present Day

It had been years since you and Kate had last seen each other properly, there were brief passings when you were both in your hometown that resulted in short conversations, but you were both barely there, you less than her, and when you were your family made sure you never went longer than 20 minutes without them other than to let you sleep. You had stuck to being friends, not best friends, just friends. Never talking about that night, your last night together. Not wanting to risk it, not yet. Other than that, you guys have managed to text each other occasionally to check-in. Keeping each other updated on your lives, but not close. It was as if you had both come to the understanding that you should keep a certain level of distance so as not to ruin what you had. Knowing that if you talked more, you would’ve talked about what could have been more. And you just couldn’t risk it.

id love if you knew you were on my mind, constant like cicadas in the summertime

That’s not to say that you didn’t keep an eye on her and her basketball. You had been her #1 fan since day one, and even if you didn’t talk or see each other as much as you used to, you wouldn’t let that change. You still felt the exact same way when you thought about her, even if you tried not to. Even when you knew you shouldn’t. You just couldn’t stop thinking about her. While you obviously couldn’t go to all of her games anymore, you still watched every single one, even when you were at work during them you would try to either watch it on your phone or record it and watch it when you got home later. You even managed to take off work for both the Final Four and the Finals this year to watch her and her team, even if you didn’t make it in person, you still had to watch the games live. And once you heard that she had declared for the WNBA draft you had to get a ticket for that, it was perfect, it was in Brooklyn so you didn’t have to travel more than taking the subway. And this time you told yourself that you would talk to her, not go up to her at the draft but you would text her and let her know that you were gonna be there if she wanted to meet up after, or at any point while she was in town. You would make an effort to see her. You really didn’t know when the next time you’d get the chance to see her again would be, it’s been so long since the last time, partially due to schedule, partially due to nerves, and you were about to move across the country to Las Vegas for a new job. You figured it was now or never, and you really hoped you would get the chance to see her so you could get her out of your mind.

You knew you had to try. Try to talk to her, try to see her, try something. You couldn’t stand it anymore, constantly thinking about her, you needed closure, even if there wasn’t necessarily anything to get closure about. You still had to try. So even though you had grown up a lot in the past six years, you had learned to start a conversation instead of stuttering your way through when someone came up to you, gotten more friends, and most importantly gained confidence and figured out a pretty good idea of who you were. You were nowhere near as shy as you used to be, but still the mere idea of Kate brought back butterflies that made you feel like you were in high school again. Frankly, the feeling had to be classified as something stronger than butterflies. So obviously the idea of calling her went out the window for you, you figured she was so busy anyway that she probably wouldn't answer, and you told yourself that if she chose not to answer a text it would hurt less than not answering a call. And after a lot of thinking and rewriting, you finally sent her the text.

“Hey Kate, I heard you’re gonna be in town for the draft and I know you’re probably busy but I would love to see you. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been keeping up with your games, I’m so proud of you, still your #1 fan, and can’t wait to see where you go. I’m gonna be at the draft rooting for you, just like I have been every step of the way even when I couldn’t physically be there. So if you wanna meet up after the draft or at any point while you’re in town let me know.”

Once you hit send you waited, and waited, and waited. Once it hit six hours with no response you figured you weren’t going to get one. Now that you had sent it, you realized that it was more nerve-wracking to sit and wait for the possibility of a response than to try and figure out what to say and hit send. Every possible reaction she could have had to your text was running through your head, well not every one, just every bad one. You didn’t know what she was thinking, or how she thought anymore, and that was terrifying to you. The nerves were so bad that to anyone watching you probably looked like a mess, flushed cheeks, sweaty, a little hunched over, and very clearly looking nauseous. But you were fine, it was no big deal.

You lied to yourself, it still hurt that you didn’t get an answer, but still decided to go to the draft anyway. Even if she didn’t want to see you, you still wanted to support her, figuring it was a big event and the chance of you seeing each other let alone talking were slim to none. You could go and didn’t have to talk if she didn’t want to. Plus you didn’t want to waste your money after you already bought the ticket and more than anything you wanted to support her, she was your first friend, your best friend, so far your most important friend, and now she's about to be a professional basketball player. You had to be there to see it come full circle, after spending the better part of ten years being able to count the number of her games you hadn’t seen on one hand, and saying you were her #1 fan, you just couldn’t miss it. Not for you, and certainly not for her.

By the time you had actually gotten to the draft and it started you were so focused on listening for Kate or her name, you couldn’t focus on anything else. You couldn’t hear anything that wasn’t related to her. You were confident that she was going to get drafted, but there was still a “what if” sitting in the back of your mind knowing your heart would break for her if she didn’t, maybe more than hers. Then you heard it, “With the 18th pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, The Las Vegas Aces select Kate Martin, University of Iowa.” you were so focused on her getting on a team that you didn’t think of the city she might end up in. You wish you could hit rewind when you heard it, almost not believing it. She got drafted to the Las Vegas Aces, you would be in the same city for the first time in 6 years. There could be a chance of you guys actually happening. Of course, she still had to go through training camp and make the roster before she was officially on the team, but you have no doubt that that’s going to be the easy part compared to everything else that it took to get to that moment. Not to mention text you back. When you’re finally able to focus again, there have been a few more picks you decide to go on your phone and check Twitter to see what they are saying about the draft. What you didn't expect to see when you opened your phone, however, was a message from Kate.

🏀Kate 🏀

“Hey, sorry I didn’t see your message or get back to you earlier! I’m so happy that my #1 fan came to support me just like you have been all these years. It means the absolute world to me to know that you came here for me tonight because I wasn’t even sure I was gonna make it. I haven’t been on my phone like at all today, but I’d love if you’d come celebrate with me and my friends tonight? It only feels right that you’re there, you’ve been there for pretty much everything else already, you should be there to celebrate now too.”

When you read the text you could’ve sworn your stomach quite literally did flips, while a giddy feeling erupted through your body, even releasing a small, relieved, laugh. At this point, the last thing you were expecting was to get a response, at most expecting to go to a bar close to your apartment for a drink or two, if you were feeling frisky. But upon seeing her text, you decided “Why not?” and decided to respond.

“Yeah of course I’d love to celebrate with you and your friends!! You deserve it after all the hard work you put in to get here. Just send me the time and place and I’ll meet you there.”

You tried to keep your response short and sweet, not trying to read too much into what she said or trying to seem too eager. Although, you were quite excited to actually see her and have the opportunity to talk to her again. You figured it wasn’t guaranteed that you were even going to talk more than a simple greeting, let alone that she would want to talk about what happened the last time you spent any substantial amount of time together. Hell, you weren’t even sure you’d stay longer than half an hour. But before you could dwell on it too long, you got a response, with nothing more than an address and a time.

//

By the time you show up, which is 20 minutes late due to nerves alone, you are sure Kate had forgotten that she had even invited you. What you hadn’t expected was for everyone to automatically know who you were, greeting you excitedly. You thought at most one, maybe two people would vaguely know who you were, but you didn’t expect all of your friends to recognize you and know pretty much everything about you. Including things you were pretty sure you hadn’t told Kate when you would catch up.

But that’s exactly what happened, all of her teammates knew who you were, Jada, Gabbie, and Caitlin, even people she barely knew. Never in a million years did you think that she could possibly talk about you that much. You didn’t think there could possibly be that much for someone to talk about regarding you, let alone that anyone would want to, especially after 6 years of limited communication. Yet it warmed your heart, it made you happier than you had been in a long time, to know that she talked about you, that she cared about you enough to talk about you that much. Jada went as far as to say,

“We finally get to meet you after her nonstop talking about you for I don’t even know how long. We were starting to think Kate made you up,” before giving you a hug in greeting. You could tell from that alone that she was an absolute sweetheart.

new crush, high school love again

By the time you had been able to talk to Kate for any substantial amount of time, it was clear that you both had a few drinks. Neither one of you could help yourselves from embracing each other in a long overdue hug, slightly rocking as she lightly rubbed your back. You couldn’t help but feel like you belong there. You had always felt like you belonged when you were with Kate, fitting together like two puzzle pieces. Like you had wasted time not being there. You never wanted to leave her side again. You didn’t think you could stand it. At that moment, hugging each other again for the first time in you don’t know how long, you both felt like you were in high school again. You knew she still gave you butterflies, but in that moment you could have sworn you fell in love with her all over again.

“I’m so proud of you, I knew you could do it,” you whisper while pulling away from the all-too-long hug. Looking up at her, you were filled with an all-new type of butterfly, a bird maybe. Filled with a sense of joy knowing she was happy to see you, and a sense of contentment knowing that you were going to be in the same city again, for the first time in years. Knowing that you know each other, without really knowing each other. In a sense you know each other, you kept each other updated on the big things, relationships you were in when you talked, basic interests, but you didn’t know what really mattered. You didn’t know the little things, the day-to-day, the highs and the lows, and you missed that. You missed knowing the one thing that made her day unbearable, or the one thing that got her through the day. It was always you, to this day. But she wasn’t willing to tell you that yet. She loved you, and you her, and you both knew that, but you only knew that past tense.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she says into your ear sending a shiver down your spine. You had officially fallen even more in love with her than the last time you saw each other, and you barely talked yet. And just like no time had passed, able to see the change in your demeanor, she grabbed you by the hips before looking into your eyes.

“I’m serious y’know? I really wouldn’t be here without you. You made it all worth it,” she pauses, eyes briefly scanning the room. “Every time I felt like I couldn’t do it, you made sure to tell me that I could. You made it clear that you believed in me, but you weren’t ever gonna push me into something I didn’t want. Even when you weren’t there I still thought of you. Thought of what you would say, how you would make everything better. You got me here baby,” she finishes off. Her eyes found their way back to yours while she talked, the intensity of her gaze alone could melt you.

“Even though I wasn’t there I never missed a game. I watched every single one, even if it was just a recording. I'm still your #1 fan, and I can promise to never miss a game of yours in the WNBA now either. I’ll even be at all the home games,” you smile up at her looking to see if she caught onto your words. You can see her trying to figure out what you meant, her eyebrows scrunching up in confusion as she was thinking before a smile eventually broke out on her face.

“What? Are you moving to Vegas?” she asks, her volume growing with each word. She grabbed you by the shoulders before lightly shaking you in disbelief. As if trying to figure out whether or not this was really happening.

“Yeah, I got a job there and I’m moving at the beginning of May,” you say laughing at her clear excitement. To her it felt like she was about to burst, this is what you had been waiting for, this was a sign. It wasn’t planned and neither one of you had any idea it was going to happen, but you were going to be together again.

the rush of slumber party kissing

“I can’t believe it! Are you joking?” she asks looking down at you for any hint of a lie coming from you, but she found none, so she continued. “Like we’re actually going to live in the same city? This is amazing, I can’t believe it.” and then it slips out, she doesn’t mean to say it, but she does, “We could try. Like we could actually be together, for real-” By the time she realizes what she said she was looking at the floor and couldn’t bear to try and meet your gaze. After all, she basically just confessed that she was still in love with you after 6 years of barely seeing or talking to each other.

“Really? You’d want that?” you ask her, grabbing her face and lifting it to meet your eyes. You couldn’t believe she wanted you, after all this time she still wanted you. So you did something Kate never in a million years thought you would’ve done, you kissed her. She wasn’t sure where your confidence had come from whether it had been her basically admitting that she never moved on from you, or the drinks you had, or just simply you growing up and actually being more confident. But she couldn’t think about that now. Now she had you in her arms, for the first time in years. She had you in a way she thought she had missed out on because she waited. And in that moment she knew she wasn’t going to let you go ever again.

[newworldwritings]

If Only (preview)

paring: San x chubby!reader

genre/warnings: angst, fluff, suggestive, second chance, time travel/new universe (1950s), mentions of car accidents, female reader, featuring all of ateez (greaser ateez), featuring some of the nct & stray kids boys, smoking, motorcycles, fuckboy activities, lowercase intended, insecurities, body shaming, we hate hyerin, san being oblivious in flashbacks, yunho being an absolute golden retriever, wooyoung is a bit of an ass (sorry, don’t worry tho he gets a character development) will mainly be in sans pov but will switch from other perspectives, any bold & italic words are what the characters are actually thinking

word count: 1k+

pls reblog!

taglist: open! just comment to be added!

a/n: I had a dream of this (not with the members) & I wanted to write it out, also got a bit inspired by “Marry My Husband” but it’s a completely different plot.

preview:

“san i can’t be letting you back in every time things go sideways with her, i'm done being the second choice.”

“i’m done. goodbye san.”

those were the last words L/N Y/N had told me after i chased after her out of the school, and being the idiot i was i just stood there watching her walk away from me towards yunho, one of my best mates. since when did they become close? but those were the last of my worries. i had just lost my childhood best friend because i was too blinded to show this school i was the best at everything by going after the most sought out girl of the school hyerin. when i should’ve gone for y/n. she always stood by my side, never once showed me disloyalty, and always picked me up anytime hyerin shooed me off for her other boy toys. she never once judged me for my ways and i took her kindness and love for granted.

now im left here alone with no hyerin in sight, probably making out with jaehyun, and my mates are probably having the time of their life’s at the dance with no clue that i had lost y/n.

while watching her enter yunho's car my mind was yelling at me to go after her. but i couldn’t, i had been selfish for too long. i knew she needed me to let her go so she could move on.

but that also meant i had to move on but how could i move on with life when i had lost the best thing that i could ever have in life.

watching yunho's car pull out the parking lot, i decided that one last time i wanted to be selfish. so i chased after the car. not noticing how i ended up on the main road, not noticing how a car was coming towards me until it hit me.

i flew back and laid on the road while looking at the night sky, i wanted to scream at the universe for doing this to me. when in reality i should’ve been yelling at myself for being stupid, and oblivious.

the pain from the impact of the car started invading my whole body. it hurts. everything. mentally and physically.

i closed my eyes hoping someone or something would come and take this pain away from me. not just from the impact but from my heart as well.

i heard sirens and people rushing towards me, but i also heard someone saying my name over and over again. but i couldn’t open my eyes. until someone shook my body forcefully.

then i got up like i had just woken up from a nap. looking around trying to find out who was shaking me rather than helping me. then i noticed i wasn’t on the road, it wasn’t night time, and there was no car.

rather i was on a field under a tree next to a building that looked like our university. what the fuck.

“san!”

i looked forward to the person in front of me calling me.

“y/n?” but this was not my y/n i could tell from the very different clothes she was wearing and her hairstyle was completely different. it seemed like a hairstyle that would be done in the 1950s.

“come on, we’re gonna be late!” she pulled me up and started fixing my leather jacket. wait when was i wearing this. where am i?!

while I was lost in my thoughts i heard a group of people calling me towards the entrance of the school. wait is that?

“come on san we don’t want to get yelled at by Ms. Lisa again hurry up!” hongjoong?

it was all my friends, but it wasn’t at the same time? since when did we all start wearing matching leather jackets? but before i can question anyone y/n pulled me towards them.

“lover boy is gonna miss his chance to talk to hyerin before class.” i turned too wooyoung, who was snickering, but i was too focused on his appearance. he didn’t have his oreo hair as he liked to call it, his hair was all black with an undercut. when did he have time to do that? before i could turn to y/n to ask her what’s going on i was being pushed towards the door, following the rest of the boys, while i had time to look around the area i looked at the backs of my mates and some of there side profiles. they all had their hairs gelled back, even jongho who preferred the boyfriend style. what stood out to me the most was the leather jackets we were all wearing had ‘ATEEZ’ in big white letters with 3 motorcycles below it. they all look like they had just came out a greaser movie with this style they all had. wait… y/ns style of clothing along with my mates. am i in a different timeline..? no that can’t be.

to further prove my theory, i turned to y/n.

“y/n, what’s the date?” she looked at me weirdly.

“it’s march 29?” she said as if it was the most obvious answer. “no, what year are we in?”

“san are you ok? did you hit your head? you’re acting really weird”

“who’s acting weird?” wooyoung turned around to look at us. “san, he’s asking what year we’re in.”

wooyoung only chuckled, “he's probably just nervous because hyerin is going out with him this weekend, san it’s 1955 you bimbo. now loosen up don’t want to scare hyerin off.”

i stopped in my place. “it’s 1955!?” everyone turned to me. “aye san you sure you good?” i turned to yunho with a look that screams ‘do i look good to you?’

“oooookaayy, i’m gonna take this one to Lee before class, we will catch up to you guys later.” y/n waved to everyone while pushing me towards a different door.

what the actual fuck is going on.

[multifandomfanficss]

You Really Gotta Get Better At Lying

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader

Featuring platonic!Peacemaker, Goff, and the rest of the 11th Street Kids

Adrian Chase Masterlist

Prompt: You’re a civilian with a superhero boyfriend. It was working out pretty well for you both until one day when you’re hanging out in his best friend’s trailer and you get stuck in the crossfire. This is based on episode 6.

Warnings: Mentions of guns, Cannon compliment jokes, language, and violence, joking references to m-preg and daddy kinks (this is Adrian and Chris we’re talking about and it’s based on the butterfly interrogation scene lol), Angst with a happy ending

A/N: Hey Guys! Cannot believe this is my first full fic I’ve been able to finish since last August…11 months! This year has been pretty nuts for me, but I miss my man :)))) ❤️🧜‍♂️❤️ (Also the part in italics is a flashback if that’s not clear.)

“Come in Adrian!” You heard a voice coming from the trailer as your boyfriend knocked.

“How did you know it was me?” Adrian asked.

“You knock in a very annoying way. Hi, (Y/N).” Chris said as you walked into his place.

“I’m sorry.” You placed a hand on Adrian’s shoulder.

“Well I think it it’s cute.” You smiled at him. He smiled down at you, breaking into an infectious smile. Your own smile only grew. “Hi, Chris.” You said turning to look at Peacemaker. Today was your day off and Adrian wanted to get wasted at the trailer. Despite not always getting along, you were pretty good friends with Chris so you loved going to his place with Adrian to hang out. When you got there he was in his super suit. This was no surprise to you. Adrian had brought his as well. Usually a day at Chris’ meant at least an hour would be spent doing target practice or what you liked to call watching your two favorite idiots fuck around.

You had learned about Vigilante not too long into dating Adrian. It wasn’t hard to figure out. You loved him, but he was an awful liar. One slip up lead to another and suddenly it was 3am and Vigilante was knocking on your door. You’d had a nightmare and called Adrian because you knew he was a night owl. You woke up hyperventilating and sweating, too scared to go back to sleep. You just wanted to hear his voice, but you weren’t gonna complain when he said he couldn’t sleep either and was on a late night walk by your apartment. You didn’t question how weird that sounded, you just wanted to be with him so you said he could come over. What you didn’t know was that he was actually on patrol on your side of town. He meant to change, before reaching your door, but somehow he was in such a hurry to get to you he just forgot. He didn’t realize when you screamed upon opening the door, already shaken up from your nightmare and now confused as to why the news’ least favorite costumed crime fighter was at your apartment. He screamed back at you.

“What are you screaming about?!” Vigilante asked.

“What am I screaming about?! What are you screaming about?!”

“Okay! Stop screaming! I am really confused right now!”

The more you thought about it the more you realized you knew that voice.

“…Adrian…”

“Of course it’s me! I know it’s late and it’s dark, but is it that hard to recognize me? I think you might need to check your eyes again, Bug-a-boo.”

One of those silly nicknames you loved. It was Adrian.

“…mask…”

You saw his eyes go wide behind the tinted red visor. His gloved hands went up to touch his face. He’d forgotten.

“Oh shit…” He said under his breath. “I- I don’t know who Adrian is…who’s that? I’m sorry I scared you, innocent civilian. I was just out doing my patrol duties and I-“

“Adrian…” You started to tear up.

“I told you I’m not Adrian. I’m Vigilante. Common mistake. Both names sound like super similar actually-“

“Adrian…” You cut him off again, bursting into tears, hugging him. He sighs.

“You’re okay, (Y/N). I’m here. Everything’s okay.”

You stared at a jar on Chris’ table. It had some sort of bug in it. It was a species you’d never seen before.

“What’s that?” You asked.

“You kept Goff?” Adrian questioned.

“Is that like the name of the bug or did you guys name it?” You keep staring, confused. It almost seems to stare back at you.

“That’s his name. We found him in a shitty politician.” Adrian answered. In him…? You didn’t want to know so you decided not to press as the boys continued to argue about keeping Goff as a dangerous pet.

“Why is he dangerous? Is he invasive?” You questioned.

“You could say that!” Adrian joked.

“Where is it from?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think they came from our solar system. I feel like NASA would have figured that out by now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were fucking lying to us.” Chris said on the verge of telling another conspiracy theory.

“What…?” You finally broke your gaze from Goff.

“Don’t even fucking get me started on the moon landing and-“

“No, I mean this- this is an alien?” You cut off Chris. You turn to Adrian. “You’re fighting aliens?!”

“Yeah! How cool is that?!” His face lit up.

“So fucking cool!” You started nerding out with your boyfriend until your attention was drawn to Goff who was drawing a peace sign on the jar in some sort of weird goo. The three of you, after taking about a minute to freak out, sat on the couch to investigate. You sat in between Chris and Adrian. You were hoping this would keep them from arguing, but it did nothing of the sort. Before you knew it your head was resting on the back of the couch as the two guys argued above you. “Will you guys just kiss and make up already?! Jesus! Get a room! Chris you gotta have more patients and at least try to see his point of view. Adrian, baby, we have to ask yes or no questions because Goff can’t speak to us verbally and we don’t have an alphabet for him to spell things out with.”

“What if we got like an ouija board and just let him move the little triangle thing around?” Adrian wondered.

“I think that’s a great idea, but we don’t have one right now, so just while we’re limited on time we gotta keep it to yes or no questions, alright? Think of it like that pendulum thing I showed you. It can only swing so many ways like how Goff can only tap so many times.” Adrian finally seemed to understand. One of your favorite things to do together was info dump about your interests. Not too long ago you’d had a really big hyperfixation on ghosts, which is probably where he’d gotten the idea for the ouija board in the first place. It wasn’t that he was stupid, he was often just running a marathon in his head to find different solutions to the problems everyone else had already given up on. While he was trying to figure out a solution, everybody thought he was an idiot for even trying. That was one of the many reasons you and Adrian worked so well together. You both understood how the other person’s brain worked.

“Okay. Goff, are you here to put babies in us like in alien?”

Two taps: No.

Adrian sighs.

“Dude, you’re upset about that?” Chris asks.

“Well how else am I gonna experience motherhood?” Your boyfriend asked sadly. You rested your hand on his knee.

“I’m sorry, baby. But you know what? Maybe one day you can be a really incredible dad to our kids.” You blushed.

“You think I’d be an incredible dad?” He asked in awe.

“I think you’d be the most incredible dad.” You kiss him as Chris gags.

“Now it’s my turn to say get a room and not one in my trailer. I don’t want you guys fucking roleplaying your daddy m-preg shit in my bathroom.” Chris rolled his eyes.

“Oh my god that is not what I meant! Please can we just get back to the alien bug sitting on your coffee table?!” You exclaimed.

One tap: Yes.

“See! Even Goff agrees you’re being ridiculous!” You tell him.

“I am not!” Chris started to argue like a toddler.

Two taps: No.

“You’re acting like a toddler.”

One tap: Yes.

“Woah! It’s like Goff’s on (Y/N)’s side.” You smiled at Adrian’s amusement.

One Tap: Yes.

“You are not helping me here.” Chris whispered in a harsh tone to the jar.

One Tap: Yes.

You laughed. “Goff, do you wanna be friends?”

One Tap: Yes.

As you and Adrian continued to argue with Chris, much to Goff’s amusement, Adrian’s phone started to ring.

“Who is this…Vigilante? I- I don’t know that person. That’s um- is that even a name? I’m- sounds Italian and I’m- I’m- I’m American, so I can’t even-“ Chris ripped the phone from his hand and you gave him a sympathetic look.

“Babe, you really gotta get better at lying.”

“I’m great at lying!” You gave him a smile.

“Okay, honey.”

“I am!”

“A month after we started dating you showed up at my door fully suited up, completely forgetting to change after patrol.”

“That’s because I wanted to. It was my way of telling you.” He was obviously lying again

“Okay, honey.” You smiled as Chris shushed you. He was panicked, far more panicked than usual.

“What’s happening?” You questioned, starting to get nervous.

“The entire police force of Evergreen is outside right now. This place is fucking crawling with cops.” Chris whispered, opening his sunroof.

“Are we gonna fucking crawl up there?!” You whisper yelled, trying to keep your voice down. You were a civilian and despite hanging around superheroes you had never been in on the action yourself.

Adrian grabbed your hand. “It’s gonna be okay.” He tried to give you reassurance, despite not quite knowing what they were up against. “I need you to promise me you’ll stick by me, okay?” You stared at the roof in fear. “(Y/N), I need you to promise me.” Adrian looked at you desperately searching for an agreement.

“O-okay” You stuttered, your mind barley able to process what was happening. Chris climbs through helping pull you up as Adrian lifts you through the hole. You were so scared you didn’t even really notice Adrian had Goff tied to him with duct tape. Chris started climbing in a nearby tree. Adrian pushed you towards it. You shook your head at him, giving him a face that said ‘There is no way in hell I’m doing this’.

“I’m not gonna let you fall.” He promised. So much for that. Not long into climbing Adrian himself fell out of the tree. Usually you would find his clumsiness cute, but now was not the time. Chris put his free hand over your mouth to stop you from screaming.

“Oh fuck…I’m okay…” He said, a little out of it, just having at the wind knocked out of him. Of fuck. Goff. This is when you fully process the glass jar taped to Adrian’s back…the broken glass jar. Chris quickly helps you get down. You run to Adrian.

“Are you okay?!”

“I’m okay, I promise.” Adrian reassures you.

“DON’T MOVE!” The police detective yelled, pointing her gun at you. Adrian rested one hand on his hip, close to his knife and the other on your back so he could push you underneath him in a second if bullets started flying. You were terrified. You didn’t even notice Goff flying towards the woman until he started to fly into her mouth. Now you knew what Adrian meant by in the senator. Blood started pouring out of her mouth.

“What the fuck?!” You yelled in shock as Chris and Adrian started pulling you up from the ground. Everything was happening too fast. Suddenly you were running through the woods. Bullets were flying. Knives were being thrown.

“At worst, he’s paralyzed!” Adrian’s voice barley broke through to your clouded mind. You could see a clearing up ahead. Just get to the clearing. You can do it. Just get to the clearing. You saw Chris stop in front of you. He had a gun pointed directly at him. Then another. You and Adrian stop behind Chris. You’re surrounded. Adrian keeps you close. Then one of them falls to the ground. You grab onto Adrian’s back, not wanting to limit the movement of his arms. He reaches behind himself to put a hand on you. You turned to see another policeman had shot the guy who was pointing a gun at you.

“What the fuck?!” You yelled, trying to keep your panic down.

“Do you wanna ask stupid questions or do you wanna live?” He asked you as you hid behind Adrian again.

Chris and Adrian pulled you away from the scene as the man shot the defenseless low level cops on the ground. He mocked their cries as he shot them. Chris and Adrian brought you to a car the man had told you about. A getaway car that was waiting for you just down the road at the edge of the woods. Adrian shoved you into the car. You sat in the back seat with him as he continued to argue with Chris, even throwing his phone out the window at one point. He kept an arm around your shaking body. Eagly was squawking in the passenger seat. It was all too much.

“SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU PLEASE.” You started to cry. “I LOVE YOU BOTH, BUT PLEASE! FUCK!”

Adrian placed a kiss to your forehead gently starting to rub your arm. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not you. Usually I wouldn’t care, but what the fuck is happening?! Is the detective fucking dead?! Like is that what they do?! Just like fucking drill into your skull through your mouth and play Ratatouille?!”

“They can go through your butt too…” Adrian said quietly.

“Oh great! So glad! That must be so much more pleasant!” Adrian went to open his mouth, but you knew what he was gonna say. “Yes, I’m being sarcastic!”

“Okay. Thank you for specifying. Let’s just breathe. Can you do that? Can you breathe with me?” Adrian asks, starting to exaggerate his breathing for you to follow. He knew you were starting to get worked up. You always got upset when you were confused, but this was an entirely new level with an added sense of extreme terror and danger. You try to follow his breathing. “In and out. Good job.”

“Forget about the aliens I wanna know what the fuck was up with that one cop!” Chris questions from the driver’s seat, now done using Adrian’s phone to call headquarters.

“You mean you didn’t fucking know that guy?!” You question.

“No! Why would I just know a crazy fucker at the police station?!” Chris yells.

“I don’t know! Maybe the fact that he gave you a car?! You know some pretty weird fucking people! I’ve never met King Shark!” You scream, letting out a sigh, leaning further into Adrian’s touch as he kisses your forehead again, still trying to calm you.

The rest of your short drive to headquarters was mostly spent in silence. You had never been there, but you knew where it was. You were the only person Adrian told everything to. You walked into headquarters quickly, not wanting to be seen stashing the getaway car.

“What the fuck just happened?!” Chris yelled bursting into headaquarters.

“Who’s the civilian? I don’t think I have to remind you of the privacy of this mission.” A man who seemed to be in charge asked as you tried to make yourself small feeling scared and embarrassed. You think you remember Adrian saying his name was Murn.

“They’re my partner.” Adrian told the team.

“You have a partner?” The man who was absolutely John Economos asked. He was even taller than you imagined.

“I told you I had a partner. You knew about them.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think they were real.” John laughed at his own joke.

“Um…hi. Sorry. Very real partner over here, what the fuck is happening?!” You interrupted. They all exchanged a series of looks you couldn’t read before one of them spoke up.

“Hi my name’s Leota. Why don’t we go talk in the other room for a bit?” You didn’t answer her, you just squeezed Adrian’s hand, not wanting to be separated from him.

“It’s okay. You can go. I’ll just be a few minutes. I promise you can trust her. Eagly does!” Adrian smiled at you.

“I guess he’s pretty good judge of character.” You joked, giving Adrian a smile.

“It’s okay. We’re safe here. Here, take this.” He reached for the back of his chair and grabbed a sweater he’d accidentally left there. He wrapped it around you. He knew how much you loved to wear his clothes. You were happy to be surrounded by his smell. You sighed, calming a little bit. “I won’t be long and I’m not gonna leave the building. I promise.” You nodded, reluctantly following Leota.

“Harcourt you handle this. Peacemaker, Economos in my office now.” You heard as you walked up the stairs. As Leota was answering some of your questions Harcourt and Adrian were downstairs having a very difficult conversation.

“You don’t look so happy. I thought you loved violence. I thought you said it was awesome.” Harcourt started, her voice thick with sarcasm. Adrian missed it yet again.

“Not when they’re involved.”

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have involved them then.”

“I didn’t mean to! I’m not normal. I know and usually I don’t care, but they are the only thing in my life that makes me feel normal- the only part of my life that feels normal. Even…even when I’m just Adrian Chase, the busboy at fennel fields, everybody acts like I’m a fucking freak or some big burden. But not them. They let me be myself. They like me! They’re separate from all of this. I should be allowed to have this one thing.”

Harcourt’s face softened. “You should be and I’m sorry…but that’s not how this life works. I know you want to keep them safe. It’s only gonna get more dangerous from here. You know what you have to do, right?”

“I’m not doing it.”

“Look…” Harcourt paused taking a deep breath. “Adrian…I’m sorry. Doing what we do- it isn’t easy.” She used his real name. He thinks this might even been the first time she’s really called him anything other than Vigilante, psycho, or dumb shit.

While they were talking downstairs you were upstairs asking all sorts of questions to Leota about the butterflies. She was answering as much as she could until Adrian knocked on the door. “Can I have a minute alone with (Y/N)?” He asked.

“Of course. Let me know if either of you need anything.” She smiled at you on the way out.

“She’s nice. I’m sorry I freaked out earlier. I think I finally have a handle on everything now.” You smiled at him, but he wasn’t looking at you. His eyes were glued to the ground. “Ade, what’s wrong?” You asked.

“I’m breaking up with you…”

“Yeah haha very funny. Now, what actually happened downstairs?” He stayed silent. “You’re serious? Adrian, you’re not breaking up with me.”

“Yeah I am actually.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to date you anymore.”

“That’s not true. You’re an awful fucking liar, so look at me and tell me why you’re breaking up with me.”

“I already told you why.” He was starting to get choked up.

“Adrian, I love you.”

“I love you too-“

“Then don’t break up with me!” You cut him off.

“I have to!”

“Why?!”

“I need to keep you safe!” He raised his voice at you. He’d never raised his voice at you like that before. You started crying.

“Why don’t I get a choice?! What about what I want?! Shouldn’t it be my choice?! Adrian, I don’t give a fuck if it’s dangerous! Before I met you my life was awful! I was a freak! You are the only person who makes me feel like I can be my fucking self! You are the only person I don’t feel like a fucking inconvince around! The only one who understands me! Why can’t we just have this one fucking thing?!” You yelled.

He laughs through the few tears that had just started falling down his cheeks. “That’s what I said.” He sighs, sitting on the couch, wrapping you in his arms. “I’m sorry.“

“Please don’t leave me. You’re my entire world.”

“I may be your world, but you’re my sun, I live for you- because of you. There would be nothing without you. Nothing.” He kisses you on the forehead.

“So, don’t break up with me.” You were pleading quietly through your tears at this point.

“I’m sorry. I don’t wanna say I was eavesdropping, but I was totally eavesdropping. If you’re worried about them being safe I think I can help.” Leota entered the doorway again.

“How?” Adrian asked.

“Well, I have my wife set up in a safe house right now while things are a little extra sticky. Sometimes things get lonely. I bet she’d love a new roommate.”

“Adebayo, are you serious right now?”

“Very serious, Adrian.” She smiled.

“Oh my god I could kiss you.”

She laughs at his comment. “Don’t kiss me. I’m married. Go kiss your partner who you’re not breaking up with and don’t tell Harcourt about this.”

“I won’t.” He smiles.

“Okay, now I think you should really take her advice and kiss me.” You smile up at him, kissing him.

“Okay, lovebirds. I’m gonna go distract buzzkill 1 and buzzkill 2 downstairs. I’ll let you know if you’re needed.” She smiles, leaving you to alone.

“I can’t believe you almost broke up with me.”

“Yeah that would have been stupid.”

“Really stupid.” You added, both laughing. “I love you more than anything.”

“I love you too more than anything.” He said. You both smiled, kissing. You snuggled deeper into him and started a discussion about the logistics of how you would navigate this new adventure.

[scarletts-scribbles]

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭

Hey! Here's a compiled list of prompts for people to use, feel free to submit any of these for requests or to use in your own writing. I didn't come up with all of these myself so check out the credited creators! Requests are not limited to these prompts, feel free to think of your own or change these up!

𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 «» 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬: 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧

: ̗̀➛ 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟

“I’d rather sit and do nothing with you than do anything with anyone else.”

“Would a hug make things better?”

"You wanna cuddle for the rest of the morning?"

"Just hold me?"

"You're being extra cuddly this morning."

"Quiet night on the couch?"

“You make me want to be the best I can be.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you like to be the little spoon.”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?”

“You look really cute in my clothes.”

“You’re special. People like you don’t come around often.”

“I’ve only ever loved you.”

"You're hogging the blankets."

"May I have this dance?"

“Are you blushing?! That’s adorable.”

“Breathtaking. You’re breathtaking.”

“You should smile more often, it looks good on you.”

“Did you just kiss me to shut me up?”

“Should we make it official?”

“Can you wash my hair for me?” 

"You're crazy if you think I'm letting you sleep on the couch."

"Can I braid your hair?"

"I'm not giving up on you, ever. I promise you.”

“You’re being very unsubtle with your heart eyes for them.” 

“I’m proud of you, no matter what.”

"You're the worst, I love you so much."

"You got me flowers?"

: ̗̀➛ 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭

“Did you ever really love me?”

"Why did you come back?"

“You couldn’t just let me have this, could you?”

“Just because you hate your life doesn’t mine to get to dictate mine!”

“Look what you’ve done…”

"You promised you wouldn’t forget me."

“I don’t have an attitude, I just answered your question.”

“Please say something!”

"I get it! You're jealous!"

“Us? There was never an ‘us’.”

“Is this how it really ends?”

“Why can’t you be happy for me for once?”

“It’s too late for ‘I’m sorries’.”

"I thought I'd lost you forever."

“Ha… I told you you’d outlive me.” 

“Since when did you ever care about me?!”

“Tell me how I’m supposed to un-love you, then. Tell me. Spare me.” 

“Kiss me one last time?

“Why did you think you could change this?! You’re nothing!”

“This is all your fault.”

“I vouched for you! How could you?!"

"God, how blind can you be?"

“You’re either a fool for not knowing or an idiot for not doing something!”

: ̗̀➛ 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭/𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭

“Shut up and just let me take care of you!”

“Either go to bed and get some rest willingly, or I will drag your ass down the hall kicking and screaming. you know i’ll have no problem with either option.”

"How long have you been hiding this?"

“And just when were you planning to tell me you were sick?"

“Please be okay. Please be okay, please be okay—”

“You’re awfully quiet today.”

“Get behind me.”

“Here, lean on me. I can carry you.”

“Hey! Hey, relax it was just a nightmare, I’m right here.”

“You dumbass. Don’t do that. Ever again.”

“Try and get some sleep. I’ll stay right here- I won’t let anything happen to you, I swear.”

“We’re gonna fix you up, brand new. I promise.”

“Bless you! Jesus that nearly gave me a heart attack, how about a little warning next time?”

“Your hands are freezing! come here, let me warm you up.”

“Show me?”

“Your bedside manner is awful.”

“Your not exactly a good patient.”

"Did you eat something bad?"

“Would you like a heating pad?”

“I think I just started my period…”

“Oh darling, this fever, you’re totally burning up.”

“You can sleep in my bed, if it'd be of any help.”

"How many fingers am I holding up? ... I don't have six fingers."

“What the hell happened to you?”

“Did you remember to take your meds this morning?”

“Don’t be stupid, now sit down before you pass out.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Stay?”

“Who did this to you?”

“You’re not fine! You’re bleeding for gods sake!”

: ̗̀➛ 𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭

"I want to taste you so badly." 

"Make me beg for it." 

"Oh I can do this all night long." 

"Be a good girl and use your words darling." 

"You surprise me every day." 

"Let's find out how much you want it." 

"Kiss me, I can't wait any longer." 

"Come on, please, do it." 

“Don’t worry, I’d take you out for dinner before I eat you out for dessert. It’s the polite thing to do.”  

"Do you like it when I talk like that?" 

"Oh, you like that?" 

"Hmm, you're not very patient, are you?" 

"Well, let's see what happens tonight." 

“I’ll be gentle, baby.  Don’t worry.” 

"Can you kiss it better?" 

"Keep the noise down, baby.  Someone's gonna walk in." 

“God, you look amazing like this.” 

"Let’s put that smart mouth to good use.” 

"Oh, you're hard to please." 

"I had a very nice dream that started like this." 

"Can you be good for me?" 

"It's so hot when you talk like that." 

"I'll go as long as you need." 

prompt sources: @.scealaiscoite, @.sleepywriter00, @.dumplingsjinson, @.euthymiaaa, @.novelbear, @.luvmmarner, @.promptsbytaurie, @.creativepromptsforwriting, @.rosewritingprompts

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

wibta for not attending my friend’s kid’s bday party?

my friend, Lettie, has been my best friend since forever. we stayed friends all throughout college. she ended up marrying this other guy at college, call him Cyril.

I dated Cyril’s roommate, Jack. It was good for a while, and then it got bad. No physical abuse, but a ton of mind games. I’ll spare the details. I panicked at the sight of Jack for months afterwards, and I have not dated anyone since.

Lettie (and Cyril to some extent) knew about Jack’s actions. Of course, Lettie knew. She’s my best friend. And Cyril is, though not my best friend, still a very good friend. Cyril’s the kind of uber friendly guy who thinks of the whole world as his friend.

Fast forward to the present. Lettie’s kid is having her first birthday party. Tons of people are gonna be invited: relatives, Lettie’s mom-friends, and me. I have been at their house every day this week doing yard work and making decorations and cooking and calming Lettie (big gatherings stress her out). I have even agreed to drive 4 hours to pick up her sister and take her to the party, since she will be hosting and unavailable.

Well, tonight, night before the party, she drops the bomb that they’ve invited Jack and his wife. Why? They aren’t relatives. They have no kids. Then again, I fall into neither category, but it’s odd they’d be invited with Lettie knowing just how much Jack hurt me. She said she invited them because she didn’t think they would say yes. She offered to uninvite them, but I said “No”, because come on, it’s the night before the party, that’s a bad position to put Lettie in.

Anyways, I’m going to pick up Lettie’s sister as planned, and drop her off at the party, but I will leave immediately after. I just don’t want to be there. I never want to see Jack again. Just the thought of it makes me want to scream.

But at the same time, it seems rather petulant. I could just avoid Jack. It’s silly to be so angry at Lettie, but I am. I’m angry at the whole world.

Wibta for not attending the whole thing? I probably will attend, and I know this’ll get published too late, but maybe if I’m unlucky enough to have this happen a second time, I’ll have the collective wisdom of the blue site lol

What are these acronyms?

[themultifandomgal]

From 2010- Modest Management Suck

2012

Part 20

“We’re about to go out and do some signing” Harry says to the camera

“We’re at Natick Mall in Boston. It’s gonna be really fun, we’ve heard there’s loads and loads of people and we’re very very excited” Niall says as I laugh at Louis pretending to walk down stairs behind us

“Let’s go!” Liam and Harry shout at the same time. We stand behind a door waiting for it to open

“Anyone else feeling nervous?” I ask feeling a slight tingling in my toes and fingers. I can also feel my heart racing

“It’s excitement, you’ll be fine” I hear Richard say. Nodding my head I watch the doors open and I put a smile on my face. I walk behind Harry and in front of Niall just trying to focus on my breathing as we walk through the Mall where so many people are screaming. We all sit down shocked that this many people have come out to see us. The security then let the fans in small groups come over to us. We sigh the books that we had released late last year.

Throughout the whole time I try to keep smiling and my heart racing at bay, but I can always count on my boys for noticing when somethings off. So when we have a little break for something to eat I sit down on the sofa breathing in deeply

“What’s up?” Louis asks frowning as he sits next to me

“I don’t know, my chest hurts” I almost sob “I- I can’t stop shaking, but I’m not cold I’m really warm”

“Paul I don’t think YN should go back out there” Liam says

“No, but Simon…”

“Fuck Simon and what he says” Niall says sitting on my other side

“She’s going out there even if I have to drag her out there” Richard crosses his arms

“Look at her, she can barley breathe” Paul defends

“I think this is makin’ her worse” Harry kneels down and takes a shaking hand in his and gives it a squeeze of reassurance

“She’s going out there and that’s final” with that Richard leaves the room

“Hey jus’ look at me and breath with me” I try to match Harry’s breathing to calm myself down.

Another day another performance. This time is for the Today Show. We arrive on a bus which stops at the Rockefeller Plaza. We all jump off and run to the stage as music is already playing

“New York City make some noise!” Harry yells into his microphone. Immediately WMYB starts playing

“You're insecure, don't know what for. You're turnin' heads when you walk through the door. Don't need makeup to cover up. Bein' the way that you are is enough” Liam starts singing. Harry then turns to look at me and gives me a little encouraging smile since I’ve been feeling so worried and stressed recently

“Everyone else in the room can see it. Everyone else but you”

We all sing the chorus, then it’s Zayn’s turn then mine

“I don't know why you're being shy and turn away when I look into your eyes”…

“One Directions first album has hit number 1 in 6 countries and they could make it 7 this week when Up All Night is released here in the United States. One Direction is Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and YN YLN. Good morning guys”

“Morning” we all say in unison

“What do you like best about American girls?” the interviewer asks and I roll my eyes at the question. I then spot Richard off to the side shaking his head at me

“They’re very very loud” Liam says which causes everyone to scream

“YN what’s it like for you? Your living every girls dream right now being close to these boys all of the time”

“Your right I am living my dream, but it’s being on stage and singing. I’m just lucky I get to do that with these guys I can call family” I reply

“What’s the best and worst part of this sudden fame?”

“I think for me and I know these guys will probably agree, but I’ve made 5 best friends” Zayn says “the only down side would be that we don’t get to see our friends and family as much” or that our every move is controlled, is what I would love to have added on. We continue on the interview and sing a few more songs.

I stand next to Louis and Harry while our choreographer puts us in our places for rehearsals for the Kids Choice Awards

“I want YN and Zayn to switch” Richard says hands on his hips “we can’t afford more cheating rumours so during this song you have to stay away from each other”

“And what happens when the press say YN and Liam are dating or YN and Niall?” Zayn asks

“We will deal with that if it happens. Harry I’m looking into getting you and Taylor Swift together. Boots both of your careers”

“Are you serious?” Zayn raises his eyebrow “this is ridiculous” he huffs

“Simons wishes, keep rehearsing” Richard then leaves us to carry on rehearsals. I take in a deep breath just as I feel an arm around my shoulder. I look up to see Zayn

“I know, me to” neither Zayn or I have ever liked Richard, but we’ve always tried to keep the peace but it’s getting harder and harder.

[pirillalothario]

If You Can't Stand The Heat

Cap 0.07

"Mom hasn’t been feeling well lately"

"One would say that, after me and my little brother Beau, a woman her age should know the symptoms, right? But she says nothing about it..."

"And who do you think is the father? Does your mother have a boyfriend? She’s pretty... Nice," Gordon giggled.

"My father died less than three months ago. It could be him... I need you to get me more chores, Gordon, please! Beau is still in diapers, and you can’t know how much diapers cost!"

Gordon laughed even louder

"And I’m very, very careful never to learn it, little Dustin. I’ll see if I can get you involved in my next... secret mission. See you in the next few days, man."

Almost a week passed without Dustin hearing news from Gordon, and his mother Brandi was getting "worse and worse".

"Dustin, your brother Beau only wants you!"

"Don’t say that, Mom! Beau adores you," Dustin said, but he thought it wasn’t so strange that he was his brother’s favorite, since his mother had never paid him any attention.

His job, his mother, his little brother, his girlfriend.. Dustin's day were so fast and so busy that he could barely sleep, let alone study!

But every time Dustin came home with a D, Brandi completely lost control, and she started screaming.

Dustin didn’t understand. He didn’t understand how everything changed so quickly.

Of course, even when his father was still alive, they weren’t rich, but at least Dustin could focus on his studies and his friends.

And now he suddenly became the head of the family.

While her eldest son was at school, Brandi often received a visit from Dina. Dina was such a good friend! With her Brandi was feeling still young and ready to live her best life!

And Dina was the right person to confide her concerns to.

"I think I might be pregnant, Dina. By Skip... But I'm not ready to take a test, who would want a posthumous son of Skip Broke? That fucking asshole..."

"Listen Brandi, you’re going out with my sister, her boyfriend and me tonight. Let’s go to dinner and have a drink, we’ll relax! You deserve it!"

"Dustin, I’m going out with my friends tonight. Will you take care of Beau?"

"Mom, Angela’s having a party. I told you last week. Do you have to go out just tonight?" Dustin asked.

But he already knew the mother’s answer.

"You always get bad grades, and you haven’t been going to work lately. We’re gonna have to pay rent in a few days, and Beau’s milk is running low. You know, Dustin, how stressed am I?"

That’s when the phone rang.

It was Angela, and she wanted to talk to Dustin. But Brandi nervously answered that Dustin was not available.

She closed the call and lay down on the couch for a nap.

Dustin was angry, but he was used to repressing his anger. He tried to turn it into energy and committed to doing homework for the next day.

An unwise idea was forming in his mind...

Brandi had a nice night out with Dina, Nina and Don. She had fun, and she was feeling calm, because she knew that in that moment she had no responsibility.

"Nina, didn’t you say that maybe Brandi is pregnant? She shouldn’t drink!" Don said inappropriately.

Meanwhile, at home, Dustin had prepared dinner for little Beau, he bathed him and read him a bedtime story.

Then he had put some clothes rolled up under the covers of his bed, so that in the dark that mess seemed like it was him asleep. And now he was ready to go to Angela’s party... leaving Beau home alone.

Luckily Brandi came home just a few moments later.

"Hey, did you see that great yellow sports car? It must was Daniel’s car, it’s so incredible!" Don said.

"Daniel who?" Asked Brandi.

"Daniel Pleasant, sweety, your son's father in law" answered Don.

[rainbow-flavoured-skittles]

Hey Mom, Dead Mom

Bonus chapter: You won’t believe the mess that we’ve become

bonus chapter has arrived! this was originally a scene from the second chapter, but it ended up with so much Cole and Jay interaction that it would have caused the whole fic to be unable to be read as a standalone. I still really like it though, and it explains a few things in ‘Cause daddy doesn’t love me, mommy is a god, so I’m posting it as a bonus chapter. this is cross posted to ao3 as well

~

Cole dialled the number slowly, as if it would delay the inevitable. He watched it ring three times before Jay picked up. “Hello?” He said.

“Hi, Jay,” Cole said softly. “It’s Cole.”

“Cole!” Jay exclaimed. How did he manage to sound so happy when Cole had been ignoring him for months? Cole had been expecting anger and yelling, not Jay sounding like this call was his birthday present. “Whatcha need? Do we have to get kicked out of another cinema?”

“I need to talk to you about stuff,” Cole decided to say. Best to get straight to the point rather than dance around it. Pun not intended. 

“Talk about what?” The concern was evident in Jay’s tone. 

Cole took a breath and got it over with. “I’m being sent to boarding school.”

“WHAT?”

“Yeah,” Cole said. “I’m leaving on Sunday.”

“B— but why?” Jay sounded so hurt. Cole wished he could stop Jay from being hurt. 

“I don’t have a choice, Jay,” Cole said over the phone. “I’m sorry.”

Jay’s voice was very small. “Can we at least meet up? Before you leave?” The twelve-year-old asked. 

“Yeah, sure,” Cole said. He blinked the tears out of his eyes. “Tomorrow? It’s the only day I’m free…” Dad wanted Cole to be packed by Saturday, since he was leaving on Sunday, and tomorrow was the only day he could sneak out.

“Okay,” Jay sounded choked up, like there was something stuck in his throat. Cole imagined that he was crying over the phone. 

“See you,” Cole said. Then he hung up before Dad could see he wasn’t packing.

~

The next day came much too slowly. Cole spent most of the night practicing what he was going to say to Jay, how he would apologise for not being around for so long. Cole really wasn’t good at this whole ‘being a good friend’ thing. 

When tomorrow finally came around, Cole jumped out of bed and got dressed as quietly as possible. Most of his clothes were already in the suitcases, but a hoodie and pair of jeans were still out. Cole put them on and got out of the house quickly. Dad was at work, because he couldn’t be bothered to help with anything, but better safe than sorry.

The cafe they’d chosen to meet at was decently busy when he arrived. People streamed in and out, clutching cups of coffee and talking on the phone. One man was so distracted that he almost lost his wallet twice. Cole picked it up for him and watched him go out the door cursing. Kind of rude, but Cole didn’t care. He was too busy waiting for Jay.

“Hey,” a voice said, and Cole turned to see Jay sliding into a seat. “Haven’t seen you in a while, Rocks-for-Brains,” the familiar nickname made Cole smile.

“Same.”

Jay clasped his hands together. His expression was grim. “So, you’re really leaving? No offence, but your call yesterday didn’t explain a lot.”

“Yeah, I am. My dad’s forcing me to go,” Cole’s voice was thick. 

“So we’re never gonna see each other again?”

“I don’t know,” Cole shrugged, and it was the truth. Dad wanted him to stay at MOSPA even during breaks, so that he could ‘build character.’

Jay sniffled and wiped a tear away. “If this is the last time we see each other, it’s gotta be the best one-and-a-half hours possible.”

“I’m sorry for not being around and ignoring you,” Cole said suddenly. He’d been wanting to say that ever since Mom died.

“You were grieving for your mom, dummy,” Jay narrowed his eyes. “You still are. I mean, yeah, you were a bit of a jerk, but it’s not like I was mad. And even if I was, it’s all forgiven.”

“You’re supposed to be mad and screaming at me.”

“Do you want me to? I’ve been doing drama lately, so my vocal cords are really good. We can do the whole ‘old married couple screaming at each other’ thing.”

That made Cole laugh a little. Jay was exactly the same as he’d remembered, always cracking jokes and trying to make people smile. “No thanks, I prefer not getting kicked out of places.”

“You sure? We can even flip a table and throw coffee,” Jay sing-songed. 

“That’s a safety hazard. Coffee is really hot.”

Jay rolled his eyes and turned to the counter. “You want anything? I’m buying.”

“No, I’m buying, since I’m the one who was a jerk,” Cole stood up. 

“Nuh uh, oldest pays.”

“It’s only six months,” Cole glared. They were already back to their old dynamic, which was nice. He’d missed hanging out with Jay. 

“Six months is enough to be half the year.”

“Yeah, so you’re old?” 

Jay gasped in mock horror. “I am not old!“

“M’kay, grandpa.”

Jay stuck his tongue out at him. “We’ll split it fifty-fifty,” he said. 

“Fine.”

~

A hot chocolate and muffin later, it was past two in the afternoon. Cole shot up when he saw the time — he had to be back home soon!

“I’m sorry, Jay, but I have to go,” he packed up his stuff and closed the backpack.

Jay looked at him understandingly. “Your dad’s gonna be back and you have to get home.”

“Yep,” Cole said. He pulled a little box out of his pocket and handed it to Jay. Hopefully the stuff inside wasn’t messed up from being jostled around. “Here, this is for you. A goodbye present.” He pressed the box into Jay’s hand.

Jay looked at it curiously. “What is it?” He asked. 

“I already told you,” Cole said. “It’s a goodbye present.”

“But what’s in it?”

“You’ll have to figure it out yourself,” Cole smirked. He gave Jay a hug and ran out the door. He hoped that Jay liked the bracelet.

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU: A similarly medically metaphorical musical melody as that last song I sent you: Fruiting Bodies

Same producer too.

I'd say more, but I have to wake up early tomorrow.

Have a good night. Or day. Either or.

Oooh yeah this scans very well with the forced infection method:

Chloe vibes:

Oh, lately I’ve been awaking at night, out of breath and feeling scared I think I must be under attack, but nothing’s ever there Oh, I try to be the best version of me, so I push all the bad thoughts away But, something snaps in the back of my mind, and I think about it anyway My mind’s eye is defined by contrariety

Lila vibes:

People say I am not the one I claim to be Won’t you tell me what you think of that? (Won’t you tell me what you think of that?) A little fruiting body buds under my skin A trauma to the system’s all it needs to begin No, don’t come any closer! It’s a trick-trick-trick And it terrifies me more than I intend to admit

Both girls vibes:

Left discarded and forgotten right under your nose Oh, how did we end up in here? Nobody knows! My rotting body is the perfect fit-fit-fit Unbeknownst to anybody, the mycelium grows Picture me, unable to sleep, not a sound rings out in the house The voices tell me something is hiding underneath the ground

Lila Vibes:

I repress my fright, and I cover my eyes and surrender myself to my fate The ones like me weren’t built to last I’m not leaving it up for debate Something’s wrong with the form of my identity Suddenly, I’m coming to (Suddenly, I'm coming to) I am not in the body that was meant for me

Chloe vibes:

Tell me what I am supposed to do (Tell me what I am supposed to do) Another fruiting body sprouts out of my skin A tiny opportunity planted within Now, look away I’m gonna be sick-sick-sick I’m not one to cry, but I have been unable to since They’re coming after me I can’t run away They hear me screaming in fear They think it’s hilarious We’re coming after you You can’t run away We hear you screaming in fear Isn’t it hilarious?

Lila vibes:

I don’t know how my mind acquired these memories Tell me what it all entails (Tell me what it all entails) Now I wish I had guarded my naivety I have shed the universal veil (I have shed the universal veil) A hundred fruiting bodies burst out of my skin The countless amanitas are doing me in You’re allowed to take me out if you so wish-wish-wish No such thing as second chances it’s a hit or a miss! And a thousand fruiting bodies are spreading their pores It’s impossible to tell which ones are real anymore My organs and the colony will mix-mix-mix Now my body is the keeper of the roots in my core

[warriorteam1924]

My body’s aching

John Deacon x Veronica Tetzlaff

Author note : Hello my beauties. I'm back for John's birthday of course !! I’ve been super busy lately and I’m aware it’s not my best piece, but  I hope some of you will enjoy it anyways. Thanks in advance to anyone who will be giving honest feedback, it’s always very appreciated. Also, I remind you English isn’t my mother tongue, apologies in advance for the mistakes.

Warnings : none really, just my awful writing. and a slight sexual innuendo…. 

Summary : a slight problem on a birthday morning

Words count : 1,243 words

Permanent taglist : @reavenedges-lies​ @thosequeenboys​ @born-to-lose​  @orionis8689​ @queenlover05​​ (communicate with me regarding tagging please)

As he usually did, John Deacon went to bed at a reasonable hour that day. He kissed his wife goodnight and got comfy under the cover, the fresh air coming from the window cooling the room’s atmosphere. He wasn’t thinking at all that the following day would be his birthday. Not that he didn’t care at all, but at this very moment, all he wanted was a good night’s rest. After all, he was going to be 72 in a few hours, he had to take care of his sleep schedule, since he wasn’t 23 anymore.

Dreams. John didn’t have many of them, or at least it didn’t recall them very much.  A few fragments, snippets of actions or moments in the blur, faces or vague figures but nothing more. All he knew was that he moved a lot during his sleep, and apparently it was according to his dreams, to the actions he was making while he was in dreamland. His wife never complained about it, she just mentioned it a few times, curious as for what her husband could have been dreaming of.

This night, Veronica noticed her husband was particularly agitated, and hoped he was not having a nightmare. Thanks to the weak light that was in the room, she looked at his face, ready to wake him up in case he was in distress. But his face seems happy, more than happy even, so Veronica gently kissed his cheek and went back to sleep.

John was also usually an early bird, waking up first in the house. He usually went downstairs to make coffee and this day being his birthday didn’t mean he would have waited to be served like a kid on his special day. Just like he did every morning when he was waking up by her side, he looked at his wife for a moment, as she was still slightly snoring, gently rocked within Morpheus’ arms. He turned around to get up.

“OUUUUUUUUUUUUCHHHHHHH”, John let out a loud scream of pain, brutally waking his wife.

“Oh my God, John, are you okay?”, she asked, terribly worried.

“My back, my back is stuck, oh lord it hurts so bad, what the hell???”, John explained, complained and cursed all at once.

“Are you able to move at all ? what’s going on?”, Ronnie asked, still incredibly concerned.

“I can’t, I’m stuck….”, Deaky said as he put back his head on the pillow.

“Hold on, I’m gonna get some painkillers right now and I’m going to try to massage you”, his wife said as she energetically went out of bed to get what she needed to help her husband.

John looked at her, with a mix of anger given how quickly and easily got out of their bed. She rapidly came back with a glass of water and a painkiller, which John put in his mouth right away. He swallowed, as his back was still tense, hoping the tablet would be efficient soon.

“Okay, turn around now.”, Ronnie firmly said.

“Excuse me?”, John replied, raising his eyebrow.

“I’m gonna massage you, silly. Shoo, turn around”, she repeated as she made a motion with his hands to illustrate her words.

“Oh, no Ronnie I’m going to be fine, don’t worry.”, John said, trying to avoid a massage.

“John Richard Deacon, you better lay on your stomach right now or else I’m going to do it myself and I’m not going to be gentle.”, she warned him, very seriously.

John looked at her, confused. Was she really going to use force to give him a massage? He wasn’t sure, but she seemed extremely serious. As a result, John complied, gently laying his stomach, waiting.

He felt his wife’s soft hands on his skin, making him shiver.

“I hope my hands are not too cold…. Where is it painful?”, she asked, this time way more gently.

“My lower back seems stuck….”, John replied, his head between two pillows.

“Okay, let’s see….”, Ronnie carried on, as she put some lotion on her husband’s back.

John slightly arched at the sensation, but tried to remain still, so that the massage, combined to the painkillers, would be useful. Deaky suddenly heard his wife giggle.

“Are you mocking me?”, John complained, his voice muffled given his position.

“No no, of course not. I just had this silly thought of me being a Dom right now, doing erotic stuff to you….”, she explained, tittering again.

“Ronnie, do you really think this is the right moment to think about sex?”, John asked, as he was still feeling his wife’s hands massaging him on his back.

She got closer to his ear, whispering : “it’s always the right moment to remind my husband I love him and I still have a strong desire for him”.

John felt his cheeks suddenly getting hotter and probably as red as the most mature tomato one could ever see. As a reply, he only let out a soft ‘hum’, a smile still appearing on his lips.

And then, all of a sudden, and since his wife had mentioned the topic, John remembered. Fragments, like he often did, but he remembered.

He remembered a passionate moment with his wife in his dream, his skin pressed on hers, the ardent kisses they were sharing, his hips rocking on hers.

And he remembered how his last thrust as he was reaching orgasm made him arche his back strongly. His body surely moved as well as he was dreaming, hence his back blocked as he woke up.

“John?”, Ronnie asked. “The massage is done, are you okay? You’ve been very quiet”, she worried.

“Yes, thank you, honey.”, John replied, as he got into a more comfortable position, to breathe properly.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re as red a as tomato?”, Ronnie asked.

“Yup, all good, I’m feeling better already. I’m be up soon.”, John tried to reassure her.

Yet, the two of them had been married for a very long time now, and even if Ronnie was no mind reader, she knew her husband so very well. She looked at him in silence for a few seconds and a smile appeared on her lips.

“We did have a steamy night in your dream, right? And you took me so intensely that your back got stuck, right?”, she asked, a mischievous smile on her lips.

“Oh god, Ronnie, what the hell?”, John tried to fake being shocked after her insinuations.

“Try and tell me I’m wrong. After all, there is nothing to be ashamed of…. Even in our vows, we said ‘I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.’….”, she reminded him.

“Yes, okay, yes, that’s true. Happy?”, John confessed, his feeling switching from being ashamed, and slightly irritated.

Ronnie was still looking at him with a mischievous smile. She got closer and kissed him on his soft lips.

“Try and get better so that after the kids are gone, we can celebrate your birthday properly, just the two of us.”, she said with a wink.

She got up and left the room, leaving John with his thoughts. He spoke out loud, as if he was warning his back.

“You better get back on the right tracks buddy, because tonight’s gonna be the night….”.

That day was surely to be a very unusual birthday….

[lixiebokie]

through his lens

———————————————————————

idol: hwang hyunjin x reader

photographer!hyunjin x artist!reader

———————————————————————

chapter 2: new life

📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼

“you sure you’re gonna be okay alone?” hyunjin tugged at your hands standing at the doorway you were trying to push him out of.

“i’ll be fine? make sure you don’t stay up too late. okay?”

“hmm.. what if i miss you tho?”

“then knock and if there’s no answer i’m sleeping dreaming of you!” hyunjin wrapped his arms around her before walking out the door waving goodbye.

“so how long have you and lover boy been together?” her roommate ash asked.

“hm? hyunjin? oh he’s not my boyfriend.”

“but you were litterally about to kiss?” she asked leaning against the door frame.

“we’re just really close, we’ve been friends since we were little.”

“so he’s single? good to know. feel sorry for his future girlfriends.” y/n was confused at her words. hyunjin has had girlfriends in the past just none of them have last more than 8 months without then getting jealous of her.

the dorm was small, but alright size for two people. and her roommate ashy was nice. they’d met while hyunjin was helping move box in, he was not fond of her at first but neither was y/n of his roommate. he was a small black haired boy with round eyes. she’d said hi while hyunjin was setting up his desk, but he ran away instantly and avoided any conversations with her or hyunjin.

atleast ashy was nice.

y/n still hoped she’d be able to swap rooms to maybe be with seungmin or even hyunjin if she was lucky. she heard jiha talking about how seungmin had been to the office trying to switch his dorm to share with hyunjin, as he’d ‘be more comfortable’ but they dismissed him as soon as he arrived. he must of not been the first that day to ask. seungmin was roomed with some boy called felix. over text min described him as really sweet, and someone she’d get along with very well.

jiha also has sent messages about her roommate to the groupchat. she was blonde, skinny girl with ‘the most stylish clothes’ she’d ever seen. jiha only judged people off looks, she didn’t say anything about what she was like. but that was typical for her.

ashy invited y/n to come visit her friends not wanting to leave her in the dorm on her own for the first night. y/n would have went but ashy wasn’t in her first year so the thought of older friends scared her. especially when ashy walked out the door with a cigarette in hand and some spray paint.

hyunjin had made his way back to her room.

it was no surprise. seungmin and jiha had betted how long it would be until he was back. seungmin won with the guess 1 hour and 5 minutes. he’d made himself at home. throwing his boots off as soon as he walked in, and threw him on the bed sheets she’d just put on. curled up in her bed scrolling through netflix on her laptop.

“y/n im serious, if we out her to the office and say you’re not comfortable they will have to switch you!”

“seungmin said there’s no free dorms for two people so i’d be stuck with another random person. and ashy’s nice.”

hyunjin groaned rolling his side.

“maybe we could get a flat off campus just us. not jiha or seungmin, us.”

she liked the idea but the 792,205 won in her bank said different. the idea of waking up to hyunjin every morning made her so happy.

when she was little, on the weekends if she wasn’t spending the night at his house she’d be straight over as soon she woke up. summer time was the best, they would play in the paddling pool in his garden until it was cold, then would be in his house building forts to watch movies until they fell asleep.

she wanted to be a kid again.

the only reason she had grown up was because hyunjin was by her side the whole way through.

hyunjin was now curled up against her tired of waiting for her answer. she knew if ashy came back any time soon she’d wake hyunjin up with the amount of screaming she do asking ‘how they were just friends’ but her and hyunjin weren’t just friends, they are best friends.

y/n also hoped the next day at uni hyunjin wasn’t so clingy. she loved him and his clingyness but it also attracted lots of attention between the two. ever since they were little, everyone thought they were meant to be.

when each set of parents talked about their wedding they’d always end it with ‘and one day you’ll be married to y/n / hyunjin.’

when they were 5 the other kids asked if they kissed each other, and kids having no common sense hyunjin would kiss her cheek every time they asked.

when they were 10 teachers had to ask them to stop being so cuddly because it was ‘inappropriate’

when they were 13 their friends whloe heartily shipped them, even though they knew how much it pissed them off.

even up until now at 19 they still get old woman asking how they were so lucky enough to find each other or how cute they were. like the other day in the shop.

hyunjin was never bothered by the comments, it was a sort of compliment to him, showing him and his best friend were proud to show each other off. but y/n on the other hand hated it. when she was younger it wasn’t t as bothering, but when hyunjin started getting noticed by girls and them shipping them that’s when it pissed her off.

but hyunjin never cared he’d not want to be shipped with anyone but his best friend.

📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼📸🌼

[blacktofade]

hi hello! i’m trying to get into wrestling, thanks in part to your excellent fics, & im not sure where to start—do you have any advice? should i just watch the next match & catch context where i can?? i’ve seen the hookhausen primer, but beyond that i don’t know much of the Lore…what do you think?

Thank you again for your patience while I was out of town and couldn't answer this! I'm now ready to settle down and show my whole ass and admit I don't really have any good advice, but what I'm about to talk about will be specific to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which is trying (and succeeding imo) to be WWE's younger, more hip sibling.

I'm gonna stick this under a cut because this is a stupidly long reply to your question. And I'm also gonna refer to a generic "you" as I'm hoping this will help other people who are thinking about hopping onboard.

The first trick to enjoying wrestling is by following your pussy (or pussy equivalent). The second trick to enjoying wrestling is finding one or two people to scream at. I don't speak for everyone (obviously), but I've randomly messaged so many people in fandom and they've all been happy to yell about our favorite clowns at the circus.

(For anyone reading this, my messages are always open, or you can find me on discord @ blacktofade#2949. Just know that I have every notification turned off and I will see things when I see things lmfao)

For me, getting into wrestling (again, specifically AEW) went: reading fic on AO3 -> watching some content of one specific wrestler on YouTube -> watching what I could of the AEW weekly schedule -> finding more wrestlers I liked and reading more fic on AO3 -> rinse and repeat.

There's too much lore (and often content) to feasibly digest it all as a new fan, so don't sweat it. Just have fun watching what you have time for and figure out who you enjoy most. Just remember that you're allowed to like anyone for whatever reason. We're all just here for a good time.

Also, most of the lore is hand-wavy at best. Most match promos are basically one person going "you did my man dirty by looking to the east on a wednesday at 5pm, therefore I have no choice but to fight you" and the other person says "yeah okay let's settle this in Ohio in a week like adults". Just go with it. Sometimes even with context, shit just doesn't make sense. Your job is to sit there going "yeah! kick their ass!" and to love every camp minute of it.

The great thing is that a lot of matches are on YouTube. Just search "[wrestler name] match" and you'll most likely find 10 years of content waiting for you. Pick at random. Don't try to go chronologically, or you'll drive yourself insane. See a thumbnail that interests you? Click it.

If you're lucky, you'll pick a wrestler who vlogs a lot (looking at you, Mr. Danhausen) and you'll be introduced to other wrestlers by association.

My favorite thing is watching two people wrestle on one of the AEW shows, and then looking them up later and finding out they had a major feud between 2010 and 2014 on three different continents and I'm very late to the party. This is part of the fun. Their history plays as big (or as little) a role as you want it to. You make the rules for your wrestling adventure. Anyone who says differently is a huge fucking nerd and you can tell them I'll meet them in the parking lot after school.

Now, for actual helpful info on how to literally watch wrestling:

When/Where to Watch?

Wrestling nights are every night Mon, Tues, Wed, and Fri with the following schedule:

Mon – Dark Elevation on YouTube @ 7pm EST (midnight UTC) Tues – Elevation on YouTube @ 7pm EST (midnight UTC) Wed – Dynamite on TBS @ 8pm EST (1am UTC) Fri – Rampage on TNT @ 10pm EST (3am UTC)

The Mon and Tues shows are the easiest to watch since they're on YouTube and you can watch them whenever you want after they air. They usually save the meatier matches for Wed and Fri and there are plenty of ways to watch those while sailing the seven seas 🏴‍☠ and I definitely won't share info about these if you message me...

It took me the longest time to figure this out, but they film the YouTube matches on the same days as Dynamite/Rampage (which are live shows). For example, an episode of Dark might be filmed on Friday, but won't air until the following Tues. Which is why you might see the same outfits or people in the crowds, and also why you might see spoilers on socials from people who were there in-person for Dynamite/Rampage.

Live shows have a post show for people there in-person, too. It's typically along the lines of "let's bring out this wrestler and you can clap and they will tell you they love you". Sometimes, it's a lil extra kayfabe beef between wrestlers. And sometimes, very kind people record these and put them online for us to gobble down. Would definitely recommend searching YouTube or Twitter on weekends after shows.

Throughout the year, they also have Pay Per View (PPV) events, which are additional-cost shows typically on weekends and they're like 5 hour of pure nonstop wrestling for $50. They're a blast. Highly recommend if the brainrot is eating you alive.

Independent Wrestling?

I have dabbled only slightly outside of AEW, but for $10/month, you can get a subscription to IWTV (Independent Wrestling TV, not to be confused with Anne Rice's masterpiece lmfao), which has an insane amount of matches, an excellent search engine, and a video player that isn't pure trash.

This is a particularly fun investment once you've started to get to know the general AEW roster, because familiar faces pop up EVERYWHERE.

Finding Matches?

One of the hardest things is trying to figure out where to begin with finding matches for a specific wrestler or team.

CAGEMATCH is the single most important wrestling resource on the internet. Hands down.

You can search for any wrestler and it will compile a neat little list of every single match they've ever participated in. It will also tell you who won, how long the match was, where/when the match took place, and usually where you can (pay) to watch it. This can be extremely helpful for 1) writing fic and 2) finding lore between wrestling characters.

WTF is Kayfabe?

This also took me way too long to figure out, but kayfabe is the act of pretending what happens in the ring is real (real fights, real beef, real characters, etc). They're not doing fancy stunt work, they're actually kicking the shit out of each other. Most interviews are kayfabe compliant as they sit there and go "yes, on wednesday I will be murdering my enemy live on stage". It's very fun.

The "not kayfabe compliant" tag on AO3 is typically used when the fic uses shoot names (aka real names). For example, Donovan vs. Danhausen, Jim vs. Orange Cassidy, etc.

Fandom Etiquette?

Wrestlers are often easy to interact with, whether it's here, or Twitter, or Twitch. Don't. Don't even look in their direction if you're posting about ship-related content. Don't send them links. Don't @ them. If you want to keep your space safe, block them and stop them from seeing your content.

On AO3 you can lock your fic to give an extra layer of protection (and sometimes some cunt will send an ask to a wrestler here on tumblr telling them specifically how to get around it lmfao). Do what makes you feel comfy. I leave mine open because if anyone finds it, that's between them and god. I also haven't felt shame since the 90s.

ANYWAY. TL;DR: there are many ways to get into wrestling, but I hope you have fun on your wrestling adventure because that's the important thing.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

PS: For anyone who wants the Hookhausen Primer, you can find it HERE.

[dumdumsun]

Wax and Wane

A/N: Again, so sorry for the late update. I'm v busy and kinda out of sorts. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: mentions of death, murder and torture

Word Count: 4174

—————————————

Chapter Nine: The Flayed

There was no telling just when the elevator would cease its plummeting. The four within surely had no idea, so all they could do until they met their end was to scream.

And scream, they did.

Frantically looking around at each other, Steve, Erica, Robin and Dustin screamed at the top of their lungs. Their stomachs had never stopped flipping since the elevator first dropped, and they wouldn’t be surprised if one of them hurled their guts up soon.

“Shit! Shit!” Dustin screeched and flung himself over to the control panel, haphazardly smashing any and all buttons.

“We’re going down!” Steve screamed. “We’re going down!”

“Yeah, no shit, Harrington!” Robin screamed back, still finding the time to be sarcastic.

“Why don’t these buttons work?!” Dustin shrieked. Angrily, Erica forced herself forward and to his side, trying out his exact same method.

“Press the button!”

“What do you think I’m doing?!”

“Come on, press something!” Steve waved his hands about. “Press the button!”

And just like that, the elevator stopped with a very harsh jerk, sending Steve and Robin to the ground as well as some of the boxes.

“Oh! My groin.” Steve groaned from under one of the fallen boxes. “It fell on my groin. Dustin! Get this off of me!”

Ever the best friend, Dustin crouched down and lifted the heavy box off of his friend, dropping it back onto the table. “Is everyone okay?” Robin asked from the ground.

“Yeah, I’m great, now that I know that Russians can’t design elevators!” Steve raged, shoving Dustin aside to get to the panel.

“I think we’ve clearly established that those buttons don’t work.” Robin stood.

“They’re buttons. They have to do something.”

“Yeah, if we had a keycard.”

“A what?”

“It’s an electronic lock.” She strode to his side and motioned to the lock beside the panel. “Same as the loading dock door. If we don’t have a keycard, it won’t operate, meaning-”

“We’re stuck in here.” Dustin finished.

“Yeah.”

Erica was the next to speak, her voice rising in irritation. “Just so you nerds are aware, I’m supposed to be spending the night at Tina’s, and Tina always covers for me. But if I’m not home for Uncle Jack’s party tomorrow and my mom finds out you three are responsible, she’s gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit. Your. Throat.”

“I don’t care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack’s party!” Steve fumed. “Your mom’s not gonna be able to find us if we’re dead in a Russian elevator!”

He received a hard glare from the young girl before Dustin caught everyone’s attention. “Hey.” He pointed above them. “What if we climbed out?”

With little conversation, Steve hoisted Dustin out of the square opening in the ceiling of the elevator, following him up afterwards. Their grunts echoed around them as they found their footing. Dustin craned his neck upwards, letting out a sharp exhale at the hundreds of feet of nothing above them. Steve followed his tired stare.

“What were you saying about climbing?”

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

Jonathan was rudely brought out of his slumber by the ringing of the house phone. He tiredly groaned and lifted his head. Surely by now his mom or brother would’ve answered it, meaning they must not have been home. But he would be damned if he had to drag himself out of bed for a call that most likely wouldn’t even interest him. He glanced over at his alarm clock.

5:48. He definitely wasn’t getting up.

Flopping back down, he covered his head with his pillow. “God, shut up!” He irritably grumbled. The phone let one last ring out before it went silent. Finally, he was left to sleep the rest of the morning without interruption.

That was, until the phone started up its ringing again. Jonathan let out a loud and aggravated groan before springing out of bed and marching to the phone, angrily ripping it off the wall. “Hello?” He hardly hid his anger.

“Jonathan?” Nancy’s voice sounded on the other end.

“Do you realize what time it is?” He frowned.

“Listen to me, okay?”

“It’s six a.m. and, uh, I had a late night with Fagin and the gang, so, uh-”

“I’m at the hospital with Driscoll.”

“What?”

“She’s been sedated for a few hours and the doctors are still running tests.”

He shook his head with a scoff. “Nancy, please, tell me you’re joking.”

“It’s not a joke. And, yes, I know I’m insane and irrational and out of touch, but can you save your lecture, because I really don’t give a shit right now. I just…” She went quiet for a second, presumably to regain her composure in a public setting before calmly continuing. “I need you to put me on the phone with your brother.”

“...What?”

“Jonathan… Please.”

“Uh…” He took a glance down the hall. “He’s not even here.”

“Where is he? Is he safe?!”

“Why wouldn’t he be safe…?” When there was no answer, panic began to rise in Jonathan. “Nancy? Why wouldn’t he be safe?”

At the Wheeler residence, the Party was gathered in the basement, intently watching Eleven, who sat on the couch with a bandana tied over her eyes. Beside her, Doc was lying down, resting her heavy and bruised eyes.

The swelling from the night before had gone down quickly, but the slight discoloration was still there. She had assured everyone that she was fine, but she failed to mention that the use of El’s powers still had an effect on her. There was nothing she could do about that, though, so she kept that to herself.

“I found him.” El announced after a long while of television static filling the air.

“Where is he?” Max asked, referring to Hopper.

“Woods.”

“The woods?” Lucas frowned.

“He’s with… Will’s mom.”

Said boy leaned forward with a start. “My- My mom?”

“What are they doing?” Max narrowed her eyes.

“Ill… annoy.” El answered with uncertainty. “They’re going to Ill-annoy.”

There were a few knocks on the door up the stairs before Karen’s muffled voice called through it. “Mike, (Y/N)! Breakfast!”

“Not now, Mom!” The Wheeler siblings shouted in unison before Mike turned forward again. “Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois?”

El removed the bandana from her eyes and shrugged. “I-Ill-annoy.” She stammered. Letting out a long sigh, Doc opened her eyes and carefully sat up.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” She motioned to the other two girls. “Wanna come?”

They agreed without a second thought and followed her across the room to the bathroom, ignoring the boys’ confused stares. Doc closed the door behind her and grabbed her first aid kit off the sink, sitting upon the toilet lid and opening it. In front of her, Max wet a washcloth and began cleaning the blood dribbling from El’s nose, the superpowered girl staring at herself in the mirror.

With El’s neck craned up, Max could see the ring around her throat. She worriedly stared as El ran her fingers along it. “Does it hurt?”

“Only when I talk.” El rasped.

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not Mike, then.” Max rolled her eyes. “‘Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah’. And you’d be in constant pain.”

The two chuckled, Doc surprisingly joining in. “You’re so mean, Mayfield.”

“But I’m right.”

“Yeah, yeah,” She stood from the toilet and walked up to her friends, standing between them with cotton balls and a cream. “Can you guys check my head for me?”

As Doc bent her head down, El moved her hair at the back of her head out of the way as Max checked the wound. They had discovered that when she was thrown against the wall, it had left a small gash at the back of her head. They managed to stop the bleeding, but Doc was serious about checking it as much as possible.

Once Max got a clear view of the wound, she frowned at seeing that the gash had minimized itself to a small cut within the last eight hours. It was a bit red, but that was the only thing that seemed to be a concern. “Uh… Doc?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re, like… healed.”

“I’m what?”

El leaned forward to get a look. “It’s almost gone.”

“What? Already?” Doc straightened and felt the back of her head, not even wincing when her fingers grazed the small wound. “No way…”

“You think it has something to do with your powers being back?”

At Max’s question, she froze. She hadn’t thought of that before. She hadn’t considered that her powers might not just be back, but back stronger than ever. The rushing of her blood felt stronger than it had before and the feel of her power coursing through her blood was thrilling, something she hadn’t felt before. It felt new, it felt right.

“What do you feel?” El asked. “With your powers back?”

Doc gently smiled at her. “You.” She suddenly teared up, causing El to do the same. “I feel you again.”

El’s smile widened as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to her side, Doc pulling Max into the hug with them. The three quietly giggled as they leaned against each other.

Outside the bathroom, Mike was pacing the basement. “Something’s not right. I can’t get Hopper off my back all summer, now all of a sudden, he’s hiking with Will’s mom to Illinois? And Dustin’s MIA, too? I mean, this can’t be a coincidence.”

Lucas shrugged, a box of cereal in his hand. “What does it matter? The bottom line is, they’re not here. It’s up to us.”

“Up to us to do what, exactly?”

“Find Billy and stop him.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s a really nice sentiment, but even if El and Doc could find him again, and that’s a pretty big ‘if’, then what?”

“We burn the shit out of him and make sure he doesn’t escape this time.”

“Okay, then what?”

“Then we win.”

Mike blinked. “No, see, that’s the problem. We don’t. We don’t win. Doc risked her life to get the Mind Flayer out of Will before and he just came right back. We don’t just have to stop Billy, we have to stop the Mind Flayer.”

“How in the hell do we do that?” Lucas shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe Doc knows,” Will spoke up, the two looking over at him. “She has a connection to the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer. When Billy was activated, that was when her powers came back. That has to mean something.”

A beat of silence followed as Mike turned to the still closed door of the bathroom. “What are they still doing in there?” He whispered.

“I don’t know,” Lucas spoke through cereal, standing to Mike’s right as Will stood to his left. “Girls just like hanging out in bathrooms.”

“Why?” Mike pushed away the cereal offered to him.

“I mean, I don’t know.”

“They’re conspiring against me.”

Will whipped his head over to him. “That’s what you’re concerned about right now?”

“It’s not my main concern. It’s just a sub-concern.”

“I thought it was already over?”

“It’s not over, okay? We’re just taking a break.”

“Don’t tell me what a break is. I’m on a break. She said she dumped your ass. That doesn’t sound like a break.”

Their conversation stopped abruptly at Max’s voice.

“It wasn’t! You guys do realize we can still hear everything you’re saying, right?”

Mike turned to Will with raised brows. “Conspiring,” He whispered, Will sucking at his teeth and shaking his head. “I told you, they’re conspiring.”

There was a sharp knock at the door.

“Not now, Mom!”

Nancy’s voice sounded. “Mike, open the door.”

Furrowing his brows, Mike hurried up the stairs and ripped the door open, revealing a distressed Nancy and Jonathan.

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

“Code red, I repeat, code red. Does anyone copy? This is a code red, I repeat, a code red.”

Dustin currently paced the top of the elevator he had climbed onto, desperately speaking into his walkie. “This is a code red, I repeat, a code red. Does anyone copy? We are innocent children and we are trapped under Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins, and if we are found, they will torture and kill us.”

“Hey.” Steve popped up from the hole in the floor. “Gotta take it easy on that thing, okay? You’re gonna drain the battery.”

“The mall just opened.”

“So?”

“So, someone could be in range.”

“What do you think, Petey the Mall Cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?”

Dustin furrowed his brows at his friend as he climbed to meet him on top of the elevator. “Alright, why are you such a cranky pants after getting to spend the night with Robin?” He whispered, receiving a harsh whisper from Steve.

“Shh! Jesus Christ. Will you just give up on your creepy dream already?”

“I heard you guys talking all night.”

“Yeah, we were trying to figure out a way to open up the door while you children were sleeping,” He carefully stepped around until he was standing in a corner. “After eight hours, we’re still exactly nowhere, which is, you know, probably just a little bit of the reason why I’m feeling just… a tad cranky.”

Dustin frowned at the sound of a zipper. “What are you doing?”

Steve looked over his shoulder with wide eyes. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m taking a leak. Look away. Look away!”

At the sound of a liquid hitting a surface, Robin tore her eyes away from the control panel and towards the sound, scoffing at the sight of urine hitting the wall across the room. “Can you redirect your stream, please?” She called out. When the stream stopped for a second and then moved to the left a little, she let out a sound of disgust. She was just about to return to the panel when she heard the continuous loud clang of metal against metal. Whirling her head back around, she saw Erica hitting one of the vials of green ooze against a shelf.

“Hey, hey! Be careful, careful, careful!” She rushed up to the girl and snatched it from her. “We don’t even know what that is.”

“Exactly. It could be useful.”

“Useful how?”

A false smile plastered itself onto Erica’s face. “We can survive down here a long time without food, but if the human body doesn’t get water, it will die.”

Robin raised her brows and held up the vial. “I hate to break it to you, but this is not water.”

“No, but it’s a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink.”

Robin scoffed again as her shoulders sagged tiredly. She was just about to respond to Erica when she heard the sound of whirring on the other side of the barrier. She rushed over to it and pressed her ear to it, listening closely. Her eyes widened when she realized the sound was nearing them. Without a second to waste, she popped up out of the square hole.

“We’ve got company.”

Dustin and Steve shared a wide-eyed look before they all burst into action. Robin and Erica were hoisted up on top of the elevator and the hole was covered back up, everyone peering into the room from the light panel below them. They heard a beep before watching the barrier slowly rise to reveal two guards. The men waited for the barrier to be completely out of the way to walk inside. The first guard picked up a box, but the second stopped in his tracks and said something in Russian. Steve’s heart dropped as he silently prayed for them to leave promptly.

Thankfully, whatever the second guard brought up was dismissed by the first and they continued their transport of boxes. Steve looked up at the three, silently pressing an index finger to his lips as he tried to think of a quick plan. Erica noticed how his gaze froze in her direction. Her eyes fell to the ooze in her hands before she looked up, finding his eyes glued to that and not to her.

The barrier began to close once again and the four waited until the cart the guards rode on was nearly out of sight before Steve’s hand shot out, placing the vial of ooze in the way before the barrier could meet the ground.

“Let’s go!”

He caught Erica’s backpack that dropped to him and slid it between the gap just before she dropped down as well. “Go.” He urged as she wiggled between the gap. “Go, go, go, go, go.”

“I’m going!” She sassed as Dustin dropped down.

“Henderson. Go, go.”

Dustin dropped to the floor and rolled out of the elevator. Robin dropped down after him and wiggled between the gap. This just left Steve. Grunting, he scooted his way out of the elevator, watching the force of the barrier crack the vial. He felt the barrier hit his back before he yanked himself out, the vial cracking just a second later. The barrier slammed closed and the ooze splattered to the ground, emitting a sizzling sound.

“Jesus Christ.” Steve scrambled to his feet as well as everyone else, the four grouping to get a good look at the ooze that had burned several holes into the ground. Robin turned her head to Erica with a smirk.

“You still wanna drink that?”

Erica gave her a look as Dustin straightened, turning around to be met with  a tunnel that seemed to never end, illuminated by a blue light. He realized that the tunnel was their only way out.

“Holy mother of god.”

The three turned around to see what he was looking at, visibly deflating at the thought of walking the very long pathway. “Well… hope you guys are in good shape.” Steve walked past them, gently patting Dustin’s chest as he went. “Looking at you, roast beef.”

At his word, the other three followed him down the start of the tunnel. Dustin, offended by Steve’s words, looked to Robin. “Why me?” He whispered.

In the Wheeler basement, Nancy and Jonathan stood before the Party, the former explaining the events that unfolded for her the night before. “It was the same thing, the exact same thing that happened to Will last year. And look at this,” She flipped over a paper from Doris’s file that contained a list of numbers. “Look at the body temperatures.”

They all leaned forward to get a look, all of the temperatures ranging between ninety-five and ninety-six degrees. Will shared a look with Doc before looking up at Nancy. “He likes it cold.”

“Okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer-”

“Mrs Driscoll.” Nancy cut off her brother.

“Right, yeah, Mrs Driscoll. What time was this attack?”

“Last night.”

“Right, but what time last night?”

“Around nine.”

Jonathan frowned at his girlfriend. “You waited all night to call?”

“I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests.”

Will narrowed his eyes at his brother. “You weren’t there?”

Jonathan threw up his hands. “Well, I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Nancy scoffed with an eyeroll. “Hallelujah!”

Lucas winced, vocalizing everyone’s feelings. Slightly embarrassed by her outburst, she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Um, so, wha- what time was your… sauna test?”

“Around nine.” The kids answered in unison.

“Well, that proves it.” She widened her eyes. “That proves my theory!”

“She’s flayed,” Mike agreed. “Just like Billy.”

“Flayed?” Jonathan questioned.

“The Mind Flayer. He flays people. Takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him.”

Doc nodded. “I saw it.” She spoke up, earning everyone’s confused attention. “When I used my power on Billy yesterday. I saw… what happened to him. It was so similar to how The Mind Flayer took over Will. It… inserts itself into its victims. It was horrible.”

“Wait,” Nancy shook her head. “(Y/N), your powers are back?”

“Yeah, they came back during the test. I think it’s all connected somehow. And I… think I can heal myself now.”

Everyone but El and Max gawked. “You can what?”

“But that’s not important right now.” She waved her hands. “What’s important is that, yes, Billy and Mrs Driscoll are flayed and they’re connected.”

Lucas looked up thoughtfully. “Well, if there are two flayed-”

“We have to assume there are more.” Will finished his thought.

El inhaled shakily. “Heather.” She slowly sat up as a terrified look gleamed in her eyes. “Billy was doing something to her.”

In the distance knelt Billy on the ground beside someone, the person who was whimpering in fear.

“She was scared… She was screaming.”

Blood-curdling screams sounded from the person on the ground before the both of them vanished.

“Bad screams.”

Lucas’s face scrunched up. “What’s a good scream?”

“Max said-”

“Doesn’t matter.” Max and Doc interrupted hastily.

“I’m sorry, I’m lost,” Nancy rapidly blinked. “Who is Heather?”

“Brenda’s older sister.” Doc answered.

“Heather Holloway?”

“Uh, duh.”

Nancy and Jonathan whipped their heads to share wide eyes. “Tom.” They gasped in unison.

“W-What about Tom?” Doc nearly jumped out of her seat. “Is Mr Holloway acting weird, too? Is he flayed?!”

“H-He could be. H-He might be-”

“What does that mean for Brenda?!” When no one could answer her right away, Doc sprang off the sofa and charged to the stairs. “We need to go now!”

“(Y/N)!” Nancy grabbed her bag, she and everyone else following. “(Y/N), wait!”

The group emerged from the garage with an anxious Doc leading them all, and once they were all piled into the car, they were off.

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

The quartet currently made the long trek down the blue-lit pathway, seemingly already growing tired of the bothersome stroll. “I mean, you have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive.” Dustin commented.

“What are you talking about?” Steve disagreed. “It’s a total fire hazard. There’s no stairs, there’s no exit, there’s just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell.”

Erica raised a brow at this. “They’re Commies. You don’t pay people, they cut corners.”

“To be fair to our Russian comrades,” Robin chimed in. “I don’t think this tunnel was designed for walking. I mean, think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo.”

“It all comes into the mall like any old delivery.” Dustin added.

“And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody’s the wiser.”

“You think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?” Steve wondered. Dustin shook his head.

“I very seriously doubt it’s something as boring as poison. It’s gotta be much more valuable, like promethium or something.”

“What the hell is promethium?”

Robin answered, “It’s what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg’s bionic and cybernetic components.”

Erica groaned and pressed her hands to her stomach. “You’re all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill.”

“No, no, no.” Steve became defensive. “No, don’t lump me in with them. I’m not a nerd, alright?”

Robin gave a cheeky smile. “Why so sensitive, Harrington? Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old child?”

“No, I’m just saying I don’t know jack shit about Prometheus.”

“Promethium,” Dustin corrected. “Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure, but whatever. All I’m saying is, it’s probably being used to make something.”

“Or power something.” Robin suggested.

“Like a nuclear weapon?”

“Totally.”

“Walking towards a nuclear weapon.” Steve nodded. “That’s great. That’d be great.”

“But if they’re building something,” Robin started. “Why here? I mean, Hawkins. Seriously. Of all places. At the very best, we’re a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland, but maybe that’s it.”

Steve and Dustin stopped in their tracks, allowing the girls to walk a few feet ahead of them in order to quietly talk amongst themselves.

“You think the Russians know?” Steve stepped closer to him. “About the-”

“They could.”

“So, it’s connected?”

“Maybe.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, but it’s… possible-”

“-Possible.”

The girls turned around to look at the boys. “I’m sorry, is there something you two would like to share with the class?”

They looked at each other, considering the option of spilling the information, but a string of Russian messaging sounded from Erica’s backpack. Instantly, the four grouped and dropped to the ground, the girl fishing the walkie from her bag and handing it to Robin. The teen pulled up the antenna and listened to the code she had listened to countless times before.

“‘Poyezdka v Kitay zvuchit khorosho, yesli deystvovat' ostorozhno’.” She mumbled along with the voice, a smirk sneaking onto her face. “It’s the code.”

“Wherever that broadcast is coming from-”

“It’s close.” She finished Dustin’s thought. “And if there’s one thing we know about that signal…”

“It can reach the surface.” He then finished her thought with a smile.

“Let’s go.”

The four quickly rose to their feet, hurrying their way down the rest of the hallway.

—————————————

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