#all my friends left school super early and i have to stay here for two more hours.......

[t4tbedehopmar]

I'M SO BORED BLEHHHHHHH

[lovelettersfromluna]

⋆ ★ Once again, for the first time ⋆ ★

{Ellie Williams x Reader}

Summary: Being in love with your best friend has got to be one of the most emotionally exhausting things someone can experience, so it’s time you put your foot down and moved on….at least, try to move on

an: God it almost feels wrong to just come back after so long without a continuing chapter to what I’ve been working on, pls don’t be mad at me 😵‍💫. I’ve been really busy you guys! I just got home yesterday and while I know you’ve all be asking for other things, I just haven’t been feeling super inspired to continue them RIGHT NOW, and I feel that’s why I’ve been MIA for so long. While I say I’m not inspired to continue them right now, that doesn’t mean I’m abandoning them! I will be coming back to them don’t worry! For now, I hope this little angsty fic is enough for you all, and I hope you’ve stuck around to read it, and if you haven’t, that’s okay too. Anyways, I’ve missed you all so much, and I hope you like this one 🖤🖤🖤.

Warnings: ANGST!!! Eventual smut in future chapters, Ellie is an oblivious idiot, Quiet!reader, momentary alternative love interest (it’s just for the story I promise 😉), jealous!Ellie, possessive!Ellie, Please let me know if I missed anything!

Part 2 can be read, here!

The warm glow of your tv screen became blurry with each passing second. You could barely make out the erratic movements of the video game characters beating each other to a pulp as Ellie’s fingers tapped away at the buttons on the game controller, soft huffs leaving here lips ever so often. “Fucking dick..” She mumbled under her breath, eyebrows knit in deep concentration, eyes almost growing watery from her lack of blinking.

You on the other hand, you were nearly fast asleep. Cuddled into your sofa, resting your head against a pillow that was propped up against the arm of the couch, a plush blanket draped over your body as you watched your best friend control a scantily clad character to violently fight the opposite person.

This was tradition for you and Ellie. She’d come over, you would force her to study with you because she was often too stubborn to do it without you, you’d order shitty take out, watch her play video games, and then you’d fall asleep. It always ended with her dragging you to your bedroom, staying with you for a bit before she left, and then in the morning, she’d be waiting for you outside your apartment to go to school together.

And that was life, life with your best friend that is. It had been that way since you were practically babies, your routines changing and adapting to whatever phase of life you were both in within that moment, but it was always more or less the same. And you couldn’t complain, you wouldn’t change it for the world.

Not even if you were given the chance to have her as something more.

Ellie had always been a charmer, and unfortunately, the extent of her charming demeanor had made its way to you. It was something you noticed early on, as soon as you were able to decipher feelings of love, you were able to link those with Ellie. When people would explain love to you, or you’d see it in others, you thought of Ellie. You realized quickly after that though, that Ellie was your best friend, and feelings would greatly complicate the long history that you two had together.

And so, you swallowed them down.

It wasn’t like it was painful or anything. Sure, seeing Ellie with other girls wasn’t great, but you coped. Life went on, and you promised yourself you’d never let your feelings get in the way of Ellie’s life, your life, or your friendship.

“Man…I’d let Mileena rip my head off any day…” Ellie sighed out, the girl never a stranger to gawking at the make believe video game characters in her favorite games. You let out a sleepy hum, giving her a nod as you cuddled further into the couch, not fully able to comprehend your friends words due to your sleepy state.

The sounds you made caught Ellie’s attention, causing her to sit forward a bit so she could catch a glimpse of your nearly sleeping face. She chuckled softly, shaking her head a bit as she reached forward for the controller, turning off the console followed by the tv before she stood up, taking your hand in hers and pulling you slightly.

“You have the energy of a seventy year old woman…come on, let’s get you to bed grandma” she teased, and it only causes you to whine softly. The couch is so comfortable, and you’re more than happy with sleeping there for the night just so you didn’t have to move and lose the blissful drowsy feeling that came with the sounds of Ellie playing Mortal Kombat lulling you to sleep.

“I’m fine here…” You tried, knowing that she wouldn’t settle for you sleeping there on the couch all night. And she didn’t need to be told twice, she let out a soft hum, one that almost sounded like she’d leave you there, but suddenly you’re being lifted off of the couch, into Ellie’s strong chest, even stronger arms wrapping around your body, which once again caused you to whine.

No matter how tired you were, how close to sleep, you can’t ignore the burning fire in your chest when she holds you like this. Even though being Ellie’s friend was the furthest thing from painful, it was times like this that it got a little too hard. Ellie was always a very affectionate person, especially with people she was close to, and you happened to be at the top on that list.

So, when she’d do things like this, pull you up into her arms and carry you to bed, or slip her arms around your waist and spoon you from behind when you were watching movies together, or when she’d pull you close to her when you were in a crowded room, it was easy to imagine how things would be if it were different, if you were able to have her in the way you wanted.

Only for a moment though.

Ellie hummed softly as she gently rested you on your bed, making sure to pull your socks off because she knew you’d kick them off in your sleep anyways, and pull the blanket, not the duvet, over your body because it was how you preferred to sleep. She knew exactly what to do with you, and it always made your heart tug.

She smiled softly down at you, watching as your heavy eyes grew even heavier once your head hit your soft pillows. She gave your elbow a gentle nudge before she turned off the lights in your room, closed the door, and left your apartment.

And even though you were already falling asleep, you couldn’t ignore the urge you had to ask her to stay. The urge you always had to ask her to stay with you.

You let out a soft yawn, rubbing your eyes a bit before you began writing down in your notebook again. Your headphones played soft music into your ears, the blessing of a noise cancelling headset always making it easy to study in your college library, for a moment, pretending as if you were the only one there.

Until Ellie showed up.

She gently pulled one side of your headset up, her lips close to your ear as she approached you. “Hey stranger” she giggled softly, causing you to whine as you pulled the headset down to rest against your neck. You gave your friend a soft smile as you set your pen down, watching as she promptly took the seat next to you and tossed her bag onto the table.

“Hey yourself…came all the way to the library to see me?” You teased her, propping your elbows onto the table and resting your head against your hands as you watched her slump down into her chair, oversized hoodie hanging on her broad shoulders, light washed denim jeans hanging loose on her hips, short hair lazily tugged up into her signature half up half down ponytail, pretty strands falling down and framing her face perfectly.

God she was a fucking dream.

Ellie groaned softly, her head falling back as she blew air past her lips, staring up at the ceiling of the library. “I have time between classes…so I came to bother my favorite little scholar” She hummed out, giving you a lazy grin as she turned her head back towards you, causing you to roll your eyes at her words.

“You know, you could use this time to study” you try, narrowing your eyes at her playfully, which causes her to roll her eyes right back at you. “Ahhh, please. You’re probably the only one here that actually does that shit” she hummed out, which causes you to shrug, closing your books and stacking them upon one another. “True, but I have the grades to show for it” you nod to herself before you push your things to the side, turning back to your friend and giving her your attention.

“So? What’s happening. You look like you’re just itching to tell me something” you smirked softly, knowing your friend all too well. Whenever became fidgety, or absolutely needed to find you, there was something on her mind.

Ellie smirked softly, staring down at her ring clad fingers before she let out a soft hum, purposefully keeping you waiting with anticipation before she began speaking.

“Do you think Sofia is into girls?”

For a moment, the twinkle in your eye, and the soft smile on your lips as you watch your best friend drops completely. You’re glad she isn’t looking, because you’re sure anyone would be able to see the visible disappointment written on your face as soon as she says it. You only let it fall for a moment though, because you’re immediately collecting yourself, picking yourself up off the ground and giving your friend a soft, reassuring nod.

“Has being straight ever stopped a girl from being into you Ellie?” You tease her, recalling the frequent times girls claimed they were straight, yet somehow always ended up chasing after Ellie after they’ve had one too many drinks.

Ellie groans softly, shaking her head as she sits forward a bit. “No man…I don’t wanna just hook up with her..or..or be her fantasy or something. I wanna…ask her out or something” she mumbled out, cheeks burning red as she toyed with the shiny rings on her fingers. You blink a few times, trying to find the right words to encourage your friend to do it, to pursue whoever it was that she wanted.

No matter how much the words tasted bitter on your tongue.

“Well…ask her, or you can ask around? A close friend of hers would definitely know if she was interested in girls or not” you tried again, watching as your friend frowned in concentration, eyebrows furrowed, green eyes narrowed.

Whoever this girl was, Ellie was doing her head in over her….

It almost bothered you that this was your first time hearing about her.

“You think? I’ve just…I’ve had my eye on her for a while and I think I’m ready to finally make a move, you know?” She sighed out, and you nod slowly, giving her a soft smile paired with a reassuring nod.

“Then go for it, Els. The worst she can say is no, and even then, there are plenty of other fish in the sea” you assure her. Because it’s true, Ellie never stayed single for long. There were always girls interested in her, or her them, and it wasn’t long until she was introducing you to a new, pretty girl that she’d have on her arm for the next however many months.

She smiled softly as she nodded, your words clearly getting through to her, as they always did. She gives a determined nod, moving to stand up from the chair she was sat at. “You’re damn right there is…hey, I’m gonna try to find someone to talk to, but I’ll catch you later, yeah?” She nods, slinging her bag over one of her shoulders, already walking away from the table as her eyes never left yours.

You give her a soft nod, eyes lingering on her form as you let out a low hum. “Always” you confirm, knowing that it was true. You’d always be there when Ellie needed you.

She beamed back at you, giving you a nod. You could practically see the excitement shining off of her body, seeping through her pores. “And I’ll catch you this weekend! Your place!” She shouted, causing your eyes to widen at her volume, the other students instantly shushing her. You give her a quick nod, your hands fanning away as you shoo her out of the library, a soft giggle leaving your lips.

You ignore the little cracks in your heart, because the smile on her face makes up for it. You know it’ll pass, you know this is merely a phase of your life that you’ll look back on and laugh at once you’ve found the person that was right for you, one that filled up the little holes that Ellie left in your heart.

And oh how you couldn’t wait for that day to come.

You don’t see Ellie that following weekend.

In fact, the last time you actually saw her was that day in the library, with the few times you saw her in and out of classes that the two of you shared.

Ellie ended up talking to Sofia that same day, and it turns out she was interested in girls. From the texts that she sent you that night, she was raving about the day that they had set up after hours of talking out in the courtyard. She tells you she��s sorry, that she can’t make it out to your place for your routine weekend together, and you tell her it’s fine, to have fun and tell you all about the date the next morning.

And suddenly, you can’t remember the last time you spent more than five minutes with your best friend.

You text here and there, and she catches you outside of class when you happen to make it there at the same time sometimes, but you don’t really have lunch together anymore like you always do, you don’t sit outside in the courtyard to kill time between classes together, she doesn’t visit you in the library, all of those things just suddenly stop.

And then she tells you, she’s dating Sofia.

She tells you they made it official after the first four dates, and at first you feel it’s a bit fast, but you realize they spend all of the time that you and Ellie used to spend together, with each other instead, and it suddenly makes sense. Ellie had a girlfriend now, and it was the explanation for the sudden lack of her presence, the absence of your best friend on weekends. While you stared at your tv screen alone, she was with Sofia.

And you were happy for her, of course you were happy, why wouldn’t you be? She was your best friend and she had gotten the girl she wanted for so long, just as you expected she would…

But the happiness you felt for her lived alongside the sadness that you felt. The two emotions becoming tenants in the home that was your heart, sitting across one another, glaring at each other as they battled for control of you, controlling how you dealt with the situation, how you coped with the sudden disappearance of your best friend.

So, you didn’t give either one control, you ignored them both after a while, and you simply carried on as if nothing had ever happened.

Ellie really was the only person you occupied any free time with, opting to be with her rather than anyone else, because it felt good. You liked it when it was just you and Ellie, it was easy, and it was easy to not overthink things and simply be, rather than worry about how you were behaving.

So without her, you simply did all the things you did with her, just on your own.

Ellie tried to make time for you, while juggling the escapades that come with the early stages of a relationship, you couldn’t take that away from her, but you saw how hard it was. You didn’t want her to feel bad, or feel like she was neglecting you, or her friendship, even if she sort of was. You convinced her it was fine, that she deserved to enjoy her new relationship, and that it needed more attention than your friendship ever would, not right now at least.

And Sofia was great. She was beautiful, and kind, and sweet, and after meeting her a few times, you considered her to be somewhat of a big sister figure. Seeing her made it clear to understand just why Ellie was so keen on taking her off the market as soon as she could.

But that seemed to make it even harder to deal with.

It was on days like this one where it hit you a bit harder, Ellie’s absence. You didn’t mind being alone, but walking to and from classes without her constant banter and jokes definitely wasn’t the best, and heading out to the cafes for lunch was far too quiet on your own, but, you prevailed.

You were making your way out of your third and last class for the day, a soft sigh leaving your lips as you adjusted your bag on your shoulder. The week was finally closing in, and you couldn’t be happier. You yearned for the warmth of your home, your cozy little bed, your favorite mug filled with your favorite hot chocolate, it called to you as you pushed past the large doors of your college building, making your way out to the brisk outdoors of your campus.

The sound of quickening footsteps behind you was almost drowned out as you took your headphones from behind your neck, and began setting them onto your head. A hand suddenly pulled them down, forcing them back around your neck, which caused your eyebrows to furrow as you turned around to see who in their right mind would try to fuck with a girl and her music.

You almost passed out when you were met face to face with your best friend.

Seeing her made you realize just how long it had been since you saw her. You tried convincing herself it had only been a few weeks, but you found it hard to remember the last time you were staring up into those big green eyes, and not imagining them instead.

Your frown was quickly replaced with a soft smile, adjusting your bag on your shoulder as you stared up at Ellie. “Ellie…god…I was ready to start throwing punches” you joked, pulling your headset from around your neck and pushing them down into your beg before you looked back up at her.

Ellie chuckled softly, watching as you went about putting your things away. Her smile was so bright, eyes twinkling, cheeks red, all signs that pointed towards the same thing.

Ellie Williams was properly smitten.

“I’ve been looking for you, dork…you’re always hiding these days” she groaned out, which caused you to hum softly, giving her a slight shrug. “Been busy studying Els…I’m sorry” you tried, giving her a half smile.

Knowing that your studying was not the cause of the divide in your friendship, and neither was it you hiding.

She pouted softly, stepping forward so that you two could walk together. “I miss you…” She hummed out, staring down at the Nikes on her feet, nearly swallowed up by her baggy jeans. Her words make your heart tug as you stare up towards the large trees, swaying with the autumn wind, sun peeking in between the thick foliage of the leaves.

“How are you And Sof? Things going well?” You questioned, opting to ignore the way you heart beat faster when she said she missed you. You were also genuinely curious, you wanted to hear more about Ellie’s relationship, you wanted her to confide in you and trust you as anyone else would trust their best friend with their relationship.

Ellie instantly smiled bashfully at the mention of the girl, a soft hum leaving her lips as she nodded. “Fuck…she’s amazing, man. She’s like a fucking dream, I swear, I’m honestly not sure what I’ve done to deserve her” she sighed out, voice sounding so dreamy and love sick, you can’t help but smile.

“You like her…don’t you? I mean…you’re my best friend, your approval is one that’s pretty fucking important to me” she chuckled out as she looked over at you, head dipping down a bit to try and her a glimpse of your down casted face, her hands shoved into her pocket.

Her words make you hum, and you’re giving her a soft smile as you look up at her. Her expression is written with one that is concerned, concerned that you approve of her relationship, that you think she’s making the right move with Sofia.

And you know in that moment, you have the power to break it all. You have the power to rip things to shreds, just by telling Ellie you think Sofia isn’t the right girl for her, because you know she’ll listen to you. You know she’ll take your feelings into consideration, because she trusts you.

“I think she’s perfect for you, Ellie” you breath out, giving her a reassuring smile.

Because just as much as you know you have the power to be horrible, and rip everything away from them both, Ellie doesn’t deserve that, and neither does Sofia. They don’t deserve to hurt for the sake of your feelings, at the expense of what you feel for Ellie.

And the smile you see your best friend shoot your way makes it all worth it, because it’s like she’s been waiting for those words to leave your lips to go all the way, to give herself to Sofia completely and give into her as she wanted to this entire time.

“Fuck…you don’t know how happy that makes me” she sighs out, looking up towards the sky and letting her eyes flutter shut as she takes a deep inhale, and you know she’s truly happy.

And that makes you happy.

“Hey, are you busy next weekend? There’s a party Sof and I are going to, you should come with us” she says as she looks down towards you. You know it’s a bad idea, because it means you’ll third wheel the entire night, tucked away in a corner to avoid watching them make out all night long until it’s time to go home, where you’ll be just as miserable there as you are in your house.

But you know Ellie won’t take no for an answer.

You let out a soft sigh before you give her a nod, paired with a half smile, and she’s already cheering loudly, causing people around you to stare, and you groan softly as you give her a gentle shove, urging her to stop.

“I’ll text you the details! Sof and I will pick you up” she confirmed, and you give her a soft giggle before you nod. “Get out of here…I’ll see you then” you promise, and she’s smiling brightly as she begins walking away.

And despite the fact that it’s the first time you’ve talked to her in far too long, and it was mainly about her girlfriend, you can’t ignore the way your heart ignites for that small interaction on its own, and the excitement you feel knowing you have plans with her in the near future.

It’ll be fine, you remind yourself. It always has been, and it always will be. And with that, you made your way home.

The following week, is when you met Alex.

You were making your way to your first class of the day, the early morning sun shining down on you, giving you only a bit of warmth from the brisk air that swirled around you and the other students scattered about within the large courtyard that served as a main point sprouting out to all other campus buildings.

Your eyes were trained on your feet, a habit you had that had caused you to run into many people, many times. It was an easy way for you to stay deep in thought, focusing on the way your shoes sounded hitting the pavement with each steps, watching as they crunched against leaves.

“Excuse me?” A soft voice broke you away from your locked gaze on your feet, your eyes blinking a few times as you looked up to figure out who it was that was trying to get your attention.

When you laid eyes on the person looking at you, you nearly passed out.

It was a girl, she was tall, with pretty eyes and a charming smile. Her jacket hung loosely on her shoulders, bag draped over one of her arms, a paper in one of her hands. Her features were strong, yet soft at the same time, mixing together both masculine and feminine and almost making your mind go completely blank as her beautiful eyes stared into yours.

“Um…could you help me? It’s my first day and I’m sort of lost” she chuckled out bashfully, her hand reaching up to run through her hair as she tried handing you the paper in her hand. You simply blinked a few times, watching the girl almost in awe as she stared down at you, before you realized you were in fact gawking at this woman.

You cleared your throat, giving her a quick nod before you giggled. “Yes! Yea…sorry..I…can I?” You question as you gestured towards the paper, which caused her to chuckle softly and nod as she handed it to you.

Your eyes scanned over the paper, furrowing a bit in concentration before you zeroed in on the first class she has in her schedule, and it made you smile.

“Oh, that’s where I’m going! You must be the new transfer student the professor was talking about” you explain, your heart beating a bit faster as you come to the conclusion that not only is this insanely hot girl speaking to you, but she’s also in your first class of the day.

She smiles brightly, pearly white teeth flashing your way as she raises her eyebrows. “No way…would you mind if I walked with you then?” She hums out, eyeing you carefully before you look up at her from the paper, giving her a shy smile as you nod. “I wouldn’t mind at all…come on”

You learn that her name is Alex, and that she was supposed to start the semester with everyone else, but there were issues with her documents so she had to transfer instead. The entire way to class, you take your time together, strolling along the pathways and hallways of your school, getting to know one another. You realize that although it’s your first conversation with her, you feel as comfortable with her as you do with…

As you do with Ellie.

When you realize that, you realize that you’d gone the longest without thinking about Ellie than you had in a long time. Alex takes her off your mind completely, because she’s pretty, and her smile makes you swoon, and being with her feels comfortable.

And you reckon you could get used to it.

When you both finally reach your classroom, there are students scattered about, waiting for the professor to arrive and for the lecture to start. You hum softly as you look over at your usual seat, turning around to look up at Alex. “I sit over there…there’s an empty right next to me if you want” you suggest.

The empty seat used to be taken up by Ellie before she started dating Sofia.

Alex smiles brightly as she nods before you can even finish your words, and that alone prompts you to grab her hand and drag her along through all of the seats to get to the two seats tucked away in the corner, the ones you used to look forward to making your way to almost every day that you had class.

When you two are settled, you fall into a comfortable conversation, your head resting against your hand as you listen to her speak. She tells you about her old school, about her favorite books and movies, her favorite music. You’re so caught up in the conversation with Alex…

That you don’t even notice Ellie walk into the room.

She walks in as she usually does these days, laughing softly at something Sofia said, her arm draped around the girls waist, keeping her close. Had it been any other day, she would’ve made her way down to the usual seats in the front that she has recently taken with Sofia, but the sound of our laugh quickly catches her attention.

At first, she realizes she hasn’t heard the loud sound in quite some time. The only thing she’d received from you in the small moments she shared with you were tiny giggles, or small hums, but never that deep, belly laugh that she loved so much.

Then, when she looks at you, head tilting back as you cover your lips, laughing loudly at something she was oblivious to, her eyes finally fall on the person your body is turned towards. A head of short hair and a leather clad, broad back is turned towards her, and suddenly Ellie is frowning.

Because that seat, is hers.

Ellie gives Sofias waist a soft tap, mumbling for her to wait for her at their seats as she presses a soft kiss to her cheek, green eyes never leaving you and Alex as she continues to make you laugh uncontrollably.

She doesn’t think about much, other than the annoyance she feels that someone is in her seat, regardless of the fact that she’d left that seat empty, leaving you alone for weeks on end. All she knows, is that she doesn’t like that someone is sitting in her seat, she doesn’t like that this is the first time she’s heard you laugh in weeks…..

And she sure as hell doesn’t like that it’s this mystery person that is causing that laugh in the first place.

“I know! I can’t believe you like that show too, I was convinced that-“ your words are cut off by the dark, looking presence that is suddenly hanging over you and Alex. It makes you frown softly, looking up to find a very angry Ellie standing in front of both you and Alex.

“Ellie? Hey! What are you doing here?” You question softly, unable to remember the last time you’d seen Ellie up there at those seats with you. The question is genuine, and for a moment you assume something might be wrong, but Ellie’s expression seems to be even more annoyed than when she first got there.

Instead, Ellie completely disregards your question, the girl annoyed with how innocent and genuine your words are, your big eyes blinking up at her with a twinge of worry as you await her reasoning for being there with you. She looks at Alex, her tongue pressing against her cheek before she nods her head towards the seat she’s sitting in. “That’s my seat” she deadpans, not leaving any room for argument.

Alex raises her eyebrows, staring up at Ellie before she turns to you for a moment, humming casually as she gives a half shrug. “I was told no one sits here anymore” she hummed out, staring up at Ellie in a challenging manner. It causes Ellie to scoff softly, rolling her eyes before she inhales deeply, and you know it’s because she’s trying to control her temper.

“Well I do, so you should find a different seat” she barks back, her tone progressively becoming more and more irritated with Alex. Alex simply chuckles softly, clearly taking Ellie for a joke as she sighs out. “Doesn’t have your name on it…so I’m not going anywhere” she finishes off, clearly done with the conversation with Ellie. Ellie raises her eyebrows, finally looking over at you as if to silently ask if you’re just going to let someone speak to your best friend that way.

And it annoys you to no end.

It annoys you because Ellie didn’t care about the seat for the past however many weeks since she’d been dating Sofia, you were sure it had been a good month at least, and suddenly she cares about it when someone is taking up the spot.

Taking up her spot.

You frown softly, staring up at your friend before you let out a soft sigh. “I think Sofia is waiting for you, Ellie” you try, giving her a slight nod as if to remind her that her girlfriend was in fact waiting for her down at the bottom of the sea of chairs. You hope it’ll clear her head, and whatever this sudden urge to come and check up on you with it. You see a flash of something ripple across her face, something you can’t quite make out for a moment, but once you do, it’s clear as day.

Betrayal.

She inhales deeply, eyes never leaving yours, only when they dart over to Alex. She wants to stay and say more, try to get the idiot next to you to sit somewhere else, anywhere else, but suddenly you’re turning your attention back to Alex, a soft smile on your lips as you fall back into conversation with her as if Ellie wasn’t standing right over the both of you. Ellie feels like she could burn a hole through the floorboards with how much it makes her seethe.

And the worst part is? She couldn’t even understand why it made her feel that way.

Soon, she’s stomping off like a child, down the stairs of the lecture room towards Sofia. She gives you an apologetic look from her spot at the bottom where she sits with Ellie, and it makes you so confused because why is she even looking at you that way? As if she was to blame for her girlfriends behavior? You give her a small smile back, and she turns around towards Ellie, her small hands rubbing the girls back gently as she bent her head down and pressed a soft kiss to her head.

You eye them for a moment, but your eyes don’t linger like they used to. You’re quickly looking back at Alex as she speaks to you, making you forget all about the very strange behavior your best friend just exhibited.

“Sorry about that…she’s…she’s great, I promise. I’m sure you two would like each other” you nod, giving Alex a reassuring smile. Alex hums in response as she looks down at Ellie, her eyes narrowing down at her for a moment before she nods. “I’m sure we would” she smiles out, and you can tell despite the rude interaction they just had, she’s genuine, and she seems to want to know more about Ellie.

But you save that for later, because you’d much rather get to know Alex than talk about Ellie.

[bree-cheesy]

His Favorite Girl

Eddie Munson! x fem!reader

Part 2 Part 3

A/N: I know, it’s been a minute, I’m sorry (not really). Haven’t been super motivated to write so hopefully this redeems me a little. I wanted to write something along the lines of Drug Dealer Eddie and innocent-ish reader being his favorite client. I tried to make it filthy to make up for not giving you guys any fics for a minute so please forgive me! It is a bit short, but I’m not sorry lol. I hope y’all think it’s good!!

Credit to @eddiemunsonsource​ for the gif!

Warnings: SMUT 18+ MINORS DNI OR I WILL MELT YOUR FACES. Sort of maybe friends to lovers. Porn with a little plot. (kissing, dirty talk, rough!eddie, fingering, oral (f and m receiving), face fucking, slight mean Eddie (calls you a slut once), cock drunk reader, choking, rough p in v, bruises formed, (but good ones if you know what I mean) some aftercare), cuddling at the end, language, drug dealing. No use of Y/N. I think that’s it, let me know if I missed anything.

Word Count: 1668

______________________________________________________________

“That’s it, baby…. Just like that, fuck!” Eddie groaned and moaned as your mouth wrapped tight around his cock, sucking him for all he was worth. Lip gloss sliding up and down his shaft. His hand gripping your hair in a tight fist, his head thrown back with his jaw hung open and slack.

---2 hours earlier---

You were Eddie’s favorite buyer. He always gave you a discount and even sometimes gave you it for free. You noticed he’d always give it to you for free if you wore that skirt that made him need to jerk off every time you left his trailer. Tonight was no different at the start. Wearing that little skirt, prancing up to his doorstep, sliding on some more “Bomb Cherry” lip gloss you bought at the mall a few days ago. Knocking you heard a few curses muffled behind the door before it swung open and Eddie was in front of you, holding onto the door frame with a white knuckle grip. He looked sweaty and tense. “Hey, sweetheart. Y-You’re early!”

You smiled up at him, eyes beaming. “Yup! I have a date with Jason tonight and he wants to smoke with me, so I wanted it early.” Eddie couldn’t stop that sinking feeling, but kept a smile on his face.

“Of course,” He opened the door for you to come in. “Come on in.”

He shut the door when you got inside and disappeared down the main hallway. “Should’ve given me some notice, sweetheart. Probably would’ve been a bit more prepared.” He came back into sight with a small plastic baggie.

Eyeing the bag you noticed it was more than usual. “Eddie, that’s too much.” You scrambled for your money in your small coin purse. “I-I only brought a 20… That’s not enough for that.” You looked up at the pretty boy standing tall over you, teeth pressed into your lip.

“Babe, you know you don’t need to pay. Don’t even worry.” He winked at you. “Think of it as a gift for being such a loyal customer.”

You shook your head and dug around for more money. “N-No, I can’t… You’d be losing out on money…” Managing to find another 20, you grabbed his hand and thrusted the two bills into his palm. He rolled his eyes and stuffed the bills in the collar of your tank top.

“Sweetheart, I have half the high school buying from me. I raise prices for them because they’re desperate.” He ran his fingers up the side of your neck, causing chills to go up your body, his thumb lightly rubbing against your jaw. “I promise, giving you free weed is not hurting my business.”

You pouted, opening your mouth to argue, but you gasped softly when he pushed his thumb past your lips, making you shut up. He looked down at you with a hunger you hadn’t seen from him before. It made your knees weak and you almost had to grab onto him for balance.

“But, if you’re so desperate to pay for it, you can do something for me…. Only if you want to of course.” He leaned close to you, pressing you up against him. “Ditch Carver and stay here.” You whimpered and he smiled at you as he felt your tongue press up against his thumb. “Ditch the Jock and stay here so I can show you how you deserve to be treated. You come here in this tight little skirt and it takes so much in me to not bend you over the table and fuck you stupid.” He takes his thumb out of your mouth and drops that hand to the back of your thigh.

“Eddie… please…” You whined softly and pressed more against him.

“Please what, baby?” He leaned in and ran his nose up your neck, starting to guide you to the wall.

“Touch me…” Your voice was a whisper and the words barely came out before he shoved his hand up your skirt and dragged your now soaked panties down your legs just enough to slip his fingers between your folds.

“Fuck, baby… So goddamn wet for me.” His middle finger was at your clit in seconds and you whimpered, falling into his chest as he rubbed it gently. You kissed his neck, sucking softly, wanting to mark him up.

He picked you up and carried you down the hallway towards his room, throwing you on the bed and stripping you of your clothes before he swiped his band t-shirt off. You bit your lip and looked at his inked up chest as he admired your body. Soft skin under his fingers. His thumb running over the small heart stick and poke tattoo on your hip. He grabbed your ankles, roughly pulling you towards him and he dropped to his knees between your legs. Gasping, you instantly grab onto his shoulder, feeling slightly dizzy with pleasure. He kissed softly up your thigh and suddenly bit down, making you squeal and tighten your grip on his shoulders.

“God, you smell so fucking good. Wanna bottle it up and wear it as cologne.” You didn’t get a chance to think before his mouth was fastened to your clit. You cried out and grabbed onto his hair, moaning and bucking into his mouth. He grunted and held onto your thighs with an iron grip that will no doubt leave some bruises. Bruises you’d wear proudly. “So fucking good, baby… So much better than I imagined…”

You looked down at him with a grin, a sudden ego boost flooding your brain. “Y-You’ve imagined this?” Still a little breathless from the nonstop abuse to your pussy by his mouth. He nodded and swirled his tongue around your clit.

“Of course, sweetheart. How could I not. S’fucking pretty everytime you come here. Wanna make you mine, baby…” You moaned at his words and licked your lips. He slipped a finger inside you and curled it just enough to hit that spot that made you melt under his hands. Those big hands you’d imagined wrapped around your throat every night.

“I-I’m yours, Eddie… Promise.” You gasped and felt another finger go inside you. He grinded against his face, the feeling of your orgasm getting so close. Just as you were about to, he stopped and kissed up your body. You whined and he kissed your neck. “Eddie…. Come on, I was so close…”

“I know, baby, but when you cum, it’s gonna be on my cock.” He kissed you hungrily, commanding your lips. You kissed him back and wrapped your legs around his waist. He pulled back and wrapped his hand around your throat before pulling his pants and boxers off. You whined and reached out for his cock, your mouth watering with a sudden need for it. He chuckled and let you up. Your lips instantly attached to it and he groaned, fisting his hand tight in your hair.

“S’it, baby… Just like that, fuck!” He threw his head back as you took him in all the way and gagged on him. He thrusted his hips against your mouth and you moaned around him. Tears filled your eyes from his tip poking the back of your throat and they streamed down your face. He lightly slapped your face and held onto your head with both hands before roughly fucking your face. God, you were in heaven. The need to please Eddie filled your every thought. “Such a good little slut for me. Yeah? You like my cock deep in your throat? F-Fuck…!” He pulled out, letting you get a gasp of air before going right back in. You tapped his thigh a few times, signaling him to stop. He pulled out. “Are you okay?” Sudden worry filled his eyes.

You nodded and laid back on the bed, sniffling softly. “Yeah. I just need you inside me, now…” Whining softly you spread your legs wide for him.

He bit his lip and looked around for a condom before pulling it on. “Fuck, my favorite girl ruined under me… Never thought I’d see this outside my dreams.” He grabbed your neck again and you smiled, loving the feeling of his rings digging into the sensitive skin on your neck. Another bruise you’d wear with pride. “Gonna go in sweetheart, M’kay?” You nodded and he slowly slid inside you, groaning at how tight you were wrapped around him. You moaned and squeezed your eyes shut, getting used to how big he was inside you. He started to thrust in and out, slowly at first, letting you get used to him. After a minute or two, he went fast and rough, wanting to ruin your pussy for every other man. He grunted and groaned, still holding onto your neck. You reached up and dug your nails into his back, no doubt scratching it up. “Mine. You’re mine, now, baby. All mine…! Fuck!” He let go of your neck and leaned his head down, sucking hard on your nipples while fucking you harder.

“Eddie! M’gonna c-cum!” You cried out and came hard around his cock, squirting out as he kept rubbing your clit. You sobbed in pleasure and buried your face in his neck. He groaned and came inside you after a few quick thrusts. You both breathed heavily and he gently pulled out of you, making you hiss at the empty feeling. He threw the condom away and came back to your limp figure on the bed with a wet washcloth to clean you up. He rubbed at your hips.

“Sorry baby, got a little carried away.” He eyed your neck, the red spot forming a bruise matching the ones on your hips. You shook your head and sipped the cold water he gave you.

“S’okay, I like them…” Your voice was scratchy and he smiled at you, kissing you once on the lips before getting in bed with you. You snuggled up to him and shortly fell asleep before he could say anything else.

[believesthings]

How Can Anybody Stay The Same? // Ted Lasso x Reader

A/N: A story inspired by the JP Saxe song “Changed”

Warnings: a fuck ton of angst. A lot of mentions of Michelle

Ted had been trying to get used to calling London “home.” He rolled it around in his head, rolled it around on his tongue. The way he figured it, it’s like a new pair of boots. He needs to break it in. And he’s getting there, he can feel it a little more with the passing days.

His story has always been that he took this job as a way to give Michelle the space she needs; and of course, to a degree, it is. But whether he admits it, consciously or subconsciously, he’s also here for himself.

He’s spent so much of his life wearing different hats: Father, Husband, Coach. Each of which he takes great pride in, but in the shuffle of all of it he worries that he’s lost sight of just being Ted. He’s been learning the parts of himself that he never got to know. Being married to your high school love, growing up as a unit, it’s… different. He meant when he said that wouldn’t change a single moment of it. Of course, he did. It was a wonderful marriage and brought him Henry, the one part of his pedigree he could never find fault in. But since he and Michelle were in tandem for so long, it greatly affected his decision making. Every time he had to make a choice, she was his first priority. Number one, always. Then Henry. Then, and only then, after all the facets of their feelings were considered, he would consider himself.

With London, came a change in titles: Father, of course. Coach (although a different kind of football that he was still adjusting to) and now, freshly added to the list: ex husband. That was a pair of shoes that he never thought would fit. He thought he was good at it, it was all he had known for such a long time. Who was he when he wasn’t the husband of Michelle? That was part of what he came to London to know. While the title of husband fades, the focal point of Ted comes in sharper focus. Father, Coach, Friend, Tea Hater, possibly a functioning alcoholic, which is something that he really should stop and examine about himself one of these days but not now.

He’s growing into the shoes. And the word home is getting more comfortable on the tongue. The more he lets go, the more room he can make for himself.

Of course, this doesn’t all happen overnight. You gotta start somewhere. Ted was no exception. And lord, he started at rock fucking bottom.

When Ted first came to London, he could always tell if he was going to have a good day based on the temperature of his hands.

The two most common phrases about the weather that he heard growing up were, “it’s not the heat that gets you, it’s the humidity” and “it wouldn’t actually be that cold if it wasn’t for the wind.”

People told him that London wasn’t actually known for having super hot summers or frigid winters. One of the first interactions he had when he landed was a man shrugging his shoulders and saying “Mate, London is just London. All the time.”

Ted still wasn’t quite sure what that meant.

He figured the London equivalent was “it wouldn’t actually be that cold if it wasn’t so damp.” The rain often had a way of making it seem colder than it was. And it was a big adjustment for him when it came to trying to get over his wife.

“Aw. Heck.” Ted huffed, seeing his breath in front of his own face. It was early in the morning. He went to bed far too late and he awoke to snow blanketing the town. Now to top it off, he left his civics textbook in his car and he couldn’t seem to unlock it to get a hold of it.

“Um, excuse me?”

Ted jumped, looking up to see a blonde girl he had never seen before.

She looks at him expectedly before saying, “Is there a reason you’re trying to break into my vehicle? I can promise you, I don’t have anything interesting in there. Unless you’re looking for some loose change and some Sonic peppermints.”

“I’m sorry, you seem to be mistaken. I’m trying to get into my car. I left my textbook right there in the backseat.” He steps closer, peering into the window and finding… nothing. He looked back at this mystery girl like she had just performed a magic trick.

He looked around to find the parking lot full of cars, but they were the only two people in it, which seemed… odd. Maybe this was a dream. That had to be it, he was still in bed and he would wake up any minute.

The mystery girl pulled out her own set of keys and unlocked the car, reaching in to pull out a pair of gloves. He took a minute to examine her profile. Snow in her hair, cheeks flushed from the cold. She was beautiful. Ted couldn’t believe he’d never met her before.

“Come on now, you didn’t mention you had gloves in there. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have given up so quickly.” It wasn’t his best, but he was freezing, tired and still not entirely sure he wasn’t dreaming.

But, she laughed. And Ted thought it might have been the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

“Well, I’d offer to share with you but I only have one pair so we’d both have one gloveless hand.”

Ted figured that wouldn’t be so bad. He thought about saying something about holding their gloveless hands together to stay warm but that seemed entirely too much for a girl whose name he still didn’t know, so he kept quiet.

“May I?” She was holding her hand out to him. Oh god, was she actually going to try to hold his hand? He found himself nodding, dazed. Even though he didn’t really know what he was agreeing to.

He tried to stifle the jolt he felt in his stomach at the feeling of her skin touching his. She grabbed his own car keys out his hand, pressing the car alarm button and Ted practically jumped 10 feet in the air.

He whipped his head around to see his own car, the exact same color, make and model as this mystery girl’s vehicle, two rows over, covered in snow. “Huh. I guess in all the lack of sleep last night, I forgot where I parked. I promise I’m not the type of guy that would normally go snoopin’ around a woman’s car.”

There was that damn laugh again. “I believe you. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I believe you. You have a very honest face.” She holds out her hand again, “I’m Michelle.”

Michelle. The mystery woman has a name.

“I’m Ted.” He holds out his own hand, freezing fingers meeting freezing fingers, clasping around each other.

“Nice to meet you.”

What the hell were the odds that they would be the only two in this freezing cold parking lot, both driving the same type of car, both trying to get into said cars at the exact same time?

“Yeah, you too.”

So yeah, when he comes to London, he still misses her, but only on the days when his hands are cold.

———

Denial. That was what he felt the first time that Michelle told him he had changed. If anything, he figured she had changed. She was the one who didn’t laugh at his jokes anymore. She was the one whose smile didn’t fully reach her eyes when they were together. She was one who let his hand fall out of her grasp when they were out in public. He wished he had changed. He would have given anything to change into someone that she would continue to love.

You’re not the man I love anymore, Ted.

So teach me, Michelle. Teach me how to be the man you love again. I’ll fucking do it, you know I will.

————

The night in Liverpool, after his panic attack, the denial bled into goddamn anger.

It wasn’t the first time he had a panic attack, but it had been a long time since it had happened. They became a pretty frequent occurrence for him after the passing of his dad. And Michelle, the old Michelle, the woman she used to be before “he changed” would help him come down from it. She would hold his hands and tell him stories to distract him. Reminding him of sweeter memories like on their first date when it turned out that the restaurant he was going to take her to was actually converted into a shoe store.

The angers cools to depression at the thought of all the parts of her that he’ll never get to know. But it flares up into anger again at the sight of the divorce papers in front of him.

She wasted no time sending over the divorce papers. Throwing his phone down on the table and pinching the bridge of his nose, he was fucking angry. She liked to tell him he changed all the time, and even if they were true, how could she expect someone to stay the way they were in high school? Nobody ever stays the same. People change. People grow. That’s part of life. A big part of it. You spend your youth learning how to become a person, and your older years learning how to become a good person.

He hates it because when he’s like this, he wants to talk to someone that knows him. He would have to explain all this to Rebecca or Keeley. He laughs bitterly into his whiskey. The one person that could help him through his divorce is the very person he’s divorcing from. The goddamn irony of it all.

He could call his mother, but he knows that’s going to open up a whole plethora of questions. She’ll want to know how Michelle is doing, what she’s been up to. “Gee honey, don’t you think there’s a chance you’ll get back together?” He can’t stomach that line of questioning right now.

And it’s not like he can just close her out of his life forever. They have a child together. A child that has his mother’s eyes. Which he also doesn’t want to think about.

Obviously, pain is an aspect of life. But god, right now, he wished there was someone, anyone else that knew him as well as Michelle did.

He really wanted it to be her. Until he realized that she didn’t want it to be him.

—————-

Ted was nervously playing with the glass in front of him, avoiding going back home.

He knew you would be there, waiting for him. Wanting an explanation that he didn’t want to give.

He kept going back and forth with himself, he knew you probably wouldn’t be mad but there was a difference between logically knowing something to be true and emotionally believing it.

On the other side of it all, Michelle has become something that he explains to his new love. Why he reacts the way does, Why he doesn’t have confidence in himself, why he sometimes can’t accept the love you are so easily willing to give.

He still has some habits that you’re helping him to break. Constantly reminding him that he’s not a burden, that his optimistic nature is a feature and not a bug of his personality.

There is no secret alchemy, relationships just take a lot of work, something he’s learning with you.

It’s still odd for him, to have someone work through the struggle rather than break down and leave.

And when he does get home, you’re there. Like you always are.

“You wanna talk about it?” You ask. Leaning against the doorframe.

He shrugs sheepishly but doesn’t actually say anything.

“It’s okay if you don’t, you know. We don’t always have to be talking.”

He nods and makes his way to the couch. His fingers tapping on the tops of his thighs.

You make your way over and sit beside him. Not touching him, not speaking, just sharing the space.

The argument that broke out between the two of you earlier is playing in your heads.

“You gotta let me in, Ted. Just a fucking little bit. I don’t understand what you want me to do. Whether you realize it or not, you’re punishing me for things that she did and that isn’t fair to me. I’m sorry that she hurt you, I am. I truly believe you didn’t deserve it. But, I don’t deserve it either.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’” Ted reaches his hand out to yours and you intertwine them together.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry too-“

“No. There’s no need for you to be. Everything you said was true.”

“It’s just something we’re gonna have to work through together, honey.”

“Yeah.” He whispers, bringing your hand up to his lips and kissing your knuckles.

You cuddle into his side, “so what do you think, time for bed?”

“Heck yeah.”

You don’t let go of his hand, keeping your fingers intertwined. His hands aren’t cold anymore and he’s found something new in himself, a man that you can love. Openly and easily. And he didn’t have to change a damn thing about himself to make it happen.

[reasonsmandy]

You matter to me

Eddie Roundtree x Fem!Reader

✧.* requested by @itzajeanspears — Hi!!! Love your writing so much!! Not sure if you’re still doing requests lol, butttt I have a really specific one so if you’d be able to do this I’d like actually die omg. Okay so I’m a fashion student from LA and I was thinking, the reader is like basically siblings with billy and Graham, (her dad and their mom started dating when they were kids so they were practically raised together) but she’s closest with Eddie in particular. They’re best friends. They’ve basically been attached at the hip since they were kids. They’re both secretly harboring feelings for each other and everyone knows it but themselves. She’s been there for them since the band started, like Camilla, making them outfits for gigs and stuff. and Eddie even takes her to prom when her date ends up being a jerk to her. Butttt the reader ends up moving to LA to go to fashion school (maybe eventually she can be their costume designer for the aurora tour 🙏) and Eddie slowly stops talking to her god knows why. Fast forward- The band moves out to LA and they stay with her until they’re stable enough to be out on their own. The tension is super high between her and Eddie and EVERYONE notices. Super Angsty. Ends in fluff and love confessions 🫶 maybe angry billy lol. AGAIN THANK YOU!!! I know that was super complicated. YOUR WRITING AND EDITS ARE AMAZINGGGG !!

✧.* you're reading part two, here's the part one — A letter?

✧.* summary — Eddie was waiting for your response, and when it never came... A wall was built between you.

✧.* warnings — none.

✧.* word count — 3.5k

✧.* 🎸 — Eddie's masterlist

✧.* mandy's notes — I know it took me forever!!! I'm so sorry, please enjoy! And let me know your thoughts about it :)

I have no idea how to start this, my head has been a mess since our last conversation. I'm sorry for the way I left, I should've been more polite involving all we've been through in the last couple of months. I confess that I don't understand why you thought I couldn't support you in this situation, I've seen you dreaming about this day since I was ten years old, where we chatted about school and unattainable plans for the future… Seeing you achieve everything you dreamed of is like being hit by a ray of sunshine, I am deeply proud of you.

I wish you all the best on this new journey in your life, you are great and your talent is not left behind! Know that you wouldn't be there if it weren't for all your extraordinary talent. There is something in everything you do that exudes originality and no one can take that away or dispute it from you.

I decided to respect your choice and not go to see you on the day of your departure, I confess that this is demanding a lot from me, but I do everything to see you well. I hope you have a great trip and a great life there too.

I don't want to lie to you, I really hope you write me back, I have a huge hope that you'll give me another chance and we can work things out... I'll understand if you don't want that, I just want you to keep in mind that I love you. Fly towards your dream, and when you miss home, maybe my words will warm your heart.

Yours, Eddie Roundtree.

The bassist seals the letter with trembling fingers, he knew you would leave tomorrow and he still had his doubts about what he was going to do.He wanted to come see you before the match, kiss you gently, hug you as if you were going to escape at any moment... But he couldn't, if that was your choice he would respect that.

He knocks on the Dunne house three times, his hands trembling as he waited impatiently with the letter in hand.

"Eddie? What are you doing here so early my dear?" Mrs Dunne's sweet voice asks, she was quiet, probably because she was the only one awake in the house.

"I— I came to give this to Y/N." He extends the paper to her, confused, the older girl takes the object.

"Do you want to come in?" She asks, opening the door for him.

"No no, thank you." He seemed nervous, afraid that you would show up at any moment. "I really just came to leave this"

The madness was crazy the morning you were going to leave, you waited in secret for Eddie, a hope that he would appear was growing in you even though you wanted to kill it. Everyone else had made a point of saying goodbye, even Warren had stopped by to leave you some chocolate for the flight, but nothing from your boyfriend.

That's what you were, right? After all, there was no ending, not formally in so many words... Anxiety made you fear that when he left that had been your final point.

You open your arms to hug your considerate mother, Mrs. Dunne had been very present to you since she came into your life and saying goodbye was harder than you thought.

"I'll miss you so much." Her choked voice says, and you hold her closer.

"Oh honey, I'll miss you too." She answers, still holding you. "Anytime you need us, you just have to call. You have a family here."

At this point you were already in tears, and you let the hug go to wipe them away.

"Look." She starts to say, opening her bag to hand you something. "Eddie asked me to give you this."

Your eyes widen, you take the letter in your hands and leave for your new life.

…

You open the drawer of the nightstand next to your bed and return the letter to the place it always rests still not being able to open it, a sigh leaves you as you relive the night you had just had. Now that you were in the same city everything was more vivid, it was like living your teenage years again and it was frustrating. Of course you missed your friends and your brothers, but feeling Eddie's look at the back of your head was a huge distraction that kept increasing many questions in the same.

Eddie let the air out of his lungs as his body collapsed onto the bed he had fought for hours with Warren for, He lights a cigarette while staring at the ceiling and gradually sees the smoke draw your face, He hated how all the feelings he had put so much effort into hiding returned like the tide flooding over him, it was frustrating how you could make his heart race in a way no drug could ever manege to.

He knew that maybe all he had to do was just get over it, and that's all he was trying to do since you left Pittsburgh and him. Eddie was never the kind to get attached to relationships easily, he was used to having one night stands or just casual dating, so when his heart was captured by your gaze and the funny feeling of falling in love... He didn't know what to do.

The cigarette had come to an end and sleep had not even threatened to arrive, Roundtree sits on the bed regretting it before even finishing what he planned to do. He might not have talked to you during the party, but he was a good listener, something he didn't know if it was a blessing or curse until then.

He puts his leather jacket over the blouse he had worn to the party he attended hours ago, also grabbing some cigarettes before going down the stairs of the new house towards the keys to Rojas' van. He considers going to the drummer's room to tell him that he had borrowed the vehicle, but settles for writing a note in letters large enough for him to notice while he looks for it.

He let in his breath once again, shaking his head as he starts the van and heads towards what haunts his mind.

...

The three rings on the door make you lazily get out of bed, your arms go to the blouse thrown on the table before answering.

"Eddie?" You say between shock and yawn, your hands fix your hair automatically.

He avoids your gaze, looking directly at the ground as if he is very anxious. You wait for an answer, but nothing comes out of his mouth, you take a step forward taking his hand and leading him inside.

"Is everything okay?" You ask, after you both sit at the table in your living room.

"I don't know." He lets it out, wondering if he should actually do what he had planned. "I wanted to talk to you about everything."

"In the middle of the night?" You let out a weak laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

"I couldn't sleep, sorry I woke you up." He looked embarrassed, but it was as if being there was more comfortable than anything he had been doing before knocking on the door.

"We can talk, no problem.”

"With us moving here I imagine we'll see each other more often than we have over the years." He looks you in the eyes, the red of the cigarette in them. "And I don't want there to be a fight between us, I don't want there to be things that aren't clear."

You let the air out, trying to look as if you were mature for this situation. "What do you mean by that?"

"Even with our history, is everything ok between us?" He wanted to tell you that the answer was no, that he hadn't forgotten you, but it stayed in his throat just like the growing knot.

"For me yes, but for you I'm not sure." You are honest, letting the frustration go with your words. "You were the one who ignored me the whole party, I felt seventeen again."

"You don't need to be sarcastic." He says rolling his eyes.

"Since when do you call the truth sarcasm?" He arches his eyebrows at your response, you click your tongue against the roof of your mouth. "What I meant is that I'm over it, I just don't know if you are."

"You know what..." He gets up, adjusting his jacket on himself. "I think we've cleared that up, let's just be polite to each other and that's it. I see you around."

"You're kidding right?" A mocking laugh is let out by you, disbelief shines through. "Is that what you consider resolution?”

"I'll see you around." He says, you get ready to close the door. "Let's just keep things between us, like before."

Your eyes roll back and you slam the door shut, anger and confusion rising in your chest. How can he just show up in the middle of the night to turn your life around like that? You only feel the tears when they fall on your arm, was it frustration? You preferred to believe so, but seeing him treat you with so much indifference was painful.

Still angry, you go to the nightstands and open the drawer to take the letter in hand. Your vision blurred with emotions growing, you tear it apart and as soon as the first cut is made the rest are just a trigger for the pieces on the floor. You cry, regretting it and at the same time wanting to disappear... It hadn't even been twenty four hours since he had returned to your life and everything was chaos.

You collect the pieces and place them inside the box you found, trying your best not to glue the pieces together to read something that could be your answer.

...

You had done a good job of trying to forget about Eddie Roundtree, you had gone out with a few people and avoided running into him as much as possible when you met the band. But that became impossible when his brother went to rehab and his niece was born.

You moved into their house to help with the baby, Camila had never been so vulnerable and you couldn't feel more angry at Billy than in those first few months. Of course, you knew he wasn't one hundred percent to blame, addiction wasn't easy and it made you very sad to know he was like this.

Your move wasn't complete, you slept there some nights and other nights you went back to your house or studio to create some pieces of clothing. It was hard to face Eddie every day, but you two made a point of avoiding each other as much as possible.

It was hard to remember why you didn't like Eddie much when he was being so kind every day by your side, you start to remember why you fell in love with him in the first place. He was kind, funny, he helped everyone, but he was still the one that left you. And that was certainly the impasse for you to sympathize with him once again.

Night fell on the horizon as you leaned over the counter, a cigarette between your lips as you thought about everything at the same time.

"I see you still like the sunset, sunshine." The nickname makes your spine shiver, you don't turn around, you just let him get closer to you. "It always reminds me of you."

The chill comes to your belly, you turn away in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

He rolls his eyes, “Trying to get along with you, is it that hard?"

You let out a sigh, avoiding his eyes. "You want us to be friends?"

"What's the harm on that?" he asks, resting himself.

You shrug, trying your best not to ask every single question that haunted you over the years.

"You made yourself pretty clear that day in my place." That's all you say.

"Why are you acting like I'm a bad guy?" He's confused, upset in his eyes.

"You can't just keep doing this to me, appearing in my life and just leaving me!" You let out your frustrations, he looks at you without understanding. His gaze fixed on your eyes was overwhelming.

"What do you mean?" His voice was trembling, he took a deep breath. "Look, I know I acted childish that night, I shouldn't have just popped at your place and said those things. But I mean what I'm doing right now, I made one mistake... You're really going to blame me for the rest of my life?"

"One mistake?" You tried your best to hold back your urge to cry. "Look Eddie, it's been a long time. I understand if you forgot everything we've been through, I don't want to..."

"You're acting like I didn't care for you. Like I don't care." His voice was calm, it left you disconcerted.

"How can you say that you care for me if you haven't even reached for me all these years?" You turn to face the sky, trying to keep calm.

"I was respecting you!" He avoided coming closer, even though he wanted to take your hand in his. "I told you that! I—...

He stops when he sees your confused eyes, concern takes over his.

"You didn't read the letter, did you?"

You swallow hard, he waits for your answer but you open your mouth and close it without saying anything.

"Did you receive it?" He asks, you nod your head. "I don't understand..."

"I never read it." You confess, looking at your feet.

"Why?" He felt exposed, hurt.

You don't answer, he seems devastated.

"Fuck." He says passing his hands through his hair. "I can't believe this."

He left, leaving you alone with the sunset.

You made a point of coming home that day, there was no way you wouldn't go back to read that letter, your heart was aching with all the emotions that came up this afternoon. You were overwhelmed and feeling guilty, but at the same time confused... You needed answers.

When you managed to put the pieces together it was difficult to tell what was there, but your body softened and your heart tightened. There was your answer.

...

Daisy Jones was responsible for the band's growth after Billy's relapse, 'Honeycomb' was a masterpiece and the whole world knew it when those chords sounded on the radio. You were happy and proud for all of them, it was great to see them all achieving a dream that you followed from the beginning.

You were really excited to go on tour with them, You had already made many different pieces and I'm really looking forward to seeing them using what you created for them from the beginning. Today was the day of the first show, if you weren't even going to be on stage, you were nervous, you couldn't imagine how they were.

You couldn't contain the tears of emotion when you saw them there, the fans screaming excitedly and a long-time dream coming true, it was an amazing feeling and you were so happy to be part of this somehow.

It wasn't easy to deal with the information about the last situation you had with Eddie, of course, Billy had returned and you had spent less time together but that whole scene never left your mind. You tried to expel the flashes as much as possible while pretending to listen to what Camila was saying.

"Swetie, are you paying attention to me?" She says between a laugh, the music from the celebration party made it hard to hear her.

"Aham." You lie, watching Eddie talk to Warren and another girl you didn't know a few steps away. Camila follows your gaze, and turns with an arched eyebrow.

"What's going on?" She asks, her voice softly.

"I feel like I'll never be able to leave what we had behind me." You felt the words leave your mouth with honesty for the first time in a while.

"Have you told him that?" She asks, looking between you and him.

"I'm pretty sure he hates me, so..." You let out a breath, trying to hold back your tears.

"Eddie could never hate you Y/N."

"How can you be so sure?" You take a sip of your beer, avoiding looking at the distant group.

"Oh honey, if you only knew how many times he told me how he felt... How many songs I heard—

"Songs?" You cut her off, holding her arm. "He wrote songs about me?"

"Many." She responds, stroking his hand with a motherly affection. "You should talk to him."

You gather all your strength to follow her advice, and little by little you get closer to them. Warren is the first to notice you, waving in a comical way for you to come closer, Eddie avoids your eyes, the girl greets you with a small smile.

"Hey guys, the show was amazing." They smile at your congratulations. "I'm really proud of you guys."

"Thank you sunshine." Eddie says, almost regretting using the nickname. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay." You say under your breath. "Look, can we talk alone for a second?"

"Sure." He turns to Rojas and the curly-haired woman. "I'll be right back."

Automatically you take his hand and guide him to a more private place, it's a few seconds of silence before you know how to start. He doesn't rush you, he just waits for you to feel good to begin with what you had planned.

"I read your letter." That's all you can say, he swallows hard. "I'm sorry it took me so long..."

"It's okay, it doesn't matter anymore." He tries to say, but you cut him off.

"It does! It matters and you know it." Tears manage to fill your eyes. "We matter for each other, you matter to me... And I don't know about you, and I know it's probably too late but I can't forget you."

He takes a step closer to you, never taking his eyes off of you. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I love you." A choked laugh comes out of you, it was impossible to contain it all longer.

"Fuck." He holds your face in his hands, touching your foreheads together. "Please, don't mess with me." He jokes.

"I'm done building this wall between us." Her voice was honest, her eyes never stopped staring into his. "I just want to be with you."

He kisses you, a kiss you've missed for years, a connection of souls, an inexplicable feeling. His hands cupped your cheeks and caressed your skin, you pulled him close to feel him after so long. He would always be your point of comfort.

"I love you too." He whispers against your lips, your eyes closed. "I love you so fucking much."

"I know it took a while but I kind of want to stay with you." You joke, he lets out a laugh.

"We can tell our children that we've been dating all this time, they don't need to know about this hiatus" He says while caressing your hair.

"Children?" Rojas' voice made you jump in fright. "Damn, you guys are emotional, huh?"

...

Hi, I hope you enjoyed it... If you wanted to ask for something my requests are open, and if you want to ask and don't have any ideas check out my prompt list :) xoxo

Want to be tagged when new stories come out? REASONSMANDY'S TAG LIST

Taglist: @jaidaschampagneproblems @boredshit-shadow @warrenrojaswife @o1iv3 @hopelessromantic727 @eddiesaurora @scenesofobx @vyctorya

[octuscle]

I am a poor and stressed office worker in a gray building, my boss demands a lot of me, and on top of that sometimes because of this stress I have problems of total sexual impotence. I would like to be a fearless and sexually powerful muscular racing driver, an undisputed super champion on the tracks. with arrogant attitude, a masculine symbol of power and virility

Dude, you're closer to retirement than your college degree. And like any good New Yorker, you don't even have a driver's license. That makes your wish a little original, doesn't it? And I also don't understand why you always turn to support for problems like this. Why don't you take your life into your own hands?

Friday night. Almost 8pm already. Finally off work. All your colleagues have long since left for the weekend. But your sadistic boss has dumped one task after another on you. You hate him, you hate your job … You hate your life. But your life can change. "Driver's license in just one week! Live your dream now!" Damn, has the driving school always been here between the office and the subway station? Maybe that's a sign. You just go in. It doesn't cost anything to ask.

The guy at reception is hot. Tight body. Leather pants. Dazzling smile. Greets you like an old friend, tells you that you're the first customer today and that you'll get a special price if you start your theory lesson today. You feel a little taken by surprise. But it brings you closer to your dream. So you sign up. And just fifteen minutes later, you're learning all about the rules of the road. But your eyes are more focused on your driving instructor's bulge.

As you take your leather jacket and backpack from the checkroom after the lesson, your driving instructor tells you that you've handed in your sheets with 0 faults. So you're almost ready for the theory test. But first you have your first driving lesson tomorrow at 08:00. You can hardly wait. And yet you have to go to bed now. It's been a tough week and now it's almost midnight…

Shit, you misjudged the time on your morning jog. Only an hour to go until your driving lesson starts. No time left to shower or change at the driving school. You get into your new motorcycle suit, grab your helmet and head for the subway. You look a bit funny in full gear… But thank God it's still early on a Saturday morning and there's not much going on yet…

Your teacher thinks you're a natural. Your bike and you form a unit from the very first second. Sure, you've always been interested in engines, you have a feel for the 130 hp that lies dormant in the beast. And you love speed. And you love the bulge in your instructor's pants. Shit, that guy is so hot. But you can't say goodbye to your driving instructor with a French kiss. You try to stay cool and say goodbye with a fist bump. He slaps your ass and tells you to come to theory class a little earlier tonight.

Until then, you still have a bit of time to go to the gym. The leather suit doesn't forgive an ounce of fat. To look anywhere near as hot as your driving instructor in your leather trousers, you need one or two hours of gym a day. In addition to running, in addition to your second passion, taekwondo. When you arrive at the driving school an hour before the start of training, your driving instructor is already waiting for you with a naked upper body and a painful-looking bump. He asks you if you would like to be ridden instead of riding your motorcycle for a change. You grin and reply that you thought he'd never ask.

It's convenient that you wake up on a Sunday morning right next to your driving instructor. Damn, why driving instructor? He's your mate and your coach. No one needs to teach you how to ride a motorcycle. Today you're going to the racetrack again before the big race. Find the ideal line. Exploring the limits of technology. You are a perfectionist. Motorcycle racing and martial arts form the perfect unit for you. In both cases, an opponent is unforgiving of mistakes. And in both cases, you have to be in full control of your body every second.

But you will never make a mistake. You are young, talented and in the shape of your life. Your friend thinks it's time for you to relax. Race to the lake, the loser has to blow the winner. Hehehe, you're already ready for your victory bonus when your friend rolls into the parking lot. He's a very good loser!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for assuming my friend was single? (TW: small mention of suicidal ideation)

I (21FTM) have known Jake (22M) since we were in middle school. We became close friends early on during high school, and have had a good relationship ever since. When he and his long-term girlfriend broke up during our junior year, I was the person he turned to the most. The break-up was bad. Like, really bad. Bad to the point where I sometimes worry that he wouldn’t be here today if he hadn’t reached out to me. (Not in the sense that he was unhealthily dependent on me, or that I felt responsible for his mental health. He got a therapist and responsibly handled all that with her, but only at my insistence, and I fear that’s a step he never would’ve taken if I didn’t insist.) By senior year, he and became FWB. We weren’t worried about it messing with our friendship—he’s heteroromantic, i’m aro—and it continued for about a year until the both of us left for college. We’ve stayed friends and our relationship has remained close. We talk so often that it rarely feels like anything’s changed at all.

December of last year, he excitedly told me that he got a girlfriend again in Emily (21?F). I was ecstatic, of course. He’d struggled a lot with the idea of a romantic relationship after his last girlfriend, and I was happy he felt comfortable enough to open up again. As I said, his previous relationship really fucked him up. Anyways, because of the distance, I never got to actually talk to Emily much outside of when she was at his place during our video calls. She was super nice from the few times we did interact, and from the way he described her when she wasn’t around, you’d think she was a literal angel. Him gushing about her lasted up until early May. Suddenly, he didn’t mention her at all. It was like she never existed. I didn’t see her once at his place, and the few times I tried to ask about her, he instantly shut me down. He was more down than usual, not to the point of worry like I’d previously seen him, but to the point were it was notable. I asked him a few times if he was alright, and reminded him that I was there whenever he needed me, but he just said that he was going through something rough and that he’d be okay, but didn’t really want to talk about it. I didn’t want to push, and from the way he reacted whenever i brought up Emily’s name, and from his previous experience, I assumed she and him had broken up. I had no way to contact her to check, and even if I did, that’d feel like overstepping, considering I never talked to her when he wasn’t around. It was obviously a sensitive subject and stressing him out, so I followed his lead and just didn’t mention her at all. Their relationship wasn’t my business, after all, and if he didn’t want to tell me what happened, that was his right.

School got out for the summer, and shortly after both of us returned home, he asked if I wanted to rekindle our FWB relationship for the summer. It wasn’t like it was the first thing out of his mouth, and he seemed to be doing a lot better seeing him in person, so I agreed. That was in the beginning of June. Cut to two days ago, nearly two months later. Jake left for a family vacation a week prior, and will only be returning at the end of the month. Meanwhile, I meet up with one of our mutual friends who I haven’t been able to see until now due to our conflicting schedules. While talking, she makes some joke about Jake and Emily having “trouble in paradise.” My heart stops as I ask her what she means. Didn’t they break up months ago? She tells me no, they’ve been having relationship issues for a while, but they’re still very much together. She shows me a picture from Emily’s instagram (I don’t use instagram, for reference) that Emily had posted just a few hours ago of her and Jake kissing on the beach. What Jake conveniently forgot to tell me about his “family vacation” is that his girlfriend had *also* been invited.

I instantly tried messaging him that we need to talk, but either he isn’t checking his phone (unlikely) or he knows I know and is purposefully ignoring me. Logically, I know that he’s the bigger asshole in this situation. But I can’t help but feel slightly at fault. I feel like I should’ve questioned him more, or found some way to reach out to her, or even asked any of our other mutual friends about it, because obviously at least one (maybe even some) of them knew, and all of his could’ve been avoided. I also don’t know what to do regarding Emily. I have her instagram now, curtesy of my friend, but I’m afraid to message her. Not necessarily afraid to break the news, I’m already constructing a message to send to her (which I will be doing), but more afraid that she won’t believe me. I’ll have to make an account, and I’m afraid her being messaged by a blank account created only hours ago from a guy she talked to a few dozen times, max, may be sketchy. I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t believe me (I have a few messages from him, but no photos, and those screenshots could be easily faked), because there’s no other way for me to contact her. If she blocks me or ignores the message because of how sketchy it sounds, there’s nothing else I can do.

TLDR: I assumed my friend had broken up with his girlfriend due to him acting weird when I brought her up, became FWB, only to find out he was using me to cheat on her. AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[markhoffmans-certified-slut]

Older Brothers Best Friend 

Pairing: Corey Cunningham x f!reader 

Prompt/summary: You’d known him nearly your entire life, and at least half of the time you’d had a crush on him. Now that the two of you are older, the jokes started to get flirty between you when you were alone. When your parents are gone and your brother is asleep on the sofa, it’s the perfect opportunity to talk to Corey who’s also awake in the middle of the night. But when things go from lighthearted jokes to something more, how will the night end? 

Word count: 6.5K

Warnings/contents: Strong language, light fluff, smut: clit stimulation, fingering, oral, light nipple stimulation. 

Notes: I know a few of you have been waiting very patiently for this chapter and I hope that it meets your expectations! I started this off a completely different direction, but the inspiration wasn’t flowing until I thought about this story and it all seemed to just piece together. It was enjoyable to write, Corey needs more attention 😭

I proofread this, but it's also really long and I'm dyslexic, so... here's to hoping it's all right. I know I had to correct a couple small things.

<>~<>~<>

With a yawn, you rolled over in your bed and stretched your legs. You’d been curled up for the past few hours in the same position. Your shoulder ached from how you had been laying. With a soft grunt, you checked your phone and winced at the bright screen. It was 2 o’clock in the morning. By accident, you had fallen asleep around 7 o’clock this evening. Your stomach growled since you hadn’t eaten dinner. 

Deciding to get up and get a snack, you forced yourself from the warmth of your blankets and yawned quietly. You could hear the faint sound of the television on downstairs. Your parents were gone for the night, so of course your brother had invited Corey over and the two of them were watching stupid movies in the living room. 

You were quick to slip your socks and sweatpants on in an attempt to stay warm, but you shivered when you left your room. The rest of the house was rather cold, but the heater in your room kept you nice and toasty. Your brother always complained that it was too hot in there which meant for the winter months, he often didn’t come pester you. 

As quietly as you could, you crept down the stairs. You peeked into the living room and saw your brother passed out on the sofa, but Corey wasn’t there. Shrugging it off, you headed for the kitchen. You had known Corey since you were 5 years old, you didn’t think it mattered if you ran into him in the kitchen in the middle of the night. 

Sure enough, the man was in the kitchen getting something from the fridge. He heard you walk in and sent you a small smile. 

“Can’t sleep?” He asked, then he showed you the snack he had in his hand. “I brought it.” 

“Honestly, Corey, I don’t really give a shit if you eat our food.” He gave a soft laugh and stepped out of your way. “But no, I can’t sleep. I fell asleep super early. What about you, why are you awake?” 

“Your brother snores like the devil, how could anybody sleep near him?” You laughed this time and raided the refrigerator, though you were quickly reminded that you lacked a bra. “So, how have you been?” He asked, leaning against the counter across from you. “How’s school? How’s your boyfriend?” 

“School is fine. I’m excited to be done, honestly. As soon as this year is over I graduate. But that’s also kind of scary, honestly.” You sighed and shut the fridge with nothing in your hand. “And my boyfriend? He’s a cheating piece of shit.” 

“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I’d rather know now that he and my friend were secretly fucking the whole time than marry him and have to find out then.” You turned, crossing your arms over your chest beforehand, and looked at him. You sent him a small smile. “So, what about you? Any pretty girls you’re talking to?” 

“I’m talking to one now.” You laughed. 

“I meant in general, dingbat.” He gave a soft chuckle and shook his head as he looked down. 

“Not really, I’m not exactly the most popular guy in town.” You were quiet. “You, your brother and my parents are pretty much the only people I ever talk to.” 

“I’m sorry.” He shrugged. “Well, you know you’re always welcome around here. Even if my brother isn’t around, I like hanging out with you, too.” He sent you another small smile. 

“Well, I like hanging out with you, too. I appreciate it, really.” 

“Do you ever get lonely?” You asked, slowly walking beside the man and leaning against the counter beside him. “I’m sure it really… sucks.” 

“It’s hard to get too lonely. Your brother texts me a lot. I know that… not everybody hates me, but…” He stopped talking and looked down again. You decided to drop the conversation. 

“Well, I was supposed to go to this concert with my friend you know, but she’s a two-faced, backstabbing road-whore who blew my boyfriend in a Wendy’s bathroom at 2 in the morning, so… maybe you wanna go with me?” 

“Road whore, really?” He chuckled. “Sorry.” 

“No, it’s funny.” You shrugged. “Like I said, I’m just glad I found out now.” 

“Why don’t you ask your brother to go with you?” 

“Maybe… I wanted to go with you.” He raised an eyebrow at you. 

“Why would you want to do that?” 

“Because, I like you.” Gently, you bumped your shoulder into his arm and made him smile. “I know you were always kind of my brothers friend, but I feel like since we’re so close in age we started to kind of become friends, too.” Your cheeks flushed quickly. "Unless I was wrong—“ 

“God, no,” he was quick to cut you off, “You aren’t wrong. We’re friends, too.” Relief flushed over your whole body. “It just… isn’t great publicity to be hanging around me so much.” 

“Who fucking cares what those simple-minded dickwads think about you anyways, Corey.” You scoffed, shocking the man. “You’re a hot guy who rides a motorcycle now.” 

“I appreciate you a lot, and I really don’t want to sound like a dick, but you couldn’t ever understand what it’s like for an entire town to look at you like they wish you never came home.” His tone was soft, so was his sigh. “I think it would have been easier on everybody if somebody killed me in prison.” 

“It wouldn’t have been easy on my brother. Or me.” You added quietly. “My parents like you, they always have. One day things won’t suck so bad. You’ll be away from here eventually.” 

“And what, leave you?” He joked. “You look cold.” He was simply changing the subject, but you worried he had seen your hardened nipples when you moved. You quickly tightened your arms across yourself. 

“A little bit.” 

“Why didn’t you get a blanket?” 

“I didn’t think anybody would be awake and it would be a quick trip.” You moved away from him and rummaged through the cabinets, grabbing a sleeve of crackers and getting a drink from the fridge. “You think you’re gonna be up for awhile?” Corey watched you until you turned around. 

“Probably. I was thinking I’d go to your brothers room. It’s at least quieter in there.” You gave a soft laugh and shut the fridge. 

“If you’re going upstairs anyways, could you possibly carry this for me?” You grabbed a second snack from the cabinet and gestured to your drink. Not only did you want to continue talking to the man, but you weren’t sure what you wanted to eat and both of the things you chose sounded good. 

“Sure.” He grabbed the drink and followed you, creeping quietly past your brother. Nothing had ever happened between the two of you, nor did your brother ever know about Corey’s crush on you or your mutual shared feelings for him (or the joking flirting that the two of you frequently engaged in), but Corey had always worried that your brother might not like the two of you spending so much time alone together. Especially not in your room. 

The two of you made it to the top of the stairs, then to your room where it was warm. Corey gave a soft sigh as he set your drink down on the nightstand. 

“God, it’s warm in here.” You giggled and nodded. 

“I get cold.” 

“I guess you do,” he teased as you rolled your eyes with a small grin on your face. “Do you need anything else?” 

“No, I’m good.” You smiled at him. “You know, if you want, you can stay. I was gonna watch a movie. If the heat doesn’t kill you.” Corey gave a soft laugh and looked at your bed almost hesitantly. “I don’t bite.” 

“I’m sure you don’t.” 

“What, do you?” You teased the man who’s face was quick to flush. 

“No.” He said with a slight laugh, but he wouldn’t meet your eyes. Your cheeks were quick to warm now as a short moment of silence washed over the two of you. 

“Uh, well… I’m gonna watch something, so… feel free to stay if you want.” 

“And sit… here?” He asked, looking back to your bed. “Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, why?” 

“Would… would he get upset?” 

“Well… I don’t think so?” You frowned. “You can always just shut the door if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

“That feels… sneaky.” 

“What, you’ve never been sneaky before?” 

“Not with you.” You hesitated for a second. 

“Well it’s not like you want to be sneaky with me, so it shouldn’t matter, right?” Corey stared at you for a second. “What?” He shook his head and turned to shut the door. 

“Nothing.” 

“Well then it shouldn’t be a problem, right?” 

“Yeah, yeah— no, I mean no, it shouldn’t be… a problem.” You raised an eyebrow at the man. 

“Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“No.” 

“How come?” 

“I don’t know, it’s stupid.” You patted the spot on the bed next to you. 

“You could tell me.” 

“I’ve never… been alone with you in a room with the door closed.” Instead of sitting with you, Corey anxiously shifted his weight to his other leg. 

“Okay…?” 

“I mean… call me crazy but there’s something… here, isn’t there?” You frowned. 

“In my room?” 

“No—“ he huffed, “I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong.” 

“Well, wait— explain it to me a little bit.” 

“Are we not always flirting with each other?” He seemed to blurt out. “Am I making it up?” You sighed and looked down. “Goddammit, now I made things weird.” He rubbed his eyes and gave a defeated sigh as his shoulders slumped. “Look, I’m sorry— I misread the situation. I’m just gonna go back to your brothers room.” 

“No, hey— wait.” You stood up and walked towards the man, but you stopped a few feet away from him. “Okay— yes, you’re right. We are sort of always flirting with each other, but I didn’t… I’m not great at this whole… thing.” 

“What thing?” 

“My boyfriend cheated on me because I don’t know how to do the whole emotions thing and she did.” 

“No, he cheated on you because he was a sneaky piece of shit.” 

“Okay, that too,” you agreed, “But… you get my point.” He nodded softly. “I wouldn’t have ever known how to just tell you that I thought you were attractive.” He was quiet for a second before he spoke again. 

“Well, you just did.” Your face was hot as you avoided eye contact with him. “I guess I’m not exactly one to talk.”

“We’re kind of a mess here, huh?” You laughed. 

“I guess we are.” 

“I didn’t mean anything weird by this, you know.” You added. “Bringing you in here. I didn’t want to… make you think anything like that. I think you’re cute but I really do like you, Corey. I know that… after everything happened you kinda pulled away, but I’ve never thought anything less of you.” 

“I know. But I still think maybe you should.” 

“That’s dumb. I’ve known you since I was 5. I think if anybody has good reason to trust you, it’s both my brother and I.” 

“Do you ever think that something like this would make you out to be a bad guy, too?” You frowned. “Don’t you already get enough shit for being friends with me?” Despite his now tougher demeanor, Corey reminded you now of the little boy he once was. “What you want to go out with me or hold my hand and then what? Everybody would hate you, too.” 

“I don’t know who you think I am, but I’ve never really given a shit what people think about me.” You spoke softly at the man that was slowly getting more emotional. “Come on, Corey— I was friends with someone everybody told me not to be. I dated someone that everybody called sneaky.” 

“And now what, you want to be seen with a murderer?” 

“Because I have a crush on some guy that has to immediately make it bad?” 

“Maybe.” 

“I get that it’s hard on you, Corey, but I don’t care what they think. About you, about me, about my brother, about my ex— it’s never mattered to me and I really don’t think that it ever will.” 

“You’re going to make a martyr of yourself.” You laughed. 

“That’s not how that’s used properly.” 

“You know what I meant.” 

“I know.” 

“Then just… stop it.” 

“What if I don’t want to?” 

“You should.” 

“Corey, since when in the 15 plus years of knowing me have I ever done what I should do?” He gave a soft laugh and shook his head. 

“Maybe once.” 

“Exactly.” 

“This could be twice.” 

“Or maybe you could just shut the fuck up and kiss me.” Things were quiet for a second, Corey looked shocked, you were almost about to apologize when he finally took a couple of steps closer to you and leaned in to kiss you. Part of you was shocked, but you were quick to grasp at his shirt and kiss him back. Corey’s warm hand gently cupped your face as he gave a shaky exhale against your mouth. 

It was a soft, quick kiss, but when he pulled back, Corey stayed close. So close that you could still feel his shaky breath on your lips. 

“I’m so shocked you had the balls to do that.” You teased the man who laughed and gave your cheek the slightest slap. 

“Shut up and kiss me again.” You gave a soft laugh before you did what he asked and pressed your lips to his. Corey gave a soft hum, and between kisses muttered to you. “You’re doing what you’re told to do. Shocker.” 

“Mmm, shut up.” You mumbled back between quick kisses. Corey gave a soft hum but did what you said, reaching his hand down to hold your waist when the kiss got more feverish than before. Your fingers held onto his shirt tight, as if he was going to pull away or disappear at any second. In consolation, the hand that held your face now rested on top of your hand on his shirt. A silent way of letting you know he wasn’t going anywhere. 

Corey pulled back and looked at the door. 

“You don’t think your brother is going to wake up, do you?” With a soft hum, you shook your head. 

“Usually when he’s out, he’s out for the night. But if you’re so worried you could always lock the door.” 

“Yeah, that’s not suspicious at all.” He joked, though he did finally let you go to lock the door. You sat on the edge of your bed as he turned around and looked at you. Sending him a smile, you seemed to entice him back to you as you rested back on your hands. He moved to sit beside you on the bed and gave a soft sigh. “Remember when I said I didn’t want to be sneaky?” You gave a soft laugh and nodded. 

“And look at you now.” You sat up and looked at him. “We could always just unlock the door, open it, and watch a movie.” 

“God, no.” You laughed again at the desperate tone he gave you and moved to straddle his waist. 

“Then I guess we’ll keep kissing.” You pressed your lips back to his, this time wrapping your arms around his shoulders. Corey immediately leaned into the kiss, grasping your waist with his hands and giving you a gentle squeeze. You decided to do something a little bold and leaned in close enough to press your chest against his. Corey gave a tiny sound into the kiss, inching his hand slightly up your waist. 

Despite how short of a time the two of you had been this close, it didn’t feel close enough. Your hand slid up into Corey’s hair and gave it a gentle tug. This time, he moved his hand up and cupped it around your bare breast over your shirt. You gave a shaky exhale into the kiss when he gave it a gentle squeeze. 

“Is this okay?” He asked quietly as he pulled back from the kiss. 

“More than okay.” You kissed him again. “Touch me anywhere you want.” Corey gave an almost embarrassed laugh into the kiss. 

“Don’t tell me that.” You smiled, reached for his hand and cupped it around your other breast. 

“Really, Corey— wherever you want. I bet I want it, too.” Corey leaned in and kissed you this time, giving your breasts a gentle squeeze and earning a content moan from you. He slid one of his hands down your body, then his fingers started to gently fiddle with the waistband of your pants. You nearly had a chill run down your spine at the thought of Corey’s fingers down your underwear. After all, you’d told him to touch you anywhere. 

You shifted on his lap as Corey slid his hand around your back and grasped at your butt. You gave a soft gasp into the kiss, earning a cute little chuckle from him before he kissed you again. This time he slid his tongue along your bottom lip. You leaned into the man, chest pressing back against him. Corey reached back and steadied himself back onto his elbows, leaning you backwards on his lap. You shifted against him and earned a soft moan from him into the kiss. 

Corey shifted onto his back beneath you, then slid his hands along your legs and up your shirt. Pulling away from the kiss, you leaned back and adjusted against the man. You purposely wiggled your hips a bit and earned a shaky exhale from him. You gave a soft giggle when he sent you a feigned dirty look. He gulped when you slid your shirt right up beneath your breasts. 

“Should I take it off?” He nodded, but you didn’t take it off. Instead, you gave a soft hum and eyed the man as if you wanted him to answer you— so he did. 

“Yes, take it off.” With a little smirk, you slid the shirt the rest of the way off. Corey sat up on his elbows and flicked his gaze between your face to your breasts. “Fuck, it’s getting hotter in here looking at you like this.” You gave a soft laugh and reached down to fiddle with the hem of his shirt. 

“Maybe you should take this off.” 

“I think I agree,” he sat up enough to strip his shirt off and let it fall to the side and off the bed entirely. You sent him a smile and leaned in to kiss him. His hand rested on your bare back as he kissed you back. “Your brother would kill me if he found out about this.” 

“Nobody said he had to find out about it right now.” Corey gave a soft hum and leaned down to press a kiss to your neck. “Or maybe ever.” 

“I’d rather he never find out I fucked his little sister when he was asleep on the sofa.” You hummed in agreement as he leaned back to meet your gaze. “I guess… we’re just kissing.” You smirked lightly at the man. 

“Nobody said we had to stop.” 

“You know what, if they did, you wouldn’t listen.” He teased. 

“No, I wouldn’t.” You leaned back in to kiss him again. This time, Corey was quiet. He brought you snug up against him again and pulled you back down so you were on top of him while he laid down. You wiggled your hips in an attempt to get more comfortable, earning a soft sound from Corey again. Your fingers fiddled with the sheets by his head while Corey gripped tightly at your side. 

Then, all of the sudden, you were rolled over and trapped beneath the man. You laughed as he pulled back and adjusted on top of you. He sent you a smile and wrapped your leg around his waist. 

“What’s so funny?” 

“I just can’t believe it.” You said as Corey leaned back in to kiss along your neck. “I think 13 year old me would be screaming right now if she found out I got to be half-naked beneath my middle school crush.” Corey gave a soft laugh and gently nipped at your skin, making you gasp. 

“I think she is right now and that’s why you’re acting this way.” Teasingly, he licked along your skin to your jaw, pressed a quick kiss, and then pulled back. “What do you think?” He asked, but you could tell he didn’t mean about your previous comment. “If you want, we can do more. We could also stop.” 

"I don’t wanna stop.” 

“Do you wanna keep kissing?” 

“Definitely.” 

“Do you want to keep these on?” He asked, fingers tracing past your stomach and curling around the waistband of your pants. With a gulp, you shook your head. Corey was waiting for you to speak like you’d made him do before. Flushed, you looked down at his hand. 

“I don’t want to keep them on.” He gave a soft sound in acknowledgment and moved a bit, hooking his other fingers in your waistband and easily sliding the sweatpants off when you lifted your hips. Corey sent you a wink when you realized he was taking your underwear off, too. Your teeth caught your bottom lip as he tossed them to the side. “Well, now what?” 

“Now I get to keep kissing you.” Corey said matter-of-factly, however he adjusted the pants that he was still wearing. They looked uncomfortably tight. This was the first time you had seen the bulge in his pants. 

“Maybe you should take those off.” You suggested, eyes still trained on the bulge in his pants. He chuckled and leaned in to kiss you. 

“You’d like that wouldn’t you.” 

“God, yes I would.” Corey hummed and kissed you again. 

“Then take ‘em off.” His fingers slid down your side and to your thigh. His fingers grasped tight at your skin as he wrapped your leg back around his waist. “Not gonna do it?” He pressed a kiss to your collarbone. “Too scared?” He teased, pressing soft little kisses down to your chest. 

“Well now I can’t reach you.” He met your eyes as he took your nipple into his mouth and gave it a gentle suck. You gave a soft whine at the sensation and shifted beneath him. “Maybe… you don’t really want me to, hm?” 

“And why wouldn’t I want that?” 

“I don’t know, why wouldn’t you?” He leaned back up to press a kiss to your lips before he grasped your hand and placed it against his bulge. 

“Then take ‘em off if neither of us know why.” Corey leaned back down to press a few scattered kisses to your neck while you blindly fiddled with the button and zipper. Your fingers were damn near shaking. His warm skin against yours was enough to drive you crazy. Feeling him was enough to drive you crazy. But seeing him? You weren’t sure what that was going to do to you. 

Finally, he pulled away and started to strip his pants off, though he did leave his boxers on. You seemed to huff at that and made him laugh. 

“You gotta be patient.” 

“Patience was never my virtue.” He gave a soft ‘hm’ and tossed his pants aside, but this tine he leaned down and wrapped your legs around his shoulders. 

“Maybe I should teach you.” Corey pressed a quick kiss to your thigh right after he said that. There was a sort of mischievous glint in his eyes that you had never seen before. Then, he turned his head to press a few kisses along your other leg. All the way from your hip to your knee, then back to your inner-thigh, where he suddenly gave you a quick, hard bite. You gasped and jerked against him, but Corey was strong. He held you in place and sent you a cute grin. “You alright? Maybe I should have warned you.” 

“I’m fine.” You peeked down at the mark on your thigh. “That’s gonna leave a little mark tomorrow.” 

“Looks like you cant prance around in those short little shorts that you like to tease me with so much.” 

“Oh, you know what I was doing then, huh?” You gave a small smile as he pressed a few more kisses along your skin. 

“I had a slight idea. You weren’t so keen on those little shorts when we were younger. Then your ass started filling out and it just kinda seemed like you wanted me to look at it.” You sent him a mischievous smile but quickly bit your lip to bite it back. 

“Me? Never. I’m innocent.” 

“Mhm, I’m sure you are.” This was it, Corey finally pressed a little kiss to your clit. Then, finally, he gave your clit and slow lick. You gave a soft whine when he pulled back. “An innocent little angel, but you’re not patient and you sure seem to be enjoying this.” 

“Quit that.” You giggled. 

“Quit? I don’t know if I want to.” 

“Are you gonna tease me all night?” 

“Maybe.” 

“It’s already so late.” 

“Well, you already said you weren’t going to sleep. And I sure as hell don’t want to go to sleep if I could instead have my face between these pretty thighs of yours.” Corey pressed a quick kiss to both of your legs before leaning back in and giving your clit another teasing lick. You shifted against the man who held you snug against his face now. When his tongue started to tease you, you reached down and grasped at his hair. 

Corey started to finally really give you the attention you were craving. Your eyebrows furrowed inwards and your head lid back on the bed as he gave your clit soft sucks and made you moan out beneath your breath. Your fingers tightened in his hair as he sucked on your clit and moved one of his hands to tease your entrance. You wiggled against him again, but this time he didn’t try to stop you. He teased you with the tip of his middle finger a few times before he finally started to push it inside of you. 

“Oh, fuck…” You mumbled, glancing back at the door. You were so paranoid that your brother was going to catch you, but as Corey curled his finger gently inside of you and started to tease you with his pointer finger as well, you nearly forgot that he was even downstairs asleep on the sofa. 

Corey shifted against the bed, pulling you close as he sucked continuously on your clit, occasionally teasing you with his tongue and making you whine for him to keep going. 

Eventually, Corey was easily pumping two of his fingers inside of you, occasionally spreading them a bit to open you up some more. You pressed your head back into the mattress and tried to stay quiet as you moaned. You were certain that you had never been this turned on before. Your nipples ached for attention that Corey wasn’t giving them, so you reached up with your free hand and gently rolled your left nipple between your fingers. 

Corey gave a teasing hum when he saw that, but he kept licking your clit and making you moan. He swore every sound you made only seemed to make him throb harder against the bed for you. Sometimes he’d adjust or grind against the bed for a little bit of stimulation while he was working to get you off. But truth be told, he didn’t care much for his own pleasure right now. 

“God, you are so fucking good at that.” Corey met your gaze for a second before you looked away again and laid your head back. A soft moan left you as you tugged on his curly hair. Corey didn’t seem to mind, letting you do whatever you pleased without even a grunt in complaint. Corey moaned quietly as he shifted against the bed. “I think letting the sexual tension between us build up was a good idea.” You joked. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment for forever and it’s just as good as I had hoped it would be.” He gave a hum in agreement and pulled back only to give a quick comment. 

“I have been waiting for this moment for forever.” You whined and shifted against him when he went back to teasing your clit. “God, you are so wet.” He mumbled against you as his fingers easily moved inside of you. Corey teased you with a third finger. “I think I could fit my whole hand in here.” 

“Then I’m sure the very large bulge in your pants will fit just fine.” He gave a soft chuckle and pulled back. 

“And what would you do if it didn’t?” 

“I’d probably cry.” He laughed, moving so that your legs were wrapped around his waist, and leaned in to kiss you. You were quick to kiss him back, pulling him down on top of you again. Corey, even after a whole day, still smelt fantastic. Slightly musky with a hint of cinnamon, you dared to guess. Corey adjusted himself against you and in the meantime gently grinded his bulge against your clit, earning a soft little moan from you against his mouth. 

Corey did the same thing again just to make you moan again. When he was successful, he continued to gently rub himself against you. 

“God, it feels so big.” He pulled back with a soft, content sigh, and sent you a sweet gaze. 

“What do you think you wanna do?” You chewed on the inside of your lip for a moment, taking a quick glance down before you met his eyes again. 

“Well, I could suck on it.” 

“You don’t have to.” He said, leaning in to press a kiss to your cheek. “I could just fuck you until you can’t breathe.” Your face went hotter than it had all night as you stammered out a meek response. “Is that a yes?” He teased. “Do you think you’re ready?” 

“We might need some of my lube. It’s in the top drawer of my dresser if you wanna get it.” He gave a soft nod and got up, feeling a little uncomfortable digging through your drawers. He was always taught to not go through someone (especially a woman’s) things. His mom didn’t ever want him digging around in her stuff. 

Corey found the lube, though beside it was a little vibrator. 

“I don’t suppose you’re against the concept of me using a vibrator on you since there’s one right here, are you?” You were noticeably embarrassed, but you shook your head nevertheless. 

“I’m not against it.” 

“Do you want to right now?” 

“Sure.” Corey slid your dresser drawer shut, bringing over and handing you the lube and the vibrator. Before he got back on the bed, he stripped his boxers off. Your jaw dropped before he caught your eye and laughed at you. “Jesus…” You mumbled, leaning up on your hands. “It’s huge.” 

“Biggest you’ve had or something?” 

“By far.” 

“Well, with that luck, we may need this extra help from the vibrator.” 

“Or it’ll just make me squeeze you tighter.” 

“Yeah, that works, too.” Corey grabbed the vibrator and turned it on the lowest setting. He moved closer to you, though you were still distracted looking at his cock. You attention was quickly brought to his handsome face when he pressed the vibrator to your clit. “I’ve never done this before. Is this good?” You gave a soft nod. “Maybe when I’m fucking you, you can use it on yourself.” You nodded again. “Does this feel good.” You nodded and gave a soft whine as he laughed at you. 

“Cat got your tongue?” 

“It feels so good.” 

“Yeah, it feels good?” He hummed, leaning in to press a soft kiss to your lips as you nodded again. “What do you think, are you ready for me to put some lube on my cock and fuck you?” Swallowing hard, you nodded your head. “Hold onto this for me.” You brought your hand down and held onto the vibrator while he grabbed the lube and pulled back. “You’re probably better at it than I am anyways.” He said, watching you close your eyes and wiggle your hips against the small vibrator. He sighed quietly and set the lube aside as he inched closer on his knees and grabbed onto your legs by the back of your knees. “Come here.” You let him pull you against him and laughed, making him smile as he lined himself up at your entrance. 

“Do you think it’s gonna hurt?” 

“I don’t have a vagina.” 

“So… maybe?” 

“I’ve never gotten any complaints, per se.” 

“Fuck, just do it.” 

“I’ll go slow.” He promised, gently pushing the tip of his cock inside of you. Your fingers grasped tight at the bedsheets beside you as you closed your eyes. “If it hurts too much, just tell me. I’ll stop.” You nodded quickly and moved the vibrator around your clit. Corey wiped the excess lube on his hand off on his leg and reached for the frame of the bed while he slowly worked himself inside of you. 

Every little sound you made and every time you clenched around him it made Corey ache for you. As he promised, he kept his movements decently slow as he got you adjusted to his size inside of you. You moaned out as quiet as you could when he fully pushed himself inside of you. He gave a soft exhale and sent you a smile. 

“You doing alright?” 

“I’m okay.” 

“Tell me when I can move.” You nodded gently and waited a moment to adjust before you looked back at him. 

“I think I’m good.” He nodded, staying slow as he moved, but starting to work towards pumping himself inside of you at a steady pace. You laid your head back and bit your lip, trying to stay quiet as he began to really fuck you. Adding the vibrator onto how much he was stretching you out and how deep he was with every thrust inside of you, it was hard not to want to scream his name out. Corey leaned in closer, pressing down onto his elbow and reaching to tease your nipple with his hand. “Fuck, Corey— you’re making it hard to be quiet.” 

“If you can’t be quiet then I’ll just cover your mouth.” He said simply. You reached up, finding another solution as you moaned out, and brought his face towards yours. You kissed the man who was quick to give into it without any complaints. Your moans were muffled against his mouth as he picked up the pace when he felt less resistance from you. It was obvious you weren’t a virgin, but you were very tight around him. “God, you feel so good.” 

“I was just gonna tell you the same thing.” He gave a soft hum and leaned down, pressing his forehead to your shoulder while your hand grasped at his arm. “Fuck, I think you’re gonna make me cum.” 

“Jesus, it’s been so long I think I might, too.” 

“Then you should definitely cum inside of me.” You said. “It’s fine to.” He hummed softly, acknowledging you, yet only giving a soft moan by your ear a second later. Everything he was doing was making it hard for you to think as you wiggled against him and turned your vibrator up a speed. “Fuck,” you mumbled breathlessly. Your hand reached up to grab at Corey’s hair and gave it a light tug. “Oh, fuck— I’m gonna cum.” You were trying to be quiet, but you gave a few whiny moans as he edged you close to an orgasm. “Fuck, Corey, fuck— I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum!” You bit your lip hard and laid your head back, hand holding tightly onto Corey’s hair. 

A few thrusts after you had cum, Corey came inside of you. He gave a heavenly moan by your ear as he did, giving you a couple soft thrusts before he stopped and took a moment to breathe. He pressed his forehead against yours and gave a soft chuckle. 

“I can’t fucking believe I just came inside of you.” You laughed and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. One he leaned into even after you pulled back. 

“I can’t believe it either, but god am I happy about it.” 

With a soft sigh, Corey laid down beside you and pulled the sheet up onto both of you. You moved closer and leaned into the man who nearly immediately wrapped his arm around you and let you get as close as you could. 

“Well, that was fun after all.” 

“That was a lot of fun.” You looked at the clock on the wall and frowned. It was late, but you didn’t want him to leave you yet. 

“Hey Corey?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Will you stay with me for a little bit?” 

“Of course I will.” 

<>~<>~<>

A soft snore came from beside you as you shifted awake. With a soft groan, you looked at the man beside you and smiled lightly. The lights in your room were still on, you were both still naked, and Corey was still holding you just like he had been before. 

You shifted against him and stretched your back out, seeming to stir the man from his light slumber. He yawned, reaching up to stretch his arms out with a groan before he rubbed his eyes and looked at you. 

“Fuck, it wasn’t a dream.” You laughed and shook your head. 

“It sure wasn’t.” 

“What time is it?” You gave a soft hum and reached for your phone. 

“Oh, shit— it’s 8.” 

“AM?” He nearly jumped out of the bed. “Fuck—“ Just as he went to grab his shirt, your door handle jiggled. 

“Hey, (y/n)? Are you awake?” Your brother called. “I can’t find Corey.” You looked at Corey who was trying to put his clothes on as quietly and quickly as possible. “Is he in there? Do you know where he is?” You quickly tossed your pajamas on while Corey finally put his shirt on and went to open the door. You feigned a yawn, as if he had just woken up as Corey headed for the door. 

“I don’t know why the door was locked,” you said as you opened it. Your brother looked between the two of you real quick and then smiled. 

“It’s okay. Watch a movie?” 

“Yeah, guess we fell asleep.” You said stepping out of the way for Corey. 

“What’s up?” 

“You wanna go get coffee and donuts? You can come, too.” He said, giving your shoulder a slap. 

“Yeah, that sounds good. Let me brush my teeth and I’ll be right down.” Corey agreed. 

“Sound good.” Your brother turned but then hesitated. “Hey, you know Corey, you should really put your shirt on the right way next time.” You looked at the man beside you and sure enough, his shirt was on backwards. 

“Fuck.” He mumbled. 

“See you guys downstairs.” 

[moonxmagix]

Daddy's Girl NSFW

Pairing: Frank Iero x Fem Reader

CW: Age gap, teacher frank, student reader, light smut, daddy issues, soft frank, underage drinking, mentions of the word daddy, def sexual tension

Summary: Frank is your teacher and you two hit it off. Y/N has heavy daddy issues and Frank takes you in. He treats you like what your childhood self deserved, safety and love.

A/N: This is VERY long. I wrote 11 pages on Google Docs so I'm very sorry LMAO. It might be a bit wordy and not super smutty if thats okay. I wanted to write something softer in nature. Also apologize if there are any grammar mistakes. :)

Reblogs appreciated!

~^~^~^~^

As I sat there in an uncomfortable school chair, surrounded by the ghosts of my past, I stared out the window that was covered in rain. The day was gloomy, constant thundering and on and off downpour. I tapped my foot up and down while playing with my bunny keychain as my anxiety washes over me. School always made me anxious and hate myself, constantly feeling at battle with myself and others. 

It was my senior year and I just turned 18, so all I had to do was wait to get out of here. Kinda like prison if you think about it. Our school had uniforms and if anything that was the best  part about this place, not to mention it looked like some old money school for rich kids. Which was funny because a lot of the kids here come from nothing, like me. 

My drug addicted mother raised me semi alone, meaning that she constantly had men in and out of her life. My real father left when I was only a few months old so I never had that strong, protective father figure in my life. I craved someone to love me, hold me tight, whatever fathers do with their daughters. My moms boyfriends that were long term, aka 6 months, would try their best to be there for me but as soon as I got comfortable with them they were gone. 

I tried to stay out of relationships out of fear that the same cycle would happen to me. 

“Y/N? Are you listening?” Mr. Iero said, pulling me out of my daze. My head quickly turned to him, almost embarrassed, “Yes sir, sorry.” He turned back to board, continuing the lesson. Mr. Iero was my english/music teacher, he taught both. The first day I walked into his class I had a massive crush on, like journaling and daydreaming about him crush. I never made advances to him because what would he think?

I can’t get him in trouble and I can’t jeopardize my education for some man. I once again zoned out heavily, staring out the window. I watched as a father checked out his daughter early for school it seems, hugging each other under the umbrella as they smiled together. I sighed, rolling my eyes at the sight. Almost disgusting to me but that's just the jealousy getting to me.

“Y/N? Please pay attention, we have an important test coming up and you can’t miss this,” he sighed, putting a hand on his hip. Everyone turned to stare at me as I got smaller in my seat. When I looked back at everyone else to me they had dark eyes, something evil brewing but also something dead. I know realistically that a lot of the people here never paid attention but were much better at hiding it I think. 

“Please see me at the end of school,” he said and a few people let “Ooo” escape their mouths. Thanks Mr. Iero for embarrassing me. I wanted to hate him for that but another part of my brain desired to have that alone time with him. Even a hug from him would suffice my animalistic hunger for him. Just, “I’m proud of you,” would motivate me for the rest of the year. 

Class was dismissed and I quickly got out of there but he caught my wrist before I could, “Promise me you’ll be here after school. You can’t ditch like the last time.” I nodded and promised him that I would be back. The last time that happened I left out of pure anxiety, I threw up in the hallway on my way to his class. But safe to say this time I could get myself through it. 

I went to my locker to change out books and my best friend Livvy came up to me, “Wanna hang out after school? I wanna get coffee,” she said excitedly. “Maybe, Mr. Iero wants to see me after my last class,” I said, I didn’t want to disappoint her. “Omg again? Did you space out again (nickname)?” she said, lightly punching my arm. 

“Yeah, I just hope it’s quick. If so, I’ll make sure to call you when I’m done,”  I said with a smile. We said our goodbyes as I went to all of my other classes. I watched the clock as it quickly rang, I took a few deep breaths as I prepared myself to see Mr. Iero. I know it couldn’t be that bad but my anxiety tried to convince me otherwise. 

I looked through the glass of the door and saw no one inside so I thought maybe this could be my excuse as to why I didn’t show. “Right on time!” a voice behind me said. It startled me so I turned to see that it was Mr. Iero. I softly smiled as he unlocked the door to let us in. I didn’t see it but I heard him lock the door behind me. 

I stood in front of his desk leaning against a student's desk. He stood in front of me also leaning against his desk. I kept my eyes to the ground for the most part, “Are you okay? You’ve been very quiet and dazed in almost every class,” he said in a soft voice. My tense shoulders relaxed, still not sure how to respond, “You can tell me, Y/N.” He took a couple steps closer. 

“Look at me,” he said in a more demanding tone. I looked at him and he smirked, I wanted to fall to my knees right then and there. He rolled up his sleeves to reveal his tattoos, “I..I’ve just been going through a lot at home,” I said to put it simply. “Sit, let’s talk about it,” he said sitting in the students chair next to me. I sat down hesitantly, I don’t know if he actually cared about me or what. I guess we’ll find out. 

I told him about my mom and everything that I’ve been struggling with. I didn’t outright tell him about my struggles with men and not having a father figure of sorts. But he’s smart, so he could probably piece things together based on  how I answered some of his questions. At the end of my story I let a few tears escape from my eyes, he reached his hand up and gently wiped them. 

He placed his other hand on my knee, rubbing his thumb on it. “You have nothing to worry about with me hun,” he said sweetly, maintaining tense eye contact. He was such a good listener and never interrupted me. “Your secrets are safe with me, I’m so glad you’re finally opening up to me. Since the beginning of the year I’ve had my eye on you, there’s something special about you, Y/N,”  he said, whispering the last sentence. 

He grabbed my hand and held it tightly in his. I felt my face heat up like a thousand suns and my heart rate picked up. I couldn’t help but let a smile form on my face, “That’s my girl. No need to be sad when you’re around me. Hey, I’ll even move your desk closer up to mine, yeah?” I nodded, feeling like such a typical schoolgirl. 

He looked at the clock, “I should probably let you go now. Here,’ he said, handing me a little piece of paper. I pocketed it in my bag and before I left he gave me a big, warm hug. The smell of cigarettes and cologne hit my nostrils, it was a smell so intoxicating that it would stay with me throughout the rest of the day. I left and ran out of there to my house, it downpoured on me though. It made me feel like I was in a movie of sorts, I let the rain fall and drench my uniform and hair.

I ran inside and went straight to my room to text Livvy, it was Friday so I told her to come spend the night with me. I really didn’t want to tell anyone about what happened but she was the only person I could trust with this information, she understood. She literally has a sugar daddy, she has no room to judge me! 

Livvy came over and got settled right in with snacks and cute pajamas. “Tell me everything!” she said excitedly. I giggled, “He asked me if anything was wrong, I avoided but he pried so I spilled everything. And now he’s moving my desk up to his, he touched my leg and hugged me!” We were both laughing and blushing over this. 

“Oh! I think he gave me his number,” I told her, remembering the paper he gave me that I still haven’t opened yet. “Bitch show me!” she said excitedly. I got the paper from my bag and counted down from 3, I opened it and it had his number inside. “Text him now!” she said getting my phone from my nightstand. 

I input his number into my phone, “What do I say though?” I bit my nails. “Something flirty for sure,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. I started to type: hii its Y/N, miss our time together already xo 

“Bitch that's good!! He’s bound to fall in love with you now,” she joked. 

Hours went by without checking my phone and it was around 8pm. I checked my phone during our movie and he asked to call me, I sat up straight with my eyes wide. “He wants to call,” I said suddenly. “Oh shit! I’ll turn the tv down and I’ll stay quiet,” she shushed herself. 

I gave the phone a ring and he picked it up almost instantly, I put it on speaker phone. 

Frank: Doing okay? 

Me: yeah, thanks for letting me vent. Made me feel a lot better 

Frank: I’m glad, honey. 

Livvy looked at me with shock, “Honey?!” she mouthed covering it with her hand. 

Frank: Um, I wanted to ask if you wanna hang out tomorrow? You don't have-

Me: Yes. I’d love to! 

Frank: What time are you free then?

Me: Umm maybe around 12?

Frank: Sounds like a date then

We both hung up and we’re screaming with joy, I never thought this day would come. Hanging out with a teacher outside of school? Is that legal? I couldn’t back out now, my fate was decided. “What am I gonna wear?” I said, asking Livvy for help. She’s always been the cooler one in terms of fashion, so I can trust her to dress me. 

~^~^~^~^

It was 10 am and I had just the right amount of time to get ready. I checked my phone and he said he’d be picking me up at my place. Livvy left already and I sat down in front of my floor length mirror and put on light makeup. I got dressed in a black skirt, sheer black leggings, doc martens, and a white and black striped sweater. 

The clock finally turned 12 and I looked out my window to not see a car yet. I sighed with relief because in reality I definitely didn't feel ready. I checked my phone and Mr. Iero said he would be there in 5. I went ahead and stood out front to wait for him. 

His car pulled up and he got out to greet me, “Wow, you look great!” he said with a smile. He had on sunglasses and chewed his gum kinda obnoxiously but hot. He gave me a big hug and opened the door for me, his car was super clean surprisingly. “Where are we going?” I ask timidly. 

“Downtown, get some coffee and donuts,” he smiled, placing his hand on my thigh. “How’d you know where my house was?” I asked. “Teachers have access to those kinds of things,” I just nodded in response staring out the window. It was pretty cloudy and I was kinda hoping it’d rain. 

We got to the coffee  place downtown, “This is my special spot, for a special girl,” he smirked. I felt my stomach overfill with butterflies and a sparked joy I didn’t know I could feel around  somebody. He got out the umbrella and interlocked arms with me, I looked at him with such content but confusion. I felt like I didn’t deserve any of this, none of the kindness, none of the listening, nothing. 

He told me to sit down at a booth while he ordered us stuff. I texted Livvy while sitting there: 

Me: Liv i think im in love no joke 

Liv: i would be too 

Me: were getting coffee rn ill update soon 

He came back and sat a delicious smelling coffee in front of me, “Thank you Mr. Iero,” I said. “Call me Frank, no need for that outside of school,” he said, he grabbed my hand that was on top of the table. I looked at him, blushing hard, what if someone saw us? 

We talked about the things we both liked and hated, we actually had a lot in common. “You like Elvis?!” he said, shocked. “Yeah and?! It’s a comfort thing,” I defended. “Explain,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Sometimes when my mom was out I’d spend the night with my grandfather and in the morning while cooking breakfast he’d play Elvis,”  I said, reminiscing when I actually had a somewhat stable relationship with a man. 

I think Frank noticed my mood diminish into something solemn. “Let's grab those donuts, I have somewhere else I wanna show you,” he said, grabbing my hand. He showed me off proudly, it felt like he was telling everyone around him to look at me but not in the way I’m used to. He put his mouth close to my ear, “We’ll have to share a donut, they’re almost out of everything,” he said, placing a kiss on my cheek. 

We walked under the umbrella together as we started to share the donut, “Don’t lift a finger princess,” he said while holding the donut up to my mouth. He basically gave me the whole thing while he only had a couple bites. “Why do you treat me like this?” I asked him, curious as to why he is so fond of treating me like…a girlfriend? 

“I think you deserve it, Y/N. I’ll explain more later,” he said with such sincerity, gripping my hand tighter. Was this going to be a whole day affair? My mom hasn’t been home for a few days so I didn’t feel the need to tell her where I was, it wasn’t like she was answering my messages anyway!

“What’s wrong hun?” he said, taking down the umbrella as the rain had stopped and the sun came out. “My mom hasn't answered my messages, it's been days,” I said, a little disappointed. “I’ll look after you, don't worry about it,” he said as we showed up to a record store. I gasped as I could never afford to buy my own records, it felt like a dream. 

We went inside and looked around, I looked around for a ‘The Cure’ album. As I kept looking I felt a body press up behind me and place their arms around my waist and a head on my shoulder. He placed soft kisses on my neck causing me to giggle, I felt him do the same in my neck. “Find what you need?” he asked. “Yeah, did you?” his hands were empty. “Yeah,” he smiled playfully like he was up to something but not sure what. 

“Bullshit. You need to get something or else I’ll feel bad that you spent all your money on me,” I said feeling slight guilt about him buying things for me. “I have you, that’s all I need,” he said, pulling me to the register and pulls out his card faster than I can reach for my purse zipper. 

He handed me the bag of my records and we left. We didn’t do anything much except go thrifting and it was already 7 PM. “I have one place left to go,” he smiled, pulling out of the spot. “I feel like we’ve been everywhere already,” I said, whining. “Be a good girl and don’t whine for me, okay?” that immediately put me in my place and I complied. I could see a smirk on his face, he knew what he did to me. 

I heard a song on the radio that I liked and immediately turned it up, it was You Get Me So High by The Neighbourhood. “You like them?” he asked. “Love them! I’ve seen them in concert  twice already,” I said proudly. Livvy knew I couldn’t afford it but she ever so kindly  bought them for me. 

After a short drive we made it to our destination, a bar. It was quite crowded, I wasn't even old enough to drink yet. I looked at him worried, “I’m not 21..” I said. “I can get you in darling, don’t worry,” he said reassuringly. I trusted him but I tightened my lips anxiously. He was able to get me in because he was close friends with the guy at the front. 

We got in and the music was at a comfortably loud volume. He dragged me to the bar and ordered me a drink but I couldn’t tell you what it was. Tasted great though! 

I downed a couple drinks and I basically became a melting mess in Frank's hands. I held onto  him for dear life like someone was trying to pull me away from him. I dragged him outside for a cigarette break, I pulled them out of bag and I forgot my lighter, “I forgot my fuckin lighter.” He laughed at my tone and lit my cigarette for me. 

We stood inches apart, he held my waist with his tattooed hand. I took a huff of my cig and blew it in his face, “Naughty girl,” he chuckled. He pulled me in to kiss him and our lips collided. The taste of cigarettes and alcohol mixed perfectly with each other. I wrapped my arms around his neck, not wanting to release. 

I shared my cigarette with him and he whispered in my ear, “How about you come over to my place for the night?” My heart was beating out of its chest, “Are you sure that's okay? I would need to get my stuff at home,” I said. “We can stop by your place first baby, I do have a few room-mates if that’s okay,” he said looking away embarrassed. “More the merrier!” I joked. 

We drove back to my place and I led him up to my room, he sat on my bed and I packed up a couple things. I turned around putting my hands on my hips, “All packed,” I smiled. He patted his hand insinuating for me to sit on his lap, so I did. I wrapped my arms around his neck, “My pretty girl,” he whispered while pushing my hair out of my face. 

“I really don’t understand why you like me, Frank,” I said, that feeling of undeservingness washing over me. “Look at you Y/N!. What is there not to like about you? We have so much in common and I can’t get over how beautiful you are,” I need all the reassurance I can get. What if he leaves me? Would another man treat me like Frank does? 

“Do you promise not to leave?” I asked tearfully. “What? Of course I do, Y/N. How could I do that to you sweetheart?” he said, hugging me tightly. “We should get going,” he said softly. I nodded and he grabbed my bags for me as we walked back to the car. 

We got to Frank's place and it was dimly lit, it smelled of cigarettes and expensive musky candles. I saw band equipment set up, “What’s all this?” I asked. “Oh, me and my friends do gigs on the side,” he chuckled as we walked to the kitchen. A timid man turned around to greet us, he gave Frank a hug and gave me a handshake. Firmly. 

“Nice to meet you,” I said shyly. “Franks said a lot about you, nice to meet you,” he smiled kindly and I furrowed my brows a little confused. He talks about me? What did he say? More  questions to be answered. 

Frank hurried me to his room, it was spacious and had a few of his guitars displayed on the walls. He disappeared for a second and brought back a shirt and pajama pants of his, “Put these on,” I took them. I went into the bathroom bringing my toiletries along with me. I changed into his oversized clothes and  washed my face. 

I brought out my phone and snapped a pic of me in the mirror sending it to Livvy. She replied almost instantly: not you going home with him !! be safe !! she replied.

I went back out and put my other clothes back in my bag, “You have such a nice room,” I complimented. “Biggest one in the house,” he brags. I hadn’t noticed before but he turned the radio on and it was on a classic rock station. The room was filled with cigarette smoke and incense. Lamps created the perfect sensual ambience. 

I laid my head on his soft pillows and Frank hovered over me, caressing my face with his hand. Something came over me, my eyes filled with tears and escaped the corner of my eyes. “What’s wrong princess?” he said, worried. I shook my head, sobbing. Never was I good enough to ever receive a love like this before. Here I had it. 

“Tell daddy what’s wrong princess,” that broke me. I couldn’t tell if I was imagining all of this or if it was some sick joke. I straddled his lap, crying into his shoulder. His hand rubbed up and down my back sensually. “I’ve never felt such an overwhelming amount of love and adoration from a man before,” I stated plainly. 

He asked me to talk about it so I did. I told him about the men this time, while I did we drank. It got to the point where I only started seeing flashes of my surroundings. One minute I was taking off my clothes, then I was sitting on top of Frank, then throwing my head back and moaning. 

I remember seeing Frank go down on me and him forcing my legs open as I was ready to release on his face. Flashes of Frank saying things like, “You're daddy’s good girl…I’ll never hurt you…you’re safe with me…shh you’re okay sweetheart.” His voice vibrated through my skin. 

Soon enough I passed out, naked and covered up by the warm sheets. I woke up groggy and still a little drunk around 3 am and had my clothes put back on. I groaned and didn’t see Frank in bed with me but playing guitar across the room. “Frank?” I said, rubbing my eyes. He immediately rushed to my side to comfort me, “Are you okay princess?” he said. 

I nodded, “Could you get me some water?” I asked because my voice was hoarse. He brought back water to me and I downed it as fast as I could. He got into bed with me and I cuddled up at his side, holding on for life. 

I grabbed Frank's face pressing our lips together, I longed for his kiss and his desire. He pulled away and cupped my face, “If you were my little girl, I’d do whatever I could do for you,” he said softly. “I am,” I stated so desperately wanting him to take me in, live with him, devote my life to him. “I’d even run away and hide with you if I could. You’re daddy’s girl,” he said pulling me into his chest. 

To be safe and sound in his heart forever. 

[krystaldeath]

Cotl Auuuuu

It’s modern time babeyyyy

* This au does take place in modern day but it technically “starts” in the late 90s bc it’s a Narinder and Lamb were childhood best friends au :))

* I honestly have the most ideas for when they’re in high school but I’ll get to that in a bit (also should say this was inspired by that one prom post from redcrowncafe where Lamb talks about their prom date who was an asshole and wishes they knew Narinder then so they could’ve gone with each other. Saw that and thought “okay but what if they did” and that spiraled out of control)

* I’ve yet to say that my personal headcanon for Lamb’s family is that they had two moms, and three younger siblings (a sister about 12 years younger, and 18 years younger twins; one male one amab gender-fluid). The twins don’t show up till Lamb is, well, 18 tho so they won’t come up much yet

* The Bishops (Bishop is just their last name here) are all foster siblings who have shitty foster parents. Shamura stays even a bit into their early 20s because of this since they don’t want to leave their younger siblings alone with those two. The foster parents’ were abusive in multiple ways, and they also kept any money the Bishop’s respective parents might’ve left for their offspring to themselves (spoiler: Shamura’s in particular were LOADED and so when the Bishops are finally away from these two they’re pretty much set for life). It’s after a particularly scary night where a two year old Leshy and a six year old Heket are threatened while Shamura and the parents are arguing that something in Shamura snaps and they begin to plan to murder their foster parents. Yay!

* I don’t have the details but they in fact /do/ kill them. Thing is they’re super smart about it and hardly any evidence can be traced back to them. It is a small town though so there aren’t too many suspects and overall the one who would have the motive and probable method would be Shamura (unless they wanna try and pin it of 13 year old Kallamar or 8 year old Narinder). Thing is, their foster parents? No one liked them. So no one’s gonna point fingers. The police try and press people to give a suspect but no one does. So the case goes cold. But, even though no one liked the two, murder is still frowned upon by most so the siblings move away.

* But BEFORE all that let me explain a bit about Nari and Lamb’s friendship: they met in kindergarten (idk why they’re in the same grade when I hc Lamb to be a year older but shhh) and while Narinder tried to act “cool” and “aloof” Lamb was having none of it and dragged him along on little kid adventures like playing in the mud and pretending to be power rangers. Also almost from the get go Nari had a little crush on Lamb lol. Since Nari and his sibs move away when he’s 8, these two knew each other for 3 years. Idk what all happens in that time. Like I said most of what I’ve thought up for this au (mainly about Narilamb) happens in their high school years. It is thanks to their play dates at each others houses that Lamb figures out that being nonbinary is a thing from Shamura and is like “Wait… Me too???”

* After the move, Nari and Lamb stay connected through letters and phone calls. They also send pictures of all kinds of things, mainly of themselves so the other “won’t forget what I look like!” Neither make many lasting friends, at least, not ones around the same age as them (Lamb befriends Ratau and his buddies. Narinder befriends kind library assistant Forneus and her two twin sons).

* Lamb is loud and proud about who they are, which unfortunately makes them targeted for bullying, though it’s not just for their gender, it’s also because of their - Idk a better word than quirky Sorry - personality and the rumors about their long distance best friend; there’s multiple rumors, like that he doesn’t exist (this comes from those who don’t know much about the whole Bishop family scandal) or that he’s a murderer, just like his older sibling (this comes from those that /do/ know, ofc)

* Btw over the course of these years they’ve been apart Nari’s crush has only grown and Lamb has also gained a crush on Nari themself

* OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY TIME FOR THE BIT I HAVE THE MOST OF AN IDEA FOR GET READY (it’s super cheesy and corny and honestly feels like a Disney channel original movie but this fandom could use a little more of that imo so let me live)

* So, I know some schools would let Juniors have their own prom. Let’s say Lamb’s school does that. They had been asked by some guy to be his prom date and figured “why not?” and accepted. Thing is the guy asked if they could buy his ticket, and being the nice person (yet to decide if this is also a human au or if they’re still all animals) they are they do so. The guy then just takes the ticket and tells them to get lost. Lamb didn’t like the guy but it still hurt to have their kindness taken advantage of. They tell Narinder all about it and admit they probably won’t even go to the prom, even though they already bought a ticket and outfit. Nari, who Lamb can’t see bc it’s just a phone call, is absolutely SEETHING.

* Now Narinder has a mission: Get a tux, flowers, and other gifts. Convince Shamura to let him go in his truck (yeah he drives a truck in this au, idk it’s just the car I imagined when I thought it up lol) and be away from home for a few of days (it would take about a day to drive there, then he’d want to stay for at least one or two, then another to drive back). Shamura is reluctant (that town holds a lot of bad memories and him being so far away when he’s only 16 is scary), but seeing the determination in his eyes makes them relent.

* He calls Lamb’s moms and lets them know his plan, but wants it to be a surprise. They both agree to convince them to go to prom even if they will be going alone, without letting it slip that they will have a prom date after all.

* Prom night comes around, and Lamb, who is dressed in a tux-dress combo, is confused as to why their moms, who were so insistent that they go, aren’t ready to take them? (Projecting my reluctance to learn to drive onto them here, so that’s why they can’t drive themself). Then the doorbell rings. They answer and see Narinder (who is now like a foot taller wow couldn’t tell that in the photos he sent) in a tuxedo holding a bouquet and corsage. He’s got a nervous smile on his face as he says “I know it’s a little last minute, but will you allow me to accompany you to prom?”

* Almost a full minute passes in silence, making Nari sweat and begin to regret doing all of this. Then he gets jumped by Lamb into a hug that topples them both to the ground as they scream “YES!!!”. Thankfully they aren’t hurt and their formal wear is alright, though they wouldn’t notice otherwise, their focuses only on each other’s laughter and presence.

* When he opens the passenger door for them there’s a basket of treats, jewelry and a black cat plushie. “Ohh, Narinderrrr! You’re making me feel like I’m royalty!” “You are, to me.” *pause as they look at each other in flustered silence* “A-ANYWAYS WERE SHOULD GET GOING RIGHT?” “OH YEAH YOURE RIGHT. Uh, help me up?” He helps them climb into their seat, close the door, and silently screams about how dumb that was (while Lamb is inside internally screams about how sweet that was and oh no they think they’re falling for him)

* They get there (Yeah I realized Nari doesn’t have a ticket but let’s say somehow there was enough for him to buy one at the entrance) and they’re having a good time (only barely noticing the looks they’re getting and the whispers of “Isn’t that one of the Bishop siblings? Figures Lamb would have to settle for a murderer to be their date.”), dancing, eating and drinking the possibly spiked punch. I’m sorry to say some hurt is about to happen

* They have a run in with the guy who tricked Lamb and Nari almost breaks the guys nose before Lamb pulls him away saying it’s not worth it. He’s about to disagree and say something embarrassing again like “maybe /he’s/ not worth it but /you/ are and he hurt you so he deserves to be punched” when a girl “accidentally” spills her whole cup of punch onto Lamb’s outfit. Everyone around them laughs and Lamb, barely blinking back tears, runs out of the building. Narinder growls at them all and runs after Lamb.

* He finds them curled up by a tree outside, and sits down next to them. He tries to comfort them but they sob out “Just take me back home.” He agrees to do so, but tells them to go wash up a bit in the bathroom while he gets something. As they’re washing up he knocks on the door and asks to come in. They let him and see he’s holding a box. He tells them he planned on giving it to them later after Prom for something else he had planned but figured they’d just go now since Lamb didn’t want to stay anymore. He hands it to them and says he’ll be waiting outside.

* Surprise! It’s another outfit :)) It’s a bit more cozy than what they were wearing before, but still fit for “royalty”. And a black crown with a big red jewel inlaid in the middle-front

* They get dressed and marvel in the mirror before going back out. Narinder’s heart skips a beat when he sees them.

* Idk what to put in between so let’s skip ahead to when they’ve arrived at a spot out in the open wilderness where it’s easier to star gaze. He sets up the trunk bed to be comfy and reveals he had a cooler and basket of food for them to have a night picnic under the stars.

* After they’ve eaten some, one thing leads to another, and then Lamb pulls Narinder into a kiss. They both confess and spend the rest of their time cuddling (until Lamb gets a phone call from their very nervous moms because of how late it’s getting and they’re not home yet lol)

* I have more ideas but to sum them up for now: The rest of this AU is just Narilamb long distance relationship angst & fluff. Eventually the Bishops move back to the small town and then it’s not long distance narilamb (and eventual leshycat and whatever else).

* I will say this: Another murder will happen, this time it’s Lamb who commits it. That’s all I’m giving y’all ;))c

[baylardo]

my jj carey cinematic universe kinda chronological idea posting its still super rough GO

elephant wrote in the Carey chapter of lesson plans that peppa and jj were pen pals :3 i think they have an age gap of like 9 years lmao -looks away- (((((chakotay and janeway have the same gap leave me alone lmao)))))) but theyd be like 5 and 14 i think? i figured thatd be how they communicate through their earlier life,,,

maybe peppa would accompany her mother during the Widow’s Walk lil short story about kathryn meeting Joe’s wife and their two sons to bestow the medal of honor or whatever and gives JJ his father’s model of voyager :)

i figure theyd remain distant for a while after that for a variety of reasons like hes grieving his father, probably enters the academy as a promising cadet, idk when hed drop out/leave tbh but it comes as a shock to everyone. anyway also peppa’s mom dies and they go space for several years. i figure theyre both busy being in school/living life to interact much. i thought like maaaaaybeeeee he and patrick (or just jj) would reach out to the triplets when their mother died but i dont think philippa especially would receive it well. shes bad with her feelings and her papa left or was in the process of leaving also lol WHOOPS

might be some time inbetween when they connect but its always brief and very platonic just friends catching up in vibe. put a pin in that one lolllll,,,,,, otherwise:

i was thiiiiinking theyd reconvene at a voyager 20 year reunion? (the 10 year i think lands when theyre out in space!) so shed be around 25 and hed be 34? 🤔 when theyre both adults by that point i think, reconnect out by a fountain. theyd get to talk about what all has happened in their lives, its a little bit of an escape for philippa from the party, shes surprised hes even here considering. very likely his mother and brother didnt come. maybe hed ask about her scar, OR NOT, maybe she brings it up hehe,,,,,, is vulnerable about how insecure she feels about her appearance and hed say something sweet back. :) maybe be a little cheeky about how he loves seeing her patterns more visibly in that revealing of a dress shes wearing!!! 🙈 in a polite way. shed maybe finally have the time to ask why he dropped out of starfleet, shed talk about her own career (idk if 25 is still academy age…) stuff like that!!! but i figure they pick up pen paling each other again after this!!!! bc shes on starships now and hes either home or visiting planets for work.

figure they hang out sometimes while she has time inbetween missions. hes a bit of a geek/nerd combo, she complains about her family a lot with him, she asks him about his projects, stuff she doesnt understand but he lights up about it in a way she maybe envies she wishes she had his passion about something. she visits his house in ireland a lot and has a foundation of fondness toward the country ingrained in her from her mother. ummmm maybe she has an apartment in san Francisco, but she stays over there sometimes to get away from her work. potentially hes the one she confides in about what shes seen and done. 🤷

next thing that happens thats kinda Altering the norm for them is that philippa’s captain betrays starfleet and shes ordered into extended medical leave after being forcefully augmented by her captain. i gotta mention like, philippa and captain sh'eraz have been working together for a bit, their last mission as a captain and XO was to retrieve this lost/dead warship aka the Vesuvius that was stolen by augments early on into starfleet's history and subsequently altered/enhanced. it's kinda a lost relic of a ship, but its augmentations have been a quiet looming threat that starfleet has wanted to obtain and CONTAIN.

but captain sh'eraz augments philippa before escaping capture. (shes either like, with some augments or romulans or something idk yet lol) ANYWAY philippa cant go to Jace during this time bc her augmented and in general thoughts are exceptionally difficult to be around as a telepath, her family isnt an option for her (stubborn?? theyre overwhelmjng to her and shes like, augmented and lashes out and keeps crying all the time, she doesnt want anyone to see her in this state tbh) i think shed end up going to JJ’s for a bit and he offers to take her off world to the planet he’s doing engineering work on. its swampy kinda similar to the planet she was born on. it takes her some time to come to terms with her circumstances, she may never get better, she may be stuck like this and never be allowed back into starfleet, and i think jj would help her with maybe seeing a bigger picture of helping people or something idk. her augmented brain for a while kinda has a knack for equations and blue printing and problem solving so they work on engineering jobs together that shed never have been able to have helped on prior to the augmentation. i figure she gradually learns to relax and let her body heal, eventuslly she starts regressing both mentally and physically back into her old state. like to think she picks up swimming as a hobby, something she never indulged all too frequently before, but shes getting more in touch with her amphibious tendencies while here. eventually they finish their work on the planet and go back, and philippa continues her recovery on earth.

for a time she’s still not 100% back to recovery but shes calmed down and she sees her family and can manage seeing jace now without being mentally A LOT for her betazoid friend. i figure around this time, kathryn is sticking her nose in the revival project for the Vesuvius (or maybe overseeing it?) which is the ancient starship philippa retrieved. thought that she might discreetly recruit JJ to work on the project, not disclosing anything to philippa though. reasoning behind why he gets involved being his experience working with older dated systems and starships, theyre trying to figure out how to deal with the augmentations built into the old ship.

EVENTUALLY, revival project finishes, peppa's probably tried to squeeze information out of her mother and friend for a while but it hasnt worked. Philippa returns to starfleet after her extended medical leave and gets promoted to captain and given the Vesuvius as a new experimental ship, the Legacy.

JJ is given a field commission for a bit, im thinking lieutenant? 🤔 aboard the Legacy to make sure the transition is seamless and nothing breaks, so him and philippa get some time to actually work together in starfleet. :) their overarching goal is to find and aprehend captain sh’eraz but as is the case with most starfleet things, they get caught up in side quests along the way lol. one thing of note for me during this time is like, the Legacy is full of surprises, things missed in its inspection and revival process. philippa had a weeeird intuitive knack for dealing with the augmented stuff on the ship, likely a phantom limb type vibe from her augmentation. she tries to play it down how instinctively she knows how things should work, likely confides in JJ that its something shes dealing with and playing down. as the chief engineer(?) he can kinda go with it, but theyre very “need to know” with each other about the augment stuff. i can imagine a lot of their adventures involve the Legacy doing something augmented and weird and unpredictable and them trying to figure out what its trying to do or tell them.

i dont know if hed still be around by the time philippa is confronting/pursuing her ex-captain, maybe they get the hang of the Legacy eventually and he goes home, new chief engineer comes on in his stead. i kinda want ummmm philippa alone and a little wet cat a and a little obsessed with her mission without much support surrounding her. :3c i also just think theyd pick up writing to each other again and shed miss having him around, so it gives room for THAT. but moidrah sh’eraz gets either captured or killed (idk whats more poignant yet lol) and i think its be traumatic and shes return home to earth and MAYBE see jj and be defeated and cry about it lalala its vague in my head rn.

lifes goes on, hes still doing civil engineer things, shes still captaining the Legacy,,,,, ummmmmm they maybe sleep together one time and MAYBE she gets pregnant…… im still so iffy on that one lmao go read this post for this mess of an idea involving how philipp maybe gets TWO kids 🙈

figurrreeeee not long after THAT ^^^^^ she passes on the Legacy to a new captain and is given command of a galaxy class ship (maybe the Elysium??????) which she never thought shed see herself captaining lmao. idk if those classes are still around for families,,,,,, but i figure shed do something way less dangerous and slower while shes ummmmm maybe pregnant and raising a weird moth alien baby. with jj maybe hahaha. theyre figuring it out THIS AREAS STILL ROUGH FOR ME GET BACK TO ME ON IT LOLOLOL. whether or not hes field commissioned again idk!!! maybe hes training engineers 🤷

but thats all i got so far hahaha :)

[drabbles-mc]

Playing It Cool But She's Lying

Opie Winston x OFC (Chris Teller)

Inspired by the song Kilby Girl by The Backseat Lovers

Warnings: language, alcohol, pre-canon AU, Young Opie who isn't completely dead inside

Word Count: 6.2k

A/N: I've had this fic pictured vividly in my head for what feels like the longest time and it still fought me every step of the way as I tried to put it down on paper. But it's done! It's here! I'm so relieved lmao. I have such a Big Fic planned for Opie and Chris but writing this in the meantime was just so fun. Idk, I love the idea of Opie in his super early 20's and not being so sullen all the time. Let the man have some fun. 🥰 Also, shout-out to @garbinge for listening to me ramble for hours about this fic and these two in general. They wouldn't be here without you. 💖

SOA Taglist: @littlekittymeow @chibsytelford @i-just-read-stuff @fuckyeahopie @justreblogginfics @buckybarneshairpullingkink @paintballkid711 @jitterbugs927 @fanfic-n-tabulous @mijagif @frattsparty @winchestershiresauce @beardburnsupersoldiers @choochoo284 @artemiseamoon @nessamc (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

Chris was rooting around the cupboards of Gemma’s kitchen, looking for something to snack on while she figured out what to do with the rest of her night. Her usual avenues for Friday night plans were all out of the question. The club took off earlier in the evening which meant that she didn’t have Jax and Opie to bother the way that she normally would. A handful of her friends from school had left town a few weeks before when college was back in session, and Opie’s sister Veronica was out of town for the weekend visiting Mary’s family. Charming wasn’t exactly a town known for being busy, but it had been a long time since Chris felt like it was such a boring spot to be.

The only upshot of it all was that with the club being out on business, Gemma would be staying at T-M and the clubhouse longer than usual to make sure everything was alright. On more than one occasion Chris tried to tell Gemma that things were much more likely to go wrong when all of the guys were on the compound, but the message never seemed to go over well. Either way, Chris had the house to herself for the night and she figured that if there was nothing else to do, she might as well take advantage of it.

She was halfway to climbing up onto the counter to reach the top shelf when she heard a motorcycle pulling into the driveway. More confused than anything else, she went and peeked out the front window to see who it could be. Last she heard, only the prospect for left behind and it wasn’t as though he would have any reason to be stopping by.

Her confusion only intensified when she saw that it was Opie rolling into the driveway. When she heard the door shut and the sound of his boots on the floor, she beat him to the punch and called something out into the house before he could.

“I thought you were supposed to be long gone,” she said with a laugh from the kitchen.

She heard Opie chuckling as he made his way to where she was. When he walked into the kitchen, Chris was perched comfortably up on the counter with a can of soda in her hand. Opie shook his head, not commenting on the fact that she was choosing to sit on the counter rather than the multitude of chairs around Gemma’s table.

Opening the fridge, he grabbed his own can of soda. “I thought I was supposed to be, too.”

She laughed. “What’d they do? Downgrade you back to prospect?”

“Might as well have,” he said as he popped the top on his soda can. “I’m ‘on probation’.” He threw air quotes around it to emphasize his sarcasm.

Chris nodded, not even trying to hide how funny she found the whole idea of it all. She didn’t even know what probation would really mean in the context of the MC. Apparently it meant Opie wouldn’t be going on runs with them or any of the fun stuff for a little bit. She sort of felt bad because she knew it mattered to him, but she also knew that it wasn’t as though it was going to last forever. They’d need him again in no time.

Without a word, she hopped down from the counter and started walking towards her room. Opie watched her for a moment, and when he realized that she wasn’t actually going to extend him an invitation, he started to follow her down the hallway regardless.

Just as he crossed the threshold of her room, Chris was flopping down onto the beanbag chair that she had tucked in the corner opposite of her bed. Opie couldn’t believe that she hadn’t broken or gotten rid of the thing yet—she’d had it for years and it showed with how worn out it was. He’d called her out on it once and her immediate response was, “Just because it’s ugly, doesn’t make me like it any less—kinda like you,” and then he never brought it up again.

Rather than going and sitting on her bed, Opie walked over to the small desk she had pushed against the wall by her bedroom window, the same window that she had definitely climbed out of on more than one occasion to sneak off with Opie and his sister, and sat down in the spinning chair that went with it. It was a miracle that he fit in it, but he managed. He stretched his legs out and swayed the chair back and forth as they both sat there.

“Finally got the house to yourself and you’re not even gonna throw a party?” Opie asked with a chuckle.

Chris rolled her eyes. “Gemma isn’t gonna be gone that long.”

“So you’re just gonna sit around and do nothing?”

“Hey, listen, you’re the one who came to see me. So if I’m doing nothing, you’re dong even less than that.” She paused. “Why didn’t you go with V to visit Mary and everyone?”

“Oh, uh, because I didn’t want to.”

She laughed and shook her head. “You’re such an asshole.”

He shot her a small smirk and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s in the genes. Besides,” he took a sip of his soda, “V’s always been Mary’s favorite anyway.”

“Yea, mine too, but we all gotta settle sometimes, you know?” she joked.

“Alright,” he said as he rolled his eyes, trying to look annoyed and failing.

“It’s unfortunate for you and Jax that both of you have younger sisters who are objectively cooler and better than you in every possible way. I’m,” she laughed, “I’m truly sorry for your loss.”

Opie was only able to keep a straight face for a moment before he broke and started laughing. “You don’t sound very sorry.”

The two of them moved onto other things. They talked a little about the club, but he never stayed on that topic with her for long. He’d known her his whole life and yet he never really felt like he was in the position to just sit down with her and ask her point-blank what her actual problem with it was. Even if he wanted to, it wasn’t like it was the right kind of night for that anyway. He listened to her rant about Gemma, the two of them talked about Jax, and they ran the whole gamut of their usual conversation topics before they finally hit a lull in the conversation.

When things had been quiet for a couple minutes, Chris looked over at Opie, who was still parked in her tiny desk chair, toying with the now-empty soda can in his hands. She watched him for a moment before saying, “We should go out.”

He choked on the breath he had been taking. “What?”

“Yea! We should go out tonight! I don’t wanna spend my entire Friday night sitting here with you.”

He chuckled, sitting himself upright in the chair. “Thanks.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.” She stood up from the beanbag chair and stretched. “Come on—I know a place.”

“You know a place?” he asked, doubt written on his face.

“Oh fuck off, like you know any places that aren’t the clubhouse.” She paused and waited for him to either argue or agree with the plan. “It’ll be fun! I promise.”

Opie looked her up and down, wondering where exactly they could be going that could be that much fun if she was planning on going there in one of Jax’s old hoodies and a pair of cutoff shorts. Still, he knew that it wasn’t as though he had much else to do. He could either do whatever it was that Chris was scheming up in her head, or he could go sit at home and do a whole lot of nothing by himself.

“Alright, fine,” he finally conceded.

Her whole face lit up. “Amazing.” She pulled him up out of the chair and started shooing him towards the door. “Now get out so I can change.”

Opie allowed himself to be pushed out of the room, shaking his head with a small smile as Chris all but slammed the door shut behind him. He waited in the hallway, leaned back against the wall opposite of her bedroom door, curious to see what he was about to get himself into.

When Chris opened the door back up a couple minutes later, she had completely changed. Her hair was down, long dirty blonde waves falling over her shoulders. She had traded in Jax’s hoodie for a snug black tank top, and her cutoffs for a pair of ripped skinny jeans. She was pulling her boots on as she braced herself against the door. Despite the fact that she was completely off-kilter as she got her shoes on, she still looked over at Opie with a smile.

“Alright. You ready?”

He chuckled, shrugging as he watched her finally get herself back upright again. “Are you?”

“Pfft,” she waved him off as she stepped out and started going down the hallway, “I was born ready, Ope.”

“Right,” he said, sarcasm dripping from the word.

He watched as Chris grabbed the jacket that she always wore anytime she was on the back of someone’s bike. It was usually his of Jax’s, but every now and then if things got chaotic last-minute she’d have to catch a ride with Tig or Chibs. Despite not having her own, she was no stranger to motorcycles.

Opie went to grab his kutte off the back of one of the chairs around the dining room table when Chris spoke up. “You can leave that.”

He looked back over at her, clearly perplexed. “What?”

“Your kutte,” she said as she grabbed her helmet, “you can leave it.”

He looked back and forth between her face and the helmet in her hand. “Sorry, did you get a bike of your own that I don’t know about?”

She laughed and shook her head. “No, but you won’t need your kutte where we’re going.” She saw the apprehension on his face. “Come on, Opie, just be a normal guy with a motorcycle for once. The girls will be all over you.”

“Oh, well, you didn’t mention there was gonna be girls,” he joked as he reluctantly left his kutte on the chair and headed for the door behind Chris.

He trailed behind her as they both walked out of the house and down the driveway towards his bike. It had been a long time since it was just the two of them doing something together. It was the nature of the club, and also having siblings, that there was rarely any alone time to be had. Everything was always done in groups. Chris had plenty of solo time with Jax, and so did Opie, but it wasn’t often anymore that the two of them ever really spent time together without Jax or someone else around.

“You’re really committed to the full-face helmet, huh?” Opie asked her with a knowing grin as he swung his leg over his bike.

“Um, yea,” she said as she climbed on behind him, “because one of these days I just fuckin’ know you or Jax is gonna wipe out while I’m on the back of this thing and I don’t wanna mess up my whole face because you guys don’t know how to ride.”

“Big talk coming from someone who actually doesn’t know how to ride,” he retorted as he clipped the strap of his helmet underneath his chin.

“I know how to ride!” she said, clearly offended as she pulled her helmet on.

“You rode once like three years ago,” he told her with a laugh. “Doesn’t count.”

Even though he couldn’t see it, Chris rolled her eyes at him. “Whatever.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Are you ready?”

“Yea,” he said, letting the bike roar to life, “just tell me which way to go.”

Opie followed Chris’s instructions with a blind faith that he wouldn’t have had in many other people in the same position. There was no hesitation in her directions, though. Wherever they were going, she clearly knew the way there. There was a moment, about ten minutes into their ride, that had Opie wondering if she was just going to have him going in circles. He thought maybe she was just looking for a good excuse to climb onto the back of his bike. But then they crossed the border out of Charming and he realized that she definitely had a destination in mind, but he had no idea what it was.

“Take this right up here,” Chris pointed down the street to the next stoplight, “and then you’ll see it.”

“See what?” Opie said as he rolled up to the stoplight, leaning into the turn with ease.

She laughed, squeezing herself a little tighter to him when she felt the tension in his body. “Relax, Ope. We’re not rolling up to fight club or anything.”

When he rolled a few yards down the street, he saw the place that Chris must’ve been talking about. He let out a laugh that was more sarcastic than anything else. “I think,” he said as he pulled into the parking lot of the club, “I’d prefer fight club.”

She lightly slapped the back of his shoulder. “Oh shut up. It’s gonna be fun!”

Opie parked the bike, allowing Chris to hop off before he did. He watched as she took her helmet off and shook out her hair. He hung his helmet on the handlebar, looking back and forth between Chris and the neon signs that were lighting up the dark windows of the club.

“Can you even get in here?” he asked, a smug smirk on his face.

“Fuck you, first of all,” she said with a laugh. “Second of all,” she reached into her pocket and pulled out a driver’s license that had her face but definitely not any of her real information on it, “I have a fake.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Opie said with a quiet laugh as he snatched the card from her hand to inspect it. He looked up at her, an amused look on his face. “Really? Rose?”

She burst out laughing as she took it back. “Thought it would be a funny little fuck you to Gemma,” she started walking towards the club, “not that she’ll ever know about it.”

Opie fell into stride beside her. “How do you even know about this place?”

Chris shot him a disbelieving look. “What? Did you think that all those nights me, and V, and all our friends didn’t go to the clubhouse with you guys we just sat at home feeling sorry for ourselves?”

“I mean…yea, kinda.” He laughed as she shoved him and he hardly stumbled half a step. “Guess I never thought about it.”

“Sometimes,” she told him as they walked up the few steps to the club door, “it’s nice to be out of Charming where everyone knows everything about you.”

Opie was about to try and come back with something smart when the bouncer at the door greeted them. The burly man made Opie seem small, and he was sitting on a stool just outside the door. Still, the man flashed a warm smile at Chris as she handed over her ID.

“Hey, Rose.”

“Hey, Benny,” she said as she beamed at him.

He looked Opie up and down as he handed over his ID, one that didn’t have to be fake. “Brought a friend, huh?” he asked as he looked over the card in his hands.

“Yea,” Chris said with a laugh. “Finally got him out of the house.”

He handed the card back to Opie, only looking at him for a second before diverting his attention back to Chris. “Have a good time.”

“Always do!” she said, a little more pep in her voice than usual as she took Opie’s hand in her own and dragged him through the doorway.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Opie leaned down so he could speak quietly enough just for Chris to hear. “They know you here?”

She was practically cackling as they made their way towards the bar. “How’s it feel to not be the famous one?”

She couldn’t see the look on his face as he allowed himself to be pulled through the clusters of people in the club. He was thankful for that, though, because he could feel the stupid grin that was on his face and he couldn’t quite manage to wipe it off. It was ridiculous, and he knew that it was, but he couldn’t help it.

“Man,” Chris said with a laugh as they got right up to the bar so that they could order their drinks, “I should’ve brought you a long time ago.” She turned and looked up at him. “Getting up here has never been so easy.”

“Being a foot taller than almost everyone in here helps,” he joked.

The two of them ordered their first round of drinks, and Opie finally took a moment to look around while they waited for the bartender to make them. The club wasn’t an overly large spot. It was comparable in size to the clubhouse only instead of being set up for five different things, the entire space other than the bar was dedicated to a dancefloor with the exception of a few tables on the perimeter of it all. The music was loud, the lighting low for the most part except for the scattered colored lights everywhere. It certainly wasn’t anything like the clubhouse. However, as he looked down at Chris and watched her watching everything unfolding around them, he realized it was exactly the type of place that she liked to be.

“I hope you know,” she said, pausing for a moment as she took a sip of her drink through the small straw that was in it, “that you’re going to have to dance with me.”

He raised his eyebrows, unable to stop himself from laughing. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh,” she laughed, leaning back so that she was propped up against the bar, “I definitely think so.” She saw the look on his face and argued before he could say anything else. “You can’t come to a club and not dance!”

“I didn’t know we were going to a club!” he said with a laugh.

“But here we are!” She gestured around like she was showing him the most lovely thing in the world. “So now you gotta dance with me.”

“Chris…”

“Opie…” she mocked his tone back to him. She finished off her drink and set the glass on top of the bar before stepping in closer to Opie. “Come on. You don’t know anyone here! I promise I won’t tell anyone in Charming if you’re a terrible dancer.”

He shook his head. “Not gonna happen.”

“I’ll make a scene,” she said immediately with a laugh. “Trust me, I’ll get Benny over here, tell him you broke my heart.”

He rolled his eyes. “You really are Gemma’s fuckin’ kid,” he said with a shake of his head. With a deep sigh, he finished off his drink as well. “Fine. Let’s go.” He saw the look of excitement on her face and cut it short before she could get too carried away. He held up his pointer finger, “One dance. That’s it.”

She laughed as she grabbed his hands in her own, walking backwards as she pulled him towards the dancefloor. “We’ll see!”

It wasn’t Opie’s scene at all. He knew it, Chris knew it, hell pretty much anyone who looked at him probably knew it. But it almost didn’t matter. He couldn’t remember the last time that he saw Chris having such a good time. He wondered briefly if this was what she was always like when she was away from the club and all the chaos that came with her family. She wasn’t quite a different person, per se, but she definitely seemed more at ease with herself. He wished that he could say that he felt the same.

Chris saw the apprehension all over his face and she had to laugh. She knew for a fact that some of the things that he had to do to get into and keep his place in the MC were much more daunting than dancing with her in a club full of people, and yet he was practically frozen to his spot.

Taking his hands again, she pulled him close so that his arms wrapped around her waist. He almost stumbled, not ready for the sudden closeness. No one would’ve been able to hear Chris’s laughter above the sound of the music, but with her body pressed right up against his, he could feel her laughter without having to hear it.

They both knew that Opie wasn’t a good dancer. Opie had a lot of things going for him, but rhythm wasn’t one of them. He’d only ever used all that height and muscle for fighting, for whatever brute force tasks needed to be done at T-M and for the MC. He never really had to be graceful, or any approximation of that.

Once he realized that Chris wasn’t just playing some elaborate prank, that she wasn’t going to throw him into the wolves and leave him alone, he tried his best to relax and ease into it. He was only partially successful. He tried to relax into the fact that his hands were on Chris’s hips, that hers were resting right in the crook of where his neck met his shoulders. With the heat of the club, Opie thought that the last thing he would want was to be so close to another person, but there was something surprisingly comfortable about having Chris’s body pressed so closely to his.

They’d only been on the dancefloor for a couple minutes when Chris interlocked her hands behind Opie’s neck and pulled her down so that she could talk to him and he would actually hear it. She had one hand rested on the back of his neck, one on his shoulder as she brought her lips closer to his ear.

There was laughter in her voice as she said, “You can loosen up, Ope.”

He chuckled and shook his head, trying not to think about how suddenly her being so close felt so different than any other time the two of them had been in tight quarters together. “This is as loose as I’m gonna get.”

She laughed, leaning her forehead against his shoulder for a moment while she did.  When she finally lifted her head, tilting her chin so she could look up at Opie, she said, “It’s okay if you’re actually having fun, you know.”

He tensed up for a second, opening his mouth to argue, but then he realized that there was no point. The serious expression faded from his face and he allowed himself a small smile. “I know.”

She beamed up at him. “Good.”

She finally let him stand back completely upright. After that, he was still a little tense, and still extremely awkward on the dancefloor, but he was at least smiling and following Chris’s lead. Both of them were laughing as she moved her hands from his shoulders down to hips and tried to guide him into having some rhythm. It wasn’t successful but it certainly was funny. The sound of their laughter got lost in the music and the vibration of the bass throughout the club, but they still felt it.

While Chris had told Opie that he only owed her one dance, it was more than clear to Opie as soon as they got out onto the floor that it was going to be much more than that. It was a daunting thought at the start, but after a few songs and a few more drinks, he couldn’t deny that he was actually having a good time. Gun to his head, he’d never admit it to Jax or any of the other guys in the club. But when it was just him and Chris and a bunch of people who had no idea who he was, he allowed himself to enjoy it.

They were both standing by the bar, finishing off what Opie was assuming were their last drinks. Chris was practically glowing, a sheen of sweat across her forehead and a warmth to her face that was either caused by the heat of the club, the alcohol, or maybe both. The smile on her face as she set her empty glass down on the bar stretched from one side of the face to the other.

She gestured back to the dancefloor. “One more?”

Opie chuckled and shook his head. “I think I’m way past my limit.” He saw the exaggerated look of disappointment on her face and gave a good-natured roll of his eyes. “You said just one anyway. So, really—”

“Alright, alright,” she cut him off with a laugh as she waved her hand dismissively. “Fine. You win.”

“I don’t know if that’s what I’d call it.”

“What’s more of a win than spending your whole night with me, hm?” She leaned against him, batting her eyelashes for extra dramatic effect.

“Mhm,” he hummed as he shook his head at her. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he turned her around so that she was facing the direction that would take them both to the door of the club. “Let’s get you home.”

The two of them made their way through the clusters of people who were still on the dance floor, the stragglers who were just getting to the club. Opie was walking behind Chris, but she was still reaching back, keeping one of her hands tucked in his so that they didn’t get separated by any of the pushy people who’d had far too much to drink.

The same bouncer who had been there on their way in was still there on their way out, but he was too busy getting into it with someone who had gotten far more drunk than either Opie or Chris for her to be able to say any kind of goodbye on their way out. Chris hardly noticed the whole scene that was unfolding just outside the door of the club, but Opie watched as they walked by, unable to wipe the amused expression off of his face. It was nice to go somewhere and not be the person getting in trouble, or being the best friend of the person getting in trouble.

It felt eerily quiet in the parking lot after spending the last few hours in the deafening noise of the club. When Chris laughed as they walked towards Opie’s bike, it sounded so much louder than it actually was with the absence of all the background noise that they’d previously been drowning in. He noticed that she let go of his hand once her feet hit the blacktop of the parking lot. He couldn’t stop the frown that appeared on his face the second her hand fell back to her own side.

When she got over to his bike, Chris stopped and turned around so that she was facing Opie. There was still a warm glow to her cheeks as she stood there waiting for Opie. He left a bit of a gap between them, more than he’d been able to in the club because of all the people. Needing some breathing space after being packed like sardines inside would’ve been the reason that he gave if anyone had asked him why he was standing farther away than normal. The real reason, though, was that despite having all the room in the world to put between them, there was something in his head that was telling him to stay that close to her, a part of his brain that hadn’t ever spoken up in the past. He didn’t have the time to try and figure out why things felt so different now.

Despite the effort to leave a gap between them, Chris closed the distance so that she was right in front of Opie, head tilted back so she could look up at him. “Where to next?”

“What, you don’t have more planned?” he replied with a chuckle.

“I mean,” she laughed with a roll of her eyes, “I’m sure I could some up with something.” She took a small step back towards his bike. “Or you could just bring me home.”

“You’re gonna try to sneak past Gemma when you’re like this?”

“Oh, fuck no,” Chris said, shaking her head and laughing. She pointed at him. “I’m crashing at your place.”

He sighed. “Chris.”

“Come on, don’t make me face Gemma like this. Because then,” she leaned back against his bike, “I’m gonna have to throw you under the bus too.”

Reaching past her, Opie grabbed her helmet off the bike and set it into her hands. “Put your damn helmet on.” He tried to sound annoyed as he said it, but Chris knew better, as evidenced by the grin on her face as she pulled her helmet on and climbed onto the back of the bike behind him.

Chris’s arms were looped tight around Opie’s waist as they peeled out of the parking lot and onto the street. She was giving him directions to get back home as she kept herself velcroed to him. Despite the fact that the air had cooled considerably in the time that they’d been inside, and that the wind was whipping past them while they rode, Opie couldn’t help but feel all of the warmth that was seeping from Chris’s body into his. His entire back and where her arms were looped snugly around his torso all felt warm even with the chill around them. He fought to stay focused on the road and her directions as his mind tried to wander.

Soon enough, they were back in familiar territory and Opie was bringing them back to the apartment that he shared with Jax. Chris didn’t come over and visit often, mostly because things seemed to be better with her and Jax if they were only around each other in small doses. But he wasn’t going to be back with the club until late the next day, if not the day after that, so it wasn’t like he’d be able to give Chris or Opie any grief about her staying there.

As soon as Opie unlocked and opened the door, Chris strode into the apartment, looking around as Opie flipped on the lights. Nothing had really changed since the last time she’d visited—it wasn’t as though Opie and Jax were all that into decorating and interior design. Still, even though nothing had changed, now it was just Chris and Opie, and Chris was just drunk enough to be in the mood to make fun of their place.

“The infamous Bachelor Pad,” Chris said with a laugh as she kicked off her shoes. She turned to look at Opie as she shrugged off her coat. “Surprised I didn’t burst into flames when I walked through the door.”

Opie rolled his eyes. “Don’t talk like you’ve never been here before.”

“Yea, but,” she laughed as she flopped back onto the sofa in their living room, “I don’t know, it’s different.”

He walked over so he was standing beside the couch looking down at her. “It’s really not.” He held out his hand. “Come on.”

She allowed him to pull her up off the couch, managing not to topple into him once she was upright. Without another word, he started to walk towards his room and even though he didn’t tell her to, she followed him. He walked into his bedroom before her, turning on the light as he did.

Chris lingered in the doorway for a moment and looked around at the mostly-empty space. He had a dresser, and a bed, and a beat-up nightstand she was fairly certain he must’ve picked up for free on the side of the road at some point. The top of the nightstand was cluttered with almost-empty water bottles and empty bags of chips. The walls had a few different motorcycle posters tacked to them, but not much else. It was exactly what Chris pictured his room looking like—a slightly nicer version of the dorms at the clubhouse.

She walked in and sat down on the edge of Opie’s bed, watching him as he went over and opened the drawer of his dresser. He pawed around in it for a few seconds before pulling out an old t-shirt of his and tossing it to her without warning. He laughed as she floundered to catch it at the last second.

“You can crash in here,” he said as he grabbed a change of clothes for himself. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

She shook her head as she stood back up. “No, stop. Come on, you can sleep in your own bed, Ope. It’s fine.”

“Gonna go wreck Jax’s room?” he asked with a laugh.

She smiled and shook her head. “That does sound like a good idea. But no.” She turned and looked at his bed. “This shit is big enough for two.”

“Yea, but—”

“Don’t be weird,” was all she said to him as she walked out of the room and to the bathroom to change.

When she came back into the room, Opie had changed and was sitting on one side of the bed. He glanced over the second he heard her in the doorway. A small, warm smile crossed over his face as he looked at her. She was wearing his t-shirt and had clearly gone into Jax’s room and stolen a pair of his shorts. Nothing fit her quite right and her hair was a mess but Opie suddenly couldn’t stop watching her with a smile on his face.

Walking over to the side of the bed that Opie wasn’t sitting on, Chris peeled the covers back and laid down on the mattress, immediately pulling the blanket up to her chin. She rolled onto her side so that she was looking at Opie. There was a tiredness in her eyes that hadn’t been there all night, but she was still smiling.

“Thank you for tonight, by the way,” she said quietly as she tried to fight back a yawn.

Opie nodded, watching as she fought the urge to close her eyes. “No problem.”

“I promise,” she rolled so that she was facing away from him as she got more comfortable, “I won’t tell the guys that you actually had a good time dancing.”

He let out a quiet laugh. “Appreciate it.”

It was only a matter of a couple minutes until Chris was fast asleep, the sound of her breathing unmistakably soft and even. Opie hadn’t even gotten up to turn the light off yet and she was comfortably passed out on the opposite side of the mattress from him. Opie turned and looked over at her for a moment. Her back was still to him, but she looked so small curled up and buried underneath his comforter. In direct opposition to Chris’s calm, steady breathing, Opie could feel his heart starting to beat faster in his chest.

Shaking his head at himself, he got up from his bed and went over to shut off the light. He knew it probably wouldn’t make any different, wouldn’t quiet his mind at all, but he still hoped. Once the room was cast back into darkness, he carefully stepped his way back over to the bed and slipped underneath the covers as well.

Laying on his back, he stared up at his ceiling, eyes open even in the dark. The entire night played over again in his head. Part of him enjoyed it, thinking back on everything that had happened, how good and how easy it all felt. There was something different about the closeness, and while in the moment it had felt comfortable, or even right, now the thought of it was sending him into a complete spiral. He wondered if any of it meant anything—Chris inviting him in the first place, how comfortably she kept herself so close to him, the fact that when he wasn’t overthinking every single thing he was saying and doing he was actually having one of the best nights he’d had in a long time. He wondered if it was going to change anything. He wondered if there was really any reason for things to change. Or maybe he was reading it all completely wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened.

But something was definitely different now.

Turning his head, he strained his eyes to try and make out Chris’s sleeping form in the dark. He could still hear the level sound of her breathing. Clearly everything that had happened hadn’t affected her that much. If something had changed, it must’ve been him.

He turned his head so that he was looking back up at the ceiling. He was just beginning to force his eyes closed when Chris turned in her sleep. She shifted around a little on the mattress, her legs brushing against Opie’s for a moment as she got situated in her sleep. Opie felt like he was frozen in place until she stopped moving. Even when she was sleeping happily on the other side of the mattress from him, he still had to force himself to relax, and try not to think about the gap between them.

[pizzacatdelight]

My Birthday

Yay, today’s my birthday! I turned 28 years old! And avoided the dreaded “27 Club” where some of the biggest musicians from the 60s’ and 70s’ died when they were 27 years old! (They mainly died due to massive drinking, doing drugs, etc.…)

My 27th year on this planet was not a good one. Early this year, I quit my toxic part-time job at a well-known pizza restaurant that I won’t name. I got scammed into paying for my own equipment for a new job I thought it was a job, but wasn’t. So, I lost over $2,000 because of it and I have to freeze my credit scores to keep the scammers from opening any new credit cards under my name! Then there’s the fact I can’t even find a job that would even hire me due to both my disability and my limited skill list! I even got rejected from getting Disability (or SSI); two months later because of the fact I even had a job!

At home, my youngest niece graduated from high school in June and instead of going to University, she’s working a full-time job at Sally’s Beauty in order to save up money to buy her own car since the car her mom gave her last year and it‘s too expensive to go University right now. My only nephew started 11th grade last month, which means once he graduates in 2025, mom’s planning to sell the family house. She told me and my older sister this back in March/April where after she sold the house; she’s planning to (probably) move to Oregon to get away from the politics of conservative Texas and to retire. Of course, we’re going to move with her as she’s planning to buy land and build a condo house where my sister and I can live on one side of the condo.

For my hobbies, on the other hand, they’re doing great! I beat over 15 games this year, which include “Pokémon: Emerald”, “Hypnospace Outlaw”, “Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Cindered Shadows DLC” and “The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog”. “BAD END THEATER” became the first Steam game where I 100% all the achievement. I preordered “Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” a few days before it came out in May and played it on release day. I remembered staying up all night going around Hyrule, completing the Shrines and not being dicks to the Koroks who only wanted to be reunited with their friends. I’m looking forward to the release of the remaster of “Super Mario RPG”, which comes out in less than two months! I saw four LPs of the game in the past and played it myself for the WiiU. I can’t wait for it to come!

My webcomic is going along. I just finished Chapter 9 and I’m currently taking a small break from it to focus on making this site. I changed how I publish my comics, where I used to release 6-7 pages at a time. But now, I have changed it to 2 pages per week, which means I’ll get more views compared to what I did before. I’m planning to post the links to my webcomic here; I’ll have to find the motivation to do so.

I also made a Tumblr account in June after Reddit decided that they're going to start pricing the 3rd party apps that use its’ code (Apollo, you will be missed). While things are great on Tumblr, I have to get used that most of everyone there is very left-leaning compared to Reddit, where everyone is either in the center or right-leaning, depending on the subject. Yes, I know there are left-leaning people and subreddits there, but it’s the right-leaning groups that are the ones who make the headlines. At least the fandom on Tumblr is way nicer compared to Reddit, where you get attacked for saying or doing something that the fandom subreddit doesn’t like. It’s the reason why I was too scared to either post or comment on Reddit.

Then early this month, I made a NeoCities website and learned how to code again after 11 years. It’s not easy and sometimes it’s even frustrating when you want to do something cool to your page and the code won’t work! At least coding is a skill I can use when I try to look up jobs since it’s one of the most important skills that businesses need. And I also started to blog to write about my thoughts as well. I’ve been doing it on Tumblr for a while, so now I have two sites to pour it all out.

As for what I will be doing for my birthday, it’s not going to be much as I tend not to ask for a lot. I know mom normally gives me a $50 Amazon gift card so I can buy something nice for myself. And I already have plans to make brownies for desserts since we have so much flour and a huge box of brownie mix is in the cabinet.

So yeah, my 27th birthday wasn’t that great, but it could’ve been worse. I hope my 28th year will be a little better and things will improve.

[fluffy-canada-pancakes]

Bangtan Kitty Cafe Chapter 1

Hi there! This is my first story, I’m not super duper confident with it but this would be labeled chapter one! If people really like it and want more I’ll try and write more of it, constructive criticism would be very appreciated. Writing was never my best subject so sorry if i do a lot wrong 😂. To my AP English teacher, I’m sorry about this grammer fuck. Thank you for soending your time reading I greatly appreciate it!

Taglist : @imnotlauriane

———————————————————————

Owning your own business is harder than some people make it out to be, but owning a cat cafe is even more chaotic. It started after I began coming to Café Bangtan. The old coffee shop I went to closed, it was the little hole in the wall Café Bangtan that I found. The place was so cozy that I would visit it every single day and play with the cute cats. After a few months the owner, Sejin, offered me a job as a barista. Working with Sejin was the best job I’ve ever had, I actually enjoyed working there. Taking care of the cats was the best part of my day, except for getting to eat the left over pastries of course. Sejin was always strict, but in a caring way that pushes me forward. After working there for a year, I learned that Sejin was actually thinking of retiring. None of his family wanted to carry on the Café, so he offered it to me. After a lot of talking and lawyer visits, Sejin gave me the Café. After the first few crazy weeks I finally settled into my roll of being the owner. It was really difficult at first, so I decided to try and get another pair of hands. The first few people didn’t fit in right, so I kept looking.

Until a younger college sophomore named Jungkook came in asking for a part time job. After I hired him, Jungkook also brought two of his friends Jimin and Hoseok. Both were looking for a job, and after a interview I hired the both of them. Now we all have this nice system we have, along with our nice regulars. A music producer named Yoongi who always orders a striaght black coffee and sits in the back corner next to the book cases in the corner, who normally sits by himself, every once in a while with our sleepy chunky Koya. Then there’s the college Professor Namjoon, a nice man who always has nice book recommendations and always gets his vanilla frappe, as well as normally with fluffy RJ or sleek Chim Chim while he grades papers or studies for future lectures. Lastly is Seokjin, he’s the well known eye candy of the Café, every time he comes in at least one or two new customers swoon at him. He’s always been super nice, he’s a small time actor who comes here to read his new scripts and have his coffee and occasionally a tea, he also always sits with any of the kitties. Another person we see is a lot is our strawberry delivery boy Taehyung, he always comes on his day off from school to deliver them. He’s always very sweet and he stays to just hang with the cats and talk with everyone when we’re slow.

As chaotic as it is, I truly love my job, my friends, and of course my little kitties. I love waling up early every day and making our pastries with RJ who loves watching me bake. I love when I hear Jungkook, Jimin, and Hobi laughing while goofing off when were slow. I love having a little book club time with Namjoon when I need my break. I love helping Jin practice his scripts with him. I love when Yoongi does his little performances for our little coffee shop on Sundays. I love spending time with Taehyung and he tries to get me to give him pastries when we both know I was already going to give him some. And most importantly I love my 7 kitties.

However, more recently I’ve been struggling to get new customers to come in, a week ago a new coffee shop opened up a block away, and since they’re new everyones checking it out. I’ve been trying quiet a few things, themed days, happy hours, even lowering my prices, but its just not working. It’s getting to the point the boys are starting to notice my worries. I’m just hoping I can think of something, and something fast. There’s been talk of a block festival where we have stalls and show off our wares to try and kickstart business, which may work.

While thinking these thoughts I suddenly hear the door bell ring and I look up and see Hobi come in for his morning shift, I look outside realizing the sun is starting to rise.

“Morning Y/N-ie, sleep well” He smiles brightly as he comes behind the counter. I nods while taking the pastries out of the oven, “I did, what about you Hobi?”

“Pretty good! I woke up early so I took Mickey on a walk!” He smiles lovingly while he puts on his flower print apron. At that moment TaTa hopped up on the counter and sat right in front of Hobi, just staring at him. Hobi does a mic between a grimace and a smile.

Tata has always been a.. special cat, he hardly meows and just enjoys watching. He really loves Hobi, even though he creeps Hobi out a lot. RJ hops over and starts to rub himself all over TaTa and grooming him, and I quietly coo at them. When suddenly, the bell tolls again and we look up to see Jimin and Tae walk in with his crate of strawberries, while joking. In that moment I begin to forget about my worries and just enjoy the happy moment

[fantastical-euphoria]

early one school morning, i met my friend bailey by my locker.

i actually knew him through his older sister, blaire, who was my brother’s age. she ran a daycare inside her own home that my little sister went to. and i would always see bailey there whenever i picked her up after school. bailey was a year younger than me, and blaire was a year older than owen, but it didn’t matter.

“sorry i probably smell like a daycare center,” he joked as we embraced.

“all good,” i laughed. “you excited? or more nervous?”

“i guess both?” he shrugged. “i have a good track record of learning layouts of buildings pretty quickly, so considering how small this school is, this is gonna be a cinch.”

“i can help you, you know. that’s what i’m here for.”

bailey chuckled slightly. “i’m fine, riley, i promise.”

“whatever you say,” i rolled my eyes and smirked at him.

then i pulled out my phone and showed him my lockscreen of me and my friends at the pool.

“so these are my friends ava and harper. they’re identical twins.”

“twins, huh? so like… were they born prematurely?” bailey inquired.

i nodded. “yeah, a bit, maybe like a couple weeks.”

“do they have any other siblings?”

i shook my head.

“you know, i was born seven weeks premature. she told me.”

“you sound pretty proud of it,” i laughed. “but so was owen. well, he was only two weeks, actually.”

then i looked back to my phone.

“anyway, these are the girls we’re meeting right before class starts,” i told him, pointing to each. “the girl on the left is ava, she’s the pretty one, but also super obnoxious. and the girl on the right is harper…”

“huh, that’s funny you think that,” bailey mused.

“what do you mean?”

“well, you’ve showed them to me before i think.” he pointed to harper. “and i always thought she was the pretty one.”

my eyes widened slightly. “oh,” i chuckled nervously. “even though she’s got glasses and braces on?”

bailey nodded, smiling. “yeah. why should it matter how you look? i bet she’s got a cute voice, cute laugh,” he pointed to the picture again. “she already has a cute smile.”

“she’s also the shyer of the two,” i noted.

“i see,” bailey nodded slowly. “that’s okay, i’m shy too.”

“you are not shy,” i rolled my eyes.

suddenly ava and harper strolled up to us with their book bags in tow.

“and speaking of not shy…” i murmured.

“hey,” ava immediately turned to bailey, pointing a finger at him. “how come i’ve never seen you before?”

“oh, i’m new here,” bailey explained. “you see, i was homeschooled all my life before my mom moved to ireland. so ever since last summer, i’ve been staying at my older sister’s.”

“nice,” harper smiled at him. “it’s nice to meet you.”

“yeah, you too!” he smiled and shook her hand.

ava immediately went to shake his hand as well.

“and nice to meet you too,” bailey smiled at her. “i heard you two were twins.” he pointed at them both.

“yeah,” ava rolled her eyes and folded her arms, “unfortunately.”

“oh come on,” bailey chuckled, “i don’t see it as a bad thing. you both seem nice.”

“ava is not nice,” harper mumbled, sticking a hand on her hip and flashing her sister a glare.

ava responded simply by sticking her tongue out at her.

“yep,” bailey laughed, “you two definitely are sisters.”

“we know,” ava rolled her eyes again. “anyway, what are you like? tell us a bit about yourself.”

“well, my parents are divorced, but they still keep in touch. they’re still friends.”

“love that,” ava interjected.

“my mom moved to ireland, my dad moved near a golf club, he now has a girlfriend named erica. my owns a yacht. and he’s an orthopedic surgeon. oh, and he also plays golf, obviously. both he and the girlfriend, actually.”

“love that,” ava interjected again.

“does your mom have a boyfriend?” harper asked.

“no, she’s done being married,” bailey laughed. “erica, my dad’s new woman, literally went to school with my sister blaire. she was a senior when blaire was a freshman. oh, yeah, and blaire runs a daycare in her house, where i live now. it’s called lossa love daycare. cause that’s our last name, lossa.”

“creative!” ava remarked. “i love that.”

“you love everything,” i shook my head and rolled my eyes at her.

“are you single?” ava asked bailey.

“well, it’s funny you say that, cause there’s this cute little girl at my sister’s daycare who likes to bring me flowers during her outside playtime,” bailey chuckled. “it’s actually her sister’s best friend,” bailey pointed at me with his thumb. “so i’m starting to think that i might be her boyfriend.”

“aww, darcie,” i couldn’t help but grin wide, nodding slightly. “yeah, she’s sweet.”

“that doesn’t count,” ava replied snarkily.

“i’m sorry about her,” harper said to bailey, before mouthing, “she can be a mess.”

“i saw that,” ava rolled her eyes at her sister.”

“all good, no worries,” bailey chuckled. “but in actuality, no, i’m single.”

then he pulled out his phone and showed us a picture of him and his sister.

“so that’s blaire, the one with the sunglasses,” he pointed.

“i thought she had a pixie cut?” i inquired, glancing over his shoulder.

bailey shook his head. “she did, but then she decided to grow it out.”

“wait, is she single?” ava asked.

bailey nodded. “yeah, and proud to be. fun fact, she used to be a lesbian. but it took three toxic relationships and one toxic situationship to make her commit to the single life. but she’s open to maybe having a male friend or two in her life. she’s down for that.”

“does she know her brother?” ava pointed at me. “he’s a teacher here.”

“yes, i know that,” bailey chuckled. “they have met, and she says he’s nice. that’s all i know.”

then he pulled out his schedule and took a glance at it.

“what’s your first class?” i asked him.

“science with patricia goldstein,” he read from the paper.

“oh, i’m in that class!” ava beamed proudly. “but in the afternoon. i’m like her favorite student, not to brag.”

“you have a solid c in that class,” i rolled my eyes.

“c for crazy good, right?” ava nudged me and winked.

“yeah, sure, whatever you wanna believe.” i thought for a moment. “let’s meet back here right before lunch, then we can all walk to the cafeteria together.”

“sounds like a plan,” bailey agreed, glancing at his watch. “well, i guess i better be off.”

“my class is down the hall from goldstein’s,” harper explained to him. “i’ll show you where to go.”

“it was nice to meet you ava!” bailey said before he departed us.

we waved goodbye to each other as i mouthed “text me” to him. he flashed a thumbs up and he and harper went on their way.

•

“you okay?” i asked harper as we continued walking down the long and narrow corridor. we’d been walking for a bit, not really saying anything other than the idle small talk here and there. “you haven’t really said much this whole time.”

“oh,” she had a quiet voice when she talked, much quieter and softer than her sister’s. “yeah, it’s just… i just…” she sighed, stopped in her tracks and worriedly looked around, breathing out a small sigh of relief.

“what? what is it?” i stopped with her.

she sighed a bit heavier this time. “i have this… insecurity…”

“oh?” i furrowed my brow. “i mean, uh, it’s okay if you don’t wanna tell me. i don’t wish to make you feel uncomfortable in any way…”

“no, no, it’s okay, i’ll tell you.” harper rubbed her arm with her other hand, shifting a bit in her feet. “it’s my smile.” she looked at me as if she was expecting me to react in some way, but i kept on listening.

“i know it sounds pathetic, but, like… look at me.” she gestured around her face. “i mean,” she laughed it off, “who would even want to look at my smile? it’s like i’ve got this stupid metal scaffolding all over it.” she shook her head, looking away slightly.

“well,” i smiled a bit, “the way i see it, the metal scaffolding on the facade of a building signifies a work in progress. or better yet, a restoration. so it’s going to become something bigger and better. and that’s what braces do, right? they make your smile appear straighter, and cleaner, and… i guess more perfect?”

“well… yeah… i mean, i guess…” she rubbed her arm again, something that used to be a nervous tendency of mine.

i thought for a moment. “when do you get them off?”

“next year, sometime in the spring.”

“right when the snow melts,” i mused, nodding a bit. “that’ll be fitting i think. the curse of winter will be over right when the curse of the braces will be for you.”

“huh,” harper chuckled, “that’s a neat way to look at it.” she pointed at me, “but you’re absolutely right, they are a curse. they make me look less beautiful.”

“who ever said braces made you look less beautiful?” i asked.

“i… i dunno…” she shrugged, taking her glasses off.

“glasses too,” i pointed. “living a life in shame just because of how you look shouldn’t be how you live, at least, i don’t think. plus, it makes you easy to tell apart from your sister.”

“yeah, true,” harper smiled slightly. “but… everyone says that she’s the pretty one, and i’ve always tried to be like her…”

“seriously?” i laughed. “you’re identical twins! you’re pretty much stuck looking like her.”

“well, i can’t see as clearly as her, that’s why i have the glasses.” harper pointed to them. “we’re already pretty different. she talks louder. maybe i should talk louder, so the teachers can hear…”

“i can hear you just fine,” i calmly said with a smile. “you sound great to me. have you ever considered that ava’s voice is perhaps a bit too loud, and that you talk normally?”

“n-no…” she stammered. “i guess not.”

“i think you talk fine.” i tried to sound as reassuring as i could. “bottom line is, you shouldn’t set yourself up comparing yourself to people you think are better than you. it won’t get you anywhere.”

“y-yeah. you… you’re right. i’m sorry…”

“no, no!” i gently put a hand on her shoulder. “don’t apologize. these are just facts of life that i learned early on. it’s great that i can tell you about them. cause in the long run, you’ll feel so much better about yourself, and you’ll thank me for telling you all this.”

harper thought for a moment, looking off to the side before her eyes flashed back to me. “so you really think my smile looks pretty?” she giggled slightly.

“i think everything about you looks pretty,” i said to her affirmatively, squeezing her shoulder slightly. “especially your smile. it looks beautiful. beautiful enough for me to kiss, maybe.” i winked at her.

her cheeks instantly flashed a bright red, and she covered up part of her face with her hand. “i- i’m sorry,” she whispered, lowering her hand gradually. “i… i don’t know what just… what i did just now…”

“you’re all good,” i chuckled. “sorry, should’ve clarified that some of what i say is very lighthearted. so i wasn’t being serious when i said that.” i smirked. “or was i?”

harper laughed and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me a bit. “you’re great,” she told me as she backed away, blushing slightly as a look of realization came over her face. “sorry,” she chuckled softly, “i’m a bit of a hugger, i couldn’t help myself.”

“oh, so am i, i don’t mind.” naturally, i wanted to return the favor, so i wrapped my arms around her a bit more gently.

“oh, you’re so better than me, i’m jealous!” her smile grew slightly. “and they actually feel quite warm.”

suddenly the bell rang, and realizing what this meant, harper flashed a glance at me sadly as i let go of her.

“aw, don’t go,” she frowned.

“we’ll see each other again,” i reassured her, taking her hand in both of mine before releasing it and opening up my arms for her. “here, one last one for good luck.”

and as i wrapped my arms around her, i felt her head nestle in right where my heart was. and it felt super comfortable.

i looked down at her with a smile that i just couldn’t wipe from my face. i could get used to this. to her. to this feeling.

right before we parted ways, we exchanged phone numbers.

•

during my lunch break that afternoon, i decided to head over to the nurse’s office to complete my site change.

as a diabetic, you had to change the site of your glucose monitor and your insulin pump that was attached to your body.

having those tiny contraptions hooked onto you was a hell of a lot easier than having to manually test your blood sugar and inject insulin via needle.

then again, it was still a needle going into to your body.

“hi nurse kate,” i greeted the nurse with a simple smile and wave.

she smiled and waved back, and i looked around the room to where i could find an empty seat.

sure enough, there was one located next to a young girl who was testing her blood sugar by finger prick. although, i could see her shirt pulled up, and on her waist she had a pump that looked nearly identical to mine.

i sat down next to her, and she immediately turned to me, smiling.

“hi, i’m victoria,” she said, sticking out the hand that didn’t have the prick mark on it.

“hi viktoria,” i said, shaking it. “nice to meet you.”

then her eyes travelled down to my pump, and she gasped slightly.

“we have the same model!” she exclaimed, pointing at it. “how cool!”

i laughed. “yeah, you’re a diabetic too i guess.”

“i really like this model.” she pinched hers with her thumb and forefinger and turned it towards me to show me. “it’s not as painful as some of the other pumps out on the market.”

“yeah,” i nodded, “it’s incredibly painless.”

“plus, they stick to you even better.” her eyes travelled up to my face. “i feel like i’ve seen you before,” she flashed a lighthearted skeptical glance at me, pointing. “aren’t you a teacher here?”

“yeah, that i am.” i began to change my own sites, glancing over at her once or twice in the process. “so you manually check your sugar?”

“yeah,” she nodded. “i didn’t have the best experience with my cgm, it kept falling off and… i stepped on it once, and the needle went into my foot,” she shivered slightly.

“ouch,” i chuckled. “hopefully you got a tetnis shot.”

she nodded. “i was five when that happened. then i got the diabetes a year later.”

“so you were diagnosed when you were six?” i asked.

she nodded, now putting her medical kit away and pulling a lunchbox out from underneath her chair. “i eat lunch here,” she quickly explained, gesturing to her lunchbox. “i have no friends,” she chuckled nervously.

“no friends?” that made me sad for some reason.

“what, i mean, when were you diagnosed?” viktoria quickly asked me, probably to redirect the subject.

“i was eighteen,” i explained.

“that must have felt weird for you.”

i shrugged. “yeah, a little. but i conform quickly.”

we were both silent for a minute.

“what do you teach?” viktoria then asked.

“ap calculus.”

“oh,” she laughed, “i don’t think i’m in your class.”

“yeah, i don’t think so either,” i shook my head, smiling a bit. “i don’t remember seeing you on my roster.

“what is calculus anyway? does that have anything to do with calculators?”

“well, we use them a lot, for sure. we use graphing calculators, i’m not sure if your math class has those.”

“oh, i’m not in math.” i could see viktoria blush a little bit, perhaps out of embarrassment. “i’m not very good at it.”

“not everyone is,” i told her. “and that’s okay if you aren’t.”

“but…” viktoria thought again, “i’d love to help you out in some way. you seem nice.”

“aw, thank you,” i smiled at her. i had wanted to say right then, “so do you.” but i didn’t.

“are there any opportunities that you, uh, that you offer?”

“well,” i explained, “i do have a slot open next semester for an intern. all you’d really be doing is grading papers.”

an expression of worry instantly flashed in viktoria’s eyes. “so does that mean i have to learn math? and like, become good at it?” i could sense total panic in her voice.

“no, no,” i laughed, “you’d have an answer key to look at.”

“phew, that’s a relief,” she sighed out.

“yeah, and…” now i had to think. “this might be beneficial for you actually, there is an after school program that is offered for any math student that just needs extra help. they’re looking for tutors there as well. i don’t run it, though. so you could either apply to help out, or apply to be helped out. but slots do fill up fast, so i recommend getting on it as soon as you’re able.”

“yeah, i think i’d rather learn how to grade papers than learn math,” she chuckled nervously. “no offense.”

“none taken,” i waved it off. “yeah, i figured the tutoring thing probably wouldn’t apply to you. but you might like being tutored by someone.”

“could you tutor me?” viktoria inquired, laughing it off (she was probably not being serious at all about it).

“so i don’t stay after school to help out, unfortunately. i have so many other things to do that occupy too much of my time.” i looked over to her, sort of shrugging in defeat. “sorry.”

“that’s okay,” she smiled, “i didn’t really mean it.”

“yeah, i know,” i laughed. “you really detest it, huh?”

“uh huh,” she nodded, pursing her lips.

then she whipped out her phone and showed me her lockscreen. “this is what i do like.” she pointed to the picture. “that’s my pet rabbit, dottie. i’ve had her for ten years. she poops everywhere.”

“aw, she’s cute,” i smiled. “my sister has three pet rabbits that she looks after. and she’s really good at taking care of them.”

“you have a sister?” viktoria asked.

“sure do,” i nodded. “actually, i have two. i have a younger sister, riley, and a miniature sister named starla.”

“miniature?” viktoria inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“well, i like to call her that. i think it’s just a me thing, i don’t know. but yeah, she’s four, a real sweetheart.” i turned to her. “what about you? do you have any siblings?”

“nope, only child. how old is riley?” viktoria asked.

“she goes here, she’s seventeen,” i replied.

“so you’re the oldest.”

“mmhm.” i nodded again.

“i think riley’s in my gym class— oh, wait, no, i’m thinking of a different riley, never mind.”

“yeah, riley doesn’t take gym. she’s like you with math— doesn’t like it one bit.”

“gym is okay,” viktoria remarked. “english is good, history all we do is watch videos and take notes, biology is boring… oh, and my elective is this art and music integration class. that’s really boring,” she laughed. “i have to write a ten page paper by the end of the month.” she pouted. “that’s no fun.”

“okay, you wanna know what i despised when i went to school?” i asked, pointing at myself. “writing papers. in any class. it wasn’t like i sucked at writing in any way, but it was so laborious and such a chore for me. i would always zone out after i’d written like a page. i just, didn’t, like it.” i made sure to emphasize each word in that last sentence. “and when i went for my masters in teaching, i had to write a paper that was about sixteen pages long. and trust me. the last thing you want to be doing at the eleventh hour is cramming in a sixteen page paper.”

“oh my gosh!” viktoria laughed out loud, “so, like, you procrastinate too?”

“i used to be really bad,” i chuckled. “like, it’s a miracle i’m actually here teaching people, and not back up at uni retaking five to six courses adolescent psychology courses.”

viktoria thought for a moment. “i want to major in history, and become one of those tour guides that leads one of those tours around those ancient historical buildings.”

“oh, that sounds super fun,” i smiled. “you like to be a talker, i can tell, so the job would suit you.”

“it would?” there was a glimmer of eagerness in viktoria’s eyes, it was kind of cute to see, actually.

“sure! and you’ve got the enthusiasm to boot. you’d be perfect.”

viktoria giggled slightly. “i could be a tour guide who makes everyone take a test at the end of the tour, and then i could grade the papers.”

“there you go!” i said. “looks like you got your work cut out for you.”

“i do,” she beamed.

suddenly the bell rang, and i had to get back to class.

“well, it was nice meeting you, viktoria.”

“you can call me tori if you’d like,” she said, getting up out of her chair and throwing away her trash into a nearby trashcan.

“okay tori,” i smiled, patting her back slightly when she came back. “it was nice meeting you. good luck with your tour guide business, and your diabetes management. it can be tough to juggle sometimes. but i’m confident you know what to do, maybe even better than me.” i winked at her.

“thanks,” she giggled, blushing slightly.

and as i exited the nurse’s office, i had two takeaways etched in my mind:

1. she had an infectious personality,

and 2. she looked like she was beginning to develop a crush on me.

•

one day, we were going on a small road trip, and naturally, owen was in charge of waking me up.

“ri. ri ri. ri. ri ri.” i felt incessant poking and prodding by a grown-up finger while i was peacefully asleep in bed.

i shuddered and the touch and turned over to my other side, towards where i could hear the voice coming from.

i sleepily blinked my eyes open. “what.” i muttered through my teeth, squinting at him, probably sounding more irritated and agitated than i meant to.

“we’re leaving in ten minutes,” owen tapped his wrist where the face of a watch would be. “you gotta get starla, i still need to finish packing.”

“because you procrastinated and forgot last night?” i asked, sitting up in bed now.

“don’t call me out like that,” he laughed. “but, uh, yes, that’s the reason. now go,” he casually tapped my bum, “mom and dad are waiting.”

so i got out of bed and went across the hall to starla’s bedroom.

the thing with starla was, she was extremely quiet, even for a four year old. she barely spoke a word. mom was working on getting her some in-home speech therapy. but she had her ways of communicating to us.

normally, when i walked in, she would be hiding under the bed, because she would often think that owen was coming in instead of me.

i noticed her teddy bear wedges in between the two plumped up pillows at the head of the bed.

what i would do is i would sit down on her bed, take the teddy, and sort of wiggle it on the floor right beside the bed to get her attention. and then when i could see her two tiny hands take it, i’d still be holding onto the bear and i would pull her right out from under there. and then she would see that i was on the other end. and she would be happy.

i learned that trick from owen, actually, cause that’s what he used to do with me.

right as i was about to look under there, though, i felt a tiny person wrap their arms around one of my legs from behind.

i smiled and spun around.

“there you are!” i bent down and rubbed the top of her head. “you excited for our little trip?”

she nodded, wanting to grab my hand.

so i took it and lifted her up on the bed, sitting down next to her.

“you wanna play on my phone while we’re on the road?” i asked.

she nodded again.

i echoed her smile. i liked seeing her happy like that.

i quickly opened it up, cleared out all my text notifications and put ava’s test notifs on mute. sometimes she used some really choice language.

a photo memory popped up on my phone, and i tapped on it, holding the phone so starla could see.

“who’s that smelly weirdo?” i asked, pointing to the guy on the far end with the swim trunks, chiseled abs and sunglasses. it had been a beach holiday.

starla giggled and pointed to the room across the hall that had the door shut, which was owen’s room.

i moved my finger to the girl next to him.

“who’s that even bigger weirdo?” i asked.

starla giggled again and squeezed my hand, which she was still holding onto.

i smiled and nodded approvingly, rubbing her head again. “that’s right, smart girl!”

suddenly we could hear mom yelling for everyone to start clearing out of the house.

“alright,” i sighed, “time to go.” i stuffed my phone into my pocket and carried starla out, the two of us heading to the car. it was only when mom got the car seat situated and starla loaded into it that i handed her my phone.

luckily i had plenty of games loaded on there that i played myself that she could take advantage of.

when i could see her eyes starting to close, i knew that meant she was getting tired, so i tapped her hand that was holding my phone.

“here, you need to sleep now,” i told her gently.

she let me take the phone back and before i knew it, she was passed out cold.

with the car seat wedged in between us, my eyes travelled over to owen, who seemed particularly engrossed in his own phone.

“who are you texting?” i asked, glancing over his shoulder from afar.

he wouldn’t say, but the name read “viktoria.”

“ooh, who’s viktoria?” i asked teasingly, tapping his forearm with my fist.

“she’s your grade,” owen replied deadpanned, not bothering to look up from his phone.

that caught my attention. was it… was it legal to text someone underage?

“my grade as in, she’s 17?” i asked.

he shook his head. “just turned 18.”

that’s when i realized something else.

“the viktoria you’re texting… it doesn’t happen to be viktoria spunaldi, does it?” i asked.

owen nodded. “it is, why?”

i sucked air in through my teeth. “ava absolutely despises her. as it, she hates her guts.”

“oh?” owen flashed me an inquisitive look.

“yeah, she and ava used to be best friends. like, they were inseparable. and then, back in middle school, they got into this huge fight, one that all the kids talked about for days on end… and they haven’t spoken to each other since.”

owen chuckled. “sounds like a lot of petty teenage girly girl drama to me.”

“oh, it was, trust me. harp and i stayed out of it as much as we could. ava only attempted to drag me into it once.”

“what was it even about?” owen asked.

“i’ve long since forgotten,” i chuckled. “so has ava probably.”

“i’ll ask viktoria about ava when i see her again,” owen said, setting his phone aside.

i then glanced over to my own phone, where i’d been texting bailey about his newfound relationship with harper.

“it’s funny, whenever we go to get chick-fil-a,” he had texted, “i’ll always get extra pickles on my chicken sandwich cause i’m SUCH a pickle person, and she’ll simply pick her pickles off her sandwich and give them to me.”

“harper never told me she hates pickles,” i’d texted.

“oh, she does, trust me,” bailey texted back. “but she knows just how much i love them, haha.”

that’s how a relationship is supposed to work, isn’t it?

i looked back to owen and saw him smiling down at his phone again, thumbs flying like mad over the lower portion of the screen.

i cocked an eyebrow at him.

“owen.” i tapped his shoulder. “what’s going on between you and tori? like, for real?”

owen shrugged it off, scoffing, “you really wanna know?”

i grabbed his phone and yanked it away from him, all bosslike.

“yeah,” i probably sounded more serious than ever before, “i do.”

•

“can i come in?”

the voice sounded soft, quiet, and subdued. still, it was enough to pique my attention.

it was after school, and i’d been sitting at my desk grading paperwork when tori had opened the door, looking a bit shy and nervous to step foot inside my classroom.

i looked up and smiled wide when i saw who it was.

“hey tori,” i waved. “yeah, of course, you can come in.”

“okay, thanks,” she blushed slightly as she shut the door behind her, probably embarassed for asking.

i gestured around at all the empty seats. “you can have a seat anywhere, i don’t mind. or stand.” i shrugged. “up to you.”

“it’s okay,” she walked over and took a seat at a desk that was right in front of mine.

“so what’s up?” i asked, clasping my hands together and setting them down on my desk, leaning forward slightly.

tori smiled and waved, giggling slightly. “hi.”

i smiled back. “hi.”

she began to look around my classroom, at all the work that was hung up from my students. she seemed to take it all in admirably, nodding ever so slightly in the process.

“so… this is your classroom?”

i nodded, beaming proudly. “this is my classroom.”

“it’s a nice classroom,” she remarked. “i really like it.”

“thank you,” i smiled back at her, noticing that she was still looking around at everything. “yeah, i try to keep it tidy. but i guess it’s better to have a disorganized classroom than a disorganized mind.”

“yeah,” she laughed slightly, her eyes now shifting to the framed pictures that i had on my desk. “is that your sister?” she pointed to a young girl in one of them.

my eyes followed her finger and i nodded in confirmation. “yeah, that’s riley. oh, gosh, that was a while ago.” i pointed to my mom at the far end. “doesn’t she look good?” i asked tori. “she was nine months pregnant in that photo. wait, no, it was six. still, she looked good, remarkably.”

“how does it feel to have a sister so young?” tori asked me.

i smiled fondly, looking off to the side for some reason. “i love her to death. she’s really sweet. i just wish she loved me more.”

“what did you do?” tori laughed.

i sighed, shrugging in defeat. “i don’t know. she always runs away from me. i think she’s just scared. i am kinda big, in her eyes. and big obviously means intimidating.”

“oh, so that makes you sad.”

“yeah, kinda.” i sighed again, a bit lighter this time. “but i know she’ll grow up and i’ll get smaller to her.”

then tori’s eyes flashed to a picture right next to it, of me and riley at some amusement park place with mini golf and bumper boats. “oh, i see she’s friends with ava.” her remark didn’t sound resentful at all.

“yeah, ri mentioned something about how you and her had a falling out in middle school?”

“yeah,” tori rolled her eyes, “but it was so stupid. i was over it years ago. but ava’s the type to hold these petty ass grudges, and she still hasn’t made up with me. but yeah, it was over this guy, roman clancy, and she was mad that i was into him at the same time that she was, and she got jealous when he was checking me out more, and she thought that i was dating him since we kind of hung out more, but we honestly weren’t. i wasn’t even really into dating back then. and roman had even said to me that he was into me more and that he’d choose me over ava any day.” she sighed. “and the roman moved away the year after, and ava still hasn’t forgiven me. she was definitely jealous.”

“of course,” i muttered, shaking my head.

“what?” tori asked, only because she couldn’t hear me that well.

“uh, nothing never mind.” i chuckled nervously. “that just sounds super petty to me.”

“oh it was and it is, trust me. ava is just… toxic, on all levels. she’s nice and all, but she’s just toxic.” she glanced over to the picture again. “and she and your sister, riley you said? yeah, so they’re like, friends, i guess.”

“yep,” i nodded, “friends since childhood. her and her twin.”

“oh, harper, yeah, i know her,” tori smiled. “she’s super nice. nothing like ava. we’re cool, we text.”

“she got a boyfriend now?” i asked, only because i wanted her to confirm (riley had already told me).

tori shrugged, “haven’t heard anything about that yet.” she thought for a second. “but i probably will soon. she doesn’t always inform me of stuff, we’re not like super close but…”

then she glanced at one more picture, it was of riley and i when we were really young, and her smile returned. “you and riley seem super close. i love that.” she pointed.

“yeah, well, i love all my family, not just riley.” i gestured to another picture of me and my parents, and then to a picture of me and my two sisters taken just last year (riley was holding starla upside down in it to get her to smile).

i couldn’t help but smile slightly, just thinking about them. “my family make me happy. and they keep me happy. riley’s a really good baker, and joke cracker, and her relationship with our mini sister is so precious.”

“did she always want one?” tori asked.

i nodded. “she begged for one when she were little, and our mom would go ‘what? you don’t like the one you have now?’ and she’d grumble and complain ‘but he’s owen, i want someone that’s not owen.’ she was just being funny about it though, i knew deep down that she loved me.”

“and what about your mini sister, star…ry? star something?”

“starla,” i gentle corrected.

“yeah, starla, sorry. what do you like about her?”

“well, i know that with her, because she’s so young, she’s got room for growth and development. but right now she’s a bit on the quiet side. a small thing i notice is when she takes your hand, she doesn’t let go unless you make her. she’s very touch dependent.” i smiled fondly. “and she’s actually super pretty for a four year old.”

tori glanced back to the picture of all of us again. “you must get jealous that riley and her have such a close bond.”

“well, keep in mind that so do riley and i. and it’s kind of hard, really, to have a sibling-like bond with someone who’s twenty years younger than you. i might as well be her dad,” i chuckled slightly.

“but you aren’t.”

“but i’m not, you’re right.” i nodded affirmatively.

there was a small bit of stillness in the room that came with the lull in our dialogue.

that was when i thought of something to say.

“what makes you happy?” i asked.

“music,” she grinned wide. “and dancing. lots of dancing to lots of music.”

“dancing, eh? you like to dance? are you a professional dancer?”

“oh, no, no no no,” she laughed, immediately frantically waving it off, “i could never be a pro. i just dance for fun, in my room.”

“here,” i pulled my phone out from one of the drawers in my desk and opened up my spotify app, “let’s get some music playing.”

“wait what?” a sense of panic flashed in her eyes as she stared at me in pure disbelief.

“what? you said you liked music,” i laughed slightly.

tori frantically looked around, her expression one of panic. “are you sure?” she asked.

“yeah, no worries here, no one’s around, we’re safe.”

“oh, uh, okay.” i picked up a slight nervous inflection in her voice.

“you’re okay,” i smiled reassuringly at her, “just have fun with it.”

now it was my turn to look around.

“here,” i said, getting out of my chair and going over to her with my phone in my hand, “i can let you pick out the song.”

her eyes widened when i showed her my phone, a smile beginning to grow wide. “you have a lot of playlists,” she breathed out in awe.

“riley created some of them for me. she’s more into indie, i’m more into rock and alternative. but there’s one playlist on here that’s like easy listening.” i scrolled down with my thumb to the playlist. “i play this whenever my parents are around.”

“really?” tori laughed. “so you must really like music a lot then, i guess.”

“yeah, sure,” i chuckled.

“do you dance?” tori asked.

“oh, trust me, you would not believe how much of a dad i look when i dance,” i replied deadpanned.

tori laughed again. “now i kinda wanna see you dance.”

i shook my head, laughing slightly to myself as i pressed play on the easy listen playlist. “prepare to be mortified.”

the music started to play, and we began to dance separately, laughing so hard at each other the entire time.

“we could become tiktok famous, i swear,” tori remarked.

“i don’t even do tiktok.” this earned another laugh from her.

we began to use the whole classroom, moving chairs and desks out of the way so we could perform our little routines.

and slowly but surely, as the playlist pressed on, we began to dance a bit closer together, becoming more and more comfortable with each other’s presence, each other’s personality. we began to hold hands and swing to the music, but not for very long, just enough to satisfy a part of a song.

at one point tori stood up on a desk and leapt from one to another several times during one of her dances.

“careful, don’t hurt yourself!” i laughed, seeing her from afar.

she only slipped once when she was tap-dancing on a chair, and luckily i was there to steady her.

she performed one more skit on a desk, and suddenly she said, “here, catch me!” giggling slightly.

i was about a few feet away from that desk, and when she leapt off, i caught her right under her arms, holding her up there for a bit before slowly and gently lowing her, smiling down at her in admiration when her feet touched the floor.

the music faded out, and we were left standing there.

i expected tori to break out into another dance once the music started back up, but the playlist had reached its end, and tori still had her arms wrapped around my middle, nestling her head into my stomach and grinning wider than ever.

i smiled and rubbed her back. “you look happy,” i laughed.

“i’m happy here,” she mumbled into my shirt, before looking back up to me. “it’s you.” she pointed to my face. “i think it’s you. i’m happy when… i’m with you… and you… you make me happy. sorry, did that make sense?” she let go of me and took a step back, blushing slightly, probably embarrassed that she held onto me for that long.

“aw, well, i’m glad i make you happy. you wanna know something? you make me happy too.”

“really?” she looked at me with eagerness in her eyes and excitement in her voice. “you really do, i mean, think so?”

i nodded, loving how thrilled and enthusiastic she could get over the little things i said. “uh huh. you really do.”

suddenly her expression turned into a frown as she looked down at her feet. “but… but why?”

“you know how to have fun,” i told her, taking her hand again. “you love doing what you do. and there’s no shame in that. and you bring out the happiness in me. normally my sister does that. but now i know that you can too.”

“really? aww…” her grin instantly returned and she hopped up and down in her spot, her hands flapping slightly.

i couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“you wanna know something crazy?” tori took a step closer to me. “so, like, i’ve really wanted a boyfriend for like… the longest time. or at least someone who could see my dancing or even like, dance with me? even? like wow, that’s a crazy thought. but… it just sounded silly and stupid in retrospect, or is it hindsight? well, whichever it is. and like, someone who just… likes me for who i am, and hey, maybe even… loves me? like wow, that would be cool. and i’ve always wanted someone who like, wants to get close to me, and touch me, but like, lovingly, i’m sorry if that sounded super weird.” she laughed. “and i’m sorry that was like, a lot.”

“no, no,” i could not stop laughing at her energy, “you’re all good. i love your energy.”

then i sat down at one of the nearby desks that we pushed back into the corner, tori sitting down on top of the desk, knees tucked up.

i took a deep breath in.

“i’ll let you in on something crazy too.” i chuckled slightly. “i’ve been on this planet for twenty-five years. almost twenty six now. and i’ve never been in a relationship before. like, ever.”

tori’s eyes widened at me. “shut up!” she exclaimed. “really?”

“yeahhh,” i nodded slowly. “like… i dunno.” i shrugged. “i guess i was never really like, gung-ho about getting into one. i just thought maybe… maybe it just wasn’t for me. at least that’s how i felt at the time.” i paused for a minute, thinking. “but now… i think i’m ready for one again. careful consideration taken into account, of course.”

“so you have, like, no experience like, at all?” tori asked. “of being a boyfriend i mean.”

“nada.” i pursed my lips and looked away slightly. not that i was ashamed of that fact in any way. well, okay, maybe a bit.

“oh, well, i’m sure you’ll find that somebody!” tori replied optimistically, turning to face me. “i mean… i really hope you do.” she flashed me a sincere look. “even if you have no experience.”

yeah, thanks for rubbing that in.

but it was funny how blissfully unaware she was of how i was truly feeling in that very moment. painstakingly oblivious.

“oh, trust me,” i chuckled, smirking at her slightly, “i already have.”

(a/n: this was a song that i hc they were listening/dancing to)

•

“hey, harper, could you come up here for a sec? i need to send you on a mission.”

it wasn’t until my ap calc teacher said that last sentence that i could breathe a sigh of relief. i had thought for sure he’d snuck a peek of what i was doing under my desk.

i was actually holding my phone there, texting my boyfriend bailey, who was in his human studies class.

and no, it wasn’t the same as anatomy. anatomy focuses more on the physical and biological components of humans. human studies was, i guess, more psychological? and tied in real-world stuff too.

anyway, i stuffed my phone in my pocket and went up to his desk.

owen (my teacher’s name) handed me an envelope with the word “tori” scribbled on it in sloppy cursive.

“you think you could send this over to your friend tori?”

i smiled and nodded. “yeah, i know what class she’s in right now.”

he smiled back. “good. off you go.”

so i went out of the room and down the hall, feeling pretty priveliged to be the messenger of whatever this mystery conversation could be.

now, i wouldn’t call tori and i the best of friends. my sister hated her, for one thing. and ava didn’t want me being friends with tori. i thought the reasoning behind that was stupid.

tori and i never really crossed paths outside of school. she was always off busy doing something, but she would never say what. especially as of recent. she was an off-and-on texter with me, and for some reason that annoyed me. you would think that it had something to do with me having a boyfriend now, and she was jealous of that. but no. she seemed quite happy without one. at least i thought she didn’t have one.

so i entered tori’s classroom and found her desk near the door, conveniently enough.

she turned around and smiled at me when she saw me. “hey harper,” she waved. “what are you doing here?”

i went over to the side of her desk and dropped the envelope on top of it. “it’s from owen,” i said.

tori did not waste any time opening it, the way she did it seeming unnaturally rushed and eager.

inside it was just a small slip of paper that read “meet me at the end of emily row, 1122. see you there, and soon. hearts. ~o”

“uh…” i cocked my head to the side, looking at her enthusiastic grin plastered in her face, her whole body trembling and giddy with excitement, even her feet were kicking slightly. “are you two, like… dating… or something?”

i wasn’t intending on being serious at all with that statement, but judging from the bright red color that instantly flashed on her face, it might as well have been.

she looked slightly appalled and offended that i would even suggest such a prospect.

“psht, what? no, that… that’s absurd.” she waved it off, chuckling ever so slightly. “you must be crazy out of your mind.”

i rolled my eyes, backing up a step. “i’m just gonna leave now.”

she waved goodbye to me and i waved back, watching her put the envelope back into the paper and stuff it inside her desk.

“god,” i muttered as i walked back to ap calc, “some people are just so weird nowadays.”

•

it was quite easy for me to find the address owen had written on the scrap paper.

no, it wasn’t his house. i bet that was the first thing you thought of a couple paragraphs back.

it wasn’t my house, either.

it was actually a community pool that was located about a block or so away from his house, at least, that’s what he told me via text.

so i parked at the parking lot, and found his car parked a couple of slots over. it was a grey mercedes, which contrasted my burgundy toyota sedan that had gotten handed down to me from my grandma.

now, i had a pool in the backyard of my house. but it was tiny and infested with algae.

but owen knew how much i liked to swim. so we chose here as a meeting spot.

i got out of my car, the duffel bag that i had my change of clothes in slung over my shoulder, and headed towards the gate.

once there, i searched all around for where owen could be, but he was nowhere to be found.

i sighed and dropped my duffel bag down by my feet. he said he would be waiting for me, where could he possibly be?

just when i was about to take a step back towards my car, a pair of hands covered my eyes.

“where do you think you’re going?” i could feel his voice right in my ear.

i couldn’t help but giggle, as i was quite ticklish.

then i spun around and squeezed him right.

“you made it!” i cheerily exclaimed.

“of course, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” i felt owen’s hand rub my head.

obviously, with him being older came the fact that he was also significantly taller.

so it was easy for him to treat me like a younger sibling, at least it felt that way to me.

but the way he ran his fingers through my hair suggested anything but a sibling-like relationship.

“c’mon,” he opened the gate, taking my hand, “we can strip off our clothes once we get settled.”

when we stepped inside, i instantly noticed how few people there were. and thank god nobody we knew or even recognized from school.

owen had on a casual t-shirt and shorts that i never in my wildest dreams thought i’d ever see him wear. i was used to seeing him in what he wore at school, more dressy, professional-looking attire.

he was the first to strip off his shirt, and god. DAMN. was he chiseled. i never expected him to be the type to have a six-pack. holy smokes. holy cow. all i wanted to do was feel it.

his skin wasn’t the tannest, but that didn’t really matter to me. god, what did a six-pack even feel like? now i desperately wanted to know.

“what are you waiting for?” owen chuckled, motioning for me to lift my shirt up and off my person.

so that’s what i did.

what that revealed was a small tattoo (my only one) that i kept in a very discreet place, underneath my left breast.

owen noticed it right away, of course.

he cocked an eyebrow and pointed to it.

“who’s emily?” he asked in kind of a soft voice.

the tattoo was simply the name “emily” written in cursive, with a few tiny roses around the perimeter.

“oh, um…” i blushed slightly. “that was, um… well, emily was…” shoot. i wanted to tell him, but something about it just made me the slightest bit uncomfortable.

whatever. he deserved to know. if he was gonna get to know the rest of me anyhow.

“i had a sister named emily,” i lamented. “she… died… from heart failure.” i swallowed hard. “she wasn’t even two. i never got to know what she was like, or would be like…” i sighed. “that’s why i’m an only child now.”

owen had a glassy look in his eyes and a hand over his mouth as he looked me over with the deepest sincerity, and almost apologetically, as if instantly regretted asking.

“i’m sorry i told you,” i quickly apologized.

“no, no, i’m sorry that happened to you. that… that must have been hard on you all.”

i nodded. “yeah, it… it was.”

suddenly i could feel my breath catch in my throat, in the form of a lump that led to tears collecting in my eyes from the discomfort. and then the discomfort quickly turned to pain. pain because i remembered it all so well. how my mother became depressed, battled with it for months before leaving me and my dad for a whole year. but then she returned only because she felt bad. but she had met another guy who she’d been texting on the regular. it was the year after my sister’s death that was the real rollercoaster. because my dad caught onto the other guy, and i guess it was his turn to leave me and my mom. but this time, for good.

drama did not sit well with me. any form, any amount, no matter how unnecessary or petty it was or became.

i just didn’t want it to consume my life, or my mental health.

but every time it seemed, all i would do was break down and cry. over and over again. because i couldn’t help it. i was human. i was vulnerable. i never had the easiest life in the world. but i never wanted to view myself as a dissapointment. although some days were harder than others.

before i could cover my eyes with my palms, i saw owen take a knee in front of me. looking up at me with genuine concern. “you okay sunshine?” he asked gently, taking both my hands tenderly in his own.

i shook my head. “no,” i squeaked out, “i’m not.” and i felt totally okay saying that, at least in front of him.

owen let go of my hands and brought his hands up to my eyes. making the motion with both of them like he was turning door handles, rotating them in towards each other. and he looked concentrated as he did,

“what… what are you doing.” now i was more confused than anything.

“turning off the waterworks.” he smiled slightly, dropping his hands into his lap clasped together. “it’s how i got riley to stop crying when she would break down.” he frowned. “it only worked some of the time.”

“oh, um…” i sniffled, wiping both my eyes with my own fists. “i… i’m sorry…” i swallowed hard, knowing full well that my face was bright red and puffy and disgusting, the way it always looked when i cried.

owen quickly glanced to the pool before looking back into my eyes, taking my hand again.

“here,” he tugged it slightly towards the pool, “why don’t we go swimming for a bit? that’ll take your mind off of it, won’t it?”

i nodded, smiling slightly. “y-yeah… it will… i think…”

“plus you’ll have me,” he squeezed my hand before moving a bit closer. “me… and you…” he pointed to each of us respectively, smirking a bit. “just us.”

i looked around, noticing that he was right. now, we were the only ones there.

so i allowed him to go first into the pool, still holding onto my hand and acting all gentleman-like helping me step foot into the shallow end.

he kept an arm around me as we headed towards the deep end.

i found myself diving right in, feeling the splash of him diving in after me, both of our bodies submerged under the water. even when we were far apart, it felt super intimate. like nothing i’d ever experienced before.

suddenly, i felt two arms encircle my midsection, with two hands settling right where my belly button was, pulling me into him.

and i could feel his abs press against my back. i turned around so my hands ran along each muscle of his six-pack.

two hands then grabbed my wrists, pulling them off.

but i couldn’t help myself. i wanted to feel all around him, everywhere, everywhere that was clothed, everywhere that wasn’t.

and maybe owen was thinking the same thing.

because now i could feel his hands run along my own body, down my sides, resting at the hips.

suddenly i couldn’t breathe underwater any more, i had to come up for air.

and as i blinked my eyes open and treaded water, owen came up right after me, his hands still firmly planted on my hips, our bodies barely touching.

“you alright?” he asked me, his left hand now running back up along my side and towards my face. i felt it caress my cheek as he used his other hand to pull me a bit closer to him.

i smiled and nodded. “this feels nice,” i whispered.

“oh yeah?” he brought my face closer to his. “you want it to feel even nicer?”

i cocked my head to the side.

“do you?” his voice and expression softened a touch, like he genuinely meant it.

i smiled wide and nodded. “of course.”

he then sunk back down to the bottom of the pool, pulling me down with him.

my eyes were completely shut as i felt his arms work their way around my body before one of them settled around my lower torso and the other around the back of my head, simply holding me in place against him.

i felt him slowly rubbing my back, almost tickling it, squeezing me a bit tighter.

then i felt a new touch that wasn’t by a hand, or an arm, but instead, by a pair of lips, right into my neck. then those lips worked their way up to my face, kissing me on the cheeks, the forehead, the top of my head, but when they reached my lips, i unconsciously wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning straight into him.

i felt the whole weight of my body float up towards the surface, me not even having to gasp for air.

i felt on cloud nine, being loved this simply, purely and intimately.

and when i opened my eyes and saw him staring back at me so lovingly, his arms still around me, i couldn’t help but smile wide.

“that… felt… amazing…” i breathed out.

owen chuckled and went right in to kiss me again. “i just wanted you to feel how a kiss feels to me. super magical, right?”

i nodded enthusiasticly, grinning widely.

he kissed me one more time. “every time i do that, it feel like we’re both submerged under the water, breathing into each other kinda like we did, and just… floating around each other. touching each other in all the right places.”

“it felt super intimate,” i remarked.

“yeah, it did for me too.” he caressed my cheek once again, dropping his voice down to almost a whisper. “you wanna know something crazy?”

i placed my hand over top of his. “what?” i asked with genuine curiosity in my voice and my eyes.

he shook his head and smiled. “you’re a pretty damn good kisser.”

i giggled slightly, and perhaps nervously as well. “um… thanks… i guess?”

“c’mon,” he laughed, “it’s a compliment, take it!”

now it was my turn to grab his cheeks and kiss him right back. “well guESS whAT?! yOU’re a pretty DAMN good kisser as well!!!”

“oh, stop,” he chuckled nervously, “i’ve never kissed a girl before, how should i be any good?”

“because i just know you are. i can feel it.” i kissed him again. “it feels amazing. it makes me feel happy. that’s what kissing someone you love is supposed to make them feel, right?”

he smiled. “yeah, i guess that’s true.”

he then took my hand in mine tenderly and gently. “i don’t ever want any moment with you to end. ever. not even if we have to fall asleep, and you have have to wake up in the morning to get to school, and i have to wake up in the morning to get to my job. that… that’s how i feel. every time i’m with you.”

my heart skipped a beat at the way he said it. so softly, so sincerely.

“i wanna kiss you again, fuckit,” i muttered, giggling.

he laughed with me before he dragged me back down into the water, repeating the intimate makeout session all over again.

maybe even a third time.

maybe even a fourth.

i lost count by the time the sun began to set.

•

“you KISSED her?!?!?!” riley spurted out at me.

“she was into it!!” i spat back.

riley’s jaw hung slightly agape and she simply shook her head, putting a hand on her chest, muttering quietly, “i can’t believe you.”

“look, it, i…” i sighed. “whatever. it doesn’t matter. just… promise me you won’t tell ava, alright?” i held out my hand, as usually we shook on promises.

riley rolled her eyes and hesitantly stuck her hand out to shake mine. “this doesn’t mean i approve of your actions.”

“i don’t need you to approve of them.”

“they’re morally and ethically wrong!”

“i’m well aware,” i sighed.

and for the rest of the car ride, riley and i didn’t say another word to each other, sitting on either side of starla’s car seat in awkward, uncomfortable silence.

i didn’t know what the worst part was, that starla was still fast asleep and not helping the silence any, or the fact that i didn’t even feel a smidge bad that riley was upset at me, or that i was doing something that would definitely get me in major trouble.

@elliotts-personal-property

[fastfur07]

Super Jump

CW: Vore

Well, here it is. I regret everything.

Unwilling pred, soft, safe vore, no canon characters.

“Really? I can come?!”

“Sure,” Swarm smiled. “You do wanna learn to swim with the school, don’t you? Can’t start too early.”

“My first Turf War…” breathed Cherri, staring up at the Octoling. For too long, they’d only heard the stories Swarm brought back from the battlefield, and they longed to be part of the action. Cherri almost thought of their friend as a character from legend, mowing down the oncoming hordes with his roller.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Cherri urged, grabbing Swarm by the hand and half-dragging him up the stairs.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Swarm laughed, changing forms to slip out of his friend’s grip.

“No, what could I… oh. My weapon.”

“It’s okay, I’ll wait.”

---

“All right, here’s the plan.” Swarm gestured around the lobby as he spoke. “I’ll go out and do the heavy lifting on the front line, and you just hang back and ink the spots we miss. Try to stay out of trouble, but if you’re stuck, you can use Big Bubbler. Okay?”

“Got it,” Cherri nodded, the information already leaving their head. The excitement of a Turf War was taking up all the space. “Are we starting soon?”

“Show me some moves first,” Swarm countered.

All too eager to show off, Cherri lunged at the nearest target, spraying ink in all directions. Swarm couldn’t hide his smirk as he watched them rampage, shooting everything in sight until, with an adrenal cry, Cherri scaled the highest wall and squid-rolled off, but completely missed the ink and hit the bare floor with a loud slap. “Ow…”

Swarm winced, and quickly swam over to help. “No no no no, I’m fine,” the Inkling urged, demonstrating how fine they were by hurling a Splat Bomb, which sailed past Swarm’s ear. “Okay, you’re clearly ready. Let’s go.”

A few minutes later, the two were perched above the map, taking in the open air. “Don’t do anything stupid!” Swarm called.

Cherri nodded, not taking their eyes off their landing spot. Swarm lifted his roller, and before he had time to give any more advice, the match had begun.

---

Cherri quickly grew bored of covering ground. They’d inked every surface around the starting point, and there were no opponents in sight. They idly tossed a Splat Bomb and watched it explode. They swam around in circles. They looked out toward the opposite side of the field, where Swarm was presumably wreaking havoc. Wasn’t there more to a Turf War than this?

Cherri looked up and saw one of their teammates flying across the sky toward the enemy. What was that called again, they thought, a Super Jump? A move allowing you to get back to the action quickly after being splatted? The idea sounded more tempting the more Cherri thought about it. They could finally have some fun, and surprise Swarm while they were at it. They'd have to go quickly, though: there was only a minute left on the clock.

Cherri crouched down in squid form, concentrating on their friend's location. They barely had time to realize they didn't actually know how to Super Jump before they felt a rush of ink and were blasted into the sky.

---

Meanwhile, Swarm was on top of his game. He'd cleared away any opponents in his corner of the map and was rolling back over their ink when he got the notification that Cherri was trying to Super Jump to him.

"Oh… what were you thinking?!" Swarm muttered, looking up anxiously. There they were, hurtling towards him, tentacles flailing. "SWARM! CATCH ME!" they screamed over the wind.

The Octoling threw his roller aside and ran over to where Cherri was about to land. He jumped, arms spread wide, and hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity, before he was hit square in the face and knocked to the ground.

---

“Ugh…” Swarm groaned, sitting up. “Cherri, didn’t I tell you to… Cherri?”

He looked around. Cherri should be back on their feet by now, urging him to get back to the battle, but they were nowhere to be seen.

“They’ve run off. Typical Cherri.” Swarm tried to stand, but fell back: something was weighing him down. Growing more confused, he glanced around again, and thought he saw them - but it was another of his teammates, staring at him open-mouthed in shock.

“C-Cherri…? What’s going–” Swarm wavered, and his gaze flickered to his own body, only for an instant. “AAH!”

The teammate swam away.

---

Cherri was in complete darkness. There was no room to stand up, and barely enough to swim. They remembered crashing into Swarm, but there was no sign of him. The little squid curled up, suddenly afraid. “Wh… where am I?” they wondered out loud.

“Cherri!” Swarm’s voice was reassuring, but seemed to be echoing loudly from all directions, disorienting Cherri further. “Thank goodness you’re okay, but–... no, this can’t be happening…”

“What? What happened? It’s dark! Where are you?” Cherri called, still running off at the mouth. “I’m fine, what about you?”

Swarm stared at his stomach: he looked as bloated as a Salmonid after a feeding frenzy. The skin was moving and trembling and, horribly, there seemed to be just enough room to fit a squid underneath.

“Cherri. I don’t want you to panic, but I– I think I s-swallowed you!” he stammered.

“Oh?” replied Cherri, not panicking.

“We need to get you out of there! Someone help!” Swarm cast around, almost in a fit, but there was no one nearby.

“But what about the match?”

“Forget the match! You’re in serious danger, Cherri!” Swarm tried to cough the Inkling up, but only a few flecks of ink came out. “Okay. Wait. I just need to get splatted.” Abandoning his roller, the Octoling struggled to his feet and ran toward the enemy base, but was slowed down by the weight inside him, and before long the whistle blew to end the game.

---

"How are you so calm about this?" Swarm groaned, lying on his back on the floor of the lobby. "Every second you're in there, you're more at risk of… of…" He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Of what? Being digested?" the voice from his stomach finished. "I dunno about that. I've been here for like, ages, and I still feel fine." Cherri wiggled around to punctuate their sentence.

"Uh…! Please don't…" Swarm clutched his belly to settle them down. "That feels so weird…"

"I'm sorry I made you lose," Cherri added.

Swarm ignored his friend's apology, still thinking. "But why aren't you hurt?"

"Umm… maybe there's some ink in here that's protecting me?" the squid guessed.

“But the ink’s supposed to disappear after the battle ends!” 

“Oh. Then I dunno.”

Despite Swarm’s worry, Cherri was completely relaxed. Their eyes had adjusted to the dark, and floating in squid form made her feel less claustrophobic. On top of that, the walls surrounding her were soft, almost like a warm hug, but on a much deeper level.

"Hey, Swarm?"

"Yes?"

"It's kinda nice in here."

Swarm sighed. "Look, I was always proud of your ability to make the best of a bad situation, but if we don't get you out soon you are going to die," he urged.

"Mm… Okay." Cherri replied dismissively. If Swarm was nearby, they were sure they'd be completely safe.

---

After a while, Cherri was bored again. There was only so much they could appreciate about their friend's insides. Besides, Swarm would probably still be stressed.

"Hey, didn't you say I might come out if you got splatted?" the Inkling asked. "Isn't there a robot thing that'll shoot at you somewhere around here?"

Cherri's container was rocked as Swarm hurriedly got to his feet. "The Copy Machine! YES! Why didn't I think of that?" He tottered to the open end of the lobby, and before long he'd respawned, with an empty stomach.

Cherri yawned and stretched - they were sore after a long time as a squid - and was tackled by Swarm, his eyes filling with tears. Cherri hugged him back.

"Thank goodness you're okay…" the Octoling sniffed. "I guess we learned something today, huh?"

Cherri nodded. They'd learned how easily Swarm was manipulated, and were already thinking of ways to get inside him again.

The end