#IT'S LIKE SEASON ONE CUTENESS BUT DOUBLED (OFC)

[astudyintheburningofhearts]

THE HEARTSTOPPER SEASON TWO OFFICIAL TRAILER HAS ME IN NEAR TEARS OK.

[kajibunny]

⟡˖ ࣪ ren kaji as your boyfriend ₊˚⊹⋆

✿ summary: relationship headcanons (ren kaji x reader) ✿ warnings: awkward silliness, some parts are a lil suggestive ✿ a/n: i love this man so much you don’t understand pls ;__; hi i'm new here and ofc my first post is abt my love, ren kaji hihi pls be nice!! ✿ wc: 960

ꕤ kaji is more than just your bf, he’s also your bff, partner-in-crime, and sometimes guard dog (lol).

ꕤ he’s a little mean, but he means well. 

ꕤ everyone in town refers to you both as each other’s “other half”, as he relies on you quite a lot. not because he wants to boss you around (well, well, iykyk second year grade captain ren kaji mode on) but because he immensely trusts you.

ꕤ you also rely on him a lot, and he is a very protective boyfriend. he won’t let anyone harm a single hair on your head if he can help it.

ꕤ lots of people thought you two were already together way before you two actually got together, since you two were always…well, together. to the point that you adapted each other’s habits and vocabulary. (you catch yourself picking up kaji's direct tone of speaking and occassional "damnit!") no one was at all surprised when he introduced you as his lover. to everyone, you two were practically married already.

ꕤ it’s either both of you are bantering or play fighting one second, then all over each other the next. if ever you two have serious arguments, he’s usually the first one to apologize and ask how he can make it up to you. kaji is very mature that way, and is scared of hurting you, as he treasures you with all his heart (and body lol).

ꕤ has this habit of putting his lollipop in your mouth - just to see what you would do. loves the faces you make when you least expect it. thinks you’re so cute like that, but of course, will never admit it out loud. 

ꕤ when agitated, he calms down when you give him head pats and tell him that he’s a good boy. (double meaning i’m telling you)

ꕤ his love language is definitely quality time! he loves hanging around with you, walking home together, having deep talks in high places like a grassy hill or rooftop until the sun rises, listening to music together while you lean on his shoulder absorbing the sound from his headphones.

ꕤ your pet names for each other are lowkey insults like “idiot, dumbass, stupid” but affectionately. it became kind of like an inside joke between the two of you. he’d say the sweetest things, then pair it with a completely opposite word, like “it’s because i love you…you fool.” and you can't tell whether he wants to fight you or if he wants to kiss you. 

ꕤ kaji likes having collaborative playlists with you. doesn’t matter if you two don’t have the same music taste, since he’s always curious about what you’re listening to. sometimes sneaks in a few hidden messages using song titles in his playlists, for your eyes only.

ꕤ during the cold season, he lets you slip your hands in his hoodie pockets, embracing him from behind, like he’s your natural heat pack.

ꕤ when sleeping together, he’s a (literal) freak in the sheets. a blanket and pillow hogger, takes up more than half of the bed, ends up in the strangest sleeping positions, and at times accidentally pushes you until you end up on the floor. 

he definitely does not mean it though, if you hug him or hold him tightly while sleeping, there’s a higher chance he’ll stay still.

ꕤ when not on the bed, kaji likes to take naps on your lap or your shoulder, because according to him “it’s comfy and soft. like a pillow”

ꕤ lets you hold his valuables - lets you wear his hoodies, lets you hold his headphones, lets you drink from his bottled water, and even lets you suck on his lollipop (the one in his mouth okay but maybe also sometimes the one in his pants asdjbjdjcnd;;) but only you are allowed, because you’re special.

ꕤ you had to learn basic first aid because kaji always ends up with many injuries after fights, and gets angry at anyone who tries to touch him or disinfect his wounds, except for you. (soft!kaji *sighs* the effect you have on him aaaa) 

ꕤ makes a barrier with you in his arms whenever you’re passing with him in a crowded or busy street, to make sure no one bumps you or gets too close to you, to keep you safe.

ꕤ kaji is naturally such a good kisser, but claims he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. he tells you it’s just because he’s eaten a lot of lollipops, so he probably practiced unknowingly with his mouth and tongue. (help this is so funny)

ꕤ so many awkward and cute moments, that makes you love your little idiot ren kaji more and more each day (if that’s even possible) 

accidentally bit your hand when you fed him food. (from that day on, woke up to the realization that he might have a little bit of a biting kink)

once tried to do a kabedon on you like you two saw in one film you watched together but ended up tripping a bit, landing on top of you and squishing you.

there was a time he asked for love advice from hiragi when you two started dating, and umemiya ended up eavesdropping on them, and kaji ran away so fast as if he saw a ghost (ref: ch 58 kaji-senpai lol)

forgot he was wearing his headphones with music on full blast and broadcasted a little too loudly about how much he missed you because “you were gone on your trip for so long” and he “wanted to kiss your annoying face” all in front of his giggly vice captains, who of course heard every single thing he said. you made sure to tease him a lot about it afterwards.

© kajibunny 2024 / all rights reserved

[gonetoforks]

Introducing; Yuichi Usagi-Cuddles!

There’s a slight typo in his basic character bio, (first, grey image) other than “yuich,” his family in America lives in the part of the hidden city under Jersey. He lives in Jersey. He’s a Jersian. So in terms of leosagi, it’s gonna be an enemies-to-lovers comedy-of-errors muahahahaha!!

More (a LOT more) info about him as his own guy under the cutoff :D ⬇️

Basically; He’s a silly guy! I feel like his kinda buffoonish, embarrassing personality in canon is simultaneously PERFECT for Rise’s writing style & grievously underrated in fanon depictions. So he’s this clownish type of character, haha.

Okay, time to go hyperfixation mode.

Adhd & his stubborn attitude;

He has ADHD! Executive function issues makes it hard for him to start tasks & manage himself, so he relies on his teams (the Mad Dogs when he’s training & the Rise equivalent to his canon friend group on his own time) to not only instruct him, but also hold him accountable & keep him on task. He’s body-doubling without even realizing it.

Although, he resents the things he does to accommodate his disability. He doesn’t notice that doing the things he does genuinely helps or why so he thinks he’s using them as a crutch because of incompetence. Every time he gets stubborn and ignores the things he needs to do, he crashes and burns. When he was new in town with no teacher & no friends who liked martial arts, he became a huge sad sack until the kraang invasion.

His character arc is about being able to rely on other people & accommodations. That relying on a bit more help than other people doesn’t make you incompetent, choosing to seek out the support you need so you can do your best is the true mature thing to do. I was inspired by canon Yuichi’s struggles with paying attention and Rise’s themes of cooperation. (& also my own experience with adhd and learning with executive function issues & junk)

Relationships w/ the turtles;

The Mad Dogs agree to let him like, intern with them? So he can see what it’s like to be a vigilante, they offer him advice and they occasionally go on low to mid-tier missions with his help. They take him on cause they think more heroes and allies out there, the less work they have to do haha. Also, one of the writers mentioned a season 3 would have them adjusting to being ~official heroes,~ I think this would be them trying to be “real.”

He’s closest friends with Mikey out of the whole group! (Adhd solidarity) Then it goes Donnie -> Raph -> and finally Leo (for now muahaha)

I tried to give Leosagi an interesting dynamic with constructing his character like this; They have similar insecurities from drawing self-worth from technical capabilities that they can develop past together, but Leo is clever and calculating about it vs Yuichi being rash and impulsive. So like smart x stupid but they’re the same actually.

His Family in Jersey;

He speaks english fluently because he’s visited his American family frequently his whole life, they’re very close. He has an accent though since he mainly speaks Japanese.

I haven’t fleshed out this concept enough, but I think members of his jersey/Cuddles half of the family would be spoofs of characters from the original yojimbo comics, implied to be reincarnations? Except Miyamoto ofc. (i’ll explain later..)

Reusing the ninja orphans plotline from the original show, his family utilizes their cute appearances to run an orphanage too. They wonder why this Chizu lady is constantly showing up with unhoused children, but they’re just grateful they’re safe now.

Everyone in his family HATES Mrs. Cuddles, they all think she’s in prison and are happy about it. She might’ve given him that scratch on his face.

Additional;

He is gay.

Thank you for your time.

[oneforthemunny]

okay SO. i know i don't even go here, i'm a janitor!eddie girlie BUT i feel very strongly about hockey!eddie because he's insane but also so dumb and i love dumbasses. anyways. i was reading what you said about him being grossed out by his teammates when they cheat and i had this idea so i wanna share it with you

imagine, if you will, that reader becomes really good friends with another hockey wife. young couple, maybe they recently had a baby and reader is obsessed, eddie is obsessed because omg my girl with a baby why is this awakening something in me, it's all very cute. double dates type of shit, maybe this is the first time reader has felt included in the wives and girlfriends club! and then eddie's teammate cheats on his wife and reader finds out. she's DEVASTATED because that's her friend!!!! that's her adopted nephew/niece!!! why would that asshole do that??? so ofc she goes and tells eddie and eddie is LIVID. next day at the locker room eddie breaks his nose or something lmao

god this is so sick and so good because i feel it. like i can see it so vividly.

she finally gets into the group, feels apart of it, and is enjoying herself. plus, she's with this other wife, who seemingly has made it work ya know? husband still plays and she's with him, but also has a balance to her life and schedule, and a baby??? it's like everything reader has wanted, and she's seeing someone have it, and it gives her hope. like all these fears, they're silly bc this can work!

eddie's close with the teammate, but not the most close, bc they're on opposite sides (defense and offense) so they don't really practice and play as much. but still, he likes him, thinks he's a cool guy.

they all get super close, especially during off season, and hang out all the time. guys got a wife, a career, a baby? he's older, been traded before and kinda takes eddie under his wing. truly, they're very very fast friends.

then they go out one night. maybe they had a press thing to do, or a team meeting, decide to go for a beer after it.

eddie's thinking nothing of it, they're sitting at some bar or club or whatever, and next thing he knows, there's two girls?? the guy had called them?? he kisses the one girl in greeting and eddie is immediately sick to his stomach. floored, shocked, disgusted, hurt- all of the above.

he leaves, right there. no warning, nothing, just leaves. is visibly shaken when he tells you later, rambling, eyes wide, just perplexed.

i feel like he wouldn't jump right into beating him. you both talk and are like "no way, there's no way, right?" maybe they're in an open relationship? maybe they swing? maybe they're freaky like that?

so eddie tries to talk to him the next day about it. "i know you'd never do that, man. i'm sorry. i just, i kinda freaked."

but his teammate doesn't reassure him. doesn't tell him that his wife knows. he kinda gets quiet. "i mean, no, she doesn't know, but she really doesn't need to. now does she?" he kinda shrugs. "i mean, we just had a baby, and ya know, she's so tired all the time. it'd be shitty of me to ask her."

eddie is, once again, sick. jaw dropped, he can't even speak, he's so fucking sick. "plus the road gets lonely. you know what i mean." the teammate continues. "look, i love my wife. i don't think there's anything wrong with getting a little something every now and then. it's purely physical. i wear a rubber, get what i need, and come home and keep them happy. i mean, what's the point of causing issues in my own marriage, when i could do this? take care of it."

"you don't think fucking around on your wife is causing issues in your own marriage?" eddie sneers.

"no." he scoffs. "not unless she finds out. what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?" he shakes his head, shrugs it off nonchalantly. "look, kid, i get it. you're in love right now with your girl. it's all about her and nothings better, and that's great. for now. then you'll want a little more, and, hey, there's nothing wrong with that. it's biologically encoded in our dna as mammals to need more than one mate. monogamy, it's barbaric. and you'll understand. one day... you know, shit won't look the same, feel the same, and you'll-"

that's when eddie breaks his teeth. knocks him clear out, his coaches and team mates running to break it up, confused why there's a fight on the sidelines? no regrets from eddie. he got fined, had to run suicides until he threw up, but it was worth it. knocking that piece of shit out, totally worth it.

[comphy-and-cozy]

Andrei Svechnikov Masterlist

gif credit to @pyotrkochetkov | divider by @benkeibear check out my full masterlist here! * = smut (18+ ONLY)

ONE-SHOTS

Sundress Season* (Andrei Svechnikov x Reader) - 4.3K Being a Staal sister, you’ve seen your fair share of cute hockey players, but none that have struck you like Andrei has. What will happen at the postseason summer barbecue at the captain’s house? Ruin Me* (Andrei Svechnikov x Reader) - 2.2K The long awaited sequel to 'Sundress Season': Andrei takes his captain’s little sister on a first date.

Glittery* (Andrei Svechnikov x Reader) - 4.7K The holidays are an important staple in your relationship, and this year, you’re at the top of Andrei’s wishlist.

The Mystery of Love* (Andrei Svechnikov x OFC) - 11.8K Boston University senior Vivian Adams is the quintessential Miss Terrier - President of her sorority and star student, with big aspirations waiting for her as soon as she crosses the stage at graduation. What will happen when she gets paired with her ex-boyfriend and BU’s hockey star, Andrei Svechnikov, for the biggest project of her college career? College AU.

The After Party* (Andrei Svechnikov x Reader x Brady Skjei) - 6.3K When your new fling Andrei invites you to his joint birthday party, you’re surprised to learn that it’s a past flame who shares his birthday. And surely a double birthday calls for a double celebration — even if that means that you are the gift.

The After Party II* (Andrei Svechnikov x Reader x Brady Skjei) - 6.3K A year after your illicit tryst with your current fling and your ex-fling, you meet again.

Every Summer Has a Story* (Andrei Svechnikov x Reader) - 11.5K When you find yourself on vacation with an ex-fling that barely had time to get off the ground before disaster struck, you might find you're in more than you bargained for.

GASLIGHT* (Andrei Svechnikov x Reader) - 5.4K A dance of desperation, destruction, and desire with the man who broke your heart.

BLURBS

✿“Fuck you.” “When?” / “Are you trying to turn me on or are you really just that oblivious?” | illicit affairs* (sequel) ✿Smokin’ with Svech ✿New Endeavors* ✿A Kiss to Distract ✿Goal Celly*

[therhythmafterthesummer]

Hiii dear 🫶🏼 hope everything is going well and you're sleeping well and staying hydrated ✨

Today I was bored at work and I had a few thoughts (about wr ofc what else)

1. How is the gingerbin wedding planning going? Do they agree on what they want so far? Any specific preferences from any of them? (Idk if you plan on including something like this in future wr installments if so nevermind djehwkdj)

2. Do the wr couples sometimes go on double dates? Like maybe kitten and minho join gingerbin in their gym dates? Or prettyxchris and Hyunlix and moss go out to eat sometimes? It'd be so cute 🥺 they'd be swooning and teasing each other about their couple habits as if they aren't all huge simps

3. Do they celebrate Christmas too? Because I had the thought of them decorating their apartments or a christmas tree together and I almost collapsed 😭 they'd be so playful and excited and imagine Chris picking pretty up so she can put the star on top of the tree (while holding onto those thighs obvs)

Imagine Chris curled up around her in wolf form so he can keep her extra warm right next to the Christmas tree I- 😭😭😭😭😭

Oh and also, pack family Christmas dinner 💖 I just love them lmao

- 🍒

they're still trying to decide on a traditional-ish wedding and a wedding on the beach. they argue over the menu and flowers sometimes, but they agree on which outfits they'd wear for the two possible settings, as well as some favours they want to gift their loved ones. they're leaning more towards a small wedding (which isn't that difficult considering Changbin is no longer in his family's pack--although his family will be invided-- and considering Autumn has gone no contact with her family bc she defected her former pack). overall, pretty normal stuff :D

i'd like to think they do! although maybe not as often as you might think. it is pretty common for the three alphas and their partners to go places together though (although i'm not sure if they'd consider trips to buy furniture for chris' house "a date"). moss and hyunjin have gone on a few double dates with pretty and chris, whereas moss and felix tend to go with gingerbin to the gym a bit more frequently~

i don't think the wereroomies characters are religious, but i think they do like to celebrate every possible holiday they can together, so i can see them celebrating christmas! imagine how chaotic a secret santa would be in that pack sdfjhskfhdkj (also, 100% chris lets pretty climb on his shoulders to place the star on the tree. it's a win for him). i'm sure they take the cutest seasonal pictures too 🥺 both in wolf and human forms. i'm sure pretty has this pic of her and chris (who shited into his wolf form) sitting by the christmas tree wearing santa hats sdjhfksfhsdkjf

[m1ckeyb3rry]

No because the character design >>>> I also LOVE KIJA SHSHSJSHS man I miss yotd….

Also OMG CHERRY TREE PT 2 commentary after I finish replying

OOOOH omg a long series for bllk…(we all chant KARASU TABITO in the background…) but omg yeah I can only imagine the amount of research needed for hollyhock’s setting shsgshsb

Omg waittt zantetsu switch up?? Ok but I mean if you still want to write for Karasu…I’m always ready for a brainstorming thought dump session….only if you want though LOL

HOLELDHDS SHIT THE BAROU ONE??? Ok im ngl the chokehold that edits to that song have on me….idk why something about the beat and “melody” ushsjshsj also LMAOO THE WOMANIZER ONE classic Otoya edit…ok but the nagi ones are fire and I can also see why you were converted by that rin one…

Ok but if you have any especially fire Karasu ones don’t be shy…I almost never see edits of him it’s so sad

LMAOOO if you ever write that you NEED to add that line in there it’s so perfect (Karasu and Yukimiya trying to protect the girl at first is so real and so cute I can only imagine the rollercoaster ride of mishaps that would happen in this story LMAO)

LMAOOO BAROUISM SO REAL THOUGH?? Yes fortunately he’s basically locked in for the rest of the series!! Excited to see him again soon after the PxG match!! Also curious by what role he’ll play in the current epinagi match too! But omg wait nagi Barou and Karasu all together epinagi said welcome to the miraverse

Ok COMMENTARY: RAGAHHDH THAT WAS SO GOOD lowk you do a really good job of like developing stories and plots that when I read it I didn’t even feel like it was “short” or shorter than fwtkac…like just perfectly paced *chefs kiss*

Also 1) SEABIRD Y/N MENTION LMAOOOOOOO 2) omg stalker Rin was lowk so funny he really said “yeah idk what to say so I’ll just follow you silently like a creep” DHHSSHSH I also love how the roles kinda flip and Rin now has to wait for y/n…also the trees THE TREES >>>>> tree imagery and hidden messages my fav I also love awk but mature Rin like it’s still clumsy soccer nerd Rin but the development is there!!!

Another Mira banger excited for whatever’s next!!

- Karasu anon

i wouldn’t say kija is a top fav (shinah and hak are my beloveds) but i’ve seen some GORG fanart of him so i def see the vision there ☝🏻

cherry tree part two 🥹 i wanted it to be a surprise because i never mentioned working on it but LMAOO it was so funny i saw that rin edit WHILE WRITING WILLOW TREE so it was like a double whammy dose of itoshi broism that made it even worse 😭

tbh as much as there’s so many characters i want to write a long fic for it’s only the ones i DON’T like as much that i get ideas for 😭 like i got the idea for hollyhock while trying to come up with something for NAGI so we’ll see what happens and who ends up inspiring me but it’ll definitely be a surprise…honestly i think i need to pick the au first and THEN decide which character feels natural in it instead of vice versa if that makes sense

LMAO i will hold off for now but if that changes i will let you know!! i’m sure i’ll come up w something because i lowkey have no zantetsu ideas sooo…dumb characters as much as i love them are not my favs to write as love interests because i would simply never fall for a dumb guy irl so it breaks my immersion while writing somehow 😭

THE BAROU ONEEEEE it fits him so well too somehow!! hehe nagi edits are always so good because he has so many scenes in season one plus soooo many fire manga panels that editors have a LOT of material to work with!! and otoya LMAOAO he’s so goofy i love him (surprisingly not aiku though…idk why i can get behind eita but not aiku even though both are cheaters?? like looks aside ofc 😭 maybe it’s because we actively see aiku being weird in the manga whereas it’s only referenced in the egoist bible for otoya so it doesn’t feel as in your face)

OKAYYY tbh there’s not a lot of variety in karasu/otoya edits because they don’t really have any anime scenes yet but here are some i have saved!! fair warning you might’ve already seen these because like you said there’s not much out there for them…

karasu + otoya

karasu

karasu + barou 🤩🤤

you didn’t ask for him but YUKIMIYA

otoya edit using his 0.02 seconds of anime screentime

EASILY the most famous barou edit it has over one million likes and almost twelve million views so you’ve almost definitely seen it but i’m including it anyways because barou…lowkey flash warning though LOL

NO BECAUSE IT’S SO GOOD like the worst man she’s met (oliver aiku) taking her under his wing and teaching her how to be a player meanwhile karasu and yukimiya are yelling at otoya to leave this poor innocent girl alone and otoya is just like “wow…y/n has beautiful eyes…” too chaotic fr

BAROUISM FOR LIFE i’ve liked him since i first watched the show but he was typically overshadowed by me loving nagi and then later karasu so it’s only fair he gets his chance in the spotlight 🤩 omg but also the way nagi is the only hair gel free man in the miraverse top three LMAOAOA he’s holding down the fort fr 😩🙏🏻 needs to impart some wisdom to karasu and barou af

OMG YAYYY I WAS WORRIED IT WOULD BE TOO SHORT although tbh i don’t worry too much abt word count with sequels because like the main story is long enough…okay lowkey secret fact i hope i don’t keep getting a ton of pt2 requests because i love leaving stories open ended and doing a pt2 takes away from that 😩 like that’s why i don’t want to write a pt2 for white butterfly even though multiple people have hinted at wanting one LMAOAAO i just think it ended in a place where expanding it would feel like i was mansplaining to my readers almost 😭 i def think that’s a personal preference too a bit because i personally love reading open endings like they’re so good at making you think and leaving the story on your mind…tbh the impact of an open ending is UNMATCHED it doesn’t have the same vibe when the ending is like fully written out idk if that makes sense ANYWAYS rant over back to commentary!!

LMAOOOO SEABIRD Y/N MENTION FR sae finally put a ring on it ‼️ yk that was the most chaotic proposal ever too 😭 i just thought it would be funny to connect the two stories since there’s nothing rlly saying they CAN’T be connected plus since bllk did kinda vaguely and probably exist in cherry tree (y/n doesn’t go to japan until her freshman year of college so like 18 years old?? and rin would’ve just turned 19 because september birthday so it’s three years after bllk began which is why he isn’t on lockdown) it’s hilarious to imagine like rin being all emo and needing to destroy sae or he’ll die and giving these long ass dramatic monologues abt how sae is his ultimate goal meanwhile sae is just eating sandwiches on the beach with his gf

STALKER RIN MY KING i wanted to show that no matter how much more mature he is it’s still the same awkward fumbling soccer loser rin we all know and many love 😭 like bro has no clue what he’s doing he left his country with a university name, nagi’s sweatshirts, and a dream 😩🙏🏻 and somehow it worked out for him but like imagine y/n transferred or graduated early or smth HAHAA he would’ve been cooked 😰

i’m glad you liked it 😄 hehe i had fun writing it this was def one where i didn’t mind the part two it was very cutesy and enjoyable to do 😫 i have nine requests on my list that i need to finish up so it’ll be something from there ig!! not sure which req i’m going to do first 🤔 there’s a couple that are the same vibe as the isagi ones where i could def finish them in 1-2k words so i might try to get those out of the way first just so they’re out there and i feel productive!!

[baekhvuns]

I would have to go to USA and see Ateez to meet her, cause that woman went to so many stops 😬 then had the audacity to complain they only played one show in Texas 🔫

There's nothing worse than a lacklustre final match, but this one was a mix of boring (girst half) and nerve-wracking (the rest of it). Mbappe living up to his Ninja Turtle persona, I mean they really needed to have a talk cause ☠ I don't pay much attention to PSG, but I'm surprised they're not doing better, I remember they didn't make it to quarter finals last season, but then Barcelona didn't even left the group stage so 🤔

I was never a huge fan of Messi (I know he's good he just annoyed me like most Barca players ajhdiajsjsnsjdhsjsj not as much as Pique or Busquets 🔪) but then Neymar happened and he took the annoying crown. But yeah I know they're both talented, I just don't like watching them 😅 even though they're out of Barca

YOU'RE A BARCELONA FAN?????? I think we talked about Real before, I thought you were on my side... this is very sad, but what can you do. Not everyone's perfect 💔 Real won last season so I'm happy with them, though I miss the old players. Especially since Benzema won't be playing for much longer... he was so good last season. I even saw RM in match a few months ago again. And Arsenal is doing well, so I can't complain about my teams. Tbh I feel like Seonghwa is a seasonal fan, most Koreans also love Tottenham only because of Sonny, sorry I can't take them seriously 🔪 Jongho though, my beloved, I think he likes PSG too.

Like I said, there was a time I wanted Mbappe in RM, I do think he'd be useful, BUT he needs to check his behaviour! Hopefully he grows up soon 😐

That's what I've been saying, idols football competition plsssss! I remember San scoring an own goal lmaooo

Girl, I need to tell you about the webtoon Act Like You Love Me, cause it was cute and fun at first, but it's turning into True Beauty A LOVE TRIANGLE with one guy being the worst?! The girls has become so weak and unsure and annoying, and the ML is being a doormat. My guy you're hot ass TV star, please STAND UP my man 😭 and ofc the guys are friends... sigh so many dumb misunderstandings, everyone's so tired of it. Anyway, rant over.

For My Derelict Favourite I think on webtoon it's on chapter 22 or something, I'm also reading in Korean because I can't wait for more chapters. But I found a website with Eng translations that has over 30 chapters already

The blue bird in the teaser 👀 we get cool teasers, so I can't complain too much about that. Seonghwa glitching?! I think Halateez need to be revived or perhaps Strictland thinks they're gone, but they actually aren't. Seonghwa's role is interesting though, he was always kinda "sus"

I hope people don't actually want ETL, unless it's like playful or something... Y/Ns are going through so much, they're stronger (and often dumber) than me

I don't expect Kai x Seulgi to actually fight about an emoji, but it'd be funny 😭

BBC is still releasing promo pictures they just cropped the date?!?!

SM I'm so tired of you, seriously 😭 also Got the Beat or whatever they're called are coming back? Hopefully they get a decent song this time

Keeho keeps showing his kpop stan Twitter persona jayshsgauisjahahs

WRECK IT RALPH BACK AT IT

Yesterday when I typed Seonghwa into Twitter "Seonghwa Taemin" came up and today it's "Seonghwa Jesus"

Oh but thissssss - DV 💖

maghi hello!!

I would have to go to USA and see Ateez to meet her, cause that woman went to so many stops 😬 then had the audacity to complain they only played one show in Texas 🔫

i wish u saw my face when i read texas 😭😭😭😭😭😭 OH AND SHES AMERICAN, DOUBLE HOMICIDE PLS

There's nothing worse than a lacklustre final match, but this one was a mix of boring (girst half) and nerve-wracking (the rest of it). Mbappe living up to his Ninja Turtle persona, I mean they really needed to have a talk cause ☠ I don't pay much attention to PSG, but I'm surprised they're not doing better, I remember they didn't make it to quarter finals last season, but then Barcelona didn't even left the group stage so 🤔

ur right!! tHE SECOND HALF HAD ME SWEATING EDGE OF MY SEAT PRAYING TO GOD MY KNUCKLES WERE WHITE I WAS PRAYING LEADING UP TO THE DAY I WAS INTO THIS FBWNDB I WAS HEATED watching it early morning and my mother enters and france scores twice the way i SCREAMED,,, bad luck i tell u,,, psg got great players but the club just cares about money and the way the club is monitored around mbappe but they had a good last season, hopefully this ones much better and the coach actually cares 😭😭 also manifesting the final to be here instead of la but there isnt enough seats 😭😭

also anon it’s ur chance to come to vancouver 🔫🔫

I was never a huge fan of Messi (I know he's good he just annoyed me like most Barca players ajhdiajsjsnsjdhsjsj not as much as Pique or Busquets 🔪) but then Neymar happened and he took the annoying crown. But yeah I know they're both talented, I just don't like watching them 😅 even though they're out of Barca

LMFAOOOO JCHWKDJ STOP BC PIQUE ANNOYS THE SHIT OUT OF ME i dunno how he tolerated him for so long what a snake,, that rumor w gavi's mom had my JAW dropped,, are u, are a u ronaldo fan mayhaps... i was watching barca vs madrid highlights for adrenaline and its just pepe and ramos red card at every 80min, that era >>>>

YOU'RE A BARCELONA FAN?????? I think we talked about Real before, I thought you were on my side… this is very sad, but what can you do. Not everyone's perfect 💔 Real won last season so I'm happy with them, though I miss the old players. Especially since Benzema won't be playing for much longer… he was so good last season. I even saw RM in match a few months ago again. And Arsenal is doing well, so I can't complain about my teams. Tbh I feel like Seonghwa is a seasonal fan, most Koreans also love Tottenham only because of Sonny, sorry I can't take them seriously 🔪 Jongho though, my beloved, I think he likes PSG too.

YEAH DHQKDHQKDBKCBCKC we did! and it’s fine bc no one can be perfect like a barca fan <3 but at the end of the day half of them are teammates at psg 😭😭 no bc begging for a classic old madrid and barca match even if its for charity purposes i just need the SAME ppl on ONE field for ONCE ,,, benzema’s retiring was messy as hell tbh, don’t like him as much but man’s a BEAST would’ve loved to see him at the wc would’ve been interesting 😭😭 no ur right, they’re all def tottenham fans but son’s good but not that good fbwnfbd sk got one (lung park excluded) good player, JONGHO, WE CAN SAY, IS A INTELLECTUAL MAN OF INTELLECTUAL INTELLIGENCE

Like I said, there was a time I wanted Mbappe in RM, I do think he'd be useful, BUT he needs to check his behaviour! Hopefully he grows up soon 😐

tbh, mbappe IS monster! (i do think haaland may b even bellingham can give him a run for his money tho) but he’s still got a way to go in terms of being an overall good player, from what ive seen as a psg fan, he doesn’t create chances, misses WORLD CLASS passes and then stops working halfway if ball’s not passed to him + has like no teamwork,,, i do think RM would humble him if he goes there, but yeah hopefully he does grow up!!

That's what I've been saying, idols football competition plsssss! I remember San scoring an own goal lmaooo

LMFAOOOO SAN WOULD MAKE HIS OWN TEAM LOSE, miss goals too...he’s like harry maguire  😭😭  ,, i do think wooyoung would score all the penalties, hongjoong is the dramatic diver i just know,, who do u think ramos, zlatan (rowoon) and others would be

Girl, I need to tell you about the webtoon Act Like You Love Me, cause it was cute and fun at first, but it's turning into True Beauty A LOVE TRIANGLE with one guy being the worst?! The girls has become so weak and unsure and annoying, and the ML is being a doormat. My guy you're hot ass TV star, please STAND UP my man 😭 and ofc the guys are friends… sigh so many dumb misunderstandings, everyone's so tired of it. Anyway, rant over. /// For My Derelict Favourite I think on webtoon it's on chapter 22 or something, I'm also reading in Korean because I can't wait for more chapters. But I found a website with Eng translations that has over 30 chapters already

act like u love me…the guy is suspiciously a look alike of seonghwa….ha?¿ NO WHY IS IT A TRUE BEAUTY ARC???? DOES IT GET BY BETTER BY ANY CHANCE 😭😭😭 ok u bet bc i read the first 5 chapters of it and iM into this thing

The blue bird in the teaser 👀 we get cool teasers, so I can't complain too much about that. Seonghwa glitching?! I think Halateez need to be revived or perhaps Strictland thinks they're gone, but they actually aren't. Seonghwa's role is interesting though, he was always kinda "sus"

this entire cb is like “DID U GUYS SEE THAT AT 0.095 SECONDS???” or “DID YUNHO’S CHARACTER D WORDED??” its so chaotic but hopefully the song lives up to the hype <33 ur right, seonghwa’s character is sus but yeosang??? WHO IS HE!

I hope people don't actually want ETL, unless it's like playful or something… Y/Ns are going through so much, they're stronger (and often dumber) than me

YEAAAH but also bc the playful line can cross lines dbdbd exactly, y/n’s are untouchable, unstoppable girl bosses,,, want to be the yn in bodyguard hwa

I don't expect Kai x Seulgi to actually fight about an emoji, but it'd be funny 😭 ///// BBC is still releasing promo pictures they just cropped the date?!?!

FBWMDBWK I WANT THEM TO STIR THE POT 😭😭 emoji fight would be iconic but then theres a whole group of idols who use that as their emojis, need them to fight as well, BBC’S  JUST EMBARRASSING ATP

SM I'm so tired of you, seriously 😭 also Got the Beat or whatever they're called are coming back? Hopefully they get a decent song this time  ///// Keeho keeps showing his kpop stan Twitter persona jayshsgauisjahahs

NO SERIOUSLY 15 MORE NCT MEMBERS???? SUPERM ROTATION?? COME ON LEAVE THAT ONE MEMBER BC THIS GROUP IS ALREADY AMAZING HE CONTRIBUTED ONE LINE 😭😭😭😭 yeah! they are! apparently a new sub unit of got is also coming?? 😭😭 im just happy exo is being released from their basement 😭😭 LMFAOOO KEEHO AND YUNJIN NEED TO MEET BDBDB

WRECK IT RALPH BACK AT IT //// Yesterday when I typed Seonghwa into Twitter "Seonghwa Taemin" came up and today it's "Seonghwa Jesus"

wreck it ralph wrecking alot of things and one of them is my sanity <3 FBAMDBAKDJAK TWT KNOWS WHATS UP i looked up hwa the other day and it would continuously say seonghwa gay and if i click on it his dating scandal is the first thing fbfb

Oh but thissssss - DV 💖

STOP?????????//(*(*&^%%W#$

also anon bap getting plagiarized ?? 😭😭 only way for a comeback 🤲🏼

since u brought up taemin jesus, it’s time to revisit this video

???

tell me this is not meryl streep in the devil wears prada

anon…..him and mingi…mINGI

[formula-what]

Brocedes time line for a very patient anon

Lewis quotes in orange, Nico quotes in pink, everyone else is blue.

okay first some background knowledge:

Nico is rich as fuck. only child, born in Germany, brought up in Monaco. son of world champion Keke Rosberg

Lewis was born on a council estate in Stevenage and his dad had to work multiple jobs for him to start karting

Honestly I think the difference in their backgrounds is one of the things that pushed them together, they were both isolated from the rest of the kids, but I’m keeping this purely facts rather than speculation.

2000

They’re both 15 years old and are karting teammates for MBB (Mercedes Benz McLaren) in Formula A

Robert Kubica: “there was always competition. But they didn’t fight. It was friendly competition. There was always laughing afterwards.” // “they would even have races to eat pizza”

They often shared hotel rooms at the races which was a “scene of many wrestling matches between them”

Dino Chiesa (their karting boss) – “many times I was called by reception about some problem in the room. It might be noise, or they might have broken something. They would never sleep so they were always tired the next morning”

“they both liked ice cream so much, particularly vanilla. During the night they wanted to eat ice cream always, so I had to go out everywhere to find some and keep them happy”

Lewis would often persuade Nico to buy him sweets

They would have competitions over LITERALLY EVERYTHING

Lewis: “we always had great competition whether on the racetrack or computer games or playing football”

“probably the first bit of competition we had was when Nico used to ride a unicycle everywhere so I thought, ‘I’ve got to learn how to ride this unicycle. Ive got to be better than him.’ I spent all my time outside the go-kart learning to ride this unicycle”

Apparently it only took Lewis 2 hours to teach himself how to do it

In maybe 2013 ish (when they were still friends) Lewis reflected with– “I have never laughed so much than when we were racing together. Nico was kicking everyone’s butt at that time. We had so great races together and built a great relationship”

“we were just arriving and enjoying go-karts and eating pizzas every weekend, fighting all the time and just having fun, whereas now it’s all business.”

many times they would talk about what they would do when they got to f1, made plans hoping to be teammates and become world champions together.

“Nico would say ‘when I’m in formula one’ and for me it was always ‘if I ever get to formula one’. Because obviously Nico’s dad was a formula 1 driver- he knew he was going to make it.”

F1

Nico joined f1 in 2006 with williams, Lewis 2007 with McLaren. And man I WISH I knew what went down with this two when Lewis nearly one his rookie season (missing out by one point to mr fernando alonso) and then WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP in his SECOND SEASON (again by one point thank you mr alonso)

2008 Australia

Nicos gets his first podium, and ofc Lewis is there (he won it) and they are jumping around in the cool down room. Just, two kids who are literally living the one thing they have spent their whole lives dreaming about together. Lewis won the championship that year and oh wow I can only imagine their celebrations together.

2013

They’re teammates in Mercedes!!!

Nico: “every other day there are moments or things that pop up and I can smirk and thing, ‘that’s exactly the same as it was 15 years ago’”

2013 Malaysian Grand Prix gets an honourable mention. This is the race with red bulls good old multi 21 but merc also had their own team orders, stopping nico from fighting for his first merc podium, but Lewis disagreed with it so it didn’t really spark that much tension between them- more the team.

2014

the start of the turbo-hybrid era so y’all know this was good in terms of performance.

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

They were both fighting for the win and had a collision which prompted a “mock fight” in parc ferme after the race (which I really hope there’s a video of).

Turns out, Nico won because he had used engine modes banned by Mercedes to get a power advantage in the closing laps. which kinda pissed Lewis off

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

Lewis’ fourth win in a row and took lead in the championship. They were fighting till literally the last second and Lewis crossed the line 0.6 seconds ahead of Nico, who says he could have passed him with one more lap.

Lewis defended using the same banned engine modes that Nico had used in Bahrain. Yeah.

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

This is IT. This is peak petty bitch. This is the one people still cry about.

It’s the end of Q3, both of them are out on a lap, Nico ahead of lewis. Nico’s already on provisional pole but Lewis is pretty close.

And then,, Nico just,, parks his car?? He says he made a mistake but the guy doesn’t even crash he straight up just,, rolls to a stop into a slip road. So the yellow flags come out forcing Lewis to abort a lap that was in the makings of pole.

The stewards say it was a-okay but Lewis was convinced it was intentional (and let’s be honest, yeah it probably was) and he even claimed that merc’s data proved it. (low key surprised he didn’t just tweet out the telemetry but I guess he got a stern telling off from mclaren last time)

But *this* is when Lewis tells the world that they aren’t friends anymore. An iconic interview.

Nico then wins the race too, ending Lewis’s four win streak and putting Nico in the lead of the championship.

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis has an engine failure in quali meaning he starts from the pit lane, but he does good to make his way up the pack but THEN there’s a safety car which puts him ahead of Nico but on a different strategy.

Nico asks if Lewis can let him past as he needs to pit again before the end of the race, which will give him the place back anyways. Lewis straight up refuses, he’s on a role here. He started from last, and Nico started from pole, why should he slow down to let his title rival through.

Mercedes strongly suggest that his blocking fucked up Nicos race but Niki Lauda is on Lewis’ side so he doesn’t get punished (We stan a supportive father figure) even though he did blatantly refuse to be a team player.

And guys, this is the last race before the summer break so you know Nico was left seething for four weeks.

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

Second lap, Nico attempts a clumsy move and there’s contact, giving Hamilton a puncture and knocking him out of the race.

There’s a lot of controversy but basically it turns out he crashed with him intentionally, not backing out of the corner to “prove a point”. Nico ended up finishing second but was punished by the team, forced to apologise, and even booed on the podium.

2014 Abu Dhabi

For some reason it ran for double points?? The first time in History??? But idk???

Lewis had a perfect start and went on to win it and take the title, Nico had a problem and was told to retire the car but he kept going anyway and finished 14th. Nico went into the cool down room to congratulate Lewis on the championship win, which. cute.

Lewis claimed his second championship. Which not only was huge because of the inter team rivalry, but also because of the large gap between his first win. This guy had lost out on winning the championship in his ROOKIE season by ONE POINT, and then WON it in his SECOND season, and then there was like a FIVE YEAR gap before he won it again.

2015

Damnnn this car was fiiiinneeeeeee.

They do more laps in testing than any other car AND do it on a single power unit. And then. Australia. They take a one-two THIRTY FOUR seconds ahead of the third place Ferrari.

2015 Chinese Grand Prix

Nico is second in a one-two but claims that Lewis kept backing him up into Seb, trying to compromise his race (and help out his boyfriend).

Lewis gave zero shits: "It's not my job to look after Nico's race, it's my job to manage the car and bring the car home as healthy and as fast as possible. That's what I did."

2015 U.S. Grand Prix

If Lewis wins here he could also claim the title with three races to spare (you have to remember back then the title fight often went up to the last race so this was pretty cool)

Lewis very aggressively forced Rosberg wide at Turn 1 to claim the lead, and then there was some sexy fighting between the Mercs and Redbull all race. Nico led in the closing stages but made a mistake, running deep into a corner and letting Lewis past with only a handful of laps to go.

Nico finished P2 and had not only lost the race but the championship title. Nico was fuming, saying Lewis’ move at the start was “one step too far”.

This is the infamous cap throw in the cool down room. Lewis throws Nico his P2 hat, Nico straight up yeets it back at him. I tear up just thinking about it. They grow up so fast.

2016

Nico had came so close to winning and I guess this was just, the last straw. All or nothing. This year he literally gave it everything he had. Lewis and him stopped speaking, Nico gave up literally the rest of his life and even stopped sleeping in the same bed as his wife and taking care of his kids, instead spending every moment trying to get into Lewis’ head. Honestly, I think he might be the only one that could beat Lewis. Just because he knew him *so well*. He literally threw away like 16 years of friendship. But also it’s like, he had to be world champion. He *had to*. His dad was champion and his whole life he’s been preparing to win it too. Tough luck that he raced in the same era as Mr. Best Driver The Sport Has Ever Seen.

Nico won the last few races of 2015, and the first four races of 2016. Lewis had a couple car problems and Nico had a good lead on him in the championship.

2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Gentlemen. A short view back to the past. Nico had made a switch error on the formation lap causing the car to go into the wrong engine mode. So he was running a lot slower than Lewis, who was fighting to claim back the lead.

Nico closed the door to keep him back, and Lewis lost control on the grass, and spins into Nico and taking them both out of the race in the first lap. This is probably one of the most iconic crashes. I’m pretty sure there’s a clip of this somewhere in black and white with the titanic music over the top.

Niki Lauda blamed this one on Lewis (I guess even a supportive dad has to be critical sometimes) "Lewis is too aggressive. It is stupid, we could've won this race".

2016 Austrian Grand Prix

Nico had been struggling with a brake issue all race but was still on the way to win it. But in the last lap Lewis had caught him up and gone in for the overtake.

Typical Nico not taking any shit, refusing to be the guy that backs out and they collide. Lewis took the win and a damaged Nico dropped to fourth. From first. In the last lap.

Both of them blamed each other and tired dad team boss Toto Wolff threatened team orders in future races.

The stewards blamed Nico for the incident, issuing him two penalty points for failing to allow "racing room" and causing a collision.

2016 Abu Dhabi

In the final laps of the race, Lewis ignored team-orders from his race engineer and the technical director.

He deliberately slowed and backed Nico into the pack hoping they overtake him, and there would be enough of a points difference to win the title.

Nico finished second and won the title by five points.

And then,,, Nico announced a surprise retirement during the FIA prize giving ceremony.

Lewis’ response:

"This is the first time he's won in 18 years, hence why it was not a surprise that he decided to stop.” (We stan a petty king)

“But he's also got a family to focus on and probably wants to have more children. Formula One takes up so much of your time."

“In terms of missing the rivalry, of course because we started karting when we were 13 and we would always talk about being champions. When I joined this team, Nico was there, which was something we spoke about when we were kids. So it's going to be very, very strange, and, for sure, it will be sad to not have him in the team next year."

And now they are kind of on speaking terms but not really, they are both pretty private but I think they are at the ‘awkward small talk when we run into each other at the supermarket’ stage of the break up.

[inflammatoryfandomblog]

okay so soren and claudia’s relationship is basically the best character writing the show has, in that it stays consistently good even when the show pulls out the biggest stinkers i have ever seen. i’ve written about this waaay back so won’t go into it again. one detail i really, really wished they had managed to put into the show proper and not only the novelizations is the fact that viren healed a sickly soren when he was very young with dark magic, which in addition to putting a physical toll on him, made his ex-wife spooked out and probably contributed to their divorce.

this actually shines a lot of light on soren’s dynamic with viren. claudia tells ezran that soren immediately clung to viren when told to choose between his parents, and if viren is the one responsible for curing soren, then yeah, that makes a lot of sense. it also makes a lot of sense in terms of viren thinking that he’s owed soren’s loyalty or even his life--viren’s entire Thing is that he frequently faces bad consequences for doing what may otherwise be traditionally heroic acts, and ofc, as in the show (and especially during the events of the show as viren realizes that “all he did was for nothing”), viren *would* resent him for it. it’s completely in-character.

so soren has the double-whammy of not being able to live up to expectations as much as claudia, and also feels like he owes his dad so much, since his dad was willing to do bad things for him. he has a really good reason to think viren loves him even though he’s the clear unfavorite.

and he’s much more loyal to viren as a result in a way that claudia wasn’t initially. he does actually try to kill the princes, even if he’s uncomfortable with it. i mean, surely his dad would do the same for him, right? now i know we like saying that claudia’s just inSaNe because of her s3 stuff, but pre season-3, soren was the more unscrupulous of the two. killing the princes is something claudia at that point in the story would not have done, and something that she refuses to believe viren would even order. the straw in the camel’s back for soren was being betrayed by viren in that little gaslighting scene, not necessarily just the fact that he ordered to have the princes killed. in that moment he learned that the sacrifices viren made didn’t mean he loves him.

this information also begs the question of how he may have felt about being cured by dark magic at the end of s2. if the context of viren healing him in a similar fashion were present while watching the show and the characters were allowed to have feelings about that, his getting-paralyzed-for-five-seconds thing would be more substantial than a “oooh look a claudia moment. look at that dear. isn’t it so cute. feel bad for the deer. focus on the deer. also guys soren’s dumb lol. look at how dumb he is. he barely has a functioning cerebrum lol. and also guys look he’s crushed by his dad’s expectations sadface. but look at claudia she’s all corrupted now!!! see it’s all good winkyface, this is a Big Moment for Claudia!!!” claudia is doing a very similar thing that viren did in his childhood. of course soren may have some mixed feelings about it--and maybe even slightly alluding to this might have, i dunno, meant something to the person who was actually paralyzed. if this scene were written with more of that in mind, this would actually completely transform the writing here while keeping the general event (a cured soren) intact.

this would also make “you’re heading down that path too” in season 3 also be more resonant than just soren being spooked out by dark magic and make his reasons for refusing the lux aurea dark orb that much stronger. it would imply that he’s aware that there’s some sort of “debt” to pay and maybe that he was somehow “responsible” for viren’s divorce (soren is as dumb as bricks but it’s implied many times that he’s more socially/emotionally intelligent than he looks) thanks to dark magic. he may not want to feel that he “owes” viren anything, and may perhaps see a pattern of self-sacrifice and subsequent resentment in claudia. how justified he would be in thinking this isn’t the point, my fellow claudia stans--the point is that he would think it and it would be a natural extension of his character. it also makes him letting claudia go even more meaningful--not only does he not want to “force her to choose” like he did when they were kids, he also doesn’t want her to feel tied down the way he might have been.

this letting her go thing is ironically enough counterproductive, and will likely lead to the same sort of resentment viren has for soren. soren has “broken up the family again.” after everything they’re done for him, he just turns his back on them, from claudia’s point of view. the series would be quite different if soren was more forceful about getting claudia to leave with him or made a stronger case for leaving viren, but there are real reasons why he wouldn’t do this and when it comes to his family he’s actually quite conflict-averse. and like it would make his speech about thinking that viren was a good man more impactful, and like it’s not like the speech isn’t cheesy as hell already.

[justasparkwritings]

The Littlest Dumpling {9}

Previous: The Littlest Dumpling {8}

Pairing: Min Yoongi x OFC

Genre: Non Idol AU / Author AU

Rating: R

Warnings: Swearing! Talking About Sex! Kissing! Making Out! 

Word Count: 4.7k

Summary: A meeting with HR decides the fate of your relationship and an unexpected visitor sends Yoongi into a panic spiral.  

Master List

Tag List: @4ksj, @jagiya, @ot7nem, @knjkitten, @teamtardis-notdead​, @canarystwin​

Tag List

        Lil King Yoongi seethed, smoke coming out of his ears as he stared at Hee-Young.

        “You betrayed me!”

        “I did not!” She yelled.

        “You went against my orders!”

        “Your orders were going to destroy the kingdom! There didn’t need to be such  -

        “How dare you speak to your King that way!” Yoongi shouted.

        “My king? Your highness I thought you were a friend,” Hee-Young said, tears in her eyes.

        “I’m not friends with traitors.”

Lil King Yoongi Vol. 4

December

        “So that you’re telling me is that you hate Christmas?” Seokjin asks Yoongi over mulled wine and hot toddies at Moonbeam, a new restaurant near the office.

       It’s atmosphere is more upscale than The Ruby Poppy, with intricate vines and greenery shrouding tables from each other, wrought iron work throughout the restaurant with small black and white hexagon tiled floors. The dull candle centerpieces illuminating the marble tabletop, the light from the fading sun gleaming through the glass ceiling, rays bouncing and bounding off the golden support beams. This season, winter, it’s decorated for the holidays with twinkling lights doubled in the greenery and holiday themed beverages being served by Colin, the bartender extraordinaire.

        “I don’t hate Christmas,” Yoongi corrects.

        “He hates the capitalization of Christmas,” You answer for Yoongi.

        “Exactly.”

        “Isn’t that your problem with all holidays?” Jin asks.

        “The capitalization and commodification? Of course.”

        “Wouldn’t Lil King Yoongi look so cute in a Santa hat? Instead of his beloved crown?” You suggest.

        “Bite your tongue, he would not,” Yoongi argues.

        “He would, if Jimin drew him,” Jungkook says sitting down. Jimin joins him, and they wait patiently for the waiter to return to add their drinks to the long list this group is having.

        “Jin, isn’t your girl coming too?” Jimin asks. “And I do think the Lil King would look darling in a Santa hat, probably a red suit too if we could get the author to agree.”

        “She’s on her way,” Jin answers.

        “I will not write a Christmas book!” Yoongi declares. “Why is no one listening?”

        “We are honey,” you say, placing a hand on his thigh.

        “Honey?” Jimin teases.”

        “Honey?” Jin laughs.

        “Fuck you both.”

        “I believe for one of us, that was once true,” Jin teases.

        “I refuse to work with him on any other project, I never want to work with him again,” Yoongi tells you.

        “I know; it’s already written down that post The Littlest Dumpling, you will never have to work with Seokjin again should you stay at Serendipity.”

        “Great.”

        “Do you do that for other authors?” Jimin asks you.

        “Yes, but no one’s ever asked as persistently as Yoongi. And to keep Yoongi’s books, we’ll make the agreement.” You tell them.

        “Not because he’s your man?” Jungkook asks.

        “No, not because of that at all,” You say.

        “It’s because my charm is so great he can’t fathom standing in its shadow for long periods of time,” Seokjin says.

        “It’s often beneficial for authors to work with different editors on different projects to create a new vibe or really build a totally new world. The separation helps some authors create new authentic existences. For some it doesn’t, and they like working with the same person over and over again,” you explain to them.

        “Makes sense,” Jungkook agrees. “Yoongi what happened to your old editor?”

        “He left the company and moved to Manhattan.”

        “So you were searching for a new editor, and got Seokjin?” Jungkook asks.

        “Unfortunately,” Yoongi says.

        “Please, you’re looking at a best seller. Don’t hate me because I’m good at my job,” Jin teases, then stands as Violette enters the restaurant and heads for them.

        Yoongi turns to you, concern in his eyes.

        “Did you set the meeting with HR?” He whispers to you.

        “Yes, for tomorrow at 9AM. I sent you a calendar invite.”

        “Oh, I saw it, but forgot,” He says apologetically.

        “That’s okay, just show up,” You lean in and kiss his cheek.

        “Has everyone met Violette?” Jin asks, standing next to his girlfriend.

        “I think so,” She says.

        “Great!”

        “Violette,” You start, turning to the only other female in your group. “Tell us, what do you do?”

        “And why are you in love with him?” Yoongi adds, genuine curiosity coming through instead of his impossibly stubborn and asshole demeanor.

        “Why are you in love with Y/N?” She asks instead, cocking her head to the side. She enjoys watching Yoongi squirm.

        “I �� uh,”

        “I loved Yoongi too,” Jimin interrupts. “What’s not to love?”

        “I can think of about a dozen things,” Jin laughs.

        “No one asked you,” Yoongi says.

        “The point is, it’s nice to meet you Violette, and I apologize for the buffoonery of these men, well not Jungkook. He’s a gentleman,” You say, course correcting the conversation.

        “Thanks, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard only good things.”

        “That’s because Y/N is the best,” Jimin says with a wink.

        “I try,” you answer.

        “Well whatever you’re doing is working. I wish I had a strong female boss to shadow or look up to,” Violette comments.

        “Oh?”

        “I work for a gallery and my boss is a bit flighty but also very…. White man.”

        “Ah,” You say, fully knowing what she means. Everyone at the table knows exactly what she means.

        “Do you like the gallery?” Jungkook asks. “There are so many art galleries, you could go somewhere else?”

        “I want to, but you know it’s scary, starting somewhere new. Doing something different from what you’ve been breathing for the last few years.”

        Yoongi understands that fear. “Luckily, you have someone you can rely on if it doesn’t go well.”

        “Are you saying something nice about me?” Seokjin asks.

        “Yeah,” Yoongi says, not adding any additional snark or commentary.

        Jin nods, maybe their relationship can be repaired.

        The head of HR for Serendipity Publishing is named Olivia, and she’s well… difficult. It’s well known that HR represents the best interest of the business but should have some form of a poker face when dealing with company workers. Olivia does not. She works in fear and intimidation, making it almost impossible to come to her with any quandaries about the company. In a way, she does her job very well, she protects the company and its assets. The other way, or other side of the coin, she doesn’t leave room for the company to grow because she is so tough. Which is why most people report their complaints to their higher ups, so that the small group of leaders can handle Olivia and not the other workers.

        Today she stares at you, hardened brown eyes watching as you shift in your chair. You’ve squared off against her before, she knows you’re equally as tough as she is, and that you hide it with a kind smile. But today you might be in the wrong, and that gives Olivia the upper hand.

        “So, what did you want to talk about today?” Olivia asks.

        “I am dating someone within the company, and I would like it to be on record that we are together,” You say.

        “Is it someone that works below you?”

        “Tangentially to me, more like.”

        “An author?” She guesses.

        “Yes.”

        “I see,” Olivia begins typing on her computer, filling out paperwork that will need to be printed and kept both in a physical file and digital.

        “We began seeing each other a number of months ago, and while I did preliminary research into the companies’ policies, it seems that the best way to handle this is to talk to you openly and figure out what to do or if this relationship cannot move forward.”

        “Authors are tricky because they are tangentially related to what you do, you don’t supervise authors, you supervise their editors and the artistic department. If you were dating an editor, it would pose a larger problem.”

        “Yes.”

        She sets her jaw in discontent. “How long is this author’s contract, and what is their name?”

        “Yoongi Min,” you say.

        “Ah, my 10AM meeting. You two must’ve had fun colluding on that.”

        “It made the most sense, I meet with you, then you meet with him,” you answer. It had been planned, what could the two of you do to make this go smoother? To not ruffle any of Olivia’s feathers? Certainly back to back meetings would make her life easier, and you were right.  

        “Yes, it will make this much easier,” Olivia won’t come out and say thank you, but this is pretty close.

        “So, what do I need to do, to make this legitimate in company eyes?” You ask.

        “Answer a series of questions that may seem deeply personal but are the company’s way to gage that nothing illicit happened on company property or non-consensually.” She answers, a glint of impending torture in her voice. She wants to make this difficult, to make you suffer, to ask invasive question after invasive question so that she can crush your dream of falling in love with Yoongi.

        “Okay,” You say, adjusting in your chair.

        “Where did you and Mr. Min meet?” Olivia asks.

        “In my office. He came in to discuss his next book idea, and I wanted him to sign with us.”

        “Did you have romantic feelings for him, then?” She questions.

        “No.”

        “When did romantic feelings, a crush, begin?”

        You don’t have to think about it, having written down an outline of your relationship with Yoongi last night. “When he came back from his writing retreat, and we started talking more.”

        “Texting?”

        “At that point, no. Strictly when he came into my office to discuss his book.” You inform her.

        “At what point did you begin texting?”

        “July,” You answer definitively.

        “Were the nature of your texts flirtatious?” Olivia asks.

        “We agreed to meet for working happy hour.”

        “Working happy hour?” Her brow raises, certainly people didn’t drink and talk about work? Maybe her friends, if she has any, didn’t.

        “Yes, I had to discuss his relationship with Mr. Kim and drinks seemed like a better place to tell him to fall in line than the office,” you answer.  

        “Why did it seem like a better place?” She inquires, fingers momentarily stilling above her keyboard.

        “It was going to be a tough conversation, and from my experience working with Yoon- Mr. Min, it seemed like a more relaxed environment would be more beneficial than scolding him in my office.”

        “So he was in trouble?” Olivia smirks.

        “He was being difficult.”

        She stops typing momentarily. “Is he still?”

        “He’s gotten better under the promise that if he stays with Serendipity after his three book deal, he does not have to work with Mr. Kim again.”

        “Is that a fair deal?”

        “Yes.”

        “Is that common?”

        “Are you asking if I give him preferential treatment because we’re dating?” You ask, searching for your own clarity in her murky question.

        “Yes.”

        “No, it is not preferential. I have a few other authors and editors that work under similar guidelines. Sometimes, for whatever reason, an editor and an author don’t work out. We want them to have a strong working relationship, so we make exceptions and pair people up in different ways.”

        “And Mr. Kim and Mr. Min do not?” Olivia asks again.

        “They have preexisting history that precludes them from being friendly let alone friends. Getting Mr. Min to see Mr. Kim’s work as valid is a daily struggle.”

        “Did you put them together because you knew it would be difficult?” She inquires.

        “I had no idea they knew each other prior to Mr. Min telling me he didn’t want to work with Mr. Kim.”

        “Yet you forced them to,” she says.  

        “Mr. Kim is our most successful editor of children’s books. I want Mr. Min’s project to be a best seller, one for the record books. For that to happen, he needs the best editor in the company. That is Mr. Kim,” You explain to her, then reach towards the floor for the water bottle you had smartly brought with you.

        “When the two of you went for drinks, did you kiss, hold hands or sleep together on that date?”

        “Wow, way to go from first to fourth base without warning a girl!” You laugh.

        “Answer the question please,” Olivia doesn’t show any signs of finding your joke funny.

        “No, there might’ve been light flirting, but no physical contact that was sexual or could be interpreted as such. We sat on opposite sides of the booth; we didn’t kiss goodbye.” You answer.

        “When did your relationship become sexual?” She asks, reading off her computer screen.

        You blush. “In August we went out again, and his hand rested on my thigh.”

        “Did it move past that?”

        “No, there was a hug goodbye but that was it.”

        “Again, when did things become explicitly sexual?” She presses on.

        “What is the point of that question? In all this time, he had already signed with us. I told him dating would be risky, for myself and him. I told him of my past, of my fears.”

        “Yet you kept seeing each other.”

        “I think they call it falling in love,” You mutter.

        “Have you or Mr. Min had any physical contact on work property that would be deemed sexual in nature?”

        “No. The most we’ve done is shake hands.”

        Olivia keeps typing, then begins scrolling through your answers. Frankly you thought there’d be more. More questions, more details she wanted to pull from you. It seemed it was heading that way, how many questions could she ask about your sex life before it breached not only the level of decorum her job required, but became gauche? She could ask about your first kiss, or if you ever discussed your relationship on company property. You had, twice that you can remember, but that’s been it. Strictly above board. It’s not like Yoongi comes into the office all that much anymore, now that he’s settled into working with Seokjin and The Littlest Dumpling book 1 has been submitted. He’s been focused on book 2, and working diligently to not fall into his depression hole, which frankly, he’s struggling with. There’s no time or opportunity to engage in any behavior that isn’t above board at work.

        “It seems to me that you two, have not broken any rules of Serendipity Publishing.” Olivia says, breaking her silence.

        “Really?” You ask.

        “It’s shady that you waited this long to talk to me, but not illegal or against company policy. As you are not his direct superior, you are not, from what I can tell, using your power to coerce him into this relationship. If anything, he pursued you. I will give an official report once I speak with Mr. Min.”

        You sit back, surprised. Surprised it was that easy, that she didn’t ask any more about your physical relationship or when it started, that she didn’t drill into you about the power dynamic in your relationship. What had happened to the Olivia that tore people apart just to watch their careers crumble? Hadn’t she looked down upon you after your relationship with Taehyung became public, called you a cheap trick after you edited his book? Wasn’t she one the main people vying for you to not get the job here?

        What softened her?

        Taehyung Kim sits in the lobby of Serendipity Publishing, smirking devilishly at Alexis as he taps his foot softly on the area rug. He’s been waiting to see you for ten minutes, though to be fair, he isn’t on your calendar. No, Taehyung showed up ten minutes ago, and through his charm willed Alexis to see if you could spare some time to chat with him. She’d found a little time, if you came back from HR early.

        “How long have you worked for Y/N?” He asks. As the only person in the waiting room, he’s allowing himself to speak at near full volume. He pitches his voice lower, so Alexis really has to lean forward, over the desk, to catch everything he’s saying.

        “Um, almost a year,” she says nervously giggling.

        “Do you like it?”

        Alexis, for what it’s worth, has every idea who this man is. How could she not? She did her due diligence and googled her boss the minute she got the job, and what she found was scathing and polarizing. Either person viewed what happened between Y/N and Taehyung as her fault, blaming her for ruining a relationship that seemed far more established than the one she was creating. Or, the opposite side, condemned Taehyung for his behavior but was skeptical that Y/N really deserved her promotions. Neither side seemed to like Y/N very much, which is exactly the opposite of Serendipity Publishing, where every person can’t stop singing your praises.

        “I love it,” Alexis says and glances to the elevator as it dings and you step off, a satisfied smile on your face.

        “What are you doing here?” You ask, stopping at Alexis’s desk and squaring your shoulders to Taehyung, effectively blocking her behind you.

        “I wanted to talk to you, and hello.”

        “Hi. I don’t have time to talk today, can you schedule an appointment and come back?”

        “I could, but I wanted to present an idea to you first before I meet with my agent and talk to him about it,” Taehyung says, smug smile on his lips. He knows that’s the magic phrase to get you to talk to him, bringing his agent into the mix.

        “Fine, come on,” You say and guide him back through the hallway and to your office. He sits readily on the open chair and starts talking.

        “I have an idea for a new book,” Taehyung says. “It centers on the fall out after Two Affairs to Remember and is about the destruction that comes to both women once they’re outed. They then start getting to know each other, a little First Wives Club homage, but eventually fall in love.”

        “You want to take two women who were wronged by a man, and turn them gay?” You ask, staring at him firmly.

        “I do.”

        “That’s horrible.”

        “Why?”

        “You really think readers want to read a story about women that were so scorned by a man that they only have one choice, turn to lesbianism?”

        “That’s not what it’s about though. It’s about discovering these parts of yourself that you didn’t know existed, seeing who you are on your own, and how surprising that journey can be,” He explains.

        “No one wants to read that from a cis-hetero man unless that man is discovering he’s gay or poly or queer in general,” You tell him. “No one.”

        “I –

        “What is making you want to write this? What is creating this desire in you? Are you going through some shit?” You ask.

        “No, I’m just, the moment is over, but I want it to continue.”

        “You want to keep capitalizing on it. Aren’t you working on the script for the series?”

        “Yes.”

        “So?”

        “I think there’s more story here!” Taehyung declares, a flourish of his hand and raised voice accompanying the statement. “I want to tell more about the lives these people lead, the relationships they hold what happens not that their lives are shattered.”

        “Tae, I can’t stop you from writing it. But please do not include me in the process.” You request.

        “You’re the only person I trust to edit it.”

        “That can’t possibly be true.”

        “It is! You edited the first one so beautifully, I need you on this project.” He pleads.

        “Tae,”

        “At least consider it?”

        You think about it. What’s the harm? So much harm, and of course Yoongi to consider. But this could be good, after all Taehyung is a beautiful writer. “I’ll consider it when you have pages for me to actually read and consider.”

        “Okay, that’s fair. Proof,” He agrees.

        “Yeah, I want proof that this isn’t just some last stitch grab at fame, but something real and tangible from you.”

        “Give me a month, I’ll have pages for you,” Taehyung says.

        “Great.”

        “So, what had you smiling so much?” He asks, leaning back in his chair.

        “What do you mean?” You ask him.

        “Coming off the elevator, you were smiling like you had a secret. What is it?”

        “That is none of your business.”

        “You seeing someone?”

        “Again, none of your business.”

        “Okay, okay,” He says holding his hands up. “But if you want to talk about it, I’m always around.”

        “We’re not friends, Taehyung.”

        “But we could be, Y/N.” He smiles, and damn if it isn’t the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen.

        “Your next appointment is here,” Alexis says, stepping into your office.

        “Oh –

        “Hey, so I was thinking,” Yoongi says barging in. He freezes when he sees Taehyung, and glances between you quickly. “Fuck I didn’t know someone else was in here.”

        “Yeah, an impromptu meeting,” Taehyung says as he too glances from Yoongi to you and back.

        “Taehyung Kim, this is Yoongi Min, author of the Lil King Yoongi saga.”

        “Oh shit, I know your books!” Taehyung stands and extends his hand.

        “And I know you,” Yoongi comments, loud enough that Taehyung hears it.

        This causes two things to happen. First, Taehyung stares down at Yoongi, tightening his grip, drawing conclusions to the way in which Yoongi made his comment, and the way his eyes are staring past Taehyung to you. Second, it causes you to give a pleading look first to Alexis, then to Yoongi, who releases his grip on Taehyung’s hand.

        “Well, I don’t mean to interrupt,” Taehyung says. He feels the tension in the air, and wonders if he’s right about you and Yoongi. “I’ll email you pages.”

        “Fine,” You resign.

        “Nice to meet you,” Yoongi says as he sits in the chair opposite the one that Taehyung previously occupied.

        “You too.”

        Taehyung follows Alexis out, but not before he casts another gaze at the two of you. “Are they together?”

        “Y/N and Mr. Min?” Alexis asks.

        “Yeah, they’re dating, right?” Taehyung asks again.

        “Oh, I have no idea,” She says. Though his question sparks in her curiosity, as she too has always noticed a weird tension between the two.

        “What was he doing here?” Yoongi asks.

        “He has a new project and wants to send me pages,” You say.

        “Why?”

        “Because it’s related to –

        “Your affair?”

        You roll your eyes. “I don’t love it when you call it that. Yes, he’s got ideas for a second book.”

        “And he came to see you?”

        “Are you jealous?” You ask.

        “No, I don’t love walking into my girlfriend’s office, after I’ve been subjected to scrutiny from HR about the nature of said relationship to find her talking to her ex like he didn’t break her heart and nearly destroy her career,” Yoongi snaps.

        “Why are you so mad? He came in to ask if I’d read pages, that’s it.”

        “Why do I feel like he wants more?” Yoongi asks you.

        “I don’t know, but you know I don’t.”

        “I know,” He mutters.

        “How did your meeting with Olivia go?” You ask.

        “She fucking hates me,” He comments.

        “She hates everyone.”

        “Not like she hates me. She asked about when I first had sexual feelings for you, and if those sexual feelings clouded my judgment. She asked why I’m working with Jin, if it’s some favor to you and if I’m getting special treatment because you and I are, and I quote her here, intimate.”

        “Yeah, she asked me similar questions, though she didn’t ask about the first time we had sex, which surprised me.”

        “She wanted to know how soon after we texted did we start fooling around, again her words. What kind of question is that?” He asks.

        “An invasive one.”

        “What is the point in asking that, if she already knew we didn’t start seeing each other socially until what, four months after I signed? We didn’t even start texting for longer!”

        “I know, I told her that too.”

        He adjusts in his chair. “It was gross, having someone document our relationship like that.”

        “And yet, we both have committed those things to memory.”

        “Yeah, because we’re in the relationship. We’re, are you finally my girlfriend?” He asks.

        The question doesn’t all together catch you off guard, but his tone does.

        “What, annoyed I don’t have a label?” You laugh.

        “Actually, yes.”

        “Yoongi, you know why I’ve wanted to wait.”

        “You spent the night last night; I don’t really know what you’re waiting for.”

        You sigh. “Do you remember waiting for your report card, in the summer right after school finished, just to make sure it said you were moving to the next grade?”

        “I mean I never doubted or worried about it, but yes.”

        “I just want her written seal of HR approval that we’re above board, and then I’ll be more than thrilled to walk around introducing you as my boyfriend,” You explain.

        “When will that be?”

        “By the end of the week I hope.”

        “And if she somehow, for whatever reason, decides we’re not above board, then what will we do?”

        “Yoongi,” You sigh.

        “I’m serious. What if she decides that we actually engaged in behavior that is harmful to you as publisher and director, and we can’t be together as long as I’m an author at Serendipity?”

        “She won’t.”

        “But what –

        “Yoongi! Stop spiraling! She isn’t going to decide that we can’t be together. We already have been together for the last few months and nothing has happened. So can we please not doom spiral about it?” You request, tone biting and harsh.

        “Sorry,” He says, eyes rolling as his embarrassment flushes his cheeks.

        “I didn’t mean to snap… I just can’t keep going on and on about what happens if we can’t be together. We’re together, already, so why talk as if we’re not?”

        He glances up at you, a gentle smile of fondness on his lips. “You like me, don’t you?”

        “Yeah, Yoongi. I like you a lot. That’s why I’m fighting for us, for you.”

        “And so that I don’t crawl back into bed the minute I leave your office?”

        “Absolutely that too.”

        “I like you a lot, too. For the record.” He smirks, and it reminds you of this morning, sleep still in his eyes, but a devilish look clouding them as he rolled on top of you, weight pressing against your body, a smirk on his lips and his shaggy black hair falling over his face.

        “I want to kiss you,” he had said.

        “So do it,” you remarked, bratty in the way you stared back at him, defiantly. You wanted him to make a move, to make a declaration, to force his hand before he forced yours. He did, kissing you with so much heat you rolled on top of him, finding a punishing pace as the sleepiness drained out of you as pleasure overtook.

        “I know you do, I was there this morning,” You comment.

        “Will you be there tonight?” He winks. He doesn’t think he’s much good at it, but he loves the way your eyes melt whenever he does.

        “Yeah, my place?”

        The thing about Yoongi’s anxiety and depressive episodes is that they hit, almost without warning. In hindsight he can see all along that it was coming, but in the moments before everything seems totally fine. He left your office, and with every step towards his car he felt the weight getting heavier and heavier. The panic over Taehyung showing up in your life, right as HR was going to give your relationship the company seal of approval, his impending writing retreat for book two and three, the realization he can’t go back and edit book one anymore… all began to bubble and turn inside him.

        By the time he gets home, the panic is so great he does what he does best, crawls in bed, under his weighted blanket. He rests his eyes, and before he knows it, it’s 8PM and you’ve called and texted. He wants to return them, to text you back, to keep you updated… but he can’t.

Next: The Littlest Dumpling {10}

[berrynarrybanana]

Holiday Wishes, Mistletoe Kisses

A/N: This was meant to be a blurb, but I got carried away. I honestly don’t know how I feel about it, but I wanted to post some Christmassy stuff in between now and Deck the Halls, so here’s a little something. It’s basically over a thousand words of Harry pining for some girl he just met. That seems to be my favorite trope, yeah? Anyways, I hope you enjoy and I hope that you all remember that Christmas isn’t about what you have or what you’re able to give, it’s about spending time with the people you love the most. I’m always here for you all if you need me and I love you loads. Thank you! 

Word Count: 5.1K+

Warnings: A little smut, pining, flash forward, ofc

Prompt: “You’re wearing the Santa hat, whether you like it or not” | Taken from this post here! 

It wasn’t that Harry hated Christmas. 

He loved spending time with his family, drinking mulled wine and talking shit with his Mum and Sister on the couch until the morning light. He loved the Christmas cookies that everyone seemed to bake just for him. Every single one of his friends would wrap them up in cute, candy cane striped cellophane bags with a little bow as if they were worried he’d been deprived of sweets. He loved the warmth that enveloped him when he stepped into any building, dodging the cold winter winds and brutal snowflakes that hit his skin. He loved most things about the season, but he truthfully hated the actual holiday itself.

He hated the music, each song covered by about twenty different artists, (yet, they always sounded the same, somehow), playing on a loop on every single Christmas station. He hated how rude people were in the shops and on the road, as if their time was more important than anyone else's. He hated the stigma around giving expensive gifts, stressing over the perfect thing to get each of his friends. If he could, he’d give them all something homemade, but he was shit at doing anything crafty. 

His boots crunched against the snow as he walked towards his mother’s front door. 

He let himself in, kicking his shoes off before he removed his scarf and his winter coat. He could hear laughter from the kitchen, Gemma and his Mum giggling far too loud. They must have cracked into the mulled cider a little early, and truthfully, he was jealous. He’d spent the last four hours stuck in traffic listening to white Christmas over and over and over again. He shut the front door as Evie wrapped herself around his legs, her soft purring catching his attention as he glanced down at the black and white kitten. 

“Hiya, darling girl.” He crouched down, scooping her into his arms before he delivered a series of kisses over her head. “Daddy’s missed you, eh. Have you been good for your nan?”

She meowed in response, causing Harry to coo at her before he scratched under her chin. 

“That’s my girl.” He pressed another kiss to the top of her head before setting her back to the ground. 

He knew they would indulge in several cuddle sessions over the next few days, so he wasn’t worried about missing his one and only pet this holiday season. He walked through the house, finding his way into the kitchen where Gemma was tipping back a glass of dark red liquid, and his Mum was rolling out cookie dough with a bright smile on her face. What Harry wasn’t expecting, was the curly haired girl with a cookie cutter in her hand next to his Mum.

“Hello!” He called out, offering a smile as he walked over to the kitchen island. “I see we’ve started having fun already.”

“It took you forever to get here!” Gemma said defensively, picking up a chocolate kiss before tossing it at Harry. “Do you want a drink?”

“Something hot, it’s like the bloody tundra outside.” He shivered at the thought of the harsh wind, his eyes trailing back towards the new girl. 

“Stella makes the best peppermint hot chocolate you’ve ever had in your life.” Gemma groaned out, her eyes rolling back in her head. “She puts peppermint vodka in there.”

“I can make you one if you’d like?” Stella’s voice was soft and painfully american. “We’ve got a slow cooker full of hot chocolate.”

“If you don’t mind.” Harry gave her a smile as he pulled out a stool, sitting next to Gemma. “Nice to meet you, Stella. I’m Harry, by the way.”

“She knows who you are.” Gemma reached over, pinching Harry’s side. “Stella is a new transfer at work. She’s new to England, and we thought we’d show her a proper English Christmas.”

“Stella, love, you should probably find another family to spend Christmas with if you want a proper English Christmas.” Harry snorted. “Ours is half arsed at best.”

“We have a lovely Christmas, thank you.” Anne piped up, flicking flour in Harry’s direction as Stella laughed softly. “Don’t scare the poor thing off, we’ve just made her feel at home.” 

Stella turned her back, walking towards the stove.

“I suppose we do have a good time.” Harry hummed out. “I can’t wait to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas for the millionth time.” 

“They’ve got an animated one now!” Gemma exclaimed. “We’re going to do a double feature.”

“Lovely.” Harry rolled his eyes. 

Moments later, a steaming mug of hot chocolate laced was placed in front of Harry. 

He looked down at the grinch mug before looking back up at Stella. 

“Thanks.” He offered her a smile, but she merely nodded back at him before taking her place next to Anne again. 

He watched her, sipping at his drink as Gemma and Anne chatted about some Hallmark movie that was meant to premiere at some point during the week. She wasn’t normally the type of girl that he dated, but he had to admit that she was beautiful. Her cheeks were round, a soft blush smeared over them that he assumed came from a makeup product. Her lashes were thick, and long, shadowing her hazel colored eyes. She had thick brows that seemed a little unruly, and plump lips stained with a plum colored lipstick that matched her smoky, purple eyeshadow. He wasn’t a huge fan of the plum color, but he had to admit that it brought out a lot of the warmer tones in her eyes and in her beautiful, brown skin. He also thought that it complimented the lighter strands in her curly brown hair that bounced about everytime she turned her head. 

He tried not to be too obvious with his curious gaze, but he couldn’t help it. He was almost mesmerized by her beauty, but he was more so confused by his attraction to her. She was far too quiet for his taste, her eyes cast down on the cookies she’d been cutting out for the last few minutes while everyone else chatted. 

He watched her place them on the tray carefully, obsessing over how they landed before she reached for the colored icing. He watched her pipe onto the little shapes, her tongue nestling in the corner of her mouth as her unsteady hands worked diligently on the cookies. 

This was a Styles family Christmas, and the Styles were a rowdy and messy bunch. He’d never seen his Mum or Gemma put that much work into sugar cookies before, and it was almost painful to watch her perfect each and every one before she slipped the tray in the oven. He watched her reach for the cheeky little chicken shaped oven timer that Gemma bought when his Mum fist moved into this house. In all of those years, he’d never seen anyone actually use it. 

“Did you hear me, my little turtle dove?” Anne brushed her hand over Harry’s back as he sipped at his cocoa. “They’re calling for a huge storm this weekend, are you packed for that?”

“I left some stuff here the last time I was around.” He turned his head, smiling back at her. “I think I should be fine if I get stuck with you lot.” 

“Good.” She nodded, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “I’ve missed you.” 

“Missed you too, Mumma.” He wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her into a hug. 

The warm scent of vanilla and musk greeted his senses, flooding him with comfort and nostalgic memories of cuddling with Mum on the couch. He missed having her around him. He missed having his best friend around to comfort him when he needed it the most. When he let go of her, his heart sank a little in his chest. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head before moving back to work on more cookie dough. 

“Why are you making so many cookies?” He asked, brows furrowing as he brushed his fingers over the sickly green mug with the cartoon characters face on it. “Do you plan on feeding an army?”

“No, but Stella suggested that we take some down to the local homeless shelter on Christmas Eve.” Anne smiled over at the girl. “That’s her family's Christmas tradition, and since she’s not with them this year, we thought we’d make it happen for her here.”

“Thank you again, for agreeing to this.” Stella smiled at Anne. “It really means the world to me, and I can’t thank you enough.”

“You’re a part of the family now, dear.” Anne teased. “Even if you’re not spending Christmas with us, this little tradition of yours has been officially integrated into our own Christmas tradition. We’ll always have a little bit of Stella with us during the Holiday’s now, eh.”

Stella laughed at that, reaching her arms out to wrap Anne in a hug. 

Harry almost felt a little jealous at how seamlessly she fit in here. 

“If you keep staring at her, she’s gonna want to run back to America.” Gemma nudged her elbow into his side. “We get it, she’s hotter than you.”

“Oh, shut up.” Harry rolled his eyes at Gemma as she smirked. “I wasn’t staring.”

“Okay, Casanova.” She snorted. “Whatever you say. 

**

Harry wasn’t sure why he was hard. 

He just wanted to close his eyes and go the fuck to sleep. 

After a long day of travel, and an even longer evening filled with Harry pulling down Christmas decorations from the attic, he just wanted to sleep. He wasn’t looking forward to taking the annual trip to the Christmas Tree Farm tomorrow. Since Robin passed, Harry was the only man in the family, which meant that he often had to do the heavy lifting. He found that most of his strength lay in his core, despite the amount of lifting he’d done to buff up his arms, and he wasn’t looking forward to tossing a tree on top of his car while everyone watched. 

Truthfully, that was the worry that should have been plaguing his mind as he lay in bed. Instead, his mind was lost in hazel colored waves that crashed on dark plum shores. He couldn’t stop thinking about Stella’s eyes or her perfectly shaped lips. He spent most of his night watching her drink from a wine glass, her cheeks turning a shade darker with each joke that she shared with his family. If there was one thing that he was shocked about, it was the dry humor that tumbled from her perfect plum colored lips. She was a funny girl, despite being quiet, and he laughed at every single joke she told without shame. 

As he shifted his about, trying to avoid any further thoughts about her lips, the tip of his cock brushed against the warm flannel of his pajama pants. He let out a throaty groan, reaching down to push his palm into the crotch of his pants to soothe the pressure building in his lower belly. He couldn’t jack off to the thought of Gemma’s new friend, it would be awful, and it would surely land him on the naughty list. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying his best not to picture her lipstick staining his lower belly, his upper thighs, and eventually...the shaft of his cock. But after a few minutes of trying not to think about it, that was the only thing he could see behind closed eyes. 

With an annoyed grumble, he dipped his hand into his pajama pants, tugging his cock out while his free hand pushed the band of the pants down his hips. He licked over his dry lips, making a mental note to buy some chapstick tomorrow as he gave himself one, swift stroke. He bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to moan as he brushed the pad of his thumb over the weeping slit of his cock. He was pathetic, dripping down his cock over a girl that he barely knew. He couldn’t believe that he was being that guy right now, tugging at his cock desperately to the thought of a beautiful girl on her knees for him. He wanted so badly to have her there, whispering filthy words in that gentle tone she had, encouraging him to cum on her tongue. 

When he did cum, her name spilled from his lips. 

His chest was heaving as he came down, the tinkling of Stella’s laughter filling his ears. 

Seconds later, he heard her bid goodnight to Gemma before the door next to his own shut. 

He was totally fucked for this girl. 

**

The next morning, he didn’t expect to see Stella sitting at the breakfast bar when he came downstairs. 

He stopped in the doorway, his cheeks growing warm as he looked over her sweater covered back. Thoughts of her name tumbling from his lips last night flooded back as he looked at her. She was wearing a lavender colored, cable knit sweater, and her curls were tied up in a messy ponytail on top of her head. Most of the curls had fallen out, covering up some of her neck alongside her fingers. Her cheek was propped on her palm, her gaze focused on her laptop as she lifted a mug of steaming liquid up to her mouth with her other hand. 

Harry cleared his throat, walking toward the stove so he could put the kettle on. No one else in the house would be up for hours, but Harry couldn’t turn off his internal alarm clock no matter how he tried. He also hoped that he might find a moment of peace from the very girl sitting in his Mother’s kitchen. She haunted his dreams, her face playing on the silver screen in his mind all night long. He hated how infatuated he was with this woman that he barely even knew. 

“Morning.” She spoke up first, her voice scratchy and tired. “Did you sleep well?”

“Splendid, yeah.” He nodded, filling the kettle with water. “You?” 

“I’ve slept better, but that’s to be expected.” She said softly. “I spent a little bit of time on a skype call with my brother’s, so I was up longer than expected.” 

“But you’re up fairly early this morning, aren’t you?” He put the kettle on the stovetop before turning around, his eyes landing on hers. “Why’s that?”

“I wake up this early anyways.” She smiled at him. “I usually like to go for a walk in the morning to wake myself up.”

“That’s nice.” He lifted his hand, scratching at the stubble on his jaw. “I usually like to go for a swim or a run in the morning, too.”

“Where do you swim?” She asked. 

“There’s a men’s swimming club not too far from my home in London.” He said. “It’s freezing cold, but you get used to it after a while.”

“Jeeze, you swim outside in this weather?” She lifted her head from her palm, her eyes growing wide. “I could never.” 

“It’s an acquired taste.” He chuckled softly. “What are you working on?”

“A new piece for my blog.” She said. “I started out using it as a diary of sorts, but people apparently love reading about the disaster that is my life.”

“I’m sure it’s not all horrible.” He hoped that he sounded encouraging and not rude. “You seem like a lovely, and positive person.”

“I try to be.” She shrugged, reaching for her mug. “I could say the same about you.”

“I try to be.” He smiled at her. “Would you like some breakfast?” 

“Oh, I was actually thinking of popping down to this little bakery Gemma told me about-” 

“Mandeville’s.” His heart picked up, a smile stretching across his lips. “Had my first job there.”

“Yeah, that’s the one.” She laughed, wrapping both hands around her mug as she leaned back in the barstool. “I figured I’d go grab some pastries for everyone. I know it’s kind of a busy day with the Christmas Tree Farm, so I thought it would be best if your Mum didn’t feel the need to cook.”

“She would love that.” Harry said. “Maybe I could go with you? We could both get our walks in, and I can see Mary before she hunts me down and drags me to the bakery.”

“I would love the company.” She smiled. “But enjoy your tea first, I’ll just be working on this until we’re ready to go.”

“Cheers.” He nodded, watching her eyes drop to her computer screen. 

She wasn’t wearing a stitch of makeup this morning, and Harry almost wished that she was. 

He wished that she had covered up her beautiful, freckle covered skin so that he didn’t fall harder for her beautiful face. He wished that she was hiding away those little blemishes that made him swoon, because she was actually a human after all, not some angel sent down from heaven to torture him. He wished that she covered those beautiful lips in that plum lipstick again so that he could imagine kissing it off of her. He hated the feeling stirring inside of his belly, the butterflies a tell tale sign of his feelings. 

He had a crush on Stella. 

And there was nothing he could do to stop himself from falling for her. 

**

Stella’s gloves were precious.

They were a bright red, little snowflakes and reindeer stitched into them. 

She offered to let Harry borrow a pair of her gloves, claiming that she’d brought plenty of pairs for the winter, but he politely declined before shoving his hands in his pockets. She looked so cozy, wrapped up in her winter coat with a beanie on top of her head and a matching scarf tied around her neck. Harry wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and cuddle her so that they could both stay nice and toasty on their walk. He wanted to kiss her bare cheeks, paying special attention to each freckle on her skin as the winter sun cast over them. 

He was so infatuated with her that it was almost embarrassing. 

“I can’t even imagine what it was like, growing up in a place like this.” Stella turned her head towards Harry, the tip of her nose a little red. “It’s so picturesque.”

“It’s alright.” He gave her a small smile. “I always wanted to get out when I was a kid.”

“Of course you did, we all do.” She chuckled. “I think everyone should run away for a little while, it really gives you all of the tools you need to really appreciate your hometown when you go back. I don’t know that I’ll ever move back to my hometown, but when I visit it, I feel a little bit more appreciative of the pivotal role it had in raising me.”

“I feel the same way about Cheshire.” Harry nodded. “It’s a big part of who I was, and that helped make me who I am. I wouldn’t be the same without this place.”

“Exactly.” She said. 

“So where exactly are you from?” He asked. “I mean, obviously America-”

“Is it that obvious?” She asked, narrowing her eyes playfully, her lips pursed. “I don’t think it is.”

“It’s a neon, flashing sign above your head kind of obvious, love.” He snorted. “But I can’t place what your accent is.”

“It’s not really an accent.” Stella shrugged, turning her attention back to the sidewalk. “I grew up on the road for most of my life, but my family settled in Georgia when I was about twelve.”

“Interesting.” He said. “How did you like Georgia?” 

“I didn’t, at first.” She laughed. “I hated it so much. I loved being on the road with my family, traveling places like Hawaii and Los Angeles. When we moved to the south, I despised everything about it. It was so plain and boring compared to places we’d lived before. But like I said, moving away has made me learn to love it more when I go back.”

“How long have you been gone?” He asked. 

“About three years.” She said. “I lived in Amsterdam for a year, and then Paris, and now I’m here.”

“Which place is your favorite?” He asked. “Be honest with me, now. You don’t have to say London just because you’re trying to get on my good side.” 

Stella tossed her head back, laughing loudly. 

“I think it’s truthfully London, Harry.” 

His name sounded like honey falling from her lips. 

“Why is that?” He asked. 

“Because I’ve found my chosen family.” She turned back, giving him a smile that thawed out the chill creeping up from his toes. “Starting with Gemma, of course. She was the first person to take me under her wings, and I’m so happy that I have her in my life. Then I started to find other people, and we all became this really close knit group of friends that felt more like family than my actual family does. I don’t know how I’ll ever leave this place.” 

“Maybe you shouldn’t.” He said softly. “Maybe this is home.”

Please don’t go, Stella. 

Stay here with me forever. 

Love me. 

“My contract is up at the end of the year, but we’ll just have to see how things go.” She said. “I might be convinced to stay.”

“Well, I guess I have a lot of work to do.” He chuckled.

“Why are you so keen on me staying?” She asked him, her brows raising as she gave him a knowing smirk. “Do you have a crush on me, Styles?”

His cheeks grew hot against the cold wind. 

“Alright now, don’t let that go to your head.” He grumbled, tucking his neck into his scarf as Stella’s smile grew wider. “It’s all your bloody fault, you know?”

“What have I done?” She laughed louder. “I’m just me.”

“That’s exactly it.” He let out a breathy chuckle. “You’re you, Stella.”

**

The Christmas Tree Farm was going well. 

That was up until Gemma decided that they absolutely needed to take a family picture in front of the big Christmas tree, Stella included. They had picked up a few little trinkets and such while walking around the market included in the farm. Anne picked up a reindeer headband with bells stitched in, plopping it on her head the second she found it. Gemma found an elf’s hat with little ears attached to the side, putting it on her hair before fussing with her hair. Stella found a crown made of poinsettias that she plopped on top of her curls, the red and gold working perfectly with her red lipstick and gold eyeshadow. Harry, however, wasn’t exactly in the spirit. 

“You’re wearing the bloody santa hat, whether you like it or not!” Gemma shoved it towards him with a frown. “If you stand next to Stella, you’ll like Mr. and Mrs. Claus!” 

“Shut up, Gemma.” Harry sneered, snatching the hat from her hands. “I didn’t tell you about that so you could throw it in my face!” 

“Well, I’m doing it for the greater good of our family photo!” She glared at him. “Put that hat on before I shove it on your head myself.”

“Fine.”

“Are you two alright?” Stella smirked, adjusting her crown on her head as she walked up to Harry and Gemma. “Santa is still putting people on the naughty list you know?” 

“If anyone’s going to be on the naughty list, it’s Harry.” Gemma tossed her arm around Stella’s shoulder with a proud smirk. “He’s being a pain in the arse.”

“Is the hat really necessary to the photo?” He groaned, dropping his head back. 

“Yes.” Stella and Gemma said at the same time. 

“Alright, alright.” He groaned, tugging the hat over his curls. “Are you both happy now?”

“Ecstatic.” Stella smiled brightly at Harry. “I think you look handsome.”

“I’m going to just point out…” Gemma pulled her arm from around Stella, tucking her hands behind her back. “That there’s mistletoe hanging from that piece of wood above your heads.” 

“Gemma-” Harry’s eyes grew wide. 

“And I’m promptly going to walk away.” She smiled at Stella. “Meet us at the tree in ten minutes.” 

“Gemma-” Stella held her hand out as Gemma walked away, her eyes growing just as wide as Harry’s were. “What a sneaky little elf.” 

“Tell me about it.” Harry shifted, adjusting the hat on his head. “Devious little-”

“Well, I guess we can’t break tradition.” Stella looked up at Harry, shuffling forward slowly with a little smirk on her lips. “I mean, what would Santa say if we didn’t kiss under the mistletoe?”

Harry licked over his bottom lip, his fingers twitching. 

“You really want to kiss me?”

“I might.” Stella’s toes were almost touching Harry’s now. “But the question is, do you want to kiss me?”

“I do, yeah.” He nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since I laid eyes on you, Stella.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” She raised her brows. “Now is your chance, Mr. Grinch, lay one on me.”

Harry lifted his hands, pressing them to Stella’s face hesitantly before he lowered his lips to hers in a soft kiss. It was a gentle peck, one that anyone would share underneath the mistletoe, but Harry wanted more from Stella. It seemed that she wanted more as well, her arms sliding around his neck as she pressed up on her toes. He let his hands fall to her waist as the kiss grew more intense, his hands holding onto her tightly as she brushed her tongue over his lower lip. He tried his best not to smile into the kiss, letting her have what she wanted by parting his lips. When her tongue slipped over his, he let out a tiny moan, gripping her hips tighter. 

“Get a room, you two!” Harry groaned, pressing his forehead to Stella’s. 

“Gemma, I swear to god-” Harry turned his head, whipping his santa hat off before he threw it in her direction. “Go bother someone else!” 

Stella laughed, ducking her forehead down to Harry’s chest as he rubbed his thumbs over her side gently. He felt her body shaking underneath his hands, his heart hammering in his chest when he realized just how close they actually were. He turned his head back, lifting a hand up to guide Stella’s chin up. He pressed his lips to hers once, twice, three more times before she pressed her palms to Harry’s chest. 

“We’ll never stop if we don’t move away from the mistletoe.” Stella whispered. “And I think Gemma might physically pull us apart if we miss that Christmas picture.”

“Let it be known that I’m only partaking in this picture because I want to stand next to you for as long as I can.” Harry smiled. “I think I have a little more than a crush on you, Stella.” 

“I think I have more than a crush on you, too.”

**

“Madeline, stop right there.” Stella let out a frustrated sigh as she looped her arm under the baby carrier, her eyes falling down to the sleeping infant. “Milo, promise Mumma that you’ll listen when you get to that age?”

“Give him here.” Harry brushed a kiss over Stella’s temple, his hand massaging her lower back gently. “You go catch up with speed racer, okay? I’ll be right behind you with the baby and the diaper bag.”

“Thank you.” Stella turned her head, puckering her lips out. “I love you.” 

“I love you.” He hummed out. “And our beautiful babies, even if one of them has a death wish and two left feet.” 

Stella snorted out a laugh, pulling her arm from the carrier before she stuffed her hands in her pockets. “I better go help her up the stairs.”

“Please, we don’t need a repeat of last year.” Harry smiled. 

“Yeah, I would like to avoid a trip to A&E this year.” Stella snorted. 

He watched Stella walk over to an antsy Madeline, her pigtails bouncing about as she jumped from foot to foot in excitement. Harry chuckled softly at his daughter, amused by her excitement. He was happy that she found so much joy in Christmas, just like her Mother did. He watched Stella hold a hand out, waiting for Madeline to take it before they both conquered the brick steps outside of his Mum’s house. When they got to the top, Stella lifted Madeline up, kissing over her cheeks as their daughter giggled. Harry lifted Milo’s car seat from the base, his eyes falling down to the six month old with hazel eyes and soft cheeks just like his Mother’s. 

“We’ve got our hands full with those two, mate.” Harry pulled the soft, wintery blue blanket up to Milo’s chin, tucking it around his shoulders so that he would stay warm. “Gonna keep us both on our toes, I know it.” 

Milo cooed up at him, causing Harry to smile wider before he ducked his head down to kiss his son's soft cheeks. 

“Let’s get you into Nan’s before you turn into a popsicle, my love.” Harry said. “Mumma won’t be happy if we have to spend Christmas thawing you out.”

As Harry made his way up the stairs, he couldn’t help but remember five Christmases ago. 

He was walking up the exact same steps on his own, unaware of the magic that was waiting inside for him. He was unaware that the girl Gemma brought home for Christmas would one day be his wife, and the mother of his two beautiful children. He had no idea that they would spend long nights together, planning their future and holding each other tight. He opened the front door to his Mum’s house, smiling at the sound of Madeline telling his Mother a story with animated gestures, her curly pigtails bouncing around as Stella tried to wrangle her jacket off. 

“And then Daddy told me we could get a puppy next year if I was good enough!” Madeline squealed out as Harry shut the door. 

He dodged the steely gaze he got from Stella after she heard the word puppy.

“Sorry.” He mouthed over at her, causing her to shake her head as she tried to fight off a smile. 

“You’re a menace.” She mouthed back. “But I love you.” 

“I love you, too.” He said it outloud, his heart soaring in his chest. 

Stella gave him a heart warming smile, Madeline’s coat still in her hands. 

Seconds later, Milo let out a tiny cry causing Harry to snap back into dad mode. 

He rested the carseat on the ground, carefully pulling his son out before pressing a kiss to his chubby little cheeks. As if Gemma could sense his presence, she barreled into the living room with her eyes set on Milo. 

“There’s my little man.” She held her hands out, wiggling them as Harry rolled his eyes. “You get to see him every day, Harry. Pass him over to his auntie.” 

“Fine.” He rolled his eyes. “Please be careful with him, I kind of like this one.”

“Piss off.” Gemma snorted out, sliding Milo onto her hip before pressing a bright red kiss mark into his forehead. “Has Daddy told you that without auntie Gem, you wouldn’t exist?” 

“Gemma-” 

“Can you believe that?” She looked up at Harry, a hint of something nostalgic and genuine sparkling in her green eyes. “If I’d never brought Stella to family Christmas, we wouldn’t have two beautiful babies to dote over every year.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine what life would be like without them.” He whispered. “Thank you, Gemma.”

“Harry, I really didn’t-”

“Gemma.” He said her name sternly, pressing his palm to her bicep. “Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She said softly, her eyes watering. “Now, if you could do me a favor and bring a hot friend around, I’d really appreciate it.”

“I’ll see what I can manage.” He let out a wet chuckle, his own eyes watering. 

“What are we managing?” Stella wrapped her arms around Harry. 

“We owe Gem a favor.” He sniffled, turning head to press a kiss to Stella’s forehead. 

“Why are you crying, baby?” Stella frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all.” He pressed his lips to hers, softly brushing his nose against the tip of hers as his. “Just so incredibly grateful to have you in my life, that’s all.”

“You’re so sappy around the holiday’s.” Stella brushed her palm over his belly. “I love you, Mr. Styles.” 

“I love you, too, Mrs. Styles.” He said. “Merry Christmas, Darling.”

“Merry Christmas.” 

[minjiwritesstuff]

christmas cooking with WEi

daehyeon

everything went perfectly fine (at the beginning)

you had everything you needed on the counter in front of you, some music was playing in the background and you and daehyeon were wearing matching christmas sweaters (you two were what we call a cheesy couple)

when the cookies were done and into the oven, you and daehyeon started cleaning around, until daehyeon decided to throw a tiny bit of flour at you

when you turned around and looked at him he understood it was far from being over

you threw flour back, and he threw flour again and it kept going until you two realized the mess you just created

daehyeon would swear and then would smile

which would lead you to say ''if you didn't throw flour at me we wouldn't have to deal with such a mess''

but daehyeon wouldn't accept that it was his fault

so he answered with ''if you didn't throw it back none of this would've happened''

so you dipped your finger in the bowl and grabbed some left over batter that you spreaded on daehyeon's cheek before running away

daehyeon simple sighed and waited for you to get back so you two could clean the kitchen

in the end the cookies would be a little bit overdone as you forgot to put a timer, but they wouldn't be burnt, which is good!

donghan

cooking with donghan always goes well

so you didn't have to worry about a single thing

he delayed the roles himself and said he was in charge of preparing the cookie dough while you would be cutting them into shapes

needless to say you were slightly dissapointed because you too wanted to participate in the dough making

but donghan made it up to you by saying you would be the one icing them

which put a huge smile on your face

which made donghan smile cutely

everything went smoothly and while the cookies were in the oven, donghan washed the dishes while you looking at your little gingerbread men raise in the oven

that also made donghan smile because he liked how childish you became in christmas season

when they were done and cooling, you prepared the icing and mixed in the food coloring, making a few colors for your cookies

and at the complete end when the cookies were iced and ready to eat, you swore you never ate such tasty cookies

they were perfect, crispy yet chewy and the taste was heavenly

you two couldn't be more proud of your cookies

yongha

*sighs*

yongha... well...

not that he is a bad cook

but he is somewhat... clumsy

it's not a bad thing, it's even rather cute

always double checks the recipe to make sure he is doing the right thing

''yongha, you're just adding sugar to butter...''

''yes but what if i missed an ingredient or a step?''

so yeah, be prepared, because it'll take some time

oh and also, make sure to have more than what you need for the recipe

you might want to make sure you have enough eggs...

did i mention he is clumsy?

because he will drop at least one

at least is a part of the sentence that is really important

will apologise profusely

and laugh a lot about his mistakes

might also want to make sure he doesn't confuses salt and sugar

but all of that is ok, because you really love baking with yongha, he makes it fun

the outcome is surprising tho!

the cookies aren't burnt or anything!

no huge mess either!

you two would eat your cookies while watching movies afrterwards

yohan

yohan is a good cook

but baking confuses him

like, he's good at it

but he's not as confident as he is in regular cooking

so he needs your reassurance a lot

either that or he'll watch you and do more easy stuff

like cutting out the cookies and icing them

will 100% do the dishes tho!

is all in to put a lot of sprinkles on the cookies

super smiley the whole time

might (will) end up in a flour fight

will whine if he has to clean up the mess

ofc you force him to help you clean it

so now you have a whiny yohan to deal with

after cleaning the mess up you two enjoy your cookies

you sitting on the counter while yohan is standing besides you

yohan wouldn't stop complimenting your baking because of how good the cookies were

seokhwa

he is SO ready for this

rushes to the kitchen as if he trained his whole life for this

rolls back his sleeves and puts on some christmas songs on his phone

he says it's for the mood and says that the cookies will taste better

''alright mister the elf, do you know what are santa's favorite cookies too?''

''sugar cookies of course, how can you not know that''

…

anyhow

as soon as you got into baking, everything went so smoothly

you both sang your hearts and made a concert for cookie (your only spectator)

puts so many sprinkles on the cookies that he almost emptied the jar

watching christmas movies while eating the cookies and drinking milk is with no doubt what you are doing after

junseo

junseo is very playful so nothing will go as planned

first food fight begins before you even started baking

when he finally gets serious you two start baking

it seems to go smoothly

until you feel junseo smash an egg on your head

you grab what you can of the egg as it runs down on your face and smash it on his face

may i point out that not even half of the recipe is done at this point

junseo's laughing so much that he can't breathe

he's kneeling to the ground and hitting the floor as he laughs

but you're laughing just as much

then when you're done laughing you go back to the recipe and actually finish it

then you put the cookies in the oven

and the third food fight begins

you both need a shower at this point

you two forget about the cookies

ofc they're burnt and you need to start over

luckily you have enough ingredients still and no fights break out

so you actually finish quickly and the cookies aren't burnt

then when everything is done, you go take a shower before enjoying your freshly baked cookies

[sinkix]

Haikyuu!!│Boys going grocery shopping w/ you! HC’s│Ft. Bokuto, Nishinoya, Terushima, Kuroo & Kunimi

I had this late night idea and just HAD to follow through, the chaos would be O F F T H E C H A R T S. Thank you to @deathcab4daddy​ for helping me brainstorm some good characters for this post lmao I love you bby and can’t wait to do a collab. <3

E N J O Y ~ 

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

BOKUTO:

WHEN I TELL YOU THIS BOI PICKS UP EVERYTHING IN SIGHT LIKE A 6 YEAR OLD

 I FUCKING MEAN IT.

“(Y/N) we need this” 

“Bokuto we do not need a 7th jar of peanut butter.”

 “But (Y/N) it has a squirrel on the front-”

“BOKUTO I SWEAR TO GOD”

Tries to drift on the edge of the cart like something straight outta CSGO and the cart nearly obliterates under his weight.

V e r y l o u d u n e c c e s s a r i l y.

Everyone always stares at y’all when you’re going through the isles bc ur literally escorting a man-child sprawled in a shopping cart who’s going “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” at everything he sees like he’s a toddler at the zoo who’s never encountered a chimpanzee before.

Unless you have a bottomless bank account do NOT take him shopping of any kind he is LETHAL.

When you’re at the check-out he turns it into a basketball competition and tries to launch everything perfectly on to the conveyor belt.

Volleyball player? Nah this sis with the NBA now.

Do not ask him to go get something, he will return with at least 9 items you didn’t need and everything BUT the item you requested

He turned up with a whole ass pineapple, a jar of jam, a stick of butter and a bottle of olive oil.

Like,,,where is the correlation in those items???

Once made the mistake of asking him to grab some pads from the hygiene section and specified it HAD to be with wings

Boy showed up ten minutes later and looking very confuzzled.

You questioned why he has a pack of wingless pads in one hand and a can of red bull in the other.

He said it’s because they didn’t have any with wings so he figured the Redbull would suffice and do the job for you.

i-

NISHINOYA:

Can literally fit him in the little cart seat made for kids and he LOVES it lmaoooo IT’S SO CUTE MY HEART.

HE JUST SWINGS HIS LEGS EXCITABLY WHILE YOUR GETTING STUFF AAAAAAA

Ppl give you such weird looks though bc you have a guy who’s at least 14 years older than the intended demographic sitting there and raising his hands in elation over you copping a cookie dough pie and chucking it in.

Again, another who is VERY LOUD FOR NO REASON AT ALL.

Get’s out of the cart after a while bc his legs be growing numb and begins roaming around.

Someone came back with a feral Noya in hand stating “Is this your child” WNDKJWEFNWJEF.

M’AM HE’S LIKE 18 EXCUSE YOU.

Was salty about it for the rest of the day.

Just ruffle his hair and call him Senpai 

Problem solved.

Picks up tons of exotic fruit that look more like plastic or fuzzy poisonous plants and begs you to get them.

“Noya what the fuck is that.”

“...a Pitaya.”

“...”

“Can we get it-”

“no.”

“(Y/N)-”

“I SAID NO DAMMIT”

Last time you bought some strange fruit he took it to practise and got Tanaka to spike it LMAOOO

IT SPLATTERED E V E R Y W H E R E

AND OVER DAICHI’S SHIRT.

He begged you to no longer allow Noya to purchase weird fruits from then on since he is like a child with a nerf gun.

He once picked up a phat wrinkly purple fruit and turned to you asking if it was an overgrown raisin.

“Noya sweetie that’s a Date.”

HE FULLY TSK’ED AND THREW IT BACK SINCE IT REMINDED HIM OF DATE TECH I CAN’T.

My boy out here defending Asahi even in the Grocery Isles.

We stan a loyal king.

TERUSHIMA:

Another one who tries to stand on the ledge and the cart wheels almost collapse because it wasn’t designed to hold the weight of a young adult.

Oh young adult??? Sorry I mean’t MAN CHILD.

He treats a shopping experience as a time to practise his aim apparently because he ALWAYS THROWS SHIT AT YOU TO THE POINT YOU’RE THREATENED TO BE KICKED OUT.

Definitely picks up phallic looking objects and places them against his crotch, snorting and saying “Like what you see (Y/N)?”

Homeboy is stood there in front of a wife and child presenting his cucumber appendage for the world to see.

He once grabbed a pair of fat ass melons and pressed them against his chest, shaking them and belting the lyrics to ‘My Milkshake’ while begging you to SQUEEZE HIS MELONS.

“Look (Y/N) they’re bigger than yours!”

I just- 

I give up.

Constantly tries to sneak mutli-packs of energy drinks into the cart to the point you’re convinced he is going to keel over from heart failure and kidney stones by the age of 20.

Has his airpods in 90% of the time and treats the isles as his personal dance floor.

He busting them MOVES and performing the MJ moonwalk while in the dairy section.

ONCE HE SLID TOO FAST AND SLIPPED ON HIS REAR IN FRONT OF LIKE 12 PEOPLE LMAOO

He was DEAD silent the rest of the trip.

Probably the most serene shopping experience you’ve had to date.

The checkout clerks occasionally hit on Mr. Sore-Ass over here.

Until he opens his mouth and they realise he’s a total dolt and question how you have the patience for him.

You don’t know either honestly.

The whole bagging experience is spent with them shooting you sympathetic glances as if to say ‘sis you shoulda’ left him at home’.

Yes, yes you should have.

Never a dull moment with Teru as your shopping partner.

KUROO:

LITERALLY LIKE A MIDDLE-AGED MAN OR A TODDLER WHEN Y’ALL GO SHOPPING THERE IS NEVER AN EVEN MIDDLE-GROUND.

Frequently cracks lame-ass food puns or dad jokes that make you want to crawl into a hole and die.

You have competitions on who can come up with the most and the loser always faces a penalty.

Kuroo and creating penalties do NOT mix safely so you better hope you win.

“I love you a waffle lot.” 

Proceeds to hold up a wrapped waffle.

Ok that one was kinda cute you’ll let it slide.

“I ap-peach-iate you Kuroo.”

Cue HyenaLaugh.mp3

“Want a pizza me baby? Bitch peas, doughnut take me lightly.”

You changed your mind.

You didn’t talk to him the duration of that shopping experience, no penalty could be as horrifying as what just came out of his mouth.

“(Y/N)... sometimes I feel like you don’t carrot all.”

You slapped him with said carrot and obviously had to pay for it after.

You forced him to eat it raw.

He is the definition of Neutral disaster when you go shopping.

Shitty food puns aside, he is actually very responsible when making sure you both get what you need.

Not without tons of poking, prodding, and blowing into your ear while you’re trying to decide what ingredients to buy for dinner.

You contemplated serving him a plate of bubbling snot and moulded broccoli seasoned with rosemary.

Bone apple teeth, bitch.

Ofc you didn’t because he always pulls out the puppy eyes and cuddles card after since he knows he’s well and truly rattled your patience lmao.

Actually picks really healthy food options?? Being the captain of a team he has the responsibility of keeping his health in top condition and leading by example so at least he knows the right ingredients to make a bomb-ass and nutritious meal ig.

Y’all always bicker and tease each other at the checkout which is usually great amusement for the clerk serving you as they often smirk and perceive you as an old married couple.

Which tbh you kinda are, it feels like it at least.

Still such a big asshole though lmao you never leave the store without your sanity being scathed.

KUNIMI:

Honestly just wanted an excuse to make jokes at the expense of the Aoba Johsai teammates.

and what better candidate for cracking these than Kunimi.

He’s a very chill partner to have tag along with you on your endeavours.

Not without some grumbling and groaning on his part though, lazy bitch.

You always finish shopping trips with a busted lung at how much you have been laughing though with some of the SHADY ASS REMARKS HE MAKES ABOUT THE OTHER TEAM MATES.

You were outside the store when you both spotted an angry looking Doberman tied to a nearby post.

“Smh who let Kyotani outside again.”

You hadn’t even set foot in the store yet and he was already spitting flaming insults.

[Walking up to the automatic double doors]

“Damn Oikawa move out of my way.”

Oikawa just tryna live and he keeps getting roasted for his flat cheeks 

#StopOikawaAssShaming

Ten minutes of scouring the store later he picks up a spikey Kiwano and compares it to Iwaizumi’s hair.

Proceeds to beg you not to tell my boy Iwa because he KNOWS he will get decked to the gym floor.

Passers by often wonder why you’re wheezing and producing noises like a boiling kettle.

When I tell you no one is safe, I mean N O O N E.

“These Yule logs really out here looking like Matsukawa’s brows.”

The finisher was when Kunimi picked up a turnip and said 

“Huh, kinda looks like Kindaichi.”

I just-

He could roast a whole chicken in minutes from the burn of these comments I stg.

You can now never look at the Seijou team without various foods or inanimate objects plaguing your thoughts.

Thanks, Kunimi.

[atranioum]

i'm not exactly the kind of person who post stuff but i just have to get this out of my mind, so here goes.

i'm a motis shipper AND a rotis shipper, and after watching season 3 i'm just left confused and unsatisfied, here's why.

i have always believed that maeve and otis will be endgame, there's no doubt about it, even after witnessing the cuteness between ruby and otis in season 2 and lowkey shipping them, i still want maeve and otis to be "the" couple. I kinda knew that the writers are going to explore ruby and otis' relationship but i just never know what kind of relationship it's going to be. The first thing that comes in my mind was them having a casual fling and that's exactly what happened in season 3. But before the season dropped, i watched the trailer and i saw ruby and otis holding hands and i was like---hold up what the hell is going on!? because they look super cute together i can't---

Anyway, even tho i find them cute and all, i still can't get over maeve and otis, after 2 seasons of them NOT being together i just need them to finally be together in season 3 and so i even though i'm shipping both couple, im not really rooting for ruby and otis to be endgame---but then season 3 came along:)

after watching episode 1, and yes it was kinda weird at first but i can't help to think that ruby and otis---they just fit and the chemistry (props to asa and mimi) is just superb, and i find myself wanting more scenes of them together, but at this point i was very much still on the "maeve and otis endgame" boat, because that scene where they helped dex and those little smiles they shared, that scene is gold, and i don't know why but i feel like episode 1 is one of the few moments where maeve is still maeve? her character just seems off most of the time this season but episode 1 is not one of them and maybe that's why i was still shipping motis at the time.

Then episode 2 happpened, and the scene where otis wanted to make things "official", ruby's reply was almost immediate as if she was waiting for that question to pop out of his mouth for a loooong time, so i'm pretty sure she already has strong feelings for him way before they went public, and i just can't ignore that little detail. BUT just like in the previous episode, at this point i was still not sold on the idea of ruby and otis being endgame, and not ready to just throw maeve out of the picture, but at the same time i was also confused as to why the show wanted to get this deep with otis and ruby that they made them have a real relationship.

MOVING ON TO EPISODE 3, i just can't with this episode, the double date was not really a surprise for me because i've already watched the clip in some promotional article, BUT WHAT SURPRISED ME WAS HOW GOOD THE DATE WENT, the four of them just having fun, ruby getting along with adam, otis smilling at ruby before rolling the ball, and ofc otis helping ruby and THAT BIG SMILE ON RUBY'S FACE, i'm practically dead at this point. And i can't help but wonder as to why did the writers make this scene so good, because i always know that this ruby and otis thing is not going to last, but why did they make the four of them get along so well, and i was kinda wondering whether or not we will get a similar scene in the upcoming episodes BECAUSE IM LIVING FOR THEIR DYNAMIC, a very unexpected group of people and yet somehow they just get along. And don't even get me started with the whole otis meeting ruby's dad scene, the "otis this and otis that" line lives rent free in my head. After watching that scene i was like---this ruby and otis thing are going so well and getting even deeper what the hell is going on are they going to really be a 'thing' thing?---because even after them making it official i still haven't feel the emotional side of their relationship hence why i was still rooting for maeve and otis to be endgame, but after watching that scene, i'm not so sure anymore. But ofc all of my thoughts and wondering from the previous scene was crushed by the ending of this episode, like i understand that it had to happened but why then...? they were super happy a second ago and then just like that boom it's over, and yes i know even after a whole day spent with ruby, otis was still thinking about maeve and was about to call her, he's in love with the girl yes i know, but i mean it would've been very interesting to explore ruby and otis' relationship after all of that, because the way ruby talks on the phone that night and how her voice was super different than what it usually is just makes me wonder what could've been, it's just such a waste of potential because maybe then we would see some other side of ruby and otis' relationship, the more emotional side where ruby would be even more open, nicer to otis or vice versa where otis would open up about his problems too, idk there's a lot of other possibilities but i'm afraid we'll never going to find out(:

although i was super mad at this ending, after watching it i was kinda preparing myself for motis and i was like---okay that was fun and cute but let's get started with the real thing now---and then episode 4 was over, ruby and otis was over and that was it, i was super ready for maeve and otis.

And then episode 5 exist, the kiss was decent(?) and i'm super disappointed at myself for feeling that way but that's just how i feel even after watching it a few more times, and don't get me wrong before the season dropped i was really waiting for this moment and watching the second trailer where they were talking about the voicemail i swear to you i still got chills and was super excited but after it happened idk why but i just don't feel anything? i was confused at first as to why i was feeling the way i feel at the time, but i came to a conclusion that the kiss don't feel as satisying as it should be was because the lack of build up there is between maeve and otis AND THAT'S CRAZY i know. "What about the 2 previous seasons? are those build ups not enough for you?" I KNOW i get it but they barely had any scene together before the kiss, even if they do it was not meaningful at all. Maeve was with isaac at the moment (another thing that i want to point out about maeve not being maeve is that how quickly she forgive and made up with isaac, being friends? on speaking terms again? sure, but hooking up so soon idk man) and she doesn't even look or get jealous like she was when otis and ola were together, it lacks those kind of little moments for me and so that's why i said maeve and otis lack some quality build up this season.

And after convincing myself that i had enough of ruby and otis, they just had to show her face like that looking at maeve and otis, my god why, and the fact that she just plainly admit that she doesn't hate him and that it would be so much easier if she did, i just-- AND OFC when kyle was going on and on with his speech about love, ruby was looking at otis WHAT A TORTURE.

But even after all of that i was still rooting for maeve and otis (maybe i'm in some sort of state of denial idk), but then maeve said she likes isaac and that they have some good things going on, and then this whole love triangle scenario happened between otis maeve and isaac in which i don't really care, i usually love this kind of scene but idk there's no more angst between otis and maeve and so i'm at a point where i was like---okay cool go be with isaac then---and then the rain kiss happened which for me was worse than the first kiss, i got zero feelings from it, maybe it's just me. And i'm kinda sad about it because when i saw it on the trailer i just can't wait to see it, but well what can i say. BUT even after that i still put my trust on them to draw me back, and then the opportunity came, otis was at his most vulnerable when he was waiting for his mom, and then he texted maeve AND I WAS LIKE OMG THIS IS IT GO AND COMFORT HIM, but hey guess what happened? nothing. Like wtf are the writers trying to do? why can't maeve just go to the hospital? why can't we see them having any emotional or meaningful scene i just don't get it, why make them a thing and then only make them just text each other? and the next time they meet it was a freaking farewell scene like what??? i was so ready to be into them again but it's like the writers refrain them from developing or having a "real" relationship, maybe they're saving those scenes and moments for season 4? i get it but ONE SCENE WON'T HURT we've waited 3 freaking seasons and i don't get why they can't give us that BUT still make them a thing? like i'm finally fine with the idea of them not being endgame and be with other people, but then the show made them a thing again only for maeve to go to america, i just don't get it.

Like am i supposed to ship a couple that barely interacted throughout the season and when the opportunity finally came for the writers to create a very heartfelt scene to make people be into them again and make them the superior couple again, BUT THEY DIDN'T UTILIZE IT!? that's why i'm so confused where the writers are going with all of this, i'm super fine and ofc happy that maeve went to america to pursue her education, but why can't they give us just ONE scene that could possibly make them make sense again.

And I don't really know why there are some parts of this season that just feels so rushed, the whole maeve deciding that she will be going to america thing was just wrapped up in like a second, i don't know if the rumors are true but by the way the story kinda feel forced by the end of it makes me wonder if emma mackey really is leaving the show, that's the only thing that i can think of as to why maeve and her story feels very off this season. Or maybe even if she's not leaving then maybe she's going to have a smaller role? idk but i hope not because it won't be the same without her.

And so because i haven't really see how maeve and otis would work in a relationship and the fact that even after 3 seasons they still can't be 'together' together and i just don't feel anything between them anymore, i can't help but find myself rooting for otis and ruby to be endgame. Maybe it's just asa and mimi doing a fantastic job at portraying these characters and having an amazing chemistry, but still the potential that this couple holds is just--there's so much things that could be explored with ruby and otis, like i get it that some people think that their relationship was toxic because ruby this and ruby that but it's not like otis was blackmailed or forced to be in that relationship, it was in fact otis that suggested them to be "official" and the whole "ruby tried to change otis" argument is just not really relevant(?) because the moment otis said that he doesn't want to do all that ruby agrees and just go with it. If it went on for weeks or months even to the point where otis is just pressured to do so until he just gets tired of ruby thats a different story, but it was just for one day and yes i know her actions can't be justified just based on the duration of it, but what i'm saying is after otis speak up his mind ruby respect that and didn't force him to do anything afterwards. And otis was totally on board with it because he wanted to 'keep having super amazing casual sex', soooo for everyone that's saying ruby 'abused' otis... idk i think that's a bit of a reach, but ofc you're entitled to your own opinion.

Speaking of otis speaking up his mind, otis when he's with ruby for me at least, is a better version of otis, he's just so much more confident and assertive. And the whole double date scene, i don't think i've ever seen otis that happy and free and having so much fun before. People also like to point out that ruby doesn't have any development this season because she's still mean, and yes i get it she's not exactly the nicest person around and she doesn't really treat otis like the person she's in love with, but do you expect her to change every bit of herself just because she started dating otis? that's not how it works, it's all a process, step 1 was her letting her walls down and letting other people in (in this case it was otis), step 2 was for her to realize that it's okay to be vulnerable and that she doesn't have to put on the mean girl persona just so she won't get hurt, etc etc. But we haven't seen those other parts yet because their relationship was cut short to make room for the non-existent relationship of maeve and otis.

Anyway a little disclaimer that this whole rant is not for me to defend any character or justifying their actions, because i don't hate or love some character more than the other characters, because at the end of the day they're just characters. If anything this is more of a shot at the writers, and no i'm not saying that they are bad writers because if they're bad i won't be this invested in their show, i'm just confused as to where they're going with all of this, because they create a lot of potentially interesting and refreshing storyline with these new couples but then they sort of just went back to maeve and otis in which up to this point are STILL not really 'together' together.

So yeah i am rooting for ruby and otis to be endgame but i just don't think that's going to be the case, i mean otis literally said maeve is his person, so i don't see any scenario of ruby and otis being endgame. And if rotis did become endgame because emma is leaving the show that would just be even more unsatisfying, that wouldn't feel right, like the couple happened just because of some external factors but not earned(?) if that make sense. So, even tho rotis is highly unlikely to be a thing again and i really can't see any possible way for them to be endgame, i'm still somewhat rooting for them and hoping for the writers to prove me wrong.

[debbiechanclub]

“Bar Bingo” - Trent x OFC

Here’s the promised BTOOT-iverse Christmas fic, a couple days late. But better late than never, right? Plus I actually love how it turned out, and I sincerely hope you all do too 😊. For those familiar with my and @hotyeehawman​‘s fic, “Best Two Out of Three,” (a.k.a. BTOOT), this fic takes place before the start of BTOOT, in December 2019. And for those of you who have been aching for some Trent/Alex... this one’s for you.

If you’re NOT familiar with BTOOT, don’t worry; this fic stands alone. But if you like it and want to check out the main fic, you can find my masterlist here.

Alright, enough rambling. Enjoy!​

“Bar Bingo,” a BTOOT Christmas fic

Theme: @12daysofchristmas Day 7 - Holiday Dinner/Party & Day 8 - Fireplace/Stockings

Fandom/Character(s): AEW/Best Friends and Orange Cassidy... with some Trent x OFC 👀

Warnings: Cursing, alcohol use, a teeny bit of angst

Word Count: 3.2k

Tag squad: @freshlysqueezedmox​ @champbucks​ @comeasyoudar​ @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch​ @librathepheonix13​ @gabbynorth98​ @exe-sadboi-exe​ @bec0m

There had been a time when Alex didn’t really care for Christmas. She wasn’t a Scrooge, per se, but it was far from her favorite holiday. She’d never believed in Santa Claus; she didn’t have family Christmas traditions; cheesy Hallmark movies made her cringe. But, over the last few years, she’d found herself getting more and more into the Christmas spirit—and there was one newly created tradition she looked forward to in particular: the ugly sweater bar crawl with the boys.

“What d’you think?” Chuck proudly held out his arms as he stood next to Orange, showcasing their knit sweaters. Orange’s was green and red and said, “Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal,” while Chuck’s was black and read, “Buzz, Your Girlfriend, Woof!” A wide smile spread across Alex’s face. They hadn’t intentionally both picked Home Alone-themed sweaters—it had just happened.

“Perfect,” she nodded in approval. “Now if only someone hadn’t missed the Christmas movie memo.”

They all looked pointedly at Trent. Whereas Alex’s sweater also referenced a Christmas classic—red and white with an RV and “Shitter’s Full” knitted across the front—Trent’s black sweater featured a pair of red and green Christmas ornaments and simply said, “Balls.”

“There was no memo,” he defended. “It’s not my fault the three of you share a brain cell.”

“Oh no, that’s bullshit,” Chuck shot. “I told you the three of us got movie sweaters. You could have gotten that light-up sweater with the leg lamp from A Christmas Story!”

“Not for seventy bucks!”

Alex’s eyes widened. “Seventy bucks?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh.”

“You could have gotten one of the other Christmas Vacation ones and matched with Alex,” Orange pointed out.

“Yeah, we could have matched, Trent,” Alex piled on.

But Trent just stared blankly back at them. “I liked this one.”

She gave him an overly sweet smile in return. “Well, it’s very you. I’ll give you that.”

“Uh, yeah. That’s why I got it, Alex,” he obviously stated. She just shook her head at him. They’d be going back-and-forth all night. They always did whenever they drank together.

“Alright, well are we going?” she asked with a look at the time on her phone. “I wanted a buzz twenty minutes ago.”

“I’ll give you a Buzz,” Chuck exaggeratedly returned. He pointed at his sweater, an excited, goofy grin on his face. “Huh? Huh?”

But the awful dad joke didn’t get the pop he wanted. “No,” Jim said. Chuck’s face fell.

“Y’all suck.”

“Balls,” Trent added, right on cue. It made Alex and Orange both audibly smirk.

“That’s what you laugh at?” Chuck incredulously proclaimed. “Alright, let’s go, I need a drink.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Two bars in and on their way to the third, everyone was feeling toasty and bright as they made their way down Market Street in Philadelphia’s Center City District. Festive lights, wreaths, and decorations adorned the trees and storefronts, and there was a definite feeling of Christmas in the air. Alex loved Philadelphia at Christmas. It was one of the reasons her heart had warmed to the holiday.

She looped her arm through Trent’s and hugged herself close as they walked, hoping to steal some of his body heat to ward off the bite in the air. They’d all opted to leave their coats behind, not wanting to deal with constantly taking them on and off and likely having to hold them all night. Thankfully, it wasn’t freezing, and the alcohol in their systems helped. But Alex knew she’d feel it in her bones by the end of the night.

“Remind me what we still need in bar bingo?” she asked. Bar bingo was a game they’d made up a while ago: if they could spot people with or wearing five specific items, they’d all take a shot. And they’d given it a Christmas twist tonight.

“Well, we already got the lumberjack beard and Santa hat,” Chuck counted off on his fingers. “So, we still need someone ‘suited up,’ someone wearing a black and red checkered flannel, and someone other than us wearing an ugly sweater.”

“We’re not gonna get the ugly sweater,” Trent pessimistically commented. “We’re the only idiots out here drinking in ugly Christmas sweaters.”

Alex pouted. But then she had a thought. “What if I took mine off and put it on someone else? Would that count?”

“Yes,” Orange immediately answered. It earned him a sidelong glance from Chuck.

“As much I would like to see that,” Trent said, “I’m not trying to get kicked out of a bar tonight.”

“I’m sure you would like to see it,” Alex returned with a flirty grin. “But you wouldn’t, and we wouldn’t get kicked out. I’m wearing a tank top underneath. This sweater is scratchy.”

The corners of Trent’s mouth turned down. “Well, that’s disappointing.”

They arrived at their third stop, a two-level Irish pub that was Alex’s favorite spot of the night. It was homey and warm and inviting and always a good time. It was where she always wanted to go whenever she was in town.

Chuck leaned into her to be heard over the din of talking and live music that filled the pub. “I doubt they are, but you want me to see if one of the tables by the fireplace upstairs is available?”

“Please,” she returned. She really hoped one was available; sitting by a fire sounded perfect. “I’ll get the drinks this round.” She turned to Trent. “Come help me carry them.”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him with her to the bar, wedging herself in between a middle-aged couple and a group of twenty-somethings. It was crowded, and Trent had to come up close behind her, his chest brushing her back. “What do you want?” she asked him.

“The usual.”

One of the bartenders came around and nodded and smiled in greeting, remarking that it had been a while since he’d seen them and complimenting both their sweaters with an amused smirk. Alex thanked him and ordered all their drinks. As he walked away, she maneuvered to retrieve her phone from her back pocket. She froze when she saw the screen. She had a text. From Kenny.

You look cute in your ugly sweater.

Alex felt a rush of heat under her collar. She’d figured Kenny would see the selfie she’d posted to Instagram—maybe even hoped he would—but she hadn’t thought he would say anything. She didn’t know what to make of it. It swelled old feelings inside her that she’d been trying to ignore the last few weeks. She blamed the holidays. No one wanted to be alone during the holidays, and she and Kenny had ended their fling right before the start of cuffing season. She tried to tell herself that that was why she’d found her thoughts turning to him in quiet moments recently: she didn’t actually miss him—she missed the idea of him. An idea that he wasn’t even willing to give her.

“You’re not talking to him again, are you?”

Trent’s question drew her out of her thoughts. He’d seen the text. He and Chuck knew about all she’d gone through with Kenny. She locked her phone and placed it face down on the bar top. “No. I’m not,” she answered. But she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about it.

Trent moved closer behind her. Whether intentionally or not, he placed one hand on her hip while he held the other out in front of her. “Give me your phone.”

She twisted to give him a bewildered look. “What? Why?”

“Because. You’re a drunk texter. Even if you say you don’t, I know you want to text him back. And then you’ll probably end up saying something you regret in the morning.”

Alex chewed at her lip and glanced down at her phone. As much as she didn’t want to admit it… he was right. So she picked it up and reluctantly handed it over. Trent squeezed her hip as he took it from her.

“Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”

The bartender set their drinks in front of them, and after Alex paid, they grabbed them and weaved through the crowd to head upstairs. They saw a man in a suit as they went, and Alex turned to give Trent an excited smile—that was one more off the bar bingo list. She was even more excited to find Chuck and Orange sitting at one of the tables next to the double-sided fireplace.

“The people sitting here were leaving just as we got up here, so we snagged it,” Chuck explained. “And… one of them was wearing a black and red flannel.”

“Really?!” Alex proclaimed as she sat down across from him, handing him his drink. “We saw a guy suited up on the way up here.”

“That just leaves the ugly sweater then,” Orange noted. He nudged his chin at Alex. “Pop yours off and put it on someone, I wanna do a shot.”

She smirked at she brought her drink to her lips. “Maybe after this round.”

* * * * * * * * * *

They were supposed to go to one more bar after the pub, but Alex had lobbied for them to stay put. The fire was warm, the atmosphere was lively, the music was good, and the drinks were hitting. She didn’t want to go anywhere. Not until last call forced them back to Chuck’s place.

“What’s taking Jim so long?” she impatiently wondered aloud. Orange had offered to get the next round, and he’d been gone a good fifteen minutes at least. She craned around the fireplace to see if she could spot him at the bar, but she couldn’t get a good enough view. “He’s killing my vibe.”

Suddenly, Chuck’s eyes widened. “Oh fuck.”

“What?” Alex asked.

“That asshole’s disappeared on us again!”

Silent realization settled over the table. It wouldn’t be the first time Orange had disappeared during a night out, let alone on the ugly sweater bar crawl. Last year, he’d just vanished after the third bar; one minute he’d been with them, and the next he wasn’t. When they’d arrived back at Chuck’s apartment hours later, they’d found him fast asleep on the couch. Chuck still had no idea how he’d gotten in. Orange still hadn’t told them where he’d gone or what he’d done, just that he’d “met some people.”

“Why did you let him go to the bar alone?” Chuck asked Alex, as if it were somehow her fault that Orange had disappeared yet again.

“I’m not his keeper!” she fired back. “That’s your job!”

Chuck glowered at her. “I’m gonna see if he’s at the bar,” he said, and he stood from his seat and stalked off, ironically proving her point.

“Well, this sucks,” Trent stated.

“Balls?” Alex added, poking him in the chest. He arched a brow.

“Are you asking for my balls, or…?”

She smirked and shoved his shoulder. He responded by draping his arm over the back of her chair. She leaned her elbow on the table and looked sweetly up at him. “Can I see my phone?”

“No,” he immediately answered.

Her smile dropped into a pout. “Please?”

“No.”

She let out a huff and sat back again. “You get to have yours out on the table but mine is on lockdown? How is that fair?”

“Because I don’t want to drunk text my ex.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “I want to see if Kris has texted me, thank you very much,” she pointedly returned. And then, more softly, “And he’s not my ex. You know that.”  

She picked up her empty drink and sipped what she could out of the straw, just to do something. Why had Kenny texted her? What was he playing at? She’d told him that if he couldn’t commit, she couldn’t see him anymore. And he couldn’t, so she’d walked. So why text her that?

“Hey,” Trent lifted his hand from the back of her chair and put it gently on her back. She set her glass back on the table and looked at him. The light of the fire reflected in his dark eyes. “Have you had fun tonight?”

The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. She nodded. “Yeah, I have.”

He rubbed his thumb over her back. “Then don’t let one text ruin it.”

Alex expelled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Trent had always been protective of her in a best friend sort of way, but this felt different. Maybe it was the buzz of the alcohol, or the warmth of the fire, or the ooey-gooeyness that seemed to permeate the very air during Christmastime… but it felt like he wasn’t comforting her as just a friend now. It felt like something more.

But then Chuck returned and interrupted the moment. “He’s gone.”

Alex’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure? Maybe he just went to the bathroom.”

“He would’ve had to walk past us to get to the bathroom,” Trent pointed out. He laughed. “Disappearing after offering to get us drinks. What a dick.”

Suddenly, Alex heard her phone get a text in Trent’s pocket; then Trent and Chuck got one, too. “I bet that’s him,” Chuck said as he pulled out his phone. He pursed his lips as he looked at the screen. “Yup.”

Alex leaned over to look at Trent’s phone as he pulled up the message. It was from Orange, alright, and it only said two words. Beer garden.

“Well, that’s helpful,” Trent dryly commented.

“Wait,” Chuck announced. Trent and Alex both looked up at him. He had a concentrated look on his face. “I think I know where he is. Come on.”

* * * * * * * * * *

The beer garden Chuck led them to was catty-cornered from Independence Hall. It was lit up with Christmas lights and packed full of people drinking beer in coats and hats and gloves, their cheeks and noses rosy from the cold as they huddled around portable heaters. And right in the thick of it all, a hot drink in his hand, was none other than Orange Cassidy.

“What the fuck!” Chuck proclaimed as they rejoined him, causing several people around to look their way. “Thanks for ditching us again.”

“And when you were supposed to be getting us drinks, no less,” Alex added.

Jim took a sip of his drink before answering. “Well, what happened was, I was waiting at the bar to get our drinks. But then this group of people came up to pay their tab, and they were all wearing ugly sweaters. And so we started talking, and they invited me to come with them here. So I did. And then I figured I should probably text you all.”

They all stared blankly back at him. And then Trent said, “Never change, Jim.”

He raised his cup in cheers.

“Wait, you said they were wearing ugly sweaters?” Chuck asked. His eyes grew round with excitement. “That means we got bar bingo!”

“Oh shit, we did,” Trent realized. “Do they have liquor here?”

Orange nodded. “Yeah. Mulled wine, too,” he said, gesturing with his cup.

“Alright, well, let’s hurry up and do our shot and leave,” Alex decided, hugging herself to maintain warmth. “It’s way too cold to be standing out here without coats.”

* * * * * * * * * *

They’d decided to head back to Chuck’s place after taking their celebratory bar bingo shot—a Snowball, to keep things festive. Chuck had passed out in his room nearly as soon as they’d gotten back, leaving the rest of them to figure out sleeping arrangements on their own. But, at the moment, Alex was in the kitchen trying to find something hot to drink. She’d thought right: the cold had seeped right into her bones, and she was still freezing despite the central heating in Chuck’s apartment.

 Trent gave her a curious look as she clumsily shuffled through the cabinets. “What’re you doing?”

“Looking for hot tea… I’m still freezing.”

He laughed and leaned against the counter. “Come on, you know Chuck doesn’t have any hot tea. Coffee?”

“I don’t want to drink coffee right before going to bed,” she said, but she sighed and gave up her search. “Oh well. I guess I’ll just sleep in my sweater.”

“You can borrow my hoodie,” Trent offered. She looked at him in surprise. “Because you said the sweater is scratchy.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Thanks.”

He nodded, and silence settled over them. Not uncomfortable; it was never uncomfortable with Trent. But there was just something more to it. Like how there’d been something more as they’d sat in front of the fireplace at the pub.

Alex leaned against the countertop. “Thank you for taking my phone tonight. You’re right… I probably would have said something I’d regret in the morning.”

“Of course I’m right,” he returned, a smirk on his lips. Alex rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stifle her smile.

“Hey, what’s that?”

She looked back at him. He walked toward her, his eyes looking at something on the ceiling. Alex curiously followed his line of sight… and saw nothing.

“It’s the ceiling,” she bluntly answered.

He stopped in front of her, still looking up. He pointed. “Right there. Look.”

She looked again, but she still didn’t see whatever it was he was talking about. “Where? There’s nothing there.”

“I think there’s mistletoe.”

Alex looked flatly back at him. So that’s what he was doing. “Oh, okay. There’s no mistletoe, Trent.”

He cocked his head. “Are you sure? Because I swear I see some right there.”

“There’s not.”

“Really? I think you just don’t want to see it.”

His eyes met hers again. They were full of quiet, drunken confidence. Alex bit back another grin. “Are you saying you want to kiss me?”

He stepped closer. “That’s generally what happens under mistletoe, yeah.”

Alex felt a little flutter in her stomach. It was… odd. It wasn’t as if she’d never thought about kissing Trent. She had, as often as they drunkenly flirted with each other. But, standing there in Chuck’s kitchen, she realized that she was actually entertaining it this time. He was close enough. She could just tilt her chin up and press her lips against his, just for a second, to see how it felt. And then, she felt his hands on her hips, pulling her body against his. She angled her mouth toward his, her eyes falling closed, heart pounding in her ears—

And then someone cleared their throat.

Alex let out a startled yelp and slapped a hand to her mouth as she jumped back from Trent into the counter. It was Orange. Thank God it was Orange.

“Don’t stop on my account,” he said.

Alex ran a hand through her hair and looked sheepishly up at Trent. He let out a sigh. “I’ll go see if I can find some more blankets for the air mattress,” he said, and he walked out of the kitchen.

Alex glanced at Orange. He smirked. “So, are you and Trent sharing the air mattress, then?”

Her entire face went red. “Shut up,” she muttered, embarrassed. But as she pushed past him out of the kitchen, she realized she wasn’t cold anymore.