#all because my mom wouldn't indulge her in her ''oh it's fine i'll walk in 39C heat on my needs-replacing-hip'' martyrdom bit bullshit

[mycenaae]

well my grandpa is in the hospital again with a fractured pelvis & hip (from his fall on the weekend), a UTI, and COVID, and my abusive grandmother decided today was the day to turn on my mom and tell her that she hopes my mom finds them both dead tomorrow because "then you'll be happy". so i'm gonna get drunk and order a pizza tonight i think!

[mahs-dumpster]

"Happy 100th anniversary"

a/n: this is soooo self indulgent please. It's a vignette (written only in dialogue) for Daisy's (my Yuu) birthday jacket card that I just made! I'll be linking it here once I edit this post!

cw: oc x canon (Ruggie x Daisy; they're established to be in a relationship and Daisy has already made her decision to stay in twisted wonderland); dialogue heavy; poor attemps at making this look like a fake translation from a vignette bc I'm delulu

The template for the frames of the paintings can be found here.

Words: around 1k

Happy birthday, Daisy!!

Daisy: To think I'm able to visit a museum like this! I wonder what sort of paintings I'm going to see…

Daisy: I'm expecting to maybe recognize a few from the stories mom used to read to me… let's see if I actually can recognize them!

Daisy: I wonder… is she someone I'm aware of? A lady who constantly cleans her house…

???: That's the princess who inspired the glass slippers you always wear.

Daisy: Huh? Oh, Ruggie! I thought you were all the way on the other side of the museum! 

Ruggie: I was, but then I met Trey and we kinda ended up wandering around until I got here. 

Ruggie: What a coincidence that I found you looking at the painting of the lady who inspired your favorite shoes, shishishi~

Daisy: I guess it is a fun coincidence. Oh, right! Would you mind explaining more about her to me?

Ruggie: Fine! But don't go walking around telling people I've gone soft…

Daisy: No need to worry, I wouldn't even dream of it. 

Ruggie: *sigh* anyway… This lady is the princess that inspired your shoes, do you know the story behind it?

Daisy: Sam only explained to me that the princess who wore them danced with them until midnight… so I guess I don't know much more than that.

Ruggie: Right. Legend says she was an orphan who was forced by her stepmother to become basically a servant.

Ruggie: She cleaned the house all day everyday, was forced to hear awful things by her step family and when she wanted to go to a ball her stepsisters tore down her dress. 

Ruggie: A Fairy Godmother – well, her Fairy Godmother – decided to help her get to a ball, she gave her a gown, a carriage and everything! 

Ruggie: the Prince fell in love with her almost immediately and when she ran away and left her glass slipper fall, he tried it on every lady in the kingdom to find out who his beloved was. Then they got married and she never saw her family again.

Daisy: That’s basically the story of Cendrillon. 

Ruggie: What? Oh– one of the fairytales from your world?

Daisy: Yes. I’ve always admired her story, I reread it a lot growing up because I related to her. 

Ruggie: Ah… you did say your stepmother treated you horribly.

Daisy: She… treated me as best as she could.

Ruggie: Which wasn't anywhere near good enough. 

Daisy: Haha… I guess you're right. 

Daisy: What I mean is just… she treated me badly, but I don't hold grudges. 

Daisy: Whatever she's doing, I forgive her. And now that I'm somewhere better and living a happier life… I hope that her and her children manage to grow as people.

Daisy: That's what my mother taught me. 

Ruggie: …sometimes I really do wonder how I fell for such a goody-goody.

Daisy: W-what’s that supposed to mean?

Ruggie: I’m just saying, you're way too naive and nice to forgive someone like that.

Ruggie: if it were me, I’d never forgive them. No way someone's gonna step all over me and I'll forgive them.

Daisy: because that's exactly what you did to Leona-senpai, huh?

Ruggie: besides the point. 

Daisy: Ruggie, isn't this painting depicting that story you told me about? The ones about the dogs sharing spaghetti?

Ruggie: Oh, that one, yeah! I didn't know they actually painted the scene, who would've thought.

Daisy: They're so adorable, I see now how romantic this is.

Ruggie: I guess? It's still just spaghetti…not only that but it's outside in the middle of the night. I guess for dogs it would be cool but for people? I’d honestly just be excited because it's free food.

Daisy: Oh, come on now! This is super romantic! It's a candlelight dinner under the night sky! 

Daisy: If someone did that for me, I know I’d be pretty happy and satisfied.

Ruggie: You’re just trying to convince me to ask you on a date, aren't you?

Daisy: …

Ruggie: Should’ve figured, shishishi!

Daisy: You can't blame a girl for trying, I’ve been pretty lonely these past few weeks since you’ve been working more than usual.

Daisy: But jokes aside, this right here is already enough. I’m already way less lonely just by walking around this museum with you, it's practically a date!

Ruggie: I don't think a date would consist of everyone from our school coming with us…

Daisy: You get what I mean…

Ruggie: Tell you what, once we get back I’m cooking us both some spaghetti and lighting some candles if that's what you’d like.

Ruggie: If my flower is feeling lonely then I better give her a proper date so she can feel loved, right?

Daisy: You really don't have to… but thanks. I would love to. 

Ruggie: Ah, this one's actually a very famous painting, I’ve seen pictures of it around quite often.

Daisy: R-Really…?

Ruggie: What? You don't believe me?

Ruggie: It ties with Sunset Savannah’s history and with The King of Beasts’s story! 

Daisy: Well, forgive me for not understanding the historical significance of a monkey holding a lion cub…

Ruggie: *sigh* Alright. Lemme explain.

Ruggie: This is a ceremony often done by members of royalty when a new child from the royal family is born. 

Ruggie: It goes so far back even the lions from The King of Beasts’s story did that. They basically present the baby to everyone else in the kingdom… it's kinda hard to explain.

Daisy: Oh, I get it now!

Daisy: I see why it's so famous, seeing how it portrays an aspect of the royalty of Sunset Savannah. 

Ruggie: Eh… I never went to one, as you can imagine.

Daisy: Never? Is it not open to the common folk?

Ruggie: Well yeah, but back when there was one for who I now know is Leona-san's nephew, I was trying to survive.

Ruggie: I didn't have the time to go to a ceremony just to watch a new baby I didn't care about being presented to the whole kingdom.

Ruggie: I’d learn about him regardless, so I just didn't care much.

Daisy: I guess that makes sense.

Daisy: Still, it must be super interesting to see it happening. How cute would it be to see a baby cub being shown to the entire world just like that, hahah! 

Ruggie: Ah– sorry, before I got here I told Leona-san I’d go fetch something for him at the cafeteria in a few minutes… if I don't go now he’s gonna be pissed.

Daisy: Why didn't you tell me sooner?!

Ruggie: Well, ya know– it's impossible to resist spending time with you~

Daisy: Alright there, Romeo, enough! Go before he gets upset. I'll be looking around this area for a while more if you want to come back.

Ruggie: *sigh* ‘kay, I'll be off then! 

Daisy: Hm? Ah, this is another painting of Cendrillon.

Daisy: She looks so much free... I'm happy she got her happy ending.

[join-the-joywrite]

and I don't want to (but I love you)

@jatp-week Day 6: favourite trope

Not me doing a self-indulgent and stupidly long enemies to lovers au :>

Julie Molina didn't have enemies in her life. She had competitors, sure. Everyone did. But Sunset Curve took the whole cake. She didn't have enemies but Luke Patterson came dangerously close.

Luke Patterson, on the other hand, fully considered Julie Molina his number one enemy. He had zero qualms about saying that to her face and behind her back. He knew his band was the best but Julie had a real knack for knocking his ego down a bit and he hated her for it. Maybe he wouldn't get so riled up if she was nice about it or if not nice, she was less nasty and more stern. Honestly, it seemed like she took pleasure in criticizing Sunset Curve.

The rivalry between them extended to their bands and friend circles. Well, for the most part, anyway. Julie and Luke let Willie and Alex get away with their little forbidden lovers thing because they both thought the pair was cute together. It was pretty much the only thing they agreed on. Ever.

Willie only ever talked about Alex, not the band and Alex made sure to steer clear of mentioning Julie whenever he talked about Willie. The arrangement worked for all sides.

Julie and Luke's rivalry extended far beyond their music. It crept into their classes and had them fighting for the top spot. The teachers were thrilled. It meant Luke put in as much effort as he possibly could into every assignment or test. Even if it was out of pure spite, it was working.

And then, oh dear, and then there was a group project. Obviously, they split to opposite ends of the room with their friends to choose pairs (except Willie and Alex, who were shoved together and assured it was perfect) but apparently, it was important to learn how to work with people you dislike because in the workplace you might be forced to work with people you dislike -- or something like that.

Julie and Luke had never let their rivalry coerce them into doing stupid things -- except the one time where Carrie was convinced Luke could hold his breath longer and Julie almost drowned in the school pool to prove Carrie wrong -- but the moment they were paired up, Julie and Luke both wanted nothing more than to break several school rules, vandalism being the top one and starting violent fights being the second. It was unclear if they wanted to fight each other or their teacher.

Matters were made worse when their friends got to pair off together on their own terms while they were stuck with each other. The only thing keeping them from completely refusing to do any work was that they both were still competing for the highest scores.

Their friends had never been more entertained and the two opposing groups bonded over watching the two most stubborn people they knew suffer out a school project together. The clear awkwardness between them was hilarious and it was a pleasant thing to see them sitting at the same table and not trying to verbally murder each other. Bobby turned out to be the funniest person in the whole group. He had a meme-y caption for every moment they caught of Julie and Luke sitting near enough to have a normal conversation and the others loved it. He also seemed to be able to relate all the memes to the pair and was strangely good at photoshop, which earned him the Groupchat King title. (Julie and Luke were completely unaware of this groupchat excluding only them -- which, for the others' safety, was for the best.) Flynn's favourite was a photo of Julie with a feral look on her face, miming strangling a smug Luke. Me & 2020 was Bobby's winning caption. She wasn't sure which was which and that made it even better, in her opinion.

As the weeks passed, Julie and Luke's rivalry mellowed. As far as they said, it was still going strong but their actions told another story. There were playful nudges in the hallway, now. Teasing death glares across a classroom. Locked gazes and stifled giggles at inside jokes -- the fact that they even had those was surprising enough. They willingly shared a lunch table for the sole purpose of interrupting a mini date between Willie and Alex but most of it was spent in their own world anyway. Their mockery of each other had become gentler and more harmless teasing than anything.

And then one Tuesday, Luke didn't show up at school.

Of course, Luke's band knew exactly what was up, but they -- with support from Julie's friends -- decided it would be fun to play dumb and send Julie to Luke's house, just to check up on him, you know, despite the fact that the group project was long over and she really had no need to meddle further into Luke's life. The mere fact that Julie forgot she still had class and was seriously ready to leave immediately said a lot.

"I can promise you that it's really not as bad as it looks," Luke said from under several pillows, a puffy duvet and maybe three stuffed animals, "but there's no band practice today and I'm not coming to school tomorrow either so can one of you flick Julie's forehead for me? It's tradition."

"Band practice, huh?" Julie said, dropping her bag on the floor with a soft thud. "And here I thought you just had nothing more interesting going on in your life than disrupting mine."

Luke sat up fast enough that his head spun, his vision swam and two pillows fell off the bed. "Who told you where I live?"

"You did, dork. Here, I brought your homework and my dad's trying something out in the kitchen. He misread balf the recipe so it's the blandest thing I've ever tasted but if you're sick, it'll be good for you."

Luke responded to the bit that made sense. "I don't want bland food," he said, scrunching up his nose as Julie set a small stack of papers on the desk in the corner and walked up to him with a covered bowl.

"As if you'd know the difference. Your mom said you can't taste anything anyway."

"You talked to my mom?" Luke asked, looking mortified.

"Yeah, duh. What, did you think I climbed through your bedroom window? I don't care that much for you."

"Aww, I knew you cared for me."

Julie didn't respond to it. "So this is supposed to be a vegetable stew," she said, tapping the plastic wrap over the bowl, "but like I said, mistakes were made."

"Well, what is it then?" Luke asked, leaning over to peer at the bowl.

"I'd call it . . . semi-flavoured water with surprise veggies."

"Joy."

"I know, right? Anyway, I'll leave you to your . . . pillow fort? Cute stuffies. I have the same penguin."

Luke glanced at the penguin that was still secured in his arm. "Don't you dare tell your friends. Especially not Flynn. She's ruthless."

"She is not. But fine, only because you're sick. I'll be back for my bowl tomorrow and it better be empty."

Luke watched Julie leave with a look of amazement. As soon as he heard his front door close, footsteps pattered through the hallway, leading up to his mother sticking her head in his room. "I like her."

"I'm going back to sleep," Luke said, diving back into the safety of all his pillows, wondering if it was the fever or Julie that set his cheeks blazing.

Probably the fever.

"Good afternoon, dork. Reggie says you said you liked the semi-flavoured water and my dad felt very appreciated by that so he's made some actual stew for you to try. It's beef stew this time so please don't get surprised. Did you do yesterday's homework? You should, because I brought today's. How do you feel?"

Luke, who had been staring at Julie with his mouth slightly open in a perfect picture of surprise, blinked when he realised she'd stopped speaking. "Don't you knock?!"

"Your mom said you were asleep and I could just leave everything here for you but you were awake so. . ." Julie trailed off, shrugging.

"You . . . you are so strange."

Julie shrugged as she set the homework down on the desk and walked up to the nightstand to put the covered bowl down in Luke's reach. "You need to come back to school. I feel bad bullying your friends."

"I'm sure they'll be glad to hear that," Luke said sarcastically. He paused for a second. "Yeah, I did the homework. Most of it. My mom said it'll help to get out of bed and do something. I tried to play the guitar but she was adamant I didn't do that something."

Julie nodded and walked back to Luke's desk. She rifled through the mess and picked up all the homework. "I'll finish this essay for you," she said almost absently, searching among the pages. "Please tell me you did your science homework. I got a lot of that wrong and no one wants to give me the answers because apparently, I should learn my work."

"Uh . . . yeah. Um, yeah, I did the science. Wh-- what do you mean 'do the essay' for me?"

Julie looked up as she gathered everything into a pile of messy and uneven papers. "It's on the African American civil rights movement. It's factual and ninety percent of the class will have the same essay anyway so--"

"No. No, I mean . . . why?"

"Oh. Uh . . . why not?"

Luke didn't have a response, so he fell silent.

"Well, that's all of yesterday's homework. Get some rest and then make sure you eat. I can't have my favourite punching bag get too weak to take a hit."

As Julie turned and left his room, Luke felt the sudden urge to scream, so instead, he slammed his burning face into his favourite penguin. Yes, she had called him a punching bag, but she'd also called him her favourite.

"Music class just isn't the same without booing you. Also, Alex said you managed to keep the beef stew down yesterday so my dad thought you could try something a little heavier. This is an experimental chicken and fried rice . . . thing. I do not reccomend eating unless you're sure you're okay enough for a full meal. That said, I brought more beef stew in case you're not up for the chicken and rice."

"You can't just walk in unannounced!" Luke cried as Julie set down the two bowls on the nightstand.

"I can, actually," Julie said, flashing a set of keys at Luke.

Luke's jaw dropped when he recognized the keychains. "Hey, those are mine!"

"Wow, so observant. Your mom gave it to me before I left yesterday because your dad is at work and she needed to go out today and with you holed up in here, there wouldn't be anyone to open for me."

Luke frowned. "Oh, yeah, she said something like that but I was half-asleep."

Julie was pleasantly surprised to find Luke's homework neatly gathered at the corner of the desk. It didn't escape her how Luke seemed to glow with pride when she commented on it. She had to fight a smile as she dropped Luke's homework into her bag.

"Get some rest, dork. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call someone from Sunset Swerve. I'll be busy."

"It's Sunset CURVE and you know it."

"Really? I never noticed."

Luke pouted. "Tuxedo Sam says you're being very mean right now. I'm sick and I deserve care."

"Well, you can tell your stupid penguin that Skipper will beat his ass."

"You named your penguin after the penguins from Madagascar?"

"You call yours Tuxedo Sam."

"Yeah, okay, that's fair."

Julie rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "Take a nap, Moody McSleeveless."

Luke glanced at the penguin laying nearby as he heard Julie lock up the house again. "Don't look at me like that, she's mean all the time."

"I BROUGHT CAKE!"

Luke scrambled up, launching Tuxedo Sam off the bed. "Who died?"

"No one died," Julie said, picking up the penguin as she walked up to Luke's bed. "It's Friday and since you're doing a little better, I thought you could do with a small treat. Tuxedo Sam agrees."

"Give me back my penguin," Luke said, reaching both arms out to Julie.

"Did you do yesterday's homework?"

"Yes."

"Did you really eat both bowls of food yesterday?"

"Yes."

"And keep it down?"

"Yes, ma'am, now can I please have my penguin back?"

Julie passed Luke the stuffed animal. "You're adorable," she blurted, turning away immediately to hide her own stunned look. She cleared her throat as she headed to the desk to grab Luke's homework. "So, that group project? We got a ninety-five."

That distracted Luke easily enough. "What happened to the other five?!"

"We're very bad at teamwork," Julie said, glancing back at Luke over her shoulder to see him relax against the pillows.

"Ah. That . . . makes sense."

Julie nodded. "Mhm."

The silence that blanketed the room wasn't as awkward as it should have been.

"I have to go. Most of the teachers said it would be okay to get your homework on Monday, but Mr Hughes is on my tail about your chemistry paper. My dad is making cupcakes tonight for some reason and I told Willie he could have some, so I'll send extra with him to give to Alex to give to you, but enjoy that crappy store cake for now. I left proper lunch with your mom for when you feel like it."

It didn't register that the only reason Mr Hughes would be harassing Julie about Luke's homework was if Julie herself had taken responsibility for Luke. Well, it did register, but by then, Julie was long gone and the only response Luke could muster was a muffled scream into poor Tuxedo Sam.

"Oh, ew, gross. Luke, it smells like the middle school locker room in here. What were you doing?"

Luke had never looked more sheepish in his life as he pointed to the canister on his nightstand -- right next to his alarm clock. "My phone went off about an hour ago and I thought it was the alarm so I did the smart thing and slammed it down but I missed. Obviously."

Holding her nose, Julie dropped everything she was carrying on Luke's table and tore the curtains open, pushing the windows as far as they could go. She stood there for a moment, relishing in the fresh air. "I'll come back inside when I can breathe," Julie said, halfway out the window.

Luke wanted to melt into his pillows. A week later and he was only feeling slightly better. The pros of it was that Julie visited every day with something tasty and a level of snark that only amused him. The cons of it was that Julie visited every day and left him flustered and red in the face.

He firmly believed that Julie only came by every day because she had homework to drop off, but today was Saturday. There was no more homework to drop off.

And she could have just backtracked right out the door again but instead, she headed for the windows on the other side of his room. Why?

Because she's taking care of you, dork.

Luke couldn't help but think that the logical voice in his head sounded suspiciously like Julie.

"Hey, my parents have some stupid couple's yoga thing on Saturdays. Did you break in?"

Julie pulled the windows halfway closed and stepped back into the room. "No, I still have your keys. Your dad tried to give me the spare key to the front door but your mom said it'll be fine if I kept yours until you're back on your feet."

"Wow. She really trusts you, huh?"

Julie shrugged. "I'm a very trustworthy person."

"No, you're not. I saw you lose a pen that you stuck behind your ear and then you proceeded to lose three more by tucking them behind your other ear and in your pockets. You then tried to steal mine."

"I was fourteen," Julie said defensively.

"It happened last week!"

"I felt fourteen."

Luke gave Julie a deadpan look.

"Cute pyjamas."

"I know, right? Bobby got us matching ones when we were like fifteen for band bonding. I mean, I grew out of the pants but the shirt still fits."

Julie scoffed as she stared at the dark haired cartoon smiling at her from the pink shirt. "Looks really good on you, Skip."

"Hey, I like being Skipper. She's Barbie's most intelligent sister."

"Oh, yeah?" Luke didn't even notice that Julie had made herself comfortable at the foot of his bed. "And if you're Skipper, who are the others?"

"Bobby is Chelsea, 'cause he's the youngest of us, Alex is Barbie, 'cause his summer jobs have been everywhere, and Reg is Stacie, 'cause she's Bobby's favourite and Bobby's favourite bandmate is Reg."

Julie's head tilted slightly. "You sound drunk."

"The bottle said one teaspoon of cough syrup but I didn't read and I took two tablespoons. It's okay, though. Mom panicked and called the doctor and he says the cough syrup he gave me is for kids and I'm just really, really, really intolerant. Which you should remember for me because I plan to be super famous with the band and there are gonna be a lot of after parties and I don't wanna get drunk five minutes in. I think the cough syrup is kicking in."

"Luke Patterson, you are unbelievable."

"I know, right?" He attempted a winning smile, but it came off as plain childlike.

Julie chastised herself for finding him adorable. They were mortal enemies and she had to remember that. Then what are you doing in his room on a Saturday, after explicitly telling the rest of his band to stay away?

Julie found it unnerving how much the voice in her head sounded like a teasing Luke.

"You're like, really annoying."

Julie frowned. "I -- I'm sorry?"

"You should be." Luke was sitting cross-legged now, fiddling with the ears of a stuffed bunny. "It's really messing with my head."

Julie decided she liked tipsy Luke -- even if it was just cough syrup. "How so?"

"No, it's nothing."

"You can tell me, Luke. I promised not to tell anyone about your stuffed animals and I kept it, right?"

"Yeah, but this time the secret about you. You're not allowed to know."

Curiosity more than anything made Julie lean forward slightly. "It'll be our secret."

"Okay, but you have to promise not to talk about it."

Julie nodded quickly. Luke tugged at the bunny's ears for a moment.

"You're like . . . really pretty."

Julie couldn't help the soft laugh that bubbled out of her. Adorable, she thought.

"Like, a lot of pretty. You're pretty on the inside, too."

"On the inside?"

"Yeah. On the inside. You know, your heart."

"M-my heart?"

Luke nodded at his stuffed rabbit. "Yeah. You have a really pretty heart. It beats like a drum. Making music. Like you."

Julie's mouth hung open, surprise silencing her.

"You have the prettiest music in you. I can hear it like -- like a song that gets stuck in my head all day. It's really annoying but it's so pretty. It smells like flowers and it looks like butterflies."

At this point, Julie didn't think she'd be able to speak, even if she knew what to say. Luke was talking to the stuffed animal, frowning as he struggled to voice his thoughts understandably.

"Sometimes it's just so loud and I wanna cover my ears and run away but it just gets louder and louder and then you come over and you're saying something mean but the music is there and it's not so loud anymore but I still can't hear anything else. Your heart sounds like a ballad."

Julie was frozen to her seat at the edge of the bed. Part of her wondered if it was Luke talking or the fever. Part of her desperately hoped it was Luke.

"Julie, you are music."

It was a simple sentence. Anyone could have said it. It could mean a lot or it could mean nothing at all. If anyone else had said it to her, she would have taken it as the highest form of a compliment. But that wasn't what Luke was saying.

Everyone knew that Luke spoke best through lyrics and chords. His books and desks were covered in etched notes and scribbled words. Luke lived and breathed music. It was everything to him. Without it, Luke didn't know who he was.

And he compared it to Julie.

Julie stared at the text on her phone. She bit her lower lip, unsure of what to say in response.

Mom said you visited yesterday. I was dazed for most of it. I didn't say anything stupid or incriminating, right? Not that anything could be more incriminating than the three stuffed animals on my bed.

Ten minutes after that, another had come through. Jules, are you ignoring me? Did I do something?

Then another five minutes later. This is still Julie Molina's number, right?

Julie quickly typed out something before she chickened out again and tossed her phone to the foot of her bed once it was sent.

Hey. Got busy in the kitchen with dad. No, you're good. See you at school tomorrow?

Julie scrambled for her phone to send one last word.

A few streets away, Luke stared at the word 'dork'. He was sure he had said something. He vaguely remembered yapping on about music to Julie -- duh, what else did they share? -- and then suddenly, she wasn't there anymore. He wondered if he'd fallen asleep talking and Julie had left then or if he really had said something to make her leave.

Yeah, he wrote back, see you at school.

Luke cornered Julie as soon as he caught sight of her in the school hallway. "You've been ignoring me and I don't like that."

Julie squeaked. "I most definitely am not ignoring you."

"Julie, you're pretty much the only person in this school that doesn't keep their phone on mute or vibrate. I know you heard my texts yesterday."

"So what if I am?" Julie asked, folding her arms. "We're not friends, so why should you care if I reply to your texts or not? In fact, why were you even messaging me in the first place?"

While Luke fumbled for a response, Julie slipped past him and continued on her way to class.

"Oh, that is just rude!" Luke yelled after Julie.

She ignored him all through any classes they shared and when lunch rolled around, she made sure to sit with Carrie and Flynn at a small table. Luke had never looked more offended in his life as he joined Reggie in sitting with Alex and Willie.

"What did you do on Saturday?" Alex asked, leaning forward to whisper. "Julie was fine when she told us we don't need to come by at all."

"Julie told you not to come over?" Luke asked, ripping his gaze from Julie to Alex and then Reggie, who shook his head.

"Bro, she actually called Alex and told him that we don't need to come see you because she was going to."

"Yeah, I remember her being there but I was drugged up on cough syrup."

"Weak," Alex whispered loudly, grinning when he made Willie laugh.

"Maybe you said something?" Willie suggested.

"Yeah, probably! But she's not talking to me. She's not even insulting me, which I would very much prefer over this apathy."

"You know where she lives," Reggie said dismissively. "Maybe you should pay her a visit."

Luke glanced across the cafeteria to see Julie quickly whip her head down to stare at her fold. "Yeah. Maybe."

Julie was tired and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Her plans were thrown way off the rails when she walked into her room and found Luke petering around the shelves beside her bed.

"What are you doing here?"

Luke drew his hand back sharply. "Cute box. What's in it?"

"None of your business," Julie snapped, hurriedly closing her bedroom door. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you but you were ignoring me and--"

"You could've just yelled at me from outside," Julie hissed. "I would have come down to shut you up! You can't be in here. Get out of my room."

"No. Not until you tell me why you've been avoiding me since Saturday. Jules, what--"

"Fine! Go and wait for me in the garage. I'll come talk to you in there."

Luke hesitated, unsure if Julie was serious.

When she heard footsteps getting closer, Julie grabbed Luke by the neckline of his shirt and dragged him to the window. "Get out," she whispered hurriedly, "I'll come down to the garage, I promise."

Thankfully, by the time her father arrived, Luke was gone.

"Who were you talking to, mija?"

"Luke," Julie said with a smile. She pointed at the phone. "He liked the cupcakes I sent with Willie."

"Oh, that's great. You didn't take something yesterday and today? Is he feeling better?"

"Much," Julie said, nodding, "in fact, we have some talking to do, so I'm gonna meet him in the garage in a few minutes."

"So late?"

Julie absolutely could not lie to her dad. But she could do half truths. "It's a long overdue discussion."

"School work?"

Julie shrugged. "Music."

"Ah. The garage makes sense. Well, do you wanna take some food down? Midnight snack?"

"Thanks, dad," Julie said with a smile, "you're the best."

"Oh, your dad is the best!" Luke cried as soon as he saw Julie walk in with a plate of cookies.

"These are experimental, too. They're some kind of oatmeal and choc mint blend. They taste good, in my opinion."

"Everything your dad makes tastes good," Luke said, grabbing three cookies. "My mom's starting to get jealous of how much I love your dad's cooking."

Juli smiled and set the plate down on the coffee table. Was there any point beating around the bush? Sugarcoating things?

"You told me I was music."

Luke paused, one and a half cookies gone. "What?"

Julie kept her gaze trained on the tassels of the carpet. "You told me I'm annoying . . . because I'm pretty. Because I have a pretty heart. You said it beats like a drum and I have the prettiest music in me that gets stuck in your head. It --"

"Smells like spring and looks like butterflies. . ." Luke looked positively mortified.

Julie, refusing to look up, did not notice. "You said . . . you said my heart sounds like a ballad and then -- and then you told me I am music."

Had he really said all that aloud? Well, no wonder Julie was avoiding him like the plague.

Julie tensed up when she could see Luke's feet step in front of her. Almost every part of her screamed that this was wrong. They shouldn't be so close without bickering and fighting. But deeper within, beyond the confines of logic and sense, Luke's voice told her that this was the furthest thing from wrong.

"I said all that? Aloud?"

Julie nodded.

"You know what music is to me."

Julie nodded again.

"Jules," Luke said gently. "Julie, look at me."

Julie refused to, so Luke gingerly tucked his finger under her chin and lifted her head, waiting until her gaze fell on him before speaking.

"You know what music is to me," he said again, prompting another nod from Julie. "Then you know what you mean to me."

Julie blinked a few times and shook her head. "No. No, that's just the fever talking. You -- you didn't really mean all of that."

"If you really believe that, why are you avoiding me?"

"I . . . I don't know."

Luke dropped his hand to take hold of Julie's. He glanced at her, waiting for her to pull away. When she didn't, he interlocked his fingers with hers. "I meant every word. Okay, maybe not literally, but you know what I mean."

Julie shook her head. "We're not even friends, Luke."

"Hm, well, who said I wanted to be your friend?"

Julie wanted to hate Luke. She wanted to loathe the sight of him. She didn't want to like him, let alone love him.

And yet, she did.

So before the overthinker in her could stop her, Julie leaned up on tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. Luke beamed at her like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Not the response I was expecting, but definitely one I'm enjoying."

"Don't make me regret it."

"Yes, ma'am. Now, what are my chances of getting two more? And one for the road? Within the next five seconds becaus my mom doesn't know I snuck out and she think I'm still sick."

"Dork," Julie said fondly, shaking her head.

"I'm serious!"

"You can have two."

"Three."

"Two."

"Four."

"One."

"Two will do," Luke said, letting go of Julie's hands to wrap his arms around her. He gave her a small squeeze. "Plus a hug."

"Dork," Julie said again. But he was her dork and he was her favourite.

Before anyone comes for me about the cough syrup thing, I'm drawing from experience. I mean I never confessed my undying love for anyone but I did blurt out some weird shit. Also, THAT WAS LONG AND IF YOU SURVIVED THE ENTIRE THING, CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU

Mara's masterlist

[xelles-archive]

Her Cure

➥ Peter Maximoff x Self-insert

➥ Genre: Fluff with a bit of venting

➥ Summary: Peter comes to his girlfriend's house, but wasn't expecting to see her with a down mood.

➥ Word Count: 3.3k

➥ Warnings: Don't read if you don't like sharing Peter as an f/o. This is super, SUPER self-indulgent, so please don't send any hate.

➥ A/N: I'll be using she/her pronouns in this story because I still haven't gotten used to writing myself as 'they' in stories. Also, Peter's little sister's name isn't confirmed. It's just a headcanon of mine that her name is Lorna.

➥ Tags: @nougatships @just-sinag @selfshipping-port

The ringing from the alarm clock on Peter's desk was the very first thing that welcomed him into this new day, but the repeating, annoying sound was immediately dismissed when he slammed his hand on it. He nearly punched down the whole thing due to his pressure. He groggily sat up on his bed and harshly rubbed his eye. "Agh!" He groaned, getting weird glitches in his vision. That didn't stop Peter from doing his routine though, as it quickly disappeared, too.

He went to his closet and changed from his pajamas to his casual wear. The classic black band t-shirt and silver leather jacket. He dashed upstairs once, then came back to his room and grabbed a comb to brush his hair. "Hell yeah, you're looking great." He clicked his tongue and pointed finger guns at himself in the mirror. He finally went upstairs, for real this time.

He was met with his mother cooking breakfast, and the smell of eggs and bacon rose to Peter's nostrils, making him inhale the precious scent. It was a classic breakfast, and he can't wait to eat it.

Finally, after a minute or so, Magda noticed his presence. "Oh, Peter! I didn't notice you there." She looked behind to give her son a bright smile, which he nicely reflected back. "Oh, well, ya know. Just doin' things as fast as I can." Peter shrugged his shoulders, as the sarcasm in his line of voice made the woman giggle. The wide smile stuck on her face as she went back to cooking. "It's almost finished. Maybe you could wake up your sister for the meantime."

Peter nodded in response, and even though his mom wasn't looking, she knew he already obeyed what she said. It's one of the good sides to his mutation.

Not even a minute has passed, and the young boy was already back to his previous spot. The mother looked at him in confusion and opened her mouth to ask, but Peter already knew – almost like predicting it — what she was supposed to say. "She's dressing up. Don't worry."

She smiled again, and expected nothing more or less of her son. When was there a time without Peter ever lightening up the mood? She doesn't remember at least one moment when it felt boring in the house, well, probably except before Peter came.

But none of that matters, as they're all together now.

Soon enough, the youngest member of the family came down. "Hey there, lil sis." Peter greeted his younger sibling, who seemed to be still sleepy. She yawned quite loudly and nearly fell off when she climbed up on the chair. Even with the lack of response, the cute little scene that occurred in front of him made Peter smile. "Still sleepy, huh?" He mocked.

Lorna merely hummed and nodded her head with her eyes still fluttering open. Their mother turned around with two plates in her hand, scooting them over to where Peter and Lorna were sitting. Both of them childishly eyed the well-done dish, their mouths watering in hunger. "Well then, let's dig in." The woman clasped her hands together, and the small family grabbed their respective utensils to start eating.

In just a blink of an eye, Peter was munching down on the food. Maybe too fast. Not even having a single bite, Magda placed down her spoon on the plate. "Peter, slow down." She remarked, quite calmly in fact. As a mother, she had the right to be concerned of her children's intentions.

"Hm?" Peter looked up from his plate, and when he saw the disapproving look on his mother's face, he gulped down the food as hard as he can. "Sorry." He raised his hand as a sign of apology.

A gentle smile replaced the frown on her face. "What's with the rush? Do you have a date?"

Lorna nearly choked on her food as soon as their mother ended her statement. She placed down her utensils and looked over to his older brother with excited eyes. "You're going out with Xelle again?!"

"Whaaaaat?" Peter scoffed. "Noooo." He waved his hand, rolling his eyes as he did so. "I'm just gonna visit her house, that's all." He was supposedly going to continue eating, but Lorna still had more questions. This little girl was always excited when it comes to Peter's girlfriend.

"But it's still considered a date, right?" She raised her eyebrows, awaiting for her older brother's response. Peter opened his mouth to speak, closed it, then opened it again with a cocked brow. "I guess? I mean, we're still going out, so yeah, maybe it's considered a date." He just shrugged it off as he grabbed his glass of water to drink.

Lorna squealed, shaking her arms in excitement, and even rocking her legs back and forth under the table. "Ooooh man! I can't wait to have my sister-in-law!"

Even one single word could cause everything to crumble. Their mother had been listening to their conversations at the start, but she wasn't expecting to hear such words from her daughter. Her eyes widened, while Peter spat out the water he was drinking. Magda quickly scolded him for making a mess in front of them. But then, it's gone in an instant. The table looked clean again.

The mother anxiously looked over to her daughter, giving her an uncertain smile. "Maybe that's too early for your brother, dear."

Tilting her head in confusion, she asked another question. Oh, how different the circumstances will be if Xelle was here right now. She could have hushed the young girl, at least. "Why? Is he not old enough to marry her?"

"Okay, Lorna, I'm only twenty years old." Peter suddenly intruded in the conversation as he wiped the excess liquid on his face. "Plus, I still got college to catch up to. I don't wanna rush things."

Their mother laughed at him. "That's funny coming from you." It took a while for Lorna to register the joke, but even Peter's humor was fast enough for him to understand. He didn't even realize he was making a joke, yet he still laughed along. "Hah, real funny, Mom. Anyway, I gotta go." He took one last bite from his food before dashing off, probably to Xelle's place.

Neither of the two females were able to say something before he left. Magda's eyes brought themselves to check Peter's plate, and she was not happy to see it. She frowned, and even if she knew he wouldn't hear her, she shouted out his name.

He suddenly appeared in the dining room again. "Sorry. Again." He gave his mother an apologetic smile as he grabbed his plate and washed it really quickly. He made sure he got to say goodbye properly this time.

Magda released a sigh. "I sure do hope I'll get a daughter-in-law, too."

The young girl smiled widely at her mother. "So you agree with me!"

Arriving in his girlfriend's place, Peter was refreshed to see the familiar green plants in her tiny little garden. With all the flowers and succulents, her house looked adorable. Thank heavens her father allowed her to live alone. He's been here multiple times already, mainly for checking up on her and taking her out on dates, but when he saw somebody on her doorstep, he stopped in his tracks.

It looked like a woman. Well, at least to Peter. She had long brownish hair and wore fancy clothing, she even had a purse dangling from her arm. There stood Xelle in the doorway, a clear frown on her face. Peter furrowed his eyebrows in worry as he watched this lady talk to his girlfriend. He couldn't hear what they were saying from this distance, so he just stood there. Besides, it was only a few steps away.

A few minutes had passed, and the lady finally turned around and entered her car, which was parked just outside. Peter pretended to walk as a passerby when the car zoomed past him. He looked behind him to check the plate number.

Xelle didn't even bother to look after that lecture from her stepmother. She ran her hand over her hair, tugging on it out of anger, as a long, sad sigh escaped from her lips. She had been fighting off her tears while she listened to those harsh words. She always thought of herself as a crybaby, and now that she finally has some time alone, she closed the door.

"Ow."

Or maybe not.

The female looked at her door, making an assumption that someone was behind it. She looked down at the ground, catching a glimpse of that silver-colored shoe she always recognized, stuck in between the door frame. She immediately opened the door, and to no surprise, she was faced with her boyfriend.

Peter waved his hand as a cute smile was embedded on his face. He didn't even need to say anything and Xelle already found herself smiling again, even the slightest. "Hi, Peter."

That was highly unusual. She'd usually jump at him for a hug or smile widely at him. The young boy noticed her change of behavior, the smile on his face disappearing. "You okay?" He brought his hand down.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She responded, turning around as she allowed Peter to come inside. He was polite enough to remove his shoes and set it aside before actually coming in. He closed the door and followed Xelle into the kitchen, which was just beside the living room.

Washing dishes, once again. Never the same, never different either. Peter watched her fingers gracefully slip past the smooth plates and place them down on a dryer. It was a weird thing for him to observe, but he loved every little thing about her. He can't resist himself.

Xelle was finally done with the dishes, dabbing a towel on her hands to get rid of the wetness, when Peter suddenly appeared beside her. He leaned onto the counter as he smiled at her. "So who was that lady earlier?"

Bringing her gaze to him, she raised an eyebrow at him. "What lady?" She asked as she hung the towel on the fridge's handle. "The lady you were talking to in the doorway." Peter responded, tilting his head while he awaited for her answer.

Xelle narrowed her eyes at him. "You were eavesdropping on us?" She asked in disbelief. The male in front of her widened his eyes and awkwardly laughed. "What? No. I just saw you talking with her." He stood up straight, placing a firm hand on her waist and bringing her over to him. Their bodies ended up colliding each other as their eyes focused on the ones in front of them. "You know I wouldn't lie to you." He pushed back a strand of her hair behind her ear.

She smiled at him, genuinely this time. "I know." As she thought the heavy burden in her chest was finally going to disappear, it just came back again. The corners of her lips deepened themselves into a frown, and to prevent Peter from seeing it, she pushed herself away from him. "But you don't need to worry about her. She's just my stepmother." She walked away into the living room.

Peter was, at first, confused why she suddenly distanced herself like that. The biggest thing that confused him was the stepmother. "Wait, stepmother? You have a stepmom?" He questioned as he followed her path.

"Yeah," she plopped down on the couch, "she and Papa didn't last long, though." Grabbing the remote control, she turned on the television. Her arm was laid out on the couch's backrest while her other one faced the squarish electronic. "But like I said, you don't need to worry about her." A few static sounds were brought to life until she stopped to one channel.

Even if she says that, of course he's still going to worry. Xelle was acting strange and he was not liking it. He pressed his lips into a thin line, shaking his head and stepping towards the couch. "Do you really think," he started as he sat beside Xelle, "I would believe that when you have that look on your face?"

Xelle brought her gaze to him and slightly tilted her head. "What do you mean?" In a flash, the remote control in her hand was gone. She looked at the absence of the object for a quick moment before she looked at Peter, who now had the remote in his hand, with wide eyes. "You know what I mean." He turned off the television and set the remote aside.

The short-haired female merely stayed silent and stared at him with uncertainty, this lack of response made Peter cross his arms. "C'moooon. You can't keep hiding things from me." He cooed a bit teasingly.

She knows she can't. He could always tell when something is bothering her, and that's why she still loves him to this very day. It's one of the biggest reasons why she's so happy every time she's with him. She took one deep breath before crawling over to Peter, to which took him by surprise. "Oop-" He yelped as Xelle pushed him down on the couch. She somehow got in between his legs and made herself comfortable to lay on his chest.

The adorable sight that took appearance in front of Peter's eyes made him chuckle out of amusement. He wrapped his arms around her and smirked down at her. "What, we're just gonna cuddle without even telling me what the problem is?"

Xelle giggled in response. As soon as her light laughter died down, her eyes wandered off to somewhere. "It's just…" She started. "Sometimes it's hard having alexithymia."

"Alexi- wha-" Peter narrowed his eyes, but it didn't take him long to realize what she was talking about. "Ohh, right. Alexithemic."

"Alexithymia." She corrected him.

"Right. Yeah."

She couldn't help but to at least smile at his silliness. "I don't know, it's just, it's hard expressing my emotions." The weight on her body — even though nothing was on her — felt heavy, as she found herself sinking deeper into Peter's embrace. "Especially since I don't have the confidence to speak up." Her hands gently hovered his shoulders. "I mean, it's not very severe, but it's, it's still difficult. It causes misunderstandings."

"Your emotions seep out a lot to me, though."

Xelle brought her eyes to look at him. He had that adorable little smile and raised his eyebrows, as if he was trying to prove what she said was wrong. "I could tell that you're sad, and…happy, oh, and…angry?" His statement sounded so unsure, but that somehow still made her laugh.

That's all he wanted to hear, after all.

A tiny chuckle is enough to relieve him that she's doing fine. He doesn't really consider himself a good person to ask for advice, but if Xelle sees him that way, he'll try the best he can.

Peter caressed the top of her head, despite the shortness of her hair, he wanted to get a better look on her face. "I'm kidding. But what makes you say that?" He tried to continue the conversation.

"Well, you saw my stepmother earlier, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She fiddled with her fingers and lightly clasped them together as she tried to find the right words to say. Peter could sense a bit of hesitance from her, but nonetheless, he waited for her to speak. "We kinda got into, uh, we got into an argument because I didn't get to say I'm sorry." Fully clasping her fingers together into a tight hold, her breath hitched for a quick second. "It's, it's one of the things I hate about myself."

Xelle was supposed to bury her face on Peter's chest out of the shame, until she felt sudden movement and had no choice but to look up. "Heeey." Peter pushed himself up with his arms and stared down at her. "Just because you didn't get to do something you want doesn't mean you can hate yourself." He said, receiving an astonished look from his girlfriend.

He didn't know what he truly meant, but he was saying it from the heart. He knew how it felt like to hate yourself for the things you do. He just didn't want to see the sweetest girl he had ever met do it to herself, too.

"I mean," his eyes looked everywhere before quickly bringing themselves back to Xelle, "you were considering the fact that you should apologize to her. That already makes you a good person, right?" He attempted to reach out to her face and caress her cheek with his thumb. "Besides, if you hate yourself, I'm hating myself, too."

Eyes burning up in tears, Xelle found herself melting into Peter's touch. A silent weep escaped from her lips, and as she couldn't bring herself to speak up, she just nodded her head in response. It was so easy for her to tear up, and yet Peter doesn't mind any of that. As soon as he saw her crying, he brought her into a hug. At moments like these, it felt like her alexithymia was gone.

Peter was her cure.

What sounded like sniffs turning into sobs eventually took over the conversation as the couple found comfort just by being in each other's arms. Peter gave her the time to let out her tears, giving her occasional back rubs and gripping onto her like he didn't want to ever let her go. It always hurt him to see her like this.

When her tightened posture finally loosened up, and her breath seemed to slow down, Peter also found himself finally calming down. It almost felt like their heartbeats were synchronized, being so physically close to each other gave them more of a chance to be connected.

Just as Peter opened his mouth to speak, his ears was met with something he never expected to hear on a day like this,

"I love you."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"I said I love you, Peter."

Did she really say that? She never voluntarily says 'I love you' to anyone, including Peter himself. Did she just really say 'I love you' to him?

"I- Wow-" He stopped himself mid-sentence as he chortled. Xelle pulled herself away and took a glance at her boyfriend's shocked expression. The corners of her lips brought themselves up to form a smile as she breathed out a laugh. "What, you're not used to it?" She teased.

"Yeah, well," Peter shook his head, "you never say those three words to anyone." He spoke through gritted teeth. Xelle's chest felt lighter as she released another hearty laugh. That laugh of hers that always gets Peter's head in cloud nine. It's something he always treasured, and now that he heard it again, he almost flinched when he felt her hands fondle with his cheeks. "Then consider yourself lucky." She placed a peck on his nose before nuzzling her face in his neck.

Peter was left speechless, his mouth slightly agape, after that unexpected occurrence. That quick nose kiss made his heart skip an extra beat. He was weak for those types of kisses. He doesn't know why, but he always gets flushed and hot when he receives affection from Xelle — let alone her rare, peculiar, wholesome behavior.

He was going to wrap his arms around her, when an idea popped in his head.

"Hey, you know what?"

She hummed in response, staying in position.

Peter grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her away, grinning widely at her.

"I love you too." Using his superspeed to his advantage, he showered her with lots of kisses on her face. To Xelle, it felt like she was being tickled. She laughed out loud as she tried to cover her face from any further kisses, but they still kept coming. Overwhelmed with the amount of love she's getting, she just slammed her hands and managed to catch Peter's face, finally closing in their distance and placing a firm kiss on his lips. It wasn't long enough before he gave in and returned the pleasure to her.

At this moment of time and day, Xelle feels content with everything that involves Peter.