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obeiii-mee · 3 years

Note

Hello! Can I request an hc about a shady MC who's not phase by anything in Devildom with the brothers (and Diavolo?? he deserves love!!!)? Like, when Luci's like "i CaN KiLL yOu hUmAN", MC's reaction was like "Oh... congratulations then." i need more shady mc who may or may not be planning to ruin your life😂😂 Thanks and take care!!❤❤

The Brothers + Diavolo with an MC that is not phased by DevilDom

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Pls I need more shady MC, they would not take any shit from the brothers. Put any Gen Z-er with these guys and you’ve got yourself a suicidal and reckless human exchange student.

They wouldn’t know what to do with one of those ahaksbakanhaka you’re right, Diavolo deserves all the love >:(((((((

You better take care too >:( thanks for sending me this big brain request. I’ve been preoccupied with other projects so I took a while to get to this ask. Hope you’re doing OK💙

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Lucifer:

-He thought having a human exchange student was going to be bad enough as it is but this…..this was so much worse than he could have ever imagined

-The moment you arrived, he already knew you were going to be a problem child and a persistent one at that

-Literally the first thing you asked him was : “Why do you look like an off-brand Levi Ackerman?”

-And he was left there, astounded, confused and offended because he had no idea who you were talking about (cuz at that point you hadn’t met the third eldest) and the tone you had was, frankly, pissing him off

-You kept wondering off on your own????? Without looking like you gave a shit even though you almost walked into a butcher’s shop that specialises in human meat???? Tf MC?

-Also really irritated that you couldn’t be intimidated and that DevilDom was like a playground to you, for some reason? Like, MC get out of the fiery pits of eternally tormented souls- this is Hell, not the McDonald’s ball pit ffs

-Things did not improve for him lmao, by the end of the first week he had already ripped out a good chunk of his hair because of you

-“MC, you should know by now provoking demons like this for no good reason is only going to make life harder for you. Keep this up and you’ll get killed in no time because of your behaviour.”

-“Great, can we have a hip-hip and a hurray?”

-In the span of one day, he’s had to come to your rescue six times (approximately) because you’re too nonchalant about your surroundings around literal creatures of hell

-He doesn’t have enough coffee or will to live for this bs

-“Lucifer, I found this dead plant and brought it here because it reminded me of you.”

-“…..sigh. Why? Why does it remind you of me?”

-“Because it’s cold and unresponsive.”

-He made the consecutive decision to ignore you

-(low-key kept the plant tho)

-Honestly, you get on his nerves a lot and he has definitely contemplated killing you in the past but at the end of the day he really can’t bring himself to do it

-We both know he tried a few times lmfao

-“I will tear you limb from limb, human-“

-“Can I finish my tea first.”

-“You…wait, what?”

-“You’re crazy if you think I’m letting this tea get cold. Try to kill time before I’m done and I’ll smash this cup against your head.”

-If you try hard enough, you might even elicit a laugh out of him, especially if your shadiness is directed at any of his brother which results in him patting your head affectionately

-Nowadays he’s just concerned because you seemed to have made an alliance of sorts with Belphagour and Satan and that’s not a good sign

-For his sake, if not yours, at least try to survive the year without getting chomped on by a random demon please

-He’s too stubborn to let you die just because you’re unbothered by everything so cut him some slack and help out damn it

Mammon:

-“Oi Lucifer, how come I’m stuck babysittin’ this stupid human?”

-“And how come I’m stuck with this asshole for a tour guide, with his fake ass designer shoes and no brand sunglasses. That’s a lot of smack talk from someone with crow shit stains covering the back of his jacket. Also, did you stick your hair in a bucket of mayonnaise?”

-……..

-He was so offended lol

-Normally, humans like you cower in fear whenever demons are as much as mentioned because of the whole “I can eat you whole” thing

-And here you are; insulting the Avatar of Greed and one of the princes of Hell himself just because you didn’t like his attitude

-Don’t worry tho, he warms up to you in less than a fucking month simply because you still come to his rescue whenever his brothers start insulting him and wow, look at that, his heart is now combusting on the floor

-“Y’all have no right to criticise Mammon when he has the most self control out of all of you.”

-“Since when does Mammon have any self control? He can’t keep himself from nicking anything that looks shiny.”

-“Motherfucker, I don’t see him trying to choke me to death, respectfully pls shut the fuck up. I don’t want to say I have favourites but if I do, it’s definitely him.”

-While Mammon’s in the background, with hearts instead of pupils in his eyes like ❤️👄❤️

-He doesn’t even mind running around after you anymore (will still complain about it though because your ass is in constant danger and he’s had enough)

-Honestly, you keep starting shit with random demons, some of which are quite powerful mind you, and you don’t back down even when he’s there to step in

-Would low key love to watch you fight one of your classmates at RAD and organise a ticket selling booth for the event but Lucifer will hang him a new one if he does

-So for now, he sticks to baring his teeth at the aggravator in question and you’re there, giving the same demon the middle finger

-The way you sometimes match his energy gets him so hyped up lmao

-“Mammon, did you steal Levi’s money again?”

-“T’s none of her business human. Now go away, shoo!”

-“Bitch, don’t ‘shoo’ me, I ain’t a bird. Now tell me, did you?”

-“…..Why do you ask?”

-“Because a new flavour of instant noodles just got announced, called ‘Super Hell-Sauce Flavour’ and I thought you might be more interested in that than wasting the money on gambling.”

-“….ok but only if you come with me to buy some.”

-This…this is true love right here

Levi:

-Oh no, now there’s two of you

-Why do I feel like his energy would match MC’s almost immediately? Maybe it’s because he spends too much time in his room on the internet like the rest of us do

-“What do you want, you stupid normie?”

-“300…..”

-“….300 what?”

-“300 mangas collected, thousands of episodes of anime watched, over 60 character figurines, plushies, body pillows, merchandise and several posters only to be called a fucking normie by a demon weeb that’s only known me for 10 minutes.”

-Boom, instant friendship

-He becomes attached to you almost immediately and now that he knows how unphased you are by DevilDom, he is seriously worried

-Hell, you’re making him consider going outside his room just to make sure you’re alive and not dead in a ditch somewhere because you decided to get on someone’s nerves that particular day

-Even during the quiz thing, when he almost kills you, you’re just sitting on the floor and awkwardly watching him as he throws a sissy fit

-Levi feels sort of conflicted with you because one one hand you’re good company and he loves having you around, you’re his Henry after all

-But on the other hand, you put yourself in so much danger it makes him paranoid so often to the point where he wants to keep you locked in his room and wrapped in bubble wrap

-Nearly had a heart attack when you almost walked right into a pit of lava like MC???? This isn’t one of his video games???? You’re not gonna respawn if you die????

-Besides all that, he gets a bit jealous of you confidence and your ability to just do whatever without fearing death or consequence

-“MC, how do you do it?”

-“Do what?”

-“How do you go about your life without a care in the world?”

-“I guess I’ll tell you my secret Levi. I’m not like other humans that’s why, I’m just so unique I do things differently.”

-“You sound like a pick me-“

-As long as you’re OK and not injured because of your carelessness, he’s indifferent about your behaviour and will even applaud you for your bravery when it comes to this sort of thing

-“lmao the human exchange student just dumped Solomon’s cooking in the trash while looking him dead in the eye 💀💀💀”

Satan:

-Your attitude towards DevilDom and demons in general kept him entertained, if nothing else

-You rarely seemed to consider how much of a threat that place really is and usually you were just running around, completely ignoring Lucifer’s rules and doing your own thing

-Which, you know, he’s all about

-I can’t say there were no incidents between the two of you

-With his short temper and your tendency to say things without caring about the consequences, there were definitely moments when he might’ve snapped on you

-“MC for goodness sake, what happened to my room?”

-“What do you mean?”

-“It’s an absolute mess! I just told you to bring me my spells and curses book, not mow through everything!”

-“It’s not my fault this place is built like a fucking labyrinth. You should be grateful I went to get it for you at all, I almost tripped and died several times on my way back. Also, you should get a new ladder for your shelves. It did the broken.”

-“MC….”

-“Yes?”

-“You are so lucky I love you.”

-Other than the fact his anger takes over him when things like these happen, he not so subtly encourages you to keep going because seeing Lucifer scowl at your antics gets him wheezing his lungs out

-I like to think Satan would be very impressed, even in the beginning, at the amount of nonchalance you can radiate at times

-I mean, you sure as hell don’t see it often and he loves how unpredictable you are more often than not

-If anything, he should probably thank you-idk how, but his patience has increased significantly every since you got here and he appreciates having some more control of his emotions

-“I’m gonna go put oil in Lucifer’s shoes.”

-“Do you have a death wish?”

-“Satan, I am old enough to make my own decisions and I concluded that this action is necessary.”

-“Necessary for what?”

-“Raising everyone’s morale! All of you seemed to feel down lately so I thought this would be fun for everybody!”

-“Except Lucifer, right?”

-“Except Lucifer. He grounded me from my D.D.D like I’m a fucking teenager who needs to be supervised-pssshht, I’m the most responsible one here.”

-“Yes clearly.”

-“Goodbye dear Satan, I may die today. But it’s for the greater good! (Dramatic exit with sound effects)”

-“WAIT MC!”

-“(pops head back in) yes?”

-“May I offer you my assistance?”

-You’re basically taking turns pranking his brothers and it’s hilarious

-Satan is not too worried about your well being simply because he knows his siblings and him are always going to be nearby to save you if you pull something stupid again

-Even so, he checks up on you throughout the day; just to make sure

-“Where were you?”

-“Running from a bunch of demons. Who wanted to go munchy crunchy on me, I assume.”

-“……”

-“Either that or people here are a lot friendlier than originally expected.”

-You can be such a handful and it really tests him, especially when he’s angry enough to begin with

-But despite your amazing talent at either getting completely lost around Hell, purposely walking into a prohibited place just because you felt like it or riling up others with how blunt you are, he still cares about you deeply

-You may be a pain the ass, but you’re his pain in the ass <3

Asmo:

-He should’ve known something was up with this particular human when you stood there, completely calm and collected, while Beel salivated at the thought of eating you on your first day

-Asmo just brushed it off for a while but it kept happening???

-The first time Lucifer ever told you off, you really went and said “Or what? Are you going to eat me? If so, you can go ahead and start with-“

-He came to your rescue and covered your mouth before you got to finish and before Lucifer unleashed his wrath on to everyone in that house

-“OOPSIE! I think MC has been spending too much time with me. Sorry Lucifer, we gotta run now! We have a party to attend, don’t we MC darling?”

-“You mean the one hosted by the guy that tried to kill me because I shoved into him on the hallway at school and then proceeded to tell him to go fuck himself right back into whatever hell hole he was born in before you came and charmed our way out of it?”

-“Yes.”

-“Ah OK. “

-You’re tiring for sure but you’re not exactly unlikeable

-You have a certain charm hanging about you that Asmo loves

-“I almost died like…30 minutes ago.”

-“WAIT WHAT?? WHY?? WHAT HAPPENED-MC ARE YOU OK???”

-“Yeah, I almost drank some poison today because someone told me it was water. It smelt off though so I didn’t.”

-“….”

-“Anyway, I got you this bracelet on my way home.”

-He really does wish you would take things a bit more seriously

-This is your life on the line, you know? What would he do if you died?

-“MC, you’re not immortal, you can die so much more easily than I can, you know that right???”

-“I don’t care.”

-“Well I do! And you should too….”

-A lot of people don’t see past his vanity tbh, because he can be such a caring person towards the people he loves

-The amount of videos he has of you appearing to be completely calm while pure chaos is descending in the background is pretty impressive

-Every time he uses his charm on you to try and get you to commit his sin, it just doesn’t work???? For some reason???? And even if it’s just with simple, innocent affection for now, he is determined to tempt you into it

-“MC~gimme a hug!”

-“But that’s social interaction and I don’t support it- do you have a charger for my D.D.D by any chance?

-Or at least die trying to ig

-Asmo loves having you around but you’re giving him wrinkles and that’s not okay >:(

Beel:

-The moment he realised how carefree you actually were, he sort of started checking up with you quite frequently throughout the day

-It’s his way of protecting you but if he could, he would follow you around all the time

-Becomes your body guard because you may not care enough about your safety but he certainly does so get ready to be carried everywhere

-You will not get hurt nor will anyone mess with you if he has a say in it and let me tell you, he does

-Thing is, his brothers mostly know him for being slightly dense in some aspects of day to day life

-He’s not perceptive of things that don’t involve food or his loved ones

-And because you most definitely are a loved one of his, he does notice how careless you are really often

-And it scares, rather worries, him because DevilDom is an incredibly dangerous place-even with all the precautions they had taken when you came

-“MC get down, you could fall.”

-“But Beel, look-I’m finally taller than everyone else! Taller than you even! Hey, should I do a backflip?”

-He has no idea why you thought jumping from 60 meter high cliff into a small river of squashed demon blood was a good idea but he wasn’t going to risk anything just because you felt like showing off your diving skills

-Proceeds to carry you away, completely unfazed

-In this case, I feel like Beel is not someone who gets bothered by the horrible things happening around there either

-As long as he has food and his family is safe and happy then he’s also happy, as mentioned above

-But he knows he’s alright with DevilDom because he’s been living here for centuries now

-A bit curious as to why you’re so unbothered

-And even more curious as to why you weren’t terrified of him transforming in his demon form after he lost control when he found out you ate his pudding

-Or more like Mammon did and pushed the blame on you

-“YOU. ATE. MY. PUDDING!”

-“Beel I love you but if you did not just see Mammon shoving the damn container in my mouth two seconds prior to this, then you might need glasses.”

-He apologised to you later for it but even so, you didn’t seem to mind like at all and he didn’t really understand why

-Unless you end up explaining why exactly you feel so indifferent about your life being in potential danger, he won’t really pry

-But now he has even more reason to follow you around like a lost puppy

-Since it’s clear you don’t really care about protecting yourself

-So now it’s his job to do it

-MC protection squad? Mostly Beel and Mammon

-ahhh he cute

Belphie:

-Oh

-You piss him off so much

-He’s trying to have his moment, you know?

-Finally getting that glimmer of satisfaction after killing a human as a way to avenge his sister’s death

-Trying his hardest to make it as miserable as possible because he has so much rage in him, he needs you to suffer

-“Harder Daddy-“

-“Oh fuck off.”

-Nah but for real, what the fuck MC

-Why does he even bother, he feels like he should be sleeping instead of dealing with your bullshit

-Even afterwards, when your future self shows up and he tries to kill you again, you look more thoughtful than irritated???

-Lucifer and Beel are literally holding him back from doing another Chocky on you and you’re standing there, looking at him with your eyebrows raised

-“Hey Belphie, I have a quick question. I know you’re trying to kill me and everything but do you like the colour blue?”

-“HUH??!?!”

-“It’s a simple yes or no question Belphie. Do. You. Like. Blue?”

-“WHAT DOES IT MATTER???!!!”

-“BELPHAGOUR, AVATAR OF SLOTH-YES OR NO, JUST FUCKING ANSWER!”

-“YES! FUCK YOU!”

-“Ah ok thanks. I like blue too :)”

-????????????

-Pls he felt like sticking his foot down your throat

-As of late, he’s kind of glad he didn’t manage to scare you away that day and that he didn’t traumatise you or something

-At the time, he was mad because he didn’t understand why you weren’t scared but now he just wants to make it up to you

-“You didn’t deserve any of that. I’m sorry MC, I won’t blame you if you decide to stay away from me now.”

-“Stfu dipshit, what’s gotten you so depressed? Did you have another fight with Beel? I told you not to eat the last slice of cake.”

-“Rude ass, I was trying to apologise for my past mistakes-let me repent will you?”

-“Said no demon ever. Now let’s go hang out you emo bitch.”

-Y’all vibe together on a spiritual level once that shit gets sorted out

-But he’s kinda scared you might pull out a knife on him ngl

-Obviously, you’re still annoying as fuck with that indifferent attitude of yours but he can live with it

-He appreciates the fact that you’re not scared of him, even after what he’s done

Diavolo:

-Ah yes, the future King of DevilDom himself

-He’s very enthusiastic about the idea of you having fun this year…..and to keep you alive….

-He, of course, expected a range of reactions from you when he first summoned you here

-None of which were “Ok but could you not have given me a heads up? Before the whole teleportation thing? I face-planted your onto marvellously polished the floor and now I think I lost even more brain cells than before.”

-He felt so bad gagajajahahwgehhsb

-He apologised for bringing you out here without any warning like that and then proceeded to introduce you to everyone

-Diavolo is actually kind of relieved to see you’re handling everything pretty well

-He thought that maybe DevilDom was too much for a human to deal with

-Meeting Barbatos also went incredibly smooth

-“Barbatos? The one that cleans the floors right? Big fan of your work, I could eat off the floor of the main hall.”

-He’s so glad to see you getting along with everyone and not getting intimidated by the brothers

-It gets him excited thinking about how the exchange program is gonna work and all three realms will be united

-But he’s not stupid so don’t think he’ll allow you to stumble around, getting up to all sorts of mischief

-He always has someone watching you because he would hate to see you die, despite being pretty fond of your carefree attitude

-“MC, please be careful. Most demons here aren’t all that nice.”

-“Aye aye Captain.”

-He fears that many demons would take your indifference as a challenge and try to assert dominance or something by kidnapping you

-As far as creatures of hell go, they love installing fear in people

-So he always keeps an extra eye open for you

-And he’ll be there to help you if something goes wrong

-But other than that, he’s pretty chill as well and he finds you so hilarious, it’s been a while since he’s seen someone as eccentric and dramatic as Mammon and Asmo

-Idk what else to add here, Diavolo is very accepting and as long as you don’t get hurt, he’s glad you can get used to your new surroundings so easily

———————————-

Al~

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ibiitsu · 3 years

Text

Amajiki Tamaki + big 3 [bnha] x gn reader hc’s + drabble

Amajiki Tamaki with a gn reader at a cat cafe hc’s (platonic) （＾∇＾）(and big 3 at karaoke) [07/02/2021]

Warning(s): not proofread

Picture credit: BUBBXRRY (?) on Pinterest

A/n: was meant to be a small birthday gift for @pigeonwithbigdreams and their twin brother (June 30th) but I didn’t have a lot of time, so happy belated birthday!

Edit: OK I GOT RLY INTO IT AND ADDED MORE BIG 3 CONTENT AND KARAOKE STUFF AND EVEN A SMALL DRABBLE ENJOYYYY

Note: reader is just a friend of Tamaki who doesn’t go to UA

Cat cafe obsession

You would drag tamaki to a nearby cat cafe every afternoon after school to eat sweets and relax

Eating takoyaki and clams everyday sounds extremely saddening, no matter how good takoyaki is so you always make sure to buy a lot of sweets and desserts for him

Tamaki always kept trying to pay for the sweets and desserts but you would push him off saying that you ate them as well

He has serious social anxiety so spending hours studying in a quiet cafe (excluding the soft music) with cats and someone he felt comfortable with, really let him relax and enjoy those precious hours

Over time, Tamaki started inviting his other friends like Mirio and Nejire which made it louder but he enjoyed the other’s company regardless of that

Cant think of anything else rn sooo I’m adding karaoke stuff with big 3👍

You and Nejire are the BEST singing duo (although that’s just what you like to think, in reality it’s just Nejire being amazing)

Tamaki always finds the best drinks and food(?idk I’ve never been bothered to go)

It took you guys pretty long but you, mirio and Nejire finally convinced Tamaki to join and sing with you all. He didn’t want to sing his own part so you all sang the same words.

Sounded like a mess but Nejire was still the loudest and singing the best like the absolute QUEEN she is (I love her <3)

Anyways, Tamaki actually started singing and got more comfortable. It took a few karaoke trips but he started singing more (although only with duos)

Ever since you started taking him and his friends to places, Tamaki’s gotten better with people, especially you, Mirio and Nejire :))

Small cafe Drabble

The afternoon light streamed through the half- closed blinds, giving a light orange glow to the inside. A soft Lo-fi song was playing in the background and the soft scent of lavender was in the air. Tamaki was busy reading his English text book, one hand tracing the words and the other reaching out for his fork. Pausing for a moment, he took a small chunk of cake and swallowed it, savoring the sweet taste in comparison to the takoyaki balls that he had everyday. It wasn’t that he hated takoyaki, it was just that it was tiring to eat day after day.

Thank god y/n started bringing me to this cafe

The said person yawned slightly, their eyes glancing at the ticking clock. A cat brushed its tail against their legs and they chuckled quietly before leaning down to pick up the cat.

“Hey! This cat looks kinda like you!” They held the black and indigo cat in their arms, waving its paws around. The cat was pretty tall and quite energetic as it jumped out of y/n’s arms and walked on the table.

“Me? Really…? I think I’m more like that one over there.” Tamaki quietly pointed to a small cat curled in a corner.

“Really? I mean, I guess you could be but I think you’re more like this one. Ya know? I’ve seen you on tv fighting overhaul and it was so cool! You were so strong and brave like damn, I could never.” Y/n laughed, smiling at his friend. “You’re a really cool person Tamaki,” Tamaki hummed in reply, smiling softly, and not denying the statement.

“Well, it’s going to be dark soon so we should probably get going. And no, don’t try and pay for the sweets, I ate some as well” y/n stood up, heading towards the cashier.

“But- I also-“ Tamaki sighed in defeat, shaking his head in sadness. It felt good though, not someone paying for him- no, not that part. He just never thought that someone would think that he was cool and brave. And that, was enough to leave a smile on him the next morning.

A/n: hope ya enjoyed, I went a bit overboard and added a bunch a stuff

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mxndoscyarika · 3 years

Text

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice (Sam Wilson x fem!Reader) | Chapter 1: Snickerdoodles

Summary: Being best friends with Sarah Wilson was simultaneously the easiest and hardest thing you’ve ever experienced. You felt at home with the Wilsons, and helped raise Sarah’s children after her divorce and the Snap. But harboring feelings for her brother, Sam, and not being able to do anything about it hurt more than it should. When he comes back home between leads on Karli Morgenthau, with Bucky in tow, you can’t help but feel a spark of hope.

Ao3

Like my writing? Here’s my masterlist.

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice masterlist

Author’s note: It’s been a very long time since I’ve written anything for Marvel, so I hope this is ok! I tried to keep the story canon-compliant, so you can think of this as sort of an elaboration on Sam and Bucky’s time in Louisiana. Enjoy, and let me know if you would like to be added or removed from my taglist!

Warnings: food, mutual pining, jealousy, tfatws spoilers

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“Careful, AJ, the tray’s hot,” you warned as AJ and his brother burst through the doors of the house. They still had their backpacks on, the zippers and keychains jingling as they ran up to you with all the energy two young boys could hold. “What’s going on?”

“I think a better question is: what are you doing in my house?”

Your eyes widened. You recognized that voice. When you looked up, you were greeted with Sam standing at the entrance of the kitchen, his own bag slung over his shoulder.

“Uncle Sam is home!” the boys cheered, running back to Sam and smothering him with hugs. They easily reached past his waist by now; they couldn’t stay little forever.

He looked as great as you remembered, his kind smile and sparkling eyes making you feel butterflies in your stomach even after all these years. No amount of high school sleepovers with Sarah, weekend dinners, or summer drives could’ve changed that. The fact that his shirt fit him perfectly definitely didn’t help, either.

“Welcome home, Sam,” you greeted, unable to keep a smile off your face. Fidgeting with your hands, you explained, “I’m doing some baking to test recipes and also make dessert for Sarah’s box lunches. If I knew you were coming home, I’d have gone to pick you up.”

The last couple times he’d visited, you were busy at work. And as much as you wanted to stop by, you knew Sarah missed her brother. It would’ve been selfish for you to show up during their short reunion.

What you didn’t know was that Sam went through his visit waiting for your car to pull up on the driveway, or park by the dock. Sarah had called him a lovesick puppy.

“Don’t ‘Welcome home, Sam’ me, come here.” He waved you over, lifting his arm so you could slip into his embrace.

Laughing softly, you hugged him tightly around the waist and rested your head against his shoulder. You tried not to think too hard about how you fit perfectly against him, the warmth and strength of him like the missing piece of the puzzle that was your life. “We missed you a lot.”

“I missed you, too,” Sam replied softly, his arm tightening around you just a little. The soft rumble of his voice made your heart flutter. “I really need to come back more often. Next thing I know, the boys will be as tall as me and you’ll be married to the luckiest bastard in the world.”

“Not that lucky,” you reasoned, pulling him along to the tray of cookies. “I’ve been doing lots of recipe testing, and my apartment is already full of cookies and cakes. It would drive anyone crazy. I don’t think even the biggest dessert person would be able to stand it.”

His eyes lit up at the sight of the cookies. “I didn’t know you knew how to make snickerdoodles. Can I have one?”

“Go for it,” you said, touching the edge of the tray to make sure it wasn’t hot anymore. “You can be my taste tester. The ones in stores are always too sweet, so I figured I would make my own.”

“I’ve been telling you: your baking skills are unmatched,” he said. A moan left his lips as he bit into the cinnamon-sugar cookie, causing your face to heat up. “Between your baking and Sarah’s cooking, I’m surprised neither of you have opened a bakery or restaurant. The line would go down the street.”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly in the best position to open a bakery these past few years,” you noted, leaning against the counter next to him. Your day job wasn’t fulfilling, but it was what you needed to stay afloat. Baking, on the other hand...it was a dream. If you could spend your days baking instead of sitting in an office, you would. But you dreamed of a lot of things. You didn’t quite realize how close you were until you looked up and found yourself face to face with him. His gentle smile and soft eyes made you look away quickly, not wanting him to think you were staring. Although you totally were. “Anyways, what brings you back here?”

The door opened again, and in walked Sarah and Bucky Barnes, the two chatting away with bright smiles on their faces. You hadn’t seen Sarah quite that energetic in a long time; being a single mom and keeping the family business afloat definitely wasn’t easy. Even with your help in taking care of the boys after the Snap, you knew Sarah had a lot to shoulder.

“Who’s this, Sam? Your new partner?” you asked, walking up to introduce yourself. Meanwhile, Sarah busied herself with getting AJ and Cass to calm down and start on their homework.

“More like coworkers,” Bucky said, shaking your hand. “We figured that since there’s not much going on right now, we might as well lay low. This is a very nice house, by the way.”

Smiling, you replied, “It is. Well, this is Sarah’s house, so I guess you should be telling her that. I’m just helping out however I can.”

“I know, she told me about you on the way here,” he said, his voice soft like velvet. “All good things, I promise. Though it didn’t take me long to realize how great you are.”

Well, that caught you off guard. You couldn’t help but smile shyly and wave him off. “Oh. That’s very nice of you-”

“Hey Buck, why don’t you get settled in? We’ve still got some work to do on the boat.” Sam interjected, coming up behind you. Resting his hands on your arms protectively, he continued, “You can set your bag down in the living room, and we can figure something out for the night.”

---

A couple days later, everyone was sitting around the dinner table, chatting over plates of peach cobbler. The chunks of golden fruit glistened with sugar and cinnamon, half-buried in buttery crumble and melting vanilla ice cream. You’d made it after work, driving from your apartment to make it with the Wilsons and Bucky. Sure, you could’ve made it at home and brought it over, but there was something special about a freshly-baked cobbler that was still bubbling from the oven.

“-And then Sam came over and took over peeling and cutting the peaches,” you began. “So-”

“And so, everyone made it through the prep with all their fingers intact,” Sam finished, laughing at your pout. Mimicking the way you held the paring knife, he explained, “The way she was holding the knife was terrifying! My blood pressure shot up just by watching her.”

He’d gently pried the knife out of your hands, insisting that he knew what he was doing. You’d rolled your eyes but obliged so you could focus on making the crumble. No matter how long you knew each other or how many times you proved yourself, he always had to butt in. It must’ve been an older brother thing, much to your dismay. As great of a brother you knew he was, you didn’t want to be his little sister. You wanted something more than that.

“Oh no, you sit back down,” Sam started, making you pause your cleanup. He went around and stacked up the empty plates, shaking his head fondly. You tried not to look too lovestruck as his arm brushed against yours, the touch gentle and warm. “Bucky and I will take care of the dishes. You girls just relax, ok?”

You watched them go, your gaze lingering on Sam’s broad shoulders. That was one thing that made you fall in love with him; whenever he was around, you felt safe and cared for. His hugs were a luxury, and his kindness a rarity in today’s society. Maybe he thought you would get married, but you wondered why he hadn’t found the one. He’d looked so handsome at Sarah’s wedding, you could just picture him standing at the altar someday.

“I saw that look.”

You blinked. “Look? What look?”

Sarah smirked and rested her head on her hand. “You can’t fool me. I saw you making those googly eyes at my brother.” When you sank into your seat in embarrassment, she laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. Actually...I’m excited to see where this goes.”

“Nothing’s going anywhere,” you said, rolling your eyes. It didn’t matter that you had feelings for Sam. After all, you were his sister’s best friend. If anything were to happen between the two of you, it could affect their relationship. You couldn’t do that to them, not after everything they’d been through.

It was hard enough to see him knowing that you were such a big part of Sarah’s life. Telling him would put that all at risk. What would Sarah tell the kids if you couldn’t ever come back?

“There’s always a chance,” she reasoned, keeping her voice low to make sure no one else could hear. “Besides, something tells me he wouldn’t say no. And I’m sure the kids would love to have you be their official aunt.”

You smiled, trying not to give into the glimmer of hope. “I guess we’ll just have to see what happens, then.”

Meanwhile, Sam and Bucky were huddled around the sink and covered in droplets of soapy water.

“You are an actual child,” Sam chuckled, flinching as Bucky flicked some suds at him.

“Not as childish as you for not telling her that you’re in love with her,” Bucky jabbed, rinsing a plate under the water before handing it to Sam for drying. “How long have you been at it, birdy?”

Sam sighed and shook his head amusedly. “You really want to go there?”

“I’m just saying, it’s kind of hypocritical that you can flirt with your sister’s best friend but I can’t flirt with Sarah,” Bucky said, giving him a knowing look.

“You do realize flirting with your coworker’s sister is worse, right?” Sam rebutted, putting the dried dishes away. “If you hurt her-”

“You’re changing the subject, Sam,” Bucky interrupted, letting the water rinse away the soap residue before shutting it off. Crossing his arms, he said, “You haven’t answered the question.”

Unable to look him in the eyes, Sam sighed and said quietly, “18 years.”

Bucky’s brows shot up. A mischievous grin appeared on his face, “Almost two decades. You’ve got it bad, huh?”

Bracing his arms on the counter, Sam smiled to himself. “We met shortly after I joined the military. We only got to know each other a little before I had to go again, but...she was something more to come home to, you know?”

“Wow, you talk like she’s your wife,” he teased, recalling the way Sam had held you. “Do you plan on ever telling her?”

“And risk making things awkward for my sister if she doesn’t feel the same way?” Sam shook his head. “I can’t do that.”

“Well, how do you know she doesn’t like you back? She looks at you a lot, always gets that cute little smile whenever you talk-”

“Wait, cute?”

Bucky held his hands up. “I’m just making an observation.” He smirked. “One that seems to get you a little jealous, am I right?”

“No-”

“You’re lying, I can tell by your body language” he cut off, smiling softly. Gesturing towards where you and Sarah were sitting, he said, “Let me just say this: if you don’t ever tell her, one day you’re going to feel much more jealous when you’re sitting in the audience of her wedding.”

---

“Hey Sam?”

The man jogged down the stairs. “You called?” He reeled back as you turned around with a forkful of funfetti cake, narrowly missing his face. “What’s this?”

You looked startled at how close he was, still holding the fork up. “Oh, I was just wondering if you’d taste this and tell me if it’s sweet enough.”

He chuckled softly and leaned in. “Of course, honey.”

Warmth spread through your body at the pet name. His lips closed around the fork just as Sarah walked in, drawing your attention away from the man in front of you.

At first, you were confused as to why she was grinning like a cheshire cat, but then you realized something: you were feeding Sam.

Your bodies were nearly pressed against each other, your free hand resting on his bicep as you fed him the cake. You became keenly aware of how close your faces were, and how at some point he’d rested his hands on your waist. Part of you wanted to savor this moment because it wasn’t likely to happen again. Another part of you wanted to run away and hide for doing something so ridiculous.

Sam turned his head and froze. Heat rushed up his face as his sister shot him a knowing look.

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helnjk · 4 years

Text

Sixth Year - D.M.

Draco Malfoy x fem!reader

Platonic!Blaise Zabini x fem!reader

Requested: yes

Hey if requests are open could you do a prompt#21&50 for Draco.. Could it be a bit of angst and end with fluff? Thanks!

“all you do is make empty promises” “i’m tired of your lies”

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: angst, swearing

Summary: 6th year with Draco isn’t turning out how you expected it to be.

A/N: ok 1, i wanted to try writing angst (pls give comments/reviews!! i wanna know how i did) & 2, other than the request, i kind of based this off of one of my fav tiktok acct’s shifting stories aksjdhsadh you can find her here ! i love her tiktoks and she’s what got me into shifting LMAO but anyway ! let me know if you wanna be added to my taglist ! enjoy xx

THIS IS A REPOST BC I THINK TUMBLR DID ME DIRTY WITH THE TAGS

Prompts are in bold

—

Eighth. This was the eighth night you had stayed up until god knows what hour waiting for Draco to show up.

The moon was high in the sky by the time you realized he wasn’t coming yet again. The biting wind rushed past you as you tried to gather as much warmth as possible from the jacket you brought up to the Astronomy tower. Your breath came out in short puffs, white wisps trailing from your mouth out into the chilly night.

With one last glance at the midnight stained grounds, the only light emanating from the moon above, you wrapped your jacket tighter around your body and turned to make it down the stairs. It was a long trek to the Slytherin dorms, which gave your mind more time to spiral. This meant fighting back the prick of tears at the back of your eyes by the time you had reached the dungeons.

The next morning, you found yourself at the Slytherin table barely able to keep your eyes open. You hadn’t gotten much sleep, your mind refusing to stop running the different scenarios with which you imagined Draco must have gotten into causing him to forget your rescheduled plans.

“Y/N?” Blaise’s voice startled you into opening your eyes, having nodded off, leant against your palm.

“Huh?” You murmured, trying to blink the sleep from your eyes, “Sorry did you say something?”

“You alright? You look like you could just drop dead any second,” His eyes scanned yours worriedly, shifting closer to you so that you could have something to lean on.

“Gee thanks Blaise,” A sarcastic drawl came out of your lips, “Just tired. I was up late last night at the Astronomy tower waiting for Draco.”

His brows furrowed at your statement, “Draco? He got to the dorms pretty early last night. Didn’t say he had anything planned with you last night.” Eyes widened at the realization of what he said and he quickly tried to back track, “I mean-That’s not-”

Despite the distinct crack you felt in your chest, you mustered up the faintest of smiles (which probably looked more like a lopsided grimace), “It’s alright, Blaise. Thanks for letting me know.”

The rest of the day passed by you in a blur.

Everyone seemed to notice the melancholy mood that you were in, everyone except for the only person you wished would pay attention.

Being in your sixth year at Hogwarts, you were excited to spend a good chunk of it with your boyfriend. After all, there were no OWLs or NEWTs to worry about (yet), so you assumed that this year would bring more time for you to spend together.

You were wrong. Clearly.

The moment you had stepped off the Hogwarts Express in September, Draco started to spend less and less time with you. It was November now and the less time you found yourself spending with him, the more you noticed that he began to keep things from you. His eyes would shift whenever you would ask him what his plans for the day were or when you questioned who he would be with all day. He never gave you straight answers either.

“Why? What do you have planned for us today?”

“Just off brainstorming for our next date.”

“Obsessed with me, are you? You’re too cute darling.”

No matter how charming he had tried to be with his answers, you could tell something was off with him. None of the so-called plans he came up with ever came to full fruition. Often, you would find yourself waiting for him to arrive, either at the common room to take you to wherever he planned your date to be, or up in the Astronomy tower since that was where you went when you wanted to spend time, just the two of you.

Some nasty rumors had also been circulating Slytherin house. It started when someone overheard Harry Potter speaking to his friends about running into Draco right before a quidditch match, but the catch was that he was in the company of two other girls. Of course, you tried not to let these kinds of things get to you, they were just silly little rumors after all.

Still, these kinds of thoughts plagued you at night when you would go to bed not wrapped in the arms of the person you loved most.

When you brought up these feelings with him, it had only started an argument.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Y/N.” Draco said rather harshly after you asked him about the rumors, “Are you implying that I’m cheating on you?”

“No!” You replied immediately, “I just want to know where these rumors are coming from. You’re my boyfriend, I should know what to say when people ask me about it.”

“Then tell them they should be minding their own damn business.”

You didn’t bring it up after that, afraid that if you did, it would cause an even bigger rift between you two.

By the time you had made it back to the common room, it was mostly empty. There were a couple of seventh years trying to get in some extra revising time in the corner, but they mostly left you alone. Not wanting to go up to your dorm yet, you settled on the couch next to the blazing fire instead. By some stroke of luck, Draco came stumbling inside the room as you sunk into the cushions.

“Draco!” You called out, his name slipping from your lips before you even knew you were saying anything.

His eyes registered that you were in the practically empty common room a second slower than usual, “Y/N. Hi love.”

“I missed you last night,” You admitted as he reached you.

A furrow in his brows told you that he didn’t know what you were talking about, “Come again, love?”

For the nth time, his words struck a chord deep in you. You didn’t think it was physically possible, but they added yet another crack to your already broken heart. You cleared your throat in an attempt to push down the lump that had formed, “Uh, I was waiting for you in the Astronomy tower? Because we had plans?”

As if a bucket of cold water dropped on him, his demeanour changed completely in the blink of an eye.

“Oh darling I’m so sorry,” He muttered softly, taking your face in his hands and pressing kisses all around, “I was completely knackered yesterday, I didn’t even think about anything after dinner except sleep. I’m so sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?”

Instead of the calm you usually felt being around Draco, you felt like you were at your breaking point. You couldn’t do this to yourself anymore. It was surprising to realize, that even with the added comfort of being at the receiving end of his kisses, there was still a large part of you that was tired. You couldn’t fall back into his arms after more than a dozen attempts at trying to keep the relationship afloat.

Gently, you pried his hands away from his face and took a deep breath. You could already feel the sting of unshed tears in your eyes as they locked with his, “I don’t think you can do anything to fix this.”

“What-Love, what are you talking about?”

“All you do is make empty promises, Dray.” You whispered, “And I’m tired of setting myself up for disappointment.”

The love of your life was speechless, so you took the opportunity to stand up quickly. “I don’t understand what you’re doing or why you’re being so secretive about it, but find me when you’ve figured out if it’s worth it or not.”

Without waiting for his response, you hurriedly made your way to your dorm room and sparing no glances back in his direction.

A few days after your heartbreaking conversation with Draco, you still weren’t one hundred percent. It didn’t feel like you were ever going to be one hundred percent again. Your only solace was your friendship with Blaise.

For all intents and purposes, he was your best friend. Even before you had started dating Draco, the two of you were thick as thieves.

Oftentimes over the next few days, you found yourselves huddled in a corner of the common room. He would remind you to eat and to do your schoolwork as you went about your days mindlessly.

“C’mon,” He said one night, holding his hand out to you as you were cuddled up against a cushion. You merely raised your eyebrow at him, “Get up, I’ve got somewhere to take you.”

With a sigh, you pushed yourself off the couch and took his hand. It was well past curfew, but it never really bothered the pair of you. Being Slytherins made you resourceful with how you navigated the castle, the easy dynamic between the two of you enabled you to sneak through the shadows unnoticed by anyone who might have been nearby.

“Why are we going to the Astronomy tower?” You whispered as you climbed the seemingly endless staircase.

“Just thought you could use some fresh air.” He answered nonchalantly, “Feels like you’ve kept yourself cooped up in the castle this whole week.”

“That’s awful sweet of you, Zabini,” You teased, the shadow of a smile on your lips.

He shrugged as you got to the top of the tower, “Just don’t like seeing you so sad.”

Few words were exchanged between you two as you leant against the railing of the turret, taking in the view of the grounds in the dim light. The moon was full and high in the sky, and the breeze wasn’t as biting as it was the last time you were here.

Something about being up there in the clear night with Blaise was doing wonders for your aching heart. It might’ve been the fresh, crisp air, it might have been the calming presence of your best friend. You were grateful either way.

As the wind picked up, you huddled closer to Blaise’s warm body. What was it about boys being basically walking furnaces all the damn time?

“Draco’s a prat,” He murmured as he wrapped his arms around you, “I just wanted you to hear that.”

“He’s not though,” You defended weakly, “Something’s up with him, definitely, but I don’t think he’s being a dick on purpose.”

“Yeah but he’s still made you feel like shit.”

You shrugged, “And I let him.”

After a few minutes of silence, you heard the distinct sound of a door swinging open behind you. You craned your neck to see who would be up here at such a late hour when your heart stopped in your chest.

“What’s going on here?” Draco sneered, taking in the sight of you cuddled up at Blaise’s side, “Replaced me already, Y/N? Reckon he’s the reason why we’ve broken up?”

You felt Blaise tense up beside you but paid no mind when your focus was solely on the rage brewing in your chest.

“How dare you,” You seethed, “You have no right to accuse me, we weren’t even doing anything!”

He had the audacity to scoff at your retort, “Sneaking off at nearly midnight, to share a romantic night under the stars? Seems like more than just ‘nothing.’”

Before you could respond, you felt Blaise’s warm hands on your shoulders, “I’m gonna let you handle this one, love.” Blaise whispered in your ear, “He doesn’t deserve anything from you, but I feel like I’ll only make it worse if I stay.”

You nodded slightly.

“Hurt her even more than you have, Malfoy, and you’ll see just what kinds of curses I know how to cast.”

With Blaise making a quick exit and taking away your source of warmth, you crossed your arms in front of your chest and clutched the jacket you had on closer to you.

“You never had a problem with my friendship with Blaise before,” You muttered.

“Because he wasn’t all over you then!” He argued.

“We’ve always been like that and you know it.” You rolled your eyes, “Why are you even up here Draco?”

“So you own the Astronomy tower now?” He huffed, stepping next to you to lean on the railings, “I needed somewhere to think and clear my head.”

Almost as if there was no gaping chasm between the two of you, your bodies slowly inched towards each other until you were shoulder to shoulder. Almost as if the boy standing next to you hadn’t broken your heart with his secrets and his deflection tactics, his presence seemed to calm your elevated heart rate. Almost.

“Are you finally going to tell me what’s been going on with you recently?” The words that escape your mouth are no more than a whisper. You hold your breath in anticipation.

“Nothing’s been going on,” Is all he says in reply.

“Stop lying through your teeth, Draco!” You burst out, your frustrations finally getting the better of you, “I’m tired of your lies. Do you not trust me? Is that it? Because I can help you, you just have to let me in!”

“Of course I trust you! I love you for Merlin’s sake, Y/N!”

You sucked in a breath, all of your resentment seeming to escape your body, “I love you too, Draco,” You whisper, taking his warm hand in your cold ones, “But all of this sneaking around, this hiding, I don’t think I can handle not knowing what you’re up to especially when it’s affecting you this way.”

Draco took a deep shuddering breath, you could practically see the gears turning in his head. “I don’t want to lose you.”

That wasn’t what you expected him to say, “You won’t, you just need to be honest with me.”

He turned to face you, thumbs rubbing gentle circles on your hands, “I can’t tell you exactly what I’m doing,” You opened your mouth to argue but he cut you off with a look, “All I can say is that I love you and I want to protect you. What I’m doing has nothing to do with how much you mean to me, but it’s something I have to do. I just need you to be here, be with me.”

“I don’t understand,” Came your reply.

“I’m saying that I have an important job to do, and I want to be with you, but that means you’ll have to be okay with not knowing everything.”

“You’ll tell me if you need any help though, right?” You all but whispered.

“I’ll tell you if you absolutely need to know,” He nodded slightly.

“Okay,” You were still trying to wrap your head around everything that he said. It wasn’t exactly what you wanted, but it was a good compromise, “And you can’t keep blowing me off. If you want me to be here for you, then you have to do the same for me.”

“I can work with that.” A slow smile graced his pale features and you felt your heart stutter at the sight, you hadn’t seen him look so calm and at ease in a long time.

“Good.” You pressed your cheek against his chest and reveled at the comfort it brought you. He wrapped his arms around you and you could feel yourself melting into his touch.

#Draco Malfoy #Draco Malfoy imagine #Draco Malfoy imagines #Draco Malfoy fics #Draco Malfoy fic #Draco Malfoy x reader #Draco Malfoy reader insert #Draco Malfoy x y/n #Draco Malfoy angst #Blaise Zabini

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fools-of-wna · 3 years

Note

walpurga-nacht-academy: 👑🏹🐾 for Dwyn?

Thanks for the ask! :3c

👑 what relationship does your oc have with Vil?

Dwyn holds a general respect for Vil, admiring his work ethic and performances both for school and his career. They don’t quite understand Rosa’s obsession(?) with Vil, but he’s someone Dwyn does look up to. They don’t interact much, but they’re polite and courteous to each other.

🏹 what relationship does your oc have with Rook?

While Dwyn does agree with Rook on certain aspects (Beaute), they have an intense…dislike for him. They’re constantly annoyed by his presence in some way, and disapprove of his rather unique and eccentric observations of certain characters. They’re not the type to be often outright mean to people, but Rook does annoy them enough that they snap a little with a small amount of effort. I imagine it gets worse if Rook finds out Dwyn is half-fae, since they also become a target of sorts. Overall, Dwyn doesn’t like Rook, and he easily ranks the top 3, if not the most annoying NRC student in Dwyn’s mind.

🐾 what relationship does your oc have with Ruggie?

Ok this is a little long, cause I didn’t bother making a simplified version of the whole chunk of relationship stuff that was in my docs and just copied and pasted the whole thing bc I’m lazy so enjoy lmao

The two first met unofficially during the Interschool MagiShift Tournament in their first year. Ruggie had a bit of time on the pitch due to his athletic ability and trickster-like play style. He spots Dwyn, a tall lanky first year, dressed in the WNA cheerleader outfit for NRC and seeming as though they’re out of place. They also happen to be sketching something, looking up every once in a while, and Ruggie, for all his humbleness, feels as though they’re looking at him.

They officially met around the time of the Spring Debutante Ball of that year. The quiet, awkward Dwyn had mainly been sketching Ruggie while the Savanaclaw student seemed lost among the small crowd of fellow first years and even second years who found him adorable and intriguing. Dwyn offered some reprieve due to their penchant for being alone, though Ruggie eventually went with a Rosenhex girl while Dwyn skipped attending that year.

For the most part, Dwyn and Ruggie had a comfortable friendship of sorts, albeit they were more like friendly acquaintances than friends as they were still rather distant. They exchanged the occasional letter and greeted each other at any events that both of their schools attended.

Their friendship didn’t start progressing until the Spring Debutante Ball of their second year. Dwyn had attempted to invite Ruggie, but Ruggie had already promised to go with another girl who had asked him earlier. He notices the girl become a little quieter for the days leading up to the ball, unlike the friendly, somewhat outgoing self that they’ve become over the past year. Still, he doesn’t think much of it until the ball itself.

During the Ball, Ruggie notices that Dwyn looks uncomfortable and the next thing he knows they’re gone. He wraps up his business with whoever he’s dancing with and slips out. He smells the salt and he already feels the dread building. The scent just gets stronger and he starts to notice a few drops of tears on the floor here and there. He walks just a little faster until he breaks into a small jog and reaches the gardens.

He finds Dwyn, looking disheveled. Their hair looks grossly textured with obvious marks where they tied it up for the ball and crusty bits of hairspray. Their makeup has smeared on their face and onto their arm, and their heels are haphazardly thrown off to the side. Dwyn tries to make themselves look more put together and asks Ruggie to leave them alone for a bit. Ruggie knows he should but hearing them sound so broken for once only reaffirms that Dwyn is in no state to be left alone. Ruggie doesn’t know how to comfort Dwyn, so he just ends up sitting next to them and letting them lean on him. He asks Dwyn’s little friends to get makeup remover somewhere and he gently gets rid of their makeup. They generally just stay in a comfortable silence for the rest of the night, with Ruggie singing a little folk song popular with the neighbourhood kids to lure Dwyn to sleep.

After the rather awkward scene, Dwyn goes to apologise the next day, which leads to them taking Ruggie out for donuts to make up to Ruggie. The boy doesn’t actually mind, but he’s not about to turn down free food when offered. They bond over casual talk about schoolwork, classmates, and their hobbies. One outing turns to two, then four, then regular ones whenever Ruggie’s free. They become to get closer, and Dwyn off-handedly mentions their bad experiences with the Balls for 2 years, being too self-conscious to attend the first year and their breakdown during earlier.

Later on, Ruggie plans a makeup dance of sorts for Dwyn a few weeks after the Ball. He gets some of the Savanaclaw boys as well as a few WNA girls to set up a simple setting for a recreation of the dance Dwyn didn’t get to have at the Ball. Neither of them really pay attention to the “correct” dance steps, opting for fun, impromptu random dance moves ranging from adorable to madness. They grow closer over the makeup dance, and have a comfortable friendship. Dwyn’s crush starts about this time, seeing Ruggie smiling widely underneath the moonlight as they dance together. Ruggie notices his own during another outing between the two of them when a Savanaclaw member mentioned Ruggie’s “date” and he had that in mind when he saw Dwyn laughing.

Dwyn starts having trouble confessing because their relationship with Ruggie started off with them relying on Ruggie in a way as well as money and they’re not sure how to approach the entire thing in general. Ruggie’s also having some issues because he was initially in for the money and he still kinda is in a way but he’s also developed a crush and he doesn’t want Dwyn to think he’s only in for the money.

Ruggie offers to treat Dwyn to a meal, using Leona’s money/money he got with pawning Leona’s gifts, to sort of try and progress things but there’s Dwyn who knows Ruggie’s household struggling with income (plus feeding the neighbouring kids too) so they don’t want Ruggie to have more expenses when they’re not really necessary ones. They end up with a compromise of sorts which is Ruggie offering to cook using stuff from NRC so he doesn’t have to spend a lot of madol even if he has to, while also taking some of the burden off of Dwyn BUT while their feelings are evolving into something more, their relationship barely has any progress at all.

Dwyn is starting to feel guilty because they haven’t actually been accepting anything positive Ruggie has said about them, they only seemed to do so because they don’t want Ruggie to worry (especially knowing that he saw how they were like during the ball) and they don’t want Ruggie to feel guilty for not being able to help them when they’re the one going around in circles. Ruggie sort of picked up on Dwyn’s struggle but he’s not entirely sure what’s Dwyn’s issue with themself so he doesn’t want to say anything. He eventually asks Dwyn to tell him, to which Dwyn isn’t sure how to respond and they drift apart for a bit as a result of awkwardness. Ruggie knows that Dwyn has unaddressed issues but not he is unable to help when Dwyn doesn’t want to address those issues, and they ended up drifting apart out of comfort.

Dwyn is the first to break the silence after mulling it over for weeks as they give Ruggie a poem that talks about their struggles. it’s simple enough to convey the basic idea for Ruggie to understand but they also write in more details about their problems. Ruggie goes to Leona for help at first but Leona takes one brief look at the poem and tells Ruggie to try deciphering it himself because Leona can tell the poem is clearly meant for Ruggie’s eyes only, so when Ruggie finally gets the last detail after weeks of hard work, he hands the poem back to Dwyn along with a simple, not really poetic response at the back (which is his attempt at poetry of sorts) and the two make amends.

There’s no verbal confession until months into them dating. The beginning of their romance starts with Adyna having an important study to do elsewhere. Dwyn was going to be left home alone for the holidays, and Ruggie invites them over to his house to spend the holidays together to take advantage of the opportunity.

Teasing aside, Dwyn gets along really well with everyone. Ruggie comes back and sees Dwyn having sat for hours listening to the old grandmas and grandpas of the neighbourhood telling stories about their youth. The next day he comes back to Dwyn all sweaty and glowy in the sunset from playing with the kids. The day after that it’s Dwyn helping the adults mend stuff, or helping people look put together for job interviews while on a limited budget.

One day, he comes back to Dwyn resting alongside his grandma, who’s telling stories about Ruggie and the rest of his family. he’s there hidden for long enough to hear how soft and, dare he say, infatuated Dwyn sounds, and he’s blushing for the rest of the evening while trying to act normal around Dwyn. He hears Dwyn quietly whispering little poetic prayers to his mum late at night while they think he’s asleep, since Ruggie refers to his mum as having “returned to the stars” when he mentioned it to Dwyn. He doesn’t understand half of the prayers, especially since it’s by ear and it’s not like he has a physical copy for him to write down notes on, but they commonly revolve around a trait of Ruggie’s that Dwyn admires, which comes through quite clearly.

Dwyn, on the other hand, hopes to get the approval of the neighbourhood by helping them out. they want to confess to Ruggie but they’ve been debating on how to confess. No method seems right or perfect for the occasion, and they struggle with putting their feelings into words.

Ruggie uses the last few days of the holidays to put together a nice little date under the stars where they can just relapse into the comfortable silence they’re so familiar with. they don’t say anything but the physical contact gradually evolves. they intertwine pinkies, and it becomes hand holding (like basic hand holding) and then lacing fingers together, and by the end of the night they’re cuddling, still holding hands with Ruggie’s face buried in Dwyn’s neck

Dwyn later hands over another poem which basically boils down to them confessing their love and attempting to ask Ruggie out. Ruggie has it with him all the time for the few days afterwards, mulling the offer over while simultaneously freaking out about the fact that his crush is requited. He thinks up all sort of scenarios to return the confession: taking Dwyn out on a date, planning out whole scripts of confessions and all the things he likes about Dwyn…However, the second he sees Dwyn he runs over and hugs them. Dwyn is surprised, but returns the hug, and they spend the rest of the day being fluffy and cute. While the confession wasn’t exactly confirmed, they became much closer with each other.

TL;DR: Much slow burn strangers-to-friends-to-lovers. Ghost Donuts is just all the slow burn

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #twst #twst oc #oc ask meme #dwynwen philautia #vil schoenheit #rook hunt #ruggie bucchi #ghost donuts #ghost donuts brainrot is real #walpurga-nacht-academy #girl-in-the-tower #ask answered

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ificanthaveu · 4 years

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Big Dipper || Shawn Mendes

Description: After the worst few months of your life, you spend your summer at your family’s cottage. There you meet Shawn Mendes who is there for his own reasons. In search of a break, the two of you begin to find something more than that.

A/N: OH BOY this is.....so long. BUT it’s honestly so cute and I really like how it turned out. I love a good “summer love” and I feel like it’s the perfect time of year for that. At first I genuinely just wanted this to be soft fluffy summer cabin life...but then i decided reader had some issues she had to overcome. SO ENJOY.

Word Count: 12.6k

“Is that everything?” Your uncle George asked as he leaned your suitcase against the wall and walked towards the door to lock his car.

You glanced around at the bags the two of you had just brought in and nodded your head.

“Yeah, I think that’s it. Thanks again. You really didn’t have to help,” you said with a slight head shake.

He shrugged his shoulders as he brushed some dust off one of the counters.

“Well, you’ll be doing a lot this summer. I just wanted to make sure you got in ok,” he said as he checked the time. “I guess I’ll leave you to it. The list is on the fridge, and if you need absolutely anything, just call me or your aunt or Lyla. It’s just a short two hours.”

“Sounds great. Do you know if any of the neighbors are around anymore?” You asked, gesturing to the two cottages on the other sides of you through the woods.

“The Henderson’s sold their cottage at the end of last summer, and it’s still up for sale. You might see some people stopping by to look at it occasionally. And then someone’s renting the other one from the Everett family for the summer, but I don’t know who it is. I saw some guy around your age wandering around before,” he said.

“Alright, well that’s all I need,” you said with a sigh.

He gave you a quick hug goodbye before leaving. You heard his truck driving up the driveway shortly after.

You sighed and looked around at the place you’d spending your summer at. Your bags were littered everywhere with everything you’d need for the next three months, and you figured that was the first step of anything. So you grabbed your bags with clothes and brought them into the main bedroom to start putting your clothes in the drawers.

After your hardest year of college yet, you honestly didn’t want to live with your parents this summer. You loved seeing them for weekends, but a whole summer wasn’t something you were sure you could handle. So when your uncle mentioned his cottage in Michigan would be empty and needed some cleaning up this summer, you jumped at the chance.

Your uncle was glad to let you stay here as long as you started tackling the list of things that had to be done to the place. Nothing too serious, just a lot of cleaning, some painting, and a few basic repairs. No one in your family came here as much as you did when you were young, so the place stayed pretty vacant for almost a year.

So you got a part-time job at the restaurant down the road and decided to spend your summer here.

You finished putting your clothes away and started with your toiletries before moving to the groceries.

After you were done, you grabbed your book and went out the back door, following the brick stairs down to your dock. You knew the paddleboat was in the shed which was something you planned on pulling out as soon as possible.

But for now, you just wanted to lay outside in the sun and peace and quiet and read your book.

“Hey!” You heard someone yell from behind you before you even had a chance to open your book.

You sighed and turned around to see a man at the dock next to yours, just far enough away that he had to yell for you to hear him, with a guitar perched up on his lap and a notebook in front of him.

“Hi,” you yelled back.

“Do you live there?” He asked as he pointed back to your cottage.

“For the summer. It’s my uncle’s place,” you responded.

“George?” He questioned.

“Yep. That’s him,” you yelled.

You watched the man set his guitar down and stand up, walking along the cut path between the two docks. You stayed seated, just turning around to see him walking to meet you at the beginning of your dock.

You stood up as he neared, and he stuck his hand out to shake.

“I’m Shawn,” he said with a gentle smile.

“[Y/N],” you responded and mirrored his smile.

“Figured we should know each other, you know, in case of emergency,” he said with a shrug.

“Of course,” you agreed. “The storms can get bad around here.”

“Can they?” He questioned with a cocked eyebrow.

“Yeah, are you not from around here?” You asked.

“No, not at all,” he said through a gentle laugh as he moved to sit down on the edge of the dock, his feet barely grazing the water.

“Me neither,” you said, following to sit next to him. “Well, I used to be, but my parents moved to North Carolina when I was 13.”

“Have you been here since?” He asked.

You shook your head, “We visit my family, but they’re two hours south of here. This is my first time being here since I was 13.”

“Wow,” he said with a nod.

“What brought you here?” You asked him.

“Needed some space I guess,” he said quietly. “Life just got too quick, and I just wanted to be able to relax and focus on me and writing music.”

“How long have you played?” You asked as you gestured to his abandoned guitar.

“Probably ten years now,” he said after a moment of thinking.

“And you write, too?”

He nodded his head at that.

“What brought you here? Why Michigan for the summer instead of North Carolina? Why the lake over the ocean?” He asked as he looked at you.

You shrugged your shoulders and kicked your feet for a moment.

“This last semester was my hardest one I’ve had yet, and I genuinely did not think I’d be able to live with my parents for a summer and have to work for the family business. Uncle George mentioned he was meaning to clean this place up, so I told him I’d do it,” you paused. “North Carolina is great, but I just needed a change of pace for a while. Something slower.”

“Looks like we’re on the same page,” he said.

You nodded your head, glancing down the canal.

“Have you explored at all?” You asked him, not wanting to talk about your family any longer

“Not at all,” he said through a gentle laugh. “I got here yesterday, and all I’ve done is unpack.”

“Well, there’s not much to figure out anyway. This town is pretty small,” you said.

“Any town secrets? Good suggestions?” He asked.

“Well, I’ll be working at Goldie’s a mile down the street. They have great breakfast. The downtown area is small, but they do have a farmer’s market every other week on Tuesdays. There’s a convenience store down there if you need anything and little family-owned shops, but the nearest box store is probably a half-hour away,” you paused to think of anything else. “There are some really good trails down past your cottage if you like to run or hike or anything.”

“Thanks,” he said as he took a mental note of some of the places you rattled off.

“And as for town secrets,” you said through a sigh. “Someone did die in the cottage you’re renting.”

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he whipped around to look at you.

“What?” He said loudly.

You couldn’t help the smile that came upon your cheeks as he rolled his eyes and let out a small chuckle.

“That’s not funny. You scared me,” he said as he rested his hand on his chest.

“Well, someone could have, I wouldn’t know,” you said with a shrug.

“Don’t say that,” he mumbled.

“Well, if you get too scared, I have a spare bedroom,” you offered a little too quickly.

“How generous of you,” you said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “Scare the shit out of me and then offer me your guest room. Classy.”

“That’s how we do it around here,” you said with a smile.

“Great.”

Silence filled the two of you as you could hear the birds chirp and the gentle noise of the water lapping against the poles that held up the dock. You laid back to look at the clouds above you, the edges of the tree branches reaching out to touch them.

You felt Shawn lay down next to you, also looking at the sky.

“I think this is going to be just what I needed,” he said as he turned his head to look at you.

You turned your head towards him as well, squinting at the sun.

“Me, too.”

—

You were up by 7:00 the next morning, hoping to get a chunk of the list done today before you started working tomorrow. You turned on your music and started scrubbing out the cupboards in the kitchen, temporarily stacking everything on the counters.

A knock sounded as you glanced over to see Shawn standing there. You motioned to him that the door was open before continuing scrubbing.

“What are you doing?” He asked as he looked up at you.

“Scrubbing these disgusting cupboards,” you said as you sat down on the counter. “What’s up?”

“I think the combination I was given for the shed is the wrong one,” he said as he handed you the crumpled note. “I can’t get into it.”

“32-24-08?” You said out loud.

“Tried that,” he said.

“I can try,” you said as you hopped off the counter and made your way over to Shawn’s and grabbed the lock dangling off the shed, putting the combination in and tugging.

“See?” He said.

You tried tugging on it harder, thinking it might just be stuck, but to no luck.

You looked down at the note again and tried 29 instead of 24, and it popped open.

“How the hell did you do that?” He asked as he threw his hands up in frustration.

You leaned towards him and pointed to the number, “That’s a 9, not a 4.”

“Well, shit,” he said as he took the note out of your hand. “That’s some bad handwriting.”

You patted his shoulder as you walked past him to make your way back to your place.

“I’ll be in my cupboards,” you said as you turned around briefly. “You know where to find me for all your lock needs.” You bowed before turning back around.

You could hear him chuckle from behind you as you smiled your whole way back.

You finished off the cupboards by 1:00 and then wiped the counters spotless until 2:00. You stopped to eat a quick lunch before working on the microwave and hoping to finish the oven and stove today while having time to walk to the other side of the lake to watch the sunset from the park.

You completed everything on time and took a quick shower before throwing on shorts and a sweatshirt to start your walk.

It wasn’t any more than a mile to the other side of the lake where there was a boat landing with a beach and a small park. You laid out a blanket on the beach and sat down, releasing the tension in your body from a day of scrubbing and cleaning.

You scanned the perimeter of the lake, seeing a few boats out and mentally reminding yourself that you still hadn’t taken out the paddleboat.

As you continued to look around, you could see Shawn sitting at the end of his dock, this time on a chair, but still with his guitar.

You had to squint to really see him. You wished you were over there, so you could actually hear him play and sing.

The sky turned darker as you watched the sun slowly disappear, leaving the lake and sky to be dark shades of blue that made it look a little ominous as the boats made their way back their docks.

Shawn was long gone when you looked across the lake again.

You stood up with a sigh and grabbed your blanket to make the walk back. You didn’t mind it since the stars were out and gave all the light you needed. You even saw a few shooting stars which always made your heart leap.

You heard soft guitar strumming and a fire crackling and saw the flames through the trees as you walked by Shawn’s driveway. You turned down his instead of yours and watched him come into view as he hummed along to whatever he was playing.

“Hey,” you said softly as you got closer.

He looked up to see you and smiled, moving to set his guitar down.

“Don’t,” you said a little too harshly. “I want to hear you play.”

“That’s the worst thing to say to a musician,” he said through a laugh.

“Just continue playing whatever you were playing,” you responded.

You sat down next to him on the swing he was on, his foot gently pushing it back and forth.

With a sigh, he started strumming the tune again as you leaned your head back and watched the fire. The soft sounds of his playing, the crickets, the soft wind and the fire were enough to almost lull you to sleep.

You turned your head to watch him as he played. He seemed to get lost in it as he also watched the fire.

“You don’t have to keep playing if you don’t want to,” you whispered.

He turned to look at you, offering the same soft smile.

“Good,” he said just as quiet as he set his guitar down next to him. “I’ve had that melody stuck in my head with no lyrics to go with it, and I think I’ll go crazy if I play it anymore.”

“It’s really pretty,” you offered.

“Thank you.”

It went silent as you both watched the fire dance.

“Why Michigan?” you asked after a moment.

“Why not Michigan?” he asked back.

“I’m just saying it’s usually not the first place people think of when they need time away.”

“I had some friends who used to live around here,” he said. “I wanted to be secluded. Somewhere different. When I googled places for the summer, this was the first one that popped up.”

“My parents are ruthless, so that’s my excuse. What’s yours? And you can’t just say you needed to slow down,” you asked.

“I guess ever since I started doing music, everyone wants the newest thing as soon as possible, and I’m out of ideas,” he said slowly. “I thought if I got away, completely by myself, and was able to find myself again, I’d be able to write something real, not rushed.”

“Yeah, I get that,” you said with a nod.

“And I don’t think ruthless parents is enough of an excuse,” he said as a sly smile came across his face. “I’m going to need a little more.”

You sighed and leaned your head back on the swing, feeling the pole dig into the back of your neck.

“They own a law firm in North Carolina. They’re both lawyers,” you paused. “I’m an English major.”

“Oh,” he said, everything clicking into place.

“I declared my major before this last semester, and they found out while I was at school. I knew if I went home, they’d do everything in their power to try to change my mind.”

“And your mind does not want to be changed.”

“Not at all.”

“Damn, so you decided a thousand miles would be a better distance?” He asked.

“The perfect distance,” you said with a smile.

“Just your parents? Nothing else tick you off about North Carolina?” He asked.

You turned towards the fire, watching it slowly die out. You stood up and wrapped your blanket tighter around yourself.

“Another time,” you said with a nod as you stood in front of him.

“Leaving me on a cliff hanger,” he said as he shook his head.

“You just know there’s more. It’s not really a cliff hanger,” you said with a scrunched face.

“That’s the definition of a cliff hanger,” he said with a laugh.

“I can give you a hint and make you even more mad,” you tested.

He waved his hands in front of him, shoeing you away.

“I don’t want to hear anything else. It’ll just bug me because I know you won’t finish it,” he said with a smirk.

“Looks like you’ve already got me figured out,” you said with a head shake, and your arms crossed across your chest.

“Yeah,” he said with that same soft smile that was starting to make your heart flutter. “Now get outta here.”

You giggled as you walked away from him and towards the path back to your place.

“Hey,” you heard him call.

You turned around for a moment to look back at him.

“I think I thought of some lyrics.”

“You going to play it for me sometime?” You asked.

“I’ll play it for you once you tell me your whole story,” he said. It was dark, but you just knew he was smirking.

“Touche.”

—

Your first shift at the diner the next morning went off without a hitch as you followed another waitress to learn the ropes. Goldie’s was a fairly casual place. No uniforms or oddly specific policies and mostly just regulars coming in to eat.

You rode your bike back to your cabin and leaned it against the side. You took a quick shower before slipping into running shorts and a sports bra, hoping to get a long hike in before finishing the cleaning in the kitchen.

You marched up your driveway in long strides, stretching your hips as you turned left, just to run into Shawn.

“Where are you headed?” You asked him.

“I was going to hike on one of the trails up there,” he said as he pointed down the road. “I’m guessing you’re doing the same thing?”

“You bet,” you said. “Want some company?”

“Of course,” he said with that charming smile as he followed your direction, claiming you knew which trail was the best.

You hiked in silence for a while as you followed the twists and turns of the path, Shawn following whichever way you turned.

“So, when are you going to finish your story?” He asked casually.

You crinkled your nose as you ducked underneath a branch.

“I’ll take that as a ‘not now,’” Shawn said through a laugh.

“Deep stories are hard to tell on hikes,” you said as you caught your breath.

“So it is deep?” He asked.

“I thought I made that clear.”

“Well, yeah, I guess you did.”

“What about you, huh?” You asked. “What’s holding you back from writing the music you want to write?”

“Time,” he reminded you.

“And?” You tested.

“And what? That’s literally it,” he said through a laugh.

You gave him a side-eye before you looked away.

“Says the guy who now has all the time in the world, but still couldn’t think of lyrics last night?”

“Busted,” he said as he hung his head low.

“Spill.”

“It’s complicated,” he said after a moment of silence.

“That’s what everyone says.”

“Yeah, but I mean it,” he said gently. “I guess I’ve just felt really uninspired. Like everything I’ve experienced as of lately has been surface level. It’s been nothing worth writing about.”

“But you came up with ideas last night? After I left?” You asked, noticing you were nearing the end of the path.

“Yeah,” he said simply.

“Why?” You tested.

You rounded the corner to the opening on top of the hill, showing off the lake and the rolling hills surrounding you.

“Wow,” he whispered as he leaned against a tree.

“Told you this is the best one,” you whispered back.

The two of you sat in silence as you admired the view.

“You didn’t answer my question,” you said after a few minutes.

“You really don’t give up, do you?” He asked as he turned to look at you, a smile still gracing his face.

“Never,” you returned.

“You inspired me,” he said, his eyes looking directly into yours.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Silence surrounded you again, this one a little more uncomfortable than the last.

“How?” You tested once more.

“It wasn’t surface level,” he said. “When we talked last night, it was real. I didn’t feel like I had to be fake around you.”

“I get that,” you said with a nod. “I felt the same way.”

Without another word, Shawn turned around to start making his way back down the hill, and you followed behind him.

“You know, this means I’m going to have to keep hanging out with you a ton if I actually want to write some good music this summer,” he teased.

“I’m not complaining,” you said as you mockingly put your hands up. “I like talking to you.”

“Good.”

—

Your conversation with Shawn stayed in the back of your mind every time you two saw each other, which was turning out to be every day, all day.

Shawn started helping you clean your cabin, so the two of you could keep talking and getting to know each other while still knocking things off your to-do list.

“Favorite movie?” He asked as the two of you moved a dresser out of the spare room.

“Clueless. Favorite book?”

“The Alchemist. Most embarrassing moment?”

“Freshman year of high school I spilled water down the hallway on my first day of school,” you paused after that one as you recounted the memory.

Shawn laughed as he took down the framed pictures on the walls.

“That’s bad,” he said.

“I know,” you grumbled, stacking the pictures as he handed them to you. “I will truly never forget it.”

“So, just washing the walls today and then painting tomorrow?” He asked.

“Yep, I work the morning shift tomorrow, so does noon work?”

“Perfect,” he said with a smile.

You grabbed a pail of water, two sponges, and two rags. You handed one to Shawn and the two of you worked on scrubbing the walls that were dirtier than you thought.

“This is gross,” Shawn said as he rang his dirty rag out.

“I know,” you mumbled, scrubbing at a mystery substance on the wall.

“Favorite memory?” You asked.

“Christmas morning with my family. Biggest regret?”

“Not speaking my mind sooner. Biggest accomplishment?”

“Being myself,” he said in the softest voice you’d ever heard.

“Aw,” you let out before you could stop it.

You saw the blush creep up on his cheeks from the corner of your eye as you prayed he didn’t see yours.

“I like that,” you said simply.

“Well, nothing else would have happened if I wasn’t genuinely me. I think everything else that has happened just stemmed from me being me,” he said, swiping across the wall.

“Yeah, I think the same thing. We manifest our own successes and failures. The minute we know who we are, the minute the good things start happening.”

“Are your good things happening?” He asked as he turned to you.

You nodded, meeting his eyes.

“They’re starting to,” you said with a smile.

You spent the next few hours finishing washing the walls before making mac n cheese for the two of you for dinner. Once you were done eating, you made a fire and waited for Shawn to come back, going to grab a sweatshirt.

You heard the leaves crunching before you saw him. He sat next to you on the blanket you had set down, having not found your lawn chairs yet.

“Alright, I think a fire is the perfect place for you to finally explain what else went wrong In North Carolina. Besides your ruthless parents,” he said, crossing one ankle over the other as he leaned back on his arms, looking at you as you watched the fire.

“You really won’t give this up,” you said through a small laugh, hoping to distract him a little bit.

“Come on! I’ve spilled most of my life to you. You can trust me. What is it?” He fired back at you. “Boyfriend? Falling out with a friend?”

You gave him a look with a cocked eyebrow before you said, “Ex-boyfriend, ex-best friend.”

“I guessed it?” He said with a little too much excitement.

“It’s not that hard to guess,” you said with an eye roll. “It’s the first thing people guess.”

“So what happened?” He asked, this time softly, his tone causing you to relax.

“Well, I’d known her since freshman orientation. We clicked instantly. I met him on our first day back from winter break. He was in my creative writing class. We also just clicked, and we were dating by Valentine’s Day,” you began.

You pulled your ankles in as you sat cross-legged, leaning back on your hands.

“We dated for over a year. Everything was great. I was roommates with her that year, and he was over by our place more than he wasn’t during our sophomore year. I thought I had it all,” you said quietly. “And then this last March, I went home for the weekend for my dad’s birthday. I came home Saturday night instead of Sunday morning. I forgot to tell her.”

“Oh no,” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” you said just barely loud enough for Shawn to hear. “I walked in on the two of them making out, both of them half-naked.”

“Wow,” he said, still whispering. “What did you do?”

You let out an uncomfortable laugh and shrugged your shoulders. “I left.”

“Just left? Didn’t say anything?” He asked.

“I told you,” you paused. “My biggest regret is not speaking my mind sooner.”

“Wow,” he said again.

“I went straight to the housing person and requested a room switch. I was in a single room the next day,” you said.

“Did they ever say anything about it?”

“They were both waiting for me in the room when I started moving out the next day. She did everything in her power to get me to stay, but I couldn’t even look at her. He tried every excuse in the book, but I wasn’t having it. I just told them both I never wanted to speak to them again, and so far, I haven’t,” you finished.

“So that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Ouch,” he said, shifting so one of his legs was perched up with his arms wrapped around it. “I would’ve killed them.”

“I wish I would’ve,” you said through a forced laugh.

Silence filled the air as you heard the wind whistle around the trees and you crossed your arms gently around your chest.

Shawn laid back on the blanket to look at the stars. You turned to look at him before doing the same. You shifted uncomfortably as something dug into your back.

“Here,” he mumbled as he nudged your shoulder and held his arm out for you.

You hesitated before moving into his welcoming arms, leaning your head on his shoulder and instantly feeling yourself relax in his embrace.

Your eyes traced along the sky, finding constellations quickly.

“I don’t blame you for wanting to get out of North Carolina,” he whispered. You felt his chest rise and fall with every word. “I’d do the same thing.”

“Thanks,” you said. “At least you understand.”

“Big Dipper,” Shawn said as he pointed with his free hand.

“I found that one a while ago,” he said through a laugh.

“And you didn’t point it out?” He asked with offense.

“It’s the most obvious one!” You replied. “And there’s Little Dipper.”

“Thanks,” he grumbled.

You found yourself curling tighter into Shawn’s side as the temperature dropped as it got later and later. Every movement you made, Shawn’s arm curled tighter around you.

You didn’t even know what time it was anymore as moments passed by, the two of you pointing out constellations and laughing and talking like you’d known each other for years. You wanted to sit out here all night, but knew you’d regret it in the morning when your alarm goes off at 5:00.

“I should get going to bed,” you whispered, not moving from Shawn’s side.

“No,” he said simply, also not moving.

Your arm slid around his middle before you could think about it too much, resting your head farther onto his chest.

You felt his breath hitch before his chin rested on top of your head.

“I don’t think it’ll look too good if I’m sleeping through my shift,” you mumbled into his chest.

“Promise we’ll do this again?” He asked softly.

“Look at the stars?”

“Well, yeah, but-um, I meant…” Shawn trained off as you understood what he meant as his arm tightened against you.

“Yeah,” you said. “Of course.”

—

The next morning was brutal as you chugged coffee to stay awake during your shift. You worked behind the breakfast bar, helping and talking to mostly customers who were there alone.

You heard a chair screech, and you turned around to help the newest customer.

“Can I get you some coffee?” You asked, still looking down at your note pad.

“Sure,” he said as you looked up to see Shawn smiling back at you.

You smiled before setting your notepad down and leaning forward on the counter.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You asked.

“You said they had the best breakfast food, and I had to try it,” he said as he picked up the menu next to him.

You poured him his cup of coffee and set it in front of him as he skimmed the menu.

“Any recommendations?” He asked.

“Our waffles are really good,” you started. “So are our breakfast skillets, if you’re looking for something more savory.”

“You know what, surprise me,” he said as he set his menu down.

Your eyebrows raised as you just stared at him.

“Really?” You asked.

“Yeah, I trust you,” he said, sipping at the coffee.

“Ok,” you said hesitantly as you wrote down one of your favorites and handed it back to the kitchen. “Don’t blame me if you hate it.”

“I would never,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning forward on the counter. “How’d you sleep?”

“Well, I only got 4 hours of sleep last night,” you said as a yawn washed through you at perfect timing.

“Whoops.”

“Yeah, whoops,” you mocked, taking a drink of your coffee. “I’m blaming this one on you.”

“Nope, this was partially your fault. I will not take the fall,” he said through a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, ok,” you said sarcastically.

“I’m just way too great to be around,” he said with a shake of his head.

“Keep telling yourself that,” you said as you grabbed a plate from the window and set it in front of a woman a few seats down from Shawn.

“Come on, you like spending time with me,” he said with a smile.

You leaned forward on the counter again, eyeing him as he looked back at you.

“I wouldn’t still be talking to you if I didn’t,” you said.

A bell rang and you grabbed the plate that was done, setting it in front of Shawn.

“Ham and cheese breakfast skillet,” you said, handing him silverware.

Without another word, Shawn took a bite and chewed it slowly.

“This is really good,” he said, taking a drink.

“Told you,” you said.

Shawn hung out and drank coffee at the bar as you finished your shift. He jotted away at his notebook he had brought along and shoed you away anytime you tried to look at what he was writing.

Shawn drove you back to your cabin and gave you time to get ready before you had to start painting. He met you by your car to bring the paint in you picked up from the store a few days ago.

The two of you stood in the middle of the room and discussed how you’d do the painting before Shawn plugged his phone into a speaker and you got to work.

After a few hours, you were almost done painting the room a light grey color. You and Shawn were working on the same wall, rolling the paint on in large strokes, occasionally bumping into each other.

Shawn took a step back as he finished his section and watched you finish up a few missed patches.

“Did I miss anything?” You asked as you took a small step back.

“Actually, yes, right there,” he went to point to a spot near the top with his paintbrush still in hand, accidentally splattering you with paint.

You flinched as you felt the drops of paint hit your hair. You heard Shawn gasp as you turned around to glare at him.

“Really?” You said, trying not to laugh and hold your angry face steady.

“I am so sorry. I completely forgot I hadn’t cleaned the brush yet. Holy shit,” he said as he stepped towards you and turned you around, trying to pick out the drying pieces from your hair.

“Shawn, it’s fine,” you said as you took the brush in your hand, reaching back and painting a strip against the top of his head without looking.

You heard the gasp once again as you slowly turned around to see Shawn looking at you with the top of his hair matted down with paint and his jaw dropped.

“That was not an accident!” He said as he pulled at his hair.

“Oops,” you said with a shrug as you turned back around, reaching for the spot near the top.

You felt drips of paint hit your head before one drop rolled down your nose. You whipped around to look at Shawn who was smirking as he watched the paint drip down your face.

You pulled your brush back and sprayed the paint left onto him, covering his t-shirt with spots of paint. He went to do the same to you as you covered your face and moved to the other side of the room.

“That was your biggest mistake,” he said as he shook his head. “Because the bucket of paint is right here.” He pointed at the bucket at his feet.

You glanced between him and the bucket, knowing there was no way out of this.

“I think we’re done,” you said quickly. “You started it, I ended it. That’s fair.”

“But mine was on accident,” he said slowly as he reached down and dipped his paintbrush into the bucket. “Yours were very wet and very on purpose.”

You backed into the corner as far as you could without hitting the wet walls as Shawn moved closer to you, the wet brush gripped tightly in his hand.

He aimed to fling the paint at you, but you ducked at the last minute, trying to dodge past him and out the door. However, you ran along his left side, so his free hand wrapped around your waist before you had a chance to run out. He lifted you up with one arm and held you against him, your feet inches from the ground.

“You made me do this,” he whispered in your ear before dragging the paintbrush down your side.

“I hate you,” you whispered back, trying to steady your shaking voice.

“Doubt it.”

He set you down on your feet, his arm still wrapped tightly around your waist, your back still pressed against his chest. You could feel him breathing as you stayed still. You wrapped your hand around the top of his brush before quickly turning around and leaving a handprint on his cheek and smearing the excess down the front of his shirt.

He shook his head as he tried to wipe it off as you laughed at him from just a few inches away.

“Whoops,” you said simply.

“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Whoops.”

“Truce?” You said sticking your hand out.

“I’m not shaking your hand. That’s literally the hand with paint on it,” he pointed out.

You switched your hands so your other one was stuck out for him to shake. Shawn gripped your hand with one quick shake.

“Well, the walls are painted. And so are the tarps,” he said as you looked down at the, now wet, tarps you had set out before you began.

“Want to watch the sunset?” You asked as you looked out the window, seeing the sun was beginning to set already.

“Of course,” he said as he wiped his face off with a rag.

“We can take the paddle boat out to the middle of the lake?” You suggested.

“Sounds perfect,” he said with a soft smile.

You ignored the butterflies that erupted in your stomach as you left the room. You changed out of your paint covered t-shirt and into a sweatshirt as Shawn did the same with one he had left there a few days ago.

“So we’re just going to leave our hair with paint dried in it?” He said as he picked at a strand of hair.

You shrugged as you opened your fridge, grabbing two wine coolers and handing one to Shawn.

“It’ll wash out.”

The two of you walked down to your dock, and Shawn helped you flip the paddleboat into the lake and held your hand as you climbed in, him sitting next to you before you both paddled to the center of the lake.

You stopped paddling once you found the spot where you knew you could see the sun the best. You pulled your feet up underneath you, and you sat in silence as the boat slowly moved up and down with each ripple of the water.

“I had fun today,” Shawn said after a few minutes.

You leaned your head on the back of the seat as you slouched down.

“Me too,” you replied.

Shawn’s hand made its way to your hair as he picked out a piece of paint that was dangling in front of your face.

Your breath hitched as he tucked the hair behind your ear, his hand lingering by your cheek.

You felt your heartbeat loudly, and you were even scared he could hear it.

“Better?” He whispered.

You gulped before nodding your head, his hand still lingering.

You felt him lean in, and you did the same. As his lips were just a breath away from yours, a particularly big wave splashed against your boat, causing you to stumble back, catching yourself on the edge as Shawn hovered over you, his hand pressed against your lower back.

“Are you ok?” He said through a laugh before pulling you to sit upright again.

“Yeah, just scared the shit out of me,” you mumbled, your heart calming down as the moment was ruined.

Shawn leaned back into his spot, and you stayed in yours, praying that didn’t ruin anything from happening in the future. You tried to pretend that wasn’t a sign and instead focused on the colors of the sky as the sun neared the ground.

Neither of you said anything, and you honestly didn’t know what was left to say that wouldn’t sound forced after the moment that was almost shared. So you stayed quiet.

Once it got near dark, you paddled back to your dock and tied up your boat to the edge. Shawn got out first before taking your empty cans and helping you out.

“Are you feeling a fire tonight?” He asked as you walked up to your door.

You thought about the weight your answer would carry, no matter which one you chose.

“Yeah, why not?” You said with a smile, trusting your gut with this one.

Shawn smiled back and let out a sigh of relief.

“Mine or yours?” you asked.

“Mine, I am not laying on the ground again because you can’t find chairs,” he said.

You feigned offense as you pushed your door open.

“Fine, I’m going to shower, and I’ll meet you up there in twenty minutes.”

Shawn nodded in response before turning to walk up to his cabin.

You shut the door behind you and leaned against it, hitting your head a few times for good measure.

You could practically still feel his lips dangling dangerously close to yours as you tried to shake the feeling as you made your way to the shower to try to scrub the paint out of your hair.

You took your time getting dressed, still trying to calm yourself down before making your way to Shawn’s.

Shawn had already started the fire and was strumming on his guitar and softly singing along. You walked up carefully, wanting to hear as much as you could before he inevitably stopped.

After a moment, you crunched a leaf, and Shawn turned around.

“Took you long enough,” he said before turning back around.

“It’s much more difficult to get paint out of long hair,” you mumbled as you sat next to him on the swing. You pulled your feet up and wrapped your arms around your knees, resting your chin on top as you watched the fire dance.

“No morning shift tomorrow?” He asked as he turned to face you, one leg on the ground to swing the two of you and one leaning against the back of the swing.

“Nope. Maybe I’ll get more than four hours of sleep,” you said with a shrug.

“We can only hope,” he said, leaning his head against the back of the swing.

“You know this swing leans back?” You said as you noticed the latches on the side.

“What?”

“Stand up.”

You unclasped the two latches and laid the swing down flat.

“How the hell did I not notice that?” he mumbled.

You went to flip the swing back up into a sitting position, but Shawn laid down on it before you had a chance.

“Now we can look at the stars and not have rocks digging into our backs,” he said.

You stayed standing with your hands on your hips, not knowing what you were supposed to do.

Shawn noticed and opened his arms up like he had the night before.

You sighed before laying down next to him and resting your head on his shoulder.

“Big Dipper,” he said.

“Little Dipper,” you replied.

The four hours of sleep from the night before caught up to you as you dozed off, curling yourself into Shawn’s side.

Shawn was talking to himself without even realizing it. Once he realized you weren’t responding, he looked down to see you sound asleep, your hand curled into his sweatshirt, and your head buried in his chest.

He begged his heart not to beat out of his chest and wake you up.

He stopped staring at the stars and instead watched how comfortable you were entangling yourself with him. One of your legs was underneath one of Shawn’s as the other was draped on top.

He didn’t want to move, scared the slightest movement would ruin the moment and wake you up. He hesitated before he leaned his head against yours, causing you to tuck yourself further into him.

Before he knew it, he was also falling asleep.

You groaned as you woke up, rubbing your eyes and blinking a few times, confused as to where you were. Once you felt the arm wrapped tightly around your waist, you remembered you were still with Shawn by the fire.

“Shawn,” you mumbled.

“What?” He mumbled back as he pulled you against him again.

“We fell asleep,” you whispered, looking down at your watch and letting out a quiet laugh. “It’s 3:00 am.”

He draped his free arm over his eyes and let out a breath.

“Please tell me you’re joking,” he said as he peaked at you from underneath his arm.

You tilted your watch, so he could see the screen light up.

“Oh, God,” he groaned, turning on his side as you did the same. He looked over the top of you to see the dead fire. He looked at you next, the moon illuminating your features perfectly.

“We can’t stay out here,” you whispered.

“I know,” he said through a sigh.

“I’m going to go,” you said as you began to stand up.

“You’re not walking back right now,” he said quickly.

“Come on, Shawn, nothing is going to happen,” you said, sitting up and looking down at him.

“It’s already 3:00 am, just stay at mine for the night. What if you trip and fall, and I don’t find you until the next morning and by then you’re already dead?” He rambled.

You scoffed and rubbed your eyes once more.

“Fine,” you finally said.

You both stood up and made your way into Shawn’s cabin.

You walked over to the couch and fell onto it, immediately curling up into a ball.

“You are not sleeping there,” you heard Shawn say.

“Yes, I am,” you mumbled.

“No, you’re not. Come on,” he said as he held his hand out for you.

You hesitated before grabbing it and letting him pull you towards the single bedroom.

You crawled underneath the sheets and faced Shawn as he did the same. Once he settled in, he lifted the sheets up and held his arm out.

You gave him a look as he returned the look, still not moving. You rolled your eyes before giving in.

You curled up against him and instantly relaxed as his hand traced along your back.

You could feel his heartbeat steadily as you rested your head on his chest.

“Hey,” you whispered.

“Mhm,” he mumbled.

“About what happened before…”

You paused, waiting for a response.

You looked up to see him sound asleep.

Maybe that was for the best.

—

“Do you think I should transfer schools?” You asked Shawn as you leaned against the counter as he flipped pancakes some morning towards the end of June.

“Do you think you should transfer schools?” He turned the question back.

“I mean I went there because it was close to home, and I genuinely don’t want to be close to home anymore. And I don’t really have anyone there either,” you explained.

“That’s up to you,” he said simply. “Where would you go?”

“University of Michigan,” you said out loud for the first time.

Shawn stopped for a minute and looked at you.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Then do it,” he said.

“Should I?”

“Stop asking me. This decision is one you have to do on your own.”

You stayed silent as Shawn handed you your plate of pancakes. You didn’t move from the counter.

“Just apply and see what happens,” he said. “You don’t have to make the decision right now.”

“I’ve been thinking about this for the past three months,” you said. “Hell, even longer. The only thing keeping me there was the two of them and my family.”

“What about a completely different state? Different country?” Shawn suggested. “I’m impartial, but perhaps Canada?” He offered with a smile.

“I’m not moving to Canada.”

“It was worth a shot.”

You ate in silence as you thought about your countless options.

“What about online schooling?” You thought out loud.

“Where would you live?” He asked.

“Anywhere. That’s the best part,” you said. “I could live here. I could live at home. My grandparents in Texas. My friend in Washington. I could go wherever I want.”

“It’s definitely an option,” he said. “Plus you can come to visit me.”

“You want me to visit you?” You said through a quiet laugh.

He looked at you like you were crazy.

“No, I’m going to spend every day with you for three months, and then never see you again,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“I guess I didn’t think that far,” you said quietly.

“Yeah, I haven’t either.”

“Summer is going to end,” you said.

“Don’t remind me.”

So you didn’t. The two of you finished your pancakes as you switched the subject to something else.

You helped Shawn clean up the dishes before going back to your cabin.

You grabbed your laptop and started looking at schools you could transfer to. You started a small list of your options and requested information from the websites.

Online school was looking more and more appealing.

The daunting reminder that summer would end hung over your head as you did more research. You tried to shake it, but it was hard when you were literally looking at schools to go to in the fall.

Shawn walked into your cabin without knocking and sat down next to you on your couch.

“University of Toronto?” He said as he looked over your shoulder to see you on the home page of their website.

“I’m weighing all my options,” you said as you pulled up the list you had compiled.

He reached over and shut your laptop before taking it from you.

“That’s enough for today,” he said as he set it on the end table.

“What about California?” You asked.

“Also an option. Every city in the world is an option,” he said.

“Those are way too many options.”

“The world is your oyster.”

“Don’t ever say that again.”

“Yeah, that was bad.”

—

July 4 crept up on you much quicker than expected. The cabin was nearly half-finished, much to the help of Shawn as he even did cleaning when you were working, and your aunt, uncle, and cousins were coming to stay for the holiday.

Your cousin Lyla, who was just a year younger than you, came running up from the parked car first, enveloping you in a big bug.

“Hanging in there?” she asked as she pulled away.

You smiled a genuine smile, one she hadn’t seen on you in a while, and nodded your head.

“Yeah, I’m doing really good,” you responded.

Your aunt Penelope and your uncle George said quick hellos before going inside. Your other cousin Lucas, who was two years older than you, gave you a high five before also going inside.

You saw Shawn coming down from the hill, his hands buried in his pockets as he slowly made his way.

“Well, well, well,” Lyla whispered as she looked at him.

“Stop that,” you said with a laugh as the two of you sat at the picnic table in front.

“Hello,” Shawn said as he leaned against the table.

“This is Lyla. Lyla, this is Shawn,” you said quickly.

“Nice to meet you,” Lyla said with a sparkling smile as you rolled your eyes.

“[Y/N]!” You heard your aunt yell from the cabin as she and George leaned out the door. “The place looks fantastic!”

“Thanks! You can thank Shawn here for helping me a bunch, too,” you said as the two of them walked out by you.

“This is my uncle George and my aunt Penelope. This is Shawn. He’s renting the Everett’s,” you introduced them.

“Well, thanks to you, too. I knew [Y/N] would get lonely, so I’m glad you were here to help,” George said as he shook Shawn’s hand.

“Hey, I thrive when I’m alone,” you defended yourself.

“You were alone for over four hours the other day and came to my cabin just because you were lonely,” Shawn said.

“Why would you betray me like this?” You said, a hurt expression across your face.

“We’re going to situate a little bit. Red Desert for dinner?” Penelope asked.

“Sounds great,” you said.

“And Shawn, you are also coming. Dinner on us for everything you’ve helped with,” George chimed in.

“No, no, I don’t want to intrude,” Shawn quickly said.

“No, no, I insist.”

Shawn gave you a side-eye, waiting for you to say something.

“He’ll be coming,” you said with a smile as your family left you alone with Shawn.

“I feel like an afterthought,” Shawn mumbled as he sat across from you.

“Oh, come on. You saw how happy my aunt was with the cabin. I think they’ll really like you,” you said.

“Are they just here for the weekend?” Shawn asked.

You nodded your head as Shawn’s eyes met yours.

“And before you say you’re going to get lonely, you know you are invited with us for everything we do this weekend. They’re so chill when they’re up here that you’ll fit in just fine,” you said.

“I don’t want to intrude,” he groaned again as he rested his head in his hand.

“You’re not spending the fourth alone.”

“It honestly means nothing to me. I’m not even from here.”

“Oh, shut up.”

You were right as Shawn fit right in with your family. He and Lucas clicked instantly, and he couldn’t stop talking Penelope’s ear off. Dinner went by seamlessly before you made your way back to have a fire.

You went with Penelope to dig out the lawn chairs in the back of the shed that you had yet to discover.

“I like him,” she said as she opened up the door.

“Yeah, he’s pretty nice, isn’t he?” You responded.

“Anything else…?” She trailed off.

“Nope,” you said simply. “Just friends.”

“Mhm, sounds like that,” she said, her sarcasm evident.

“He’s from Canada,” you finally say. “I don’t even want to entertain it.”

“But you’ll stay friends right?” She said.

“He thinks we will,” you said softly.

Penelope stood up straight and looked at you.

“What does that mean?” She asked.

“It means that he’s always in a million different places, and why would he want to stay friends with his neighbor from a cabin he rented?” You said out loud for the first time, your insecurity of this whole thing showing.

“[Y/N], it’s not up to you if this guy wants to keep in touch with you. Based on how he’s acting around you and around us, I know he’ll want to stay friends with you at the very least,” she said, finally finding the chairs and starting to hand them to you.

“And at the most…” she started.

“Don’t finish that,” you cut her off. “I really don’t want to get my hopes up.

She sighed as she handed you the last of the chairs, looking at you with her hands on her hips.

“Not everyone is like that asshole from North Carolina,” she said softly.

“It’s hard to remember that sometimes,” you whispered.

She pulled you in for a quick hug before the two of you started picking up the chairs to bring to the fire.

“When did you decide you were going to transfer?” She asked.

Your head snapped to look at her.

“How did you know that?”

“You left your laptop open in the kitchen. NYU?” She questioned.

“You can’t tell my mom,” you said.

“You know I’d never do that. This choice is yours, and whatever it is, it’ll be good because you made it,” she said as you set the chairs down.

You nodded, your conversation cut short as Shawn walked up.

“You’re out of marshmallows,” Shawn said simply.

“Shit, I knew we forgot something when shopping,” you said.

“I have some left, don’t worry,” Shawn said, briefly resting his hand on your back.

The look on Penelope’s face didn’t go unnoticed.

“Why don’t you go with?” Penelope said. “I’ll set up the chairs.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

You followed Shawn up the hill, the two of you weirdly quiet.

“Did I hear your aunt say NYU?” Shawn finally said.

You looked away, instead focusing on your feet hitting the leaves.

“I got accepted last night,” you said simply.

“That’s amazing,” Shawn said, the mixture of excitement and disappointment evident.

“I don’t know if I’m going there,” you said quickly. “I have options.”

“Too many options?”

“Way too many.”

Shawn grabbed his marshmallows out of the cupboard and handed them to you before you walked back down the hill.

Shawn stopped and looked at you as you did the same.

“I know I already mentioned this, and I don’t want to push, but if you do decide online schooling or University of Toronto, my home is your home and I wholeheartedly mean that,” he said seriously.

“Shawn…” you started.

“You don’t have to say anything now. I’m just saying that I know how stressful living situations can be, so if those are options you’re thinking of, I have plenty of room for you. And I’d love for you to be there with me.”

You nodded before moving to walk back down, Shawn following suit.

The tension was evident as the two of you joined your family at the fire pit.

“Everything OK?” George asked, Lyla shooting him a look for his bad timing.

“Perfect,” you said with a plastered on smile.

—

“NYU?” Lyla asked as she turned towards you.

“Yeah, I got the email last night,” you said, resting your head against the headboard as she pulled the covers back on the other side.

“It’s an amazing school,” she said with no emotion.

“You want to say more,” you pointed out.

She shrugged, resting her head on her pillow and glancing up at you.

“It just doesn’t really seem like you,” she said. “Did you apply anywhere else?”

“Yeah, a bunch of places,” you said.

“You gonna tell me which ones?”

“Nope.”

“Does Shawn know?”

“Yep.”

You heard her sigh as she reached over to turn off the lamp.

“If you could pick any school in the world for me to go to, what would you pick?” You asked her as you laid back.

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“Online,” she said quickly. “You always loved to travel. You could live wherever you wanted with no strings to stop you from moving to the next place.”

“Yeah,” you said simply. “University of Phoenix has an online program.”

“So you have thought of it?” You heard her say.

“A lot.”

“I know you too well.”

—

You forgot how much you loved July 4th up at your cabin. You spent the entire day on the water with your family and Shawn before grilling out hot dogs and having ice cream.

You packed into your uncle’s truck to drive to a beach a few miles down the road that held fireworks. You spread out a blanket near the shore as your aunt and uncle set up chairs.

“Want to go for a walk?” You asked Shawn. “There’s a really short trail that loops around.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Your family stayed back as you lead Shawn to the gravel trail that went along the lake.

“Thanks again for including me in everything. Your family is pretty damn cool,” he said.

“Shawn, it’s no problem at all. I love them, but I don’t think I’d be able to handle them without you being there as a buffer.”

“How bad can they be?” he asked.

“Before last year, Lyla was incredibly sheltered. She’s great to be around now that she’s in college, but before that, she was horrible. Same with Lucas, but that changed like three years ago. George can definitely be judgy, so I’m shocked he likes you,” you explained.

Shawn feigned offense before he said, “Not like me?”

“It’s nothing against you,” you recovered. “He just has a hard time letting new people into his life.”

“I get it,” Shawn said simply.

You stopped once you reached the part of the trail that dipped close to the shore. You took a few steps forward, watching the water as it lapped up just inches away from your feet. Shawn did the same. The sun was beginning to set, and you could see them setting up the fireworks across the lake.

You could feel Shawn looking at you as you turned your head to look at him, his shoulder brushing against yours.

You felt your heart rate increase and your legs start to shake as his eyes flicked from your eyes to your lips. He began to lean in, his hand gently resting on the side of your neck as you also followed his lead.

“Hey!”

You quickly stepped back as you looked behind Shawn to see Lyla elbowing Lucas in the ribs.

You breathed out slowly and smiled at the two of them as Shawn turned around to see them.

“Hey, guys,” you said quietly.

“Great view, huh?” Lucas asked, completely oblivious to what was just happening.

“Yeah, it’s gorgeous,” Shawn responded, his eyes moving to you briefly.

The four of you finished walking the trail as the sun finished setting before making your way to sit by your aunt and uncle again.

Shawn didn’t say anything as the two of you sat closely. Again, you were scared to speak, not wanting him to get the wrong impression of what just happened. You didn’t know if you could handle one more “almost.”

The boom of the first firework snapped you out of your trance as you laid back to watch them. Shawn glanced back at you, seeing the reflection of the lights flash in your eyes. The smile on your face was bigger than anything he had seen on you all summer.

Shawn laid back as well, his shoulder pressed against your own. He contemplated putting his arm out for you but knew that wasn’t the best idea since your aunt and uncle were right next to you.

You felt his hand bump against yours and ignored it at first, blaming it on him getting situated.

Until you felt it again.

His pinky poked at yours before you hooked your pinky through his, neither of you looking at the other.

A feeling of calmness rushed across you as you watched the fireworks and felt his hand against yours.

They ended just as quickly as they began. Everyone on the beach clapping as people started packing up. You reluctantly pulled your hand away from Shawn’s as he stood up before helping you up and folding the blanket.

The truck ride home was quiet, everyone tired after a long day. Your uncle dropped Shawn off at the top of the hill, and you simply waved goodbye after George made him promise he’d be at your cabin for breakfast the next morning.

The rest of you got out of the truck after your uncle parked it.

“Is this Shawn’s?” Lyla said as she held up a hat.

You sighed and took it from her.

“Yeah, I’ll just give it to him tomorrow.”

“Or,” she paused. “You can go right now.” She gave you a suggestive look.

“No.”

“Oh, come on, don’t act like I didn’t see what was happening before Lucas fucked it up.”

You toyed with the hat in your hand before nodding your head and letting a breath out.

“Hey, I’m going to run this up to Shawn. I’ll be back in a few,” you yelled to your aunt and uncle as Lyla smiled.

You slowly walked up the hill before knocking on Shawn’s door, something you didn’t do that often anymore.

Shawn opened it up with a questioning look before noticing the hat in your hand. He let you in before you leaned against the counter in his kitchen.

“You left this,” you said, handing him the hat.

He looked at the hat and then back up at you. He grabbed the hat out of your hand before tossing it on the ground. His hands enveloped the sides of your face as his lips crashed into yours. You quickly kissed him back as your hands balled his shirt in your fists. One of his hands rested against your lower back, pulling you closer against him. Your shoulders dropped, and you relaxed into him, your lips molding perfectly against his. You couldn’t help the smile tugging at the edges of your lips.

Shawn pulled away slowly, his eyes still closed as he rested his forehead against yours and his hands stayed set on your hips.

“I don’t know what to say,” you whispered.

“Neither do I,” he replied.

Your hand wrapped around the back of his neck, pulling him in again, both of you smiling in between kisses.

After a half-hour of doing just that, you finally left Shawn’s with a peck on his lips. You practically skipped down the hill, almost tripping a few times but nothing wiping the smile off your face.

You opened the door slowly. The cabin was dark as you knew your aunt and uncle were probably sleeping already. You tiptoed to your bedroom door and opened it slowly. The lamp was still on. Lyla was sitting up with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised as she watched you walk in before closing the door behind you.

“Hm, didn’t realize it took 32 minutes to drop a hat off.”

“Well, it does,” you said as you changed and crawled into bed.

Neither of you said anything as she turned off her lamp and laid down.

“It does if he kisses you,” you mumbled.

“I fucking knew it.”

Shawn walked down the hill the next morning around 8:00 with the same skip in his step you had the night before. You were by the shed grabbing a case of water to bring inside while your uncle was loading some things into his truck.

“Good morning, Shawn!” George exclaimed before you looked up to see him.

“Good morning, George. What time are you guys heading out?” He asked.

“Well, we’ll eat breakfast and clean up and then hit the road,” he said.

“Sounds great,” Shawn replied.

George shut the trunk and walked inside.

Shawn waited until he was out of sight before he wrapped an arm around your waist from behind.

“Morning,” he mumbled in your ear, pressing a kiss to the side of your head.

The butterflies in your stomach erupted as you leaned into him.

“Good morning,” you replied. “Want to grab that case of water?”

“Anything for you,” he said before reaching for the case and picking it up.

You joined your family for pancakes, ignoring Lyla as she constantly looked between you and Shawn, waiting for one of you to slip up.

They cleaned up before all hugging you and getting ready to leave.

“It was so great to meet you, Shawn, and I really hope this isn’t the last we’ll see you,” Penelope said as she gave him a hug.

“I hope that, too,” Shawn said before glancing at you. “And I don’t think it will be.”

You hoped your aunt didn’t catch on, but you were wrong as she shot you a look with her eyebrows raised.

“Well, see you soon, bye!” Your family yelled as they climbed in their truck and drove away.

Shawn’s arm draped over your shoulder the minute they were out of sight. You laid your head against his shoulder, neither of you moving.

“Do you wanna talk?” You asked.

“Not really,” Shawn replied, resting his head against your own.

“Shawn…” you started as you pulled away.

“Don’t,” he said quickly. “The minute we talk, the minute we have to remember that this isn’t forever and we both leave. We’ll deal with that later.”

You nodded your head as he pressed a kiss to your forehead and wrapped his arms tightly around you.

You tried to forget the impending end, and for the most part, you did.

You didn’t spend a night alone after that. You switched off between yours and Shawn’s with no rhyme or reason to the order other than that’s where you happened to be for the night. Your things were strewn between the two cabins, and you had a hard time remembering what was where.

But other than that, everything felt perfect.

You paddled the boat out to the middle of the lake with Shawn, a book, and his guitar. You draped your legs over his lap and laid on the seat as he strummed along to whatever he thought of while you read.

“Have you even written anything this summer?” You asked as you closed your book and looked up at him.

“Yeah,” Shawn said hesitantly.

“What have you written?”

“I’ve written a lot more than I thought I would,” he said.

“That sounds good to me,” you said.

He shrugged his shoulders before playing again.

“I mean, I do have some pretty good inspiration to take with me. And if that’s all I have, that’s more than enough,” he said as he looked down at you.

Your heart swelled as you sat back up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

“You make this whole songwriting thing pretty damn easy,” he mumbled.

You nodded your head and pressed a few more kisses to his lips before leaning back again.

—

Your acceptance and denial letters rolled in the weeks following. As the beginning of August approached, you read over the list of schools you could go to starting the beginning of September. You had to make a decision soon, and it stressed you out more than you could even comprehend.

You sat in the middle of the floor of the living room with your laptop as Shawn hung shelves in your bathroom. You didn’t even notice he finished until he was sitting across from you.

“You’re thinking too hard,” he said as he ran his hand up and down your calf.

“This isn’t what I’m having for dinner. This is the school I’m going to spend the rest of my college career at,” you said as you looked up at him.

“Still,” he said. “Deep down, you know what the right choice is. You just have to find that part of you.”

You nodded your head before glancing down at your list again. You deleted a few more off that you knew you didn’t want to go to.

“What are you thinking about?” Shawn asked.

“I have it narrowed down to three,” you said before looking up at him.

“Are you going to tell me what the three are?” He said with a smile.

“Nope,” you said, returning the smile. “I’m not going to let you influence me.”

“I would never,” Shawn said quickly. “You know that right?”

You nodded your head, shutting your laptop and setting it aside before curling up in Shawn’s lap as he rubbed his hand up and down your back.

“This is all you. We’ll figure out the technicalities when we have to. Right now, this is about what choice is best for you. Not me. Not your parents. Just you,” he reminded you.

“And you really wanna stay with me?” You asked quietly as you played with his hand.

“I’m not just going to do this for a summer and then forget about it,” he said, his head leaning against yours. “I really fucking like you, and I’ll do whatever I can to continue this once we leave.”

You felt your heart leap out of your chest before you pressed a kiss to his chest, reassuring him that you felt the same way.

“When do you leave?” You asked carefully, realizing he never told you.

“August 15.”

“That’s two and a half weeks,” you pointed out.

You felt him sigh.

“Yeah,” he said. “And when do you start school?”

“Depends,” you said, pulling out your phone to look at the start dates. “Anywhere from August 25 to September 5.”

“So come with me,” he said.

You leaned back to look him in the eyes.

“What?”

“August 15, come with me. Come back to Toronto and spend a week there,” he rambled. “Sure it’s last minute but whatever school you decide, it doesn’t matter because we’ll have another week just the two of us.”

“And you don’t have to go see your family,” he reminded you. “And if you choose University of Toronto or online, I can show you around. And if you chose whatever else, then we can just spend as much time as we possibly can before you have to go.”

“I’d like that,” you said, a soft smile spreading across your face. “But that also cuts a week off my time here, so we have other things to finish.”

He nodded his head and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“No problem at all.”

Most of your mornings following that were spent in the diner. You were home by noon where Shawn was usually already starting that day’s tasks. You kept a strict schedule, not allowing for much outside of cleaning and repairs, but you still had a fire almost every night where you could just relax.

It was early August when you stared at your computer screen, your finger hovering over the accept button.

Shawn was at his own cabin to change as you took the few moments to make your final decision.

In the rare moment of silence you had, you took the minute to breathe, knowing this was what you wanted. You wanted a fresh start, and you were going to get it.

You deserved this.

So you hit accept, sending an email to the registration office to sign up for classes and any other arrangements that had to be made.

You set your laptop aside as Shawn walked in and smiled at you.

“You look happy,” he said before leaning down and pressing a kiss to your lips.

You breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

“I am. I really am.”

—

Shawn knew you had made a decision.

He overheard you on the phone, discussing classes with someone. He tried to google the names you said, praying a school would come up, but it wasn’t really working.

He knew you’d tell him when everything was set and you were ready, but it was killing him.

It was August 14 when the two of you completed the final chores on your list. The two of you stood in the middle of the living room and looked around proudly at the work you had accomplished. It looked as good as new.

“I’d buy this place,” Shawn said turning around. “We did pretty fucking good.”

“You bet we did,” you replied as Shawn gave you a high five.

It went quiet again as you faced Shawn, resting your head on his chest before he pressed a kiss to your head and rubbed his hand up and down your back.

“I have to tell you something,” you whispered.

Shawn felt his heart drop to his stomach as he nodded his head and you pulled away.

“I’m going to the University of Phoenix,” you said.

Shawn tried to hide his disappointment as he plastered on a smile.

“That’s fantastic,” he said quietly.

“You didn’t let me finish,” you said with a small smile and your eyebrows knit together.

He nodded at you to continue.

“University of Phoenix online program,” you finished.

Shawn breathed a sigh of relief before pulling you into his arms and rocking you back and forth.

“You can’t scare me like that,” he said through a breathy laugh.

“Well maybe you should let me finish talking,” you said as you leaned back and rested your hands on the sides of his face.

“I think this is going to be really good for me,” you said with a genuine smile on your face. “I can live with Meg in Washington for a while. My grandparents have a guest house in Texas. Maybe a week here and there in North Carolina.”

“And me in Toronto,” he added.

“And you in Toronto, of course,” you said.

“And wherever I may end up in the next few years, you’re always welcome,” he whispered as he pressed his forehead against yours.

“You planning on keeping me around that long?” You teased.

“I plan on keeping you around much longer,” he suggested.

You finally pressed your lips against his as he held you tightly against him.

You spent your final night packing up your things before you and Shawn had one last fire.

You were tucked against him on the swing as you relaxed into him.

You had never felt this way before.

After a few minutes of serene silence, Shawn finally spoke up.

“Big Dipper.”

“Little Dipper.”

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saltlampsasuke · 4 years

Text

Unfortunately, You Are Experiencing Symptoms of Falling in Love: Part 6

Having your long-term boyfriend cheat on you is pretty bad, but you're lucky enough to have a rich, pro-hero best friend who lets you move in with him until you get a new apartment. Except lockdown happens. And you can't look for a new apartment anymore, and you can't go anywhere anymore, and neither can your best friend, and you think you might be falling a little bit in love with him. Or maybe you've been in love with him all along.

The story of how it takes a nationwide lockdown for you and Bakugou Katsuki to finally get together, part 6!

taglist: @stargazerunlimited @luna-bloodrose @lov4kbg

haha I totally just realized I needed to post this on tumblr! (I’m spidersasuke on ao3 and I usually post there first). Anyway, it’s been a while, long story short this semester was awful and I didn’t have any spare mental energy to work on this but I hope to get a good chunk done before I go back in February! I'm really sorry to keep you all hanging for so long. Anyway, thank you all for your patience and support and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

It took you a while to truly absorb the seriousness of what he was saying. It was hard to imagine the scale he was speaking of, not just your country, but the whole world would be affected. But also, on a smaller scale, your world was being rocked. Of course, it wasn’t like living with Katsuki was hard. Honestly, it was like a breath of fresh air, and your life had been easier these last few weeks than it had felt in a long time. Even though it was just small things, you had forgotten how nice it felt to be cared for; to have someone consider your needs as well as their own. But even so, at the moment you didn’t see Katsuki all that much, considering the time the two of you spent at work. But now, he wouldn’t be working at all. Maybe you wouldn’t be either, considering how you shared your workshop space with a couple of other support techs to avoid taking huge chunks out of your commissions to use the more advanced gear. But also, it wouldn’t really be fair to the heroes you worked for if you just stopped. You only worked for a couple, including Katsuki, but even taking him out of the equation still left you with people who relied on your services. You had to ask.

“What am I going to do about work?” you asked carefully. “Even if you’re not breaking your gear left and right to keep me in business, there are still other heroes who might need me.” Katsuki shook his head.

“Not happening. All of your people have already been talked to.” He took a deep breath, and you prepared for what he was about to say. This was one of his rare, completely serious moments, and you knew he wouldn’t back down from what he said. “I’m sorry, but since you live with me it just can’t happen. The hero commission really does not want to risk me getting sick, hence the quarantine. I’m still not letting anyone else touch my shit, so they’re gonna try and set up a place for you somewhere in the building but that might take a bit. And if I’m not breaking my shit on the street constantly there’s not really any need for you to work. I know how much your job means to you and I’m sorry, but this is how it has to be.”

Katsuki ran his hands through his hair with frustration. He was already so tired, and dealing with so much, and he was still thinking about you. You opened your mouth to thank him, but he cut you off.

“And don’t even think about trying to move out now. You’d have to be the dumbest person alive if you thought I’d let you pull that shit right now,” he barked, starting to return to the Katsuki you knew and loved. You shook your head with a smile.

“I was just going to say thank you, dummy.” He blinked a few times, taken a bit aback.

“Of course you were, dumbass. You’re the dumb one around here. Saying dumb shit. Whatever. I’m fucking tired.” He had been up late last night, you thought to yourself, but you couldn’t resist teasing him a little bit more.

“I thought you wanted to make breakfast, Katsuki! You want me to starve?” you said with a laugh. Fuck. Seeing that smile on your face after such a long night was really all he needed. Maybe he was tired, if he was letting thoughts like that come this easily.

“You deserve to starve after all you put me through, shitty woman. I open my home to you and this is how you repay me?” You gave him a gentle pat on the head.

“You need to get some sleep, Mr. Pro Hero. Let me make breakfast for once, or finish it, seeing as you already did most of the work."

“Damn right,” he interrupted, nodding slowly

“Seriously, just take a nap or something. We can do breakfast later.” When he didn’t respond, you peered at him curiously only to find that he had fallen asleep in the middle of your conversation. He was that tired. You gently pushed him so that he was lying in a somewhat comfortable position, and grabbed a nearby throw blanket to cover him. You’d finish breakfast yourself, and let him sleep as much as he needed.

Katsuki woke up around three hours later, grouching about how you never should have let him sleep that much, and how dumb you were, but you knew he was feeling much better. Of course, you also knew that you would probably have to work out some sort of schedule so that you two could coexist. The more you thought about it, the weirder it seemed. Sure, you had thought that you saw Katsuki a lot, after all, he did make you breakfast, and drive you to work, and you had hung out at night a few times when he wasn’t too busy, but to be honest it wasn’t that much when all was said and done.

The life of a pro-hero was a busy one, and since Katsuki was Number 2 he had to deal with press conferences, fan events, and keep up with appearances. It had taken him a while, and you had heard more than your fair share of complaining from him over the years about overzealous fans, but he had gotten a lot better when it came to the social parts of hero life. Of course, he was still grouchy and barked at people constantly, but that was part of his charm. You were sure he definitely wouldn’t miss all those events. The point remained, you were about to be spending much more time with him than you ever had in your life, and while his apartment was big, you were a bit worried.

“Do you want to maybe set up a schedule or something?” you asked carefully. “And since I’m not really going to have any money coming in from work, how do you want to deal with paying for groceries and utilities and stuff?” That got his attention quick. He sat up from his relaxed position on the couch, and threw off the blanket you had so kindly provided for him.

“Are you seriously dumb enough to think that I was ever going to let you give me any money? Job or no job, I’m not taking shit and that’s final, princess,” he said, arms folded with sincerity. You fought back the urge to roll your eyes. It was the answer you expected, but it was so funny how even when he was being incredibly kind he had to call you dumb.

“Ok, even still, I don’t want to wind up getting in your way if we’re both home all day. I mean, I won’t really have anything to work on, maybe I can get some small tools up here or just work on something fun, but I don’t want to get in the way of anything you might want to be doing.” Unlike you, Katsuki was fully willing to roll his eyes at you.

/p>“What I going to be doing? I’m not working either. If anything, you should stay in my way so I don’t get bored out of my mind. Although I’m probably going to have to get some more machines and shit in here so I can stay in shape. Might have to put stuff in the living room. Not sure,” he mused.

Well, he was right. There really wasn’t much else he would be doing but working out so you wouldn’t really get in his way. Although, did you want to be around Katsuki when he was working out? Sure, you had seen him fight criminals before, and you had to measure his stats every so often when you were fixing his gear but for some reason your mind kept going to weird places whenever you thought about it. Would he wear a shirt when he worked out? Probably not, right? Wait a minute, why did you care if he wore a shirt or not? It didn’t matter, and you had enough close calls what with you two sharing a bathroom. And you were a grown woman! You had seen people with their shirts off before! This really wasn’t a big deal at all!

“What’s going on in that big nerd brain, princess? I see your gears turning,” Bakugou asked, poking your forehead. You felt your cheeks heat up. God, he had really caught you thinking about him- no, you weren’t even going to say it. Quick, what could you say?

“Just thinking about how crazy this all is. I mean, a global pandemic? It barely seems real!” Katsuki nodded understandingly.

“Yeah, it’s fucking weird not being able to do anything about it either. I mean, when was the last time either of us had any actual time off? Had to be maybe a bit after graduation, but I think that was it.” He was right. When was the last time you had genuinely taken a break? It had been nothing but constant work for you, especially once Katsuki started getting in serious fights on a regular basis. And of course, you had other heroes to deal with as well. Taking a break was just never really a thought that crossed your mind.

But now? You genuinely had no work to do. Nothing. For the first time in years, you could relax. Sure, you couldn’t really leave the apartment, but the apartment had a private pool. It could be so much worse. And the more you thought about it, the better you felt. Sure, it would be weird seeing Katsuki so much, but he was your best friend!

And wouldn’t it be better to have someone to talk to anyway? You would go crazy left to your own devices eventually, and you shuddered to think at how antisocial Katsuki might become if he didn’t see anyone for however long this lockdown lasted. Which might be a while. It was a good thing you were here. And with any luck, you could get Katsuki to cook for you more often. Yes, this was definitely a good thing. You flopped backwards onto the couch, spreading your body across the plush cushions.

“Want to put on a movie, since our afternoon appears to be free?” Katsuki nodded.

Interlude from Katsuki’s point of view

The minute he got the message about the meeting, he was nervous. And he was never nervous, but being a hero for this long meant he had developed a pretty good gut sense of when things were about to go south. And his gut was ringing a 5-fire alarm. Still, he put on the suit and wrestled with his hair to get it to some level of presentability. This meeting was rushed, but bound to be some level of televised. At the very least there would be photos, and the more put-together he looked the more at-ease the public felt.

As some doctor he didn’t know started to explain the circumstances, his mind kept going back to you, probably already asleep in his apartment. Maybe he had been too strict about the apartments you had been looking at, but damn if he wasn’t glad you were still there. And there was no way he was going to let you move out now. Catch the virus in some loser apartment, where he probably couldn’t even make you his get-well soup? Not fucking lightly.

“Ground Zero?” He was pulled away from his thoughts as someone called his name, sounding like it wasn’t the first time they had done so. Was this the doctor at the beginning? No, he recognized this lady. Some woman from the hero commission.

“Uh, yes?” Damn it. That wasn’t smooth at all, not befitting the number-2 hero.

“You do understand what this means for you, correct?” What? How was he involved in this? He wasn’t dumb enough to think he could blow up a virus. Maybe if he was 16, but surely not now.

“Of course I do.” Of course, he didn’t.

“So you’re fine with staying in your apartment for as long as we deem necessary? Again I must stress that it is of the upmost importance that we preserve the health of our strongest heroes,” replied the woman. Damn. He really needed to pay more attention in these meetings. He had to respond, quick. Sure, he was fine with that. He’d iron out the details later. And of course, it was still flattering to know that he was powerful enough that he had to go to such extents to avoid getting sick.

“Yeah. We’ll need to work out a training regimen and everything but if it’s gotta happen it’s gotta happen.” The woman nodded, pleased with his compliance, and soon the discussion moved from him and the other top heroes to people with quirks that might help with the virus. Yeah, he could probably stop listening now. And the people at his agency would help iron out the fine details.

Damn, it was getting late. You kept invading his thoughts. There was no way you would be leaving his apartment either, which meant it would be just the two of you alone together for who knows how long. Just how he liked it. The secret part of him he always tried to ignore was telling him that this would be just like a vacation (no, he needed to stay focused and work hard in case something happened), that he could show off his cooking skills to you every day (ok, good idea, secret brain), that no one else would be able to see you for months, least of all that bastard you used to live with, hah, he would get to spend so much time with you (why was he so happy about this?) Clearly he was overtired or something. The rest of the meeting dragged on into the morning, and he made sure to meet with his agency afterwards to take care of a few things, but all he really had on his mind was sleep.

Of course, the minute he walked through the door and saw your shoes on the floor, he stopped. He had to talk to you, explain everything. He started making you breakfast almost on autopilot. Then, maybe he explained things to you? Yes, he did that, but then somehow he was asleep on the couch. You shouldn’t have let him sleep so much. Although, it wasn’t like he had anywhere to go.

Now what? You wanted to talk schedules? He wouldn’t have let you in his house if he didn’t want you there, like hell you were going to leave. And you weren’t paying for shit either. He was going to take care of you like that bastard never cou- no, why was he comparing himself to him? And sure, he had the workout room and all, but maybe he should get some extra weights to put in the living room. That wouldn’t be weird, he still had to work out. Ok, now you were staring. Were you thinking about him? He hoped so. He had to tease you, at least a little.

No, this was going to be good. You and him and all this free time. Not like he could stand anyone else anyway. This was going to be good. As long as he stopped thinking all this weird shit. Felt like it was getting worse every day. No, this was going to be fine. He’s a grown-ass man, he’s the number-2 hero, he’s dealt with a ton of crap before. This lockdown would be a breeze.

#katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou x reader #katsuki x reader #mha #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha imagines #bnha x you #katsuki bakugou x you #katsuki x you #bakugou katsuki x you #bakugou katsuki #katsuki bakugou x reader #yes finally i updated #sorry it took forever and a day #please enjoy

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

Riding High Ch 18: Sugar

Chapter Summary: It’s July, and Fliss’ birthday…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.!!!

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Ok, so I know you’ve all been on edge since He-who-shall-not-be-named was released on parole and I hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint. We’ll be gearing up for a bit of a rough time over the next few chapters for Friss so buckle up…

Also, I noticed yesterday that Tumblr seems to be swallowing huge chunks of my work on SSB…so I’m going to try and publish this in one, but if it doesn’t work I’ll split it over 2 parts.

Chapter Song: Shogun by George Ezra

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“And we got two in the front, two in the back, sailing along and we don’t look back”

July 2018

“So now what?” Mary looked at Fliss as the two of them sat side by side at the table, both looking at the laptop in front of them.

“Ok, so see these spaces here…” Fliss said, pointing to 2 empty squares dotted in the unpublished Internet Page and then to the larger space at the top “Now we need to add the photos…”

They were working on a project of sorts for Sandybrook’s website. They’d decided to give Monty his own little weekly blog for the summer called “The Life of Monty” which Mary had eagerly said she wanted to write, something for her to do over the break. “Ooh, ok!” Mary nodded “I already know which ones I want to use!” “Yeah?” Fliss looked at her.

“Yeah…ok so I want that one that has me, you and Monty in…you know the one that Frank likes where we are both laughing.” Fliss smiled “Ok, we can use that one.” “And then the other one is the one where Monty had the Party Hat on because it was his birthday.” “Good choice.” Fliss smiled “And what about the one across the top.” “The one of him in the pasture.” Mary said after a moment “Where he is looking up and pulling the funny face, you know with all his teeth out?”

Fliss grinned “Yeah, it looks like he is smiling.” Mary nodded eagerly “Yup.” “Ok…” Fliss said, and with a move of the mouse she set to work selecting the photos, ensuring that they were positioned and sized right for the frames. She couldn’t help but smile at the one of her and Mary. Mary was looking at the camera, laughing a lot whilst Fliss was, in turn, watching her and laughing too. Frank had been trying to take the photo of the 2 of them but Bill had been stood behind him, pulling stupid faces which had reduced Mary to tears, and her giggles had then set Fliss off. Frank said he adored the photo, that much in-fact it was now the screen-saver on his phone.

Fliss clicked save and then looked at Mary. “Wanna give it a final read over, check if you want to add anything else?”

Mary nodded.

“Ok, you do that I’m gonna start dinner.” “What are we having?” Mary looked at her.

“Carbonara. That ok?”

Mary grinned her approval as Fliss stood up, dropped a kiss to Mary’s head and walked into the kitchen.

It wasn’t long before Frank came home and greeted Mary before he headed into the kitchen area. He wrapped his arms round Fliss from behind, dropping a kiss to her neck.

“Good day?” he asked and she hmmed in agreement.

“Not bad…are you filthy, as usual?”

He chuckled as he let her go and moved to the fridge. She stopped what she was doing and turned to face him as he reached in for the water jug. He was, as always, covered in grime from his work and Fliss bit her lip. There was definitely something about seeing him in his dirty work jeans and grubby T-shirts that got her blood pumping.

“Stop it.” he said, giving her a look, knowing full well what she was thinking. She shrugged and with a grin turned back to the food.

“Oh, erm, wanted to check…are you if we use photos of Mary for her blog on the website?” Fliss asked, turning back to him.

“Of course I am.” he said, frowning “Why wouldn’t I be?” “It’s a public sight.” Fliss shrugged “Just wanted to check that’s all.” “It’s fine.” Frank said, placing a kiss to her cheek “I think it’s a really good idea anyway, give her something to do and practice her writing. Like Bonnie said, she’s sharp on the numbers but could do with honing up her English a little bit. She’s too logical, this should give her something to be creative with and keep her occupied over the break.”

And you…he refrained from adding. In the week following the notification that parole had been granted, John had been released. And this had set Fliss on edge. One night after she had snapped at Frank, causing a full scale argument over the fact he had bought the wrong type of salad dressing, she’d broken down and confessed that she wasn’t sleeping properly and this was causing stupid things, like Ranch v French dressing, to tip her over the edge.

The day after her spectacular salad dressing related melt down, Greg, who had already requested details of the terms of his release, came over and the 3 of them gone through, in detail what it meant realistically for Fliss.

“Basically it’s as good as you could hope for.” Greg explained “He is forbidden from contacting you or any of your family in any way, via any means. He is State-bound to Massachusetts, specifically the Boston area. He’s tagged, and on a curfew between the hours of 7pm and 7am. And moreover the authorities here are following the UK’s lead as well and trialling these new GPS tracking tags, which they’ve deemed him eligible for. So at any time, any place, they’ll be able to lock onto his whereabouts…”

“So if he does breach his conditions…” Fliss started and Greg nodded “They’ll be on him like a shot.” he said, with a gentle smile “Look, I know this is shit…but you really do have nothing to worry about. One breach and he’s back inside. And when he reaches the end of his parole, we’ll file for an injunction with the same conditions. Keep him away from you.”

Since the conversation with Greg, Fliss had calmed down somewhat but still, in week following her confession she didn’t spend a night away from Frank, seemingly coping better with the fact that she was around him, and even when he wasn’t there, the fact she was in his apartment gave her some safety and comfort.

So he’d asked her to move in permanently 3 days ago. Which he was still waiting for an answer on.

“What you thinking?” her voice broke through his thoughts.

“Honestly?”

“Always.” she nodded.

“When you’re gonna give me an answer to that question I asked you a few days back.” She took a deep breath and looked down at the floor before she looked up at him, a soft smile on her face.

“Are you sure you want me here, full time, and you’re not just asking because-“

“Lissy…” he cut her off, shaking his head “I’d have asked you move in here the day I did if I’d thought you’d have said yes. I’d love you to come live with us. And I know Mary would too…” “Ok, that’s blackmail.” she narrowed his eyes at the fact he’d dropped Mary into the equation and he grinned. “Is it working?”

She bit her lip and nodded “Yeah, ok, I’d love to…” “Yeah?” he said, a huge smile spreading across his face, warmth flooding his chest.

“Yeah…” she nodded, and grinned as he wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her lips.

“Gross…” Mary mumbled as she walked past the pair of them to the fridge, retrieving a juice box. . Frank broke away to look at her as she stabbed the straw into the hole at the top.

“Better get over it Stack.” he smirked. “Fliss just agreed to come live with us.” “Really?” her eyes widened and she grinned as Fliss nodded. Mary moved over to the pair of them and wrapped her arms around them both, Frank’s hand falling to the back of her head as she looked up at him. “Does that mean I don’t need to eat any more of your cooking, like ever again?”

Frank rolled his eyes and glanced at Fliss who was chuckling slightly “Trust me Mary…” she said, grinning “I’ve no intention of eating his cooking either.”

***** Of course Verity and Bill were over the moon when Fliss told them she was moving into Frank’s, and the next week or so they all spent doing various runs with the things she decided she needed to take. Everything else she would be leaving in the annex to either throw or store at a later date.

Considering the amount of time they spent together, it wasn’t a huge change for them, it just meant that the comfortable routine they adopted when they were together became a daily one, and it suited the pair of them just fine. Frank also surprised Fliss by getting her a vanity unit which she had made a passing comment about, making space for it in their room.

After 3 weeks it had become the new normal for them. They shared chores, shared Activity Club runs, grocery shopping, bills…Frank had tried to object to that one but Fliss had put her foot down insisting that if she was living there she was paying her way so he’d caved in the end and agreed. Fliss felt happy, safe, secure, loved...and Frank was over the moon simply knowing he had her to come home to every night.

One particular evening, a few days before her Birthday they were due to meet Evelyn for dinner as she was in town again to visit Mary, but Fliss was running ridiculously late, and as a consequence was in a total flap

“Fuck, fuck…” she groaned, jumping out of the jeep and calling Thor to her. “Come on buddy…”

She hurried across the lawns and threw the door to the apartment open, Thor shooting in before her.

“I’m so sorry I’m late…” she instantly began apologising as she walked into the living area and groaned loudly “The last lesson overran and then one of the waterers broke in the livery barn, flooded Horatio’s stable…” “It’s ok, calm down…” Frank chuckled, dropping a kiss to her cheek. “How did it break?”

“He’s been scratching his arse on it.” she said, rubbing at her temple “He broke it off the wall. We turned the supply off but I had to sort his bed before I left, then call his owner to tell her…” she groaned “Fucking nightmare.” “Want me to take a look at it?”

Fliss shook her head “Dad’s gonna do it tomorrow, keep him busy. He always moans at me for asking you and not…” she trailed off as she spotted Evelyn who was sat on one of the chairs in the living room. “Oh, Evelyn…hi. Sorry, I didn’t realise you were coming here…I thought…”

“We were…” Frank explained “But Mary wasn’t feeling too good so I suggested to Mother she come here instead.” “Oh, no, is she ok?” Fliss asked.

“Too much sun I think, she’s been running around at the Activities Camp all day and hardly drunk anything, despite the lecture you gave her. She’s had some water and gone for a nap. She’ll be fine when it’s time for dinner.”

“I thought seeing as we can’t go out I’d treat you to take out.” Evelyn spoke, standing up. Fliss eyed her for a moment before she shrugged.

“I can make something.” she said, and Frank shook his head.

“No, Lissy…” “I can do chicken with that pear and blue cheese salad you and Mary liked.” Fliss said, “Surely that’s gonna be better for her than a take out if she’s feeling shitty?”

Frank looked at her and then to his mother “That ok with you?” “Sure, that sounds good.” Evelyn nodded “but only if it’s no trouble.” “It’s fine.” Fliss nodded “Let me go take a shower and then I’ll get started ok?” Frank nodded and dropped a kiss to her cheek before she headed off to the bathroom. Thor made his way into the living room and took his usual place on the rug, flopping down as he looked up at Evelyn as she followed Frank over to the kitchen area. He pulled a bottle of white wine out of the fridge and held it up.

“Sancerre?” Evelyn arched an eyebrow. “And a pretty good one too…” “Fliss’ choice, not mine.” he said, “I assume that means you’d like a glass.” “I don’t want to put you out Frank.” she said, and he shook his head.

“You’re here now so…” he said “Oh, we normally eat outside but I’m not sure if Mary’s-”

“What, in open view of everyone?” Evelyn asked, horrified “It’s hardly-“ She stopped dead as Frank shot her a look, and held her hands up. “Point taken…”

Frank poured her a glass then got a beer for himself and leaned back against the counter as his Mother nodded appreciatively at the wine.

“So, pear and blue cheese…” she said and Frank looked at her “You hated cheese as a child.” “Well, I like it now.” he shrugged “And Mary loves that salad so…” “It’s not a dish I would normally associate with a child to be honest.” Evelyn mused.

“Well, I think we can both agree Mary isn’t a particularly standard child so…”

At that point Fred sauntered into the kitchen, straight to his food bowl. Evelyn eyed him, before she turned to Frank and smiled “I already took a Benadryl…” He snorted and a few seconds later Mary appeared.

“Hi Grandmother. Fliss said you were here.” “You feeling ok?” Frank asked as she walked over to him. He swung her up and she rest her head on his shoulder, nodding. “Want some more water?” “Fliss told me to ask for the elec…erm…the electo-” “Electrolytes” he said, nodding. “Not a bad shout…”

He set her on the counter and then reached into the cabinet to the right of the sink where they kept the medical supplies and pulled a sachet from the box. Grabbing a glass he pulled the Filter jug out of the fridge and made her the drink before he handed it to her. “Take it slow ok?” She nodded and took it from him with a thanks, sipping at it carefully, pulling a face. “What flavour is that?” “It says orange.” he answered, looking at the packet.

“Well it’s wrong. That’s disgusting.” “It’s good for you, so stop complaining.” he said, tossing the empty sachet into the trash.

To his surprise he heard his mother chuckling and he turned to look at her. “I remember giving you something similar when you came home with sunstroke from playing Baseball all afternoon. You spat it out and told me you’d rather die than drink it.” Frank gave a huff and then turned to Mary who was grinning ear to ear “Don’t even think about it.” he pointed at her.

She shrugged and then took another mouthful, grimacing as she drank. “Please can I get down?” Frank obliged and watched as she headed off to the sofa, Thor jumping up besides her, settling his head in her lap.

“Go and talk to her.” Frank looked at his mother “That’s why you’re here, to spend time with her. Not me.”

Evelyn nodded, and for a moment Frank thought he saw a flicker of emotion in the woman’s eyes, but as quick as it had flashed across her face it was gone and she turned and made her way into the sofa. Frank leaned on the edge of the archway which led into the living area and watched as she sat down in the chair she had occupied previously before he heard the door to the bathroom open again, signalling Fliss was out of the shower. He moved to start taking the different things they needed to make dinner out of the fridge and turned on the oven before he seasoned the chicken breasts just as she had shown him with salt, pepper, chilli and a squeeze of lime. He dropped it onto a tray, placed it in the oven and was washing his hands when Fliss walked dressed casually in a pair of shorts and a fading Guns N Roses tank top. She was barefoot and her damp hair was piled up on her head in a haphazard bun. This was Frank’s favourite way to see her. Completely relaxed and at home.

“Chicken’s in.” he said as he turned to the fridge and then poured her a glass of wine.

“Thank you.” she smiled, taking a sip.

“Can I show Evelyn around?” Mary asked, and Frank turned to her.

“Finished your drink?” “Yeah.” “Ok then yes, of course you can.” She stood up and Evelyn followed, giving the pair of them a smile as she passed by the kitchen area of the open plan living space

“Oh, Felicity.” “Fliss, please.” Fliss nodded to her as she turned back to what she was doing.

“Fliss, sorry, but could I be awkward?” Evelyn asked.

“No doubt you can.” Fliss mumbled between gritted teeth and Frank smirked to himself before she tuned to look at Evelyn.

“Could I ask for my salad dressing on the side?”

“That’s fine.” Fliss nodded “I’ll make you a separate bowl.” “Thank you, that’s very kind.” Evelyn smiled before she headed out after Mary.

“If she doesn’t eat this, then she’s gonna be wearing it.” Fliss looked at Frank who let out a laugh as he chopped up the slices of cucumber.

“Now that I would pay to see.” “I’ll do it for free.” Fliss narrowed her eyes.

Frank chuckled again as they continued to make their food. After about 10 minutes or so, just as they were dropping the salad bowls onto the table, Evelyn and Mary re-appeared.

“You’ve made a nice home, certainly considering the area anyway.” Evelyn said, as Frank invited her to sit at the table before he headed back to grab the bottle of wine, a beer for himself and more water for Mary.

Fliss rolled her eyes” The area is fine, and Frank did it all, not me. Well, him and my dad. I only moved in a few weeks ago.”

“Yes, he does speak very highly of your parents.” “Well they love him.” Fliss shrugged “But then again what’s not to love.”

Evelyn looked at Fliss for a moment as Frank made his way back to the table, and they all settled down and began to eat. As she had been at Mary’s birthday, his mother was polite, nodding appreciatively at the food, joining in the conversation and she sat with Mary once they’d finished so Mary could show he the latest installation of Monty’s blog. After another bottle of wine and a few more beers, Frank realised it was getting quite late and then told Mary she needed to be getting ready for bed. Evelyn took this as her queue to call for her driver, which Frank was pleased about as it saved him having to ask her to leave.

Mary headed for a shower and the three adults made small talk until she reappeared in her pyjamas just as Evelyn’s driver called to announce his arrival. She bid Mary goodnight and then Frank made to walk her down to her car when the woman surprised him and looked at Fliss.

“Could you…I’d like to speak to you.” Fliss looked at Frank before she shrugged “Yeah, sure…” Frank frowned, but didn’t object. He looked at his mother and nodded “Let me know when you want to see her again.”

“I was actually wondering if she could come to Boston for a few days.” Evelyn said and Frank took a deep breath. “Obviously, when it’s convenient.” “Maybe.” He nodded “Goodbye Evelyn.” “Yes, I’ll call you.” she nodded and then the two women headed out of the apartment. Fliss stuck her hands in her pockets as they walked.

“I’m glad he took my advice.” Evelyn broke the silence “Regarding you, I mean…”

“Yeah he told me what you said to him.” Fliss gave a snort “Gotta say I was surprised after I’d unleashed quite a nasty verbal tirade on you…” “Well I think all things considered at the time I deserved it.” Evelyn shrugged “And I’m not surprised you hate me so-“

“I don’t hate you Evelyn.” Fliss cut her off, shaking her head “I hate what you did to Frank and Mary, and honestly? I still don’t understand it.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing.” “But how?” Fliss pressed “How was tearing a girl away from the only father figure she has ever known, the man that has cared for her and loved her since she was 6 months old the right thing?”

Evelyn shook her head “I know Frank and I made an assumption-” “No, you knew Frank.” Fliss looked at her, “It was, what? Almost 8 years since you saw him last when you turned up…and how long was it before he left Boston since you actually had a conversation with him? I just…” Fliss trailed off and looked down at her feet before she glanced back at Frank’s mother “it baffles me how someone can be so callous towards their own child, that’s all.”

Fliss watched as Evelyn stopped and looked at her “What do you want me to say?” “An apology might not go amiss…” “I did that with his birthday card, paying the fees…” “Money doesn’t make it ok Evelyn.” Fliss sighed, “And a card isn’t the same as saying it to his face…” she scratched at her head “If you want to try and salvage something from this mess, have some form of relationship with your son…” “What makes you think-“ “Because I saw you this evening, at various points, watching him…you might be able to keep your face straight but they eyes don’t lie” Fliss said gently. Evelyn looked down at the ground as Fliss continued. “I suggest you start with a verbal apology, a very open and honest discussion, because that’s when you get the best out of Frank. On a face-to-face level, when he isn’t being lied or talked down to”

“You really do know him exceptionally well don’t you?” Evelyn smiled.

“Well, we’ve had enough of our own discussions recently with everything that’s been going on so…” “Right, your ex-husband.” “How do you-“ Fliss sighed, “Mary?” “No, actually, she never said a word. I looked you up.”

“Course you did.” Fliss groaned.

“I was curious about your family.” Evelyn shrugged “You have quite the back story.” “Yeah well, its history.” she said “And long may it stay that way.”

“Well I hope for all your sakes it does.” Evelyn shook her head “Nothing I can’t stand less than a man that deems it acceptable to do that. Lord knows I pushed Preston the extremes at times but he never once raised a hand to me…or his voice now that I think about it. He preferred to argue on a cerebral level...”

“Very like Frank.” Fliss smiled.

“Yes, the two are exceptionally similar.” Evelyn said as they reached the car. “Thank you for dinner Fliss, it was a very enjoyable evening.” Fliss smiled and then as Evelyn opened the car door the woman turned back to her “Just think about what I said Evelyn. You can’t turn the clock back but it’s how you go forward from here that matters.”

Evelyn nodded, and with that she climbed in the car and shut the door. Fliss watched them drive off before she turned and headed back towards the apartment. “You ok?” Frank asked, turning to look over the back of the sofa as she walked into the living area.

“Yeah, fine.” Fliss smiled. “Mary in bed?”

“She’s reading” Frank nodded “Told her you’d pop in and say goodnight.” Fliss yawned as she slid her arms round his shoulders from behind “I’ll go now, then I think I’ll get in bed myself. I’m whacked.” Frank smiled and turned his head to give her a kiss “I’m just gonna finish watching this and then I’ll be with you.” “What is it?” Fliss asked, turning her attention to the TV.

“A documentary on whales, funnily enough.” Frank said, “You’d enjoy it…” “You’re such an old man” she teased and he scoffed.

“Not what you were saying last night.”

Fliss laughed “Well you keep yourself in good shape, what can I say.” With that she kissed his cheek and headed down the hall.

After bidding goodnight to Mary and Thor, who seemed very happy to remain in Mary’s room with Fred, she changed for bed and slipped into the sheets, stretching out before she got herself comfortable. She was dozing, drifting in and out of a light sleep when she felt Frank climb into bed behind her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her to his chest.

“Finish whale watching?” she asked as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder.

“Yeah.” he said gently. “So you gonna tell me what my mother wanted?” “Nothing much…” Fliss said, and she turned in his arms so she was facing him. “She was actually quite contrite.”

“Course she was…” “No, I mean it, I think she’s genuinely sorry.” Fliss said, her hand gently tracing shapes on his bicep “Maybe you should give her a chance to apologise properly.”

“That must have been one hell of a talk.” Frank snorted “You were all for dumping salad on her head before!”

“We had a very honest discussion, I got a few things off my chest.” Fliss shrugged “And, well, like it or not she’s still your mum Frank.” “No, she’s my mother.” he corrected her “Your mom is a mom.”

“Was your dad a dad or a father?” “He was a dad.” Frank said, “Most definitely.”

“Do you remember much about him?” she asked.

“Little bits.” he said, his hand tucking her hair behind her ear. “Mostly about stuff we did. Baseball, football, when he taught me how to ride a bike. All the fun stuff you do with kids really.” he took a deep breath.

“What did he do?” “He was a Surgeon” Frank said “Neurology.” “Really?” Fliss looked up at Frank as he nodded “Well that’s pretty cool!”

“Yeah.” Frank nodded “I wanted to be just like him when I was a kid. I sometimes wonder if I idolise him a bit more because he’s dead you know but…” “Have you ever asked your mother what he was like? You know, since he died?” “Once or twice.” Frank replied “For all of Evelyn’s faults she did love Dad. She gave up her own career and research partnership she had with Cambridge in London to move to Boston when she met him. Then they had me. I think she resented me a little bit at first because me and dad were so close, and then when Diane came along that was it, Daddy’s girl...”

“No longer his main woman.” Fliss smiled.

“Something like that. You know, I do wonder at times why on Earth she had us.” Frank snorted “if we were such inconveniences…” “It can’t all have been bad.” “Well we wanted for nothing. In fact, we were both very spoilt. And yeah, we had Birthday parties, fun, vacations, trips…but when dad died…I dunno, it kinda went to rat-shit.” “It must have been hard for Evelyn you know, losing him when you were both so young.”

“Yeah.” Frank sighed “I’ve no doubt it was. I remember the police coming round and breaking the news about the accident…only time I’ve ever seen her break down.”

“You know before, she said that you remind her of your dad.” Fliss looked at him.

“Yeah she’s told me the same, last time I saw her in fact. Probably why she doesn’t particularly enjoy being around me that much.” “I think she enjoys it a lot more than she lets on.” Fliss shrugged “And besides, I enjoy being around you. And so do my parents…so…”

Frank gave her a soft smile before she leaned up and gave him a kiss.

“I know…” he said, as she snuggled into his chest “And that’s all I care about.” ******

Friday rolled around and with it came Fliss’ birthday. Frank was pretty sure Mary was more excited than Fliss to give her the gifts they had bought, and with good reason. Fliss beamed as she opened her various packages from them both, which included a bottle of her favourite perfume, a pale blue and white striped sleeveless button down which Frank had thought was quite nautical so very apt and a box of British chocolate. Bonnie had also stopped round the night before to give her a bottle of her favourite gin and a huge bag of sweets which she declared she was hiding from Frank as she didn’t trust him not to eat them.

Frank then handed her the envelope with her main present in and she opened it, her mouth dropping open as she looked at the Broadway Tickets.

“Lion King?” she said, looking up at him. “We’re going to see the Lion King?” He nodded, smiling “I know you wanted to go so…” “Oh my God…thank you!” she practically squealed throwing her arms round his neck, kissing his cheek.

“You’re welcome.” he smiled, winking at Mary over his shoulder. She gave him the thumbs up. Fliss turned back to look at the pile of presents arranged on the coffee table before Mary handed her another smaller wrapped one.

“This is from me…and Fred…and Thor.” she added and Fliss smiled, unwrapping the small black box. She opened it, and a small card fell out which she picked up and read out loud.

“We hope you enjoy your “Precious Paws” hand-made resin beads…” she trailed off, and glanced down at the charms in more detail. One was green speckled with gold and the other was blue speckled with silver.

“The green one has some of Heidi’s tail hair in it…” Mary pointed as Fliss gently took it from the box to examine it in more detail, clearly seeing where the hair was wound through the resin of the bead “And the Blue one has Thor’s in.”

“I…” Fliss felt herself choke up “Mary these are beautiful, where did you…” “Joanne told me about them.” Mary said, and Frank smiled at her “And then Frank helped me order them…” “They’re not officially Pandora but the woman said when we emailed her they’d fit the standard bracelet.” He said as she turned her head to look at him, her eyes shining.

“Thank you both, so much…” she turned to Mary and wrapped her up in a hug before she did the same to Frank, giving him a soft kiss “Love you.” “Happy birthday Sweetheart.” he smiled, hugging her again.

As Fliss had booked the day off, so had Frank so the three of them along with Thor and Fred spent the afternoon after visiting Fliss’ mum and dad on one of the boats belonging to Paul, the owner of the shop Frank worked in. Frank had deliberately chosen one of the smaller ones so they could access the small stretch of sand just off St Pete’s beach that they all loved. It was quieter than the main beach as it wasn’t reachable unless you waded or sailed over and they spent the afternoon on the beach with a few beers and a picnic, before they headed home. Mary crashed out on the way back, her head lolling on Fliss’s lap as she sat at the front of the boat, her bare feet resting on the bar in front of her, simply watching the dolphins. Thor was barking at them like mad, wagging his tail and then suddenly he shot to the bow of the boat, placing both his paws up on the metal, threatening to throw himself overboard. Frank’s hand shot out to grab his collar.

“Dumbass…” he yanked him back, and turned to Fliss “Does this mutt have a brain in his head?”

“Don’t’ talk about my baby like that…” she narrowed her eyes at Frank as she covered Thor’s ears with her hands as he sat by her feet, tail thumping on the floor. “Fred does his share of stupid shit too, like getting his head stuck in cereal boxes.”

Frank rolled his eyes “At least Fred knows not to jump in the ocean.”

“That’s because he has no sense of adventure.” Fliss shot back, causing Frank to snort. Standing up, Fliss gently moved Mary, so that she was led flat down before she stretched and moved next to Frank who tossed his arm over her shoulder.

“Had a good day?” he asked and she grinned, nodding.

“The best.” she smiled “I love it when you bring me out sailing.” “I’m driving.” he turned to face her, grinning. “You’re sailing.”

“Whatever” he mumbled as his lips pressed to hers. She snaked her arms around his neck as his slid round her back, pulling her closer to him as he kissed her deeply his tongue sliding against hers.

“You can unwrap your last present when we get home…” he said, grinning like a school boy as he rest his forehead head against hers.

“Yeah?” she asked, arching an eyebrow

“I’d let you unwrap it now but…” he nodded to Mary and she snorted.

“You know we’ve not actually done that.” she mused. “Sex on a boat I mean…” Frank let out a laugh “You harbouring a bit of a sailing kink?” “More of a sailor kink” she shot back and he shook his head, giving her another quick kiss before he turned his attention back to the boat as he guided it back into the Marina.

He made good on his promise once they got back, loved on his girl. Once in the shower and then again later on when he woke up as Fliss had done the same to use the bathroom. Frank knew he would never get tired of hearing the soft cries of his names and the various encouragements she gave him when she begged him not to stop or told him how good he was making her feel. As he tumbled right over that edge, behind her 3rd, or was it 4th orgasm, he’d lost count, his fingers tightened slightly on her hips as his head tipped back in ecstasy. He lay still, panting as she collapsed onto his chest, his hands stroking up and down her spine as she lifted her head, grinning as she caught his lips in a soft kiss before falling down onto the mattress next to him. She looked at him, her eyes flashing in the soft light that was sneaking into the room through the crack in the curtains, a look of pure love on her face, as if he had hung the moon and the stars in the sky, and it was enough to choke him up slightly. He still wasn’t sure he was worthy of her unadulterated adoration, but damned it, he’d try constantly to be the best version of himself if it kept her by his side.

He didn’t wake the next morning when Fliss’ alarm went off. Instead he woke to a gentle kiss to his cheek and as he roused himself the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit his senses. Blinking he smiled softly as Fliss placed a mug on his night stand.

“What time is it?” Frank asked.

“Just gone 7. I’ve got an early appointment with the Ariat rep at the stables, remember?” “Oh, yeah…” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“You told me to wake you before I left.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why I did that…” he moaned and she chuckled.

“You gonna bring Mary up later?”

“Yeah, I’ll leave he with you for the afternoon if that’s ok? Need to clean the boat and get it back.” “Course it is.” she smiled. With that she bent over to kiss him again and in a shot Frank’s arms were round her waist and she was flat on her back on the bed, laughing as he caged her with his arms.

“Frank…” she whined, as he kissed her softly “I can’t, I’m gonna be late as it is…” “One more kiss, come one…” he pleaded, and she relented as he pressed his lips to hers before she eventually pulled away and shoved on his chest. With a pout he moved allowing her to stand and she shook her head at him.

“You’ll be the death of me Frank Adler.” she said, straightening her top and he eyed her figure up as she did so and gave a shrug.

“What a way to go…” he smirked and with that she reached down, grabbed one of the various scatter cushions that lived on the bed during the day, and smacked him straight on the face with it.

He and Mary shared a lazy morning before they both dressed and headed out going via the bakery at the end of the high street to pick up a coffee and some Danishes for a late breakfast for Fliss as he knew she’d have left without eating any, she always did when she was out earlier than them. As he pulled up, Mary was out of the truck before he had stopped, something which he was fed up of telling her off for.

Frank walked into Fliss’ office where he placed the bag of food on the desk, along with the cardboard carrier which contained their coffee and gave her cheek a kiss. Mary shot into the tack room, grabbed her little box of brushes and shot off to go and see Monty.

“Bye then…” he said sarcastically, and she completely ignored him. He snorted, shaking his head as Fliss laughed.

“Busy morning?” he asked and Fliss nodded.

“I’ll say.” she nodded to the bag “Saturday’s always are…aww, you bring me breakfast?”

“If 11 am counts as breakfast” he snorted and Fliss laughed as she continued sifting through the pile of envelopes on her desk. There was one that contained a few clearly hand delivered cards, he could tell by the shape and the fact they had no post marks, and then another small pile that had arrived in the post. “Bill, bill…oh…” She stopped at a bigger envelope. “A card?”

Frank shrugged. She turned it over, ripped open the envelope and pulled out a white card with simple block writing on the front in multi-colours. With a frown she opened it and scanned the greeting, before her eyes grew wide and she threw it down onto the desk.

“Lissy?” Frank frowned, and he looked at her as she shook her head, taking a deep breath, before she swallowed and turned to face him. “Honey, what is it?” “It’s…” she swallowed, her eyes wide “That card…it’s…it’s from John.”

Frank’s face grew harsh as he grabbed the card and read the greeting. It was 3 words long. 3 simple words, but even he knew from what she’d told him about the name John used to call her, that it was from him. Happy Birthday Sugar. “Fucker.” Frank growled, tossing the card back onto the desk as Fliss turned to him and he wrapped her in his arms, letting her simply press her face into his chest. He rubbed his hand gently up and down her back as her breathing evened out and she stepped back. “You ok?” “Yeah…” she said, “Do me a favour and get rid of it.” “Don’t you wanna call the police?” he frowned.

“They’re not going to do anything about a card.” she shook her head

“He’s broken his parole…” “And they can’t prove its him.” she sighed “They’re not gonna DNA test or whatever on that…” “Fliss…”

“No, Frank…just…” she shook her head. “Please, do what I ask and rip it up, burn it, whatever, I just…get rid of it”

“Ok, ok…” he appeased and she nodded, before she looked to the doorway and hastily her face rearranged into a smile.

“Hi Steph!” she greeted. Frank turned to see a dark haired woman dressed in riding gear, Fliss’ next client. “DJ is ready, get Jo to get you on and I’ll be out in a moment.” The woman smiled and headed off down the yard. Fliss looked at Frank.

“I didn’t think about the fact this place was so easy to find.” she shook her head “The webpage…” Frank sighed, it was something if truth be told he hadn’t considered either “Look, the worst he can do is send you shit.” he said, almost trying to convince himself as well “He can’t set foot out of Mass…he’s clearly doing this to try and upset you so…” “Well he can fuck off and die.” Fliss said venomously, “Ass hole…a fucking birthday card? He’s clearly losing his touch.” With that she gave his cheek a peck and grabbed a Danish out of the bag before she picked up her coffee. “This lesson is only half an hour so as soon as I’m done Mary can ride Monty and then she can do her jobs and stuff. You go and clear the boat from yesterday or whatever it is you were planning on doing and I’ll give you a call later ok?”

“Sure.” he nodded.

“Love you.” she smiled at him, before she left the room.

Frank watched her go before he looked at the card. She’d asked him to get rid of it…but something was telling him not to. He pondered it for a moment before he tucked the offending item back into the envelope and then curled it up so it would fit in his back pocket, before he headed out to the jeep, pulling his phone free as he walked.

“S’up Man?” Greg greeted him as he opened his truck door threw the envelope onto the passenger seat.

“I need some advice.” Frank spoke quietly, glancing over to where Fliss was now stood in the middle of the paddock, the women on the large grey horse was walking around her in a circle. “Can we meet?”

#riding high #frank adler x ofc #frank adler #gifted #gifted fan fic

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wethepixies · 4 years

Photo

Welcome to part two of our interview series, pixies! Today, we’re presenting our interview with four of the flaptastic people who make this rewrite possible. They had a lot to say, so this post is rather long - keep reading to see the full interviews!

Our first two Game Creator interviews feature two of our beloved artists - Rachel and Ci.

How did you first find out about the WTP project, and what inspired you to start working as an artist?

Rachel: In a computer graphics class I took last semester, one of our projects reminded me and my friend of Pixie Hollow, so we were reminiscing about the game and I really wanted to see if there was a rewritten version of it. When I found WTP and saw they were accepting artist applications, I was super excited because I loved the game and was starting to get into animation at the time as well. I also just adore the process of game development in general, so I was thrilled to become a part of WTP.

Ci was introduced to the project by a friend who’s also a staff member!

What is your favorite part of your job as a WTP artist?

Rachel: My favorite part is being able to contribute my work to a bigger project. Seeing the art I worked on in the game is really exciting to me. Just knowing that the work you put in is helping to further the game is really cool. As for my favorite thing to work on, it’s really strange, but I enjoy creating the UI buttons and signs for different meadows or shops.They’re super small and no one really pays attention to them, but they’re also extremely necessary so I guess I just like to make them, haha. They don’t always take too long to make but I think they’re cute. Also, I’m especially excited for all the new meadows, as I really enjoy helping to restore the beautiful art for the meadows.

Check out this gorgeous sign that Rachel restored for one of our meadow teleporters!

Ci: My favorite piece of art that I’ve created for WTP was probably a background I restored for a general winter theme/season back when I first joined. It’s not being used right now, but it’s pretty and you’ll just have to take my word for it :’)

How long does it take for you to work on art for WTP, and how do you fit that in your schedule?

Rachel: The time it takes really depends on how much of the project we have completed already. Oftentimes we’ll be working collaboratively and finish what other people have started. So if we are working on something from scratch it can take quite a while, but sometimes it’s just a matter of adding finishing touches and compiling pieces together to create a finished product. And each task takes a different amount of time. For instance, resizing something small will take a few minutes, but creating an atlas for fairy clothing can take hours, especially when you need to restore an item from scratch. Either way, I think it’s still beneficial for us to take our time to create the best product we can. Personally, I don’t always get to work everyday, but when I do, I’ll spend hours because I like to finish tasks in one sitting if I can, although I can’t always haha. I think that working in moderation is always a good idea as long as you’re getting your work done, and knowing we have so many fans really pushes me to get tasks done and do them well. As for fitting it into my schedule, because of quarantine, I definitely have a lot more time to work on WTP, but during the school semester I would have to plan out what I needed to get done and when I needed to do it in order make sure I could get all of my school projects and WTP work done on certain days in order to avoid as much stress as possible.

Ci: I don’t have time to work on artwork daily, but I do try to stay on top of what other people are working on, so a small chunk of my day is dedicated to discord. Sometimes I’ll be busy for weeks and do a whole bunch of tasks afterwards in one go, and sometimes I try to take on smaller things (pre-corona I’d sometimes spend time between lectures because that’s often the only time I have!). Some tasks are 5 minute jobs, like UI, but others, like adding clothing, take a few hours. Backgrounds probably take me the longest. A couple hours for a few days, if I have time to work on them daily. They’re really fun when starting!! but after day 3 it’s quite the grind. I like to sleep on those, since there’s so much detail in the PH backgrounds that I’ll inevitably miss something.

Rachel, you mentioned atlases and spritesheets - can you explain what they are and how you use them?

Rachel: An atlas and spritesheet contains all of the different variations of a clothing item or anything you can change on the fairy. So for instance, the hair atlas has all of the different types of hair you can choose when creating your fairy packed into one single file. So in order to make one you have to create all the hair pieces, position them correctly on a fairy reference, export each hair image, and then combine them all onto the atlas file. Then a json file is also created to describe where each image is in the file in order to use it in the game. The spritesheet is similar and is basically a horizontal version of the atlas with all of the images that we use in CAF to scroll through whatever you’re changing.

Do you start the graphics by hand or via some digital web design program?

Rachel: I almost always use digital programs. Sometimes I’ll plan something out quickly on paper but most of the time I’ll use Photoshop. We also use DragonBones for animation.

Ci: All of the research we do is online, so it saves a couple of steps and retains image quality to just keep everything digital. I also don’t have a scanner :’)

And finally, what’s the most challenging piece of art that you’ve made for WTP?

Rachel: The most challenging piece that I’ve done for WTP was probably the hair atlas for when a player creates a fairy because it was the first project I was taking on. All the hair was made already, I just had to resize, reposition, and fix any pieces that were lower quality, and although it was daunting at first, once I started, I was able to get the hang of it (even if it took a few tries), and now I’m super happy I learned how to do it.

Ci: We were missing a whole area of the CAF background (the part that shows up when you’re picking a name) that got passed around for one or two months, and eventually I got to work on it. It was the closest to a custom piece of art that I’ve made for WTP; the middle was a giant blur when I got to it. My motivation to complete it was honestly just being able to get it off the to-do list forever, when I was done I posted a before and after to the staff chat (which I try not to do bc it’s not really productive) because I was so excited about it :’))

__________________

We had so much fun learning more about our artists’ jobs! Next up, we decided to sit down with WTP game developer and administrator Teresa!

How did you first find out about the WTP project, and what inspired you to start working as a developer?

Teresa: A friend I made in the Pixie Hollow community said that her favorite mini game was Bubble Bounce, so I decided to make it for her. I had started prototyping and showing it around, and someone from WTP saw my work and invited me to join the team.

As we know, WTP is a voluntary project. How do you fit working on WTP into your schedule?

Teresa: I’m actually quite good at time management, and I’ve decided to make WTP a priority. That means that I can’t always say ‘yes’ to other things I want to do, but that’s ok.

What are some of the main things you look for when adding staff members?

Teresa: You need to be able to take criticism well and communicate effectively. A certain level of quality needs to be maintained to build a good game, and criticism sheds light on any blind spots you may have. If you aren’t communicating clearly and frequently, then your value to the team is very low – everyone needs to be on the same page so that work doesn’t get redone and wasted, and to keep an accurate development schedule. Being willing to devote more than a couple of hours a week is also a major plus.

How do you decide which parts of the game you should work on first?

Teresa: There’s this concept called the Minimum Viable Product. Basically, you just strip the project down to what is necessary and work out the kinks. Then you can add new features that enhance the gameplay.

What’s the most challenging issue you��ve faced while creating the game?

Teresa: There was a problem with the animation plugin that I was hoping would be fixed by the maintainers before the demo release. It was a really big deal, the game would be entirely unplayable. At the last minute, I had to dig into the plugins source code and figure it out myself. In the end, it wasn’t actually so difficult – but boy was it stressful. Really I would say that the biggest problems have stemmed from not having enough artists on the team! There have been multiple times where we had to delay updates because we didn’t have all of the assets ready for me to use in the game.

How do you go about fixing a game bug?

Teresa: Gather all the info I can from users experiencing the bug, and try to reproduce it. Just observing the behavior is often enough to figure out the problem. When it’s not, check the logs or step through with the debugger.

Have you ever worked on or made a game before WTP?

Teresa: I’ve worked a bit on some 3D open source game projects, never worked on the multiplayer parts before, though. I also make mods for games.

Lastly, what are your favorite and most rewarding parts of being a game developer?

Teresa: Pushing the boundaries of my knowledge and comfort zone, definitely. As a developer, I’ve learned a lot of new technologies and some new domains specifically for WTP. I also find being able to fix things that I don’t like about games very rewarding. Being an administrator has benefitted me as well. As an admin, I’ve had to cultivate skills in team leadership and project management.

__________________

Finally, we interviewed Lavender Merryheart, our sound designer.

First off, how did you first find out about the WTP project?

Lavender: I found WTP from a Youtube video, and played the demo. I was excited to be able to re-visit PH and when I saw the audio designer application, I wanted to help out however I could!

Are you remaking the music from scratch based on any remaining audio from sources like youtube?

Lavender: Both! We salvage what we can, and re-create what’s needed if. In the future, there will be some new, original music too! When we need a sound effect or music, we first check to see if there’s a good quality clip preserved of the original. It needs to be clear and without extra background sounds. If we can’t find any, then I will dissect the sound or song and try to figure out how it was made, then recreate it.

You mentioned that you make new sounds if needed, how do you go about making them?

Lavender: New sound effects are made by piecing different recordings together, such as the audio you hear when you click the talent orbs, which was re-made from the sounds of a heavy book shutting and wind chimes. If we need to remake a song, I make a new track by re-recording each instrument’s part on a midi keyboard. Then it will be edited it in Logic Pro X, using instruments and synths from the Kontakt audio library.

What’s the part of being an audio designer that you’re most excited about?

Lavender: I’m most excited about getting to write new music for the game! I can’t reveal to you what it’s going to be used for yet, but in the process for the last WTP track I wrote, I thought about how to represent the area it will be used for and what instruments and mood would suit it the best. It was a lot of fun to try to both express my style and also give it that Pixie-Hollow-sound!

Finally, how do you fit working on WTP into your schedule?

Lavender: I keep a to-do list and project notes to help organize what needs to be done, and work on WTP between class assignments. To refrain from burning out, I try to spread out my different tasks and work on a variety of things.

__________________

After we learned about what goes on behind the scenes on WTP, we wanted to learn a little bit about some future plans and hopes the staff have for the game.

Art wise, what sorts of things will be designed from scratch in the future?

Rachel: Although we still have a long way to go before creating our own work as we have to replicate what was in the original game first, I believe that new clothing and hair might be designed from scratch in the future.

Ci: Right now, we’re still committed to restoring the game in its original form–this means that we try not to design anything from scratch. We’ve discussed the possibility of custom content in the future (items + clothing, pets, meadows, maybe even minigames?), and when the time comes, all of that will be built from scratch. That said, pertaining to the look and feel of the original pixie hollow will be a priority for those updates too.

What game feature from Pixie Hollow are you most excited to have?

Teresa: Personally, I am excited for the skill system and wilderness! We have some new ideas to try out, but I don’t want to spoil anything.

Do you plan to have seasonal differences and events, as well as competitions and activities?

Teresa: Yep! Can’t wait! We are already featuring player’s outfits in the shop catalogue, so that’s sort of a mini fashion spotlight, but there’s definitely more exciting things to come. Fashion spotlight was one of the most beloved competitions/events in the original Pixie Hollow!

In the future, will the game be available for mobile and/or consoles?

Teresa: You can already play WTP on mobile! At some point we will have options that allow the game to run smoother on mobile devices. Console versions won’t be a thing, though.

Is there anything that was in the original Pixie Hollow that you’d like to change in WTP?

Lavender: I would change the whisper noise it made when you got a message, it got a bit annoying. And it would be really neat if you could choose from a few different songs to have played in your fairy’s home depending on your mood! I had the ice themed house and have heard the music a few too many times!

Teresa: There are things I want to tweak, and fully plan to! We have already added a couple of small new things, such as the second sitting pose and featuring real player’s outfits in the shop catalogue. I hope everyone enjoys them!

The last thing we wanted to talk about is the staff’s personal feelings about WTP and about their jobs, as well as ask them about their inspiration.

Is there anything new that working on WTP has teached you?

Rachel: As an artist here I am definitely learning new technical skills and developing as an artist in general. Some examples of art skills I’ve been able to develop include creating atlases and spritesheets for fairy clothing and hair, getting familiar with DragonBones as I’d never used it for animation, and just gaining more experience in Photoshop. And I basically just learned all these things by trying them out and asking questions if I needed help.

Lavender: Through WTP I’ve learned more about creating sound effects, because when remaking the old sounds for WTP, I really have to think about what each one is made out of (for example, the pouch sound was re-created using a paper bag rustling, leaves crunching, and a bell synth).

How do you feel about the community growing so much in a short amount of time?

Teresa: I really didn’t expect it, and it has been a bit stressful, but I hope we are handling it well. I would never have imagined that a TikTok would be the reason either! Having more eyes on us makes me feel restless. We had to adapt the discord server to keep it safe and make information more accessible to new members.

What do you remember about Pixie Hollow? And did it change your life in any way?

Lavender: I joined right at the beginning, and loved how it really felt like you were stepping into a different, magical world. My favorite thing to do was decorating and creating/collecting items for my house, as well as the minigames and item crafting/ baking, I’m most excited to see these features again! Also, a good memory from the game I have is going to the summer pool party in the ballroom, and playing games in the tearoom with friends! The music in Pixie Hollow was one of my earliest inspirations for pursuing a career in film/game scoring. Currently I am studying for a degree in film/game scoring! I’m obsessed with fantasy games, nature, fairy tales, magic, and mythology, and I write music to try and illustrate the stories and have the listener feel like they’re visiting the scene. You can hear some of my original music on Spotify under the name June Westfield!

Rachel: I was so young that I have trouble remembering everything. I do remember sometimes getting on the phone with my friends and talking as we played together and explored meadows, which was really fun. I also really enjoyed completing tasks and playing the minigames. I have no idea why that was so fun to me, but I just liked getting achievements and beating my scores.

Do you feel like some people may have unrealistic expectations for WTP? And do you think it can ever be as big as Pixie Hollow was?

Teresa: Yes, but I can’t blame them. So far I am the only developer to have actually worked on this game, so it’s a lot of pressure, but of course the players can’t know that. For some reason the things that everyone thinks will be the easiest to code are always the more difficult ones, funnily enough. For example, a flying mechanic like the original game is sort of complex, whereas adding new meadows is extremely simple. Do I think WTP will ever be as big as PH? Definitely not. Pixie Hollow had millions of players, Disney advertised it, and it had a full development team behind it. A lot of the original players will have moved on. I’m actually surprised that so many people have found us already!

Are there any artists that you look up to or are inspired by?

Rachel: I don’t have anyone specific in mind who I look up to, but I do watch a lot of cartoons and really admire animation and all of the work that goes into it. I get really inspired seeing different animated works and am super impressed by the entire process of it.

Ci: I used to actively make art outside of WTP and definitely had a whole list of people whose styles I looked up to, but now that I’ve moved away from that I mostly remember individual pieces. I had to dig some up for this question! loish, gawki, and Hethe Srodawa, are a few.

Lavender: Some composers that inspire me are Enya, Faun, Loreena McKennitt, and Secret Garden. They are all fantasy/new age genre artists that create enchanting music!

The WTP community is a great place to make friends! Is there a person in the staff that you’ve formed a strong friendship with?

Rachel: I’ve definitely become a lot closer with many of the staff members, whether it be looking up to certain people like our team leads, chatting with the other artists in DMs and helping each other out, or just having fun conversations with all the other staff members and sharing funny stories and pictures.

Teresa: Asteria is probably the best friend I’ve made at WTP, as we have talked the most. I have also met Kass in real life – she’s the sweetest! I love everyone on our team.

(Kass is one of our moderators - we’ll hear from her in the final interview post!)

And finally, What does working on a game that’s so loved by people mean to you?

Teresa: It is so heartwarming to be a part of something that brings people joy and makes them nostalgic. Pixie Hollow’s fan base can make me a bit anxious at times. Sometimes a group of players will want one thing, and then another group wants the exact opposite and it can be hard to make a choice. There’s a lot of pressure in trying to stay true to the original game’s vision while also being fresh, but it drives me to deliver the best work I can. I put a lot of time into WTP, and have actually burnt out a few times already. Luckily, I love building things so much that it never lasts long.

________________

Next up in our interview series - our social media team and server moderators! Stay tuned to hear their answers to some of your questions.

#WTP Staff Interviews #we the pixies

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nyxxon · 5 years

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Braiding (*Platonic!*Eri)

(A/N: I was lowkey half asleep when I wrote this, whoops, so apologies if it's bad, lol. Anyways, the reader will have long/medium lengthed hair as it is essential for the idea used... I hope that doesn't bother you.)

(Female Reader) / *Platonic*

This arrangement didn't happen often but it did happen enough to become an almost normal occurrence... Being a college student, you needed all the help you could get money-wise and to have something to do on your spare time as you didn't like to stand around and do nothing so this, in turn, had caused you to search out for a simple yet easily schedulable job...

Babysitting.

The job was actually slightly enjoyable as you liked children to a certain extent. After all, you wanted to be a pediatrician when you got older, plus, your quirk was perfect for the profession so it worked hand-in-hand with each other.

Not needing to actually support yourself fully yet as you lived with your parents and them wanting you to focus more on schooling rather than worry about a job that could possibly become stressful and hinder your schooling but you wanting to work and not sit and do nothing as well as help a little bit with the bills and such, babysitting was the best option.

It wasn't too hard but it also wasn't an easy task either especially with certain clients' children; however, most of the people you sat for on a regular basis were the ones who were better behaved and such as you usually never took a job back with the more troubling ones after you had had them once.

Today had been one of your normal clients, Aizawa who was the adoptive father of the child, and one of the better children⁠—probably even the best⁠—out of all you sat and had sat, Eri. Though unlike your other babysitting jobs, this one usually required you to stay the night since Aizawa was a pro-hero and his job required him to go off for long periods of times and even not come back for the night but usually it so happened to always fall into your schedule for you to be able to do it, especially when you took a semester off as you were at this moment given you had been going through college without much of a break up until this point.

You had not always stayed the night⁠—mostly at the beginning of sitting the off white haired girl⁠—but as you had gotten more comfortable and actually enjoyed sitting her more so than the other children you decided to finally offer that in your service (though only for her) to help make it easier for her caretaker so he wouldn't have to try and continue to find other sitters and would just have to call you. This arrangement soon became pretty normal resulting in you at least doing it every other month or so, not that you minded one bit, as you were currently doing right now...

Smiling at the now sleeping girl in her bed, you quickly placed the storybook on the nightstand beside the bed before exiting the room to go to the couch. Today had been a bit eventful as you and Eri had gone off to an amusement park to spend the day in hopes to tire her out so she'd sleep for the night though it seemed to have mostly only tired you out and had not done anything to her considering she seemed to be her normal self.

Checking the time on your phone after you had laid down on the couch, you put it back on the table beside the couch before lying down, ready to go to sleep yourself. It didn't take long for you to drift off once your eyes were shut instantly going off to dreamland...

Though unbeknownst to you, Eri had not actually gone to bed. In fact, once you had left she instantly had opened her eyes and just stared at the closed door of her room as her little hands clenched the top of her covers. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she could not, for the life of her, go to sleep.

After waiting a bit longer in hopes her mind would eventually settle down and allow her to sleep though it didn't, she decided to get out of bed and make her way to where she knew you to be lying on the couch. Tiptoeing quietly so her feet wouldn't make any noise on the wooden floor that had a tendency to squeak.

Finally in the living room having successfully not made any noise coming down, she peeked behind the couch taking notice to you already sound asleep with your front facing the back of the couch. She soon came out behind the couch and peered down at your sleeping form with her large bright crimson orbs, blinking a few times before they caught notice to your hair flowing off the side of the couch.

A small blush made way to Eri's cheeks as a sudden urge to touch it took over her. Reaching out, she instantly stopped herself unsure if she should really touch to soft-looking (hair color) locks. However, as she continued to stare at it her urge finally won over as she once again reached for your hair and touched it.

As it looked, it felt soft to the touch and she began to subconsciously comb through it with her fingers. There appeared to be no tangles whatsoever as she continued going through it. She had been wanting to braid your hair for the longest of times though had never had the courage to ask for such a request even though you two were decently close. She felt she had no right to do so and afraid that you might say no to her.

However, you were currently asleep and would be unable to say no so she could do it now... On the other hand, it was probably wrong to do so without your permission or... It was wrong, but she really really wanted to do it... Plus, you were out like a light it seemed as you didn't even stir from her current actions. Making up her mind she took her hands out of your hair before quietly making it to the bathroom to get the needed essentials and quickly coming back as she sat on her knees.

Not bothering to comb it as she had done so previously with her fingers, Eri began to separate three chunks of hair⁠—them uneven and such from her being so young and not really being a good braider⁠—before trying to remember what to do next from what she had seen from Aizawa when he had, on some occasions, done this to her own hair. Though as she finally remembered and began crisscrossing and placing the strands together to the best of her ability, she failed to notice your awakening form too busy trying to perfect the braid she was concocting.

Having and assumption of who was currently behind you given the size of the hands that was messing with your hair, you glanced back as lowkey as possible as not to startle the girl too bad taking notice to her trying to⁠—what you could assume⁠—braid your hair. This caused a small sleepy smile to make way to your lips as you continued to silently watch her, to the best of your abilities anyways given the position.

After a few minutes, Eri had finally completed what could probably not be called a braid but to her, it looked like a masterpiece with the twisted and looped (hair color) locks with multiple (favorite color) pins and rubber bands all bunched up at the end. Proud of her work, a triumphant smile made way to her lips as her eyes soon made way to your face though it instantly changed to horror upon realizing that you had awoken and had caught her in the act.

Eri instantly backed away and bowed lowly as you finally decided to raise yourself and give the girl a questioning gaze, confused by her actions, "... I'm... I... I'm sorry! I..." She began to shake as tears pooled at the edges of her eyes, "... I just couldn't... Couldn't sleep and... And your h-hair looks really pretty... And I-I just... Wanted to braid it. I-I'm sorry!"

Tilting your head, you frowned before placing your hand on top of the girl's head causing her to look back up at you while you began to smile once again at her, "... Want to redo it? Might be easier if I'm sitting up. I'm sure it was tough with me laying down like that..."

Her eyes widened slightly, "... R-Really?!" There seemed to be a hint of excitement in her voice.

You nodded, "... But there's one thing..." This caused her to tilt her head, urging for you to continue, "... You have to let me do yours after."

"Ok!" Her eyes instantly lit up, seemingly forgetting all about her sadness as she instantly hopped up on the couch beside you and began to take down the 'braid' she had made to make a new and 'improved' one.

This caused you to smile as the girl began sectioning your hair into three (still uneven) strands after having undone the previous braid and having had taken out all the clips and rubber bands that were in it. You had a feeling your hair was going to be super tangled the next day but, in the end, it'd all be worth it if it made her happy.

After she had finally finished your hair into a (less than presentable) braid, you both quickly switched directions as you started on her off white locks of her hair. Taking less time to make it than what she had for your hair. Her soon jumping up and down, liking the new hairstyle you had given her, before asking if she could do yours again with you agreeing to it.

Let's just say that most of the night consisted of Eri and you braiding each other's hair over and over again until she had finally fallen asleep...

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kezikatescribbling · 5 years

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Witness to Monsters- Chapter 2: Smile and Nod

Heeyyy, it’s chapter 2! And it took less than a month! It’s a miracle! I’m kinda sleepy, so not sure how this chapter turned out, but I’m posting it anyway!

***

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 |

Or read on AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21639121/chapters/54362587#workskin

Word count: 2575

TW: Ughhh, nervous behavior? Awkward teasing.

Leon’s POV

Hunnigan wasn’t kidding when she said this girl had been through a lot. Every reaction he’d seen so far spoke of the way [Yn] had been treated since being arrested from the Umbrella facility. The way her eyes widened when she saw his gun, and kept watching it, as if waiting for it to be turned on her. The nervous, defensive look she gave him when she saw the anger on his face, even though his anger wasn’t in any way directed at her, but at the state she was in. And worst of all, the way she flinched when he reached for her, the genuine fear he saw in her eyes...had just about broken his heart. It didn’t matter what she had done while at that lab; this was wrong. He’d relied off of the fear from his enemies to get him through battles, but this was different.

Which is why the last thing he expected was for [Yn] to hug him tighter while pushing her face into him, like she was hiding-like he was protecting her from some unseen predator. He looked down to confirm the movement, and sure enough, her face was burrowed into his shoulder, a chunk of stray hair that had come undone from the low ponytail at the back of her head obscuring part of her face.

Leon realized he’d been holding his breath, as if the quiet noise would scare [Yn] and ruin the moment. He resumes his even breaths and [Yn] stays with her face hidden until he sits her in the passenger seat of his car. Even then, she doesn’t seem willing to let go of his jacket until he loosens her fingers. As he’s getting into the driver’s seat he notices [Yn] shiver, not a surprise since she’s not even wearing a coat and the chill autumn air is nearing freezing.

“It will get warm in a second,” Leon informs [Yn] as he starts the car and turns the heat up to max, as he does, he feels his phone buzz. Pulling it out reveals a message from Hunnigan with information to get a bag of essentials for [Yn]. A picture goes along with the message to show who Leon is supposed to meet at the bus station. The DSO sure is being careful with this assignment, judging by how clandestine this meeting is supposed to be. ‘Just how desperate is Umbrella to get [Yn] back, and what did she do for them?’ Leon wonders to himself before shaking his head. It doesn’t matter. His job now is to keep her safe.

“It looks like we have a drop to pick up with clothes and supplies for you. Good, you can finally get out of those awful scrubs.” [Yn] looks down at herself as if she didn’t know what she was wearing; green scrubs and a long sleeved shirt underneath, thin socks, and ratty looking gym shoes. The fabric looks rumpled and Leon has to force himself to think of something else besides wondering how long she’s been wearing the same clothes. Leon puts his phone in the hands free holder on the dash and buckles his seatbelt before looking at [Yn] again. She looks thin, but not dangerously so. The way she sits slumped in the seat makes Leon wonder if she’s going to fall back asleep, but her eyes are alert, an awareness that calms some of the worry he’d been carrying since seeing her lying dazed on the cot in her cell. ‘Her cell.’ Leon shoves more dark thoughts from his mind, focusing on what he could do now.

“After when get the drop, how about we pick up something to eat. I’m starving, and I don’t know what kind of bland crackers and water diet you’ve been on, but I’m sure you’re ready for some real food.” Her eyes light up and she gives him a cautious smile that burns it’s way to his soul and takes his breath away. Leon can’t keep the bright answering smile off his face, “I’ll take that as a yes.” For some reason he’s feeling giddy at each positive interaction between them. It hasn’t even been an hour.

Leon focuses his attention on driving to the bus stop, which is about a half hour drive. He spends the trip trying, and failing, to keep his attention off of [Yn], but the way she stares at everything is captivating, and when she flinches from a car zooming past them, Leon reaches across the center console slowly and takes her hand, rubbing small circles into her skin to calm her down. She startles a bit at first, but doesn’t pull away, instead looking from their hands intertwined up to Leon’s face.

“It’s alright. These busy roads can be pretty overwhelming, especially with assholes like that driving.” [Yn] cracks a smile, so Leon continues, “But don’t worry, I’m a good driver, despite what some of my friends would say. I’ve had some...exciting experiences with vehicles. If you’d like I could tell you some of those stories. They’re kinda funny looking back on them. But maybe we should wait until we’re off the road, don’t want you getting so spooked by my bad luck that you jump out of the car. It’s still a long walk to my place and I get kinda grumpy if I’m on my feet for too long.” Leon knows he’s rambling at this point, but when he hears [Yn] giggle softly he decides he would gladly talk until his voice gave out to hear it again. And when he looks to see her smiling eyes, biting her lip, her cheeks rosy, he can’t imagine anything more beautiful.

All too soon Leon pulls into the bus station parking lot. A man matching the picture Hunnigan sent is standing in the smoking area dressed plainly to avoid drawing attention. Leon parks and reaches over to grab a cigarette lighter from the glove box, stashing it in his pocket.

“Ok. I’m going to meet that man over there, get the stuff, and be right back here.” Leon wasn’t warned about [Yn] being a flight risk, but then again he wasn’t given much information in general. “I’ll be able to see you, and you’ll be able to see me the whole time. If you need help just flash the lights at me, ok? It’s this button here.” Leon shows her what to do, but [Yn] still looks concerned. “I’ll lock the doors, I’ll be back in ten minutes tops, and that man is another agent. You’re not going anywhere without me, ok?” He doesn’t want to scare her, but he needs to be sure she won’t run away. [Yn] seems to trust him at least a little at this point, and she hasn’t seemed interested in getting away, but she is an unknown Umbrella asset, and he needs to remember that. [Yn] still looks concerned, but nods in understanding. “Back in a flash.”

Leon exits the car and fights off a shiver as the cold air hits him. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he approaches the small group of smokers standing in the designated area. He makes a show of pulling out his lighter and patting his other pockets before sighing in mock defeat, looking to the man beside him in the non descript black outerwear jacket. “Got a spare?”

The man nods and pulls out a pack and shakes it, “Last one, lucky you.” Leon thanks the man and pulls out the last cigarette, pocketing the empty wrapper. The man nods and flicks his spent cigarette into the ashtray before walking away. Leon lights his and stands for a few minutes until the people around him leave before putting it out in the tray and walking to the lockers just inside a glass door. He takes the “empty” pack out from his pocket, tearing off the top and tipping the box until a small key falls into his palm. Smirking and mumbling under his breath about ‘mission impossible bullshit’, Leon opens one of the big lockers and removes a duffle bag and a warm winter coat hanging next to it.

Walking back to the car Leon can see [Yn]’s nervous gaze flitting over everyone at the station, before she noticed him coming back. A relieved smile crosses her face and her shoulders relax. Leon smiles at her as he unlocks the car and puts the bag in the back before taking his seat.

“Here. You can change once we get to my place, but for now at least you won’t be freezing.” Leon passes over the jacket and watches as [Yn] runs her hand over the fluffy fabric of the lining. Her eyes look far away, hand sweeping back and forth. “[Yn],” she blinks before her gaze focuses on Leon, “You ok?” She smiles and nods, but he’s still unsure. “Alright, what do you want for lunch?” He was sure that would get more of a reaction based on last time they discussed food, but [Yn] only shrugged and closed her eyes. Leon takes the quiet moment to think and decides it shouldn’t be anything too greasy or rich, unsure of how close he had been with his guess of crackers and water, and not wanting to overwhelm [Yn]’s stomach.

“How about sandwiches? There’s a good sub shop not too far away. Sound good?” [Yn] smiles and nods again, but at least she looks more enthusiastic. “Alright. Subs it is.”

***

Leon counts himself lucky that the sub shop seems to be having a slow day. A couple people are inside scrolling through their phones and a tired looking employee is sitting behind the counter. There are only a few cars in the parking lot as well, and no sign of more people coming down this part of the road. Leon gets out of the car and walks around to [Yn]’s side, opening the door for her, a hand out to help her if she needs it. “Are you ok to walk now? Do I need to carry you again?” [Yn] jumps down easily from the seat, giving Leon a haughty look. He puts up his hands in a placating gesture, closing the door and leading the way to the door.

As they walk in, they are hit with a mouthwatering wave of scents; fresh baked bread and cookies, spicy veggies, and assorted meats. Leon goes up to the counter to grab a menu and hands it to [Yn]. “What would you like? Get whatever you want.” [Yn] looks over the menu for a minute before looking up to Leon with a lost look. “There’s a lot to choose from, huh? How about this, I’ll get what I like, and we can split it, see what you think of it. You ok with that?” [Yn] looks relieved as she nods, and Leon walks to the counter to get his normal order, minus the usual spicy peppers.

[Yn] stands next to Leon as they watch the person behind the counter make the sandwich, but her eyes keep traveling to the other people in the room nervously and when a new person walks in with the chime from the bell on the door, she flinches closer to Leon, grabbing onto his jacket like a lifeline. Leon controls the urge to wrap an arm around her waist, instead taking her hand and holding it tightly in his, smiling down at her. He pays and takes the sandwich, leading [Yn] to the table in the corner, far from the door. She sits and he picks up the drink cups, “They have really good lemonade here. Would you like some?” [Yn] nods again and he has to keep himself from sighing. He’s glad [Yn] has some level of trust in him, and is comfortable enough to be close to him, but he wishes he could get her talking. He smirks when a plan forms in his mind.

Leon sits down across from [Yn] and slides her one of the cups. She takes a few large gulps of hers before coming up for air. “Thirsty?” He smiles at her so she knows he’s joking and she returns it with a sky look. Leon opens the wrapper and hands half the sandwich to [Yn] with a few napkins. He watches her take a bite, waiting for a reaction before starting in on his own. He can’t tell if she likes it or not by her expression, and after chewing and swallowing his first bite he puts his plan into motion.

“You know, this is one of my favorite places to eat? This shop has been here for years and I’ve never had a bad sandwich. And I love the sauce they make! It’s the owners recipe and he won’t tell a soul what’s in it.” All of what Leon is saying is utter bullshit. He’s been here before, sure, but he’s never seen the same person twice behind the counter, all bored college students who half the time look stoned out of their minds. But [Yn] is listening to everything he says with a neutral look on her face, a silent participator in the conversation, so Leon pulls out the acting skills, “So, what do you think? Bet you’ve never had a sandwich better than the ones they make here.” He worded the sentence carefully so she won’t have an easy yes or no. She shrugs instead, with the same polite smile, and Leon lets his face drop, his shoulders deflate, a look defining defeat, “Oh, ok. It’s ok if you don’t like it. I understand.” Leon almost feels bad when a stricken look crosses [Yn]’s face, but the next moment makes it worth it.

“What? No, I...I like it. That’s not what I…” She stops, confused when Leon’s face breaks into what he’s sure is a devious looking smile. She seems to understand what he did and she...rolls her eyes at him. But she doesn’t stop there, “Asshole,” the word is just a whisper, but Leon hears it anyway and can’t help the laughter that breaks out of his chest, and when [Yn] slaps her hand over her mouth, eyes wide, the laughter becomes uncontrollable. Only when she tries to fumble out an apology does he control himself, smiling across the table at her.

“No, I’m sorry I’m sorry. You’re right, I was being an asshole. I just wanted to see if I could get you to talk, besides to say that I’m pretty.” Her face grows even more red and she tries to apologize again, “It’s ok, really. It’s not like that’s the first time I��ve heard that. People say I’m gorgeous, and who am I to correct them?” The blush on his cheeks is probably giving away his embarrassment, he’s never known what to do with those comments. His awkward thanks to [Yn] when she’d called him pretty was the typical reaction he’d give, at least that time he hadn’t tripped over anything afterword, unlike last time…

Leon is drawn from his thoughts when [Yn] glares playfully at him and sticks out her tongue, crinckling her nose. He laughs again and she joins in with a quiet giggle. Leon feels his heart swell, and the smile feels permanent on his face.

Leon and [Yn] finish their meal and, after picking up a few warm cookies, get back on the road to Leon’s place.

@chloe-3-price @mitsuintheworks @imagineleonkennedy @locus-desperatus @biohazard4ever @sinnamon-bunn

Chapter 1

#My writing #WtM #leon kennedy x reader #fanfic #resident evil

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mxndoscyarika · 3 years

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Honeydew (Marcus Pike/Moreno x OC) | Chapter 7

Summary: Erin He moves to DC after working for the FBI in Texas and runs into a hero in disguise; Marcus Moreno. Something about him is familiar, too familiar, yet different in a way that she can’t quite place. Although confused, she can’t deny her feelings for him; perhaps, after years of regret, she finally found the one.

Warnings: food/drink mention, mention of dead loved one (Marcus’s wife), brief nudity, kissing

Ao3

Honeydew masterlist

Like my writing? Here’s my masterlist.

Author’s Note: Here’s the next chapter! I wanted to let them have a moment to just be together after everything that happened, and this was one (of many) of them. Enjoy!

“I just don’t understand why it’s not working. It doesn’t make sense.”

Sometimes she wondered why she had to be a supervisor that knew how to code. If she were non-technical, like many of her past managers, she could have simply told the developer to do some code reviews with his colleagues. Well, it wouldn't have been that simple either way, but at least she would get to go home.

Erin sighed and sat down by Brian’s desk. The empty coffee cups and notebook with scribbled ink was a familiar sight, though his desk did seem to be missing one crucial thing: a rubber duck. “Let’s just take a step back and go through the logic, ok? So we have that….”

She and the developer went through the specifications for the updates and the high-level implementations that needed to be done. It seemed like he managed to get most of the framework for the code set up; all that was left was, well, writing the code and making sure it was correct. However, the deadline for shipping the code was coming up in the following days, and he was still at the debugging stage.

Although it had been a while since she’d programmed anything in a work-related context, she thanked the CS gods that she still remembered enough to take on some of the debugging. Conveniently, Brian had prior commitments that night and needed to leave on time–as if an engineer’s shift was ever truly over. But while there were others who could help out, something told her that it would be faster if she did some of the debugging herself. After all, she’d just spent half an hour reasoning through the logic.

“Why don’t you finish up as much as you can, push your changes to the repo, and I’ll take a look later?” she suggested, scanning the code. At first glance it looked fine–as most code normally did–but there were obviously issues somewhere that caused all the tests to fail. “I have some other work to do, but if we can get everything ready within the next couple days I don’t think they will mind the update being slightly delayed.”

With that, Erin went back to making her rounds through the work area, picking up any stray folders and getting last-minute status updates from the others. The sky was already dark, any trace of the sun long gone. Normally she would be getting ready to leave soon, but there was more work to do ahead of the op she was leading.

Ignoring the vibrations of her phone, she made her way back to her office and set up her desk to keep working. One thing she’d learned over her years of experience as a supervisor was that an organized desk was crucial for concentration. If only other aspects of her life were as organized as her desk.

It had been days since she found out about Marcus’s secret identity, but she couldn’t help but still feel utterly stupid. She was stupid to think that she could move on. That she, for once, was enough.

The truth was that she was never enough. She wasn’t enough to bring Marcus back after his disappearance, and she wasn’t enough to make hiding his past life unbearable.

She would have been lying if she said she didn’t consider breaking things off. But at the same time, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. He said that he and Pike were the same, that everything they had was real. And if that was true, then maybe things would get better. They could try to make things work, and show up for each other. After all, wasn’t that what caused the mess anyways? Them not being there for each other at the most important moments?

Someone knocked on her door.

Erin didn’t look up from her work. “Come in.”

“Hi honey.”

This time she looked up, a small smile on her face. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home with Missy?”

Marcus chuckled softly. “I guess I should, but my mom convinced her to stay the night so that we could have some alone time,” he explained, sitting in the chair in front of her desk. Eyes twinkling, he lifted a paper bag. “I texted you asking what you wanted for dinner but you didn’t reply, so I got your favorite.”

Now she really was smiling. “You brought canh chua? I’m sorry I didn’t reply, I’ve been running around the department trying to get everything together.”

“It’s alright; I figured you were busy, so I wanted to make sure you at least had dinner,” he said, pulling out the container of soup along with some utensils and a couple to-go bowls. “I know you love the bạc hà, so I asked for extra. They’re in one of the small containers, so we can add them in ourselves.”

“You’re too good to me.” Erin pushed her laptop to the side so he had more room to organize the slew of containers. The tamarind-flavored soup was often a treat rather than a regular meal, one that she normally savored in the cozy atmosphere of the Vietnamese restaurant. Her heart melted a little as she realized that Marcus had to have driven across town to get it from the restaurant.

“You deserve only the best.”

Some containers were filled with jasmine rice, fragrant and pillowy. Others overflowed with toppings like aromatic cilantro, spicy Thai chilis, and crisp bean sprouts. And, as promised, there was an extra container with fresh slices of bạc hà, the spongy stem of the elephant ear plant.

Her mouth watered as she helped fill the bowls with rice and soup, letting the golden broth soak into the grains. The tomatoes and pineapple chunks were perfectly cooked and plump, brightening the salty, nearly fruity, broth.

When she pushed the bowl towards Marcus he shook his head. “You eat first, Rin. You’ve had a long day. How was work?”

“Tiring,” she scoffed lightly, adding a questionable amount of chili to her bowl. The soup was still pleasantly warm when she scooped some into her mouth, the salt giving way to the fruity sourness and inferno of chilis. She moaned in satisfaction, “This is exactly why you are my favorite person in the whole world. Thank you for bringing this, brown eyes.”

He smiled softly, adding a significantly smaller amount of chili to his bowl. “Of course, honey. Just like the old times, huh?”

At that, Erin sighed. Sometimes she forgot that her memories of Marcus Pike were really of Marcus Moreno, and it still hadn’t ceased to be jarring when that realization hit. “Yeah.”

Noticing her hesitation, Marcus looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that–”

“No, it’s okay,” she interrupted, waving him off. “I just...I missed this. Us in an office sharing food in the evening. I never thought I’d ever get to experience this again, but now you’re here.”

His eyes softened and he reached over to hold her hand in his. Stroking the back of her hand softly, he said, “I know. I missed this too.” He shifted in his seat. “And I know we can’t go back to what we were before, but I don’t want you to feel like you need to separate our memories. They’re ours, honeydew. Nothing can take that away.”

“I know,” she said, eyes burning. “I’m sorry I’m not as happy–”

“It’s alright,” he interjected gently. “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”

And, if she would let him, he was going to spend the rest of his days showing her how much she meant to him. It was a mistake–a huge one–to hide from her for that long. If time was money, he’d cost her so much. Maybe he wouldn’t ever be able to give those years back to her, but he could make the most of their time in the present. Now he just hoped his paperwork would get approved at HQ.

“I’m just so tired,” she said quietly.

Of everything. Of being herself, and of feeling like the biggest fool in the world for not realizing the man she loved had been in her life eight years ago.

She’d long since stopped caring about what her colleagues thought, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t pride herself on her intelligence and knack for details. With everything, she wasn’t quite sure what hurt most: the blow to her pride, or the fact that Marcus had lied.

But deep down, a part of her was happy. He finally came back, and while the past was wrought with cracks, the future felt...secure. And if there was anything she knew about Marcus, it was that he wore his heart on his sleeve, and that he wanted to stay for the long run. She knew that, no matter what, he wanted to make things right.

“Why don’t we head home after this, then?” he suggested, lips quirked up in a small smile. “They can’t get too mad if the smartest woman in the bureau takes the night off.”

---

“Would you like to stay?” she asked, unlocking the door to her apartment. Marcus’s car was parked in the visitors’ parking area, and it was starting to get late. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I’d love to, if you’ll have me,” he answered, heat rushing up to his cheeks when her eyes met his. Even after all this time, he couldn’t get over the way she looked when she smiled at him like that. When she looked at him like he was everything she ever wanted.

They settled into the apartment as usual, with Erin checking on her plants and Marcus helping to plug in her laptop. Something about the way Erin moved around in the space was just...right. He’d seen her navigate government buildings and sites for operations, but at home, there was a different kind of confidence about her. It was a confidence that he knew only a select few were allowed to see.

Once they reached the bedroom, Marcus kissed her forehead and went into her bathroom. “Stay here, I’ll get a bath ready for you.”

Erin let out a huff of laughter at his eagerness, resigning to putting away her bag and changing into more comfortable clothes. As much as she loved a good suit, she also loved the warmth of sweatpants and the softness of silk. But seeing as she still needed to wash up for the night, she slipped on a silk nightgown, the hem stopping just above her knees.

Eventually, Marcus returned and led her into the bathroom, presenting her with a bathtub full of gardenia-scented bubbles and steaming water. He’d also found her electronic candles, placing them strategically so she could see in the dimmed lighting.

“It’s perfect, Marcus. Would you like to join me?” she asked, biting her lip in anticipation. The bathtub was just large enough for two people, and she wanted to know what it would feel like to be with him in her most vulnerable state. After all the secrets and waiting, she just wanted more .

He shook his head, trying to not let his mind linger too long on the way her nightgown hugged her chest like liquid gold. As much as he wanted to be with her, something told him that it wasn’t the right moment. “You’ve had to take care of yourself for so long, honey. Let me take care of you, ok?”

“But what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Their lips melded together as their resolve grew strained. She tasted sweet and intoxicating, and it took all his strength to not give in. “You deserve to be treated like a queen. You’re my queen, and I want to make you feel good. Is that alright?”

She hummed softly and kissed him again. A low moan escaped her lips. “You really know how to make a woman conflicted, Marcus.”

“Sorry, it’s a bad habit.”

“I know you are. I’m just glad you’re here now,” she said. Pulling away, she stepped up next to the bathtub. Slipping the straps off her shoulders, she suggested, “If you’re not going to join me in here, why don’t you get comfortable and keep me company?”

The bath felt as amazing as it looked, the hot water melting away the tension in her muscles and the bubbles acting as a blanket to keep her modesty. Well, not that she hadn’t undressed in front of Marcus, but she wanted to keep some parts of her a surprise.

After some shy laughs, Marcus stayed by her side the entire time, sitting on the edge of the tub. It was just wide enough for him to sit comfortably, close enough that they could talk softly and he could help wash her hair. The golden glow of the candles and the warmth from the bath soothed their nerves until they were just two people in love.

Relaxed and back in her nightgown, Erin sat on her bed and checked her emails one more time. Thankfully, there weren’t any that she needed to reply to.

“Careful, hot tea incoming.”

She smiled up at Marcus, who was holding out a cup of steaming pu erh tea. Accepting it, she remarked, “I’m surprised you were able to find the tea leaves.”

“It helped that I remembered that you always have a designated cabinet.”

“I guess not that much has changed after all these years,” she said, sipping from the cup. As she did, she wondered if it was just herself that hadn’t changed.

“Dance with me?”

Her eyes widened in confusion when he broke the silence. “Hm?”

Marcus held out a hand, which she instinctively reached for. “Dance with me. Please?”

It didn’t take long for her to give in, setting the cup down on the nightstand. They swayed slowly in the bedroom, moonlight streaming in. Although there wasn’t any music, it was just what they needed. They just needed a moment in each other’s arms.

Erin’s head rested against his chest, the warmth from his body sinking into her. “I missed you so much,” she said softly.

“I missed you too.”

He missed her too.

But there was still something nagging at the back of her mind. Part of her didn’t want to disturb the peace, but she also wanted answers. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to ask him. Maybe it would undo everything. Before she could stop herself, she asked, “Can you tell me about your wife? Missy’s mom? Did she..?”

Marcus sighed softly, but not out of frustration. No, it was the kind that was borne of fondness. His arms tightened around her. “Yeah. We actually met not too long after I had my documents changed back. I didn’t want to tell her. I wanted a fresh start, but I still felt very much like Marcus Pike rather than Marcus Moreno. So, I told her about my past and we went from there.” A soft chuckle. “She was definitely shocked, but it was different because she never knew me as Pike, only Moreno.”

She wasn’t you, he wanted to say.

“I’m glad she knew,” she replied, snuggling closer to him. At least he told her, the mother of his child. It was...comforting to know that he hadn’t been all alone during those years. Eight years was a long time to keep a secret. “And what about now? Do you still feel like Marcus Pike?”

“Some days I feel more like Pike,” he admitted. “But with Missy and the Heroics, I feel like I’ve settled into being Marcus Moreno. It took a few years, but….Pike will always be a part of me. It wasn’t ever not me, just…a different side.”

“I see.” When his arms shifted, Erin clung to him tighter. “Don’t leave. Please.”

Marcus kissed her temple, his lips soft and warm. “Never again, honey. I’ll be here until you’re tired of me.”

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