#Reggie? the less good looking bro???

[blitheringmcgonagall]

Canon James Potter on hearing his name is linked to two ships in ao3’s top 20 ships for 2023 (no 8 and no 18):

Canon James Potter on hearing the most popular of the two is him & Sirius’ Deater baby brother Reggie:

[ellecdc]

Mother, i had a request but i forgot what it was 😭😭 i was sooo excited tooo 😫

But in trying to remember i had another brilliant idea!!

Reader x Reggie where theyre both stoic, slightly volatile 🐍 but theyre actually really soft and mushy. And then SURPRISE!! Theyre actually also dating Remus who takes care of them and is super protective. Maybe its revealed near the full moon and possessive Moony makes an appearance.

Siri is flabberghasted; Barty is horrified his darling sweethearts are be defiled; James is shook; and Lily is yhe ultimate bro and super proud of Rem.

Anyway, im sorry your computer was so mean to you. I hope you're looking after yourself 🩵🩵

......this is going to go down in history as my most controversial post........😈 may I present to you.....poly!MoonWater 😈😈😈😈😈

poly!moonwater x fem stoic!reader (i.e., Remus Lupin x Regulus Black x reader)

Sirius Black was admittedly currently going through a hard time.

Now, depending on who you asked, one (literally everyone and anyone) might say it was his own fault.

But if you asked Sirius Black? It was everyone else and their insufferable happiness that was to blame.

His insufferable best-friend-that-anyone-could-ever-ask-for finally landed the woman of his dreams and said woman of previously mentioned best friend was horribly in love with the sod.

Even his baby brother was happy! Which seemed like an oxymoron because in looking at Regulus Arcturus Black, one would assume that boy had never known a single moment of happiness in his life.

If one took into account their childhoods, they’d be right.

But Regulus Black, who was quiet in a way that made you feel like you were always being judged and ridiculed (you were) who very rarely had a kind thing to say about anyone had found happiness (read: a girl) who, for all intents and purposes, could be his personality doppelganger.

One difference, however, was that you were quiet in a way that always had one feeling like you knew too much, saw too much, and you were far too perceptive for anyone’s good. You always seemed to be analyzing the people around you and Sirius, sue him, found that incredibly disconcerting. 

He did not wish to be known, thank you very much. 

And even Moony! Moony, the bastard, was seeing someone! Fucked if Sirius knew who though because the sod wouldn't tell anyone who they were. He just kept popping back to the dorm room covered in hickies and looking far too pleased with himself whilst offering no details.

He was even spending entire nights away from the dorm, and always made sure he had the sodding map with him so they couldn’t even see where he was.

So yeah, Sirius was pissed.

And before you ask – no, it’s not because he was lonely – in fact, he had frequent visitors in his bed thank you very much.  And NO, he didn’t want to discuss the fact that perhaps if he didn’t run at the first sign of commitment or emotional intimacy, he too would have happiness. 

Perhaps he just wanted everyone else to be slightly less happy for his own sake.

Did no one ever think about Sirius Black?

Give right now for example. He and Regulus had been...hanging out (if that’s what you could call the two of them sitting together not speaking as they each did their own homework) since Sirius insisted it was important to do so, especially since Sirius no longer lived at home meaning that their usual means of brotherly bonding (read: trauma) no longer took place. 

And then James showed up (he was so lucky Sirius loved him) who was but of course accompanied by Lily Evans (she was so lucky she’s as lovely as she is) which turned into a small James Potter roast on account of Regulus and Lily both having years’ worth of material from hating him up until recently, and Sirius had loads of material on account of him being a certified hater. 

And then Moony showed up, and if Sirius didn’t know any better, he had definitely been fooling around mere moments ago.

But Sirius did know better.

“Moony, what broom closet did you just crawl out of and where’s the poor soul that was stuck in there with you?” He spat.

Remus merely chuckled and pulled a book out of his bag, making himself comfortable in one of the library’s grandfather chairs. “No one was stuck anywhere with me.”

“No, I’m sure they were a very willing participant.” Regulus drawled, looking particularly bored for all intents and purposes, never bothering to lift his gaze from his book.

“No need to be jealous, baby Black. You’re more than welcome to join me in such broom closets.” Remus joked with a wink.

“Oi!” Sirius swatted at Remus on behalf of his brother (he’s welcome). “That’s my baby brother you’re talking about, and he’s taken thank you very much.”

“Merlin knows how,” James muttered none too quietly, “it’s not like he’s very approachable.”

Regulus lifted a lazy eyebrow as he looked at James from above the pages of his book. “I’ll have you know I’m very approachable to those I wish to be approached by.”

“Hi Reggie!” 

“Get fucked.” Regulus called back to Barty Crouch Junior, hardly sparing his best friend a glance as he approached him from behind. 

“Wow, Reggie’s in a good mood today, huh?” Barty said as he sat on one arm of Regulus’ chair, causing James to laugh until he realized that Barty wasn’t joking.

Suddenly another body showed up and gently sat on the other arm of Regulus’ chair.

Sirius watched as Regulus’ impassive face completely cleared of all contempt and he looked up at you with pure and unadulterated adoration.

It made Sirius sick. 

“Bonjour, mon cheri.” He murmured softly, in complete contrast to the harsh, militarized way he had previously been spitting at everyone else. 

You smiled gently at the boy as you pulled a notebook out of your book bag and produced a small, pressed flower, handing it to Regulus between your thumb and forefinger.

Regulus looked at it like you had just presented him with a hundred-year-old bottle of fire-whiskey.

“Did you pick this for me?” He asked gently, plucking the flower from your fingers with matching delicacy.

You offered him a quiet ‘mhm’ and Sirius noticed a shy smile grace your lips. Regulus’ eyes moved from the flower to your face, and he gazed at you like you had hung the moon.

“Merci, mon amour.” He said reverently and pressed a kiss to your cheek.

Lily looked at the two of you with a smile one might see on the face of a proud mother, James looked at the two of you like he was seeing a bowtruckle for the first time, and Remus looked oddly taken with the show of affection. Barty was apparently the only other sane one amongst them – oh gods, maybe Sirius really was losing it.

“Where the fuck has this Regulus been the last six years?” Barty muttered incredulously. 

Without much effort on your part, you reached over Regulus’ shoulder and shoved Barty off the arm of the chair and onto the floor before sliding to sit directly in Regulus’ lap.

“You...alright, Crouch?” James called tentatively from his place on the other side of the couple. 

“Oh, I’m fine. That’s just how she shows her love.” Barty said as he bounced back up, completely unperturbed. 

“Is it now?” Sirius asked, tone dripping with sarcasm. Remus swatted Sirius’ leg with his book.

“What?” Sirius squawked.

“Be nice.” He chided.

“I am nice! And why do you care?” Sirius argued, though he never got an answer. 

“I think they’re cute.” Lily announced, sending a sly smirk towards Remus.

“See? Lily gets it.” Remus said with a shrug as he went back to his book.

Sirius hated every single one of them.

But if Sirius thought that had been rough, he had no idea what was in store for him today. 

Sirius, Remus, Peter, James and... Lily had all been sitting at the Gryffindor table during dinner when Sirius noticed you rushing into the Great Hall looking rather frazzled.

“Whoa, what’s going on with Y/N?” Peter asked, apparently having noticed you at the same time as Sirius.

The conversation stopped abruptly as Remus’ head snapped towards the entrance, seemingly on high alert upon hearing of your arrival.

Sirius watched as you scanned the Hall before your eyes fell on their group. Your face crumpled in misery, and you rushed over. You were usually so polished and poised, any and all emotions locked away behind a well-fitted mask, no wonder you and Regulus got along so well.

Regulus...something must have happened to Regulus. Sirius had a dreadful feeling settle in the pit of his stomach; what could have happened to make you rush up to him looking that alarmed?

Except...you breezed right past him.

“What’s wrong, lovebug?” Remus cooed quietly, causing Sirius to choke on his own spit.

“He was hurt during practice.” You cried quietly, voice no more than a whisper as you moved to step between Remus’ spread legs where he had rotated on the bench to face you. His hands landed on the back of your thighs were his thumbs rubbed soothing circles into your tight clad legs.

“Okay. How hurt?” Remus asked just as quietly, ignoring the sputtering happening from James, the chuckling from Lily, and the horrified expression painting Sirius’ face.

“Dislocated shoulder.” You cried miserably, as if you’d just been told Regulus was damned to spend the rest of his life in a vegetative state.

Remus’s mouth looked like it was fighting really hard to smile as his eyes pooled with equal parts fondness, worry (for you or Regulus, Sirius wasn’t sure at this moment), and no shortage of love.

What the fuck was going on right now!? 

“What the fuck is going on right now!?” Sirius demanded, his outside voice echoing the one inside of his head.

You startled a little at his exclamation, leaning closer into Remus who increased his embrace around you. 

“What’s happening dear padfoot, is it appears your brother has been injured during quidditch practice. Perhaps you ought to go see how he is?” Remus taunted as he continued running soothing hands over your body.

“Yeah, yeah; the sky is blue, and people get hurt in quidditch. Now what is this!?” He screeched gesturing wildly at the two of you. 

You looked equal parts embarrassed from the attention and equal parts wanting to tell Sirius off for downplaying what you clearly thought was some great upheaval in Regulus’ life when Lily spoke up.

“I’m surprised it took you this long to notice, Pads.”

His mouth dropped open as he turned to regard his best friend’s girlfriend with a look of pure betrayal.

“Et tu, Lily!?” Sirius cried as James sputtered, “you knew!?”

Remus just smiled as he shoved his nose into your collarbone. You brought up a hand to begin scratching at his scalp, and Sirius was certain the sods leg would be thumping in contentment if he were a dog.

“Let’s go, Sirius.” Remus finally muttered, interrupting an argument that was going nowhere between James, Lily, and Sirius. “You’ve got a brother in the hospital wing.”

You hurried on ahead of them, clearly not interested in the talk the two friends were about to have.

“So, are you fucking my brother too or just fucking him over by screwing his girl?” Sirius finally spat with his arms crossed petulantly over his chest. 

Remus groaned and looked up at the ceiling, as if praying for strength to get through this conversation with Sirius Drama Queen Black. “Sirius, can you ask me a question that’s less likely to get me punched in the face?”

“No.” Sirius muttered. 

“He’s happy, Sirius. I promise.” Remus pressed. “He...he really deserves all the love he’s getting.”

And Sirius would have been an absolute arse if he’d had anything to say in response to that...

Don’t get him wrong, Sirius was an arse and did have many things to say in response to that, but the words died on the tip of his tongue when they walked into the hospital wing to see you sitting on the end of Regulus’ hospital bed.

Regulus, save the sling holding his arm to his chest and the fact that he was sitting in a hospital bed, looked as casual as Sirius ever remembered seeing him, smiling at you with...

Love.

A lot of love. 

“I’m fine, amour, I promise.” They heard him plead with you as they approached.

“Still have all your limbs, I see.” Remus commented as he walked over and pressed a gentle kiss to Regulus’ hair, causing the youngest Black to blush something fierce as he looked over at Sirius. 

“I’m sure she told you I was comatose.” He commented quietly, turning and offering you a wink.

“Don’t tease me...” You moaned, looking very much like you still wanted to fold Regulus up and put him in your pocket for safe keeping.

“Yeah, don’t tease her, love. You’d be sitting in this hospital bed all on your lonesome with no one you dote on you otherwise.” Remus jokingly chided. 

“Love.” Sirius groaned with a dramatized gag. 

“Oh, grow up, Siri.” Regulus barked.

Sirius’ head snapped over to his brother at the sound of his childhood nickname. Regulus’ cheeks were still dusted pink, whether it be at the unplanned outing of his relationship, being hurt, or the gravity of this moment.

Regulus hadn’t called him that since they were children...like, real children before the trauma, the alienation, the disinheritance, the running away...

Perhaps because Regulus had spent all of that time living in unmeasurable pain. Just like Sirius had.

And maybe, now...Regulus had people who made him feel brave enough to be vulnerable like this, to reconnect in ways he long thought impossible. 

Fuck Moony and his good naturedness; Sirius hated that Remus was right about this. 

“Oh, fucking Godric.” Sirius muttered petulantly as he pulled Regulus into a bone crushing hug.

Literally.

“Sirius!” Regulus groaned before Sirius was ripped away from his brother. Sirius expected Remus to be the one throwing him to the floor for inadvertently hurting Regulus’ injury...but it was you. 

“You idiot.” You hissed as new tears formed in your eyes, immediately moving to grab the ice pack from the bedside table and gently placing it on Regulus’ shoulder.

Remus and Regulus looked at you with so much adoration, Sirius was certain hearts were going to start pouring out of their eyes and floating around their heads.

“I’m fine, thanks!” He called out as he hauled himself up off the floor. 

“Oh good.” You said sarcastically.

“I don’t like this.” Sirius grumbled, causing all three faces to turn to him.

“Pads...”

“Sirius, please.” Regulus implored.  

“What if you break his heart?” He asked no one in particular. “What if you hurt my baby brother? Who am I supposed to support then? Or you; what am I supposed to do if you hurt my best friend? And what if you tossers hurt Y/N!”

The three of you shared a look before his brother turned to him. “Sirius, if we breakup, I give you permission to side with Remus.”

“And if we break up, I promise you can side with Y/N.” Remus added.

“Nope.” You said quickly, “that’s fine, I don’t need to be included in this.”

Sirius groaned out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank gods. Okay, okay. I guess I'll allow it then....”

“THE THREE OF YOU ARE WHAT!?” Barty screeched as he stood at the door of the infirmary, still in his quidditch kit.

“Do we actually have to have this conversation again?” You groaned quietly.

Remus shot Regulus and extremely guilty look as he slowly stood.

“Remus.” Regulus warned.

Remus grimaced and slowly made his way over to you.

“Remus John Lupin, I swear to Salazar...”

“Regulus, I love you; I do. But...he’s you’re friend an- NOW DOVE” He shouted, and the two of you took off in a sprint out of the infirmary. 

“Quite the catch you’ve got yourself there Regs.” Sirius taunted. 

“Sod off.” Regulus muttered as Barty made his way over to his bedside.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Sirius jeered as he, too, took off out of the infirmary, leaving Regulus Black to deal with the likes of Barty Crouch Junior on his own.  

don't hate me

[im-in-a-love-cult]

Marauders era headcanons!!

The Royal court

Requested by @thestarslittleking

Sorry if you disagree with some of them!!

Regulus

Pouty

Like a pout is almost always on his face

His eyes are really telling of his emotions sometimes

Likes physical contact with people hes EXTREMELY close with

Likes being called Reg by people hes close with

If a random person calls him it theyre going to the hospital 💀💀

Bi, trans and asexual

'Its the 70s he wouldnt be-' kindly stfu 💞💞🥰🥰

This is a common one but hes practically a poet

Strong French accent

Japanese/british English/ French

As i said in the previous hcs his accent is stronger then Sirius's

Loves the water

He's actually really smiley around his friends

Classical music but when he gets into his later years in hogwarts he starts to like goth music

I can see him being good at gothic dances

Black cat animagus IDC

Barty

unhinged

Thats it. Thats the hc.

A whore tbh

Liked Reggie for a while

Until he was like 'dayum look at Evan 😼'

LMFAO

Ok I'll try not to include too many ships in these

This isnt my original idea but affectionately bites people

'Barty... what're you doing?" "Nom"

When drunk hes...something

Take that how u will

Tw for drugs in the next hc!!

Honestly more of a weed kinda guy

Ok tw over continue reading

Professional complainer

If complaining was a job he'd be the richest man alive (well not alive but..)

ROCK MUSIC

queen fan idc

Him and Sirius are actually very similar in a lot of areas

Thats why Reggie was drawn to Barty

Plays the drums

He wears tank tops a lot

Always hurts somewhere

Its mostly his fault

I can see him being bi with a preference for boys or just full on gay

Dorcas

Sirius has competition to whos the most beautiful person in the Marauders era fr

Almost always has locs or braids

Scarily good at makeup

Tall

Potential to be a 2000s Victoria secret model fr

Has the most beautiful soothing voice

Lesbian non-binary (they/she)

So many people have a crush on them

Fav alcohol is wine

Classy 😻😻

Extremely smart

Really long eyelashes

I love her

Doesn't care for animals

Really likes dragons tho

HER AND REGGIE ARE A POWER DUO IDC

Steady hands

Wears lots of rings

Ignores people a lot 💀💀

Sassy as HELLL

Barely ever means it tho

Evan

One of those scary blue eyed blondes

Kind of a less energetic version of Barty

BISEXUAL IDC

A gentleman to all girls he dates

All the boys got usual, casual dating

Barty gets to be treated like a one of those dogs that look like rats 🥰

I KNOW WHAT THE NAME IS BUT I CANT SPELL IT

Chiwawa

Ciwawa

Chiwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I can see him having really light freckles

Will punch someone in the face for funsies

"Evan why would you do that!?!" "I was bored bro"

BARELY passes his tests

He passes but only by a few marks

Loves making fun of peoples voices

Its his favourite pastime

Pandora

So unnecessarily nice to 1st years

And everyone tbh

Smiley

Pansexual

Loves animals of any kind

If shes angry shes lowkey scary 😨😨

Actually really funny

Her hairs messy 84% of the time

When shes too active or gets too hot her cheeks go really red

ME TOO BABES ME TOO 😭🤞

Spaces out so easily

Blonde blue eyed but less scary than evan 😭

A bit of a potty mouth

Also really smart

"Wow this friend groups so smart!" And then theres Evan and Barty 💀💀

Really posh accent

Has scars from thorns and animals and shit 💀

Loves learning new things

No matter what that thing it

'Knowledge has no boundaries' i feel like she says that

Or at least goes by it

Shes so real wtf

YES YOU CAN MAKE REQUESTS!! I'm new to this so please be patient 😭 i prefer requests to be put in my asks!! Thanks for the positive feedback yall :)

[fanfictionroxs]

HOTD greek mythology thoughts - Harwin as Hades

I love imagining Harwin as the sort of Hades of westeros. A chill dude. Lives in a haunted house where spirits come & go freely (Harrenhall). He enjoys their company even though he has limited spiritual connection to the other side.. or maybe he's just good at pretending while near the living to avoid frightening them and to avoid people gossiping about him. Harwin has no control over the dead, no one does. They are simply his silent companions whose unintelligible whispers have long become his comfort. Alys is the one who actually befriends them, plays with them, learns spells from them, unafraid to be perceived a 'witch'. Harwin tries to be show more restraint, but Lyonel still takes him away at a young age to King's Landing, hoping that if his son has more distance from that house and his older sister, he wouldn't go mad.

Still, Harwin's best friend is an 8 year old boy called Reggie Rivers who sometimes changes into a 22 year old bard singing the most melancholic yet melodious tunes. He is a lonely spirit who has been haunting the halls of Harrenhall longer than Harwin's father has been alive (in canon, I imagine Reggie waits for him to return for years and then he doesn't let the doors open when the fire starts so that Harwin would never be able to leave their house again and they could stay together in the afterlife. The lonely boy comforts his crying spirit and promises him that his sons would be returned to him in less than a decade).

Instead of Cerebrus, a three headed dog, Harwin has his three sons Jace, Luke & Joffrey. Joffrey is the first one to see a ghost despite being the youngest. It's because Joffrey Sr.'s ghost often hovered around him protectively, adopting him from the afterlife while smiling longingly at Laenor. Harwin is surprised because Dragon magic keeps the dead away pretty much.. he never expected his sons to have that side of a Strong in them despite all of them looking like him.

Rhaenyra is his reverse Persephone (more on the reverse part at the end para!) without the incest. Funny how the incest gets eradicated despite it being an hotd AND greek myth au. Though now I'm imagining how much Rhaenyra would enjoy calling Harwin 'uncle' lmfao.

Laenor is totally Poseidon because he's a Velaryon and has a good relationship with Harwin. Larys can be Zeus because shitty rapist little brothers. Alys, along with his other two sisters as Demeter, Hestia and Hera. I like the thought of Alys as another Hades.. or Demeter, since Alys's powers have a more broad spectrum.

Now imagine the Hades and Persephone kidnapping thing but reversed. Rhaenyra kidnaps Harwin, and Alys is pissed because that dragon bitch stole her little bro and decides to cause havok that brings westeros to its knees. So, ultimately Rhaenyra has to compromise so that Harwin spends half an year at the Red Keep and the other half at Harrenhall, keeping both women happy and less likely to commit murder.

PS VERY IMPORTANT! He can punch ghosts in the face! Harwin is the 'breakbones' of both the living world and beyond!

[innytoes]

There were so many good chaotic prompts I couldn’t choose so I’ll let you decide: 14 for Ralex, 41 for Wiggie, and 10 for Wiggie (platonic or romantic)

These are all so good and I might just do the other ones as well but NEVER GONNA GIVE UP A CHANCE TO MAKE FUN OF REGGIE'S DADDY ISSUES. The issue is that they're too hot.

Nobody at school knew Willie was rich. He'd seen the way some people treated the kids in his neighbourhood of mansions and villas and estates. He also saw the way they treated each other, which wasn't very nice either. It probably didn't help that they didn't see Willie as One Of Them, considering he was adopted and him and his dad had only just relocated to Hollywood.

Still, he preferred to be an outsider at the swank parties his dad dragged him to, finding the nearest dog or cat (or one time, really epic snake) to hang out with, than to be an outsider at school. He was still kind of an outsider at his new school, but just because he was the new kid. He could work with that.

So they skated to school, instead of letting Dad's driver drop him off in the town car. He wore cool stuff he'd found in thrift stores all over the world, stuff he altered himself. He didn't go to the Country Club, instead finding new places to skate around town. They blew off invitations to the hottest new clubs from kids who were only trying to Network with him because it was the Done Thing. Instead, he found his own places to go out.

That's how he'd met Sunset Curve, playing in an alley behind some club. Honestly, it was better than anything he'd heard inside, and he gave a whooping, hollering standing ovation when they'd finished the set. Reggie had bounced over to offer him a t-shirt (size beautiful, he'd said with a wink).

They'd cropped it, tie-dyed it in sunset colours, and had worn it to school the next week, only to be accosted by Luke Patterson, because it turned out Sunset Curve went to his school. And the rest was history.

And by history, he meant Luke had more or less dragged him into their friend group by force, introducing him to his boyfriend (Alex, the drummer), Best Bro (Bobby) and ‘I’m sure you remember Reggie’. There had been some very unsubtle winking and nudging, but it wasn’t like he was wrong. Reggie was pretty. And it turned out, when he wasn’t trying to be a suave rock star, he was also funny, and sweet, and lovely.

So now he had a boyfriend who liked them for who they were and not their money, and a built-in friend group. With Sunset Curve also came Julie, and Flynn, and even sometimes Bobby’s cousin Carrie and her Candies, though they kind of scared him a little. They managed to walk in perfect sync in the hallways, even when it was busy.

They were all at their usual table during lunch, trying to figure out their weekend plans. “We could go to the beach,” Willie suggested. Not because he wanted to see Reggie without his shirt or anything. Not like they had fantasies about rubbing sunscreen on Reggie’s back. Nope. The beach was just pure, wholesome fun. Like trying to help Luke dunk Bobby only for them both to be bodyslammed into the surf. Wholesome.

“We would, but some people got soft-banned from the pier after an illegal concert,” Julie said with a pointed look at Sunset Curve.

Luke looked unrepentant. “They didn’t need to call the cops or anything, we would have moved after we finished the set if they’d asked nicely. Besides, those people at the tables outside loved us.”

“You ran from the cops without me?” Willie said, pouting at his boyfriend.

“It was really more of a power-walk, considering we had to get Alex’ drumset out of there as well,” Reggie said, pressing a kiss into his hair. Well, that did make him feel better. “It’s a shame, it’s supposed to be really great out this Sunday. I guess we could-”

“I have a pool,” Willie blurted out. “I mean, the house has a pool. If you... you’d like to come over.” God, what were they doing? It wasn’t like they thought their friends would treat them differently if they found out Willie was rich. But it still felt weird, like maybe they’d judge him for not saying anything?

“All of us?” Flynn asked immediately, apparently seeing straight into his soul. “Or are you just inviting your boyfriend?”

Willie blushed. “Of course you’re all invited,” he said. “But Reggie gets first choice of pool floaties.” He grinned when Reggie pumped his fist dramatically in victory. Guess he’d have to go get some pool floaties. Maybe a pizza shaped one.

His dad didn’t even seem to mind that he’d invited over a ton of people. He honestly seemed kind of pleased. He’d just reminded Willie the pool house fridge was fully stocked, no running and cracking heads open, and to please ‘keep all wet teenagers out of the damn house, let them use the pool house’. And that he’d Be Around. Which Willie figured meant ‘if I so much as smell weed I am shutting this whole thing down young man’. Which, duh, he wasn’t about to mix drugs with swimming.

Okay, so maybe he’d only texted his friends the address at the very last minute. And maybe he hadn’t checked the group chat after that. Either they came, or they didn’t. If they were mean, then, well... he just wouldn’t open the gate and  go up to his room to cry or something.

Except when the intercom rang, they saw at least three faces squished out the window of Bobby’s van, Reggie front and centre. “Hello, hot stuff! The party people have arrived!” he called, beaming when the gate opened up. “Oh man, that’s fancy. Wait, what if they have a butler or something? What if I just sexually harassed the-” his voice trailed off as Bobby drove the van up the driveway.

Willie chuckled, going to open the front door for them. He grinned as all his friends piled out, most of them already in Pool Party Attire. Luke was already shirtless, because he’d use any excuse to go shirtless, the girls had on cute cover ups, and Reggie… well, the black tan ktop and red board shorts were nice, but Willie had Plans for that shirt to come off sooner or later.

He lead them through the house and out the back, wincing as they looked around. Just act normal, he thought, and maybe they wouldn’t say anything. He lead them outside, and immediately winced. Of course, there in the garden, was his dad doing yoga. Because he couldn’t alter his schedule even a tiny bit so Willie wouldn’t be embarrassed. At least he was wearing a pair of short sweatpants and not those awful shiny short-shorts he usually wore.

“Dad,” he said, grabbing and all but dragging the closest person to him along in an effort to get out of there faster.

“William,” Dad said, amused, watching them go before shifting into Reverse Warrior. Julie gave an awkward wave, yelping out a ‘nice to meet you mister Covington!’ before Willie pulled her past the privacy bushes to the pool area. Luckily the others quickly followed.

“Woah, there’s a waterfall!” Luke said, excited.

“And a slide!” Reggie squealed. “And… pizza!” He pointed excitedly at the blow up pizza slice Willie had gotten. There was also a unicorn donut, with drink cup holder for whoever didn’t want to get their hair wet, and some inflatable balls.

The day was awesome. Nobody was mean about how he’d never told them he was rich, everyone enjoyed the pool, and Reggie took his shirt off and let Willie put sunscreen on his back. It was great. Except after a spirited round of ‘trying to drag Bobby under the waterfall’ Willie had pulled themself out of the water, ready to sneak up on Reggie and drip all over him. Except when they got closer, Reggie was sitting with his face in his hands on one of the sunbeds, Alex on the opposite one, leaned over as if to comfort him.

“I know it’s bad,” Reggie was saying. “Just, promise you won’t tell Willie?”

“Aaahmn,” Alex said, staring Willie right in the face. “I think maybe you should tell him.”

“What? No!” Reggie looked up. “I don’t want to upset them!”

Oh god. Reggie was mad at him for lying about being rich. Or maybe because he let Reggie pay for ice-cream last time they went out. They knew Reggie didn’t have as much, but he’d looked so proud to use his tip-money from playing at the park to buy Willie a treat.

He was just about to ask Reggie to tell him, or to just start apologising straight away, when Flynn flopped down next to Reggie, one of the fancy sodas from the pool house (with curly straw, naturally) in her hands. “Ooh, are we dragging Reggie for having the hots for another dad?” she asked.

“Shut up!” Reggie hissed, frantically looking everywhere but behind him.

“I mean it’s bad enough you think Julie’s dad is a smokeshow, but at least you’ve seen him for more than thirty seconds,” Flynn went on, either ignorant of or perfectly fine with the growing look of horror on Alex’ face as he could not stop making eye-contact with Willie. His mouth was moving, helplessly, but no sound was coming out to alert Reggie and Flynn as to who was right behind them.

“It was a very enlightening thirty seconds, okay!” Reggie said. “I mean, with the muscles and the- the hair and the jawline and- and did you see the outline in those sweat-”

“Please stop talking about how you want to bang my dad!” Willie said urgently, wringing out their hair above Reggie to douse him. Reggie gave a little shriek, either from the cold water down his back or because Willie heard him.

“Willie! Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I don’t…” Reggie’s face was on fire, and Alex and Flynn shared one look and hightailed it out of there to the other side of the pool, where the Jacuzzi was. At least they couldn’t eavesdrop over the sound of the bubbles, even though they were probably filling in Luke, Bobby, and Julie. “I’m so sorry. It’s just a stupid little- I mean, I love you more than anything, I’d never try and, not that I think your dad would-” He buried his face in his hands again. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you! It’s stupid and embarrassing. It doesn’t mean anything!”

“You just have the hots for my dad,” Willie said slowly. It wasn’t unusual. Dad had a lot of groupies, both male and female. It wasn’t like he did anything to discourage them. He was in showbiz, it was good for his numbers. The longer Willie thought about it, the more funny it became. Reggie had a thing for dads. Maybe they should buy like, a Hawaiian shirt and start wearing sandals with socks in them. Grill something. Call Reggie slugger.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Reggie whispered. “Please don’t break up with me.”

“Hey, no, never,” Willie said, wrapping an arm around him. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Reggie said, relieved.

“Even though you have awful taste,” Willie said.

“Well, not that awful,” Reggie said, fiddling with Willie’s necklace and smiling smugly. “I mean, I have the hots for you way more.”

And because there was no way to agree with that without sounding incredibly self-centred, instead Willie leaned in to kiss him. From the hot tub, there was a wolf-whistle.  

“Wanna go throw Luke in the pool?” Willie whispered against Reggie’s lips.

Reggie’s smile was beautiful. “Darling, I thought you’d never ask.”

[invisibleraven]

Hope it's ok to send a third prompt, 21 for Rulie? Please and thank you??

"halloween parties are so dumb" / "just find a hot pirate to hit on to pass time."

Julie glared at the room around her, the raging throng of people downing cheap beer and badly dancing to loud EDM. Though most of her ire was centred on her best friend, Flynn for dragging her here. Otherwise Julie wouldn't be caught dead in a sorority. In costume no less.

But Flynn had gone and fallen for a sister of Delta Nu, Carrie, and had all but begged Julie to come be her wing woman. Which, Julie begrudgingly agreed to, given their ride or die status. But even that was tested when Flynn told her it was a Halloween party, meaning that everyone was expected to wear a costume.

"Flynn," Julie whined. "Halloween parties are just so dumb. Everyone goes as some slutty version of their favourite character, turns a pumpkin into a keg, and ugh, I don't wanna be a part of that. The only good thing about this holiday is the discount candy the next day."

Flynn started to protest, but Julie continued on. "Plus, I am going to bored out of my mind when you hook up with Carrie and abndon me to go make out or something."

"Two hours, tops," Flynn promised. "And if you get bored, you could always just hit on a hot pirate to pass the time."

Julie pursed her lips at that. "I do like pirates."

That had been an hour ago, approximately 45 after Flynn found Carrie and promised Julie she would be back after 'just one dance'. Since then Julie had had half a cup of the way too strong punch, gotten hit on by three douchey frat bros in Ghostbuster costumes, and one girl who looked like an amazing Mystique but had excused herself to go be sick, so Julie was kind of over the whole night.

That's when the crowd parted, showing Julie a glimpse of an extremely cute guy in pirate gear. Black leather everywhere, a neat beard drawn on his face, eyes outlined in kohl...and a silver hook on his hand. Flynn's words rang in her ear, and Julie figured why not. She approached and smiled at him. "Killian Jones I presume?"

The guy's smile split his face, wide and beaming, his bright green eyes lighting up. "Yes! Finally, someone else who suffered through that trash fire of a show for the hotness of Killian!" He looked her up and down, assessing her costume. "Nice to meet you, Selina Kyle. Love that you went Eartha Kitt instead of Julie Newmar."

Julie blushed, nodding her head. "Yeah, she was an early formative crush slash source of representation for me, and I already had the suit, so I figured why not? I'm Julie by the way."

"Reggie," he said, leaning against the wall next to her. Then gave her the most fake over the top leer he could, though she could see he was fighting a losing battle not to laugh. "SO why did you already own the suit?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Julie said coquettishly, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Sure, it was a line, but there was something about this guy.

Reggie gave her a very sincere grin, all pretense dropping as hr crowded in a little, his lips brushing the shell of her ear as he whispered. "Trust me darlin', I want to know everything about you, if you'd give me the chance."

Julie felt the flush flood her face, sure that Reggie could feel the warmth just from the honeyed voice, the twang of a Georgia accent, and when he pulled away, she desperately wanted to muss his makeup, see how many freckles she could count on his face with her tongue. "How about we start with a drink, and then maybe if you're lucky... I could give you my number and we could do that out of costume?"

"What's your poison?" Reggie asked. "Please don't say the punch. I love Carrie like a sister, but it is vile."

Julie giggled at that, looping her arm through his, loving how he pinkened. "How about a glass of rum captain?"

"I think it's all gone actually," Reggie mused then turned to her, pointing an accusing finger. "Don't say the line, god please don't."

Julie mimed zipping her lips, and started pulling him towards the kitchen. She saw Flynn as she passed who gave her a giant double thumbs up and Julie gave her a scowl before beaming. Okay, yeah, she had lucked out, in small part to Flynn giving her advice.

But she would never admit to it, not even when she and Reggie spent the rest of the party talking and when Flynn decided to stay with Carrie for the night, Reggie walked Julie back to her dorm, her number in his phone, and his makeup smeared across her face from the truly delicious good night kiss he granted her.

The only time Julie let Flynn get out a 'I told you so' was in her maid of honour speech a few years down the line. By then, Julie figured she'd earned it.

[thedeathdeelers]

Happy HC:

After the boys come back to life (as we all know they will) they start celebrating their birthdays again. Only they also celebrate the day they showed up in 2020, after all that’s when they’re lives started again, that’s when they found Julie. And then Luke suggests they celebrate the day they finally played the Orpheum, the day Julie broke their curse. He doesn’t say it out loud but he mostly figures it should be celebrated because that’s the first time he got to feel Julie in his arms, really feel her, but they exchange a look and it’s obvious she knows what he’s not saying. Then Reggie suggests they celebrate the day they got their puppy, and when everyone points out they don’t have a puppy he just grins and says “today’s the day then”. Alex says if they’re going to celebrate a dog they don’t actually have yet they have to celebrate the day he met Willie and Julie thinks the most important day of all to celebrate is the day her boys came back to life for good. Meanwhile Ray suggests the day he finally found out Julie’s band mates were ghosts and Carlos doesn’t care as long as there’s cake. Soon it all blends together until they can barely remember what they’re celebrating anymore, but that doesn’t matter. Over the years the parties get less formally planned and eventually they fall back on just actual birthdays but they never stop feeling like every day is special. Because against all the odds…they’re together. 💜

i-

okay give me a second this is a lot 🥺

first: heck ya they’re coming back to life this is a weLL KNOWN FACT thank u very much

second: luke wanting to celebrate the day he finally got to hold julie in his arms as opposed to seeing it as the day he escape death a second time??? bro. fam. bruh. it’s too much because we know he would 🥺

third: ok but “we don’t have a pup-” and reggie being like “wELL THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE WRONG” i love this for him so much? he deserves it

fourth: alex having a moment every year where he drags willie to the spot where he ran him over at the exact time that he did and they just stand there for a second foreheads touching as they just. take in the miracle of the universe and life and love? ya. cool. that’s fine that’s okay.

fifth: ray also wanting a day to celebrate the boys as the day he officially met them/basically adopted them into the fam is such a ray move and that makes me so happy. he’s just the best. “party for you! party for you! party for everyone!” yes

sixth: carlos, i agree my dude. just enjoy the cakes. make up more random dates that “should” be celebrated and EAT THE CAKE *chaos elmo* ALL THE CAKE

and finally, seventh: the idea that literally every day they get to live it together is a cause for celebration is such a beautiful sentiment that fits right in with the world of jatp and it actually makes me so happy. they just constantly have reason to eat cake and be joyful and maybe some days they have a lil extra cake cause someone was born on that day some years ago but!! every day!! is a party!

i love this. makes me feel all warm and gooey inside, thank you 🥺♥️

[nicknellie]

Anonymous requested: “tricked into 7 minutes in heaven at a party” AU with willex, where theyre close friends and apart of the same friend group, and their friends know they both like each other and are tired of watching them dance around each other so they devise a plan to have a party and play seven minutes in heaven, and get them to be alone together in a closet or room or something. so a sort of getting together/modern AU with some kissing cause the boys deserve it?

I had to Google what 7 Minutes In Heaven is. Anyway!! I love this prompt so much, it’s so so sweet. We love some getting together fluff. Thank you so much for suggesting it!

Title from Alone by Heart.

The Secret Is Still My Own

Alex could have kicked himself for not realising what this was much earlier. It was probably Luke’s idea. Maybe Julie’s – she could be sneaky when she wanted to be. It didn’t really matter who had devised the plan, all that Alex was worried about now was the fact that he was about to spend seven minutes locked in a small room with Willie and the likelihood was that it was going to be utterly dreadful.

A few months ago when Alex and Willie had first met, it wouldn’t have been so awful. Their friendship had been fresh and exciting and there had been an easy banter flowing between the two of them that made Alex feel light and giddy. He had been glad to spend time with Willie then, looking for every excuse to hang out with him because who wouldn’t? Willie was funny, kind, intelligent, and everything good in the world. Alex would have been mad to not want to spend time with him. It didn’t take long for Alex to realise he was falling for Willie, quickly and with no signs of stopping.

And he made the grave mistake of telling that to Luke.

“Dude,” Luke had said, grabbing Alex’s shoulders. “You gotta ask him out!”

“What? No!” Alex had protested. He tried to wriggle free but Luke’s grip was like iron and he gave up after a moment or two. “I don’t want to. I like being friends with him.”

“Yeah, but imagine if you were more than friends,” Luke pressed, grinning wildly. “It’s not like he’d say no – he’s head over heels for you, man.”

“He is?”

“I think so.”

“That’s not proof,” Alex deadpanned. “You also thought that if you ate watermelon seeds one would grow inside you. Then you cried when Reggie ate them.”

“That was ages ago!” Luke whined.

“It was last week, but alright.”

“Alright, fine, I’m a bad example,” Luke admitted. “But what if I told you that Julie thinks Willie likes you?”

Alex considered it for a moment. Julie was definitely more reliable than Luke, and where Luke was almost definitely guessing about whether or not Willie had feelings for Alex, Julie had probably spoken to Willie herself to find out. So he shrugged and gave Luke a short nod.

“Does she think so?” he asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice.

“Dude,” Luke scoffed. “She was the one to point it out to me. You and Willie are made for each other, bro! Ask him out or I’ll have to do it for you.”

Alex hadn’t asked Willie out. It hadn’t been because he didn’t want to or because he didn’t think Luke and Julie were right – it was because he simply didn’t know how. How was he supposed to go up to Willie, a literal angel, and ask him on a date without spontaneously combusting? He didn’t want to make a fool of himself, not in front of Willie.

He had thought that Luke was joking about getting Alex and Willie together himself. That had, of course, been an incredibly naïve thing to believe. When Luke said he’d do something, he meant it – Alex should have learnt that from the time Luke had said he would lick an electric fence and then followed through immediately and without hesitation. So really he shouldn’t have been surprised when Luke made it his mission to get Alex and Willie together.

The first time it had happened was when Alex and Willie were hanging out alone in the studio. They had been talking, just catching up with each other, and it had been nice. Willie had been halfway through a story about one of the kids at the nursery he worked part-time at when all of a sudden the lights in the studio had dimmed and slow, romantic music had begun drifting from the stereo in the corner.

Willie had looked utterly bemused, a quiet half-smile gracing his features. “What’s all this?”

“I don’t know,” Alex told him, standing up and flicking the lights back on, then going to the stereo and turning the music down all the way. “Sorry about that. It’s never happened before.”

“You mean you didn’t set it up?” Willie asked.

“No,” Alex replied, looking around the studio. Unsurprisingly, he had spotted Luke in the attic, hidden amongst the beanbags, the stereo’s remote in his hands. He didn’t even have the good grace to look guilty, instead giving Alex a cheery wave.

“Oh,” Willie had said. His tone made Alex turn to face him – there was something in it he couldn’t quite put a name to. “Okay. Anyway, so, as I was saying…”

Luke’s plans had not improved from then on. He had pulled the classic “invite both of them to hang out but don’t show up so they’re just spending time together one-on-one”, he had dedicated an entire setlist to Willie at their most recent gig and told the entire crowd that it had been Alex’s idea, and every time Alex and Willie had a conversation he would find a way to muscle in and very unsubtly suggest they go on a date.

It was making Alex’s life a misery.

Because now every time he saw Willie felt painstakingly awkward. The both of them were just waiting for Luke to show up and do whatever he’d planned, after which they’d be steeped in brittle, tense silence until one of them found an excuse to back out of the situation. The ease and light-heartedness their friendship had once been built on was pretty much shot to pieces. Alex knew that Luke meant well, but he was almost certain that he had ruined everything.

It didn’t help that Luke had got Julie, Reggie, and Flynn in on it too, though they were much less heavy-handed than he was when it came to getting them together. Reggie’s main tactic was ask if they’d been on a date yet every time he saw them but leave it alone once they said no, while Julie and Flynn tended to talk to Alex away from Willie and try and convince him that they were, in Flynn’s words, a match made in heaven.

“He totally wants you to ask him out,” Flynn gushed on one of these occasions. “Did you see the way he was looking at you earlier? He’s in love.”

“Things are awkward enough between us as it is,” Alex had explained. “I’m not going to make it worse by asking him out.”

“Well, maybe you don’t need to ask him on a date,” Julie suggested, ever the voice of reason. Alex inwardly thanked her – at least somebody was on his side. “But I do think you need to at least talk about what’s going on between you.”

He revoked his inward thank-you.

“We don’t need to talk,” Alex insisted. “If we just leave it alone then the problem will eventually go away.”

“That’s always your solution,” Julie said.

“And it never works,” Flynn added.

“If you just face your feelings head-on and actually try communicating with him you might get somewhere,” Julie said. Alex looked at her and knew she was telling the truth – her eyes were wide and kind, her mouth set into a gentle smile, and she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to help Alex. “You’ve been dancing around each other for so long, all you need to do is figure out where you both are. Trust me.”

He had shrugged inelegantly and let Flynn change the direction of the conversation, grateful to be talking about something else.

But he hadn’t taken Julie’s advice. Talking to Willie was difficult. Their banter was all but gone and their conversations lasted no more than a few minutes at most. It was a lot easier when they were with all their friends, in a big group where they could talk to others, which had been exactly the reason that Alex wasn’t worried about the impromptu party Julie had invited everyone to that night.

And look where it had got him.

It had been Luke who suggested it during a lull in conversation.

“Why don’t we play Seven Minutes in Heaven?”

The suggestion had been met with excited ‘ooooh’s from most of the group sat around the studio, all except Alex. The last time he’d played Seven Minutes in Heaven had been in middle school – he had been locked in a closet with a girl in his class, she had kissed him incredibly awkwardly, he had blurted “I’m too gay for this” and fallen ungracefully out of the closet with six minutes still left on the clock. While that had been years and years ago, the memory still burned with embarrassment.

“Count me out,” he said. “That game is cursed.”

“I think you’re thinking of Bloody Mary in the Mirror,” Reggie supplied. “That game is cursed. This one’s just a bit of fun.”

“Absolutely not,” Alex said, shaking his head. “You guys can play, I’m staying out of it.”

“Oh, come on, Alex,” whined Luke, “everyone has to play! Otherwise it’s no fun.”

“You might not even get picked,” Julie said helpfully.

“But also you might,” Luke added.

Alex looked around the room at his friends – Reggie was smiling encouragingly, Luke looked put-out that Alex had even thought about refusing, Julie and Flynn were looking at him with hope and excitement in their eyes that he really didn’t want to crush, and Willie… Willie was avoiding eye contact altogether.

He didn’t know what it was that did it, but finally he relented. “I’ll play.”

Luke punched the air triumphantly and began entering everyone’s names into a generator he’d brought up on his phone. Alex watched with bated breath as the little wheel spun, slowing down until it landed on a name. The screen lit up with an over-the-top fireworks animation and the name ‘WILLIE’ in garish bubble writing.

Alex didn’t look at Willie, but he did feel his own insides squirm. What if he was picked next? He wasn’t sure he could last seven minutes alone with Willie. What was he supposed to talk about? What was he supposed to do? How was he meant to act like it wasn’t the most awkward thing he’d ever done especially after everything that had happened in the past few months?

Luke set the spinner off again and Alex watched nervously as it ticked through all the names. The firework animation lit up the screen again and when it was cleared the name ‘ALEX’ was left behind, glowing in all its bubble writing glory.

He tried not to sigh in defeat and he stayed put, no matter how much he wanted to leg it from the room and never come back.

“Alright then!” Julie said, clapping her hands and beaming. “Alex and Willie! You guys feeling up for this?”

Alex didn’t have an answer, but it appeared that Willie did. He stood up and offered a hand to pull Alex to his feet too, smiling gently.

“I’m ready,” he said, though Alex didn’t miss the waver in his voice. “How about you, hotdog?”

He could feel his friends’ eyes boring into him like lasers, but kept his own eyes trained on Willie, searching his expression with no idea what he was actually searching for. Eventually though, he gave a resolute nod and said, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

“You can go into the bathroom,” Julie said, pointing towards the little room at the back of the studio. “You’ll have to lock the door yourselves.”

Alex nodded and mutely followed Willie into the bathroom. He shut and locked the door behind them, then flicked the light-switch on. Immediately, Willie flicked it back off.

“Why can’t we have the lights on?” he asked. “I can’t see you.”

“Those are the rules, hotdog,” Willie returned. His voice sounded like it was coming from the opposite side of the room, but Alex couldn’t be sure. After all, he couldn’t see anything.

He could feel his heart hammering in his chest and sweat starting to bead on his forehead as he slid himself down the wall to sit on the floor. He had no reason to feel so nervous right then; he’d been alone with Willie a thousand times, this didn’t have to be any different just because it was in a small dark room and they had a time limit ticking over their heads. Admittedly, he hadn’t been alone with Willie all that often recently, but he shouldn’t have been too out of practise.

“So,” he ventured, rubbing his hands along his legs, hoping the repetitive movements would dull his nerves. “What do you want to talk about?”

Willie was silent for a moment and Alex was sure that he’d somehow already put a foot wrong. Briefly, he considered unlocking the door and trying to leave very quietly so that Willie wouldn’t notice, but he realised quickly that plan wouldn’t work because he would never get past his friends in the studio. All he could do was stick it out for six and a half more minutes.

But mercifully, Willie finally spoke.

“Things have been weird recently, huh, hotdog?”

It teased a laugh from Alex, if only a small one. Because yes. Yes, things had been incredibly weird and he hated it.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “it’s been weird. I’m sorry about Luke and the others.”

“You don’t need to apologise,” Willie said. Alex could hear the smile in his voice and found himself relaxing. “It doesn’t really bother me. But… I mean, it seemed like it was bothering you. I’ve been trying to give you a little space but I don’t know if that’s what you want.”

“No,” Alex said, far too quickly. He tried to rein himself in a little, not wanting things to descend back into that dangerous awkward territory. “No, I don’t want you to give me space. I really like hanging out with you, Willie. I don’t want to stop that. I just wish they’d stop teasing.”

There was another pause, smaller this time, barely perceptible.

“Why?” Willie asked quietly.

“Because,” Alex began, but he quickly found himself lost for words.

How was he supposed to explain it to Willie when he found it hard to explain it to himself? He didn’t like their teasing because he was scared. He didn’t like their teasing because he didn’t want to make Willie uncomfortable. He didn’t like their teasing because this thing, whatever it was, between him and Willie was theirs and only theirs and he wanted to keep it between that way. Because he wanted to make these decisions on his terms, not when his friends decided he should.

“Because?” Willie prompted.

Alex swallowed his pride and his nerves and made himself speak.

“Because I really like you, Willie. And when our friends try and find ways to get us together it just feels awful because I want to do it myself. I don’t want them to intervene or mess this up. I want to do it my way. They keep saying that you like me too – is that true?”

Silence again. Alex could hardly stand it.

“Yeah,” Willie said finally. With that single word Alex felt like he could breathe more easily than ever before. “I do. Like you, I mean. And I get it. I’m sorry this whole thing has been such a mess.”

Alex huffed a laugh. “Blame Luke.”

“Oh, I will,” Willie replied through a chuckle.

Alex heard him shuffle across the bathroom floor and felt their sides press together as Willie came to sit next to him. Without thinking he laid his head down on Willie’s shoulder, then felt Willie rest his head on his in return.

“So,” Alex said again. “What does this mean for us?”

“What do you want it to mean?” Willie asked teasingly, the smile on his face evident in his voice.

“Are we dating?” he asked. He could feel his own smile tugging at his lips as Willie slipped an arm around his shoulders.

He felt Willie press a gentle kiss to the top of his head. “Yes, Alex. We’re dating.”

Maybe it was the late hour, maybe it was the dark room, maybe it was the rush of adrenaline he got from hearing Willie day the words “we’re dating”, but something gave him a warm and welcome rush of courage and he said, before he could think better of it, “Can I kiss you?”

“Well,” Willie said, “I think that’s what usually happens in this game.”

“I don’t want to kiss you because of the game,” Alex told him. He knew Willie was probably joking, but he wanted to be certain. He wanted to make it clear that none of this was because of the game (mainly because Luke had probably rigged it somehow and Alex still wanted to do this his own way). He needed to show that this was for Willie and for himself, nothing else.

“I know,” Willie said gently. “I don’t either. I just want to kiss you.”

Alex slid a hand up to cup Willie’s jaw and they slowly came together. Willie’s lips were softer than Alex thought should be allowed, the kiss gentle and slow. It felt perfect, like fireworks had been lit in Alex’s soul (though much better fireworks than the terrible animation on Luke’s random selector wheel). He felt Willie’s fingers knot through his hair and pull them closer together.

It hadn’t gone the way Alex would have really liked. He didn’t get to ask Willie out on his terms. But from now on, with Willie as his boyfriend, they could do everything else on their terms. They could go at their own speed, hand-in-hand, with no ticking time limit set by their friends. They could move at their own pace with nobody but each other.

And Alex could breathe easy.

*

Taglist (if you want to be added or removed just let me know): @ace-bookworm @williexmercer @willex-owns-my-heart @itstiger720 @the-reckless-and-the-brave @that-one-newsie @bluedarkness @lookingthroughmirrors @teammightypen @salty-star @julieandthequeers @lmaohuh @sunnysbright 

[chickwiththepurpleguitar]

congrats on 500!!! 🥳

can i request boggie (romantic or platonic) and “can i hold your hand?” 🥺

Thanks bestie!! This is my longest prompt fill so far lol, it kind of got away from me. This is my very first time writing Boggie, and my first time writing in Reggie’s POV, so have fun. Also you asked for sensory overload Bobby but I didn’t think I could do that justice so I did migraine Bobby instead. This technically takes place in my headcanon universe of my longfic, but you don’t need to have read that to understand this. Hope you like it!

--

Bobby’s gone.

Reggie doesn’t think anyone but him has noticed yet. Luke and Alex are too busy arguing with each other (good-naturedly, with no real anger or malice; Reggie can always tell the difference, without even having to pay attention to what they’re arguing about, though this time he’s pretty sure it has something to do with which color m&m is superior).

But anyway, Luke and Alex aren’t paying attention to anything but each other, and Bobby slipped out twenty minutes ago with a pained expression and a mumbled excuse and he hasn’t come back yet, and apparently only Reggie has noticed.

He’s not sure what he should do about it, though. Reggie likes Bobby—he’s a great guitar player, and his movie collection is unparalleled, and one time when Reggie showed up at school with a black eye, Bobby got suspended for two weeks because he decked a guy who tried to make fun of Reggie for it—but as much as Reggie would like him and Bobby to be friends, it can’t be denied that Bobby is… well… Luke’s. And not just because Luke is even more touchy-feely with Bobby than he is with everyone else, or because Luke spends every other night sharing Bobby’s bed because he has nightmares (something Reggie doesn’t think he’s actually supposed to know), or because whenever Luke and Bobby are in a room together, they can’t stop looking at each other. But also because the only reason Bobby joined the band in the first place was because he was there for Luke when Reggie and Alex weren’t. He was Luke’s best friend when Reggie failed to be.

And Reggie hates to take sides (especially because Luke once got really mad at him and literally accused him of taking sides), but if Luke is on Bobby’s and Alex is sorta vaguely not, Reggie feels like he’s kind of statistically obligated to balance it out. So as much as they’re all a band, and as much as Luke will always be Reggie’s first and best friend, and as much as Reggie would love to get closer to their rhythm guitarist, sometimes they just can’t help pairing off, and when they do, Sunset Curve becomes, well, Luke and Bobby—Reggie and Alex. 

But anyway. Reggie checks his watch. Bobby has now been gone twenty-five minutes, and Luke and Alex have moved on to discussing which animated m&m from the commercials they would date if given the option, and Reggie’s starting to get a little worried.

“Hey, guys?” he says, putting aside the bass he’d been sort of plucking at. “Can you shut up for a second?”

Luke and Alex immediately stop their bickering and turn to look at him, faces lit with matching concern. “Yeah, Reg?” Alex says gently.

“You okay, bro?”

Reggie manages a smile. They both know him so well. He gives a quick shake of his head to assure them he’s fine, their arguing wasn’t too much (later, once he’s sure Bobby’s okay, he might even put his two cents in, since the answer to both debates is obviously Green). “Do you know where Bobby went? He hasn’t come back yet.”

Alex frowns, and Luke looks around the studio as if he’s just then realizing that Bobby’s not still sitting on the couch next to him where he was half an hour ago.

“Where’d he go?” Luke gets up off the couch and clambers over the coffee table to cross the studio, past Reggie and Alex. He hauls open one of the doors and peers out into the driveway, then frowns back over his shoulder at them. “I don’t see him. He must’ve gone into the house.” A flash of something crosses his expression and he glances nervously from Reggie to Alex and back again. “I—I’d go look for him, but I don’t know if his parents are home, the car’s here.”

“I’ll go,” Reggie offers before it can become a thing, the fact that Bobby is Luke’s but Luke can’t even go after him when he leaves the studio because Luke is a missing person who Bobby’s parents don’t know lives in their garage.

“Thanks, Reg,” Luke says, and Reggie gives him a comforting pat on the shoulder as he passes.

Reggie doesn’t have to go far. He follows the path up from the driveway and catches sight of Bobby right away, sitting on his front porch with his face buried in his knees and his arms wrapped protectively around his head.

“Hey, there you are!” Reggie calls out without thinking, and then regrets it when Bobby’s head snaps up and he flinches with his whole body, a tiny whimper escaping his mouth just loud enough for Reggie to hear across the garden. Bobby’s face is so pale it’s almost green, and his eyes are hidden behind these thick dark sunglasses Reggie’s never seen him wear before.

Reggie’s heart lurches, and he hurries up the rest of the path. He sinks gently onto the porch step next to Bobby and asks as quietly as he can, “Bobby, what’s wrong?”

Bobby shoots him a shaky, unconvincing smile and whips his shades off. “Nothing, Reg, I’m—fuck.” Reggie gets half a glimpse of Bobby’s eyes—squinty and dull and full of so much pain—before Bobby goes another shade whiter, shoves his sunglasses back on, and presses his face into his lap with a groan.

Reggie’s concern spikes. He hovers a hand over Bobby’s shoulder, wanting to help but not sure if touching him when he’s like this will only make things worse. “Bobby? What—what’s going on with you, man? You’re scaring me.”

Bobby gives a miniscule shake of his head, still hidden in his folded arms. “I—it’s just… headache,” he mumbles, the words slow and slurred and muffled like even just opening his mouth too wide hurts him. He breathes heavily for a moment or two, then adds, “Really bad headache.”

“Oh.” Somehow, that’s… not what Reggie thought was happening here. Part of him relaxes some, even though his worry doesn’t lessen.

If Bobby were having a panic attack, like Alex gets sometimes, or one of those everything’s too much feelings that make it physically impossible for Luke to wear sleeves most days, then Reggie wouldn’t know what to do, how to help. Stuff like that is too personal, too individualized, and Reggie doesn’t know Bobby that well. But pain—physical pain—that, Reggie can deal with. That, Reggie knows all too well.

“Can I get you anything? What do you need?”

Bobby’s quiet for a moment, then: “Dark. Cold. Quiet… Maybe some medicine if I can keep it down.”

Reggie nods, even though he knows Bobby can’t see him. “We can do that. Is there a reason you were sitting out here in the first place? Probably easier to get dark and cold and quiet in your room, don’t you think?” He cranes his neck to see Bobby’s window above the porch roof. Reggie’s only been in there a handful of times, but if Bobby gets these headaches often, the blackout curtains on Bobby’s bedroom window suddenly make a lot more sense.

(Though, Reggie can’t help but wonder, if Bobby gets these headaches often, how has Reggie never noticed before?)

“Dizzy,” Bobby mumbles, and Reggie cuts his gaze sharply back to him. It takes a second to register that Bobby’s answering Reggie’s question and not necessarily describing how he feels now. “Couldn’t… stairs.” A pause thick enough for Reggie to get the sense there’s more, and then Bobby admits, his voice smaller than Reggie’s ever heard it, “Tried to ignore it too long. Been kinda coming on all day, but I didn’t wanna ruin rehearsal.”

Reggie’s heart gives a pang of sympathy. He makes a mental note to give Bobby a talk later, when he’s feeling better, about hiding stuff like this—and then maybe he’ll give Luke and Alex (and himself) a talk about whatever they did to make Bobby feel like he has to.

But all that can wait. For now, his only priority is getting Bobby settled in bed with all the lights off and an icepack on his head. “Okay, Bobby, I’m gonna get you inside so you can rest, okay? But can I try something first?”

Bobby stiffens. “Try what?”

Reggie’s heart’s beating a little too fast, though he’s not sure why. He swallows, tries to ignore the fact that he’s definitely blushing, and says, “Can I hold your hand?”

Bobby’s silent and still for so long that Reggie starts to worry he’s overstepped. But before he can figure out how to backtrack, Bobby grumbles something unintelligible into his lap and flops a hand in Reggie’s face. Reggie grabs it, hoping his own hands aren’t too sweaty, and expertly applies pressure to the point between the base of Bobby’s thumb and index finger.

The effect is almost instantaneous: Bobby shudders, and his muscles relax like a ripple going through him, and he slowly sits up and raises his head. Reggie can’t really read his expression with the sunglasses still on, but what he can see of Bobby’s face looks less pinched, less pained, and he’s gotten some of the color back in his cheeks.

He stares at Reggie, mouth hanging open, and breathes, “Whoa.”

Reggie blushes, self-conscious, but doesn’t stop gently massaging Bobby’s hand. “Better?”

Bobby nods. “How—how did you know how to do that?”

Reggie manages a sheepish smile. “My mom gets migraines. And, well, hangovers. So I’ve kinda picked up some tricks. Coffee really helps her, too, if you can stomach it.”

Bobby’s still staring at him, and Reggie swallows, his stomach giving a weird little flip that’s not exactly unpleasant. Finally, Bobby looks away and gingerly pulls his hand out of Reggie’s to rub at his temples. “Well, thanks, Reg, that really helped. I’m gonna go inside before it gets worse again. Can you, uh—”

“Yeah, yeah, no, I’ll—tell the guys… something.”

Bobby gives him a shy, grateful smile, and then slowly pushes himself to his feet.

When the front door closes behind Bobby, Reggie lets out a shaky breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He feels jittery and out of breath, like he just drank seven sodas or ran a marathon or something. His hands are tingly where they’d touched Bobby’s, and he can’t get the image of that last little smile out of his head.

Bobby doesn’t smile very often, and when he does, it’s not like that.

(And if it is, it’s not at Reggie.)

Reggie mutters a curse and copies Bobby’s earlier position, his face hidden in his hands. Because he thinks he might like Bobby.

But Bobby is Luke’s.

sorry bestie

Send me a pairing and a prompt to celebrate my 500th follower!

--

Taglist: @whenweremarried @sunsethimb0s @pink-flame @penguin0613 @fighttoshine @sunsetcurvecuddles @nickalicious @reggiescrookedteeth @brightattheorpheum @queenmolina @spidergirl0325 @jandthephantoms @lexilucacia @sapphossidechick @acnhaddict @cest-la-vie-de-la-lee @sunset-bobby @lenacarstairspotterstewart @moreflowersthanweeds @conversationaltreestump @burntchromas 

[phantom-curve]

Second birthday is such a cool thing to call that! 8 or 35 if you are feeling so inclined.

Thank you! When I was a kid my mom always tried to call it my rebirth-day and I was like no❤️ I went with some Willex whump (with a fluffy end) for this one! Set in the gimme a chance AU, featuring pro-skateboarder Willie and anxious Alex. This is also a bit of a companion piece to the #8 prompt I wrote earlier!

#35: kissing their bruises and scars (Trigger Warning: mentions of injury, mild description of panic attack, and mentions of a car accident. Rated T for language) 

Alex generally tried not to think about worst case scenarios when Willie was competing. If he let himself, it was way too easy to imagine all types of situations that ended with Willie broken and bleeding at the base of a halfpipe while Alex stood helplessly on the sidelines. It didn’t help anything for him to obsess over what could happen, especially because at this point, Alex knew skateboarding was as much a part of Willie as drumming was a part of him.

It was just that ever since Willie had gotten his first sponsorship and moved to the pro circuit six months ago, he had started taking bigger risks. More complex tricks and a lot less hesitation to go big when he was representing the brands that were paying his bills. And that meant longer hours practicing and a higher chance of injury on a daily basis. Alex wanted to be a supportive boyfriend, the kind that would show up at the skate park to cheer and not have a panic attack every time that Willie wiped out, but he wasn’t. He was just an anxious guy in love with a dude who seemed determined to break every single bone in his body.

Things only got worse when Willie started traveling for competitions. He was gone almost every weekend, and Luke had finally convinced the manager at the bar he worked at to let Sunset Curve preform regular Saturday shows, and so, more often than not, Willie would be somewhere else in California flinging his body down an insanely tall ramp with nothing but a helmet and some pads to protect him while Alex was trapped in LA losing himself in the familiar pattern of sticks against drums in an attempt to control his raging anxiety. It had about a 68% success rate. That success rate increased dramatically when Willie called Alex the second he knew his set was ending. It plummeted on the nights Alex didn’t hear from him until much later, or worse, heard from a different skater entirely.

Tonight was unfortunately one of those nights.

When their set ended, Reggie called out the same line he had coined after their first performance, a couple audience members chiming in with him because they actually had a bit of a fan following now, and Alex wasted no time in grabbing his phone from the fanny pack he kept behind his kit during shows. Instead of it lighting up with a picture of his boyfriend’s face, he was met with a series of missed calls and text messages from the guys Willie was rooming with for the weekend. He tried not to panic, tried to breathe in deeply to a count of five, holding it for just as long before exhaling again. It kept the anxiety at bay for as long as it took for him to unlock the phone and read the last missed message.

Don’t worry, bro. They’re gonna airlift him back to LA so you can just meet him at the hospital whenever.

Panic hit full force. What the actual fuck had happened to his boyfriend?! Alex’s fingers were shaking too much for him to open the other messages, his vision going blurry and a distant ringing sounding out in his ears. It took him longer than it should to realize Luke was crouched down in front of him, Reggie hovering just beyond the drum kit.

“You have to breathe, Lex. C’mon, follow me.”

Luke inhaled deeply before letting his breath out in a loud woosh. Alex tried to copy him, but his chest felt too tight, his throat closing in the more he tried to open it. Luke kept talking, his voice low and calm.

“Try again, we can do it together. We just have to breathe, nothing else.”

Alex inhaled with Luke that time, not quite as deeply and not quite as steady, but more air than he had managed to get before. It took several long moments before he was able to match Luke completely, the fog starting to clear from his brain, surroundings snapping back into focus.

“Great, good, just keep breathing, okay? I’m gonna go grab the office keys and we’ll take a minute in there to talk, okay?”

Alex nodded, not exactly wanting Luke to leave but knowing whatever his best friend was saying logically made sense. Reggie slipped into the space Luke had been occupying, breathing in the exact same pattern, and Alex refocused on him. When Reggie stood, Alex copied him, reaching out to grip the back of Reggie’s red flannel as he led them both off of the stage and down the hallway to the office in the back of the bar. Alex dropped onto the couch, burying his face in his hands.

“Lex? Can you tell us what’s going on?”

Reggie’s voice was soft and quiet, like a gentle melody. Alex let it wash over him, knew his boys would be able to help if he could just figure out how to get his mouth to form the words it desperately didn’t want to say out loud. He fought to speak for a few moments before finally just thrusting his phone forward. A hush fell over the room as Luke and Reggie scrolled through the texts and Alex was suddenly grateful that he wouldn’t have to read through them himself. After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes, Luke cleared his throat and spoke.

“Okay, so good news or bad news first?”

“How can there possibly be good news?”

Alex’s throat felt raw and scratchy, the words coming out broken and strangled. Luke and Reggie exchanged a quick glance before Reggie sat next to Alex on the couch. Not touching, but close enough for Alex to feel comforted all the same.

“Willie isn’t dead or dying, so yes, there is good news. Which one do you want first?”

A significant amount of the panic left Alex’s system at the reassurance that his boyfriend was alive and going to stay that way for the time being. It hit him all at once, sending him into Reggie’s side as he let out a cry of relief. Reggie’s hand stroked up and down Alex’s arm, a low hum sounding in the back of his throat. Luke spoke again.

“Okay, so good news is that Willie is probably already back in LA, he’s at the best hospital he can be at, and he’s going to be fine.”

Alex clung to the words like a life raft. Willie was going to be fine. He turned it into a mantra, repeating it over and over again until he felt like he was back in control, no longer on the precipice of drowning. He disentangled himself from Reggie’s arms, took a deep breath, and met Luke’s gaze.

“I’m ready. Gimme the bad news.”

Luke let out a long breath before sitting down on Alex’s other side.

“The guys were in a car accident. They didn’t even make it to the competition. Willie was in the passenger seat and he took the worst hit in the collision. The other guys got taken to a local hospital, but they had to send Willie to Cedars-Sinai because of some special orthopedic department there. Max said they mentioned he would be admitted to the post-trauma floor.”

A car accident. He didn’t even make it to the competition. Alex had considered himself prepared for the worst when it came to Willie and his chosen profession. He had told himself that loving Willie meant accepting the risk that came with skateboarding, especially at the level that Willie did it. He had not once considered the fact that Willie could be hurt in some type of freak accident that had nothing to do with skating. The life raft slipped from his mental fingers, hurtling him back into the sea of despair once again.

“We got this, okay?” Luke was still speaking. “Reg is gonna call an Uber and take you to the hospital, and I’m gonna get Dante and Felix to help pack up stuff here and then come meet you. It’s gonna be okay.”

Luke’s words painted a path for Alex to follow, a way to move forward without having to fight so hard to do so. He nodded, allowed himself to be bundled out of the employee entrance and into the car Reggie had called. Clung to Reggie’s flannel again as they traversed the white hallways of the hospital, eventually making their way to a nurse’s station situated on the post-trauma surgical floor. Alex didn’t even let himself think about what that string of words implied. Not until Reggie nudged him forward to speak with the blonde-haired woman with kind brown eyes sitting behind the welcome desk. He forced himself to clear the lump in his throat and scrape some words together.

“Hi, I’m uh, my name is Alex. Alex Mercer? I’m looking for my boyfriend Willie? William, actually, his name is William Stewart. He was...he was in a car crash.”

The words came out in starts and stops, cracking at the edges as Alex forced them through numb lips. The nurse nodded, her fingers tapping across the keyboard in a sharp staccato.

“He’s out of surgery, but might still be a bit groggy. The limit is one visitor at a time, so your friend will have to wait out here.”

Alex turned to Reggie with a blank stare.

“You got this, Lex. Remember, he’s gonna be fine. I’ll be right here, and Luke is on his way too. Whatever you need, okay? We got you.”

Alex nodded even though the movement itself felt like a lie. The nurse smiled softly at him and for one split moment Alex wished he could call his mom, hear her comforting voice the way he used to when he was a scared little kid. But he had Luke and Reggie now. And Willie, who was alive somewhere in this hospital.

“He’s in room 604, just down the hall.”

Alex forced his feet to move. Forced himself to count the numbers on the wall until he found 604. Forced himself to open the door and enter the room.

Willie looked so small on the bed, his dark hair a mess across the stark white pillowcase, his leg encased in plaster and suspended from some contraption that hung down from the ceiling. He turned his head at the noise of the door opening, eyes half open and soft with sleep or maybe painkillers. The smile on his face was a mere shadow of its normal sunshine.

“Hey, Hotdog.”

Alex wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and curl into a ball and absolutely lose it. But instead, he walked to the side of Willie’s bed and sat down in the chair next to it that seemed to have been waiting just for him.

“Have you been crying? Please tell me you weren’t crying.”

Okay, Willie was definitely on drugs. Because of course, Alex had been crying.

“Yes, I’ve been crying! Are you kidding me?”

Willie winced slightly and Alex was instantly swamped with guilt.

“No, okay, let me try that again.”

He took a deep breath and reached up to brush a few stray hairs away from Willie’s face. There were a number of cuts and bruises marring his skin, a few of them hidden under bandages.

“Hey pretty boy, I’m so glad you’re not dead. I’ve never been more scared than when I saw that text from Max. I thought you cracked your head open on a halfpipe or something, what the hell happened?”

Willie tried to shrug and grimaced, like it hurt. Alex’s hands fluttered uselessly above his boyfriend’s body, unsure where would be safe to touch. He settled for grabbing the hand that Willie offered which was thankfully unmarked, nothing but some leftover scars from catching himself at the skatepark.

“I think our car flipped? There was a lot of crashing and my leg really fuckin hurt. It’s still hurts.”

Willie frowned, clearly addled from the leftover anesthesia and whatever they were giving him for the pain. Alex pulled his hand up to press a series of kisses across Willie’s knuckles, making sure to cover each scar at least once.

“You can’t die on me, Wills. I fucking love you, okay? I know you do insane stunts and regularly let yourself get beat to crap at the skate park, but you can’t fucking die on me in some stupid car accident. I’d lose my goddamn mind without you.”

“You love me?”

Willie’s voice was soft and awed and Alex suddenly realized he hadn’t ever actually said those words out loud before even though they’d been living in his brain for months now. When he looked into Willie’s eyes he saw a hint of wetness there, and his heart melted.

“Yes, I love you, you fucking dork. I’ve been in love with you for months.”

Willie grinned, dopey eyed and pink cheeked.

“Well, I’ve been in love with you for like, ever. So, I win. Gimme a kiss for my prize.”

Alex laughed and rolled his eyes, but obliged, nonetheless. Willie might not remember this interaction, but Alex would never forget it. A look of absolute peace settled onto his boyfriend’s face.

“I knew you’d come. I knew as soon as that car hit us that when I woke up, you’d be here. You’re the best boyfriend ever, that’s why I love you. And you’re so hot. Like, really hot.”

Alex’s cheeks burned, his heart kicking into overdrive.

“C’mere,” Willie nodded his head to the side and tried to shuffle over, like he was inviting Alex to climb in next to him. He made a disgruntled sound when the contraption his leg was in refused to budge, frowning up at the suspension system.

“That’s so lame, what the fuck? I wanna cuddle.”

And Alex, unable to resist even when he knew it would probably be better for Willie if he did, climbed up to wedge his body into the small space between Willie and the guardrails on his bed. He tucked one arm behind Willie’s head, pulling his face into the space between his neck and shoulder. Willie let out a contented sigh, his breath sending shivers down Alex’s spine.

“You smell like you,” Willie whispered, the sound happy and relaxed. “I love you, Lex.”

“I love you, too.” Alex sighed, kissing his way across every single cut and bruise he could reach without moving.

Willie settled into place, his body going lax and soft snores sounding out against Alex’s chest within moments. Alex let his own head fall to rest against the top of Willie’s, finally allowing himself to believe everything would be okay. When the same nurse came to tell him that his other friend had arrived and maybe it would be best to come back in the morning, he accepted it without complaint. She gave him a final moment to say goodnight, Alex taking the time to make sure Willie was tucked in tight before kissing his temple softly.

Willie was going to be okay, and Alex was going to spend the rest of his life making sure he was always the one there to kiss his scrapes and bruises.

Send me prompts for my second birthday!

[in-tua-deep]

20 for Vanya?

20. What-ifs/Alternate Timelines

I have a lot of what-ifs and alternate timelines for Vanya lmao, especially ones that prevent the apocalypse because I’m a sucker for a happy ending tbh

What if Vanya was included? Why not? Klaus’s powers weren’t useful for missions, Allison’s story for Claire was literally like “yeah Klaus got distracted by ghosts in the background lol” so it’s not like a kid without offensive powers couldn’t do it

you have rebellious Vanya aus, where she decides, like some neglected children do, so act out. If her father isn’t going to acknowledge anything good about her, she’s going to make him acknowledge the bad. Punishment might be the only time he pays attention to her, after all.

(let’s call this an au where the pills suppress her powers but not so much her emotions)

So you have an au where she sneaks out and joins the missions. She breaks into the mausoleum and picks Klaus up and stares her father down with a challenge in her eyes. 

Five vanishes, and Vanya gets worse. She plays her violin at 2 in the morning. She refuses to eat her broccoli. she teams up with diego to see who can piss dad off the most

(her and Diego actually get along very well in this sort of au, honestly)

Vanya gets out and plays the violin and gets angry. She plays with fury and fire and gets second chair, because Helen is actually really very good. But she makes Helen work for it. Helen isn’t secure in her position, she always knows that Vanya is a step away from taking it from her

and maybe that should make them enemies, but it doesn’t. They’re rivals. Helen respects the hell out of Vanya, and Vanya can’t help but admire the woman who makes the most difficult pieces look effortless

(RIVALS TO LOVERS: VIOLIN EDITION)

Vanya writes her book. Except she kicks down Diego’s boiler room door and is like “DIEGO”

“WHAT”

“I WANT TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT HOW MUCH DAD FUCKING SUCKS”

“I’LL BE RIGHT THERE”

as one of the rebel kids, Vanya actually got along well with Klaus as well since she helped him sneak out and 100% also smoked at least some weed with him because it would piss off Reggie tbh though she didn’t get into the harder drugs like he did

(showing up absolutely plastered to breakfast when they were sixteen was hilarious even if the laps they had to run around the block were not)

anyway Klaus crashes at her apartment sometimes, with supervision, because she loves Klaus but he has a problem and has stolen from her before but he’s still her brother but regardless

Klaus-Diego-Vanya sleepovers where they brainstorm the book to shit talk their father. Honestly it’s kind of a blast. They all get super wine drunk and end up watching Mary Poppins together with some Very Loud Opinions about nannies in general tbh

klaus throwing popcorn at the screen: BOO WHY WAS OUR CHILDHOOD NOT A MUSICAL???

diego: idk if you can have cheery musicals about child soldiers

vanya: i mean if they can have a musical about child labor in factories and the starvation of the workers in oliver twist you could do something with child superheroes

klaus: EXACTLY thank you vanya

they publish the book (luther is uNHAPPY, vanya dedicates her book to ‘all my siblings who survived the Reginald Regime but especially those who didn’t’, and she gifts Reggie a copy that says “fuck you lol” and is signed by her, diego, and klaus), they continue living, they go to the funeral when reggie kicks the bucket

and then five shows up, feral and aching

and five tells vanya about the apocalypse, and vanya thinks about their father saying time travel messed with the mind, and then she thinks - fuck the old man he was wrong about her (ordinary, fuck that, she’s Vanya Fucking Hargreeves) and he was probably wrong about Five, too

and Five is wholeheartedly believed

“Let me call Diego,” Vanya says when Five tells her about the eye, “I bet he could totally wear a police uniform and get info about the eye. And if not, I’m absolutely sure Klaus could improvise a solution. He’s good at that.”

“Klaus??” Five asks, vaguely suspicious.

“We don’t talk about the Sleepover of 2012.” Vanya intones solemnly, and refuses to answer any further questions on the topic.

Harold Jenkins comes to the apartment and tries to woo Vanya or whatever, and Vanya is kind of like... “Look, Leonard. I can be your teacher for violin. It’s my job. But I am in a relationship. And also like, super gay. If you have a problem with that then I am not the teacher for you.”

Actually scratch Diego and Klaus getting called, which they do, Vanya looks at them and her thirteen year old brother and is like “wait. actually i know someone infinitely better to crack this case wide open.”

“Who?” Five, Klaus, and Diego all ask

“My girlfriend.” Vanya says proudly, called Helen up.

And Helen walks into the building like she’s at fucking war and has such demanding confidence that they just give her the information she seeks and apologize for inconveniencing her.

“Hey Vanya are we still on for date night tomorrow?” Helen casually asks after, and Five kind of wants to be her when he grows up honestly after watching her verbally eviscerate Lance or whatever the fuck his name is

“Yeah.” Vanya confirms, “Unless there’s other apocalypse stuff to do?”

“You take all the time you need, honey.” Helen says warmly, “After all the more time you take the less you have to practice.”

“I’m gonna destroy the concert piece and you know it.” Vanya threatens.

Helen sniffs, “Okay, whatever you say second chair.”

and then they kiss and Helen ditches and the others just kind of look at Vanya judgingly

“In fairness, she’s very hot and very talented.” Vanya defends herself.

Klaus nods sagely. Vanya nods back. He gets it. 

“Concert piece?” Diego asks, because he has priorities.

“Yeah, I’ve already asked for tickets for all of you and you will be attending Diego.” Vanya smiles prettily with all her teeth.

“When is it?” Five asks

“April 1st.” Vanya tells him, “And no that isn’t an April Fools joke. You will attend and you will marvel at my skill. And maybe run interference between Helen and Allison because I’m kind of afraid they’re going to rip each others throats out to establish dominance.”

“That’s the day of the apocalypse.” Five informs her.

“Not on my goddamn watch.” Vanya says, because her family will attend her fucking concert and they will make awkward small talk with her girlfriend and the fucking apocalypse has better lay down and get over itself because nothing can stop Vanya’s goddamn plans

“I can investigate Meritech more.” Diego offers, because Lance-or-whatever-his-name-is is clearly shady as shit, “I have police contacts I could go through. Hey Vanya, your concert tickets include a plus one?”

“They can.” Vanya shrugs.

“Sweet, let me see if Patch can come.”

“She’s way too good for you, bro.”

“Shut your goddamn mouth.”

Anyway the point is they all go home, and Diego goes to talk to his police contacts and Five is definitely at home for when Hazel and Cha-Cha attack the mansion, oops. 

“Whomst the FUCK.” Vanya yells, kicking Hazel in the crotch because she’s Vanya Fucking Hargreeves she knows self defense thank you very much

“Ah.” Five says. “Hazel. How’s it going.”

“Just peachy.” Hazel wheezes, “Why’d you betray the Commission?”

“Well, you know. They cut the dental. That was really the last straw.” Five says, sarcastically.

“The dental.” Hazel echoes back, nodding very seriously, “I fucking know. You know physical therapy isn’t even covered anymore?”

“No shit?” Five says, “I mean you’d think with a job as physical as ours...”

“I know.” Hazel howls, vindicated. 

“Five.” Vanya says, rolling her eyes, “The house?”

“Oh, right.” Five frowns, looking at Hazel, “I mean. Can you like, leave? And not come back?”

“‘Fraid not.” Hazel actually sounds somewhat apologetic, “You know what the Commission is like. They’re really gunning for you.”

Five nods, because really what did he expect, “Can you leave like, temporarily? I mean you’d pretty clearly outnumbered. I don’t even know where Cha-Cha is, but judging by the furious yelling she probably met our sister and brother and Luther is hard to kill. Trust me, if he wasn’t we would have killed him when we were like, eight. But for real, can you get out of our house? I mean. Storming the den? Seriously? What kind of information did they even give you?”

“They didn’t give us any information.” Hazel responds back, sounding appropriately outraged, “They didn’t even tell us you could teleport.”

“Well that’s just rude. You’d think they wanted you dead or something.” Five muses, “But seriously, get out of my house.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Hazel admits, and leaves, because honestly Hazel is chill like that and knows when he’s lost. And Hazel also has a lot to think about. Like the fact that the Commission sucks and doesn’t even have dental, and how pretty the donut lady is. 

and Vanya is just like... okay. Weird. Is that going to happen again? Probably? I mean. Okay, this day has already been so goddamn weird. This week, honestly.

And they keep getting attacked by the Commission. And Vanya finds out someone broke into her apartment and stole her meds. What the fuck. 

“Did your shitty assassin friends do this?” Vanya asks, waving an empty pill bottle.

“Why would they?” Five asks, honestly confused.

“Because they’re assholes?” Vanya says, honestly outraged.

“You got me there.” Five admits.

The combined forces of Diego-and-Patch (because Patch is actually thrilled that Diego is asking for help regarding an actual fucking crime) figure out that the eyeballs are being sold illegally

Klaus is not kidnapped so he’s fine, just tagging along and living his best life, however this also means that Klaus does not steal the briefcase and Hazel and Cha-Cha are fine

Vanya keeps Five close at hand because frankly she doesn’t want him to leave again and she did really miss him. Also if she does save the world she can lord it over Helen’s head forever. 

And so Five is around when Vanya’s powers manifest, probably because they just got targeted by commission goons again because they’re trying real hard to kill five and separate Vanya

“Holy SHIT.” Five says, very intelligently, “You have POWERS.”

“Wow. Gonna have to write a fucking sequel to the shit-talking-dad book.” Vanya says, honestly a little light headed.

And then Vanya finds out her powers are sound based.

“Oh no.” Vanya says, “Where the fuck are my pills. I am not relearning how to play the violin with-powers a few days before the big concert Five, what the fuck.”

“But you need to learn to control them!” Five protests, “They’re your powers!”

“They’re a goddamn inconvenience is what they are.” Vanya states, “I mean, what am I going to do with them? Stop a bank robbery with the Umbrella Academy? Yeah, no thanks, that ship has sailed and sunk to the bottom of the ocean Titanic style. I’ll figure them out when I’m not in danger of blasting the audience halfway across the continent.”

“Yeah.” Five admits, “That’s fair.”

“Besides, if I’ve been on that shit as long as I have, and it’s been a long time, I cannot even IMAGINE what quitting cold turkey will do.” Vanya points out, very sensibly, like a siblings who has watched Klaus go through withdrawal symptoms more than once.

“Maybe there’s extra at the manor?” Five suggests, “Pogo probably knows.”

“Oh yeah I bet Pogo knows something.” Vanya mutters maybe a little bitterly.

They go back to the mansion and the Commission is honestly pulling their hair out tbh, and they ask Pogo who kind of pales and is like “UHHHH YES I CAN GET VANYA EXTRA PILLS” and goes to get them from whatever stash

“Fucking sweet.” Vanya whispers, entirely done with this situation, “The only adult male role model I had and he hid my powers from me and betrayed me. Love that for us.”

Five shrugs, “I mean, you’re right. All of our adult role models were all kinds of fucked up.”

“You vanished when we were 13.” Vanya says, “Didn’t you find like, any other adults ever?”

“Oh let me tell you about the Handler.” Five says, and proceeds to do just that. Because let’s be real, the Handler was the only human interaction Five had after forty odd years alone it was pretty damn important

Vanya, on the other hand, has strong plans to eviscerate the Handler should the two ever meet because Five deserved way better than to be forcibly made into an assassin?? honestly fuck that woman

that’s it that’s the au

Vanya finds out she has powers and is like “i have a LIFE i don’t want to interrupt it with bullshit POWERS,,, also going cold turkey off my meds seems like a bad idea if I don’t want to deal with withdrawal symptoms during my concert for fucks sake, my gf would never let me live it down if i skipped”

so vanya takes her meds, does NOT destroy the world, makes every one of her siblings go to the concert and even invites Hazel and Agnes after Hazel betrays Cha-Cha to join team No-Apocalypse. 

and then introduces them all to her girlfriend

“Holy shit Vanya.” Helen deadpans, “Your family is all kinds of fucked up.”

“I know.” Vanya says, aggrieved, “It’s been a long fucking week. Want to go camping and help me figure out my cool sound based powers? Bet they’ll make me a better violin player than you.”

“I think the fuck not.” Helen hisses, always up for a challenge, “Let’s do this. Me and my violin vs. you and your dumb baby powers. You’re on.”

“FAMILY CAMPING TRIP.” Klaus hollers, with all the enthusiasm in his little heart.

“Holy shit this is going to be such a disaster, I just know it.” Diego mutters.

“Shut up, it’ll be nice.” Allison says, elbowing Diego with her pointy pointy elbows.

“It’s going to be a shitshow.” Vanya says serenely, because it is. That’s just who their family is. 

Wouldn’t have it any other way, though

[sunsetcurveofficial]

So with the prompt thing, can you do the bedhead one with Ruke? Would much appreciate it lol

oh my god. i am SO sorry, love. i swear i did not mean to ignore you. tumblr must have eaten your message, because i genuinely did not see it until today. here it is, though, and it’s extra long to make up for it. hope you like it. xx

also available on ao3

“Your bed head is really cute.”

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

Luke has always had messy hair. No matter how often he tries to fix it throughout the day, somehow a few minutes later it always looks dishevelled again. But here’s the thing. Reggie loves Luke’s messy hair. He would never admit it, of course, but the messier Luke’s hair is, the more he enjoys watching him. So, naturally, he’s also taken it upon himself to ruffle it whenever he gets a chance. Luke always swats his hands away, shoves him, and glares as he tries to fix it again, but Reggie merely laughs and definitely does not think about how cute Luke looks. Luke is his friend and Reggie loves messing with him. That’s all, honestly. It’s all fun and games until Reggie wakes up next to him for the first time, anyway. 

His parents were fighting again, so Reggie snuck out in the middle of the night and showed up at the first place that came to mind. Luke’s. And Luke hugged him, didn’t make him talk, and they listened to music together until they fell asleep. Together. In Luke’s bed. 

So, Reggie is a little disoriented when he wakes up with his head somehow nestled under Luke’s arm, one of his own slung around his friend’s waist. He feels something flutter in his chest when he realises, and it gets even worse when he notices how warm and comfortable he is. He never thought about sharing a bed with Luke before, and much less waking up next to him, but he finds that he actually made it through without any nightmares for once, instead feeling like he is exactly where he should be, which hasn’t happened in a very long time. It’s nice. 

Luke blinks his eyes open shortly after, grinning the moment he spots Reggie, who still has his face squished against a pillow under Luke’s arm. He hasn’t removed his own arm from Luke’s body either. 

“Morning, bro,” Luke says around a yawn, reaching out to flick Reggie’s nose. He scrunches it up, wiping a hand over it when Luke draws his hand back and laughs. He sits up to look at the time, and Reggie follows suit, his arm dropping from Luke’s waist, albeit a little regrettably. His eyes wander over his friend as Luke turns back to him to inform him that it’s just past 10am, and he can’t help it. He giggles delightedly as he takes in the way Luke’s hair looks even wilder than he has ever seen it before. Not even after a gig. It’s standing up in every direction, the strands falling into his eyes and looking twice as voluminous as usual. He looks adorable. Reggie does realise that’s an odd thought to have about your bro, but he can’t help it. 

Luke frowns, self-consciously scratching at the back of head as Reggie keeps eyeing him, giggles erupting from his chest. 

“What?” Luke asks, running a hand over his mouth. “Did I drool in my sleep or something?” 

Reggie shakes his head. 

“No. Sorry. It’s just… your bed head is really cute.” 

He blushes the moment the words leave his mouth and he can’t believe he actually said that. Surely Luke will never let him live that one down. Luke’s blush is almost more adorable than his bed hair, and Reggie figures he should probably have a good think about what exactly it is he’s feeling for Luke. It’s not normal to find your best bro quite so cute, is it? 

“Cute?” Luke asks, voice so high pitched it almost sounds like a shriek. “I’m not cute.” He pouts. 

Reggie can’t help it. How is he supposed to just shrug it off when Luke is sitting right there next to him looking like a kicked puppy that is most certainly cute, even if he tries to be all cool and intimidating most of the time. 

“Duh huh. Yeah, you are,” Reggie says, because now that it’s out he might as well just roll with it. 

“Am not,” Luke insists, and Reggie kind of really wants to kiss the pout off his face. Okay, right. He definitely needs to talk to Alex. 

In hindsight, Reggie really doesn’t know why he does it. He’s not even that impulsive of a person. If anything, Luke is the impulsive one of the two. And he’s a little horrified at himself when he leans in and kisses the tip of Luke’s nose. He blushes when he draws back, and kind of wants the ground to swallow him whole, but Luke looks so startled, his beautiful eyes so wide and his cheeks so red that Reggie feels a little comforted and manages to shrug it off with a grin. He’s done it, he can’t take it back, so he might as well pretend to be confident about it. 

Luke keeps sitting there mumbling something like “What the hell, bro?” under his breath and stares at him even as Reggie gets dressed. He really needs to talk to Alex. 

“You can close your mouth now, Luke. Otherwise you might accidentally swallow a fly or something,” Reggie says with a grin, running a hand through his hair in front of the mirror to fix his own bed head. Luke does close his mouth, but keeps sitting there looking flustered. Reggie has never seen him like that before, and it does all sorts of funny things to his chest. The mighty Luke Patterson, finally brought to his knees by Reggie Peter’s strange new impulsiveness. Huh. 

“I’m gonna go meet Alex. See you later, babe,” Reggie tells him, and he swears Luke’s jaw drops right open again. Babe? Honestly, Reggie is on fire today. 

+++

“Reg? What are you doing here? It’s 11am!” Alex says when he opens the door. Reggie half walked, half ran to get to his house, so he feels slightly out of breath. He thinks he probably looks a little disheveled as well, if Alex’s worried look is anything to go by. 

“Are you okay? Did something happen?” 

“Not sure,” Reggie manages to say, panting a little. “Maybe?” 

Alex narrows his eyes at him.

“Okay? Well, come in. We can talk in my room.” 

He leads Reggie inside and up to his room. Reggie feels the questions bubbling under his skin, itching to get out, so he jumps right into it as soon as Alex’s door is closed behind them. 

“Do you think Luke’s messy hair is cute?” he asks. Alex looks a little taken aback, a faint blush growing on his cheeks. 

“I mean… yeah? It’s cute enough. Why?” 

“Because I think it’s cute. But that’s not normal, is it? I mean, I think about it constantly. And this morning I woke up next to him because my parents fought last night, and— have you seen his bed head?” 

Alex tilts his head, something like recognition reaching his eyes as he watches Reggie pace as he keeps rambling about Luke’s hair. Reggie pauses for a moment to frown at him, but jumps right back in when the itching gets too bad. “So, I told him it’s cute. And I don’t know why I did that, because it’s weird, right? And Luke pouted, you know, that adorable puppy pout of his? Well, and then I found myself thinking that I would very much like to kiss it off, and that’s— I mean, that can’t be— What does it mean, Alex? I’m kinda freaking out a little bit.” 

Alex snorts, and his frown is replaced by an amused look and a knowing smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Reggie finds it a little irritating. Alex should just tell him what it all means instead of smiling like he knows something Reggie doesn’t. 

“I can see that,” Alex says dryly. Reggie wants to kick him. “Well, Reg. It sounds like you got a crush on Luke, dude.” 

Reggie doesn’t have a crush on Luke. Luke is not a girl. Therefore Reggie can’t have a crush on him. Can he? No, wait. That’s a stupid thought to have. Alex is a boy who exclusively has crushes on other boys. Reggie thinks it over for a moment. He remembers Luke’s hair. He remembers sleeping in his arms. He remembers his pout, and his big hazel eyes. He also remembers his voice, and the way he gets all excited when he writes music. Or worse, when he plays his guitar on stage. Okay. So he does have a crush on Luke. That’s new. And interesting.

“Oh,” he says. “I have a crush on Luke? Oh my god! I have a crush on Luke! I’m gay, too?” 

Alex chuckles fondly. Reggie is a little offended about his amusement while he’s having a sexuality crisis, thank you very much. 

“I don’t think you are, bro. You still like girls, don’t you?” 

Reggie thinks that over for a moment as well and comes to the conclusion that yes, he definitely does. 

“Yes. But how can that…?” 

Alex shrugs. 

“You can like whoever you want, Reg. Like Bowie. He says he’s bisexual, because he likes both men and women.” 

Reggie’s eyes light up. Like Bowie? He’s like David Bowie? Well, that’s pretty neat, he thinks. 

“I didn’t even know that was a thing!” he says, smiling delightedly. “I’d love to be more like Bowie. Ha! Bowie, man!” 

Alex smiles happily, getting up from his bed to pull Reggie into a hug. 

“I’m glad you told me, bro. Finally someone to talk about boys with!” 

Reggie laughs. He likes that prospect. 

“Oh my god! Yes. Thank you for helping me figure it out, Alex. I’m a little terrified, I think, but it’s cool. I’ve got you.” 

Alex shoves him playfully, his eyes searching Reggie’s as he puts his knowing grin back on. 

“So what are you gonna do about Luke?” he asks. In his excitement, Reggie has almost forgotten about him. Even though Luke is the sole reason why he’s at Alex’s in the first place, and Luke generally doesn’t have a tendency to leave Reggie’s mind for extended periods of time.

“Luke! That’s right. Oh. Well… you think he might like me back?” 

Reggie isn’t so sure. They couldn’t all like boys, could they? He isn’t sure why he thinks that, though. And Luke blushed rather adorably earlier, after all. 

“I think your chances are better than you think,” Alex says, and Reggie swears he knows something he doesn’t again, “You gotta tell him, dude!” 

Reggie hums. 

“I mean… he did get really flustered when I accidentally kissed him on the nose this morning,” he muses. Alex raises his eyebrows at him. 

“You accidentally…” He snorts. “Only you, Reg.” 

+++

Luke is already at the studio when Reggie arrives for practice that afternoon. Alex and Bobby aren’t there yet, and Luke blushes the moment he sees Reggie. Grinning, Reggie walks right over to him and presses a smooch to his cheek. 

“Hi, babe,” he says casually. Luke visibly splutters, looking even more flustered than he did in the morning, and Reggie absolutely revels in it. 

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Luke squeaks, nearly dropping his guitar as he tries to place it on its stand. Reggie shrugs. 

“Because I like it. And you are. A babe, I mean.” 

Luke looks like his head is about to explode, he’s blushing that hard. It’s the funniest thing Reggie has ever seen, because Luke Patterson is nothing if not confident. His nonchalance, however, is nowhere to be found now. 

“Wh— what?” 

Reggie grins and steps closer, right into Luke’s space. Their noses are almost touching, and Luke’s eyes are impossibly wide when Reggie meets them. He can feel his breath on his lips. 

“Would you mind if I kissed you?” he asks. He doesn’t know when he became the confident one between the two, but he’s enjoying it way more than he should, probably. 

“What?” Luke squeaks again, and Reggie really has to force himself to hold back until Luke gives his consent. Reggie doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “Why?” 

Reggie chuckles and nudges his nose against Luke’s. The other boy doesn’t back off, and he takes that as a good sign. 

“Because I like you, man. Very much so. And it’s not just because I think your bed head is cute, although that is a bonus.” 

Luke kisses him. Well, that was easier than he expected. Reggie’s hands come up to Luke’s hair as he kisses him back, starting out softly but quickly becoming a little more frantic as they’re both pushing and pulling at each other. It seems that Luke is regaining his confidence, and Reggie likes that just as much as he likes him all flustered. 

“You haven’t seen your bed head, babe,” Luke breathes as he pulls away after what feels like a blissful eternity. Luke emphasises the pet name, and Reggie chuckles, feeling himself blush a little for change today. 

“So, are we in love, then?” Reggie asks bluntly. He figures there is no point in beating around the bush. The more he looks at Luke looking all kissed and dishevelled, especially his hair that Reggie managed to mess up just perfectly, the more he knows that he is so in love with his best friend, and he doesn’t understand why he didn’t realise it before. 

Luke laughs out loud, looking fond as he reaches out to pat Reggie’s cheek. 

“Yes, you dork. We are so in love.” 

And then he kisses him again, and it’s the best thing in the world. They only part when Alex and Bobby appear in the studio, one of them hooting while the other makes gagging noises. Reggie doesn’t care all that much. He keeps his eyes locked on Luke for the entirety of their rehearsal, his chest fluttering when he remembers why Luke’s hair looks especially messy today, and that he’s directly responsible for it. 

It’s even better when Luke meets his eyes and smiles back at him, though.

-   End.   - 

[rizlowwritessortof]

My Unimportant Little Life

Season 5 timeline - Dean gets yanked from 2009 to 2014, so he can see the ‘consequences’ of saying no to Michael. At Camp Chitaqua he meets Reggie, and is surprised to find that she comes from 2009 as well…

Reggie stood at the center of the room, arms wrapped tightly around herself, shaking.  Part of the trembling was from the damp cold that had seeped into her very bones, it seemed.  But the real cause stood a few feet away from her, scowling fiercely as his cold green eyes traveled over her body, making her feel almost violated.  

“Clothes off.  Now.”  The deep, rough timbre of his voice sent a chill up her spine again, and she fought to keep from letting the panic in her belly take over as she stared back at him, unbelieving.  "I’m not kidding, princess.“  Her frightened eyes moved from his face to his hand, which rested on the gun strapped to his thigh.  His eyebrow raised as a sarcastic smirk curved his full lips.  "Unless you want me to come over there and do it for you.”

Her hazel eyes flitted from one person to the next in the group of at least a dozen people standing a distance behind their obvious leader, watching and waiting.  They all, without exception, dropped their gaze as she looked pleadingly at them.  And then she jumped, her nerves at high alert, as the door opened hard enough to slam into the wall beside it.

“What the hell’s going on?”  The man demanded as he elbowed his way out of the grip of a couple of the men who tried to restrain him. Reggie felt her jaw drop as she looked at his angry face, then back to her captor - they were identical.

“Well, Dean,” the man in charge said, his voice dripping with venom as he emphasized the name, “not that it’s any of your business, but she was with the Croats.  She’s gotta be checked over for wounds before she’s allowed to stay. That’s the way it is.  Life isn’t as full of sunshine as it is where you’re from.”   His eyes went back to Reggie, and he took another step towards her.  "Strip, now. This is not negotiable.“

"I’m not injured.  I promise.  Please…”  Reggie rasped out, and the man who had entered the room came to her side, turning to face his twin.

“Okay, fine, I get it.  But there’s gotta be a woman who can do this, and without an audience.”

The leader of the group almost growled as he answered.  "I check everybody personally before they’re allowed to join our happy little family.  No one gets into this camp without going through me.  You don’t like it, go back to where you came from, McFly.“

Reggie watched as the man beside her stepped forward, getting in the face of his double.  "Look, if that’s the way it has to be, then get everybody out of here. They don’t need to watch this.  And I’m staying to make sure she’s okay.”

The two men glared at each other for a few tense seconds, and then the group’s leader raised a hand, gesturing towards the door.  "Everybody out!“ he shouted, and then, "Shut the hell up!” as the grumbling began and the others in the room began to leave.  The mumbling all but stopped, and the rest of the group left in silence, leaving the three of them in the room as the door closed quietly. His unsympathetic gaze turned back to Reggie.  "All right, cupcake. This is as private as it’s going to get.  So get naked.“

"God, you’re an asshole,” Dean said, turning towards her, taking a deep breath before speaking softly to her.  "It’s okay, sweetheart.  What’s your name?“

"Reggie,” she whispered, still shaking uncontrollably.

“Reggie, just go ahead and get undressed.  Nobody’s gonna touch you.  We just need to make sure you don’t have any injuries, that’s how the Croats infect you.  I’m sorry, we have to make sure you’re not carrying the virus before you can stay here.  Understand?”

She kept her eyes on the man speaking to her - his green eyes were kind, apologetic, and she nodded slowly.  "You’re staying, right?“ she asked quietly, making him take a step closer to hear her.  

"Yeah. I’m right here, sweetheart.  Nobody’s gonna hurt you.”

She turned her back to the men, her fingers trembling as she unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall to the ground.  She finished undressing, her eyes filled with humiliated tears, and then turned to face them, her arms awkwardly attempting to protect her from their eyes.

“Arms out and twirl, princess,” the camp leader ordered harshly, and the other man shot an angry glare his way.

“You are one cold son of a bitch,” he growled, then looked into her eyes, his expression softening.  "It’s okay, Reggie.  Just hold your arms out and turn around slowly.  It’ll be all right.“

Tears trickled down her face as she slowly opened herself up to their gaze and turned in a slow circle, and then her advocate was in front of her, draping his flannel overshirt around her shoulders.  The other man, a smirk on his face, walked to the door, turning back to look over his shoulder.  "By the way, princess, you’re welcome in my cabin anytime.”  Then he left, the door slamming behind him, and she was alone with her defender.  

He turned his back, folding his arms across his chest.  "You can get dressed now.  Let me know when you’re done,“ he said softly, and Reggie dropped his shirt, pulling her clothes on as she fought to keep her composure.  

"Okay,” she whispered when she had finished, and he turned to take the shirt from her outstretched hand.  Her badly shaking fingers then returned to her face, hovering over her lips, and one lone sob escaped.  She stepped closer to him, breaking down completely, and he pulled her close, murmuring soothing words and rubbing her back gently as she sobbed against his chest.

Dean was shocked at the desperate way Reggie was clutching the front of his shirt, considering that he had been a part of what had just happened to her, and that he looked exactly like the man who’d been such a dick to her in the first place.  Kind of hard to explain that it was him, just not HIM him… how the hell do you make any kind of sense out of that to someone else?  It didn’t even make sense to him. Not to mention the fact that he wasn’t completely sure that any of this was actually real.  Would actually be real.  He shook his head slightly, wondering if he was losing it entirely.

The petite girl in his arms was beginning to calm down, and he pulled back from her a little, offering her his shirt to wipe her face.  She smiled tremulously, taking it from him and drying her tears, then offering it back to him.  He gave her a crooked little smile and said, “Keep it.”  She let out a nervous little laugh, then looked back to the floor.  "You okay?“ he asked, and she nodded after a moment of hesitation.

"Yeah. I guess.”  She looked up at him almost shyly, and Dean mentally shook himself for the little surge of arousal he felt looking into her dark-lashed amber eyes.  "Thank you.  For what you did.  At least I didn’t have to strip down in front of a whole roomful of people.“

"I’m sorry,” he said softly, letting his arms drop back to his sides as she backed away a step.

“At least you made it a little less humiliating.”  She was blushing, still looking at the floor, turning to pace a little, suddenly very nervous.  She stopped to look over her shoulder at him.  her long chestnut hair swaying with her movement.  "So, are you guys twins, or what?“

She turned at Dean’s little snort of laughter, and he shook his head. "Let’s just say, we’re related.”  She nodded, and the silence settled in, growing uncomfortable after a few moments. “Well, I should…”

“Wait! Please, don’t leave me.”  Her hand was clutching at his, her eyes pleading with him.  "Please, if you’re going, take me with you.“  

Dean closed his eyes for a second to avoid staring at the way she was biting at her soft, full lower lip.  "Okay, okay,” he soothed her, giving her hand a little squeeze before releasing it. “Just stick close.  Let’s go get you something to eat.”

Reggie stuck right by his side as they navigated the camp, heading to where the food was being doled out by the day’s volunteers.  "Hey, past Dean!“ he heard behind him, and turned to see Cas, unshaven and smiling, his eyes unfocused and a little glazed.  

"Dude, shut up!” he said in a low voice, and Cas smiled even bigger, trying to peer around Dean at Reggie, who was clutching at his arm and trying to hide behind him.  "Don’t be stupid, Cas.  Do you want to try and explain that to someone?“

"Sorry, just trying to make conversation.  Who’s your friend?”

Dean looked sternly at the once-angel, his voice wiping the smile from Cas’ face.  "You stay away from her, you hear me?  She’s not one of your orgy babes.“

Cas held his hands up, nodding.  "Okay, okay.  I get it.  She’s all yours, bro.”  He smiled again and staggered on his way, and Dean rolled his eyes as he left.  

“Sorry, Reggie.  He’s harmless, but just stay away from him until you’re a little more used to things, okay?”

She nodded, and Dean looked down at her hands, both clutching at his arm. She let go, blushing as she turned away.  "I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to be all… clingy and…“

Dean took a firm hold of her hand and smiled down at her.  "Nothing to be sorry for.”  He led her to the food line, then sat down with her as she ate, focused as though she hadn’t had a good meal for a while.  "So, how’d you end up running into the Croats, Reggie?“ he asked gently.  

She stopped eating and her hands disappeared into her lap.  "I… I don’t know.  I don’t remember.  And I’m afraid you’ll think I’m crazy.”

Dean laughed shortly.  "Now - my story, you’d think was crazy. Yours, I doubt it.“

Reggie looked up at him, her hazel eyes confused and filled with tears. "Night before last, I went to bed in my apartment in Kansas City - in 2009.”

Dean’s eyes widened.  "Come with me,“ he said, taking her hand and pulling her along, heading for the cabin he was staying in, along with a couple of other men from the group.  No one was there, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind them.  "You? You’re from 2009?”

She nodded slowly.  "I told you you’d think I’m crazy.“

Dean turned away, taking a few steps as he shoved his fingers through his hair roughly.  "I don’t think you’re crazy, because the same thing happened to me,” he said softly, moving back towards her. “But I know why it happened to me. Why did it happen to you? Are the angels screwing with you, too?”

Reggie’s eyes widened.  "Angels?“ she whispered.  

Dean’s lips pressed together, his brow furrowed as he turned away from her again.  "Zachariah!” he shouted, and Reggie jumped nervously.  "Where are you, you feathered dick?“  Nothing but dead silence answered him, and he turned to look at her once again, holding up his hands as he saw the frightened look on her face.  "Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.  I’m just so sick of them screwing with people’s lives.  Come with me, okay?  I need to talk to Cas.”  He reached out his hand, and she looked warily at it for a moment before placing hers in his grasp.

He hurried along, pulling her with him down the row of ramshackle little cabins until he came to the one inhabited by Cas.  Reggie followed him up the wooden steps and through the door - Dean didn’t bother knocking - and they walked through a beaded curtain into a room where Cas sat, surrounded by several women, all of them looking like they were feeling no pain.  Cas looked up at the intrusion, smiling widely at Dean.  "Excuse me for a moment, I believe Dean wants to speak to me.  Why don’t you get washed up for the orgy?  I’ll be right back.“  He stood and walked towards the door, pausing to put his hand on a woman’s face as he passed by, then looking over his shoulder at the group. "You’re all so beautiful.”  Then he smiled brightly at Reggie, who was staring at him, her mouth open and her eyes wide.  "You’re welcome to join us, if you like,“ he said, and Dean cleared his throat loudly.  "Oh, Dean - I almost forgot you were there.”

“Yeah. I noticed,” Dean growled softly, glaring disapprovingly at Cas’ scruffy, happy face.  "Cas, do you know her?“

"In what sense?”

“Cas, not in the mood.  Do you know her?”

Cas dropped his gaze, and the smile left his face.  "Dean, may I talk to you?  Alone?“

Dean looked at Reggie, putting a hand on her shoulder.  "Just stay here.  I’ll be right outside.”  She nodded reluctantly, glancing back at Cas before stepping back to let him pass.

Cas led the way out, and Dean followed, pulling the door shut behind them. They walked to the middle of the path outside the cabin before he turned to face Dean again.  

“Well?” Dean demanded, his brows drawn together in a thunderous frown.  "Do you know her or not?“

Cas met his gaze for a moment before staring at the ground once again. "I know of her.”

Dean clenched his jaw impatiently, waiting for the former angel to elaborate. “And?”  He reached out to grab a handful of Cas’ shirt.  "What the hell is going on?  Why is she here from 2009, Cas?“

Cas finally raised his head and looked Dean in the eye.  "Because there’s something in this time that she needs to see.  That’s all I know.”

Reggie washed herself quickly, trying not to let her teeth chatter in the cold water.  The luxury of being clean outweighed the discomfort of being cold, so she wouldn’t complain.  At least the showers still worked, which was something to be thankful for.  Sadie, one of Cas’ groupies, had  offered to take her to the women’s showers and lend her some clothes, as well as soap and shampoo, and Reggie was extremely grateful for her kindness.  

She rinsed herself clean and gathered Sadie’s threadbare towel around her as she stepped out.  "Sadie, thank you so much.  It feels so wonderful to be clean again.“  

"Probably used to a little nicer accommodations where you’re from, huh?”

Reggie jumped, her startled little shriek echoing through the room as she backed away, the towel clutched tightly around her.  Sadie was gone, and in her place stood the camp commander, one foot planted on the seat of the rickety chair where Sadie had been sitting.  "What the hell are you doing in here?  Where’s Sadie?“

"I sent her away.  We needed to talk.”

“Why would I want to talk to you?” she spat, and a slow, amused smirk curved his lips.  

“I thought maybe there was something you needed to tell me.”  He stared into her eyes, then let his gaze rake over her slowly before returning to face her angry glare.  

“Such as?”

He stood, and she stepped back a little farther, though the defiance on her face never wavered.  "Such as, 'Hey, sorry to inconvenience you, but I thought I’d pop in from the past and see what the apocalypse looks like.’“

Reggie’s face paled, and she felt her back come up against the wall behind her as he approached her slowly.  "How did you know?”

“This is my camp.  Eventually I find out everything that goes on here. Now, why are you here?” he shouted, slamming the flat of his hand against the wall as he stopped a hair’s breadth away from her.

“I don’t know!” she shouted, glaring up at him contemptuously.  "I went to bed one night in 2009, and woke up the next morning in hell!“

"Damn straight, you did.  And I’m gonna find out what you’re doing here. Whatever you and my past self are up to, I’m warning you - don’t get in my way.”  He let his eyes drag over her once again before pushing away from the wall and stalking from the small building, leaving the door open.  

Reggie took a steadying breath, then went quickly to the door and locked it. She dressed in the borrowed t-shirt and jeans - they were a little big for her, but they beat wearing the filthy things she had arrived in.  

She peered cautiously out the door before stepping out, trying to remember which way it was to Sadie’s cabin.  She heard Dean’s voice and turned, waiting for him as his long-legged stride carried him to her side.  "Hey.  I wondered where you went.“

"Sadie offered some clean clothes and showed me the shower house.  I wanted to get cleaned up.”  She looked up at Dean, her lips trembling a little as she continued.  "I just had another run-in with the fearless leader.“

Dean’s brows furrowed.  "Are you okay?”

For the first time, he saw anger rather than fear spark in her eyes. “Yeah.  I’m fine.  Apparently he thinks you and I might be up to something.  Since we both came from 2009, maybe?  I don’t know.”

Dean put his hand on her upper arm, urging her to walk at his side.  "I’m taking you back to Sadie’s for now.  I need to talk to him… me… whatever.“  He cast a sidelong glance at her as she laughed quietly, and he shot a one-sided smile her direction.

They arrived at the cabin, and Sadie came out to meet them.  "Oh, Reggie… I’m sorry I left you, Dean told me to get out…”

“Don’t worry about it, Sadie.  I’m fine.  Thanks again for everything.” A tentative smile pushed the guilty look from the older woman’s face.  "Can I hang out with you for a while?“  Sadie’s smile grew, and she nodded, gesturing towards the cabin.

"I’ve actually got some coffee left.  Do you want some?”  Reggie smiled and nodded, then turned towards Dean again as he spoke.  

“Just stay here, okay?  I’ll come back for you.  Don’t go anywhere alone, I don’t trust some of these people.”

She nodded again in answer, then turned to follow Sadie into the cabin. Dean could hear her chattering to Reggie as they walked in, and he watched until the door closed behind them.  Then he turned resolutely to head for the cabin his future self called home.

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

[pinkpetalwaterimagine]

Three cute ghosts

First imagine ever, I accidentally deleted my previous account, so I’m starting a new one here. Anyway, hope you like it, and don’t hesitate to point any mistake. (I’m French, so sorry in advance)

Summary : Luke is mean to you, but not for long. 

Word count :  2,5 k 

You’ve lived forever in the same neighborhood and easily created a bond with the neighbors. Your neighbors are Julie Molina and her family. You were good friends, and you helped her during through everything. From the death of her mom, to her discovery of three cute ghosts friends. You heard her scream one night and the next morning you were asking her what happened. Even though you considered you were friends you still respected the social boundaries. 

« What happened last night ? I heard you scream. » you asked when you saw her at school. 

« Oh it was nothing, I mean it was a … spider. Yeah, right, those spiders always here when you don’t want to. » she answered unsure of herself. 

You doubted what she said, nevertheless, you let it slide, if she wanted to talk about it she would come your way. 

The day passed without a hitch and Julie and you decided to go study to her house. 

« Go ahead, I’m just going to make some snacks for while we study » said Julie while you climbed the stairs to her room. 

You opened the door and saw three cute guys roaming around her room. The four of you stared as each other, not a word coming from neither one of you. 

Then, the brunette one finally said something : « I think she can see us » he said in a whisper. 

« Oh really ? And what gave it away ? » sarcasm dripping from the blond guy. 

« Uhhhhh Julie, could you come here for a sec ? Like real quick ? » you yelled towards the door without leaving out of sight the three guys. 

They were in circle, whispering between them. Julie alerted by your yelling was in her room in no time. « Why is there three cute guys in your room? » you asked. « She thinks we’re cute. » you blushed at those words, but damn right they were cute. Julie gave a disapproving look to the boy who just talked. « You can see them?! » She exclaimed. 

You thought that she was really becoming weird, why wouldn’t you be able to see them ? 

« Yeah, i don’t understand what’s the issue here ? » 

« Well, we’re ghosts. » said the boy that hadn’t talk until now. 

Silence in the room, no one was talking, or breathing for a matter of fact. 

« Yeah, right, okay I’m out of here. » you took your stuff, ready to go back to your place. You looked at Julie for any confirmation or whatever. You didn’t even knew what you were looking for, but it was definitely not this kind of explanation. 

« Wait Y/N ! - she stopped for a second- it’s the truth, they are ghosts »  

You couldn’t believe what she was saying right now ! You stepped towards the door. 

« I’m serious, please come here ! Just let me show you or prove it to you ! » she said, a pleading look in her eyes. 

You decided to hear her until the end of her demonstration. « just try to touch one of them, you’ll see ! » she encouraged you. 

You went to grab the blonde’s shoulder, but your hand went through. « What the hell is happening here ?! » you started to freak out. « Why can’t I, why is he ? What …? » 

« I think she’s panicking » said the one that you supposed was the funny guy of the group. 

« Y/N meet Reggie, Alex and Luke. » they all gave you nod as Julie said their names. 

———————————————

As time flew, it has already been two months since you have met the boys, and this discovery that only you and Julie could see the boys has brought you closer with Julie but not only. You were spending all your free time in the garage wether it was doing your homework or just chilling in « Luke’s couch » with the boys. You started to really be like family to them and they were just as much for you. 

Your relationship with Luke, though, was different than with the other boys, you felt like he was always trying to not tell too much, to not let you enter into his world (even if it was impossible for some obvious reasons). He seemed to not want your company. You were sad about it because you knew that it could be really fun to be around, you saw how he interacted with the boys and Julie, how much of a sunshine he could be, but sadly not to you.

You thought that he didn’t like you and he did not wanted you as a friend. You stopped trying to get his attention, or paying attention to him. It was painful for you, but if he didn’t care you weren’t one to wallow in self-pity because a guy wasn’t friendly. You didn’t look into his (beautiful, big, dead) eyes from now on. When he was around you didn’t want to annoy him more than he seemed to already be. When he was around your persona changed a bit and everyone could see that.  

As you were lying on the floor, you felt someone laying by your side. You opened your eyes to find Alex joining you on the floor of the garage. You were really closed to Alex, he was the one with the « softer touch » and you could tell him everything. 

« So what is happening to you right now ? You don’t seem like yourself nowadays » he started off. 

You were a bit taken a back, you did not know that they noticed the change when Luke was around. You did not wanted them to know that it was affecting you. 

« Nothing, everything is … great » you said the last part in a whisper. 

« Yeah because you seem like it. », you could never lie to Alex, he always has seen right through you. 

« It is just that … » you were interrupted by the whole gang walking in the studio. Saving you from things you didn’t wanted to admit, even to Alex. 

You got up and packed your things : « I have to back, bye guys » you waved and kiss Julie on the cheek before leaving. 

Because of the tense atmosphere you tried spending less time at the Molina’s house, mostly to avoid a certain beanie’s fan ghost. You stayed more in school and actually tried new club because why not. It is in writing class that you actually met Peter. He was really cute and nice to you, you hang together and started to become really close friends. Julie saw that this new friend made you really happy and she was absolutely and unconditionally supportive of the two of you. 

You were still hanging around the studio to support your friends, and Luke being cold to you was not such an issue anymore. You knew that you had great friends and if he did not wanted to be a part of it then suit him. 

As you were sitting on the couch listening to the band rehearse, you were smiling down at your phone because of Peter’s text. He was such a great friend, always sending you gif or cute pictures. 

« C’mon Y/N ! Be a little more focused, we need your truthful opinion, and here you are smiling at this little box ! » exclaimed Alex. 

«  We could have played Home is Where my horse is you wouldn’t even have noticed » added Reggie. The three other members gave him a dirty look. 

« You know I would love to hear the song » you said trying to change the topic of the conversation. 

« That’s besides the point, Y/N, and you know it. Was it Peter ? » asked Julie. She knew you too well. 

« Who’s Peter ? »

You couldn’t believe it, Luke did not ever cared about your life or what you were doing, but there he was asking about the only boy in your life. And Peter is a friend nothing more you knew that. 

« He’s a good friend » you answered shortly. «  okay, I have to run, bye guys. You killed it one more time. » 

You left quickly. As you were standing in the Molina’s driveway you realized you forgot your bag. You went back to the studio to pick it up. You heard the guys talked, you did not mean to eavesdrop but you were a little bit curious of what they were talking about when it’s just the three of them. 

« I know what this is about. You’re jealous of all the attention Peter is getting. » you recognized Alex voice. But to who was he talking ? Who could be jealous about your friendship with Peter ? They don’t even know the guy for crying out loud. 

« Especially from Y/N. » added Reggie. 

Oh. So they were talking to Luke. About you. What in the world is happening now. 

« Please. You think I care if Y/N gives another guy a little attention? How insecure do you think I am ? » you heard Luke’s voice, a little bit higher than ordinary. 

The three boys stayed in silence for a few seconds. 

« Seriously, how insecure do you think I am ? » exclaimed Luke in annoyance. 

« Bro, dont get mad. It’s just that we know you and we don’t understand why you are acting like she is yours when you have never said more than five sentences in a row to her. Just imagine how she is feeling, if we don’t understand, how could she ? » Wise words spoken by Alex. 

You thought it was the best moment to enter the room like you did not hear what they said. You did not even know what was that all about. Luke is jealous ? And like Alex said, he never spoke to you and yet he pulled the jealous card. 

You picked up the bag from the floor as they stared at you with wide eyes and left without saying anything left. 

« Do you think she heard us ? » asked Reggie. 

« Nah. Nahhhh… she would have said something right ? » enquires Luke. 

« I think you should ask Julie, I mean they are friends, she knows probably more than we do. » 

A week later you found the strength to go support the band during rehearsals. As you stepped in the garage, you were faced with Luke adorning a bright smile. 

« Hi Y/N ! » he said with a cheerful voice. 

Once again, you were gobsmacked. What happened during the week you didn’t see them ? 

« Uhh, hi ? » 

Luke saw the bewilderment on Y/N’s face and thought about his conversation earlier this week with Julie. He didn’t know how to approach her and ask questions about Y/N. 

« Uhm, Julie. I was wondering, if by any luck, you know why Y/N is coming less to the studio ? » he just finished his sentence and Julie was already looking at him like she was ready to jump on him and hit him. 

« Are you kidding me ? She’s coming less and less because you are not really the most welcoming person around here. She feels like when she’s here and you are as well, like she is a burden because you never talked to her and you just brush under the carpet everything she tries to say. » she said without taking a breath. 

It hit Luke, since the first day in Julie’s room when he saw her, he knew that if he let enter his world they would be both hurt. But by rejecting her he did the same, even worse. 

« So we wanted to play to you our new song and then we could do movie night ? » Luke suggested with his puppy dog’s eyes. 

You were a bit taken aback to say the least but nonetheless you smiled at him and nodded to his proposition. 

« We’re Julie and the phantoms and this is bright » Luke begin as if he was at a real gig. 

« Tell your friends !» Added Reggie.           

The performance was on fire. They all played their hearts out and it was just breathtaking. They let go of their instruments and all of them piled up on the couch for love night. You were at the far end of the couch, squeezed between the armrest and Luke’s huge biceps. They decided to watch high school musical 3, aka the best movie in the whole world. You sang every song so does Julie. And Luke kept watching you as you were dancing and singing. 

« What ? » you asked him a little embarrassed, cheeks red and a small smile on your face. 

« Nothing, you’re just cute » he blurred out. Everyone suddenly stayed still, and your cheeks reddened at his words. 

You just took your spot on the couch and try to forget he said that. 

Movie night definitely was the turnaround in Luke and your’s relationship. He was more friendly, always trying to make you laugh, always trying to see your smile. But what he enjoyed the most was seeing you blush. He would always make a comment about how cute you were, about how nice and pretty you were and so on. The other members could not take it anymore. 

« When are you going to tell her that you liked her ?! We are sick of seeing you flirt with each other. » complained Alex. Luke didn’t even respond, he just smiled looking down at his shoes with a soft blush. 

« I don’t know man, I mean it all seems complicated. I mean she’s her and I’m, well a ghost »

« I did not take you for a quitter. » Julie chimed in. « Luke you like her and she obviously feel something for you ! You just have to tell her » 

You were at your house working on your calculus homework when you just received a text from Julie : « 911, need you asap, meet me in the garage. » 

You let your calculus book on your desk and almost run to the house next to yours. As you enter the garage you did’t see anyone. Was it a joke ?

And then, you saw Luke, in his famous tank top, his arms popping out, his hair under the orange beanie that you liked so much. 

« Julie sent me a text, is there an emergency ? » you asked after having finish drooling over Luke. 

« Y/N, umm, I need to say something to you, and it’s not simple, and I’m really nervous. I mean what if the others were wrong and what if it changes everything ? » 

« Luke, calm down, you’re rambling, I don’t understand a word you say. »

«  I just wanted to say that I like you Y/N. Like like you like you. I know it might be a little complicated between us ». 

You didn’t let him finish and took him in your arms. Wait ? In your arms. 

« You, you can touch me, what is that ? » 

The shock pass and you decided to make him more shocked. You pushed your lips to his. They felt warm against yours (who would’ve thought). Your lips and his moved in sync seeming to not having enough of each other. 

« Ewwww, you guys could do that somewhere private » 

You snapped out of your trance and saw Alex, Reggie and Julie looking at you shocked. 

« Wait you can touch him? » Julie exclaimed. 

She extended her hand to Alex and she did not go through him. Almost instantly everyone formed a group hug so happy to be able to add this « power » to their relationships. 

The group tumbled on the floor. You were crushed by Reggie bod, yourself crushed on luke’s body. 

« Hey there » he said in a whisper, looking in your eyes. 

You tilted your head and kissed him what’s again. 

« O C’mon guys ! Please! » 

You laughed, burying your head in the scruff of his neck.  

[n0-eyedtaissa]

The Times They Are a-Changin’ (Little Brother!Sweet Pea)

A/N: Happy graduation to our class of Riverdale High School, and welcome back Sweet Pea even though you said like ten words during the episode. You looked great in the background, buddy. Here’s a little something about Ruthie and Sweet Pea and how they’re reacting to his graduation. 

Word Count: 6,508 

tagging @hughstheforcelou​ @reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle​ @humangrumpycat​ @brittanyvengeance​, and @thecaptainsgingersnap​ for encouraging me to post!

The winds of change had been blowing in Riverdale as of lately with students and parents alike crossing off the calendar days until graduation. It was a constant bittersweet reminder with banners going up in store windows congratulating the graduating class of Riverdale High School, baker cakes being custom-ordered with names written in black icing cursive. Ruthie can’t help but feel a bitter tug at her chest as she pushes the shopping cart across the grocery store, checking off the mile-long list of ingredients that Maria and Atzi needed to make food for the big party. Ruthie tosses a few more items into the wobbly metal cart and makes her way to the checkout stand, trying not to be impatient as she waited. There’s a handful of people in front of her in line, mothers buying last minute ingredients for favorite meals to be eaten as a high school graduate, a gaggle of teens seeing if their fake IDs were actually good enough to buy a case of cheap beer to bring to whatever party was inevitably happening that weekend. Ruthie thumbs through the rack of cards propped up by the register and plucks out one with a lot of space to write in. 

When she was out of the grocery store (with significantly less money in her pocket), Ruthie is overcome with this sudden feeling of “rightness”. She doesn’t have to worry about pinching pennies and stretching paychecks to make ends meet any more, she no longer feared trips to the grocery store and the always looming threat of her card being declined at the cash register when she had a basket full of items. Ruthie did what she was supposed to do: she took care of her brother Sweet Pea, took care of herself, and kept a roof over both of their heads. And despite all of the bullshit that the two of them have faced in their short amount of years, Sweet Pea was graduating. And at the end of the summer he and Fangs were packing up Dante’s old truck and driving it upstate, where they’d settle into their own apartment before their first week of college. Ruthie is overcome with a sudden burst of pride for herself and for her brother, their resilience and fighting strength. Growing up was scary but they did it, even when it wasn’t easy and every fiber of their being was telling them they weren’t gonna get anywhere any ways, so they may as well give up now. But Ruthie and Sweet Pea never did. 

After she drops off the groceries for the Abuelas, Ruthie is panting when she bounds through the front door to the Soh-Peterson trailer, swearing up a storm after having to carry so many bags up and down the driveway and putting everything away in its rightful place.

“God, Maria is a pack-rat, I swear!” The sound of Ruthie tossing her keys onto the linoleum counter is enough to startle Sweet Pea, who had been mindlessly ripping out papers and assignments from his old binder. “Every time I have to go shopping for her I come home feeling like I need a drink…” 

“If you’re offering, will you bring me one?” Sweet Pea smirks.

Ruthie huffs in response. “If I do that, will you also bring me whatever shirt you’re wearing for the ceremony tomorrow so that I can be sure to iron it?” She heads into the kitchen to fill up a pot of water to boil. She was making spaghetti with extra oregano, Sweet Pea’s favorite. 

He heads into his bedroom for a quick moment and returns with a wrinkled dark blue dress shirt. He holds it up to Ruthie. “Do I have to wear a tie?” It’s such an innocent question that Ruthie cant help but laugh.

“Do you want to wear a tie?” Sweet Pea shrugs at his sister. “There’s that handful of Dad’s that we kept in the hall closet if you want to look through those. And for the love of god, please, anything but that ugly Christmas tie.” Ruthie turns to pour the dried spaghetti noodles into the boiling water and Sweet Pea hangs his choices over the door of the hall closet, in Ruthie’s line of sight so it wouldn’t be forgotten.

The two of them eat dinner together, with Sweet Pea trading anecdotes about his last day of high school through bites of warm bread and rich pasta. He tells Ruthie all about the school’s unearthed time capsule and what it held, tells her that there’s a whole spread in the yearbook dedicated to the Serpents (and that he’d have to show her all the good pictures of him). Ruthie smiles at her younger brother as she watches his eyes light up as he talks about the last few grueling moments of waiting for the seventh period bell to ring, officially signaling the end of the school day and his high school career. 

“It was like everyone was holding their breath, you know? And when the bell rings everyone throws all of their stuff into the air, all of their papers, and everyone was hugging, going for high fives, it was weird—” Sweet Pea pauses to wipe away the red marinara sauce from the corner of his mouth. “Reggie comes at me for a bro-hug…I thought he was gonna pick me up off the ground!” He laughs and shakes his head. It was a moment that was a clear testament to growth, because a mere two years ago, if Sweet Pea and Reggie were in that close of proximity, one of them was gearing up to swing at the other. 

“Definitely weird” .

Ruthie holds up her almost empty bottle of beer in a toast. “To your last day of high school.” 

Sweet Pea clinks his bottle against hers and then takes their bowls and silverware to the kitchen to be washed without Ruthie needing to ask him. He rinses things off and washes them clean before handing them over to Ruthie to dry, a system that had been perfected after years of not so careful practice. When the dishes are done and put away, Sweet Pea retreats to his bedroom for the night and Ruthie doesn’t bug him. She knows that something like this can be a lot to process, especially for a person like him who isn’t really the biggest fan of change. Ruthie knows that sometimes you simply need a moment to sit with your emotions, whatever they may be. She waits patiently, can hear Sweet Pea talking to someone on the phone, Fangs maybe, so she waits a little longer. Ruthie sneaks out into the kitchen and opens the freezer, spends a few minutes spooning chunks of frostbitten chocolate chip ice cream into two mugs, one for her and one for Sweet Pea. When she hears him hang up the phone, Ruthie gives two quick taps on his bedroom door before she enters. 

Sweet Pea’s sprawled out on his bed, legs tangled in the blankets that are barely hanging onto his twin sized mattress. His yearbook is next to him, filled with gleaming photo paper and inscriptions done in sharpie marker. The side of his left hand is smudged with pen ink and he’s trying to scribble his name in big graffiti letters onto the inside front cover of his yearbook. Sweet Pea sees that his sister came bearing ice cream so he smiles, sitting up and inviting Ruthie to rest on the foot of his bed. They clink their spoons together and each take way too big of a bite, fighting off brain freeze as Ruthie starts flipping through Sweet Pea’s heavy yearbook. No one says anything for a minute and they settle into a comfortable silence. Ruthie finds the section filled with senior portraits of the graduating class and can’t help but marvel at how both Sweet Pea and Fangs have grown. 

“What time do you need to be there tomorrow?” Ruthie asks, sliding off of Sweet Pea’s bed and grabbing his empty, sticky mug. There was still a lot of work that Maria and Atzi needed help with before the graduation party for Fangs, Queenie, and Sweet Pea, and Ruthie was finding a weird sense of peace amongst the chaos. 

“Seniors need to be in the gym by 4:30, and the ceremony starts at five o’clock so maybe get there at 5:15 so you don’t have to sit though the speeches”

“I’ll be there on time, don’t worry.”  Ruthie laughs and leans her weight against the doorframe. 

“Are you gonna sit with the Fogarty’s?” Sweet Pea asks, somewhat nervously.

“Of course I’m going to.” She reassures. “What, you think FP’s gonna save me a seat between him and Alice Cooper?” 

Sweet Pea frowns at his sister’s joke but Ruthie thinks it’s hilarious. 

“You’ll see me, don’t worry. The whole family is gonna sit together and cheer so loud for you three that you’ll be embarrassed”

“I won’t be embarrassed” Sweet Pea promised, almost forcefully, as though he needed to be sure his sister believed him.

Ruthie quirks up an eyebrow but chocks up the sudden outburst of emotion as a reaction to everything around Sweet Pea that was changing. She stands up straight, metal spoons clanging against the empty ceramic in her hands. “Try not to stay up too late, okay? You’re gonna have a long day tomorrow”

“Yeah, I gotta get my beauty sleep” Sweet Pea jokes, pulling his bed covers back up over his long legs. 

“Gonna need it” Ruthie laughs over her shoulder as she makes her way back down the hallway to the kitchen. “And don’t forget to brush your teeth!” She turns the faucet on hot and pretends that she doesn’t hear Sweet Pea groan from the other room.

~~~

The morning of Graduation Day, both Sweet Pea and Ruthie wake up way before their alarms, anxiety already cold and pooling at the bottom of their empty stomachs. Sweet Pea manages to close his eyes for a few more minutes before being started awake again, feeling like he was running late, when he realizes that he has nowhere to be. For the first time in four whole years, Sweet Pea doesn’t need to spring out of bed and rush to get in the shower before Ruthie hogs all the hot water. He doesn’t have to worry about what time he needs to leave for school, or account how much time it’ll take to get to Riverdale High School all the way from the Southside. Sweet Pea didn’t have to worry about any of that because today, he was graduating high school. 

When he gets to the kitchen, Ruthie is already there with a pot of coffee steaming and a stack of warm pancakes on a waiting plate. She laughs and gives him a sheepish smile, gesturing with the spatula to tell him to sit down. “Felt weird that we both weren’t running around each other trying to get ready to leave, so I decided to take advantage of all this time.” 

“Thank you” Sweet Pea mumbles through a full mouth.

It was a rare day where the two siblings seemed to have nothing but free time. Ruthie makes a thick stack of pancakes and they both eat almost all of what’s on their plates. Sweet Pea washes the dishes and she dries, and by that time it’s only 10:45. They’re both too hopped up on coffee to even bother trying to take a mid-morning nap, and that’s how they end up watching a handful of episodes of The Price Is Right until Ruthie excuses herself to get in the shower. No one has to rush that day. No one is pounding on the door yelling about how they needed to get in the bathroom to finish getting ready, threatening bodily harm on one another. Ruthie takes time lathering her hair with shampoo and conditioner, relishing in the warm water that she actually got to enjoy. No one had anything to stress out about today. Ruthie gets out of the shower, takes her time, and Sweet Pea gets in. Ruthie irons his dress shirt and his tie and hangs them back up until he’s ready. The two siblings convene for half of an episode of some daytime talkshow until Sweet Pea complains that he’s hungry. Sweet Pea makes grilled cheese sandwiches for late lunch while Ruthie does her makeup in the living room. Sweet Pea leaves the pan and their plates in the sink knowing that later he’ll wash and Ruthie will dry.

“Pick up the pace a little bit, okay? It’s almost four and we’re probably gonna need to leave soon so you have a chance to find your friends and sit with them.” Ruthie breezes into Sweet Pea’s room, dressed up in a way that made her look older than she was, but not as old as she felt. She looks good in her blazer and her heeled boots, like a proud parent.

Sweet Pea is dressed but his shirt’s not tucked in and his tie is crooked. He stands in front of the mirror and tries to fasten his father’s old tie into a Windsor knot but his fingers are soo long and too clumsy. “Shit…” He mumbles and Ruthie can tell he’s getting frustrated.

She doesn’t have to say here let me, she simply gives her brother the same knowing look she always does and steps in front of him to refasten and straighten Sweet Pea’s tie for him. Ruthie smooths her hands over his shoulders, wiping away creases and floating motes of dust and lint. She takes a long look at him and realizes how much he’s grown to look like their dad, or the way that Ruthie remembered her dad looking in the few old photographs stashed in a shoebox somewhere in her closet.

“You look so handsome” She whispers, her voice tight in her throat as she tries to will away any hot tears from spilling. 

“Oh c’mon, don’t cry, Ruth” Sweet Pea says with an uncomfortable laugh, stepping away from his watery-eyed sister. “Cause if you start crying, I might start crying and then what good does that do for either one of us?” Ruthie laughs and gives a big exhale as she tries to compose herself. 

“God I feel like Maria” She laughs, thinking of the Abuelas and the wrinkled tissues they always seemed to pull out of nowhere. Ruthie can’t help but shudder as she remembers back when Dante graduated high school and how she was surprised that Maria and Atzi weren’t dehydrated from crying under the hot spring sun. 

Sweet Pea takes a look at himself in the mirror, running his comb though his hair to gel it back into place with sticky pomade. His shrugs on his long, blue graduation robe and tucks his cap under one of his arms before giving himself a last once-over in the mirror with a sigh, like this was as good as it was going to get. Ruthie slings her heavy purse over her shoulder and soon the two siblings are making their way out the door and down the front steps of the house. Sweet Pea almost hits his head getting into Ruthie’s compact car, she laughs but he scoffs and pulls the ray-ban sunglasses out of her hair and puts them on for himself.

The drive across town to Riverdale High School was longer than usual, the long lines of cars all leading to the same place. Ruthie honks her car horn, if not because she thought it could make things go faster, but just because she could. Sweet Pea scrolls through radio static until he finds a station that’s playing some old Green Day song that he and his sister used to dance around to when they were younger. He bounces his knee along with the rhythmic thumping of the drums and Ruthie taps her fingers along on the steering wheel. Sweet Pea’s nervous, they both know it but neither one of them would admit that. He’s worried that he’ll trip when walking across the stage, that his long legs and the long silk gown will get the better of him. 

“Just breathe” Ruthie nods, following the cars all turning towards the high school. She parks her car towards the back of the school’s parking lot and waits with Sweet Pea as he tries to coordinate where to meet Fangs and the rest of their friends. 

Ruthie makes Sweet Pea stand out in front of the school sign to take pictures in his graduation garb and her sunglasses. She snaps a few silly ones but doesn’t make Sweet Pea stop to take that many smiling pictures, knowing that after the ceremony and at the party he’d be having to run away from Maria and Atzi and their too-fancy cameras, who wanted to take pictures of the youngsters just as much as they needed their help with figuring out which buttons do what. Sweet Pea finds the Fogarty-Abrejo clan easily, giving Queenie a one-shouldered hug and slapping Fangs on the back, flicking around the blue frilled tassel hanging off his graduation cap. Maria and Atzi are doting on the two young men, going to pinch their cheeks and straighten their collars. Chimalma is lecturing Queenie about making sure she zipped up her blue graduation gown like the rest of the other students, still somehow unaware of the fact that the more she told her daughter not to do something, the more it made her want to do it. Ruthie raises her eyebrow at Queenie and the girl winks in return.

“One picture, you three, then I’ll leave you alone until later I promise” Ruthie holds up her phone and gestures for Sweet Pea, Queenie, and Fangs to all get together. The three squish together, giving cheesy smilies that will one day end up in a photo album with years worth of other cheesy smiles. Fangs is still a head shorter than both Sweet Pea and Queenie so he stands on the toes of his dress boots, smiling bigger than either one of them like it could make up for his lack of height. Sweet Pea hooks his long arms around his friends and pulls them close for one last picture and Queenie holds up her graduation cap to make sure it’s in frame, the picture of her father decorating the back of her cap watching over her protectively. 

Last pictures were taken, collars were straightened and hair was smoothed down. Mr.  Weatherbee makes the announcement that all graduating seniors needed to report to the area behind the gym for attendance, and that parents, families, and other distinguished guests could make their way to their seats. “See you on the other side, little brother” Ruthie gives Sweet Pea a wink as she holds the door open for the older women.

Riverdale High School’s graduation was like all high school graduation ceremonies in the way that it as both long and boring, incredibly drawn out by speeches from principals and vice-principles, esteemed faculty, and the class valedictorian. Betty Cooper delivers a moving speech about innocence and growth, stressing the importance of taking the time to be young and have fun, especially in a town that was plagued with so much heartache. There’s not a dry eye in the house when the young woman takes to addressing all of the trauma she and her fellow students had faced when Riverdale had them all in it’s clutches: “And it’s not fair that so many of our classmates aren’t here to walk with us today. And it’s not right that same of our parents aren’t here to watch those of us who are.” This strikes a chord in Ruthie and she can’t help but think what it would be like if Major Chase Lang Soh was here to watch his son walk the stage to get his diploma, or wonder how loud Pallaton Abrejo would whistle when his daughter’s name was called, smiling as Queenie’s blue silken robe billowed out behind her, (still unzipped, much to her mother’s dismay). Pallaton would tell Queenie that he was proud of her, and that he thought she was pretty damn cool for not wanting to blend in with the ranks of her peers. 

“I wish Dante got to be here tonight” Ruthie leans over to whisper in Maria’s ear. The older woman pats her hand in response, a reaction that Ruthie thought was rather odd for Maria, but Ruthie chocks it up to her not wanting to be the rude people whispering. Apparently Dante was busy with some project over in Centerville, but Fangs had a graduation card coming in the mail and he promised he’d try to convince Spyder and CD to all drive down with him some weekend pretty soon. At least that’s what Dante told Ruthie on the phone a few days ago when he told her he wasn’t coming to graduation. 

Everybody sits up a little taller in their chairs once student’s names started to be called, shifting in their cold metal seats and craning their necks to find where their loved ones were sitting amongst the masses of students. Ruthie claps politely for some of the names that she recognized, people that Sweet Pea talked about or hung out with, friends of Fangs and Queenie’s that she’d been introduced to at family parties and summer barbecues. For the most part Ruthie is pretty bored, reading through the flimsy paper program and wondering what it was like for everyone back when she graduated high school over at Southside High. Neither Ruthie nor Sweet Pea got to have their parents present at their high school graduation, but the Fogarty family never made them feel unwelcome or like anything less than family. They had cheered loudly when Ruthie’s name had been called, whistling and yelling when she walked across the stage. Dante and CD both laughed, watching Ruthie’s eye twitch as the principal called for Ruthann Soh-Peterson. There may have been a smaller number of people to watch Sweet Pea, Queenie, and Fangs graduate, but just because they weren’t loved widely it didn’t mean they weren’t loved deeply. 

After Principal Weatherbee’s time at the Farm (Edgar Evernever’s poorly disguised cult), he got super progressive and made it a point to tell all of the seniors that on graduation day they could go by whatever their chosen name was, nicknames included. Ruthie and Sweet Pea had talked about it a few weeks ago at dinner, the merits of going by his given name for the first and only time in his high school career. “Why would I?” Sweet Pea had asked his sister, stabbing his fork into an unsuspecting chunk of broccoli. It was the last time the two brought it up.

Their three names are called sequentially; Queenie Abrejo, Fangs Fogarty, Sweet Pea Soh-Peterson. The uproar of cheers for Queenie, Fangs, and Sweet Pea was so loud that it paled every other family’s reaction in comparison. Ruthie whistled loudly, two fingers in her mouth. The rest of their big, blended family cheered and shouted loudly, clapping loudly and tapping canes against the polished gym floor. The ranks of polished Northside parents stick up their noses at the spectacle and go back to giving fake-polite golf claps. The rest of the ceremony goes by in a flurry of names, students in blue silk gowns walking across the stage to shake hands with Weatherbee and get their diplomas as quick as possible so they could do the cliche cap toss before getting the hell out of dodge, never having to set foot in the halls of Riverdale High School ever again. Atzi’s snoring on Maria’s shoulder and is startled awake by the thunderous applause after the final concluding words. “It’s over?”

When the ceremony is over it isn’t too hard to spot Sweet Pea through the crowd. Ruthie picks through the throng of people and runs at her brother with her arms wide open. 

“You did it! Oh, my little high school graduate” Ruthie laughs, snaking her arms around Sweet Pea’s middle and pulling him into a crushing hug.

“Little?” Queenie raises her eyebrow, smirking over at Ruthie as she finally shucks off her graduation robe, handing it off to her little sister who didn’t mind wearing it. 

“I’m so proud of you” Ruthie says, releasing her grip on her brother. “I’m so proud of all three of you, you did it!” 

“Yeah we did!” Sweet Pea says, hooking his arm around Fangs’s shoulder as the group trailed back to the car. 

~~~

The pageantry of Graduation Day was for the parents, everyone knew this. But the graduation party was for everyone else, one of the more enjoyable rights of passage after finishing high school. That was the part Sweet Pea was excited for. After the ceremony he tosses his cap and gown in the backseat of his sister’s car and loosens his tie before Ruthie can even start the engine. The drive back to the Southside is comfortably quiet, like both Sweet Pea and Ruthie needed a moment to recharge their batteries before the festivities. Ruthie pulls the car into the driveway, gravel crunching under her tires, and soon the two of them are barreling up the front steps. Sweet Pea holds out his hand for Ruthie’s keys and unlocks the door quickly, like he couldn’t bare to be in his nice clothes a minute more.

“I won’t make you wear a tie but can you dress up a little? For the pictures?” Ruthie asks, yelling from the kitchen as she gathers up any last minute things she needed to bring over to the Fogarty’s. “Something with sleeves, perhaps?” The sarcasm in her voice is palpable and Sweet Pea laughs as he trades his dress shirt for something that felt a little bit more like him. 

The siblings are in and out of their house in record time and Ruthie lets Sweet Pea drive her car the short distance to the Fogarty’s while she sits in the passenger’s seat, clutching onto the crockpot for dear life. There’s already a dull roar emanating from the backyard; someone was bringing a big setup of speakers and Queen had been crafting the perfect playlist for weeks. No one bothers to knock on the front door because it’s never locked any ways. Ruthie immediately gets pulled into the kitchen by Atzi, who thrusts an apron at her before she continued her mission to make more counter space. 

“Go find your friends,” Ruthie calls over her shoulder to her brother. “Just remember that you owe me pictures!” 

“Yeah, yeah, I remember…” Sweet Pea rolls his eyes and goes to sample one of the hors d’oeuvres but Atzi smacks his hand away with her trusty spatula. 

The party continues and more kids show up, all connected to Fangs, Queenie, or Sweet Pea in some way or another. It’s loud and it’s rowdy in the way that parties at the Fogarty house always seemed to get. Everyone was smiling, laughing, and dancing, but the general sentiment among everyone was that they missed Dante’s presence among the family and that they all wished that he’d been able to stop by. Maria and Atzi had been surprisingly tight-lipped about the whole thing and Ruthie was starting to think there might had been some kind of falling out. 

Ruthie leans in close to Atzi, who was stirring a bubbling pot of sauce on the stove, seemingly in her own little world. “Did Maria and Dante have an argument or something? Is that why he didn’t show up tonight?”

Atzi glances up at Ruthie and smiles wryly, like all old women who held lots of secrets often did. “Nothing of the sorts, my girl!” She tosses the kitchen towel over her shoulder and goes back to flitting around the kitchen, stirring this and that, making sure nothing burned or bubbled over. “You’re looking a little dehydrated, hon, why don’t you go out into the garage and get yourself something to drink?” 

Ruthie doesn’t know if it’s a trick of the eye or if Atzi winked at her. She tries not to take offense to the comment, having thickened her skin after years of “helpful” comments from the people around her. Ruthie was just happy to be relieved of kitchen duty for a little while. Wiping her hands on a towel, Ruthie makes her way into the Fogarty’s garage and to the outside refrigerator to grab herself a soda. She paws through the bottles and cans on the shelves trying to find something but she doesn’t hear the side door open, nor does she hear the familiar footfalls as they approach her. 

Ruthie turns around and is startled when she find herself face to face with none other than Dante Fogarty. “Oh!” Ruthie exclaims, her soda can slipping from her hands and rolling out of sight. “Oh, I thought you weren’t coming!” She starts toward Dante and flings her arms around his neck to bring him in for a hug that was long overdue.

“I wouldn’t miss this” Dante says, rubbing his large hand over his best friend’s back. “I’m his graduation present, you know?” 

“Your ass had better come with a gift receipt then” Ruthie laughs and gives Dante a playful shove before laughing into an animated rant about how mad she was at him for making her sit through that boring-ass, long-ass graduation ceremony by herself. The two of them want to kill a few minutes talking. Hell, Dante and Ruthie would hide in the garage for the whole party if they could. It wouldn’t be the first time. Dante fills Ruthie in on how everything is going in Centerville. She asks follow up questions about CD and Spyder, laughs as Dante marvels about how good the food from their cousins’s food truck is. Ruthie tells Dante about her new promotion to shift leader at the Elderly Services Department of Riverdale General Hospital. Dante talks at length about his girlfriend Valentina, smiling in a way that Ruthie thought looked good on him. But no matter how much they talked about the present (or the future), it was hard not to be nostalgic for the past, especially tonight.

“Man, your ass was miserable at your graduation party” Dante chuckled, glancing over at Ruthie. He leans against Maria’s old boat of a car that was forever in the garage atop cement blocks. “I’m pretty sure you stood outside and smoked a whole pack of cigarettes until Romeo forced you to come and socialize with everyone” 

“Yeah cause it was my graduation party, it was Angel’s and I was just tacked on” Ruthie finds a beer in the refrigerator and uncaps it, her lost soda can long forgotten.

Dante thinks back to the moment before he agrees. “You might be right” He thinks about it some more, remembering the debacle. “You’re onto something there, Ruth.”

When the two of them decide that they had hidden away for long enough, Ruthie sneaks a cigarette to buy just a minute more before dragging Dante inside and into the kitchen. “Hey look who I found!” She calls out loudly, trying to get people’s attention over the music and the conversation. The Abuelas, no longer having to be tight-lipped about Dante’s secret arrival, grabbed his face and kissed his cheeks, giving him spoon and forkfuls of almost-done food that needed tasting. Fangs hears the commotion from outside where he, Sweet Pea, Queenie, and Mabel had all teamed up for beer pong so he opens the screen door, poking his head inside. 

“Dante, you made it!” Fangs exclaims happily as he sees his older brother sampling the appetizers that Maria made. He rushes into the kitchen to give Dante a hug and giving him a brotherly slap on the back. 

“Aw c’mon, you know I’d never miss something like this!” Dante slings his arm around Fangs’s shoulder and walks back towards the backyard “Now who’s up on the BP table, I want next game!” 

~~~

The party persists most of the evening. The Beer Pong tournament ends up being a big debacle, with family and friends gathering around to watch it all unfold. Dante and Fangs played against Ruthie and Sweet Pea. They win the game but Sweet Pea swears that they cheated so he insists on a rematch, only to lose once again. Ruthie and Dante play against Sweet Pea and Fangs and they win again, so by that time everyone’s teasing Sweet Pea about his bad aim. Everyone poses for pictures way longer than they actually wanted to. There was pictures of the graduates, of them and their friends, pictures of the Abrejo family, the Fogarty’s, and the Soh-Peterson siblings. Maria wanted pictures of Ruthie, Sweet Pea, Dante, and Fangs, pictures of her with each of her grandchildren. By the time the cameras are put away everyone’s cheeks hurt and they’re seeing spots from the bright flash against the dark evening sky.  Everyone eats twice as much food as they should have, and Maria was already promising to send people home with Tupperware dishes filled with leftovers. Queenie and Mabel sneak slices of the big bakery cake before Chimalma was ready to cut it so they spend the next twenty minutes out front sitting on the curb trying to avoid her motherly wrath. She was still on the warpath about her daughter being the “Only girl in the entire graduating class who didn’t zip up her gown like she was supposed to,” as if that were a supposed to be a bad thing. 

Ruthie shakes her head, smiling to herself as she watches Sweet Pea try to shake off Maria, who was following him around the yard with another plate of food and yelling about how “You two boys need to put some meat on your bones before we send you off to college!” Sweet Pea goes to sit by the fire pit, away from Maria and her constant comments. Dante’s roasting marshmallows, eternally determined to piss off Elena by getting Daisy all hopped up on sugar after feeding her s’mores. Ruthie puffs along happily on her cigarette, a healthy distance aware from the rest of the partygoers (Sweet Pea had already come up to her once that evening, pulling a cigarette out of her mouth and grinding it into the dirt under the toe of his big boots). She watches over the party carefully, thinking about how time has passed and how everyone has grown. 

“You warm enough over here?” Ruthie asks, her hand coming to rest on Sweet Pea’s shoulder as she approaches where he’s sitting by the fire pit. 

He jumps a little, dropping the long wooden stick he was using to prod at the fire logs. “I’m fine” He replies with an eye roll.

Ruthie sits down heavily in one of the plastic lawn chairs than were posited throughout the yard, but loses her balance because of a wobbly, weathered leg. She laughs loudly as he recovers, her blood pumping in her ears. “You don’t have to be so grumpy about it” She teases, bumping his knee with her own. 

“I’m not being grumpy!” Sweet Pea retorts, clearly still on edge from Maria’s overbearing attention and affection. 

“Is it because you’re cold?” Ruthie raises an eyebrow at her not-so-little brother, already knowing his answer. 

“I just graduated high school, Ruth, you don’t have to treat me like I’m some baby…” Sweet Pea shoes his head and brings his long-necked bottle of beer to his lips, taking a hearty sip.

“Oh but you’re always gonna be my little baby!” Ruthie coos with fake, overbearing sweetness and goes to ruffle Sweet Pea’s hair in the annoying yet endearing way that only older sisters seem to have mastered. 

Sweet Pea’s scowl breaks into a smile and he rolls his eyes, letting his sister muss up his hair and dote on him just a little longer. He slides his arm around her shoulders and revels in her body heat and the familiar, comforting smell of her lavender shampoo.

“So what do you wanna do with your last summer before college, kid?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it, honestly.” Sweet Pea muses. “Need to find a job so I have a little bit of rent money saved up.” He always thought practically, tethered to the tangible things he needed in order to get by in life. It might have been a trait he picked up from Ruthie, actually. 

“You have all summer to work” Ruthie looks over at her younger brother. “You gotta do something fun this summer, okay? Me and you, we’ll go somewhere just us.” 

Sweet Pea laughs, his brows creased in both confusion and amusement. “Okay…where are we gonna go?”

“Anywhere…I mean, anywhere my car can get us. Or maybe we rent a car and go up the coast, spend a week at the beach before I send you off to the real world.”

“Sounds nice” Sweet Pea nods in agreement, staring into the fire. “What about the money though, Ruth? A trip like this sounds expensive.” 

“You don’t have to worry about the money, kid.” Ruthie sighs, and for the first time in a long time she actually means that. “You deserve way more than this, okay? It’s the least I can do. Nothing’s set in stone now so just promise me you’ll think on it, okay?” 

Sweet Pea nods. “I promise”  

“I love you, and I’m so proud of you” Ruthie says firmly, as to make sure there was no way for Sweet Pea to slither in and discredit himself and his experiences.  

The two siblings sit like that in front of the fire for a while, limbs tangled together, both too old to be twisting their bodies to accommodate for the other’s needed space. Ruthie gives Sweet Pea a rare, quick kiss on his forehead and the two siblings untangle themselves, laughing about who’s old rocket chair would break first. Things get quiet again for a little, just like the party had, bit after a few minutes Sweet Pea speaks up,

“Hey Ruth?” He hesitates, sounding somewhat embarrassed. 

“Hmm?” 

“Where’s my jacket?” Sweet Pea asks, wincing, already prepared for his sister’s onslaught of I-told-you-so’s.

Ruthie’s eyes blink open quickly, her facing having been turned towards the warmth of the fire that cracked and rippled with every gust of the evening wind. “In the trunk of my car” She laughs, tossing him her keys. Sweet Pea fumbles the catch because of his cold hands and walks towards the car, rubbing his hands over his arms.

“That boy’s gonna be absolutely lost without you” Dante laughs, rounding the fire pit and sitting down. 

Ruthie shakes her head and disagrees. “I think he’s gonna be just fine.”

[linden-after-hours]

In honour of clowngate number I don't even know at this point, here a list of things I learned (about myself) thanks to the characters of Julie and the Phantoms:

Julie:

Bro, you look good in curly hair, it might be a bitch to maintain but it's worth it

Know your worth, be proud and don't hide your talent

WAKE UUUP, WAKE UUUP IF IT'S ALL YOU DOOOOO

Reggie:

Ripped jeans are so cool

It's okay to not know everything all the time, people won't love you any less because of that

Jeremy Shada is a legend and I love him (although I knew that before Jatp already)

Luke:

Guitar lol

Be proud of what you enjoy doing and don't take anyone's shit when they're against that

Be more genuine and open about the things and the people you love

Alex:

I probably have anxiety?

Being soft? is so nice sometimes? You don't have to be all in all the time

My type in men is blonde, white boys (though that's more Owen Joyner's fault) (yes, I'm also disappointed)

Bonus:

Willie:

Be gay, do crime

Alex 2.0:

Be gay, don't do crime (unless your skater ghost boyfriend wants you to)