#I'll probably break it into chapters and just post the first part during it and finish the rest later

[mayorofcattown]

me: oh this fic idea is just a short oneshot, not that much even happens in it, I'll totally be able to get it done before Natsume we-

the fic outline alone:

me: oh

[f1stargirll]

Conversation Friends ° Lando Norris

Chapter Two

Word count : 1.658k

Description : slow burn, college!au (enemies to lovers) and more to come

Hey guys, sorry this chapter came out a week late, I was suffocating from homework. But here we are! And I'm currently on a week break from uni so I'll try to write as much as possible during this time, I have sooo many ideas. I think I'll even try writing oneshots so if anyone has requests I'm open to them! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and feel free to message me if you want to be tagged in the next parts 🧚🏼‍♀️

PSA : Since I’m STUPID, I’ve started writing on a side blog which means there’s a lot of things I can’t do!! So I’m switching to my main blog which is @f1stargurl !!! The next parts and the rest will be posted on there, so if anyone follows me here, if you could pls follow me on @f1stargurl 🤧 To quote mister Leclerc once ai gain, “I am stupid”

Hi Lando,

I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I’m sure that stupid encounter at the supermarket was just a result of the both of us being irritated and tired. As you can probably tell, my first few days here weren’t so easy and it might’ve been one of the reasons why I was so unpleasant, and once again, I apologize. 

I really am willing to put this stupid history behind us and get this program started!

I hope you’ll give it a thought and I look forward to hearing from you soon, have a good week! 

Sincerely, y/n

It’s been six days since I’ve sent Lando that email and pushed my pride to the side to organize a date. Well, it’s not a date, but still- I guess it is technically a date? Is it a date if we hate each other? It’s a meeting. Yeah, I was trying to organize a meeting. 

Still no response. 

Closing my laptop, I decided to take my mind off this situation and take a break at a coffee shop near campus. 

Taking a step inside the coffee shop I spot Daniel and Alex sipping on their drinks. Seeing Daniel again instantly put a smile on my face, we’ve been hanging out these last few days and having him by my side feels great. 

“What’s up guys!” I say while waving at them across the room. 

“Hey y/n!” They both got up from their seats to give me a hug.

 “Go get your drink and come join us,” Alex invited me, pointing at their booth, “we were talking about the party this weekend.”

“Don’t mind if I do then”, I respond smiling from ear to ear. 

After picking up my hot chocolate I sit down in front of them, Daniel makes fun of me for not liking coffee, again.

“I swear y/n you’re 21 and you still don’t like coffe? You need to grow up,’ rolling my eyes, I playfully shove Dani’s shoulder feeling his muscle tense under the light punch, so annoying, and buff, wow. We kept talking for more than two hours. I got to tell them all about Lando ghosting me and about the amazing cheese and garlic pasta I made last night. 

“I think he’ll come to his senses. He has to,” Daniel insists, crossing his arms in front of him. Ooh, veiny forearms… “the reason you guys hate each other is so ridiculous anyway, over freaking pasta!” he shakes his head in disbelief. 

“I think you did the right thing trying to reach out, at least you’ll be the bigger person” Alex says, his hand reaching for his matcha latte, “I’m sure you’ll be able to figure this out together.”

“Thanks for the optimism I really appreciate it” I say with a weak smile, not really believing in Linguini’s philanthropist potential, “I just hope this won’t ruin the program for me…”

“What? No way!” Daniel exclaims sitting up on his side of the booth, “Look, you’ve got your Conversation Friends right here” he says putting his arm around Alex’s shoulder who’s nodding and smiling in agreement, “and you’ve got Lola!”

“You’re right Dani, I’m not gonna give myself anxiety over a guy who can’t even be polite,” I state with confidence, “anyways, I’m so excited about the party this weekend!”

Once back in my room, I decided to check my inbox one more time. Just in case.

Still no response. 

The sight tugs at my heart a little. We have our first mandatory meeting in a few days and I still have no contact with my partner. I wouldn’t care so much about it if it was just about the two of us, but the whole group is supposed to visit a museum and I don’t want to be the only one there without a partner, that would be too embarrassing. 

But as I reminisce on the topic, I realize I’m not just sad anymore, I’m bitter. All week I saw everyone meeting up and doing fun activities with their partners, but I can’t get an email back? Even a “k” would’ve been enough… I’m stunned at how childish this boy is being. 

Putting my phone on my wooden nightstand, I close my eyes and try not to overthink about the situation. Is it my personality? Maybe it’s because of the way I look.

But I catch myself slipping, the last thing I need to do is to start doubting myself because of a man again.

God, this British Society class is really kicking my ass right now. Why did I even choose the 8am one, what is wrong with me? The professor starts off the first chapter of the class as we hear a loud knocking on the door. 

“Sorry I’m late,” I see Lando standing in the doorway, out of breath, his cheeks a light pink from the rush. His eyes search around the room for any seat still available until they meet mine. There’s one right next to me, but of course he’ll never take that one. He sets down his bag on the table front row and I feel my heart racing from embarrassment as my mind instantly jogs back to the email and how vulnerable it was. He turns around a final time and blankly looks at me. What is that supposed to mean? 

The class went by slower than ever, my mind speeding about different ways to go up to him and finally settle this ridiculous situation. 

8:55 finally strikes the clock as the professor concludes his explanation. As I put away my computer I see Lando clutching his books and bolting towards the exit. 

Not on my fucking watch. I head for his direction, calling out his name, “Lando! LANDOO!”

He turns on his heels in a swift motion, “What do you want from me?”

Suddenly feeling small, I still mustered up the courage to ask him about what’s going on, “Well you’ve read my email so I don’t know why you’re acting like you don’t know,” I grumble. “I feel like I’m making way too much effort here.”

“What email? What are you even talking about?” he asks, his thick brows furrowing in irritation. “I didn’t even give you my real email, the one I wrote down was just to fill the blank so the teacher won’t bug me,” he explains, still slightly confused as to what I was on about, “I just don’t want us to communicate outside of the mandatory attendings, got it ? We’ll meet there and that’s it.”

Well, at least that explains the total ghosting, doesn’t make it any less humiliating though. My lips close in a tight line, “Message received then, glad to know you’ll still be there for the museum,” I slowly nod my head trying to process what I’ve just been told. I feel my throat tightening up a bit and decide to leave before embarrassing myself any further, never looking behind me at the curly haired boy. 

Standing in line in front of the museum’s ticket office with my two favorite boys feels like we’re high schoolers on a field trip. I still feel uneasy about this upcoming afternoon, even if the run-in we had was terrible, he still assured me he’ll be coming today. 

But now, I don’t even want him to be here, I’m done with the idea of making any efforts with him, I’ve been way too kind to him. I’ll just stay glued to Dani and Alex and spend a nice afternoon at the museum with them, it’ll be way more fun than if he ever was to be here. 

“Still no news from Linguini?” Alex asks, trying to make sense of this situation, probably feeling bad for me. I really was pitiful.

“It’s not like I have a way of having any.” I half-joke trying to keep face despite anxiety and sadness creeping their way into my heart;

I found myself gazing at a beautiful photograph of a peony field, my favorite flower. The exhibition was showcasing the origins and the beauty of perfumes around the world. It involved a path filled with elements used to make our favorite scents through the use of pictures and different aromas being diffused all around the museum. I had clinged on to my favorite boys for twenty minutes before the teacher noticed, “I don’t care if your partner isn’t here, it’s a pairing of two only.” So now I was wandering around the exhibition and taking in the great sights and scents on my own. 

“Hey,” I turned around to see Lando looking ahead standing next to me, his hair covered by a green cap matching the crew neck sitting on his shoulders and the color of his eyes. Last time I thought they were blue, but they’re not. They’re the most gorgeous shade of olive green I had ever seen. It bothered me that I noticed these kinds of small details about him, he was the last person to deserve it. “Sorry I’m late.”

I kept my focus on the piece in front of me, “Alright.”

“Alright.”

“These are my favorite, my grandma used to grow some in her garden,” I tell him without really knowing why.

“My grandma had roses, those are nice too,” he answers, I just nod in agreement. We both keep looking at the photograph in silence for another minute when his phone starts to ring. 

“Hey babe,” he quickly picks up, “yeah it’ll be quick I promise - no I don’t care I just have to do this, you know that.” Wow, way to ruin the last speck of hope I had. He hangs up as fast as he picked up.

“You know you could’ve just told me you had a girlfriend and didn’t want to talk to me for that reason, I mean, It’s a little extreme but I get it.” I know that some girlfriends are overprotective and the idea of their boyfriends spending time with another girl can be a nightmare.

“It's not about her,” he spits out, “I just don’t want to be here, I’ve got better things to do,” and with that final sentence he rubs the salt in a wound that’s already way too deep for what it’s worth. 

“You don’t have to be here though, nobody’s forcing you to” I remark, my voice filled with resentment. I’ve had enough. 

“I do, though. I’m only doing this to pass my semester, so let’s just wrap this up,” he starts going for the rest of the exhibition in hopes of finishing early. When he doesn’t feel me following him, he turns around and stops, staring me down with his hands in his back pockets, his shoulders slumped in frustration.

Slowly shaking my head, I stand my ground and head towards the next step in the exhibition in silence, disregarding the icy stare from the green boy across the room. I’m not letting him get away with it this time. I’ll enjoy the rest of the tour and make sure to take my time. Might as well enjoy my own company if that’s all I’m gonna have for the rest of the program.

Taglist : @u5dthsduttd

[tillthelandslide]

Insufferable Arsehole Part 8: When We Are Together - Matty Healy Series

A/N: sooo you may have seen my poll, you may not have, but I've come to the decision to post what I have written for this series and then take a little break from it... I love this series but recently have been feeling a bit stuck with it, I have so many ideas but I'm sure where they fit and whether there even is an end to this story. My goal is to eventually finish it so don't worry! I hope you guys are okay with that. The support has been amazing so thank you all so much.

In other news (for my Ross girlies) I will be posting the first chapter to my new series, entitled Pressure, very soon!

Warnings: bit long, probably spelling mistakes

Series Masterlist

Part 7

Lou's phone ringing on her bedside table is what stirs her from her peaceful slumber. The dozing man next to her awakens with a groan as she awkwardly untangles her limbs from him, apologising for the loud interference as she removes herself from the bed. His soft features find hers and he smiles before his eyes are drifting shut once more. She quickly throws on his shirt which rests on the ground amongst the rest of their clothes.

She stubs her toe on the bedside table as she grabs her phone, the name "Rose" lights up her screen, a picture of her and the drummer of her band can be seen.

"Fuck" she says attempting to shake of the pain, Matty mumbles a "you alright love?" His face now buried in his pillow.

"Yeah go back to sleep" she says, answering the phone, covering up the speaker until she's on their balcony. The morning breeze is far too cold and considering she's just wearing Matty's Tshirt, she'd be surprised if she didn't get frostbite.

"Lou, are you there?" She hears her friend say.

"Yes I'm here sorry" she looks at her phone seeing the clock said 5am, she puts the phone back to her ear 

"Rose I love you but it's 5 in the morning, what time is it there?" She asks, not keeping a track of what time it is in her home town like she usually would.

"That doesn't matter, what matters is that I've just seen pictures of you and Matty holding hands and cuddling. Last time we spoke you said you're seeing how things go" she explains. Shit  they did get caught she thinks , it's fine Matty said we will deal with the consequences together.

"That's exactly what I'm doing, Rose. Seeing how things go, I'm not filtering myself for anyone, I'll do what I want and that's exactly what Im doing" she explains. Rose chuckles on the other end of the line, Lou's words perfectly described herself, never one to filter herself for the sake of others.

"We respect that, you know we do. One of the things we love most about you... We're just worried you're going to get hurt" Rose explains, Rose was one of the most genuine people she had ever met, she was similar to Hann in the fact she would say it how it is although perhaps a little more carelessly and sometimes brutally than Hann.

"We? So you've spoken to Mia and Cami too... Great'' she says, eyes rolling. Mia was the band's bassist (and her sister) and Cami was their lead guitarist.

"I mean... Mia is blindly happy for you, you know what she's like" Rose says.

Mia is around 5 years younger than Lou (having joined the band reasonably late, a fact that Ross and Lou had jokingly argued about as the band didn't have a bassist for a while), they had always been close but one thing they loved about their relationship was they weren't dependent on each other. Despite spending all her time with the 1975 in her childhood, only George had met her band members, they weren't very interested in becoming friends with them, far too happy in doing their own thing.

Mia lived in London for almost all of their childhood, they'd only see each other during holidays or special occasions, something about that dynamic made them closer (which most people found odd). Mia had played bass since she was around 8 and she had joined the band 5 years after they got famous.

"I love her... She's my sister and all but she'd be happy if I found a penny on the floor" Lou says making Rose chuckle, knowing it was true. Despite having different Mum's, their families always encouraged the sisters to appreciate life intricacies, the small things.

"We're just looking out for you L" she says, the nickname only her band members gave her. She remembers the first time George visited the band on tour during one of the 75s breaks, he practically cringed at the nickname, she was and always would be his "Lou" and the fact others had different nicknames for her didn't sit too well at first.

"I know" she says, knowing they never did anything with less than pure intentions. "but listen... We're a family here, if anything happens they'll protect me" she says, not that she needed protecting. Rose finds her heart sinking slightly at her friend's words, as if their own band weren't a family. But she saw the way Lou was with the 75, how undoubtedly happy she was and she knew to push the selfish thought down.

"You seem really happy" Rose finally says and Lou smiles at that.

"I am..." She can't help but smile widely. She could easily go on to tell Rose how she's having the time of her life, how she's never felt this happy, how something feels different with the guys (something she has been struggling to explain), how Matty makes her feel seen and loved (something no guy has come close to before). But she doesn't, wanting it to be her secret for now.

"I'm also really fucking cold right now" she laughs, goosebumps rising to her skin as the wind makes Matty's shirt blow around her.

"Why?" Rose is laughing at her then.

"I'm on a balcony"

"why?" She's asking again, the two of them laughing.

"Matty's asleep... Like I said it's 5am" she says and she hears her friend sigh on the other end of the line, a happy sigh.

"Matty aye? Sharing a room are you?"

"Shut up" she chuckles. Her voice lowers and she whispers her next words "he told me he loved me Rose".

"Wow. That's big" she says and Lou's nodding even though Rose can't see her.

"Do you love him?" Rose asks, already suspecting the answer.

"Yeah"

"Well shit... Guess we're coming to the next show then. Got to see what Matthew Healy is like nowadays. Can't be the same old Ratty you used to kick about with" she says making Lou laugh loudly.

"I miss you guys" she says, the 1975 were her family, everything was intense. But with her own band she had fun (not that she didn't with the boys) but it was different.

"Is George still as fit as the good old days?" She asks and Lou can't help but laugh again.

"Pack it in, you know he's in a happy, healthy relationship" Lou explains.

"Too bad, don't know how you didn't jump his bones every time you were with him"

"Ew... Just ew. He's like my brother"

"And that Ross.... Damn. And I hear hanns going to be a daddy? That's hot."

"Okay Rose I'm hanging up now" Lou says and with two I love yous, she's slipping back into their room, seeing Matty awake and scrolling through his phone, smiling down at the screen.

"You know we look quite cute in these pictures" he says, eyes meeting hers. She's quick to jump on the bed, chin hooking onto his shoulder to peek at his screen. They did look cute and more importantly they looked happy. She smiles as Matty screenshots the photos.

"Deal with the consequences together, yeah?" Matty says, Lou nods at him, smiling as his lips press against hers.

"The first of which will be a very angry Jamie... And probably Gregg too" she says, Matty scrunching up his nose in agreement.

"Yeah...." His voice trails off making her giggle.

"I don't care... I'm happy"

"Me too love" he says, another kiss being delivered to her mouth.

"Rose called, think her and the girls want to come to the next show" she explains and Matty nods, typing something on his phone to Jamie, asking him to sort out their travel and to save them three tickets.

"Thank you" she says.

"If I remember correctly... They don't like me all that much do they?" He says and she's the one furrowing her nose at him, shaking her head.

"Guess I'll have to prove them wrong" and she almost dies at those words, lips harshly pressing against his. He groans as he pushes against her, her back hitting the bed.

"You're insatiable" he says, making her nod as her hands pull him in by the hips, forcing them to come into contact with hers in a sharp grind. She quickly finds him hard and resting against his abdomen and it doesn't take long before he's inside her.

"Jesus Christ" he groans, throwing his head back as her hands interweave into his curls. He's never going to get used to this.

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

"You're supposed to tell me shit like this before you just decide to do it" Jamie says, his voice raised slightly, not shouting but firm and pointed.

Matty was standing in the centre of the room. George, Hann, Ross, John, and Jamie were all watching from the opposite side of the room, each of their arms crossed, ready to defend the pair if they needed to.

Carly (who had arrived this morning) and Polly were seated next to Lou on a large leather sofa.

"Come on man! It's not that big of a deal, we were holding hands, not making out" Matty says and Lou can't help but smirk.

"You know we have rules" Jamie says, making Matty (and all the boys scoff)

"I mean he's done worse" George says and Jamie whips around to see him, his finger pointing at the large man. Lou can't help but chuckle.

"Don't you start" and then he's turning to her now and her smile drops "and you"

"How am I supposed to explain this to your manager huh? How are we supposed to explain this to the fans?" Jamie asks. He was never really one to worry about these kinds of things, things were usually very chilled with him, it was one of the reasons the guys loved having him as their manager.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Lou asks, Matty's eyes find hers and soften.

"Jamie listen" Lou says and the boy's manager finds her eyes and then soften, he had grown to have a soft spot for her "ignore Matty for a second" she says making everyone including the curly haired man laugh.

"When have I ever done anything problematic?" She asks and Jamie can't think of a single time, she was a saint (in the eyes of their fans anyway, Matty knew what she was truly like behind closed doors).

"We will do whatever you and Gregg want us to do... We just got caught up in the moment, okay?" Lou says and Jamie smiles at that, appreciating her words.

"You know what... Do whatever... We will deal with it" Jamie then says, almost completely giving in. The whole group smiled at that, the spirits lifted almost immediately. He goes to leave the room, turning back at the last minute.

"You're both serious about this right? This isn't some fuck around?" Jamie asks, already knowing the answer but wanting to confirm. They both share a look before looking at him again. They nod and he smiles.

"Well... Good" he says before leaving.

George hugs Matty as Lou is hugged by both Carly and Polly. She hadn't gotten much time to spend with the girls so when Matty's eyes found hers, although he wants nothing more than to spend time with her, he lets her have her own time with them.

"Look at you, you're glowing" Lou says, smiling at her friend. Carly smiles back at her thinking the same thing about Lou.

"How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?" Her words are rushed and Carly laughs, as does Poly.

"Lou calm down, I'm fine. Thank you though" she says sweetly. They continue talking and at some point Poly leaves them and soon after Hann joins, hooking a protective arm around his wife as his other hand toys with his wedding band. Lou always cries at the sight, feeling awfully sentimental today.

The couple stare at each other for a few seconds, smiles resting on their lips before they're both turning to look at her.

"Why are you both looking at me like that?" Lou asks, making them laugh.

"We've been meaning to ask you something" Adam says, words quiet so only the three of them could hear.

"We were wondering," Carly says, looking at her husband before looking at Lou again.

"When the baby is born... If you'd be godmother" Carly says and as skin as the words come out, tears are springing to Lou's eyes.

"Wh-what?" She stutters, completely unsure why they'd ask her of all people, she appreciates it nonetheless but is very confused.

"Truth is we wouldn't even be married if it wasn't for you" Adam says.

"That's not true" Lou says and Carly raises her eyebrows at her.

"Regardless... You've always been so welcoming of me, and so so supportive. And whenever I'm here, you're always the first to check up on me and the baby" Carly speaks, hands resting over her bunk as Adam nods next to her.

"You don't have to say yes. We'd just love it if you did.  You know what you mean to us" Hann says and Lou is pulling them both into a tight hug, careful of the bump resting between them.

"I'd be honoured"

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

The next evening Lou is pacing backstage at another venue, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her band of which included her baby sister (definitely not a baby but oh well). They had planned something special for this show, seeing as her bandmates were going to be there, the boys asked her to sing a song on her own, any song she liked.

"Lou you're making me anxious, stop pacing" George says, leisurely chilling on one of the sofas, Matty sitting next to him, a smirk resting on his face.

"Why are you smirking?" She quips at the man, who's curls have been tamed by an obscene amount of hair gel.

"Like seeing you like this, it's cute" he says, pulling her into his lap as she walks past them, stopping her pacing altogether.

"That's better" Matty says, making Lou giggle as he swarms her neck with light pecks.

"Absolutely disgusting" George says, standing to leave the pair of them.

"He's just jealous," Lou says, making Matty nod.

"Why are you anxious darling?" Matty says, nudging his nose lightly against hers.

"I haven't seen them in a while, I've missed them like crazy and I'm just.... I'm worried they're going to see what I'm like with you guys... And like hate me or something" Lou admits.

"You're crazy" Matty says, laughing at her "I don't know how many times I have to tell you love, but no one could hate you" he says, his words so simple but completely easing her thoughts.

"I love you" she says freely now, the man smiles widely down at her, pressing his mouth to hers sweetly.

"I love you more"

They hear a door open behind them, Lou jumping from her place in his lap, turning around to see three women standing in the hallway with Jamie. One of which runs towards her, screaming loudly, she jumps and Lou catches her as she laughs.

"Oh my god Mia you're not a child, I can't carry you anymore" Lou says, struggling to hold her sister up.

"I have fucking missed you bro" Mia says as she's placed back down, punching her older sister in the arm.

"Ouch" Lou says, all of the boys watch with their mouths open. Lou was talking to someone who looked almost identical to her, although her sister's hair was much lighter than hers and shorter too, her skin slightly paler, far less tattoos covering her body.

Rose and Cami are pulling her into a tight hug next, the four of them nattering like a bunch of mothers waiting to pick up their kids.

"Oh shit. Sorry" Lou turns to the guys who are still watching, mouth agape at the four of them. George is quick to stand up, pulling them all into hugs, muttering "long them no sees" to each of them.

"Of course you know George..." Lou says as she begins to introduce the guys. Every single one of them fawns over the man, making her roll her eyes, pointing her fingers at them, telling them to stop which makes George laugh. He knew they did it on purpose, to get under Lou's skin but he can't help but let it get to his ego too.

George wraps up Mia in a hug "how's my favourite sister doing?" He asks just to annoy Lou.

"Ha ha very funny" Lou says, pushing her best friend lightly as he wraps his arm around her too.

"This is Ross, Adam but we call him Hann, Carly: Adam's wife and mother of his unborn child" she says pointing to each of them, making everyone laugh at her words about Carly. She doesn't mention that she's going to be the child's godmother, wanting to savour that fact for a while.

"Penny, Jamie, John and... Matty" she's smiling at them and all the girls smile at everyone introduced, waving at them. The girls can't help but notice how Matty stares at her, his eyes set on no one else but her, a huge smile resting on his mouth. One look and they could see he was smitten.

"This is Rose our drummer, Cami our lead guitarist and my little sister Mia, who's our bassist" she smiles as she speaks, hooking her arm around Mia at the last instance.

"How did I not know you had a sister?" It's Matty who's speaking, almost all of the girls scowling at him, apart from Mia. He shares a look with the other guys, all of them shrugging, all of them knew she had a sister (although only George had met her) , how the fact had escaped the attention of Matty they did not know. He feels awful that he doesn't know, and wonders why he hadn't told her.

"Don't talk about me then sis? Oh how you wound me" her sister says, making her laugh and nudge her.

"Na, just kidding, it's all good. I lived in London, same dad, different mum" Mia explains, coming to pull Matty into a hug to properly introduce herself. Lou stands there watching them, finger in-between teeth as she watches how Matty freezes up awkwardly, the scene makes her chuckle.

"Mia stop being weird" she says, pulling her sister back from Matty.

The rest of them talk then, the girls talking to various people at scattered times. Mia stands with Matty and Lou, catching up about all sorts of things. Rose and Cami talk to Ross, Hann and Carly.

"Who's the one with the bun again?" Mia asks and Lou rolls her eyes as Matty smirks, knowing exactly why she's asking.

"That would be Ross, OUR bassist' ' Matty says, smirk clear on his face. His arm was wrapped tightly around Lou's waist, holding him to her. Mia thought they looked cute together and she couldn't help but smile at the huge smile resting on her older sister's face. She had never seen her this happy before.

"That's Ross?!" Mia almost shouts, catching the attention of the tall bearded man.

"Shut up" Lou says, Mia and her share a look, confusing Matty slightly. Mia was one of the only people that knew Lou and Ross shared a kiss when they were teenagers for they told each other everything.

"He's gotten a lot fitter than when you knocked about with them" Mia says, her London accent a lot more prominent as she speaks.

"You need to stop" Lou says, Matty and her laughing at the slightly smaller girl. Matty's eyes flick between them, eyebrows raising.

"Sorry I can't get over how similar you look, you seriously have different mum's? " Matty says, making them both groan.

"Oh god don't say that"  they say in unison, Matty holds his hands up in surrender at the daggers they shoot.

"Forget I mentioned it" he's being pulled away by someone else then. Leaving the two sisters alone.

"I mean... I like him" Mia says, grasping her sister by the shoulders. Rose joins their conversation.

"That's because you didn't see how completely unbearable he was when we were kids" Rose says, beer in hand that Lou is completely unsure how she got.

"Alright Rose we get it. Give the poor guy a chance, people change" Cami speaks and Lou is thankful to her.

"So tell us, are the rumours true?" Rose then asks.

"What rumours?" Lou asks, eyebrows furrowing at her bandmate.

"The rumours when we were kids.... That he's a good shag" rose says, always one to be forefront with her questions, something which often got them into trouble.

"You know what, you carry on mingling, I need a fag" Lou chuckles before finding her way out of one of the side doors, she hears them all laughing behind her.

The cigarette quickly finds its place in-between her lips, lighter sparking, the end burning as she breathes it in. She hears the door open and then shut behind her but she doesn't turn. She doesn't need to, she can smell two familiar scents: one of the man she loved and one of her life long best friend.

There's a silence for a few seconds as they light their own cigarettes, Matty's arm hooking around her waist when he sees her shiver.

"Sorry Lou but your sister is fitter than the last time I saw her" George says, making her cringe and making Matty chuckle.

"Ew. Just ew. And you have a girlfriend" Lou says simply, she doesn't miss how Matty leans in whispering a "you're fitter" into her ear. It's kind of a weird compliment, she never once compared herself to her sister, but she can't deny the way his words make her thighs tighten. She suppose it's because he's the one saying it and she's the one he wants when there's plenty of other beautiful girls, including the ones back inside, who he could easily get.

"They seem nice" Matty then says, loud enough for them both to hear.

"They are. But they're fucking mental though. Sorry if Rose is a bitch to you, her heart is in the right place" Lou explains, talking to Matty now, ignoring her best friend.

"It's okay, I get it. I was a dick remember?" Matty asks and Lou and George nod at him, all three of them laughing at his words.

"Cami is an absolute sweetheart so you don't have to worry about anything with her... Maybe just" she turns to Matty, placing a hand on her chest "watch what you say" this makes George laugh.

"And Mia... Keep her away from Ross will you? She's small but she will break that man" Lou says, her words shocking the two men, making them laugh anyway.

"Really?" George says, raising his eyebrows "maybe he needs to be broken" and Lou is groaning at his words.

"Don't you even try George" she says, the man flicking his fag to the floor, running back inside, giggling like an absolute child.

"George!" She shouts, giving in when the door swings back. She turns back to Matty then, who is smiling widely at her. His curls have once again been tamed by an unruly amount of hair gel, she almost frowns at the fact she can't run her fingers through the strands.

"Remind me why you didn't tell me you had a sister?" He asks and she frowns at him, thinking of an answer, not really having a definite one.

"Hmmm... I dunno. Guess I never thought to tell you before... And now... Think I was too wrapped up in you to tell you" she says, feeling a bit bad that she hadn't mentioned her own sister.

"As much as I love that... Told you I wanted to know everything about you" he says and she nods.

"I know... You'll get to know her now though, she loves you already so you definitely don't have to worry about her" she seals her words with a brief kiss.

"You seem different around them" Matty admits, making her eyebrows furrow, not knowing whether the meaning behind his words was a good or bad difference.

"How?" She asks, he smooths his hands over her waist, pulling her closer as his back leans against the concrete of the wall.

"You're like the leader of their pack, they all look to you, you shine" he admits and his eyes sparkle as he speaks "like seeing you shine". She doesn't quite know what to say but opts for the truth.

"I've actually been enjoying not being the frontman for a bit... Happy to be in the background and bask in your light" she says, his heart flutters at her words.

"Oh honey..." His fingers tucking a piece of hair behind her ear that had fallen, choosing to gently grip her chin instead of dropping back to his side.

"You've got your own light, even at the back... Everyone's looking at you" he says and she doesn't believe his words. She had a few of her own fans come to their gigs but the majority were there to see the boys and Matty, of course because it was their show, she was just there to help. She shakes her head at him, making him chuckle.

"Wish you could see yourself the way I see you... The way thousands of people see you. Trust me darling... You shine" he seals his lips against hers now, not letting her utter another word. His words had some truth to them that she didn't see, the guys often found themselves watching her even on that stage, she radiated something more than any of them could give.

And Matty especially couldn't take his eyes off her, she was everything, up on that stage, in a coffee shop, amongst friends, under the covers in their room: she shined.

Their lips move passionately against each other, neither able to get enough of each other. He's pulling her as she pulls him, trying to get closer even though it wasn't possible.

Neither of them had spoken about the fact that in two days they would be at the end of the first leg of their tour. They'd been setting off on a three week break, every single person had made plans except the two of them, too wrapped up in each other to have spoken about it.

The door creaks open next to them and they hear someone cough. They pull apart, both looking to see sweet Cami standing there.

"They're calling you on stage" Lou appreciates that she makes no crude comments, and doesn't groan at the sight of them.

They leave to play then, the crowd like no other tonight. She doesn't know if it's because she has her bandmates and her sister here or maybe because things are going so well with Matty, but the smile on her face never leaves. They play song after song, each one better than the last and when the second half rolls round and Matty introduces them, he surprises her.

"So we have two more shows after this one... And then we're on a three week break" he mentions it now and suddenly it dawns on her.

" I haven't made any plans... I've been a little distracted..." He says, looking over to her, making the crowd go mental "the truth is I've been having the time of my life with someone truly truly amazing and I'm the happiest I've ever been" he says. She thinks that his words are good enough for her for now, that's all the fans really need to know.

"This tour... We had someone amazing join us... I wasn't overjoyed at first, everyone on this stage right now would tell you that... Including her, especially her" he says and they all chuckle to themselves, Lou's eyes never wavering from his.

"But my god... George" he says turning around to face his best mate "thank you" he says, hands flat against each other, raising them to his chin as he tilts his head.

"Thank you to these boys right here" he says, pointing to Hann, George and then Ross "for making the best decision ever and bringing this wonderful person on tour with us" Matty says, finally pointing to her. Some fans may think he's just being sentimental, thanking her for joining them this far. Some will know the true meaning to his words, all but confirming what they were.

"Our wonderful Lou, would you come here for a second please?" He asks, and exactly as they planned she walks over to him, smiling as he pulls her into a tight hug before they pull back, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"Now you've got an absolute treat tonight" Matty says and someone passes her, her acoustic guitar. Matty moves from his stool and lets her sit there.

"The amazing Lou everyone" he says before he's leaving, everyone leaves the stage then, joining the girls backstage and watching from the sidelines.

"God this is daunting" she says into the microphone, making the crowd laugh "Yeah I know this is my job but I haven't been up here on my own for a hot minute" they laugh again.

She's shining again Matty thinks, god he loved how she shines.

"Boys please come back" she says, everyone laughing again.

"Okay okay" she says, shaking her nerves off as she begins checking if the guitar is in tune.

"I need to say a couple of things before I start, unplanned I know" she says, saying her last words to the guys on the side of the stage.

"Can't let Matty say all that without me saying anything" she laughs and she sees him smile at her.

"My band is here tonight" the crowd screams "my little sister"

"And I can't remember a time where I felt as happy as I do now. We're a family here at the 1975... I know that more than anything else" she says her words making the boy's eyes fill with tears.

"I guess I just want to say thank you to the whole team... And to my four boys, you know I'm not the best with words so I've been wanting to do something to show you guys how much you mean to me instead. So I thought I'd sing you a beautiful song. One which you wrote. This is for you" she says, beginning to play the beginning chords to "When We Are Together".

She plays a stripped back version of the song, somehow making it more sentimental, the boys find themselves hugging each other backstage.

Matty stares at her intently as she sings, the voice he loves so much filling the entire arena, he's in awe that the entire audience is silent, simply listening to her sing.

"You ask about the cows, wearin' my sweater

It's somethin' 'bout the weather that makes them lie down

The only time I feel I might get better is when we are together" she sings, her voice soft and sweet, undeniably beautiful.

She sings the song to the end, only then looking up at the audience. Her own eyes glisten with tears that are yet to fall but they do when she sees everyone holding up their phone, a few people crying their own tears. The boys are quick to join her on stage, hugging her tightly in a group hug before they return to their places on the stage.

"I love you" Matty mouths to her making her smile and mouth an "I love you too" back. Neither caring that thousands of people were watching them.

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George somehow ropes them all into a night out. Explaining that they hadn't had one yet despite being nearly at the end of their first leg. It was a rare occurrence for the band not to have had one, but they had all agreed that until they were all settled they wouldn't have a crazy night out.

But as the first leg was coming to an end, they had all agreed it was much needed and well deserved. Plus, the addition of Lou's bandmates had them all in high spirits.

"Got to give the newbies a proper 75 welcome" Ross says, wrapping an arm around Lou, pulling her into his side.

"Hey I'm not a newbie anymore" she argues back, jokingly shoving the man above her, shrugging away from his grip.

"But you haven't been out with us losers since we were teenagers" he quips back and she can't argue with that.

So they all rushed back to their hotel, the girls taking up Lou's room which was yet to be touched. Matty frowns as she disappears between the doors, leaving him to get ready on his own. Lou quickly showers, slicks back her hair into a high pony and applies some make up, not too much on her face but a dark eye, before joining the girls back in her room, wrapped up in a white robe.

"Feel like seeing how much that man has the hots for you?" Cami says, making Lou laugh as she searches through her suitcase. The girls seemed to have come prepared, suspecting that a night out would be on the agenda.

"We're not going anywhere fancy Cami, George knows some dj at this club and they've got us a booth" she explains, failing to mention that it was in the VIP section, something she didn't like to brag about. Cami holds up a silk dress with a deep v and a high slit, Lou shakes her head "too fancy".

Cami mutters an "okay okay" before she proceeds to throw more things from her suitcase, a mischievous look on her face as she puts together a few items.

One of which is a skirt that is far too short even for Lou, she had thrown all sorts of items in there, some of which she hadn't worn in ages.

"Cami that skirt it so fucking short" Lou says, unsure about it, and the slit that revealed half her thigh. Cami proceeds to throw the skirt at her, along with a deep v lace bodysuit and a cropped blazer.

"Just try it on" she says, the other girls nodding. Lou sighs deeply.

"Don't encourage her" she says, pointing to the other girls.

She makes her way to the en-suite bathroom, removing her robe before putting on the assortment of clothes Cami had selected. She finds herself smirking at her reflection, her ego was far from big but she knew that one look from Matty and he'd be on his knees.

She makes her way back into the room, her bandmates gasping at her.

"That's it. That's the one. I'm a genius" Cami says, placing a kiss on each of her cheeks.

"I'd do you" Rose says, making them all laugh, her fingertips pluck the "M" necklace that rests against the centre of her chest, just falling in-between her boobs. Rose smiles and lifts an eyebrow.

"Can't lie... That's undeniably cute" she says and Lou smiles.

"I know I give him shit... And I will continue to until I see fit" rose says making Lou laugh "but it's obvious he's madly in love with you... And you seem really happy" she says and Lou nods at her.

"I am... I don't even remember what it was like before... I hated him because I thought he hated me... As soon as I found out he didn't, everything kind of just fell in to place" Lou explains, mia standing up to hug her sister.

The other girls get ready after that, Lou helping them do their hair and make up, hearing the guys laughing from outside.

Rose wears a simple black dress that sits tightly on her body, Cami settles for a black pair of skinny jeans and a lace bralette, whilst Mia adorns leather trousers and black one shoulder bodysuit.

"You guys are going to give them heart attacks," Lou says, making all the girls laugh.

They then make their way into the main room, Lou the last to leave, before she does she hears George say "Was wondering why you took so long but now I understand. Look lovely girls" he says, his words fairly tame in comparison to what she'd thought he'd say.

"Where's the woman of the hour?" He jokes before she steps into the threshold. Her eyes find Mattys almost instantly and she can't help but smirk at him.

He was sitting on one of the sofas, legs spread wide almost as if he's ready for her to take her place in them. He shoots up as soon as he sees her, tugging at the shirt that rests almost uncomfortably around his neck now.

He's dressed in black suit trousers, a plain white T Shirt tucked in with a black shirt thrown over the top, the buttons almost all undone except two at the bottom, the shirt is sheer and she holds back moan as she sees him. His hair isn't tamed by gel now, unruly curls sat atop his head, ready to be tugged.

"Damnnn" George says, hand reaching for hers and getting his best friend to do a twirl, which makes her laugh. She didn't notice Matty coming over to her but she sure as hell notices the look he gives George, one in which she had never seen before.

His eyes warned his best friend to watch his mouth and George instantly stepped away, he was being territorial and she was surprised with how much she liked the feeling.

"Baby..." He practically whispers, hands coming to find her waist, gently pulling her body to his, his touch is unsure, as if he thought he wasn't deserving of it. Behind them, everyone begins talking to each other, letting the couple be.

"You look..." He swallows deeply and the sight kills her. She's glad her outfit had the outcome she had desired but as his dark eyes find hers she finds herself lost for words. Her eyebrows raise up at him, begging him to finish his sentence.

"Devine..." He says, as if she's a meal to devour. She couldn't care in the slightest, she loved how he much he wanted her and how little he tried to hide it.

"Hmm" she says, hands flat against his chest, she doesn't even beginning to describe how good he looks before George is interrupting them.

"We should probably leave before these two start fucking" George says, making everyone chuckle.

The club is loud and George disappears the minute they arrive, talking to the DJ of the night who lets George take rein of the music for a bit. The others find themselves at their booth, drinks already waiting for them.

Matty's hand is firmly clasped on her thigh as his other arm hooks around the back of her. His hand comes to fit at the back of her neck and she finds herself loving the feel of it. His grasp wasn't too tight but wasn't exactly soft and she has to stop herself from pressing her lips against his.

Ross is sat opposite them talking to Mia, her hand rests on his knee as they talk over the loud music. Cami and Rose are already on the dance floor, laughing with each other as they danced and drank.

He leans into speak to her, having to place his mouth directly next to her ear for her to hear "saw about 6 different guys stare at you as we walked in love" he says, almost proud of the fact.

"Yeah?" She asks and he smirks.

"Don't blame them, you look fucking hot" he says, making her chuckle and lean into him.

"Bet it must feel nice knowing I'm yours huh?" She asks and his smirk falls, mouth agape for a beat before his lips find hers for a firm peck.

"You're not mine yet love, not really. You could go over to any one of them right now and do what you wanted" he speaks and she smiles at him, shaking her head at his words. His words which were just to test her. He wanted nothing more than for her to say his words weren't true.

"Its shame for them then isn't it?" She says making his eyebrows furrow, not knowing what she meant.

"Shame I want you and not them" she says, standing from the booth, hand finding his as she stands.

"Besides" she says, leaning down to him until her mouth grazes his ear, making him shiver "if I'm not yours... you should do something about that" she says before looking at Mia.

"Want to dance?" She asks and Mia smiles widely, standing almost instantly. Lou notices the clear frown on Ross' lips and she smiles, raising her eyebrows at the bearded man.

The two girls quickly make their way to the dance floor positioning themselves so they can be seen by the guys (who's eyes never leave them).

Ross and Cami are quick to find them, the four of them dancing with each other, laughing and drinking.

Lou feels a tap to her shoulder so she turns, looking up at a guy who she doesn't recognise, a 6 ft something guy who, if she wasnt completely smitten with Matty she would find attractive, he had curls too but they weren't the same as Matty's, he looks sweet, a we'll put together man who no doubt has a large sum to his name. She stands there awkwardly waiting for the man to speak.

"Sorry I saw you across the room and just had to say hi" he speaks the cliche line and she chuckles.

"Does that line usually work for you?" She shouts over the loud song that's playing, the girls behind her laughing.

"I don't know, it's the first time I'm using it, you tell me" he says smoothly and Lou chuckles again.

"Ah come on Lou, let him buy you a drink" Rose says and she knows she just wants to see Matty's reaction.

"Lou? Is that your name? A pretty name for a pretty girl" he says and she can't help but cringe a little.

"I'm actually here with-" she begins to say she's here with someone but is interrupted by rose again.

"No she's not, she's just being modest, buy her a drink, a martini" she says and Lou chuckles as they man smiles before leaving.

"I hate martinis" Lou says and rose smirks.

"I know, but I love them" she says leaning in to speak into her ear "turn around, it worked" rose says.

Lou turns and is suddenly flushed against Matty's chest, she stumbles but his hand quickly finds her waist, holding her against him.

"Hi" she smiles.

"Hi" he smiles back, looking down at her. His eyes flick to the bar where he sees the guy he was all but ready to pounce on if he made a single move. Lou turns her head to see who he's looking at and she smiles upon turnjng around to face him again.

Her hands rest against his shoulders as a slow beat plays, she steps towards him so they're closer.

"You don't have to worry about him" she whispers into his ear. His hands grip her hips as she begins to move against him.

"Hmm why's that?" He mumbles into her ear, lips finding their way to her neck.

"Think you already know Matty" she says, pulling back to look at him. Her eyes plead with him, begging him to just kiss her already.

"Because you're mine yeah?" He shouts smiling down at her. She simply nods and his eyes leave her for a second, flicking to someone behind her again.

"Sorry mate" he speaks to whoever is behind her, probably the guy from a minute ago, but Lou's eyes are training on the curly man holding her "she's my missus" the words leave his mouth before he even processes them.

She hears a grumble behind her and then Matty's eyes are on hers again.

"Your missus huh? Like the sound of that" she pulls his mouth to hers then, lips pressing against one another with fervour. Him using that word so casually awakens something in her (and seemingly him too).

He tries to speak through their kiss, eventually having to break away.

"Be my girlfriend? Like proper girlfriend" he asks, it was not the way he had intended on asking her but he was desperate now, not wanting to go another minute without asking her.

"Wanted to ask you in a better setting than this love but-" her lips are on his again, shutting him up. She goes to say yes but suddenly a lanky man is pulling the pair into a tight hug.

"Fucking love you guys" George says, making the two of them laugh loudly.

"How much have you had to drink?" She laughs and he smears a kiss to her cheek before doing the same to Matty.

"Question is... Why haven't you?" His words make no sense but they allow him to pull them back to the booth and allow him to make the whole group (save for Matty) do a few shots. Lou doesn't drink as much as the rest of the group, wanting to support Matty but also wanting to remember the night, for it was already an amazing one.

As the night progresses, Ross and Mia are dancing together, her hands flat against his chest as their bodies moved against one another.

Matty and Lou were flush against the wall in the corner of the room, hiding from everyone else, needing some time to be alone.

"You never answered my question" he says as his head tucks into her neck, lips pressing against the skin.

"Kind of got interrupted" she sighs, hands threading through the curls at the nape of his neck.

"Yeah George keeps fucking doing that tonight" He pulls back to look at her and she smiles.

"Yes I'll be your girlfriend" she says and he mirrors her, wide smiles adorning both of their faces.

"Yeah? Don't care that I asked you in the middle of some sweaty club" he asks and she shakes her head.

"No, because it's you. I'd of said yes no matter what Matty" and the confession has him blushing deeply, pulling her into him to place a loving kiss to her mouth.

"Didn't get to finish what you were saying to me earlier either... Some best friend g is" Matty says, needing to hear what she wanted to say.

"Yeah... Was going to say how good you looked" she says, smoothing her hands down his white Tshirt, fingertips pulling the shirt that rests either side of his frame, until their mouths meet again.

They break away a few moments later and his eyes wander to the centre of the dancefloor where Ross and Mia can be seen.

"Told George to keep her away from that man, she'll break his heart" Lou groans eyes finding where Matty was looking and he laughs at her words.

"You know I know about that night right" Matty says as his eyes snap back to hers, looking down at her as she frowns up at him, not knowing what she was talking about.

"What happened between you and Ross" Matty says, a smirk resting against his lips as Lou's mouth falls open.

"What- how?" She asks, mouth agape, lost for words.

"He's my best friend love, told me as soon as he knew I had feelings for you" he says, thumb drifting along her cheek.

"And? What do you think about it?" She asks, searching his face for any signs of him being annoyed at her.

"Well that depends..." He asks, a darkness to his words, lips pressing against hers, confusing her.

"Depends on what?" She murmurs against his mouth, pulling at his shirt, needing him closer to her.

"What was it like?" He asks, pressing his mouth to hers the moment he finished talking.

"Want the truth?" She asks and he nods against her mouth as his tongue finds hers. She allows them to fight for a moment until she lets his push harshly against hers, making her core flutter and letting him lead the kiss.

She pulls away from him for a second, dark eyes finding his and she smirks.

"It was hot... At the time" she says and she smirks down at her.

"Ross said the same thing" he says and Lou's eyebrows raise.

"Yeah?" Mattys hand drifts along her waist, landing against her hip, pulling her flush against him, moving their bodies to the beat of the music. Her arm hooks over his shoulder, clinging onto him as his hips ground down against hers.

He nods down at her and she finds herself confused as to why he's smirking still.

"If he told you that... Why are you smirking?" She asks, moaning into his mouth as his lips press against hers again.

"Because... It was a childhood makeout, doesn't mean anything... Fizzled out anyway" Matty says, repeating what Ross had explained to him. His lips find her neck again and she sighs.

"Hmm.. what if I said otherwise?" She says, purely teasing him. His head snaps away from her neck, finding her eyes, seriousness now covering his features.

"That's just mean love" he says, and she smirks up at him now, he doesn't find it funny and she's quick to drop the act. Softly playing with his hair as anger clouds his eyes.

"Baby I'm joking" she says, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, drifting them down to his neck and up to the shell of his ear.

"Doesn't mean anything... You're the one I want. My boyfriend" her last words are what gets him to snap back to how he was moments prior. It's what makes him press his mouth back to hers and grind his hips down to hers.

"Say it again" he murmurs into her mouth.

"My boyfriend"

"Fuck" his tongue roughly presses against hers and her hold on him tightens as pleasure increases throughout her body as she feels his hardened length pressing against her core.

"Want to get out of here?" He asks as he pulls away from her. She's quickly nodding up at him making him smirk.

"Good. Can't wait to get you out of this fucking skirt" he says, hand running along the hem of it, caressing her thigh. They quickly weave themselves out of the club, leaving their friends, leaving Lou's sister who is likely still with Ross.

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Their naked bodies are sprawled out on the bed of their hotel room, Matty is lying on his front as Lou is at his side. Her fingers drift along the expanse of his back, the muscles contracting under her touch before she presses light kisses to the skin.

"We have a break in two days" he says, his voice quiet, looking over his shoulder to find his girlfriend, who's arms were resting against his back.

"Want to spend it with you" Matty says, turning onto his back, she allows him and then lies back down onto his stomach now.

"Id like that" she smiles, pressing a kiss against his stomach.

"Think we should go away for a bit... Just us" he says and she nods again.

"Need to go home too though, need to see my family... And G's" she says and Matty nods.

"My mum's been wanting to see you again. Hasnt seen you since we were kids" he says. A man of many confessions tonight it seems

"Id love that. She always loved me" she says and Matty nods.

"Yeah I know... Used to give me so much shit for treating you the way I did. Said I was a cruel boy" he admits, his words holding a certain sadness to them.

"It's okay, made up for it now" she says and she smiles slightly.

"I'm so sorry"

"Baby no. You don't have to apologise anymore. I forgive you" she says, lips pressing softly against his stomach again, moving upwards until pressing against his lips.

"I know... Just needed to say it" he says and she nods.

"Can't believe you're my girlfriend" he says, hands moving her hair from her face, wanting to truly see her.

"You know... I never really said sorry for how I was to you" she admits and he looks down at her.

"You weren't nearly as bad as me love"

"That's not the point though... I'm sorry Matty, truly I am. Things were so different back then, it's kind of crazy" she says and he nods.

"Why did you hate me?" He asks, looking down at her, she didn't mind being asked it, they hadn't actually spoken about it yet.

"Suppose at first I hated you because you hated me... I tried to get you to like me... But after a while I gave in... Hated you because despite everything the guys said about you, about you being this lovely guy who would do anything for his mates... You weren't that person with me and I desperately wanted you to be... So I hated you because you didn't allow me to have you that way" she admits, something she had never admitted aloud before.

"I never knew that" he says, frowning at her. She knows he's about to apologise again so she presses her mouth to his.

"I often saw the way you were with them, when you thought I wasn't looking and I felt jealous... You told me the guys got to have me in a way you didn't and it was the same for me" she says.

"God we really made a mess of things didn't we?" He says, chuckling at the whole messy situation. She smiles at him and nods.

"Think we've made up for it now don't you think?" She asks and he nods, kissing her sweetly.

"My girlfriend"

"Your girlfriend" she smiles.

"Think I'm ready to make it obvious were dating" he says and she nods.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea" she says lying down on his chest and listening to his heart beat until she falls asleep.

"I love you" he murmurs although she's asleep on his arms now.

"I've always loved you" he says before he feels himself drifting to sleep too.

Part 9

[nono-uwu]

Ons chapter 135 thoughts!!

Spoilers duh (also very long post. Lmk if I should add the read more cut)

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- KAGAMI I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD IT IN YOU TO GIVE CHESS AND HORN MORE SCREENTIME BUT THANK YOU ANYWAYS

- I am so glad that the whole digestion thing is more symbolical bc... that inital wording really threw me off lmao

- on that note, the immagery of the dead trees with the bodies sticking out of 'em... very creepy and on point, I think it's neat

- they actually adressed Crowley forgetting them! Wowzers (side note she looks hella adorable. My little skrunkly)

- ouugh the dynamic... where was it earlier? It seems so much more casual than during the Nagoya arc (probably just wishful thinking on my part lmao)... idc how give us more of this

- "you two were my first servants", LORE CRUMBS! I guess.

- wait so, they're still becoming demons? But isn't that a form of reincarnation, the thing Ferid is specifically trying to stop? But he's also devouring them... to absorb their power I guess? Since later on Ferid mentions now being more powerful after devouring Crowley (I'll get to that asspull later)

- Also Horn looks a teensy bit weird with the new artstyle but she's still super pretty 🫶 be my wife pls

- So, 16 year old Ferid is inside himself as his 'true self'? I assume that because he got the idea to stop reincarnation when he was 16 and hasn't changed his mind since (never let 16 year olds make big decisions in this world, it only leads to disaster)

- the skrunkle part 2. Also I doubt being digested like that feels good in any way. And with how slow it's supposed to be, yikes.

- I have a theory (aka major amounts of copium): Yuu will bust in and save Crowley because of 'fAmiLy' and also save Chess and Horn since they're family by association

- No one can reach Ferid, eh? And then Corwley's voice reaches him. Kagami and his queerbaiting amirite

- However Ferid then snags Crowley and ig he's on the priority list of getting devoured. Probably bc he's the strongest vampire Ferid has eaten. Cannibalism as a metaphor for love and devotion or whatever, except it's very literal and I doubt there's any love beyond 'u and interesting critter dude' from both sides

- Ok here's my major nitpick with this chapter: KAGAMI STOP BREAKING AND BENDING YOUR OWN FUCKING WORLDBUILDING AND POWER SYTEMS. Until now it was established that a vampires strenght is dependant on 1. their rank (as in who's blood turned them) and 2. their age. But now appearantly Ferid can eat vampires and absorb their strenght? If this was some universal but very difficult thing for any vampire to do, then I wouldn't be this salty. Also one of my favourite things about Ferid as an antagonist was, that power-wise he was on the weaker side. Despite being 'weak' he was still a major threat. He made up for his lack in actual fighting power with smarts and immaculate planning. But now he's another uber-strong genius. C'mon we already had Shikama and Rigr for that department. Bleh.

- now for the Yuu / Rigr and co confrontation, it's fiiiiine. I guess. At least Shikama is still somewhat of a formidable threat. Not to the major characters obviously but yk, it's something.

- rip Basteya. You showed up, slayed for a little and died.

- Kirsten still looks fugly as hell lmao

- so do Ulrich and Roger

- So, who will be faster: Shinoa in absorbing Shikama or Yuu in saving him? My bet is on Yuu purley bc he's supposed to be the main character but ig we'll see next chapter

- KRUL!!! AND THE BAT THING I FORGOT IT'S NAME

- sadly no Ferid / Krul brawl this chapter but yk what makes me excited for next chapter

- my guess is that now Krul is Ferids next target to be chomped. Hopefully she will beat his ass. Like when she first appeared. Ahhh the good old times

- 'A big fan of yours... M'lady Queen' lmao. What's next Ferid, will you put on a Fedora? Bro that last panel ain't it. Fuckin Sebastian of black butler wannabe 💀

[those70scomics]

Update

Today, six months have passed since I've come home from the hospital!

I've made a lot of progress during this time. I have muscles again 💪 😁. Instead of needing a Walker to walk, I'm climbing stairs and getting in half-hour walks with 3.5 lb weights on each ankle. Working on stamina is my current focus in physical therapy. But I'm also continuing with strength-training and balance.

I came home with a frozen right shoulder (staying in the hospital a month, while life-saving, also deconditions the body big-time). My shoulder unfroze with stretching a month ago, and now I'm rebuilding the muscles around it.

I also came home with a feeding tube in my stomach. That came out two months ago, and I'm eating a variety of foods, working with a specialist nutritionist.

I had a liver drain, too (that suuuucked), but that was removed a few weeks after I got home.

My surgical wound was the Grand Canyon. It's healed a lot but still has months to go. It prevents me from doing certain things, including working on my laptop. Can't finish the batch of comics that just need dialogue boxes. 😅

But I'm using my tablet to write, continuing to work on *Those Who Play with Demons*. This T7S fic is going to break my chapter record. I'm such a sweet summer child when I let my imagination run free, thinking all these story and character elements can fit into 1/5 of the chapters they actually need. This one's breaking the hundred-chapter barrier easily. (But it's organized is such a way that I haven't done previously.)

The characters of Point Place have never experienced what my story is doing to them. 😈😇

Although I have a ways to go to regain all the things I can regain without a colon, my health is very good! And I'm going to keep moving forward.

Another surgery is on the menu, but that probably won't be for a year. I'm seeing my surgeon next month to talk about it. This one won't be done in a life-saving emergency situation like my first one. All the work I'm doing is, in part, to be in the best shape possible for the next (and last, let's hope) surgery that will put my small intestine back where biology intended. 😂

When the time comes, I'll make a post here. No disappearing without a word (barring unforeseen events). I shouldn't be in the hospital longer than three to five days. But, again, I'm talking a year from now.

Thank you to everyone who's given me kind words and friendship during this journey. It all helps with my healing, and I appreciate all of you. 🤗❤️

[ladythornofrivia]

Endless Reds and Blues

Pair: Kakucho x Reader (Ran x Reader)

Warning: Slight toxic dialogue.

A/N: I apologize for the lack of posting stuff here on the site. I'm having a hard time lately. I just want to give up. For the people who support me when no one could, thank you so much. It means the world to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter--I haven't written this series forever! Sorry I took so long to post a fanfic. I wish I could’ve done better and faster when it comes to writing—like I got everything down from start to finish with the plot, but, trying to overcome my problems in life. Thank you for your patience. ❤️

(Please report if someone decides to steal/plagiarize my story. And notify me. Thank you.)

Chapter 6: So Heartfelt and Vulnerable

As you we're having a deep talk with your friend, the part of the sandwich fell off on your lap, dripping the sauce.

Himiko placed the napkin. You thanked her and wiped the substance.

"This is pretty good, considering how the sandwich fell off. The should be careful on what they put here. Dry food can be wet real quick."

"Or how they carelessly stuff it down without thinking about consequences on carrying it. So what are you doing after school? I was thinking we should go to the karaoke."

Yow swallowed in fear. "I'm not sure...I have other plans. I'll let you know when I'm available."

"This new place by Shibuya is crazy good. The service and the food and drinks are great," Himiko insisted. "And so many cute guys passing by."

"I can't."

"What if there's a guy that looks like Leonardo DiCaprio? I've seen tourists going here. Maybe I'll find him."

You shook your head. "Thanks. But if the actual Leonardo DiCaprio is there, let me know."

"I'll even try to ask him if I have to."

Shaking your head, you said, "Become a Hollywood actress, then tell Leonardo that I requested him to date me. Maybe I want to be in a Titanic movie, starring me and him. Although Kate Winslet is better for him than me, actually."

Himiko slapped your shoulder lightly. "Let me know, then. Because I can't stand being around my relatives."

"Like a home away from home."

"Exactly." Himiko's eyes twinkled.

Then the classroom doors opened.

Oh, no.

You scoot your chair back on the wall as the Tenjiku members entered. Surprisingly, the admirers weren't following them. Probably the law they gave sufficed.

"Ah," Ran's eyes twinkled. "Here's our little mermaid." Then he rushed over to your side and had his hand on your waist, hoisting you up and drag you out from the classroom. "We've been looking for you everywhere."

"In case you didn't know, I'm trying to have a peaceful lunch," you said, munching.

His face leaned in almost close towards yours, his breath tickled your skin and his eyes gazing longer than it should've. "You forgot our deal, little darling." Then gazes to your lips, then back to your bewildered eyes.

"First of all, I'm not a darling," you said, removing yourself from his arm. "And second, the deal is supposed to a meeting between me and you guys after school."

Ran smirked. "Perhaps I should phrase it, little darling. You have to sit with us during lunch."

"What is this? Mean Girls? Who's the Regina George?"

"There's no Regina George," he said, baffled. "But you do have to sit with us."

"Out in public?" you asked, blushed.

Ran smirked again. "No, we have our own private area for lunch break to get away from prying eyes and ears and mouth. Come with me, my little mermaid."

You rolled your eyes. "In case you forgot, my name is (y/n), not Ariel. Unless you wanted me to sing and get my voice."

He chuckled. "We'll see, (y/n). We'll see." Then he snapped his fingers, saying, "Oh, I forgot." His thumb caressed your lips, and his satisfaction grew wider. "You have slight dirt on your face. You should thank me." Then licked the portion on his lips, tasting it.

*~~*~~*

Then you and Ran met up with the rest of the members, who are watching Ran clinging to you beside him.

"Why am I not surprised?" Kokonoi said, sighing.

Rindou and Sanzu followed. Then Takeomi and Mochi stood still watching you. As for Kakucho, he watched you also, but with a slight sheepish gaze, still wearing his stoic expression.

"Here she is!" Ran announced, smiling widely.

"Um, Ran, why are you still clinging onto her?" Rindou asked.

"She's tiny, and needs to be protected," Ran answered.

"I don't think she needs protection, she can smack me with a heavy book," Sanzu reminded.

"Don't be like that, Sanzu," Ran said, poking Sanzu's cheeks, to which Sanzu smacked Ran's hands away.

"Keep her away from me," Sanzu said.

"Don't worry, I will," you said, approaching.

Kokonoi frowned. "Don't try to forget our deal. Even if you pretend to do so, we'll remind you again."

"Fine," you said, looking at the school window.

"This way," Kokonoi said, beckoning you to enter the private area.

Once everyone entered, Kokonoi said, "Have a seat."

You took a seat beside Kakucho. "Are they always this way?" you whispered to yourself.

"Yes, they're always this way," Kakucho said with a flicked brow.

You looked at him directly. "Sorry, I was talking to myself."

Kakucho's eyes closed as he softly smiled. "It's fine."

The rest of the time during lunch, it was wilder, wilder than you expected--or maybe it surpassed your expectations in a most frightening and baffling way.

*~~*~~*

You packed your stuff for tonight, and lying to your mother is the worst thing. You didn't want her to find out the deal between you and the boys while your mother is trying to reach the lawyer to investigate regarding the bullying incident you have before.

Tonight, you're bracing yourself for the worst.

Entering the Tenjiku's lair--private home--one where you made a deal with them.

You weren't sure what you're going to do with the boys. Probably studying and tutoring in full hours. Partying. Or possibly surprising you with a twist.

Whatever it is, you prayed hard for a good and smooth-sailing result despite of bracing oneself.

In the lavish building, you were thinking and imaging you’re going to be tutoring then for the whole time until exhausted.

As you enter their room, the foyer, then the living room, it was set all cozy with large and cushiony pillow and blankets with a large screen tv turned on. Buttery popcorn and sweet-filling ice shaving drinks are on the go.

“What the hell?” you uttered.

“(Y/n), nice of you to join us,” Ran greeted before giving you a hug. And you returned the gesture rather awkwardly and suspiciously.

“Yes, because I made a deal with Kokonoi,” you said with a stiffened smile.

Ran then dragged you on the couch with all the members watching you. Again.

They could’ve just ignore me and do their own thing. Luckily, Kokonoi and Sanzu weren’t paying attention to you because they’re trying to select a movie they watch.

"No, I'd say we watch Godfather," Sanzu suggested.

"No," Kokonoi said, typing the movie title on the laptop that was already connected to the movie projector. "I want to watch Dark Knight."

"Forget it! I'd rather watch Iron Man!"

"No!"

"You're difficult."

"Same goes to you. If you want to watch Godfather, go to this movie theater where they replay the old movies."

"Dark Knight isn't new, either. It's been years since Dark Knight is out since 2008."

Kokonoi had his hand up. "Shoo!"

"Both Iron Man and Batman are rich playboys," you told them.

Kokonoi and Sanzu both looked at you. "What?" Sanzu said.

"Both guys--rich and playboys, like you guys," you said with a sincere smile.

Kokonoi looked back to his laptop. "I don't remember in the contract that you're going to be mean."

"How can it be mean when it's true?" Kakucho said.

All members flabberghasted at Kakucho.

"Thank you," you said, sitting down at the farther corner of the lavish couch.

"Which one?" Kokonoi asked.

"Which one, what?" you said, lifting your feet up on the couch.

"What movie do you want to watch?"

"Whatever."

"There's no movie called "Whatever"," Sanzu butted in.

Your sharp glare darted at Sanzu. "Fine," then you stood up and went over to Kokonoi with a hand outstretched. "Give me your laptop."

"No," Kokonoi said, pulling it back.

"Just give it to her," Ran advised with a swished hand.

As Kokonoi begrudgingly handed you his laptop, you searched the movie title, and Ran's voice boomed. "Did I ever tell you that your pajamas are cute?"

You snorted. "Save the flirting for later, Haitani."

Ran drew a dramatic gasp with a hand on his chest. "How hurtful! Did you not want to call me by my first name?"

Then goo-goo eyes shown, as you're stifling your giggle.

"You're not drinking alcohol again, are you?" Rindou asked.

"Hell no!" Ran said, with a fake, dramatic cry.

"I can't choose..." you whispered to yourself. Then a minute later, you said, "Alright, I have a question for everyone. Do you guys want sub or dub?"

Everyone's glances are exchanged with each other.

"Um...dub--wait--why?" Kokonoi asked.

Then you installed the movie, gave back the laptop to him. As the lights dimmed, you bounced back on the couch with a little squeal and little kicks on your feet, stuffing higher squeals in the pillow.

All the members looked at you as if you've gone mad.

"What movie did you install?" Sanzu asked, horrified.

With a little snickering, you said, "You'll see..."

Couple of minutes later, everyone's invested into the movie screen until it showed the face Leonardo DiCaprio.

Then you squealed it occupied the quiet walls. Some members jumped and looked at you again.

"Oh my god," Rindou said, planting his face against his hands. "No!"

"Every time! What does he got that we don't!?" Ran said.

"He's Leonardo DiCaprio...?" you stated.

"That's not a real solid explanation, (y/n)," Takeomi said, lighting another cigarette.

"Okay, his hairstyle," you said with confidence.

"Again, not the reason."

"Is there anyone else you like? Someone who's not a celebrity?"

"Umm....Johnny Depp? Keanu Reeves? Brad Pitt? Matt Damon? But if you’re talking about MCU, it’s either Tom Hiddleston or Robert Downey Jr. or Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Holland.”

"Not a celebrity!"

Then before you reached another set of popcorn, you took a glimpse at Kakucho with a stilled expression. Dismissing, you look back at Leonardo DiCaprio. Each time he shows up, you kept sighing and squealing, though it's toned down.

As soon as Leonardo DiCaprio's character reached his hand towards Kate Winslet's character, your hand automatically reached out towards his in a dramatic fashion, and it got some men snorting at your profound acting and reciting line by line.

"How many times did you watch Titanic?" Sanzu asked.

"This is my thirteen or fourteenth time...I'm not sure--I lost count!"

Then you get lost into the movie again. Until you started crying on some death scenes--mainly Leonardo DiCaprio's character--Jack Dawson.

"Even when he close his eyes and covered in blizzard, he still looks handsome. I want to marry him so bad," you whispered. "Leonardo I love you then, and I love you now! I loved you ever since it came out--I'll never let go!"

But all the members shot their shocking gaze at you.

"This girl...she never stopped..." Sanzu said, rolling his eyes.

"Tell me about it..." Ran said, saddened. Then he looked at Kakucho, who was also looking at you.

As soon as the movie is finished, you hummed along Celine Dion's song. But Kokonoi halted it. The lights switched back on.

"Hey!" you said with a pout.

"No more," Kokonoi with a cat-like smile, poking his tongue out.

"So what do you guys think?"

"I think it's...great!" Ran gave a polite smile.

"I somewhat fell asleep," Takeomi said.

"But...we could watch any movie, and you chose the one where you squeal for 5 seconds each," Rindou stated.

"You're the reason why we kept ourselves awake from your admiration towards Leonardo--Takeomi sleeping aside."

"How old was he when he's in Titanic?"

"22 years old," you said. "I know he's so gorgeous. His face, his eyes, his majestic hair and his voice. I want to swim on that forever. We should watch Romeo and Juliet next. The way he smokes his cigarette and the way he cries on that movie is too sexy. If you chose the sub version, Leonardo's voice is beautiful."

"Okay, that's enough fawning." Sanzu said, refilling the popcorn.

"Hey, I could say the same thing to girls towards you guys at the school. How is this any different?"

"She's got a point," Mochi said.

"Mochi!" Rindou said.

Shrugging, Mochi said, "I mean where's the lie."

"Anyway, are you guys ready?" you chimed in.

"For another Leonardo movie?"

"No, I'm testing you guys in English," you said, indicating for Kokonoi to give you his laptop for install another movie, this time it's Disney's The Little Mermaid. "First we have to watch this."

"I don't watch cartoons," Rindou objected.

"Then go somewhere else, or try to talk to one of the girls," you said without looking at their direction, you put the sub version of the cartoon movie.

"Do you think so low of us, (y/n)," Rindou dared.

"Rindou, with all due the respect, I meant to say that everyone is handsome and like most handsome men, they're occupied by girls. See, if I say you're ugly, what would you gain from it?"

Minutes in, and the song began to play, you hummed along the tune quietly. Kakucho, on the other hand, could hear you. There's something so pleasant about you, self-assured of yourself and unafraid to speak your mind--no matter how harsh it was.

Few scenes in, and Prince Eric shows up.

You sighed.

"Oh, now what!?" Rindou said.

"He's cute!" you raised your voice slightly.

"But he looks like the type who does stupid things," Sanzu said.

"Like you?"

Then it was silent again, minus Sanzu's huff.

"You're the real life Ariel," Ran commented with a smug.

Though you didn't hear it. Kakucho, on the other hand, heard it.

A heart stirred.

Did Ran have feelings for you? Surely he isn't. He's a playboy who knows how to make someone feel good through affirmation. Another reason why he's the most popular member.

*~~*~~*

Then you and everyone talked, due to English assignments. And by the time there's a pop quiz, Ran stopped and said, "I keep hearing you humming during the Disney cartoon. Is that your favorite movie?"

"I like Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan and Aladdin, and Tarzan--The Little Mermaid is one of the top five favorite Disney movies."

"I want to go to sleep," Sanzu said.

"Do you want to fail?" you said.

"I can copy off from someone else. I mean what's the point of learning when I can just use translation. We have technology."

"Sometimes translations are unreliable. They can give off the wrong impression on someone--some people out there, they get offended so easily. One time I tried to practice Japanese to someone, and he got pissed--doesn't want to talk to me and left. I kept saying and pronounced the wrong thing, and it ended up being so inappropriate. So I ended up going to Japanese classes--ones that doesn't feel basic. I just wanted a good challenge, so that it'd be worth it in the end."

"You did good," Ran said.

You smiled at him. "Thank you. Alright, we should take a break. Do you know where the restroom is?"

"Pass down from the living room on your right--first door," Kakucho said.

"Thank you." And with that, you left, shutting the door.

Kakucho watched you, and until you come back, he still watches the door.

With a shadow hovering over Kakucho, he glanced over to see smiling Ran. He's already creeping Kakucho out.

*~~*~~*

Ran and Kakucho spoke alone, making an excuse of bringing more snacks and proper meal in. As Kakucho entered the kitchen, Ran followed, and said, "She's cute, isn't she?"

"Yeah...she is," Kakucho said.

"Feisty, too."

"I guess so."

Then Kakucho is backed to the wall. This time, Ran's smile turned into grim. "I saw the way you look at (y/n), but your love for Mariko runs deep. Let me give you a warning. She's not someone to be trifled with."

"You only know (y/n) for a few days, she hasn't said much to you. Besides, since when do you care about (y/n)?"

"But her character does. I'm not stupid. Whatever you're thinking right now, you're thinking of Mariko, instead. I have my eyes set on her. If you dare to hurt her by mixing with your feelings with Mariko towards (y/n), you're going to regret this for life."

Taglist: @colored-tr-panels @galactict3a @penguinlovestowrite @onyx-blossom @akemiixx01 @goldenbeskar @f1yh1gh @sanzuisacrackhead @sehunnies-hunnie96

[baileys-3]

CHAPTER 20 ONLINE on AO3

So, 5 days of alternating shifts begin this chapter. Let's see how our two deal with it.

Then thanks again to Cookies for beta reading. You are awesome. Because she always has a proofread and not only reads over it quickly, but also makes sure that everything is always true to character. Invaluable.

Then the current status: I started chapter 28 yesterday and am in the middle of it. Somehow everything always turns out to be longer and more detailed than expected. I'm currently at 146,000 words.

Sneak Peak:

Tim's alarm clock rings and, as always, he is immediately wide awake. In his childhood, oversleeping was never an option, and as a soldier, he learned to react to every sound, even in his sleep. Every morning, he goes for an early run, following the same mechanical routine, with only breakfast occasionally varying. On this particular day, Kojo is not there, which means that he finishes earlier than usual.

He sends his sister another quick text to check whether dinner at hers is still on for tonight.

As he checks his phone, he notices some new messages in the group chat with his work friends. He realizes that one of the group admins, Angela, has renamed the group to "Mid-Wilshire Legends". After reading the messages more carefully, he learns that the group is discussing Nolan's birthday present, which happens to be a voucher for a paintball match. Nyla came up with the idea as Nolan's failure in the shooting arena, where he was distracted by a man in a diving suit, still gets teased. Everyone in the group plans to take part in the paintball match and then go to a restaurant together. Probably the only highlight for Nolan, because Tim won’t give him five minutes at the paintball arena. He will shoot him down personally.

The conversation is now all about finding a date when everyone has time. Which is not so easy, with a big group they have. He makes it easy for himself and basically takes Lucy's free dates and simply cross-checks his own calendar before posting the same list. That's that sorted.

Then he writes a quick message to Lucy.

Tim: If I'm on the team with Nolan, I'm out. Don't forget to nap before your shift. Otherwise, I'll have to order T-shirts again.

He looks at his watch and decides there's no point in hanging around at home any longer. He'd rather be at work earlier. Before he leaves the house, he takes another look at his combined dining and living room. He sees the cactus on his dining room table. He is now the proud owner of a plant. Lucy will water it. Or it will die. It's not his problem. He didn't even want it in the first place. He shakes his head and smiles. It's just like Lucy to do something like this. And it's just like him to be unable to say no to her. Comparing him to a cactus ... he has no words.

The day gets super stressful. He receives countless messages requesting him as a supervisor. So many that he can no longer fulfill them all and needs to prioritize. What on earth is going on in this city today?

The most inquiring case was the discovery of drugs during a traffic stop hid den in a bag that contained ready-made chicken. The man who was caught with it was so co-operative – or in other words, scared – that he gave up the dealer right away namely the seller from the roast chicken stall, who was captured quickly after that. Who not only offered his customers chicken, but also drugs. Wrigley was hailed as the hero of the day for conducting a traffic stop. Upon noticing a broken taillight on the car, he immediately became suspicious when he realized that the car did not carry the aroma of roast chicken, which it should have since the bag was on the passenger seat. This led to further investigation and Wrigley's quick thinking eventually uncovered something important. Good job.

Time flies as he rushes from one call to another. He writes a few messages to Lucy during his lunch break, like how the coffee in the break room tastes increasingly strange and that she should bring one from home. But then he is on the road again on his way to another call. At least he's back at the station before Lucy's shift starts. He is sitting at one of the desks reading Wrigley's report. It’s clear to him that Wrigley rarely writes reports like this. Reports about drug possession and intent to sell, so he needs to read the report carefully and can't just skim it through. He needs to make sure, that everything is documented correctly, and the prosecutors can’t refer to any procedural error later.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees someone place something on his desk. It's a coffee mug with the logo of one of his favorite coffee shops. He likes the place because they serve good black coffee. He can't exactly judge the rest because he's never really cared for any other offers there. He only drinks black coffee there. He is a simple man with simple needs, sue him. He looks up and sees Lucy standing next to his desk, already in uniform. Her smile warms his heart. And even more when he thinks about the fact that she took a detour just because of him, as the coffee shop in question is not on the direct route from her apartment complex to the station.

"Hey. How was your day?"

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Keep it in Your Heart

If we're doing another leg of this flashback, it's time to dust off a old concept that proved right with the last time we stepped away. We...might not be coming back to how this situation with Saturn gets resolved. We may come in directly on the resolution. There are a lot of ways that can go. But for the moment I just wanted to focus on a few things that are relevant. Starting with the chapter I borrowed a title from here, 603. Viz slightly changes it, but the noteworthy "heart" theme is part of the whole package, one you probably remember with this scene.

Of course it's relevant that Kuma asked for this final mission. This direction for the flashback has a high chance of us seeing an alternate view of the story we all know and love. Really, really would like to see this cover Kuma's POV on Thriller Bark. What I forgot until looking at this chapter again was how much the Straw Hats, particularly Franky, know about the cyborg project. Franky offering a dire warning that is quite pertinent; that Kuma is someone they're indebted to...but if they ever cross paths again he will be an emotionless weapon.

There is no such thing as coincidence, only fate. That was how Van Augur put it. Remember, that was when the story was taking an odd moment between Luffy and Blackbeard and spelling out the thread that had been running since Drum. How a quirk of fate tied the brothers' story together. It's interesting to see it on display here leading into explaining just how Kuma protected the ship. Had a hand in setting the Straw Hats up to learn what they'd need to take on the New World.

I used that quote from Augur in one of our earliest Post-Wano Musings, titled Holding Pattern which covered Chapters 1062 & 1063. Looking back, man it's cool we're still looking at Bonney the same way and Drake has the same potential. I really dug up the coincidence thing because Law having boobies was so on point. 1063 was the first time I really started wondering if there might be a real reason to keep the hopium around because it was so weird then to cut away to Law like that. Egghead has gotten a lot longer than we imagined then but really leaned into those early threads we were looking at.

Those who have been following along would recall a while ago I stopped fully caring about this from the perspective of Kiku actually being #10 or not and more that using her as a guide was clearly paying off enough I'mma keep doing it until we get our answer. So then it's worth noting it may be no coincidence, but fate that made Kuma's decision to split the Straw Hats land them at the right time to stumble into the Akazaya's revenge plot. Though the length of their time apart is out of Kuma's paws even if he knew about it. That was just one thought looking back on 603 here.

You even had Caribou stumble in at the end. Don't forget him. My hunch right now is if the Blackbeard ship is actually Moria & Perona then Caribou fits their aesthetic to a T. That's not a bad vehicle to show some of what happened during the skipped night in the lab. Reading that old review was a great reminder; some of the little oddities we noticed early did and continue to snowball.

As for Kuma? Who knows where the flashback goes from here. I'd love some deep Makino lore but they could just be ships passing in the night. Where Bonney's story runs parallel will also be telling. I'll dust off one classic though. The longer this flashback goes the better the odds we come back to the present in a weird fashion. I don't think this 1100 turn can be ended in just one followup chapter either. Gut says wait til the first one of a new year, those are always big too.

Hell...worth mentioning too. If this is our second segment like this in the arc, what does it mean if/when we break down into a third? Just saying, we already had the idea Egghead was the 4th more accurate part of Wano doing a Rashomon type thing. What if that story itself is a nested Rashomon narrative? I will make and send Oda an award for literary brilliance if he does that and it's really, really starting to feel like we might.

[frouse-enthusiast]

Soooo

First whole fic is completed

SOOOOOO here's a sneak peek before I post it in a few days!

In the weeks that followed the US lockdown, Smitty and Matt began to worry.

A lot.

As anyone would when almost all of their friends were stuck in a place filled with a deadly virus. A virus that reanimates people into mindless monsters—zombies, rather—with no known cure: only a hindrance.

Within the first weeks of the outbreak, vaccines were issued out to the US’ adjacent counties. All the while, the military in all three areas prepared for search and rescue teams to go and bring people out of the lockdown zone.

All Smitty and Matt would have to do was get their vaccines and wait for their friends to come to them.

Easy plan, right?

But a virus doesn’t just stay in one stage for all its life. It evolves. It changes and with no cure or remedy in the country, it grows stronger. And that's just what it did. Infecting people faster. Making it impossible to get to many places.

So after a few weeks, the government announced that there would be a set number of evacuations. Only four.

Once every month, soldiers would go in squads trying to secure some parts of the states. They would give themselves six days total to get everybody they could and return to their designated countries.

Four chances for everybody who could get out to get out.

During this graceless period between every trip, full of paranoia and sleepless waiting, Smitty and Matt spent more and more time together. Smitty had come to expect it now—his friend’s sporadic intrusions to his house. Stress takes a toll on anyone and, though Matt didn’t always show it, he needed a friend to ground him as much as Smitty did.

But this specific visit, Smitty was counting on. He hoped for it.

He sat on his couch, refreshing the Twitch page over and over on his television.

In a normal, non-infected world, one or two refreshes would soon bring up a stream of one of his friends, usually Puffer. And just tuning in to watch a few minutes of it would quell the noise in Smitty’s head.

But there surely wasn’t any internet in the US. Puffer wasn’t streaming today, he probably wasn’t even near a computer. Nor was John, Grizzy, Pezzy, Droid, and the rest of the boys.

He couldn’t contact any of them.

And not being able to contact John in particular worried him the most.

The last person he had called was John. Or rather, the last person that called him. John was panicked, his house surrounded, and decided to call Smitty in what may have been his final moments.

He doesn’t know what happened to John after that, only remembering the sound of glass breaking and something, possibly someone, tumbling to the floor.

Smitty had faith in his other friends—Pezzy, Puffer, Droid and Grizzy. They at least all lived together, so they could protect one another.

But John lived alone.

So Smitty, as much as he wanted to believe in John, had his doubts.

And on the Reunion days—the days after every refugee had been cured and looked over, and the people were free to come and see them—all his anxiety would boil over. His mind would flood with what-ifs and why-nots in the event that he found nobody.

What if none of them made it? What if John didn’t make it?

What if they couldn't evacuate more people?

To the point where after just one of those visits, he had a breakdown on the car ride home, and Matt decided it was best if he didn’t come with anymore.

So Matt went alone, and Smitty would stay at home waiting for him.

Like he was doing now. Festering in his own worry, til his buddy finally came through the door.

-------

And that's all you get for now! I'll make another post when the first chapter is actually posted, but I hope this was an okay start!

[lisatheforgiving]

[LISA The Forgiving Chapter 1 Part 4]

Not too happy with the first page on this one, I really wanted to have a bit where Rando points to another panel revealing he tied Brad up in a bow, but I've never really done that kind of thing before... By the time I realized how bad it looked, I just wanted to finish the page... But I really like the perspective in the last panel! I had to look at some stock photos to get an idea of what a person climbing up a ladder would look like lol

Next

Previous

Index

Update on schedule

As some of you may have noticed, these pages took way longer than usual to produce. This is because of a combination of a lot of things, but essentially I'm a little burnt out. I'm going to take a small break here, I won't upload the next 3 pages in 2 weeks.

After my break, I will return to the 2 week upload schedule! I might make some small posts here and there, and will definitely be responding to asks during this time! Idk how long I'll take... Probably however long I need, so if I had to guess maybe 2 months. TLDR: I'm taking a break, no idea how long I'll take. Hopefully 2 months!

[hoosurdaddy]

Chapter 4.

Pairing: post covid! Stan Marsh x Reader, post covid! Kenny McCormick x reader.

Triggers: 18+, cheating, smut,gaslighting. Reader is married to Stan, bad grammar, short.. Rushing this so I'm finally finished a series.

--

As you fidgeted with your paper work, you seen Kenny through the class window talking to one of his investors about a new product. You two spotted each other, but right as you went to give Kenny a shy wave, you heard your phone ringing. It was Stan. Instead of waving at Kenny, You stared at your phone. Stan knew he shouldn't be calling you at work. You waited until the call rang out before continuing your journey to the copy machine. As you walked, you could hear someone trailing behind you. It was Butter's, standing there with a small smile on his face as he caught up to you.

"Hey Butters."

"Hey Y/N." Butter's looked at you with rosey cheeks. "I'm so sorry I didn't stay behind on Friday for paper work. I had no idea."

"What?" You looked at Butter's, confused.

"I was talking to Stan this morning and he was asking about how Friday night went. I really need to start checking my emails more. Gosh darn." Butter's muttered, fumbling for any excuse as to why he missed 'the paper work'.

"It's okay, honey. It's just a misunderstanding on Stan's part, there was no meeting, or paper work." You smiled weakly at Butters, who sighed a breath of relief. It wasn't a misunderstanding on Stan's part. Did Stan not believe you? He was probably still annoyed about the lube situation, but jesus don't drag Butter's into it. You looked down at your phone once more. Stan's calling.

"I'll talk to Stan, Don't worry your pretty head." You laughed at Butter's, who smiled back at you before he turned into his office singing a song he made up about paper.

You answered Stan on the fourth ring. "Hey." You could hear him smiling down the phone.

"Have you been questioning Butter's?" You asked, despite knowing the answer already. You could hear Stan laughing down the phone, which in return made you smile at the thought of Stan's smiling face.

"I'm just talking to my friend." Stan explained. "He was clueless about the paper work on Friday, poor thing nearly died of a heart attack." You could hear Stan rolling his eyes over the phone.

"It's Butter's, he's completely harmless." You continued as you set your papers down on the printer. "That's why Kenny only needs him for legal assistance and to be his accountant. It's only me and Kenny that deal with paper work."

Stan sighed, taking a long pause. It scared you that Stan might of figured it out, but instead he spoke. "You know if you quit you can come work for my whisky company and we hang out all the time."

"I've told you before Stan, if we work together all we'll do is fight. Besides, working in a lab is fun." That and it was a bit of freedom from Stan. Not that you didn't love being around Stan, but working with him would be completely different. You both made it a rule to never bring work home and that is a guarantee to happen if you worked with Stan. Besides, working as a secretary was fun. It was something you were good at, it was something you enjoyed. It was the first bit of freedom that you had since moving away from college.

"Are you working this weekend?" Stan asked since it was only Wednesday, but Stan wanted to keep you busy for the weekend so you had no excuse to come in and see Kenny. You shook your head, despite Stan not being able to see you.

"Nope. I'm free."

"Craig is having a birthday for Tweek on Saturday." Stan immediately announced on the phone. Parties with Stan used to be a nerve wrecking experience with how drunk and messy he used to get, he wasn't like that anymore. Stan was sober and he got sober for you. He was able to control himself around alcohol, considering he owns a whiskey company he never consumed a drop.

"Are you going back to work?" Stan asked.

"I am. I'll call you on my break?"

"See you soon."

--

During his lunch break, Kenny had missed a group WhatsApp call from his friends; Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. Once he answered, they were talking about Craig's party for Tweek this weekend. Kenny loved facetiming his friends. Kyle was giving him the information that he missed out on about the party. Kenny knew he was going to have to face you and Stan as couple sooner or later, but he figured that by then he would of had his own girl by now. But he didn't, he had you.

As his friends talked, Kenny noticed how Stan seemed to peak over Kenny's shoulders for any sign of you in his office or even a glimpse of you walking by the door, everytime Kenny's eyes glanced away from the camera. Stan had no authority here, this was Kenny's building. This was Kenny's business. Stan couldn't do anything here.

"I'm wearing my red polo shirt with jeans. I bet Y/N is gonna wear that blue dress I got her for our anniversary." Stan smiled. It took Kenny everything not to threaten Stan that he was going to tear that dress off your pretty body and fuck you six ways to Sunday. "She's going to look so sexy."

"Dude." Kyle scoffed down the phone as Stan gushed about you so lovingly. Kenny just rolled his eyes, causing Stan to sneer as Kyle and Cartman began arguing over what to give Tweek as a present. This sneering and throwing dirty glances at each other continued until Kyle stopped them, and asked Kenny was wrong.

"Just tired." Kenny answered through his teeth as he watched Stan give him a sweet smile.

"I bet if a certain someone walked in you'd be all smiles and laughter." Stan replied, making Kenny tensed up. Thank God, Stan wasn't here in person or else his body language would totally give everything away. 'Fuck you Stan', Kenny thought.

“I don’t know what you’re on about, Stan." Kenny replied, doing his best to deny the reality of the situatioN. He was protecting you, he was protecting himself. He can handle the pressure, he was a scientist after all. No matter what Stan threw at him, Kenny could handle it. But Stan on the other hand, couldn't trust Kenny as far as he could throw him. If he had seen you both the other night, there would be no denying it.

"I'm not stupid." Stan sneered once more, causing more confusion Cartman and Kyle. It was Thanks to Butter's who came in to ask about the accounts that Kenny excused himself.

--

On Friday, you sat at your desk, cleaning out an bit of rubbish you had left over from the week. Stan was busy at the office, he had rang you to tell you that something went wrong and he had to figure it out and that he might be home late. You didn't mind, it gave you time to fix the house, and get both your clothes set and ready for tomorrow. You were filled with excitement to see Craig and Tweek tomorrow.

When you had returned back from taking out the bin, Kenny was already sitting on your desk with a smirk on his face. "Hey. I was hoping to see you before you left."

"Here I am." You giggled as you sat on your chair, looking up at him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just like looking at you." You playfully slapped Kenny's arm as you grabbed your handbag.

"Are you going to the party tomorrow?" You asked as you and Kenny stood up so you could push your chair into the desk. Kenny nodded, his fingers ghostly running over your arms. "I can't wait to see you in that blue dress."

"Stan told you?" You laughed as Kenny nodded, laughing along with you. "Yep, he was very serious about how sexy you'll look.. Can't say I blame him."

Sighing, you looked up at Kenny. "Do you want to fin-"

"It's going to take a lot more then Frank Gallagher to get rid of me." Kenny smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

You smiled, looking around to see if there was anyone around. All you wanted to do was kiss Kenny right here, right now. You wanted to plant kisses every where and anywhere over his face and body, but you couldn't. Instead, you opted for blowing him a kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."

As you turned, you walked down the hall to leave through the fire exit. You were expecting to be greeted by the fire exit door, instead you were greeted by Butter's, who hadn't gone home yet. You both stood there and stared at each other in silence.

Internally, you felt your stomach acid bubbling as you both stared at each other for what felt like a life time. Butter's had a look about him that you couldn't quite read. "Please don't tell Stan." You wanted to cry out, but your mouth wouldn't move.

Slowly, Butter's made his way out through the exit, leaving you standing there, questioning on what your marriage was going to be like when you got home.

[undeadbanjos]

So... About the Engie theory

Don't.. Don't shoot yet.

So. If you read ALWY you saw the chapter I posted today.

The chapter that had the base of my idea for

Who the hell is this guy in the lore?

If you haven't read ALWY. Well. I don't blame you. It's ending with 80 chapters. Yes I'm insane. And this might sound stupid. But oh well.

Here's the basis.

This moment was the start of it. The moment you, the captain are holding on to Mark for dear life. The moment you are making the biggest decision of the run. The moment where

Actually, where everything went to shit in the first place.

What made me start thinking was something Mark said during the in space explaination

Which yes, that is the center of what Mark's CU boil down to as like... A theme.

But BEFORE that. He says this:

He goes on to say that with the multitude of different universe, this can be the bridge to all of it coming together. That while, yes this story takes place in the future, this moment.... may not That Engie, creating the warp core and catastrophic worm hole is what created this entire cinematic universe. That our Engie, dangling over the rift in space time with you holding on to him, is accidently creating universes in which you and he, have a role. His personalities split, and so do yours.

"Okay Banjos you lost me."

Hold on. Hah. Hold on. But seriously.

Mark says in this that Actor, Wilford, and Dark are more so different parts of his personality. And well.

Engie has his moments that represent... All of them.

Engineer Mark is the most complicated character, probably the one we spend the most time with. He has multiple arcs. Sometimes we come across us and he's gone mad. Sometimes he's melded well within the universe he's in. Sometimes he's murderous, sometimes he's overly confident, sometimes he's a big ol sweetie heart.

No. No. I'm not saying Engie is actor. That's already debunked. Look up at the last screenshot silly goose.

I'm saying Actor is part of Engie.

And so are the rest of them.

"Well what about Illinois, Magnum, Murdock, Yancy-"

Okay okay yeah. I don't have evidence to back up all of those. And they might not be connected. But. I... I always found these parts of Space Part II...... A little weird.

You as the captain can break Mark into doing whatever the hell he's doing and just.

Remember.

I think these are just parts of him thrust into different stories. Not full blown parts of his personality. But

Another Mark. In another situation. In another what if-

This is.... Making less and less sense. But I think the very basis is there.

It's... Something. Im not stomping my foot and saying

This is it and I don't want to hear anything else.

And I mean. This is just based on things that Mark said. I am very likely not the first person to like. Pioneer this. I really didn't want to bring it up until I did in my fic.

And now THAT'S done so.

I dunno. Discuss. Yell at me. It's just a theory

A SPACE THEORY

Okay I'll see myself out

[popcornfairy28]

Round 2 of Voiceteam is done!

With how the challenges turned out, I ended up reaching all my points with helping with multi-voice projects, so I actually have no podfics at this present moment to share here 😅 But I can talk about them! For this round I ended up recording a part of the AO3 terms of service three different ways (Section IV D if you were curious, lol). I also recorded myself in 12 different places with my team's motto, including at a funeral that I attended last Friday (definitely gonna be using that for inspiration as I write up Pinky's "funeral" for What Hides in the Dark). Lastly, I sang a parody of Puff the Magic Dragon that we made for a charming kid's book called Harold and the Purple Crayon. It really was quite cute. When I get the AO3 links, I'll share them here.

So, what's next? Well, you might have recalled that I said I'd write The Older Siblings chapter 7 and chapter 1 of What Hides in the Dark during my break between rounds 1 and 2. I did in fact write up a whole chapter for The Older Siblings that's currently sitting as a draft on AO3, but I ended up changing it in Google docs so I still have yet to post those. So here's what I'm gonna try to get out in the next couple days, as they are literally quite a bit written already 🤦‍♀️. I'm just a procrastinator.

What Hides in the Dark: Chapter 1 (out of 12? I keep changing this LOL): We Really Have No Clue

The Older Siblings: Chapter 7: Somewhat Terrifying (that's the draft's name at least, though I think I'll probably change it as that phrase might not make this chapter 👀. I come up with these fic's chapter names at the very end of writing, actually.)

Perry the Teenage Spy: Rewriting the Show - Extra Scenes: Chapter 4: First Aid for Fire and Falls (The Magnificent Few)

Perry the Teenage Spy: Rewriting the Show - Season 1: Chapter 13: It's About Time! (w/ changed version of "When We Didn't Get Along")

If I don't post SOMETHING tonight, feel free to ask me for a sneak-peek for one of these of your choice.

[hide-in-imagination]

Cruel Summer | Simbar Fic

-*Simón and Ámbar spent the summer in Cancún after the Roda Fest— That much is known. What no one knows is what happened during that summer.

This is a could've been. A glimpse into a moment lost in time.*-

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

New year, new multichapter! Hello, everyone. This is a project I've been working on for about three years now and I've finally decided to share it. It'll be four or five chapters, they're already drafted and halfway done, so I'll be posting this story along with Roads That Cross whenever I have the time. I'm hoping I can post all of it by the end of this year, 2023. Fingers crossed! Without further ado, I leave you with chapter 1. Hope you like it. — ☾

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

1. Fever dream high in the quiet of the night…

The sea breeze was hitting Simón's face as he walked down the beach. The sun had set recently, turning the clear, turquoise color of the water in Cancún into a dark blue. It was probably time he returned home, he thought. But the salty scent, the softness of the sand under his feet; all of it was like a part of him and it made him feel whole.

He needed that feeling.

He had lost count of the number of times he had volunteered to take the dog out for a walk these past days just so he could breathe in the sea. It was nice, but it always ended the same way.

With a sigh, Simón rubbed the sand off his feet and put on the shoes he had been carrying in his hands. Staying here until late wasn't going to help. If it could, it would've done so by now.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and gave one last long look at the waves, willing their sound to drown his thoughts. He was turning around to leave when he caught sight of something. No, not something— Someone.

The skip of his heart wasn't something he could help or control. It had followed him around all summer, every time she was even mentioned, every time some seller by the coast offered handcrafted jewelry made of the semi-precious stone.

Ámbar.

Seeing her was a rare occurrence these days, and so much worse than just having to deal with the memories in his mind. She was walking in his direction, her gaze down, focused on how the breaking waves skirted close to her sandals and then retreated, never touching. Much of her skin was bare, covered only by a bikini as black as the night sky and short denim shorts. Her blond hair was loose and fluttering wildly from the wind. Her hand reached up to move it out of her face, and Simón remembered when it was him who did that.

That was then. Now was now.

When she saw him, she stopped in her tracks, clearly as taken aback as him. They looked at each other for a moment, then she turned to face the sea, her back straight, chin high. Her whole posture sent the message to just ignore her and keep going on his way.

Simón wanted to do just that ever since the moment he caught a glimpse of her. After all, they had managed to avoid each other for weeks now— They could keep doing it. But something pushed him to come closer instead. Maybe the exact same part of him that wanted to flee.

When he stood next to her, she made no sign of sensing his presence. He watched her profile, her gaze stubbornly fixed on the horizon.

"You shouldn't be here alone this late."

His words were only met with stoic silence.

His eyes stared at her on their own accord. There was a lot of exposed skin he wasn't used to seeing; he tried to ignore that. What he could not ignore, however, were the goosebumps on her arms—And everywhere he looked, now that he was paying attention. Being in the tropic, Cancún was always warm, but in winter, at night, and right next to the sea breeze, the temperature was as low as it could be.

"You look cold," he told her, but got no response. "Do you want my hoodie?" He offered, bringing his hands to its open front to take it off.

"No," Ámbar spat.

It was the first word she had said to him in weeks.

Simón hesitated, seeing small shivers in her body. "But the wind is blowing strong and you're—"

"What the fuck do you care?"

Her snap made him startle. His chest hurt— A quick pain that just as quickly turned bitter. He shouldn't be surprised. This wasn't the Ámbar he'd spent afternoons skating and talking with. This wasn't the sweet person he thought he knew. And even if she was, even if any of it was real, it was all too wrapped up in lies and revenges and heartbreak for it to mean anything positive in his life.

God, what am I doing?

Simón clenched his jaw, smoothing his expression; he refused to keep looking like a fool. "You know what? You're right. Forget it."

He turned around, stomping through the sand in the direction of his house. He looked back after a moment, expecting to see her walking away as well, but she was still there, staring at the waves.

Who the hell cares. I try to be nice and she barks at me. Serves her right.

Simón kept walking. He could see some people far ahead walking along the beach too, apparently a family. He heard some loud voices and laughs to his right, coming from one of the shops on the sidewalk. It sounded like a group of guys, either drunk or getting there. He couldn't tell from this distance if they were locals or tourists.

He looked back again. Ámbar was still where he left her, except sitting on the sand now.

Her house is not that far, she can walk. Not a big deal.

He walked a little more. Stopped. Turned.

Ámbar was curled up in the sand, her legs up to her chin as she hugged them. Even from this far he could tell she was shaking.

Oh god freaking damn it.

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

One second Ámbar was looking at the waves touching the shore, and the next, she felt a material crash and drape over her right side, momentarily blinding her as some of it covered her face.

"You can throw it in the trash later if you hate it so much, but don't freeze to death."

By the time she pulled the fabric out of her eyes, confirming it was indeed Simón's pale yellow hoodie, he had already turned and was walking away to where he came from.

A fire, dark and feral, burned in Ámbar's chest. That was what he always did— Turn his back to her.

She crumpled the hoodie into a ball and threw it at him. It hit his back before falling to the sand.

"I don't want anything from you."

Simón turned around like a storm.

"Why are you being so damn difficult?" He exclaimed, picking up the spurned hoodie from the sand. "I'm trying to be nice here, even though I have no reason to be, and you still reject my help!"

Ámbar stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, staring him down. A small, mirthless smile graced her lips. "Sorry, that's just how we people full of hate are. Nothing personal."

Simón felt a jab in his heart at hearing his words thrown back at him. Guilt, regret, sadness— All three hit him like a slap, but he squished the sensation. He was not the one who did things wrong. He was not the one who lied. He was not the one constantly looking for ways to hurt someone— Like she was doing right now, telling him this just to make him feel guilty, to make him feel even more miserable than he already was.

He rubbed a hand down his face.

"Just put it on, okay?" He asked her, extending her the hoodie.

"No. Leave me alone."

Simón took a deep breath.

"Ámbar, you're freezing, and you're barely wearing anything more than a swimsuit, at night, alone, in a foreign country," he stated pointedly, appealing to her good judgment. "The walk to your house is still many minutes long, and it doesn't look like you have any money on you or your phone to call a car— Which, by the way, is very irresponsible of you. Now, do you want to die of hypothermia just to prove a point, or are you going to take my hoodie and live to hate me another day?"

Ámbar looked at the hoodie for a moment. Then she turned her head toward the waves, her murmur barely audible over their sound.

"What if I rather freeze?"

Simón did a double take. She can't be serious.

"I'll put it on by force if I have to— Why are you being like this?!" He demanded, no longer able to contain his frustration.

"Why are you being like this?!" Ámbar volleyed back, bringing her fuming gaze back to him. "You don't care about me, you made it very clear that you hate me, so why are you insisting so much?"

"Maybe because I have a heart and I can't just see someone like this and do nothing?"

"I don't want your pity," she seethed.

Ámbar passed by him and began to walk towards the sidewalk. She had seen enough pity in the eyes of everyone in the last few days—

'We're sorry that Sharon lied to you like that.'

'Luna might be Sol, but you're still my granddaughter.'

—She didn't need any more of that; especially from him.

Deep down, she knew she was being unreasonable. That the mature thing to do would be to just accept the damn hoodie and carry on with her life. But she had this instinct— this need— to preserve the last shred of dignity she still had left. After the way the two of them had left things, Ámbar wanted him gone from her life, she wanted him as far from her as possible.

It wasn't that cold. She'd probably warm up if she jogged a little or something. She just had to get away from the sea breeze. From him. Very far from him until it didn't hurt anymore.

But no, of course he wouldn't give her that. She could hear his footsteps on the sand as he followed her, probably eager to deepen some wound, just as he had to go gloat in front of her after Luna won the Glass Skate.

And then people said she was the cruel one. That she was insensitive.

Fuck them and fuck him.

Simón tried to call out to Ámbar, but she kept walking away from him, acting as if she didn't hear him.

Just let her go, a part of him said. It's not your problem, you tried, if anything happens, it'll be her fault.

He couldn't. He couldn't let anything happen, he couldn't let her go.

"Ámbar, please! I—" Simón stopped and squeezed his eyes shut, cursing himself inside. "It's not pity, I'm just... an idiot."

Some steps ahead, Ámbar stopped in her tracks, gathering she hadn't heard that right. She turned slowly and looked at him with a frown.

"What?"

Simón seemed reluctant to meet her gaze, reluctant to even speak further, but he let out a sigh and did.

"I'm stupid. I really, really am because, you lied to me, you broke my heart— By all means, I should hate you, but... I still care about you."

Ámbar was sure this time around that she had heard him wrong. He couldn't really mean that. But the way he averted his gaze, as if embarrassed, said otherwise.

She was stunned.

"So, as you can see, I'm the biggest idiot on this planet," he said dejectedly. "Now, can you please just put the hoodie on?"

Simón extended his hand with his eyes lowered. He wanted to save himself the humiliation of seeing the smugness on her face after what he had just confessed. He hated himself for it. He hated to give her that satisfaction, but he couldn't help the way he felt, and he had given up trying. Simón had spent all these days in Cancún trying not to think about her and it hadn't worked. So, he had just accepted the fact that he was pathetic and carried on with his life.

Honestly, the whole current situation was pathetic. Ámbar was the one with the problem and yet, somehow, he was the one begging her to let him help.

He could almost hate her for it. Except, as he had already established, he wasn't capable of it.

If she rejected his help this time too though, that was it, he wasn't going to insist anymore. He had at least some pride and self-love left. He could maybe call Miguel or something to send a car here so he could make sure Ámbar would be okay without getting involved any further. In fact, that was probably what he should've done from the beginning instead of walking back here and following her around. Why was he even—

She took it. Ámbar took the hoodie.

Simón looked up.

Ámbar slid her arms inside the hoodie, feeling his eyes on her. She pulled the zipper up to her chin and dug her frozen hands into the pockets.

The first thing she noticed was the warmth. Her body sighed as the fabric enveloped her, automatically feeling better. The second thing she noticed was that it smelled like Simón. It was quite obvious it would, he had been wearing it, but somehow, having his scent envelop her after so long of not smelling it at all was as big a shock to her system as the warmth against her cold body.

"Thank you," she said, sinking as much as possible under the soft cotton. It was the least she could say, and the only thing she felt comfortable saying.

Simón observed her. The hoodie looked big on Ámbar, the sleeves drowning her hands and the length falling down to her thighs. It was just long enough to cover the shorts she was wearing, making it look as if she had nothing underneath.

His treacherous heart jumped against his ribcage. He shouldn't be looking at her that way. Seeing her in his clothes shouldn't please him so much.

Simón gulped and nodded slowly. "You're welcome."

Ámbar crossed her arms to hug herself against the cold, and the movement drew his attention to her chest. He turned away quickly.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your house," he said, and if his voice sounded a tiny bit different, lower than a moment ago, he counted on the sea sounds to cover it.

Simón was aware that he had changed rather drastically his original plan of just handing her the hoodie and then lettling her walk back alone, aware that he was setting himself up for a big chunk of awkwardness because of it, but after taking one good look of Ámbar, there was no way he could leave her alone. The hoodie was a solution for one problem but there was another. If his mind had wandered seeing her like this, he knew others' would too, and there was no way in hell he was going to let Ámbar walk alone at night for some depraved man to harass her or worse— Simón would rather die.

(He might die, if he later found out that something like that happened and he let it.)

"I don't wanna go there."

Ámbar's voice snapped him out of his grim thoughts. Halting in his step, Simón spun around to find that, true to her word, Ámbar hadn't moved from her previous spot on the beach.

He frowned at her reluctance. "Why not?"

She averted her gaze. "I just don't."

That wasn't an answer, but Simón guessed he had no right to push, so he just went along with it.

"Do you have anywhere else to stay?"

Ámbar considered it. "Emilia could take me in."

Simón's face contorted in disbelief. "Emilia? Are you really that close to that girl now?"

"No, but I prefer her."

Why?

Simón wanted to ask but he suspected Ámbar wouldn't answer. He didn't like the idea of Ámbar hanging out with that girl. Didn't like it at all.

But that doesn't concern you. Not anymore.

"Well, where does she live?" He asked instead, swallowing his unease.

Ámbar seemed to think about it. "I'm not sure," she admitted reluctantly. "I think I'd recognize the general area if I saw it, but I have no idea where that is."

"Well, do you know her number? We can call her from my phone," he offered.

"I don't know it by memory, I need my phone."

"Okay, and where's your phone?"

"...At the house."

Simón let out an exasperated sigh. "Let's go to your house then."

He started walking again, just as he had one minute ago. Thankfully, Ámbar didn't protest this time and just followed along, walking slightly behind him.

"Why did you leave all your stuff there anyway?" Simón asked after a moment. It wasn't only dangerous but also didn't sound like her at all.

"I kinda left in a hurry and forgot to grab my things," Ámbar replied. "I wasn't supposed to walk that far either, I just lost track of time."

Their footsteps on the sand filled the silence that followed, along with some faraway voices of people in the city.

"Why didn't you go back to get your things?" Simón asked next. "Why do you still don't want to go back? It's your house."

"Summer house."

"Same thing."

Ámbar didn't say anything. She kept staring ahead, avoiding Simón's gaze, and for a long minute, they just walked like that, in silence. She clearly didn't want to answer his questions. She refused to open up to him at all.

Simón couldn't blame her; he felt the same way. It was totally understandable after everything that had happened between them. And he should've been okay with that. He should've been able to just leave it alone.

But...

Simón stopped in front of Ámbar and turned to face her, forcing her to a halt.

"Okay." He offered her his hand. "Truce."

Ámbar looked at him confusedly.

"What?"

"I said 'Truce'. I forget for the rest of our walk how you lied to me, and you forget for the rest of our walk how mad you are at me. Deal?"

Ámbar stared at him and his outstretched hand long and hard. The expression on her face showed what both of them knew— That they couldn't forget, not really. What had transpired between them had left a mark on both of them that wasn't easy to ignore. She looked at him with apprehension, seemingly trying to figure out his angle, what his objective was, what he wanted to gain from a deal like this.

Simón wished there were anything to be gained. He wished that this idea was in any way or form good for him, that he had been strong enough to convince himself to stay away.

But he was worried. Unrest in his chest, knot in his gut worried. Against all his better judgment and the bitter part of him that claimed whatever was going on with her served her right— His need to do something about it was stronger.

He had already let that petty part of him win once, when he went to see her in the dressing room after the Roda Fest. He thought he'd feel better after that. He didn't. He thought if he did the complete opposite of comforting her, his first instinct upon seeing her downcast, before he remembered why she deserved to feel that way, he'd finally be able to drown that urge once and for all. Yank it out of his chest like weeds.

He couldn't.

Ámbar, faced with this nonsensical offer, wanted to laugh scornfully at Simón's face. You want me to forget how you told me to go fuck myself? She wanted to bark. You want me to forget how I humiliated myself for you, begging for you to stay, and you didn't care at all?

But he looked honest. He really seemed willing to push everything aside for a moment and Ámbar didn't understand why. If I hurt him so much, why is he doing this?

The truth of the matter was, even after everything, she never did understand him. She thought she did, but that illusion broke as easily and as fast as that dressing room's mirror, back at the Roda Fest.

With this truce he was basically asking her to trust him again, even if only for a short time. Could she do that? She didn't really want to. Scratch that— She definitely didn't want to. Last time had ended in disaster.

But if it meant that, for just some minutes, for just one moment, he would trust her again...

You're not the only one who's an idiot, Simón.

Slowly, Ámbar raised her hand to his.

"Well, since I'll have to put up with you anyway..." She said with detachment. She gave his hand the shortest of shakes, not wanting the touch to linger for too long. It would just be another thing she'd miss later if she let herself have it again.

With the deal made, the two of them resumed their walk. Simón spoke again in a gentle tone.

"Okay. Now, tell me, what's wrong with that house?" He asked her. His eyes were inviting as he looked at Ámbar. It was almost how he used to look at her before, when they were friends and he consoled her.

Were we ever just friends though?

Ámbar pushed the memories away. Nothing was as before anymore. It would never be like that again. All she could do was answer honestly. At least he deserved that much.

"There's nothing wrong with the house itself, it's the people in it."

Simón stopped short.

"If you're just going to complain about Luna, let me tell you right now that I won't—"

Ámbar rolled her eyes. "It's not just that!"

Great, they had lasted five seconds without fighting. Why did she think it would be any different?

"Not just that?" Simón volleyed back with indignation. "What has Luna even done to you?"

Ámbar raised her brows at him. "Do you want me to make a list?"

Simón tossed his hands up and started to walk again. "Enlighten me."

Ámbar put a finger up as she fell into step beside him. "First, she invaded my house."

"That was not her decision, she had to move with her parents," he countered quickly.

She put up a second finger. "Then, she invaded my school."

"Again, not her decision."

"Then, she stole my boyfriend."

"That—" Simón closed his mouth before starting again. "Matteo was the one who went after her."

Ámbar glared at him. "I'm quite aware of that fact, thank you for reminding me."

Simón winced. He could imagine it hadn't been nice to watch her boyfriend going after another girl. Matteo wasn't even subtle in his interest in Luna.

"It doesn't erase the fact that if she hadn't arrived, Matteo wouldn't have done that," Ámbar continued.

"Well, if anything, it shows the kind of person Matteo is, not Luna," Simón argued. "She only started dating him when you two had broken up for good."

"Yeah, yeah, she's a saint." Ámbar rolled her eyes and counted more. "She also invaded my rink, stole my spot on the team, brainwashed everyone so they would love her, invaded my stage—"

"Luna has loved rollerskating for as long as I've known her," Simón said. "Of course she was going to go to the Jam & Roller— that place was like paradise for her. And she needed a place like that if she was going to be in a completely different country with completely different people. It's not easy to just jump on a plane and start your life anew in a new place you've never known before, surrounded by strangers. So excuse her if she started making friends and participating in stuff. It was her way to fit in and get along with everyone. Otherwise, she would've been alone."

The bite in his voice gave Ámbar pause. Somehow, throughout his speech, she got the impression that Simón had stopped talking about just Luna. The tightness in his jaw, his shoulders, the way his eyes had focused on the road ahead instead of meeting her gaze... Yeah, this wasn't just about Luna.

Suddenly, it occurred to Ámbar that Simón had been pretty much in the same situation as Luna those few years ago. He had arrived in a new country and stayed at her house (albeit secretly), had started frequenting the Jam & Roller and joined her skating team... The only difference was that he hadn't enrolled in her school.

But while Luna had her parents, Simón didn't have anyone when he first came to Buenos Aires. Except Luna. Luna who chose Matteo.

Why hadn't she realized any of this before?

Because he never showed he was anything but alright.

Sure, everyone could see the kicked puppy eyes he threw Luna's way, but besides that heartbreak, Simón was always all smiles and excited energy.

Just how lonely had he been?

Simón turned his gaze back to Ámbar. Many seconds had passed and she still hadn't screamed at him to stop defending Luna or something of the sort as he had expected her to do. In fact, she wasn't saying anything. Their eyes met for an instant but she looked away quickly, setting her gaze on her feet as she remained quiet.

"What, that's it? That was your list?" He couldn't help but taunt her. Maybe it was bitter of him, but he was just so tired of Ámbar's bad blood with Luna, especially because Luna had never done anything to deserve it. Excluding the Matteo thing, all of Ámbar's reasons to hate her were so damn superficial Simón felt like shaking her. It was unfair and ridiculous.

"Or what are you gonna tell me now? That Luna made Tamara leave?" He said with irony when the silence continued. "That she brought Juliana to the Roller? She made winter colder? Made split ends appear in your hair?"

"She made my godmother leave."

Simón's feet came slowly to a stop. All humor and annoyance drained from him as he turned to watch her.

"Ámbar..."

"I know," she said, looking away. "You don't have to tell me."

She knew what her godmother had done was wrong and probably illegal. She didn't need to be reminded of that whole mess. She spent every day trying to forget how Sharon had left the country with barely a goodbye to her.

"Do you know where she is?" Simón asked after a pause, his tone gentle. It was mostly out of curiosity really, and because he could sense this was an important topic for Ámbar, a painful one.

"No," Ámbar replied. "She hasn't contacted me since. And even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you," she said curtly, her eyes fiery as they met his. "You would probably just run to tell the Valentes and they would call the cops on her to get her behind bars."

Simón swallowed the pang he felt in his chest seeing the distrust in her eyes. The spark of anger and the cloud of sorrow that followed it.

So this is what we've come to.

"Ámbar, I don't think they would do that," he replied, focusing on them instead of him, even when what he really wanted to say was that he wouldn't do that to her. She probably wouldn't believe him.

"No?" Ámbar questioned, raising her brows with apparent incredulity. "And what do you suppose they'd do? Sit down to have a nice quiet dinner with her and reminisce about old times?"

"Of course not," Simón replied, glaring slightly at her tone of irony. "What she did was wrong; she tried to keep Luna from finding out who she is, from reuniting with her grandfather and getting what's rightfully hers. But she's still family," he said. "I don't think Mr. Alfredo wishes her harm. I think he even misses her."

Ámbar snorted and averted her gaze. "No one in that house misses her."

Maybe Simón had gotten to know Ámbar more than he thought he had. Maybe she was just easy to read if you really tried at it. Because right then, just looking at her posture, at her crossed arms and the expression on her face, it was easy for him to know what she wasn't saying.

"You miss her. Don't you?"

Ámbar flinched and turned further away from him, facing the waves instead.

"I'm mad at her," she declared, her voice sharp and filled with resentment. "She lied to me. She told me I was Sol Benson, made me believe that, and then when everything came crashing down, she just ran away. She abandoned me."

And yet you still miss her.

Simón could relate to that. Missing something, someone, even though you know it's not good for you.

"... Well, what else could she do?" He said. "Aside from facing the consequences of her actions, of course. It's not like she could've taken you with her if she was going to be on the run."

"I would've gone with her," Ámbar said immediately.

That was what she had wanted. She wanted to be away from here, from Buenos Aires, from everything. She wanted to leave her past behind and start anew with her godmother some place else where there would be no Lunas, no Valentes, no heartbreaks. She had spent all these days in Cancún thinking that it would've been better if Sharon had just taken her with her.

Simón didn't seem to agree though.

"Ámbar, that's crazy!" He said, positively looking at her as if she had lost her mind. "You don't know what she would've done to you. You said it yourself, she lied to you about who you are! And you don't know where she would've taken you. Your whole life is here. Your family's here, your friends are here—"

"Family?" She turned to him. "Friends? I have no one, Simón!" The cracks inside of her grew bigger as that sad truth came out, the one that'd been hunting her for weeks. "My godmother abandoned me. Alfredo doesn't even know I exist anymore, ever since he found out that Luna is the real Sol Benson, he totally forgot about me. The Valentes aren't my family, Luna definitely isn't my family nor do I want her to be, and everyone who used to be my friend turned their backs on me."

"Well, that one was your fault, if you hadn't burned down the rink—"

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!!"

Simón flinched back, staring at her wide-eyed.

But Ámbar didn't care if she looked crazy, she didn't care if she scared him, she didn't care what he thought— She was done with everything.

"How many times do I have to say that until SOMEONE believes me?! No— You know what? Forget it. Whatever!" She threw her arms to the sky. "You wanna believe I'm an arsonist? Perfect, go ahead. You wanna believe I purposely burned down the only place in which I've ever felt like I'm worth something? Be my fucking guest. A ton of other shit that I did do and I admit, but of course everyone would hate me for the one thing I didn't mean to do! It's just my fucking luck."

"Ámba—"

"And I guess it's also my fault that I'm not Sol Benson," she continued. "I should've just been born out of Bernie and Lily, how silly of me to have been born out of some stupid teenage girl who never heard of what a freaking condom is and gave me up to Sharon because she didn't have a penny to raise me!" She advanced towards him, making Simón take a step back. "You don't wanna believe the fire was an accident? I WAS A FUCKING ACCIDENT! MY WHOLE FUCKING LIFE WAS A FUCKING ACCIDENT! IF THE WORLD GOT ITS WAY, I WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE BEEN BORN. HOW HAPPY EVERYONE WOULD'VE BEEN THEN, RIGHT?!"

She shoved against his shoulder and sprinted away, leaving Simón stunned. His mind was reeling, his heart pounding. He couldn't process everything she'd just said.

But his body reacted. He ran after Ámbar without thinking, because he didn't need to think it through— He just had to do one thing.

Catch her.

"Ámbar!"

He caught her arm, forcing her to a stop.

"Let me go," she said, trying to pull her arm free but he held on tightly to her wrist. Simón pulled her toward him and she started fighting, trying to break free with all her might. "I said let me go, Simón!"

He brought his other arm around her and pressed her firmly against his chest. "I'm not going to let you go."

Ámbar continued to struggle, trying to break away to no avail.

"Let me go!" She yelled in distress, smacking and pushing him with her free hand. "I hate you! I hate everyone! I hate-e—"

Her voice broke, and with it, so did her will to fight.

Ámbar burrowed her face on Simón's chest and her fingers clutched the material of his tank top. A loud wail tore out her throat, and she started to cry.

Simón let go of her wrist and wrapped both arms around her, holding her as her body shook with sobs and his skin got damp from her tears. Ámbar's arms slid around his sides and Simón felt her cling to him as strongly as she had tried to pull away before.

It was a cry filled with anguish; loud and desperate. Tears gathered in Simón's own eyes. Every little sound that came out of Ámbar's throat seemed to tear him apart.

"Shhh... Easy, bonita, easy," he murmured, caressing her back softly as his other hand cradled her head. "I don't ever want to hear you say anything like that again, okay? I don't want you to think it either. No one would be happier without you, Ámbar. Mr. Alfredo loves you like a grandchild, I know he does. He mentions you a lot. You're not there to hear it, but I have. He worries about you being out of the house so much."

A hard sob made Simón hold her tighter, wishing he could extinguish her pain with his arms.

"Delfi and Jazmín are angry right now but I'm sure they don't hate you. You've been friends for years, that doesn't go away one day to another. The rest of the guys are mad too but I'm sure they would forgive you if you apologized. Mónica and Miguel could be your family if you let them. Hell— even Luna wouldn't be happier without you, Ámbar. Who'd compete with her, huh? Who is a better skater than you, a better singer than you, to push her to be better? I know she annoys you, but I think she pushes you to be better too, doesn't she?"

Gradually, Ámbar's crying was easing down. Simón gently caressed her hair, beckoning the calm to come back. "I'm sure your mom loves you as well." He felt her tense up, but he kept going, knowing she needed to hear this. "That's why she gave you to Sharon. She wanted you to have a better life; a good one. I'm sure she doesn't regret having you. I mean, a girl as talented as you? Who could regret that?"

Ámbar let out a couple more sobs and then they receded, leaving just ragged breaths in their place, which shook her frame from time to time. Simón could feel her breath against his skin, warm as the tears she spilled, but they became fewer and fewer. Her hands slid down his back, and it was like they pulled the words out of his mouth before he could think whether he should say them.

"And I don't regret meeting you. I don't regret skating with you, singing with you, falling for you... even after everything that happened. So, please, don't say those things, Ámbar."

Finally, after what felt like a shredder to his very soul, Ámbar's crying ceased. Her chest rose and fell steadily against his own and no more tears fell from her eyes. They stayed like that for a moment longer— how long, Simón did not know, only that by the end of it both of their breathings seemed to have synchronized.

Slowly, Ámbar started pulling away from the embrace, and Simón felt the sudden, irrational urge to bring her back into his arms and keep her there forever, but he reigned it in, and let her go.

Ámbar swiped her hands across her cheeks and sniffed, wiping away the remnants of her crying as much as she could, but there was nothing she could do about her reddened eyes. Looking at her, Simón felt a need to protect so strong that it hurt.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked her softly, hoping that the shaking he felt inside didn't show in his voice. He had to be composed. For her.

Ámbar's eyes found Simón's shyly before shifting away. Not trusting her voice yet, she nodded.

She was embarrassed. She had never broken down like that in front of anyone. Hell— she had never broken down like that, period. She felt like she had cried for every misfortune in her life in one go. She wanted to berate herself for it, for letting herself break down, especially in front of someone, but she didn't have the energy for it. If she had been alone like all those times inside her bedroom, she probably would've been able to hold it in. But with Simón holding her, she just...

Ámbar checked him over discreetly, careful not to catch his gaze. There was a wet stain of tears, smeared makeup and maybe what else on his tank top that she had left there, and she was sure a lot of his skin had gotten wet from her crying too. It didn't seem to bother him, but then again, he was too nice to complain about it if it did. Even if it was her.

Simón's hands settled gently on her upper arms and rubbed a little up and down.

"Is it alright if we keep going?" He asked in that same soft voice he had used before. A part of her hated it, and the look on his face too; rebelled against the idea of him thinking her a fragile crystal thing. But the bigger, more honest part of herself wanted to reach out to that softness and wrap herself in it like a blanket. "I just think that the sooner you get inside your house, the better. I don't want you to get sick."

Again, she only nodded, not having the strength to say anything back anymore. Not having the guts to say she wanted to stay with him a little bit longer.

For a instant, it looked like Simón was going to grab her hand, but then he seemed to think better of it and dug both his hands into the pockets of his shorts.

She would've held his hand.

Ámbar felt embarrassed once more. She was so weak when it came to him.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, both to fend off the cold and also to try and keep in all the things that were swirling inside her. They walked like that for some time, just the sound of the waves touching the shore and some people walking down the street.

"I would recommend you stay in the house too," Simón told her, breaking the silence. "I know you were meaning to just grab your stuff and go to Emilia's, but I think it'd be better if you took a warm bath, got rid of all the sand... and ate something, because I don't know when was the last time you did." He watched her attentively, searching for any reaction to his words. "Maybe have dinner with everyone one of these days?" He suggested. "Like I said, Alfredo misses you."

Ámbar didn't answer or looked his way. She just kept walking ahead with her eyes fixed on the ground and her hands tucked under her crossed arms. Simón was at least glad that she didn't seem to be crying anymore, but she didn't look fine either. Given the circumstances though, he guessed it was too much to ask for her to be.

Simón considered trying to strike up more conversation but decided against it. Maybe silence was good. A lot of things had been said already— surely it was enough for one night. For many nights. Ámbar probably wanted to be left alone now, not pestered with questions or small talk. Maybe she wouldn't even want to see him again after this.

From her demeanor, he couldn't tell if she was just lost in thought or mad at him. She clearly hadn't wanted to cry, at least not in front of him, and he hadn't given her the option to leave alone, so he could understand if she was angry about that. Ámbar wasn't good at vulnerable. Maybe just the reminder of what happened would make her want to run and so she'd avoid him like the plague starting tomorrow. Simón would understand that too. But nothing would be able to stop him from worrying and wondering how she was. He didn't even know how he'd be able to fall asleep once he got home.

Finally, the wide entrance to the mansion could be seen ahead of them, the orange ceilings of the structure standing tall against the dark of the night, almost blending in together. Simón knew Ámbar didn't have her keys with her, but surely the doorman would let her in through the gate, so it was alright. Should he come in too? A part of him wanted to tuck her in himself, but he knew that was ridiculous. No, he'd just stay by the entrance until she got to the door and then—

"Simón?"

Simón turned at the sound of Ámbar's voice and found her standing some steps behind him. She must have stopped walking at some point without him noticing, lost in his thoughts as he was.

He didn't know what was it exactly that he saw in her gaze at that moment, only that it rooted him in place. Their shared look didn't last more than a couple of seconds— it couldn't have— because in an instant, Ámbar was running over to him, holding his face between her palms, and kissing him on the mouth.

Simón's eyes closed on instinct, but the rest of his body became paralyzed. His breath caught in his throat at the feel of Ámbar's lips on his, a little chapped from the sea breeze but still soft. She was kissing him firmly, with a taste of urgency or some deep-rooted need.

Whatever it was, he had to pull away. This was wrong. He had to pull away.

But when she started to part, he didn't let her. Each one of his senses rebelled against her retreat at once. His hands grabbed her waist and pressed her against him firmly, and he kissed her back hard, so full of desperation that it felt like a plea.

Don't go.

Simón didn't need to pull away, he didn't need to stop this— He needed her.

Please don't go.

Ámbar's lips moved against his with renewed confidence, rekindled fire. Her arms wrapped around his neck, bringing them even closer. Simón let out a sound, low and pleased, and allowed his hands relearn her. He had missed her hair, her shape, the slow slide of her lips, and the taste of her mouth. He missed the way they seemed to fit together perfectly, the warmth of her touch as her hands ran over his body, the way she seemed delicate but her hold was strong and sure, electrifying, just like her presence in any room.

Nothing else mattered right now or even registered in his brain. Nothing was important, not even breathing, only this. Just her tongue against his, her scent mixed with the salt of the sea, the feeling of her body between his arms, and the little gasps she took in before he smothered them out.

They had never kissed like this before. The few kisses they'd shared had been unhurried, soft, because they had all the time in the world.

They thought they had all the time in the world.

Now their kiss was ravenous, frantic, with both of them trying to consume the other. Ámbar's fingers tugged at his hair. Simón tried and failed to get enough of her mouth. He was gripping her so tightly he would wonder if it hurt if she hadn't been holding him just as hard. It was like they wanted to fuse into one so they'd never have to part again.

But the burn in their lungs was too strong for them to keep fighting it forever.

They broke apart just enough to draw in some air. They were both breathing hard and trembling from the aftershock of sensations. For a moment, that was all they did— Hold onto each other and try to keep their hearts inside their chests.

Simón opened his eyes and found Ámbar's— Beautiful, dilated, and yet, so very melancholic.

She moved, bringing a hand to the side of his face. Her thumb caressed his cheek.

"Thank you," she said, softly. She lowered her hand. "Goodbye."

Just like that, she parted from his arms and walked away, leaving nothing but air where she once stood.

It was the first time in the entire night that Simón felt cold.

He turned to watch her cross the gate and walk up to the front door of the mansion. It closed behind her. Ámbar didn't look back once.

Simón understood what that meant.

That kiss had been a farewell, one last goodbye, the closure they didn't get to have because of all the drama that surrounded their end.

Now their walk was over, and with it the truce they had put on, like one final performance before the curtain closed on what was once them.

There was no 'them' anymore.

(There hadn't been for a while.)

Standing there outside the mansion, Simón wondered why it hurt so much.  

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

His keys rattled as he opened the door and walked inside his house. His mom, sitting at the living room table with a cup of tea in front of her, greeted him back.

"Didn't you have a hoodie?" She asked him.

Simón looked down at himself. Considering how things had left off, he doubted Ámbar would approach him again.

"I... must have left it somewhere."

"You lost it, you mean." Her mother shook her head, with that blend of exasperated fondness only mothers seemed to pull off so well. "You airhead. You're hopeless."

Flashbacks of the night ran through his mind. Simón went up to his room.

"...Yeah. I guess so."

…

..

.

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

We can play the game 'How many references to songs and other things can I put in one chapter?' I don't know the answer but I think I outdid myself with this one.

[danganronpa96]

Hold on I'll ask a few but not a lot since I don't wanna be annoying lol.

Idk I have a fangan with these characters but the show is sadly underrated but have you watched 101 Dalmatian Street? Really good show, really good characters, really cute art. Really scary finale.

There was a question asked in the Penguinronpa QnA, two actually, and I wanted to ask these questions. Since 96 isn't complete you can just do like the characters slash chapters you've done up til then or just do 69 only.

For each character, what would they have contributed if they lasted longer in the story. Like the role. Antag, development, support, that one character who does nothing but survives anyway, etc

What's one thing for each chapter you'd go back and redo, if there was one thing for each chapter?

Sorry for question count I'm a very questiony guy. Also yes, this is York the guy who gave Bojack-o-lattern a ton of nicknames. Also I've watched some of Breaking Bad and watched Saiki K almost all of Season 1 (dubbed). Both are really fucking good. There's an Ao Oni movie apparently but the demon design is apparently bad, wait shit I'm rambling. Let me stop now.

1. I haven’t watched it myself, but as long as you enjoy the show yourself and the characters you’re writing, then that’s great! As long as you’re passionate, you could even convince others to check it out

As these other answers are kinda long, I’m gonna put them under the cut ↓ ↓ ↓

2. I’ll answer this for DR69 as it’s easier as that story is already finished.

Mr. Krabs - probably would’ve taken on an arc of greed or teamwork that would’ve reflected into Luigi in some way

Mario - would’ve taken on a very tight-knit support role for Luigi, perhaps helping him come out of his shell and befriend anyone Luigi would

Dedede - as a comical character in the story, it would’ve been funny if he did get access to a hammer or something and tried to break down a wall, only for it to actually lead them to somewhere useful (or makes a hole that a killer could utilise for a murder case)

Ashley - like a mentioned in a very previous post, she would’ve had an arc of coming out of her comfort zone and making more friends, gaining some confidence on the side to confide in others. She would probably become a close friend to Luigi, who takes on a similar type of parental role he does with Parappa (as one single man can never have too many kids)

2D - I’d like to think we’d get to see him perform at some point. Either as a performance with Miku and Teto, or maybe on his own without the cosmetics and show lights, singing to someone who needs the motivation

Peter - I won’t lie, I don’t particularly want Peter to be an endgame character, even in an alternative timeline. I think he’d continue to just be a comic relief character tho, just not so loudly during the darker parts as we get later into the story

Sans - If Sans was alive longer, sansmaeda would be able to be explored more than just during the trial and some parts before. Perhaps the relationship would cause some problems with trust, or it would change the dynamic of the group in someway (as the first sort of relationship they’ve been accustomed to). On his own, I think he’d begin to actually care about investigating himself and find some pretty useful things

Fluttershy - for Fluttershy, she’d be able to spread her kindness a lot further from when she died. Since she had her own doubts herself, however (seen in her diary), it would’ve been a good opportunity for her to receive help from others rather than just being so selfless. Also, she would’ve been able to share her drawings herself, allowing her to explain her creative process and see the others' reactions to her art

Brian - if Brian was persuaded to keep going, he’d have no regrets, more easily able to accept certain strange things and focus on what’s most important: saving everyone else. I think he’d often try to be self-sacrificial, but others would convince him they all need to stay alive together

3. I’ll continue to answer this with just DR69.

Chap 1 - add more events to the daily life. It felt kinda short, even if it was my first ever dangan chapter, and it would’ve been nice to see more events with the whole cast before one bit the dust. I’d like to see them all do something together -- maybe find a way to escape even if it backfires.

Chap 2 - this is more of a technical thing, but I accidentally forgot to have one of the three practicing the play (either The Conductor, Miku or Teto) mention they were rehearing in Classroom 1-A and not the performance hall during the night of the 2nd murder. This led to some theories believing the latter, which made me feel a bit guilty as it led some theories the wrong way.

Chap 3 - I mentioned before I wanted to also add more events to the daily life of ch3. However, I’d probably remove that um. Luigi having to be a real plumber for Peter scene because it was just gross and I only did it because I thought some people would find it funny I guess?? Like it’s not the worst thing ever but I don’t like stooping to toilet level humour often.

Chap 4 - for this chapter, I think I’d want to justify why Sans killed Peter himself. While taking on a selfless act as he didn’t want Nagito to die is alright, just Peter making fun of Papyrus doesn’t really reflect why Sans would get so mad. However, this was actually because in a very old plan I had, Peter had actually killed Papyrus himself (idk how or why but he did) and that confession would be what had led Sans into killing him. I mean I guess it could’ve been possible in a prequel type thing but it would make things more messy (also impossible considering Papyrus is alive for the albeit dead sequel)

Chap 5 - I think I would add more moments of Luigi seeing Parappa hanging out with Brian and trying to make him happy again. We only really see him trying to talk to Nagito, and not with the other two often. It would be nice to have Luigi at least know one thing they did together, making the moment it all falls apart in the trial much more harder to bear.

Chap 6 - I can’t think of much I would change here. However, I would’ve liked to add a part during the trial where Luigi reminisces on the others who have passed away, and I would add a CG of a collage of all the final moments of each character like how they did in SDR2 and NDRV3. I just think it’d look cool but painful as a reminder of all the deaths in one big image. I’d also add a CG right at the end of all 5 survivors standing together after escaping the school. I was planning to, but I got quite burned out after basically working on that final chapter so intently after such a long hiatus.

4. Hello again! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed those shows so far since I really like ‘em too. It’s nice when people check out the medias I write in my fangans!

[boethiah]

Sotha sil for the character ask thing to complete the trio (Also your mortal!ayem fic sounds so cool! And would you mind sharing some of those Almalexia themed writing prompts? I love the way you characterise her and the whole tribunal)

plugging this first bc i'm planning to post the first new chapter in several years this week: gratuitous almalexia backstory fanfic. almalexia-themed writing prompts will be at the end but first let's discuss sotha sil

First impression

he was actually my favorite tribunal member at first when i was 18 and new to the fandom :')

Impression now

eso sotha sil isn't real. eso sotha sil isn't canon and eso sotha sil can[t hurt me

Favorite moment

the only canonical eso sotha sil moment i'll acknowledge which is the one where he got kicked out of almalexia's basement and had to move into a nearby cave

Idea for a story

if i ever finish rolecall (a fic about the tribunal post-nerevar's death and pre-ascension) i plan to write out the conversation sotha sil had with almalexia and vivec when he returned and revealed he'd learned how to use kagrenac's tools. which-- hang on this is actually an unpopular opinion let me move onto the next question

Unpopular opinion

most of the fandom seems to have this idea that sotha sil is somehow less guilty than almalexia and vivec in the betrayal of nerevar, when in reality i actually see him as MORE guilty. sotha sil was the only one who knew how to use the tools of kagrenac. almalexia and vivec may have murdered nerevar or agreed to break their oath but they never could have achieved godhood without sotha sil. so it seems like there's this weird belief that sotha sil is the only remorseful tribune or the only one not to blame, but-- he is the ONLY one of them who actually knew how to use the tools. he had the EXCLUSIVE power to make that happen. including almalexia and vivec was mere kindness on his part. the only canonical part of the betrayal we're certain of, the breaking of the oath, is entirely on him.

Favorite relationship

once again it has got to be the tribunal here. but specifically i'm obsessed with his relationship with almalexia-- the fact that they were apparently childhood friends, the fact that he was apparently scared of her, the fact that he remained so close to her throughout his entire life and godhood. i think they were very codependent; they both went through so much shit as mortals i think they just latched onto each other in a bad way, and sotha sil at least knew it would end with one of them dead at the other's hands.

also, fa-nuit-hen seems to have a crush on him? good for sotha sil with whatever hijinks precipitated THAT

Favorite headcanon

that he was disabled and had prosthetic legs as a mortal. in my mind his being disabled influenced both his interest in technology and his extreme desire to make things better for people. related; that his chief character flaw is that he cares too much about people and is driven by empathy to the point where it can overwhelm him and shut him down, hence his repeated chronic retreating from the world

free almalexia story ideas under the cut:

okay so here's just a random list of stuff i've been meaning to write about almalexia that i'll probably never get around to so consider it free game. in no particular order:

the story of almalexia's involvement in resurrecting wulfharth during the akaviri war, and whatever the hell her involvement was there

a conversation between almalexia and heita-meen negotiating the end to argonian slavery, and almalexia's subsequent personal involvement in making that happen

just. almalexia being a war-leader. almalexia showing up in battles to just destroy things. almalexia planning out wars. almalexia scaring the shit out of people who might cause trouble for the dunmer.

relatedly-- mortal almalexia serving as nerevar's general, offering her expertise on the nords to plan battles

the world could always use more nerevar/almalexia stuff ngl. big fan of fics where almalexia gets to scold nerevar for being stupid about something.

a fic about almalexia and nerevar just being like, way too comptitive over a chess game or something. to the point of probable violence

a fic about almalexia talking to nerevar's shrine/grave during the time of the nerevarine prophecy, while getting ready to try and murder his supposed reincarnation

and of course

the conversation in which almalexia kicked sotha sil out of her basement, forcing him to relocate to a nearby cave