#also to be fair the family comment is just because I do go home to my parents like every other week

[bundlebrent]

Apparently my not doing well is noticeable because my boss gave me Friday off and was like hey take a long weekend and go see your family

[milo-manheim-luver]

Jealous of The Past: Milo Manheim x Fem!Reader

Summary: Y/N brings milo back to her home state to meet her family for the first time all while attending her mom’s works annual family picnic celebration at an event venue. while attending however milo starts to notice a worker flirting with Y/N and gets jealous.

Warning: milo being jellyyyyyyy. fluff, angst?, suggestive comments/content (my favvv), awkward interactions, language, mean siblings, and i am sure i’m forgetting stuff.

A/N: let’s just say my mom’s work has a family picnic at an event venue i used to work at every year and the guy i like works there still with his dad…. and side note: he would lead me on all the time and then rejected me :,(. and i found out today that he blocked me on socials…. this is feeding the flame and encouraging me even more to write this to feel better about it :) I hope you all enjoy this like I did while writing it! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A PREQUEL!!! like when they first met and started dating :) ALSO, thank you all so much for being patient with me. means so so so much<3 feedback would be gladly appreciated:))

-

“hey mi, i just got off the phone with my mom…” Y/N spoke as she waltzed into her and milo’s living room, plopping onto the couch, she layed her head in his lap, her legs draped across the rest of the couch. seconds later, she noticed he’d been on facetime with his own mother, so she rolled over onto her stomach to face the camera.

“say hi to my mo- ow that hurt” he chuckled as she accidentally elbowed milo in the ribcage, while attempting the roll over, but stopped when he handed her the phone to say hello to his mother.

“sorry babe, put a shirt on then” she smirked as she placed her ice cold left hand on his bare abdomen, making him yell.

“stop it Y/N your hands feel like you’ve just done a polar plunge. mom tell her to stop” milo whined to his mom, shoving his face into view on the camera of his phone.

“hi camryn. it still feels so weird to say your first name. i still want to call you ms manheim” Y/N giggled at milo’s mom on the screen, waving to her.

“milo, shhhh. Y/N is talking, don’t interrupt her. go put a shirt on if you think her hands are cold. and hello dear! how are you? and i already told you, don’t ever call me ms. manheim ever again. you’re family at this point so call me camryn!”

“but m-“ milo began before Y/N put her free hand over his mouth to shut him up from complaining about her cold hands, only for him to try and bite it.

“ew milo, stop you’re turning into lou” Y/N chuckled as she wiped his own spit onto his chest, causing him to chuckle and plant a kiss to her temple. “and i’m doing good. i was just on the phone with my mom and she wants to ‘meet the man you’re living with that i nor anyone else has ever seen’. she’s very over dramatic” Y/N gave air quotes before she sits her hand back on milo’s abdomen, causing him to screech again.

“Y/N stop touching my stom- wait your mom wants to meet me?” milo began to complain but stopped mid-sentence when he registered what she’d said.

“wait, she doesn’t know that you two are dating? i mean as a mother i understand her concerns love, i do. i don’t think she’s being dramatic at all” camryn spoke in honesty to her sons girlfriend.

“well, she knows i’m dating a guy named milo. that’s it. she’s never seen him. but to be fair we didn’t want a lot of people knowing because i know it’ll get into the media and i just wanted to wait it out as long as possible before i’m shown off. because with media comes hate and i don’t take kindly to hate. and my mom has quite a loud mouth. can’t keep anything hush hush” Y/N began to explain to milo’s mother as milo just gazed down at his girlfriend who continues to lay in his lap. “it’s her works annual family picnic celebration. so to sum it up, she wants me to bring milo with me to have the family meet him. it’s at a private event venue and it’s the same one they go to every year. it’s always fun”

Y/N began to answer milo’s question next as she looks up into his eyes, “yes, mi, my mom wants to meet you. trust me though, she’s not the one you should worry about. you should worry more about my dad maybe? or my older brother and big sister. my little brother will love you though”

“ugh i don’t know how i’m going to survive this” he groaned out as he throws his head back. he begins to open his mouth again, as he bent down to look into the camera of his phone. “mom, as the brilliant and wonderful super mom you are, do you have any advice for me?”

“oh milito, same advice that i’d given you years ago, be your authentic self. you are a great boy. they will love you. but you should also be asking Y/N since she knows her family best” she smiled sweetly to her boy. she was so beyond grateful for the simple fact that he still came to her for advice when things got even the slightest bit tricky for him.

“baby, any pointers?” he cooed down at his girlfriend who still continued to lay in his lap. one of his hands lies draped over her abdomen, while the other plays with her hair.

“oh milito, where to begin” she mocks his childhood nickname.

“ugh Y/N you know i don’t have to let you lay in my lap. you’re so short and tiny i could easily pick you up and put you on the other end of the couch” he groaned for what felt like the twentieth time that night all while Y/N chuckles as camryn began to speak through the phone again.

“milo…. be nice to her” she chuckled as she narrowed her eyes at her son.

“okay okay, but….” and with that he slid one arm under her legs and the other under her arms and lifts Y/N and starts to move her, but not before she begins to whine.

“milo no, stop” Y/N frowned and began again “i just wanted to cuddle” she says as she pouts her lip and lays her head against his lower stomach as she wraps her free arm and hand around him.

“milo i said be nice. stop being a menace. i'm gonna let you two lovebirds go. and please give lou some loving for me. love you both. have a great night”

“love you mom and i will be nice. i’m always nice, especially to Y/N/N” milo says as he blew a kiss to the camera once he’s sat back down.

“bye camryn. love you loads” Y/N says as she has her head nestled into milo’s stomach, and proceeds to also blow a kiss to the camera before they hang up.

“okay Y/N, now tell me, how should i prepare for this? and when is it love?”

“just be yourself. but be careful with what you say”

“what does that even mean? what do you mean by that?” milo freaked out as he rubbed his hands over his face in worry.

“milo, calm down. so when you talk to my dad specifically, just don’t mention politics. he gets way too into it. he’s a great man, has a big heart, would do anything for the ones he loves, but is not great with the politics topic. regardless, he will love you, because he will see how happy i am and how much i love you” Y/N cooed as she sat up in milo’s lap to look up into his eyes.

“good to know. but i never bring up politics in the first conversations with anyone. what about your older brother? what do i need to know about him?” milo asked as his large hand moved down to rub Y/Ns upper thigh.

“he’s a big goof. he’s 8 years older than me, so he’s insanely over protective, so at first he’s gonna interrogate you and ask about our relationship. be open and honest, which i know you will be. once he sees your goofy side, he will fold. especially when he sees how much you make me smile” Y/N spoke as she caressed milo’s cheek, rubbing her thumb over his cheek bone. “continue with your sister” milo smiled as he leaned into her hand.

“now my sister is who you need to worry about most. she’s unpredictable. you and her definitely align politically, but she hates men, minus our dad, brothers and her boyfriend. she’s gonna try to dig deep. she will be blunt and ask some super personal questions, specifically about us. don’t answer the intimate questions. she will be so mad that i didn’t tell her that i finally slept with a guy and will be super offended. i don’t want her to take it out of you. she’s a fireball for sure. i won’t lie, i don’t know if she will love you or not, because it’s a 50/50. but she probably will” Y/N let out overwhelming information about her sister.

“oh. is she the only one who won’t like me?” milo frowned. he definitely isn’t used to people not liking him. everyone loved milo. he connects with everyone he’s ever met it felt like.

“i didn’t say she wouldn’t like you. i just said it’s a 50/50. my mom will also be intrusive about those super personal intimate questions. but i don’t like my family knowing my business. so avoid answering them. make a hand signal to me if anything. but i know she will love you. probably won’t shut up about you once she meets you. she watched a lot of your mom when i was growing up, on ghost whisperer” Y/N chuckled as she looks into her boyfriends scared eyes. “stop worrying. you’ll do just fine” she smiled as she leans in, and planted her plump lips onto his, giving him a few kisses before pulling away.

“and as for my little brother, you and him will probably get along more than i’d like to admit. he’s more serious, but you two think a lot alike. and you two have the biggest hearts and are both super selfless. ew i hate comparing you two. except he’s kinda a dick when he’s mad at me” Y/N chuckled as milo giggled as she spoke.

“okay i’m gonna do great, but you never answered my question, when is this?” milo asked.

“next weekend, in my home state of kansas. you’ve never been, have you?”

“next weekend?! that’s like no time to prepare. and when would i — an LA born and raised guy, who now lives in NYC — have ever gone to kansas of all places? no offense that is”

“fair point. and you’ll do fine. is your mom coming into the city this week at all? or do you want lou to stay with griff?” Y/N asked, and with the sound of his name, little lou ran from around the corner onto their shared couch into their laps.

“ugh lou, you hear that? Y/Ns dragging your dad from you! i’m gonna miss you so much i might cry” milo exaggerated to his dog, lou, who just licked away at milo’s face.

“and i think griff can watch him. my mom has filming to do in LA still” milo continued.

“ugh. you sound like my father when he talks to his dog bax. there’s something you two can bond over” Y/N groaned as she pushed her left hand to milo’s abdomen to help her stand up.

“hey, wait! where are you going? i thought you wanted to cuddle?” he asked as he gently grabbed her wrist.

“i do i do. i just need to go shower. my mom called before i could even take one. i need to wash my hair”

“can i at least come with?” milo asks cheekily.

“come on” Y/N smiles as she grabbed the hand of his that was wrapped around her wrist just mere seconds ago.

-

“okay, so my mom said to text her or call her or whatever when we land. she offered to pick us up, but i told her we’d be fine and that we rented a car”

“is this flight almost over? because to be honest babe, i’m not comprehending anything you’re saying. i just want off this plane” milo pouted, as he laid his head against Y/Ns shoulder. in return, she started to scratch his head of curls.

“yes love, that’s why i was telling you the plan for when we get off. we have like 15 more minutes. are you feeling okay?” Y/N softly asked her boyfriend who lies against her left shoulder. milo had always let her have the window seat, as that was her favorite, even though he’d typically sit there when he flew.

“yeah, just nervous about this flight, and meeting your family tomorrow” he sighs out softly.

“you’re gonna do just fine, sweet boy. when we get off the plane and get our rental, we will head straight to our hotel. and we can just cuddle” Y/N cooed as she kisses the top of his head, hearing a hum of agreement in return on his part.

-

“here we are. i booked the suite for us. even though we’re only staying for a few days, now i don’t know about you, but i’m gonna go shower, change, and get ready for bed because i’m exhausted” Y/N smiled as she sat her luggage down next to the bed the two would be sharing for the next few nights.

“you do that babe, i’m gonna get the clothes i’m gonna wear tomorrow out” milo spoke sweetly as he pecked her cheek. Y/N grinned as she opened her suitcase to grab her toiletries, clothes and skin care items before heading to the large bathroom connected to their room.

once Y/N was finished with her shower, and wrapped up in a complimentary robe, she began to do her nightly routine, only to be met with milo, who was getting ready to take his own shower.

milo stood shirtless, only in his boxers as he looked down at Y/N, “i’ll only be ten minutes. please give me another rundown when i’m done with my shower?”

Y/N softly laid her small hand slightly above his waist, on his bare side, looking up at him, “of course. i may have left some things out anyways” and with that milo leant down and pecked Y/N on the lips softly, before proceeding to undress fully and enter the shower.

-

shortly after Y/N did her nightly routine, she walked out of the bathroom and to milo’s suitcase, digging through it for a t-shirt of his to wear to bed. once she found it, she tiredly put on her underwear and then his t-shirt and climbed into bed, where she laid waiting for her boyfriend.

“okay, so you said you may have forgotten some stuff? what else do i need to know babe?” milo asked as he walked into the bedroom, ruffling his dark curls with a towel, in nothing but his boxers. he turned around and walked briefly back into the bathroom to hang the towel and quickly ran back into the bedroom and on top of Y/N as she quietly giggled below the tall man.

“my love, no offense but you are too heavy, get off of me. not all of us can be six-foot plus. scoot over” she keeps giggling as she attempted to shove his large frame off of her.

he scoffed lightly, turning to look at her in disbelief, “six-foot-three baby. don’t sell me short. and i can’t help you’re tiny. you’re like so short”

“quit griping and teasing me and get under the damn covers already” she sassed back. he silently obeyed with a smirk plastered on his face. he was wrapped around her finger. she knew it. and so did he. but milo didn’t care one bit. once he was under the covers, he wrapped his arm around her, and snaked his hand down her side, brushing up his shirt she’d been wearing, to rest against her bare side, pulling her closer to his bare chest.

“will you please give me another run down already?”

“milo, you sound like a broken record player”

“Y/N come onnnnnn” he teased her.

“ugh, okay fine. so we need to be there by two-thirty. that’s what time i told my mom we’d be there. which means she’s gonna expect us to be there right on the dot. i’m also assuming everyone in the family knows i’m bringing a guy so they will all be there right at two o clock to gossip and to be there when we arrive” Y/N mumbles against milo’s chest as she spoke of the next days plan. she softly scratched right below his sternum just the way he enjoyed before she continued again, “another thing you should know, i used to work there at this event venue for two years when i was nineteen up until i was twenty-one. so don’t be surprised if people come up to me and start talking and asking a bunch of questions”

“okay noted. and what’s the dress code for this thing again? i set out my light washed jeans, birk slide ons and my brazil tank. will that work?”

“yes. that will be perfect. especially since it will be decently hot tomorrow afternoon. kansas city weather can be crazy in the early fall. also, do me a favor”

“what would that be babe?” milo asked as he arched a brow.

“wear those damn glasses. you always look so good in them” Y/N smiled as she snuggled her face further into milo’s chest.

“i will for you i guess. love you, ya sweet, short, queen. also, what did you decide to wear?”

“heyyy i can’t help that. but at least you called me a queen. i love you too mi. and i’m gonna wear that light green tie front blouse with my medium washed levi’s curvy styled flared jeans and my green retro new balances that you bought me a few months ago to match yours” Y/N said as she propped her chin up on his chest. he leaned down to kiss her lips softly a few times, before pulling away. “i love that top on you. okay go to sleep now” milo mumbled against her lips as his free hand that hadn’t been against her side, moved to grip her thigh, moving it up to rest against his lower stomach.

-

“okay mi, we’re almost there. take the next exit and then you’ll drive down this road for like two minutes and you’ll see the entrance to the ranch”

“okay, but the tesla is doing the driving” milo chuckled as his right hand gripped Y/Ns left thigh as the rental drove itself to their destination.

“quit being such a smartass” Y/N giggled as she glared to her left to look at her lover.

“okay but you love it. you can’t tell me you don’t” milo smirked his signature smirk back at his girl. Y/N just sighed and smiled, shaking her head in defeat.

just as they were pulling into the location, Y/N family were becoming more and more impatient as they waited to meet her boyfriend.

“mom, when is Y/N gonna be here?” mikeala, Y/N big sister asked their mother.

“i told your sister it starts at 2 o’clock. she said she’d be here at 2:30. it’s 2:25. so any minute. you know how she is when she’s getting ready. just like your guys’ grandfather, takes her sweet time”

“so, what do you think her boyfriends like?” james, Y/N older brother asked their mom.

“i’m not sure. i hope he’s nice and good to her. especially if she’s staying with him. but, i won’t lie to you, i don’t know much about him at all. she wouldn’t say much when i asked. wouldn’t even give me a last name” Y/N mother, Y/M/N spoke with an ounce of concern.

“i bet he’s just like most men, horrible” mikeala mumbled out.

“hey, we’re not all bad” will, Y/N younger brother blurted out, even though he was typically quiet.

“will, you know how your sister is gonna be, don’t even bother” Y/N father, Y/F/N spoke as he walked up to the rest of the family.

“oh wait, i think that’s them maybe?” Y/M/N spoke, as she saw a glimpse of Y/N through the tesla window.

“is that-“ james began to speak before will continued his thought. “a tesla? yes, it is” will finished his thought.

“go fucking figure. he’s probably a nepotism baby if she met him in New York City. that’s all i’m saying” mikeala grumbled out, as the rest of the family waited for Y/N to make her way up through the entrance of the venue to where they all were.

“mikeala, be nice. and you three, need to give your sister some room. she hasn’t been back in almost a year. let your father and i talk to her first, then you three can have at it” their mother said to Y/N three siblings as her and milo began to make their way to the entrance.

“babe, wait. what if they don’t like me? then what?” milo spoke out in concern as he gently grabbed Y/N wrist, pulling her back behind a vehicle before they could even enter the event venue.

“mi, for starters they’ll love you. and if they don’t i really don’t give a fuck. got it? i love you regardless” Y/N smiled up at her tall boyfriend. she then stood on her tippie toes, grabbing his neck gently, to pull his tall figure down to her short one for a passionate kiss. he smiled into the kiss as his hands found her hips in the midst, giving them a gentle squeeze. “i love you always” he mumbled against Y/N lips, proceeding to kiss her a few more times before pulling away.

“better?” she questioned him, as he proceeded to nod in confirmation as she dragged his tall, lanky body to the entrance, as they both giggled with smiles as they made their way to Y/N parents. right before doing so, Y/N stopped abruptly, pushing milo back and around a corner, turning to milo blushing. “hold on, you got some of my lip gloss on your lips. the last thing i need is them making comments”

“oh my gosh. will you wipe it off for me please?” milo asked as his cheeks began to become flushed. he let out one of his hoarse giggles in the process.

“lean down baby” she giggled as she met him halfway, by standing on her tippie toes, milo holding her hips to balance her like he always did. Y/N brought her thumb up to his lips and wiped them off until she felt satisfied, all while milo kept trying to not smile or laugh, which would interfere with Y/N wiping them off.

“okay there you go. all good. i would kiss you again but then we would be back at square one” Y/N blushed up to milo.

“accurate statement so i’m gonna give you a kiss here instead” he chuckled as he leant down and planted a singular kiss on the base of her jaw.

“okay, come on lover boy” Y/N smiled in awe as she dragged milo back to the way to where her parents were, approaching them with milo’s large hand in her small dainty one.

“mom! dad!” Y/N cheered as she let go of milo’s hand for a few minutes to give them both big hugs.

“Y/N hunny. you have to come out and visit more often!” Y/N mother spoke as she engulfed her youngest daughter into a warm hug. she pulled away and continued, “and you must be the mystery boyfriend?” she questioned to milo, who stood, towering over Y/N from behind. and everyone else from the looks of it.

“milo! milo manheim. mrs. Y/L/N it’s so nice to finally meet you.” he smiled widely to Y/N mother as she brought him into a hug.

“mom, you remember ghost whisperer?” Y/N smirked to her mother.

“of course i do. what an iconic show that was all those years ago”

“well his mom is camryn manheim. she plays delia in the show” Y/N began to smirk widely as milo gently laid his large hand against the small of her back, blushing as she proudly showed him off.

“no way! how’d you two meet then? and milo call me Y/M/N. i insist” Y/N mother spoke once more to milo as he smiled in return.

“i was working as a side hustle at that theatre as a bartender slash concession stand worker and he came through my line it just happened. we bonded over something and became friends. he’s a very friendly guy.” Y/N giggled as she wrapped her arms around his left forearm.

“dad, you’ve stayed so quiet. milo, meet my dad. dad, meet milo” Y/N smiled as two of her favorite men finally met. milo took a step forward and firmly shook Y/N fathers hand.

“nice to meet you sir” milo spoke kindly.

“you too. you can just call me Y/D/N like everyone else” Y/D/N spoke back to milo. “so milo, what do you do?” he continued.

milo blushed and chuckled before he continued to speak, Y/N right next to him for support. “well sir, i’m an actor. growing up i was always on set with my mom and i just gradually fell in love with the art of it all and got recruited for a movie at sixteen when i was doing theatre. it’s pretty fun”

“that’s lovely. i bet your mom is very proud” Y/M/N spoke up sweetly.

“that’d be an understatement mom. she is always telling mi how proud she is any second she gets. she’s the sweetest” Y/N smiled as she looked up at milo.

“well, it’s nice meeting you milo. now Y/N, your siblings are dying to meet him. wouldn’t stop talking since they found out last week you were bringing him” Y/D/N spoke to his youngest daughter.

“oh my” she sighed with a light chuckle. “mi, you ready?” she continued as she looked up at milo.

“as i’ll ever be love” he gently squeezed her small hands with his large ones.

Y/N began to tug gently at milo’s large hand once more as she navigated her way into the pavilion where her three siblings were impatiently waiting. she’d noticed mikeala and james were arguing over who got to talk to her first as she chuckled.

“yo, would you two stop?” Y/N laughed as she stopped once she approached them, milo standing right behind her with his hand instinctively laid at her side.

“dibs!” mikeala yelled as she walked over before james could, while will just stood quietly waiting for his turn.

“Y/N you bitch! how are you? how’s life been? what’s New York City like? and who is this? did you finally sleep with a guy?” mikeala, Y/N big sister went on.

“woah woah woah mikeala slow down. i’m good. life has been so lovely in the city. i want you to meet my boyfriend milo” Y/N began answering her big sisters questions, ignoring the one she had already warned milo about. she soon turned, grabbing milo hand instinctively, looking up at him lovingly, “mi, i want you to meet my big sister, mikeala”

“hey, nice to meet you mikeala. heard a lot about you. names milo manheim. wow baby, i feel like im in an interview” milo waved to Y/N sister and whispered the last part to Y/N.

“wait as in the great, amazing actress camryn manheim? she’s such a legend to women all around. also i hope they were good things spoken about me from Y/N” mikeala spoke as she unknowingly mentioned her sisters boyfriends mother.

“yeah, like her. but honestly, i just call her mom” milo nonchalantly spoke without even thinking about a single thing.

“i’m sorry, what?”

“i’m camryn’s son?” milo spoke with question.

“Y/N, you mean you’ve been keeping this from me? for like how long?” mikeala freaked out.

“i’ve known him for about 13 months, but we’ve been dating for 10? does that sound about right?” Y/N answered her sisters question as a new question arose, turning to look up at milo.

“yeah, because you moved in a month after we became friends. we met in august, so that means it was in september when you moved in and then we started dating three months later in december and it’s now september. it’s all too confusing” milo explained to his small girlfriend.

“you didn’t answer my other question Y/N. tell me all the deets. when did you finally sleep with a guy?” mikeala leaned into her little sisters ear, attempting to whisper, but failed as milo heard. milo giggled when he heard mikeala as she kept pushing her little sister to fess up, but she wasn’t going to budge.

“mikeala, i told you already, i am waiting. i’m not giving that up easily” Y/N spoke with a slight chuckle as she leaned back into milo’s chest. milo just draped his long arms over the front of Y/N body, as Y/N held onto his forearms, all while he held her up with his tall figure.

milo smirked as he opened his mouth, “i’m a good jewish boy”

once mikeala turned around, milo leaned down to Y/N ear and whispered gently, “um that’s… a lie on your part. what i said was the truth”

“she doesn’t have to know” Y/N giggled in a whisper, just as mikeala was turning back around to face them. and in that moment milo had placed a kiss to Y/N cheek softly.

“okay on to the big bro, although you’re taller than him mi” Y/N chuckled once again at her own joke.

Y/N stood back up from leaning against milo’s chest, and walked her way over to her big brother, as she continued to drag milo through it all. milo simply obliged, even though he was so nervous through it all. so far, he felt like her family liked him a little bit, but he wasn’t done meeting them all yet.

“james! i missed you!” Y/N freaked out when she saw her big brother. she let go of milo’s hand and jumped into james’ arms, as her big brother gave her a warm hug. milo, who was standing just behind her smiled wide. he knew she’d missed her family a lot. so it made him over the moon happy, to see her having a blast seeing her whole family again after so long.

“how are you sis? who’s this? i heard you got a boyfriend?!” james started to press his youngest sister for answers to his questions, all while glaring up at milo. sure james was tall, but milo was still taller than him. milo was pretty used to that by now; having a height advantage.

just as Y/N pulled away from her big brother, milo slyly placed his left hand against her lower back all while putting his right hand out to shake james’. grudgingly, james shook milo’s hand, as Y/N stared her big brother down. he was always protective over her. she’d always been so overly trusting and naive. he was constantly worried she was gonna get her heart broken all over again. boys always did that to her. they’d make her feel comfortable, then rip her heart out like it was a sport. she would give them her all and they’d give nothing in return.

“nice to meet you james. i’m milo, but uh i think you have probably already been told that” milo sighed as he scratched the back of his neck.

“so i’ve heard” james let out somewhat aggressively. Y/N glared up at her big brother the moment he did that.

“james knock it off. seriously. i know what you’re thinking” she began as she stopped to look at milo for a second. “baby, give me a minute with my asshole of an older brother. okay?” she spoke softly up at milo. milo smiled weakly, as he grew increasingly more anxious by the second. before he could even get a word of confirmation out, Y/N had placed a gentle kiss to the corner of his lips, making me smile shyly, knowing james was watching.

“james… don't be a dick. i know that you’re just trying to look out her me. i get it. i get that i've been hurt a lot in the past by so many guys. but when i tell you, mi isn’t like them i mean it” she began to lecture her over protective brother. “when i tell you this man pretty much saved me from going homeless in new york city all while i was having a damn mental breakdown i mean it. he has a heart of gold james. so quit treating him like he broke my damn heart when he never did” Y/N kept on to her brother as she continuously jabbed her index finger into his chest with each sentence. “now how about you go say hi properly to my boyfriend”

james walked back over to where milo was nervously waiting for Y/N to get done speaking to her older brother. as soon as she was in arms reach, he gently grabbed her hand out of anxiety. “mi, you good?” she gently asked him as she looked up at him through her long lashes. he in return smiled widely to her with a nod.

“okay, i’m sorry i was just being a dick. can’t help but be overly protective over my baby sister. she just means a lot to me and i worry she will get her heart broken once again. but she told me how you helped her. thank you for that” james smiled sincerely to milo.

looking down at Y/N who had her body leaning into his side, milo spoke softly to his girl, “you told him? i thought you didn’t want anyone to know?”

“he was being a dick to you and so i knew the only way to get through to him was to tell him about how you let me move in when i couldn’t pay my rent” she shyly smiled, slightly embarrassed to admit her own struggles just a mere twelve months ago.

“well, hey, i don’t know why you’re still so embarrassed by it. lou loves you. you’re his mom now” he spoke as he wrapped his arms around her short figure, pulling her closer to him. “speaking of which i miss him” milo continued as he pouted at the mere thought of not having his dog with him.

“i’m sorry, but what? you have a kid?” james slowly began to freak out internally.

“oh woah, no. well, yes, but no. not a human kid. but a- i- i’m a dog dad” milo began to stutter and explain who lou was to her brother.

“a dog dad?”

“uh yeah. lou is the best son ever. he doesn’t back talk me and he loves me unconditionally. what more could you ask for in a son?” milo began as Y/N giggled into his chest when she leaned into it.

“whatever you say man. damn, you sound just like our father when talking about bax” james laughed, as he patted milo’s shoulder before walking away.

“oh my gosh. that was awful” milo began as Y/N pulled away, dragging milo over to the last person he had to meet from her family, will, her genius little brother.

she let go of milo, and ran to will, forcing him to give her a hug against his own will. if it were up to him, there would be no such thing as hugs. he hated them with a passion. “william! how’s school? you still have all A’s right? what’d you get on your geography test? oh also meet milo”

“hi, milo, nice to meet you” will began to shake milo’s hand only after shyly conversing with his sisters boyfriend. will began to speak again, “i got a 98% by the way. and i still have straight A’s. i must graduate college with a 4.0 or i’m gonna lose my mind. i’ve only ever gotten one B in my life in high school and remember that knocked me down four spots on the class rankings”

“geography huh? is that your minor? right? i think that’s what your sister told me” milo questioned will about his college degree choice.

“it’s my minor. well one of them. i have another in spanish. and im majoring in environmental engineering”

“damn bro you’re a genius. sorry, Y/N told me you don’t like it when people say that. and if you ever need any help studying geography, i gotchu. you can either call your sister or she can send you my number and i can help you”

“milo’s really, really good at pointing any and every country in the globe out and correctly naming it. i wish i was joking will, but im not. now in the spanish he only knows a smidge and then nothing about science” Y/N laughed as she spoke to her baby brother.

“oh wow. thank you. i’ll be sure to take you up on that offer eventually. im gonna go get some of that barbecue while they’re still serving it” will smiled politely to Y/N and milo, before walking off.

looking up at milo, Y/N began to speak to him, “william is just super shy. i can already tell he likes you a lot. i can sense with my baby brother that you made him feel comfortable. thank you for that”

“just being myself. my charming, charismatic, somewhat flirtatious self that i’m really trying not to be. i’m so sorry for that part. last thing i need is your family disliking me for being a natural flirt”milo laughed to Y/N.

“hey, don’t apologize for being you. those are all the reasons why i love you and many more” Y/N smiled up at him as she scratched the back of his neck. “oh really? but wait, how much do you love me?” milo smirked his charming smile down to his girlfriend. he continued, “enough to kiss me while you’re family is eyeing us down?”

“you know how much i hate pda, but you also know how much i love you” Y/N smiled as milo’s large hands gripped her waist, pulling her into his tall body, pressing her lightly against his figure, helping balance her as she stood on her tippy toes. she’d moved her small hands from scratching the back of his neck to cup his scruff covered cheeks. milo met her half way, as he leant down to meet her lips mumbling into the kiss while smiling, “mmhm that i do”

pulling away, Y/N spoke, “so do you wanna play the annual bingo they host at these? it’s kinda like a family competition on who gets the most wins within the family”

“oh no, how competitive is your family? because i know how you get when we’re playing catan with our friends” milo chuckled as he still held her hips in his hands as he looked down at her with only pure love within.

“on a scale of 1-10, i’d say about an 8.4. but i think will and my dad are the worst. and im pretty sure you’re the one who’s competitive when it comes to catan” Y/N spoke as she grabbed milo’s hand and dragged him to the huge tent where the bingo game was being played.

-

“there’s no way you just got your third bingo. Y/N he’s cheating!” mikeala whined to her little sister about milo. milo had just won his third bingo in the last fifty minutes of playing the game. only three other people had won bingos and it was starting to irritate Y/N family with how good of luck milo had had for the game of bingo.

leaning over to Y/N ear, milo whispered, “i thought you said only will and your dad were the hardcore competitive ones? care to tell me why you left out your sisters name baby?”

milo pulled away from Y/N ear, gripping her lower thigh and began to rub it, as she had her legs laying across his lap as they played the game of bingo. she always had to be touching milo in any way anywhere they went. even if it was just in the comfort of their home. they were inseparable. or maybe it was milo who had to be touching her. either way, the two of them both loved each others touch. it always brought comfort to one another. Y/N had always worried about pda in front of her family, but for some reason she realized when it came to milo, all of that anxiety went out the window. she felt at peace when he did it, rather than the anxiety she’d always felt with her ex lovers.

“okay, so maybe i forgot to mention she’s quite competitive as well. she did play volleyball, that’s probably where she picked it up” Y/N smiled as she began to twiddle with the fingers from milo’s hand that had been rubbing her thigh.

“wowww, you don’t say. i didn’t notice that you forgot to mention it” milo teased as the two exchanged smiles. mikeala just looked across the table at her lovesick sister, making her want to vomit. she’d been waiting her whole life to see her sister in love, but now she was already sick of it, just like most siblings would be.

“i’m gonna go get us some drinks, what do you want? corona?” Y/N asked as she began to stand, milo grabbing his wallet for Y/N to take, already knowing she didn’t have cash for the tip. she’d never carried cash. she knew that and so did he.

“yeah that works for me. here, just take my wallet. cash is in it for the tips. you and i both know you don’t carry cash” he smirked up at her followed with a wink.

“ugh, fine. also behave. please don’t say anything stupid. i’ll be right back. if i’m not back in 5, just come looking for me? means i probably ran into someone i know” Y/N giggled as she ruffled milo’s hair, giving him a quick scratch to the top of his shaggy head of curls. “deal.” and with that Y/N walked off to get them drinks, leaving him all alone with her whole family.

“could you two be more disgusting? i swear, my boyfriend and i weren’t even this bad. and even when we showed any ounce of affection you know what Y/N would do?” mikeala began with slight attitude, making milo slightly anxious.

“my guess, she probably pretended to vomit, and say how gross pda is and how much she dislikes it and how she would never be like that” milo let out as he leaned back into his seat with his long legs spread.

“wro- wait. how do you know that?” mikeala laughed with shock.

“yeah, how’d you know that fact?” will asked curiously, as Y/N parents, and all three siblings stared his way, waiting for an answer.

“i- uh- well, i, we were friends before we started dating. so anytime we went out, with our friends, and saw couples being couples she’d rant about how gross it was. or when we’d watch some stupid reality tv show before we’d go to bed, and she’d go on about why she hated it so much and how she’d never be like them” milo stuttered, not expecting such a question from her family.

“then why does she do it with you? it’s just weird”james questioned. Y/M/N followed up, “it is, only because she’s never been like this with anyone else”

“hmh” milo questioned to himself as her family continued to speak.

“wait how did you and Y/N meet again milo?” Y/D/N quirked an eyebrow to milo as he interrogated his youngest daughter’s new boyfriend.

“uh so she was working at the concessions at one of the disney owned broadway theaters in time square area. she’d complimented my shirt, weird enough, and i- i- uh made a flirty comment. not gonna lie here, it comes naturally with the manheims” milo nervously chuckled as he lifted his hands up in defense. he soon continued his story, “and then she fired back with some witty, sassy comeback, teasing me about my previous sentence. we had a short conversation after that, and that’s when i found out she was an aspiring photographer, and was working there at the theater as a side hustle. she just, i don’t know, felt so easy to talk to. i felt a connection within that first interaction. knew i couldn’t leave that night without leaving my number for her” milo looked down at his hands that lay in his lap, nervously picking at the beds of his thumbs as he waited for Y/N to return.

“hmh, sounds just like my daughter with the witty, sassy comeback. pretty sure she learned it from me. also, where the hell is she?” Y/D/N laughed gently as he sat back in his chair.

“i’ve heard that one for sure. and i’m not sure, it’s definitely been over 5 minutes, which means i’m due to go find her. her wish is my command always. if you’ll excuse me” milo politely commented as he stood up from the chair to go find his girl.

milo began walking from under the large tent to the pavilion just across the way, where the bar was located, but didn’t see Y/N in sight. he then continued to the larger barn looking building, where all the food had been being served on the inside. he continued walking on the outside of the building until he reached the concessions, but still had no sign of her.

worriedly, he pulled out his phone and started typing away a text message to her.

Mi<3: baby, where are you? you’ve been gone for 10 minutes. i can’t find you anywhere, getting a bit worried.

as soon as he sent the message he heard her phone go off from behind the concessions. groaning, as he threw his head back, he unlatched the gate that was meant to keep guests out, he began his walk to behind the concessions. he’d only groaned because he knew he was breaking the rules and he hated doing that. but he’d do absolutely anything for Y/N. milo stopped as soon as he heard a deep male voice.

“glad you got my text Y/N! how’ve you been?” the tall, tan guy asked milo’s girlfriend, as the two hugged. the guy for sure towered over Y/N but definitely not to the extent that milo did. the young guy continued as the two pulled out of the hug, “as soon as charlie texted me telling me he saw you with your family, i knew i had to shoot you a text to meet up here”

milo knew he shouldn’t have been ease dropping, but he just couldn’t help himself. he needed to know what was going on.

“i’ve been great, real great. but you would’ve known that if you hadn’t blocked me on instagram after rejecting me, after i confessed my feelings to you when you’d been leading me on for that past year. but whatever that was over two years ago” Y/N sassily spoke her witty comeback. it took everything in milo to not laugh at her bluntness to what seemed to be an ex lover of hers.

“about that, i’m so sorry. i- i just got so nervous when you said you liked me, that i didn’t know what to do, especially because you were twenty-one and i was nineteen. i thought maybe we could try something again?” Y/N ex lover began to speak what he’d wanted to say.

milo, who’d been standing around the corner, couldn’t take another second of this. he wouldn’t openly admit it, but he was insanely jealous of the whole situation… and maybe slightly pissed. not at Y/N, but at the guy, thinking he could break her heart just a couple years before, and still have the audacity to try and get her back. not on his watch.

and on queue, milo walked straight in to Y/N rescue, wrapping his arm around one of her shoulders and around her chest diagonally from behind. looking down at her, as she looked up to her savior, in more ways than one, smiling widely to him with only love in both of their eyes.

“hey, sorry, i know i wasn’t supposed to walk through that gate baby, but like i was getting worried, same with your family, and heard your soft voice from behind the concessions.

“it’s okay mi, it literally isn’t that big of a deal. robert, the owner wouldn’t really care much anyways” Y/N raised her hand, to gently scratch milo’s scruff covered cheek.

“oh, sorry, names milo. nice to meet you” milo smiled widely to the young man who stood across from him and Y/N, as he put his right hand out to shake the guys.

“xavier, don’t worry about it. so are you like…?” xavier, Y/N ex lover began after he willingly shook milo’s hand.

“milo’s my boyfriend. milo, this is my old coworker, xavier. also, where’s your dad at? i can’t leave here today without seeing him. i adore your dad so much” Y/N chuckled, remembering how his dad had always treated her like family.

“y-yeah, he’d love to see you. he asks about you every now and then. and boyfriend? huh.” xavier shrugged with a frown.

“yeah, i met milo a little over a year ago living in new york city. and i’ll be sure to find your dad before we leave. my parents are probably freaking out right about now since ive been gone so long and now milo has as well. it was good seeing you” Y/N smiled to xavier and sent him a little wave.

“you too. good meeting you milo”

“you too bro” milo smiled weakly as him and Y/N began to walk away, and back through the gate, all the way over to where her family was still playing bingo.

however the rest of the time the two were there, milo became more silent as the clock ticked. still, he held her legs in his lap, rubbing her thigh. for some odd reason he just felt so jealous knowing that her ex fling, really tried to get back with her. he didn’t know why he felt jealous though. really, he had nothing to be jealous about. he knew that. but yet he still couldn’t help the feeling. and it was driving him insane.

“milo” james called his name again as Y/N patted his thigh.

“oh, sorry. what was that?” milo asked as his cheeks began to turn red from embarrassment.

“i asked how you liked today. hopefully we werent too intrusive and annoying” james laughed at his little sisters boyfriend.

“oh, i really enjoyed meeting you all. it’s so nice to finally meet the people who made Y/N who she is and who she’s always talking about. and trust me, none of you were annoying” milo gave a tight lipped smile. somehow when he smiled it always looked upside down. but that was just another thing Y/N loved about her man.

“wait, you talk about us?” will exclaimed from across the table to his big sister.

“uh yeah? is that a shock to you? you have no idea how much i’ve missed you guys. i was going actually insane before i met milo.”

“she was always constantly showing me photos and videos of you all. she won’t admit it but she was homesick” milo smirked, informing Y/N family of how she was feeling.

shoving his broad shoulder, Y/N began to whine at milo, “stop it mi, i’ll never hear the end of this from them. like ever”

milo chuckled, “fine fine, she didn’t miss home at all. lou keeps her busy”

“who is lou?” Y/D/N asked milo in a stern voice with an eyebrow raised.

“oh shit, i mean dang, you never told them about lou?” milo turned to look down at Y/N.

“i guess not?”

“oh my. lou is my dog. Y/N is always babying him and he keeps her occupied when she’s home from work”

“um no, you baby the hell out of that dog” Y/N fired back at her boyfriend.

“i have no idea what you’re talking about” milo shrugged his shoulders, knowing she was right in this conversation.

“uh okay mr. ‘i have to buy him a louis vuitton collar and leash because it matches his name’. and not only that but you tuck him in every night.”

“yeah well you baby him, and you bought a purse he’d fit in for when we go grocery shopping”

“he has a designer collar and leash?” will raised his voice slightly at the shock.

“sounds like you both spoil him. Y/N, milo sounds like your dad with how he treats louie” Y/M/N chuckled as she shoved her husbands shoulder while laughing lightly.

once it was the end of the picnic celebration, Y/N and milo made their way to the tesla rental and buckled up. sitting in silence as milo put in the directions to their fancy hotel, Y/N sat nervously bouncing her leg. she could tell something had been bothering milo, but wasn’t exactly sure as to what it was.

as she continued to bounce her leg and chew on her lip, she felt milo’s gentle touch on her thigh, stopping her from bouncing her leg any further.

“what’s wrong?” milo asked gently, as his thumb rubbed against her leg while his eyes lay on the road.

“just wondering what’s wrong with you” she spoke softly, causing milo to dryly chuckle.

“nothing. i’m fine. just tired, a bit overwhelmed by today” he breathed out. she knew he was lying, though she didn’t want to press him anymore about the topic while he was driving.

as soon as they got back to their hotel, milo laid the rental car keys on the counter of the small kitchen that came with their suite. trudging over to his suitcase to shrug his birkenstocks off, he spoke softly, “i’m going to go shower”

Y/N just sat there on the bed, in deep thought as to what the root of why he was acting weird. moving her hand up to her eye, she wiped a lone tear she hadn’t even realized had fallen from her tear duct.

screw it. she wasn’t gonna just sit out here and wait for him to finish, while she just kept overthinking. hurriedly, she walked into the bathroom quietly, taking off her clothes so she could join him in the shower and force him to tell her what was on his mind. they never fought. she didn’t like this. even if it wasn’t technically fighting.

quietly she walked into the walk-in shower, closing the glass shower door behind her, shocked he didn’t hear her. either that or he was ignoring her, which was her biggest fear.

“mi” Y/N began as she wrapped her arms around his torso from behind continuing again, “what’s wrong? what did i do?”

milo jumped slightly, indicating he hadn’t heard her enter, telling her he’d been in deep thought the whole time he’d been in there. he turned around to look down at her. “you didn’t do anything. i’m just kinda mad? which is so fucking weird for me to say, as i’m a loving guy. i don’t like this feeling”

“mad? what? why? and it’s okay to feel emotions milo, even if it’s a little negative” Y/N cupped his cheek, as his back blocked the water from hitting her.

“because xavier was and still is an ass. to think that he thought he could win you back after breaking your heart not once, but twice, just pisses me off to no extent. i mean honestly, who does he think he is to treat not just any woman, but a woman who is so down to earth, selfless, caring and kind like that? and i may have been a bit jealous” milo let out with slight aggression, not to Y/N, but to the situation he’d watched unfold earlier in the day. he’d of course whispered the last part though, slightly ashamed to the fact he’d let some lousy guy get to him like that. Y/N knew he meant no harm to her with the raise of his voice, which wasn’t too loud thanks to the water of the shower head drowning out part of the volume level he’d been speaking in.

“for starters my love, thank you for your kind words. i’ll be sure to tell your mother you were nice to me” Y/N smiled up at milo, joking to him since his mother was always joking with him to be nice to her, even though he always was. milo responded in a tight lipped smile with a silent chuckle as his hands gripped her waist a little tight, but not enough to make her uncomfortable. she soon continued, “xavier is a dumbass and will always be a dumbass who is very full of himself”

“accurate statement. and i don’t even know the guy. he had such a punchable face Y/N. i dont even know what you saw in him” milo groaned as he threw his head back. Y/N in return just wrapped her arms from around his torso to his neck.

sighing, Y/N looked up nervously to milos brown orbs, “to be honest, i’m not quite sure myself. I really think i just liked the attention and the feeling of being wanted and longed after. It was never something i was, well, am used to”

“well, i hope you know i will always want you. You will always be longed for by me. so please, babe, get used to it” milo chuckled, as he moved a hand to cup her cheek as he looked down into her eyes.

“also, what’s this about jealousy?” she quirked an eyebrow up to milo, and in return throwing his head back groaning.

“you heard that part?”

Y/N nodded her head in return to his question as he groaned once more. “i just really didn’t like another guy hitting on you. especially knowing you two have a past. just makes me mad. i don’t even know why”

“well, lucky you, i don’t want him and never will. you know i once met a guy, who taught me my self worth was much more than i’d even imagined as well as what i deserve in a man? he fixed my broken heart in more ways than one after xavier broke it into millions of pieces. he taught me what it’s like to actually be loved unconditionally. and i wouldn’t trade him for the world. you have absolutely nothing to be jealous of love. if anything, everyone should be jealous of you and how kind hearted and loving you are. i love you and i wouldn’t trade what we have for the world. I am so lucky to have you. i hope you know that. also, remember, it’s okay to feel these emotions babe” Y/N cupped milo’s right cheek as both of them let tears slip from their eyes.

“god, how the fuck did i get so lucky? i love you always” milo sighed as he leaned down to kiss Y/N, as the water ran down the two of their bodies. Nothing in their world mattered in this moment but them.

taglist: @girlkissersco @whoopsyeahokay @libertyinnit @moonyseyelash @bat-h-tic @emsch15 @softpretzel49 @multifanxtvshows @manheimsmuse @keziahcore

[sc0tters]

Once More | Jack Hughes

summary: when Quinn invites you back to the lake house it forces you to reconvene with your ex. What happens when Jack misses you just as much as you miss him?

trope: exes to lovers

request: yes/no

warnings: minimal swearing

word count: 1.98k

authors note: I have been in a Hughes boy mood since yesterday so it only felt right giving another one of the boys some attention. Also in honour of me getting my Hughes jersey today this was only fair. Is it wrong of me to say that I sorta hated this one, like soft Jack is not my strong suit. If you want to check out more of the 500 celly you can do so here!

Being back there you knew it was going to be tough on your heart.

Quinn had invited you to the family lake house for the summer. Everything told you that you should just say no, but when the boy reminded you of the promise you had given him prior to the start of your relationship with Jack you knew you had no choice but to go.

You had started being friends with Quinn during college and everyone thought that the two of you would become an item. It was hard not to think that when he spent every second away from the rink hanging out with you.

When he brought you back to the lake house that summer Ellen and Jim swore the announcement of your relationship would come in the upcoming days. Of course it never did and instead you caught the eye of the middle Hughes boy, Jack instead.

Quinn wasn’t stupid, he saw the way you looked at Jack and how Jack looked at you.

So it was no surprise that by December of your junior year Jack asked you out. At first you were hesitant because of what Quinn might think yet when Quinn’s only condition to the relationship was that you two would always remain friends, you couldn’t help but agree.

That was the start of easily the best three years of your life. The relationship was great, you graduated from Umich and found the job of your dreams in New Jersey so you even got the chance to move in with Jack.

There was no doubt about it, Jack adored you. The goal dedications, the mentions in interviews, the speeding back from the airport so he could see you before you fell asleep, hell even the sweaty hugs after home games when he’d pick you up and swing you around. All of it was there, and from the outside you two truly looked happy.

The argument had gone on for at least ten minutes by now “do you really want me to miss boys night?” Jack groaned as he crossed his arms.

Of course you wanted him to, you missed your boyfriend and it felt like it should have been your night “if you really want to go then go.” You hoped that your comment would knock some sense into him but instead it just went over his head.

He went to grab his shoes as you decided to drop the bombshell of news “I got a job in California,” you announced as you clenched your fists.

It made the hockey player stop in his tracks “I’m gonna take it.” Up until that moment you really didn’t know if you wanted to take the job, not whilst Jack was still at home.

The devils player swore the world stopped when you told him that “what about us?” Was all he could get out as his chest grew heavy.

You wanted to roll your eyes as you ran your fingers through your hair “you aren’t here half of the time so it’s not like you’re going to notice me being gone.” You pointed out as you shrugged reminding him of the fact that he was spending less of his time in the garden state at the apartment than he did before.

However your comment caused him to scoff “you want me to not work anymore?” He shot back as he pursed his lips int a fine line.

Tears began to well in your eyes “I want you to love me, but I don’t think you’re capable of that anymore.” Your voice and your heart broke as you watched him remain silent.

The sound of his phone pulled your attentions away from each other “Nico is downstairs,” Jack sighed as he read the message the captain sent him saying that he had arrived.

Jack reached for his hat “you leave right now Jack and this is the end of us.” You warned having enough of being second place to hockey in Jacks life.

“I’ll see you around y/n.”

That was four months ago and you had been a wreck. Sure the job in California was a good distraction. You made new friends, Trevor and Alex occasionally checked up on you as they’d visit your office hoping you were doing as poorly as Jack was. Sure it was fucked up but their best friend was a mess so part of them believed that they wouldn’t have to feel as bad for him if you were in the same shoes.

Trevor didn’t notice how well you hid it but when Alex showed up to your apartment with a box of pizza and your favourite tub of ice cream you just broke down in front of him.

You would have liked to say that pulling into the driveway of the lake house you were feeling okay, but in reality you were ready to drive away and pretend you missed your flight.

That was no longer an option though when you were caught “y/n!” Quinn called out as he had walked out to grab something from his car.

Your best friend felt his heart grow warm at the sight of you “can’t believe you’re here.” He mumbled as he pulled you into a hug “made a promise.” You sighed knowing that he was the only thing keeping you there.

It seemed that Quinn didn’t notice how uncomfortable you were when he grabbed your bag from the trunk “the boys are going to be so excited to see you.” Your timing was in your opinion terrible as the boys were all sat on the couch playing an intense game of Mario Kart.

Cole seemed to be winning as Alex threw a pillow in his direction to distract him “don’t tell me you’ve lost your touch Turcotte.” You smiled as the eldest of boys avoided the pillow.

Dating Jack often meant you were used a wall whenever the boys were being stupid, the amount of water balloons you had been hit by were countless.

Three of the four boys seemed excited to see you as they paused the game to come hug you. But Jack remained glued to the couch, mainly because he didn’t think he’d ever see you again. Each time he played in LA he’d call his brother begging for your address because Jack was desperate to see you.

Ever since he walked out of the apartment he regretted that decision, Jack wanted you in his life, more often than not he needed you in it.

An awkward smile was on your face as you locked eyes with him “hey,” your voice was soft when everyone looked between you two.

If you were told that Jack looked as drained as you felt you would have sworn that people were lying to you. But low and behold the dark circles that seemed etched onto his face reminded you of how he was during his rookie season. Sleep deprived and broken making you feel guilty about leaving him.

Yes it was the best thing for your relationship that seemingly lost its spark. Yet it hurt because you still loved Jack just as much as you did when you believed you were crazy about him.

Quinn didn’t let your eyes linger on his brother for long “I’ll show you where you can sleep.” He offered as he placed his hand on your shoulder.

It reminded you of the fact that this was your first time at the brothers lake house that you wouldn’t be sharing a room with Jack “okay,” you nodded as you forced a smile onto your lips.

The next few hours were awkward, even the way the setting sun painted the skys a range of oranges to pinks couldn’t shake your thoughts of disappointment. You never expected to be best friends with Jack after you broke up but what you didn’t think was that it would be so awkward between you two “just go talk to her!” Quinn groaned as he noticed Jack stood by the sliding glass door as he stared at you.

You were sat on the swinging bench that you built with Jim one weekend as you were desperate to have one and he had the tool knowledge “what do I even say to her?” Jack had gone through all the different scenarios in his head and each time he got to you nothing came out of his mouth.

The Canucks player sighed “maybe start with giving her a refill,” he proposed as he noticed that the glass bottle beside you was empty.

When Jack didn’t move Quinn knew he had to say something more “all she wanted was to know that you love her.” The older Hughes boy explained as you had let the reason why you were so hurt slip one night to Quinn.

That message seemed to knock some sense into Jack as he nodded “thanks bro,” he mumbled as he pulled his brother into a hug.

Quinn wanted to laugh at his brothers gesture “just no breaking her heart for a second time.” The Canucks player warned as he pointed his finger at the devils player who nodded.

As much as Quinn wanted to be nosy and watch the interaction he instead decided to leave in fear of you kissing the middle Hughes “can I sit here?” Jack asked as he held out one of the drinks in his hand to you.

It should have taken you longer but you were quick to nod “sure,” you shifted over to the side so he could sit with you.

This was the first time that Jack got to look at you properly, your hair had grown and you seemed to pick up a tan in California “how have you been?” You opened the top of the bottle before you took a sip from it.

It made Jacks heart break “I love you,” he blurted out taking you by surprise.

Not often did he leave you speechless but this was a time he needed you to remain quiet “I miss the sound of you singing along to your playlists when I come home from practice. Even how I find your hair in the weirdest places!” That comment made you laugh “but fuck I miss you so much that I don’t want to be home anymore.” Tears formed in his eyes as he scanned your face for any type of reaction.

You wanted to jump into his arms, truly you did “I can’t move back yet,” you confessed as you had another year on your contract before you could transfer.

Jacks hand reached out for yours “I know baby,” his thumb rubbed against your skin as he smiled enjoying the feeling of your skin on his.

The reservations still remained in your head “I’m fine being second to hockey but I can’t be third to your friends again.” You chewed at the inside of your cheek as you tried not to cry.

The devils player used his other hand to cup your cheek forcing you to look at him “the moment you aren’t number one in my life I’ll let Luke hit me.” Another laugh left your lips as Luke was always stronger than his brother, especially over recent years.

Now seemed like the right time to just throw caution to the wind for you “I love you too,” you smiled when the boy wrapped his arms around you pulling you onto his lap.

Jack continue to place kisses against your face causing you to throw your head back with giggles “Jacky!” You squealed finally getting a moment to breathe.

“You’re my world baby, and I won’t let you forget it.”

[myadmiringmind]

In-law Dinners | Peeta Mellark

Peeta Mellark Masterlist

Summary: You are no stranger to dinners with your in-laws. However, it’s been a while, making you more nervous than usual.

Word Count: 1.8k

AU: The Hunger Games do not exist. They live in a small town that mines coal.

Genre: Fluff, Hurt?/Comfort

Pairing(s): Peeta Mellark x wife!Reader

Warnings: Hostility, anxiety, stress, food, just a kind of awkward dinner, and swearing.

Note(s):

Peeta’s mother and brothers suck

Established relationship

|PICTURES ARE NOT MINE|

——————————————————

You were stalling, you knew that. You told your husband that you needed to find a more appropriate jacket to wear with your outfit, instead of the one you usually wore.

You had no doubt that Peeta was aware you were stalling but as the ever perfect lover he is, amused you by playing into your lies.

To be fair, you did attempt to look at the other coats in your closet. Just to see if there was one that would make this night go a little smoother. But as your gaze rested upon each coat that you had personally picked and loved every time that you wore them, your mind could only bring up the nasty comments your mother in law never failed to make.

When you caught sight of his blonde hair in the mirror you pretended to straighten out the nonexistent creases or wrinkles on your outfit that you had already spent too much time worrying about the week that led up to this day. Both of you knew he would see right through this act, but you couldn’t bring yourself to talk about your negative feelings.

He walked towards you cautiously. When you could feel his body heat, he turned towards the closet. He examined the pieces of clothing before plucking one off of the rack.

“How ‘bout this one?” He smiled

You gazed down at the coat and your heart swelled. It was one of your favorites (you were certain Peeta knew), and it would go nicely with your attire.

As you took the coat from him he reached his hand up to your face so that he could push some of your hair out of your eyes.

“You wanna talk about it?” He asked softly, gazing at you with all the affection in the world.

You shook your head, drawing your eyes away from him.

He cupped your face gently and brought your gaze back to his, “We don’t have to go.” 

You shook your head again, “Yes we do-” 

“No, we don’t. I am not going to make you do anything that’s going to make you uncomfortable.” You knew he meant it. You didn’t even have to hear him say it.

“I want to do it.” You explained. The unspoken “For you.” hung in the air. 

He smiled appreciatively at you and stroked your cheek. You didn’t even notice yourself leaning into the warmth of his hand. 

“I know my family is hard to deal with..” Peeta began

You were quick to cut in, “Peeta-” 

“You don’t have to say anything, I know they are. Which is why I would never force you to spend any amount of time with them.” He said it so sincerely that you wanted to give in. To say “I don’t want to go” and kiss him goodbye, sit on the couch, watch a movie, and wait for him to get home. 

But you also knew you’d spend that time feeling guilty, even though you shouldn’t, because Peeta is right and you shouldn’t have to deal with your in-laws just for him. But you want to. Because even though Peeta’s family sucks, he cares for them. And he cares for you. And you know he’d put himself in this position one hundred times over if it was your family just to make you happy. 

So you don’t give in, even though you really wish you would. 

Your hand reaches up to cup his hand that was still cradling your cheek. You gave it a reassuring squeeze and looked him straight in the eye as you said, “I want to go to dinner with you tonight.” 

Peeta gazed at you for a few extra moments before nodding, “Okay.” he ended it with a sweet kiss as if to say, “Thank you.”

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

Being in a relationship with Peeta improved your punctuality. You never arrived too early or too late. It was a skill of his you deeply appreciated and made you glad it rubbed off on you.

Peeta carried a tote bag (that you bought for him) with the baked goods he made for tonight in one arm, and held your hand in the other.

Before he knocked on the front door, he looked at you and smiled, “I’ll be right beside you the whole time. We can leave at any point, just say the word.” He whispered in your ear.

You gave his hand a grateful squeeze and nodded.

It took only a few moments after knocking on the door for his father to appear on the other side.

Simple greetings were made. Peeta’s father was easily the most tolerable, even if he could be awkward sometimes.

Peeta’s father ushered the two of you into the house and Peeta placed your jacket and shoes at the sad coat rack next to the front door.

His childhood house was smaller than your home, even though only you and Peeta lived there. Everything in this house was noticeably old and worn out. Which wouldn’t have been a problem if it wasn’t for the tense atmosphere.

You owned many thrifted things, and had done many home projects, but the two of you always felt it made your house more of a home.

As you walked through the small hallway you noticed all the things that were self-fixed and the cracks made in the walls that made the house look even sadder.

The sight of this house around you made you uneasy, your only comfort being Peeta’s hand.

Peeta

You turned your head towards the man you loved and your heart sank. Your wonderful husband who was kind and good, had the misfortune to grow up in a house like this.

He turned his head at the feel of your gaze. Somehow, he was always able to read your thoughts. A sad smile and a barely noticeable shrug was his way of saying, “It is what is.”

You held his hand a little tighter.

If it was just Peeta’s father and brothers, dinners wouldn’t be as hard for you to attend. But it wasn’t just his brothers and father.

Peeta’s mother stood in the kitchen, handing plates to Peeta’s two older brothers to set them onto the table. She had a look of annoyance on her face, just like every other time you saw her.

When she looked up you felt a jolt go through your body.

The woman’s look of annoyance turned to a scowl.

“Took the two of you long enough.” She barked

It was still a couple minutes before the agreed upon time.

“We weren’t expecting so much traffic.” Peeta said in his usual optimistic voice.

Peeta’s words didn’t soften his mothers scowl as she sharply nodded her head towards the small table, “You two can finish setting up.”

Her attitude wasn’t surprising to either of you. You had been friends with Peeta since school and got together before you graduated. You’ve had plenty of time to grow used to the less than hospitable nature of his mother. But it never stopped the anger from building in your chest when they treated Peeta the way they did.

——————

Dinner was..awkward, to say the least. A lot of jabs from Peeta’s brothers and outright degrading comments from Peeta’s mother. Your father-in-law mostly kept quiet unless he was making more small talk.

You truly believed that the only reason the two of you were ever invited to dinner was because of the envelope with a check Peeta would give his father at the end of every visit.

Peeta provided for them, because he felt he owed them for ‘raising’ him.

You agreed knowing it made him feel guilty not to.

The money he gave was some portion of the money that he made from his paintings, never asking or allowing you to give some of your money.

The car ride home was silent, unlike the one on the way there. Peeta was visibly tense and you were sure that you were too. But his hand wrapped with yours wasn’t firm or anything.

When he pulled in front of your house and turned off the car, the two of you just sat there for a moment in the dark.

You rubbed what you hoped was soothing circles on the back of his hand.

When he let out a deep breath you were relieved that you were helping.

“I don’t think I can do this forever.” He muttered

You nodded, “And you don’t have to.”

“Then, why do I feel like I do?” He turned his head towards you, his eyes glazed over in tears.

“Because you care for them…because despite everything they’ve done you give them the benefit of the doubt.”

“I keep thinking they’ll change.” He shook his head, “Then, I see how they talk to you and I..” he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

You squeezed his hand and shook your head, “You don’t need to worry about me-“

“I do need to worry about you!” Peeta cut in with a loud voice, “You’re the love of my life and my family treats you horribly! And-and I let them!”

You think back to tonight’s dinner. How Peeta defended you from every comment, praised you for your achievements, and redirected any conversation they tried to start with you, “You don’t let them.” You brushed a couple stray hairs from his face.

“You shouldn’t have to deal with this.” He shook his head, “I won’t let you deal with this anymore.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, “What are you talking about Peeta?”

“The next time they ask us over for dinner, I’ll send the check in the mail. They’ll get the hint.” He said with a sad tone.

“Oh, baby…” you weren’t sure what to say.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to stop seeing them entirely. I’m not sure I ever will. But some time away and some space will be good for me.” He looked at you again, but this time he smiled a little. “I think it’ll be good for us.”

You were close to crying yourself.

“I meant what I said on our wedding day, you’re the most important person to me and I promised to put you above everyone else.” His unoccupied hand wiped away a tear from your cheek.

You leaned in and rested your forehead against his, taking in his words and proximity. You knew how hard this was for him. How hard it’s always been.

“I’m proud of you.” You whispered

Peeta’s eyes met yours and he kissed you. A sweet, meaningful kiss like many you had had before.

Peeta was the first to speak, “Let’s go inside, I want to have a real dinner with my wife.”

—————

“Thank you for coming with me today. I don’t think I ever would’ve found the strength to finally admit to myself…something I think I’ve always known, without you.” Peeta murmured against the crown of your head.

Your head rested upon your husband's chest, listening to his steady heart beat, with one of your hands spread across his stomach, fingers laced with his.

“I love you.” Was your explanation.

You felt his lips curl up into a smile, “I love you too.”

[totallynotcoffeeturtle]

Kiss me under the milky twilight

Masterlist

(From the 6th to 30th April, I am having a mini 100 follower milestone event!)

Tags: Scaramouche x GN!reader, modern au, fluff Summary: Where Scaramouche celebrates Valentine's day with you, even if he's late.

Scaramouche pushes his glasses up while blinking tiredly. Not even the 10th cup of coffee can keep him up for any longer. The file and its blinking mouse begin to look like they are taunting him to no end with the tall pile of paperwork sitting beside him. He lets his forehead hit the desk with a ‘thunk’ while his eyelids shut under their own weight. The moment he is about to drift to dreamland, his own alarm wakes him up. Scaramouche looks at the clock on his cursed computer and is shocked awake. Fuck, he hasn’t prepared anything for you! It is already 23:00 on the 14th! He was supposed to buy the chocolate for you before the last store closed but of course his dumbass boss just had to dump more work on him. ‘You’re a great asset.’ He calls bullshit but he still needs money to buy you your favorite things. He groans. No matter how mean or rude he may act, he has never forgotten to buy you gifts on Valentine’s and any other occasion you like to participate in.

Scaramouche stands up abruptly, puts on his coat, grabs his wallet and clocks out. It’s okay to be late, he thinks, as long as he can get to you before the end of the day, even if there is only an hour left. At this time, only a convenience store would be open so he runs to the nearby Family Mart and looks at the various options under the clerk’s judging stare. And he understands because who even rushes to buy chocolate in a convenience store at 23:00?? Scaramouche looks at the many flavors before picking your usual favorite dark chocolate. He also quickly grabs your favorite tea, pays for them both and makes a dash for your shared home.

You stand on your balcony, fiddling with the little plant that you got from the local fair boredly. Scaramouche knows how early you often go to sleep so he would always go back on time but this is the first time you had to wait for him for so long. Even the fancy dinner you made got cold in the meantime. You pout and push against the succulent’s leaves until you hear rapid footsteps and the gate unlocking. You run down the stairs quickly, opening the door and bumping right into his chest in the front yard. Scaramouche huffs at your excitement despite his heartbeat increasing like a teenage boy in love. He shoves the gifts he got into your hands, “Sorry for being late. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow with something better.” You grins and hugs him tightly, “Don’t worry about that, just come inside. My gift is in the fridge, waiting for you, love.” He holds you tight and kisses you deeply, mumbling against your soft lips adoringly, “What will I ever do without you…”

A/N: This is kinda rushed and the ending is weird but happy Valentine's day~ i'll be suffering for 8hrs later but it ain't important rn Taglist: @amyminhminh (comment if you want to be tagged in future scara x reader posts <3)

[yourdarkcherry]

Seducing Rafe Cameron || Ch.1

Summary: You were blessed with an easy life since you were born, but it’s all threatened when your dad’s business fails and you find yourself with no prospects and no education and so your only solution is to marry rich. Who’s a better candidate than the older brother of your ex-best friend from high school? So you do everything in your power to seduce Rafe Cameron, not knowing he’s the root to all your problems.

Warnings: toxic relationship, spoiled reader, sexist elements, dark content, blackcoded reader, pregnancy, physical and emotional abuse, manipulation, gaslighting, death threats, eventual smut.

Next Chapter

Divider is by: @/cafekitsune

You’ve never thought of Rafe Cameron in that way, at least not since your friend break up with Sarah. 

It was your mother who incepted that thought in your head, on a sunny morning in the kitchen. She was standing cutting vegetables, and you were making yourself a characteristically late breakfast. The sigh coming out of her mouth should prompt you to ask her what’s wrong, but you already knew what’s wrong.

Your dad’s failing business. To be fair, he wouldn’t have admitted that at all, knowing that he had the biggest ego ever. But the letter from the bank, with a bold and red title made you and your mother exchange looks and open it anyways. 

Since then everything has been going downhill, and there’s nothing you could do. It’s not like a failing business could suddenly become successful overnight just because you wanted it to be, or god forbid the lie rich people tell poor people that hard work does it all. 

“You know, you’re pretty and you’re young but you have no higher education and you have no successful business to inherit,” she started, you glanced over your shoulder at her, she was still focused on cutting the vegetables. 

“I know that,” you commented with a sigh that should’ve eased the heaviness in your chest, but it only served to make you feel more weight in your chest.

“So I think you should find yourself a nice rich man to marry,” she said, and you usually would’ve scoffed at her words but you knew her words were true. 

You were God's most spoiled creation, and rightfully so. You were born as the only daughter of a rich family in an elite suburban neighborhood, the kind that naturally had vacation homes and private jets. But with the business going downhill, that easily meant all of those blessings being plucked away from your hands. 

“You aren’t suited for living in The Cut, you would be miserable and people there would easily take advantage of you,”

Not only the properties, but also the connections. Your family friends were everything but loyal, they dropped lifelong friends if it didn’t suit the successful image they portrayed, which would also mean your chances of being married off to a rich man would be nonexistent. 

“You’re naive, and have no education or prospects so getting married is the best option for you.”

Rich people surrounded themselves with rich people. 

The bank already seized a hold of your vacation home, and it would be a matter of time before you’re found out. No one wanted to be poor, so you listened to your mother’s words carefully. 

“Cynthia’s son is interning at her hospital, he’s young and seems like a respectful young man that you can manipulate with a few nice words…Cynthia’s hard on him so it would be so much easier,” she said, and you neglected your sandwich making in order to rest your back against the counter and stare at her standing in the island, still giving all her attention to chopping the vegetables. 

“You mean Topper?” you asked, and she hummed in agreement. You sighed and crossed your arms over your chest, “mom, he’s still not over Sarah and she’s been dating that guy from The Cut for like years now,” 

She moved to the gas stove top next to you, switched the fire on and tossed the chopped onions in the pot. “What about that nice guy you dated in high school? That blonde with dimples,” she asked, glancing at you as she stirred the onions. 

You grinned, rolled your eyes and revealed, “I have never told you this but the main reason I broke up with Dylan was because I caught him cheating on me with his cousin.” 

She chuckled, then tossed the garlic and stirred it, “well, most rich people are like that, I also dated a guy in high school who later married his cousin.”

“Interesting,” you commented.

It got quiet for a minute, then you resumed your task of making your sandwich. Only when you took a bite of it did she speak again, “I think Sarah’s brother is a good candidate,”

“Mom, please,” you say with a sigh, setting down your sandwich and then feeling like you have no appetite anymore. Not because of Rafe, you feel indifferent about him. It’s just that the mention of him makes you automatically associate him with Sarah. 

Your ex-best friend, your best friend since birth and the one who was secretly dating your highschool boyfriend behind your back. Honestly even though years passed, you think you still have similar feelings to when it first happened, you didn’t care much for the fact that your boyfriend cheated on you. 

It was the fact that Sarah betrayed you that hurt you, and the fact that she went ahead and carelessly and unapologetically ruined your friendship. 

Sure, you weren’t perfect in highschool and had your own flaws too and your friendship with Sarah was pretty codependent. You two never ever existed without each other, if one was seen then there’s a ninety nine percent chance the other would be there.

“It’s been years since you and Sarah had that fight,” your mother responded with a shrug. Of course, none of the grown-ups knew the true reason for your friend break up, all they knew was that overnight you both couldn’t stand the sight of each other. 

Sure, years passed since the fight. It happened Junior year and you like to believe you’re totally over it, which you are, but it’s just pretty goddamn strange to walk up to Rafe Cameron who you’ve never spoken to since your fight with Sarah and flirt with him. 

In general, it would be strange to flirt with him when you have never ever seen him in that way. 

“He’s also definitely inheriting his father’s empire, Sarah used to be the favorite but she’s off with that broke man and there’s no way Ward would give her anything,” She said, now stirring the simmering pot and giving you her full attention, “Rafe is working with his father, Rose talks about them all the time.”

“He’s Sarah’s brother,” you argued.

Your mother scoffed, rolled her eyes and said, “And he’s rich and he’s going to inherit his father’s very successful empire, plus he’s handsome and he seems nice, he always greets me when he sees me.”

That’s when the thought was planted in your head, and it continued to grow. 

Sure, Rafe Cameron was a very handsome young man, you remember passively thinking that when you and Sarah used to be friends. You don’t remember much of him, just that you had small chats when you used to lounge around Tannyhill.

You always saw him at parties, but never said hi because Sarah would ignore him and you felt the need to ignore him too. 

He was cordial with you, sometimes he drove you and Sarah around before she got her license. He didn’t stand out to you much, so you didn’t understand why you were sitting outside very early in the morning when you always woke up around noon. 

Your legs dangled on the edge of the porch swing, clad in your running attire that you’ve never used, a magazine on your lap as you watched the blond jog past your home. 

Even your mother was surprised when she saw you up early, and in work out clothes. “It’s such a pleasant sight seeing you in the morning, you should do it often,” she said and you sighed as you stood up from the swing. 

“But it’s a good thing you’re up early, he always jogs in the morning,” she didn’t need to say a name for you to understand who she was referring to. You knew that fact too, it’s why you even decided to set an alarm at six in the morning.

“Accompany you in your walk?” you asked, she nodded and you both started her routine. 

The scenery was pleasant, the sun still wasn’t fully up in the sky to torture you with its rays and shine. The weather was nice too, and halfway through the walk you forgot why you even started this, and only recalled when you heard the jogging steps behind you. 

You looked over your shoulder, and low and behold Rafe Cameron in all his glory was slowing his jogging, possibly at the end of his morning jog. There was a hint of confusion in his eyes when he stared at you, possibly questioning why you, a girl who slept until noon, was up at six in the morning. 

He didn’t have to stalk you to know that, in your neighborhood everyone knew everything about everybody. From your salary to how many utensils you had in your drawer. It’s just common knowledge, and the nosiness in such communities, so it was only a matter of time before everyone knew of your father’s business and would cross you out from social gatherings.

“Good morning, Mrs. (L/N) and (Y/N),” he greeted, slightly heaving but still managing to smile politely at your mother. 

“Hello, Rafe, how was your run?” your mother asked back politely. 

“Oh you know, the usual, the Miller’s dog tried to chase me,” he grinned when you and your mother both chuckled. Then he gave you his full attention, “I haven’t seen you in a while, how are you?”

You blinked, slightly taken aback by his direct address to you, when you’ve done nothing but ignore him after your fiasco with his sister. Still, you displayed your best casual smile, “I have been fine, I’m just trying to get into a productive routine,” 

“Well, it’s good seeing you up and about,” he responded. 

“How about you, how have you been?” you asked, tilting your head with slight curiosity. 

“Same old,” he replied with a nonchalant shrug, “working with my old man, hanging at the country club, teaching Wheezie how to drive,” you beam at him. “How’s she by the way? Haven’t seen her in a while,”

“Like the usual sixteen year olds, rebellious and making dumb decisions,” he answers, once again easily making you and your mother laugh. He smiles charmingly, “I was joking, she’s actually better than me and Sarah,”

You laughed, genuinely enjoying the banter. “Well, that's a relief. Good to know she didn't inherit the Cameron family's knack for trouble.”

Rafe chuckled, running a hand through his damp hair. “Yeah, well, someone has to break the cycle, right? Though, I can't promise she won't pull some pranks here and there.” Your heart skipped a beat at his action.

Your mother chimed in, “Teenagers will be teenagers. Just make sure she doesn't cause too much trouble, Rafe.”

He smirked and nodded, and opened his mouth to speak but you interrupted him, “Well let’s not take more of your time, it was nice catching up with you,” then you crossed your arm with your mother’s as you pulled her ahead with you.

Rafe's smirk faded slightly, replaced by a subtle look of disappointment. “Yeah, sure. It was nice catching up,” he replied, nodding politely.

You flashed him a smile, walked ahead of him as he took the turn towards Tannyhill. When he was safely out of earshot, your mother prompted, “so?”

“Even if I don’t like him I don’t have any other choice,” you reply with a shrug, your mother smiled teasingly, “good thing you like him.”

You rolled your eyes playfully at your mother's teasing, “mom, at this point it’s about survival, and since when did he mature?”

The morning stroll was nice, your mother had returned home when her knees started hurting her, but you decided you’d continue walking for a bit more. Observing the well-manicured streets of Figure 8 that you had grown up into, and gazing at the beautiful architecture of the houses there, you thought that you wanted to continue this lifestyle and would do everything in your power to maintain it. 

Who cares if Rafe was your traitor Ex-bestfriend brother, and seeing her would remind you of the betrayal? You had to do what you had to do in order to thrive, you didn’t have anything under your name, and if the facade of your family’s success was found out and the bank managed to seize your current family home then you’d have no other option but live in The Cut. 

People there didn’t like Figure 8 residents, rightfully so, who would like their boss. So what if their former boss happened to be their neighbor, there would certainly be a clear threat to your family’s safety. You had to get Rafe Cameron to fall in love with you, or at least view you as the perfect wife material and to propose to you, fast. 

You weren’t a goddess, but most rich housewives you knew in your neighborhood weren’t overly stunning. They mostly happened to be from respectful families, looked easy on the eyes, and were always around the said rich husband. 

You already had two down, you just had to get the last in check. 

A honk from behind you alerted you, and you turned to the side as a giant polished black truck slowed next to you. Rafe’s truck. His window was rolled down, and when you stopped next to his window you could take whiffs of his attractive spicy cologne, his hair was semi-wet, either from his hair gel or his shower—you didn’t know and didn’t care. 

“Hey,”

“Hi again, Rafe,” you sweetly said, smiling and he smiled back when he caught yours. 

His gaze caught yours, “Do you want to join me and Wheezie on our driving lessons?” he suddenly asked. You blinked in slight surprise, then your grin widened as you cheered on the inside. One more step closer to your goal of being a rich housewife. 

“Will my safety be compromised?” you challenged with a teasing smirk, your hand resting on your hip. 

“Oh definitely.” he replied with a playful gleam in his eyes. 

You nodded as you agreed,“compromised safety it is, then,” playing along with the banter. The invitation to their driving lessons wasn't merely about learning to drive; it was an opportunity to further integrate yourself into Rafe's world, to become a fixture in his routine.

Surely Wheezie would be there, and you wouldn’t be alone but you thought that you should view your lack of privacy as an advantage. If he saw that you were great with his favorite sister, then he ought to have some positive feelings with you.

If you played your cards right, then you would be invited to more things and would have a steady footing in Rafe’s life. 

Rafe's truck idled beside you, and as he prepared to drive away, he flashed a charming smile. “Looking forward to it.”

“Likewise,” you responded, a subtle flirty smile drawn on your lips.

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fics that show a healthy relationship dynamic as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave the writers kudos and comments! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

- Louis / Harry -

☁️ Of Mates and Men by @bananaheathen

(E, 630k, wedding) In which, Louis and Harry meet as best men for their best friends' wedding... well... sort of. Or, the one where Harry's just moved back from New York and Louis doesn't believe in romance. Or, I guess... the one where Zayn and Liam are getting married.

☁️ Relief Next To Me by dolce_piccante / @haydolce

(E, 333k, fwb) AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

☁️ Have Love, Will Travel by @kingsofeverything

(E, 97k, road trip) Rather than spend the summer working at their desks, Louis and Harry are given the opportunity to crisscross the country together in a tiny camper, filming their adventures for a YouTube series.

☁️ No Control Club (series) by @sadaveniren

(E, 96k, bdsm) Harry, a popular BDSM blogger, writes a negative review about Louis’ club. Louis wants to have a chance to make it up to him.

☁️ My Kind of Rain by @lululawrence

(NR, 30k, musicians) the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill AU where Louis is Tim, Harry is Faith, and just when Louis thinks he is going to get some rest, his entire world turns upside down thanks to the man with curly hair and the voice that seems to sing right to Louis' heart.

☁️ The Sunshine Stays by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(E, 15k, canon) They're enjoying a much more relaxed schedule the second time around, allowing themselves to bask in married life. Until, one day, Louis surprises Harry on vacation, and there are some surprising consequences.

☁️ Let Me Be Your Everlasting Light by Layne Faire / @laynefaire

(M, 11k, Northern Lights) Harry arranges a trip to Norway as a gift for Louis, but little does Louis know Harry is also hoping to make his own dream come true, too.

☁️ I Can't Hear You by kikikryslee / @flamboyantommo

(E, 9k, omegaverse) the one where Harry is self-conscious about his body because it's not the 'typical omega body' and Louis shows him why he loves that.

☁️ There's a Ring in the House by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf

(M, 3k, proposal) Louis knows Harry is going to propose. He's terribly impatient about it.

☁️ Changing Weather (For Worse or For Better) by @haztobegood

(M, 3k, established relationship) Five times it's raining and one time it stops.

☁️ I Choose You by @disgruntledkittenface

(NR, 3k, established relationship) Louis is exhausted during a busy time at work. After a long commute home, the last thing he expects is for Harry to have a surprise for him.

☁️ Gonna Dress You Up In My Love by @fallinglikethis

(T, 3k, humor) Harry decides to take up knitting. He's horrible at it. Louis wears everything anyway.

☁️ The Future's in Our Hands by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(G, 2k, humor) Louis loves a good idea, a good invention. He's always ready to try out the next project. His husband would maybe just like him to wait until morning.

☁️ The Nearness of You by theweightofmywords / @lil0

(M, 2k, mpreg) Harry and Louis' baby is due any moment. Harry just wants pretty toenails, and Louis just wants to help.

☁️ If Wishes Were Dishes by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(T, 2k, living together) Why is Harry doing his dishes? He must be mad at Louis. He must be absolutely livid at the way Louis is living his life as a slob.

☁️ Sugary Sweet by @neondiamond

(G, 1k, kid fic) Harry and Louis’ daughter knows exactly how to get what she wants, Harry is pregnant, and Louis is the best husband ever.

- Rare Pairs -

☁️ a little tenderness by @disgruntledkittenface

(NR, 10k, Niall/Harry) Harry’s never been around an omega in depri as bad off as Niall looks; most of the time, there’s an alpha friend or family member who can help out with scenting and physical contact. Oh.

☁️ two languages, one love by @nouies

(NR, 3k, Louis/Cillian Murphy) The three times Louis speaks to Cillian in Spanish, and the one time he finally gets a response.

☁️ Fine Line by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13

(G, 1k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) Telling his family was always going to be a big deal, but doing it alone was a sacrifice he could make. He never thought they’d fall about laughing.

[antimony-medusa]

"There's just something about that guy that means I don't trust him"

Okay so, Phil has got the wrong read of Sunny. I'm gonna start off with that. He thinks they're a confident unconcerned material girl who is comfortable in the fact that their dad loves them, and potentially he thinks that they're a bit older than they are? Whereas people who have been able to see her one-on-one with Tubbo know that she's quite a bit more shy and insecure and young than she puts on! He's been taken in by the facade they're putting on, and I think that's part of why he is making jokes and comments that don't hit well. To understate how yesterday went. I think he botched the interaction with Sunny in the musuem and I hope someone tells him that, so he can apologize and fix that. And to be clear, as a phil viewer, this does interesting character work with Sunny as a sensitive child and I'm in favour of Sunnymin pursuing this line of lore. I'm staring with my little cube guy watching googles looking for the result when Phil realizes he scared a child, with great interest.

Because when you look at the musum one in context, my read is that was phil pivoting badly from an out of lore discussion into "oh hey I can explain something to sunny, who is confident and centred and knows her dad adores her" and then jokingly tried to explain the tallulah experience, and then we know from Sunny signs later that that went over like a ton of bricks. Mistake. However, when we're discussing it, I think it's fair to not have that understanding of the lore though, and to take a more pointed, villainous read of the lore! Go for it with discussing phil as cold and brusque to people who aren't his family, discuss Sunny feeling all alone in the musuem, fill your boots.

But guys, when you're discussing this as meta, I am seeing a lot of tags that are really really eager to paint Phil entirely and unequivocally as a villain and specifically cruel to children and cruel within the family, and there's an element to that that concerns me.

Phil, the cc, the guy, acts working class. He has an accent from a particular part of england that is traditionally working class, but he also has storytelling cadences and humour styles and attitudes towards challenges that are very familiar if you are from a working class or lower income community. I'm from an entirely different continuent, but the area I'm from is the sort of area that people make jokes about, and the whole way Phil acts as a CC is very familiar to me. (Note: even when he's talking about travel or stuff, he still has the "worked retail for a decade" mentality and pays attention to the staff and stuff and what they're doing, check out the brazil storytelling vod.)

And Phil's cubito, when he's not deliberately making a character like osmp crowfather, tends to have the mannerisms of someone who is working class. Even if you're not from a lower income area, I think most people can clock this, subconciously if nothing else. He swears a lot! He banters and roasts his friends and family but would absolutely do anything for them. He's informal in a very specific way.

Which is why when people pivot immediately into "why is he threatening and bullying children again" and "his wicked is showing", and "oh he's a evil stepfather/cruel stepmother" and "can we kill the child abusers now" I go Oh No.

Working class mannerisms are already stereotyped as especially prone to domestic abuse, among other ills. If you are going "oh something about him just always seemed like he would be cruel to children" maybe— push back on that one?

In the same way that during the election I was going "that may not be the play" about americans who didn't know what it was but something about Forever was just so angry and agressive (and they were talking from a perspective that viewed forever as a person of colour, regardless of how he's perceived at home), you might be talking from a perspective that encourages you to interpret Phil's behaviour with children as especially suspect. Potentially. Consider it.

And again, Phil biffed it in the musuem. That was a misstep that had me (autistic) going "oh no I see how you got there but you can all but see the sims negative relationship marker thing pop up". But I'd ask you at least to consider that it wasn't intentional cruelty, and that people can make social missteps before you jump immediately to interpreting their actions in the worst light possible.

[justasimpleton-26]

A complicated night

(Part 2 of a simple date, which you can find the first part here)

MDNI

Jason wondered if having that date had been a mistake.

    As he sat in his chair in the dining room, you across from him, and Dick, and Tim on either side of him, he could feel a lump form in his throat as he thought about what to tell you.

    To your credit, you’d calm down some, and didn’t call the cops on Greyson when he had popped up in the bedroom with no warning.

     But right now, as you gazed at his brothers with a guarded gaze, Jason felt like someone had kicked his heart when he realized that you were also looking at him like that. Like you were unsure of who Jason really was, because if you thought about it, you didn’t really know Jason.

     Jason scrubbed his face with his hand, wanting this day to be over with. Or at least reverting back time to where he would have taken you to the movies or had a picnic by the beach.

     Anything but to go to the town fair where everything was uncovered in just a second.

    This situation also didn’t help Jason’s urge to hunt down that guy from the fair and pummel him into the ground.

     “So…are we just going to wait in silence or is there something we’re waiting on.” You asked, and that made Jason look up to see your expression.

      You seemed a bit calmer, but still he could tell that your guard was up, and Jason exhaled.

      “I-“

      “Please excuse my brother, he isn’t one to talk so much.” Dick interrupted, still wearing his mask and suit.

       Jason felt something clench his heart. A feeling he hadn’t felt in two years.

      The familiar spice of rage that he thought he had outgrown of.

     “I can speak for myself, Greyson.” Jason spat out, and your gaze went between both brothers, somehow the tension growing in the room.

      “Oh, come on now, Jason. Don’t you remember when we were young, and you used to be shy to talk to anyone outside of the family. That stuck with you for a while too- “

       “Can we focus?” Tim interrupted, looking impatient as he texted on his phone.

       “Right, right, we’re actually here to take you back home, Jason.” Dick replied, taking a sip of his hot chocolate that Jason had made him.

        “Yeah, no thanks.” Jason replied, swiping a cookie from Tim. “I’m good right here.”

         “Jason come on; we miss you. Damian misses you, Cass, Duke, and Steph. And…Bruce has been beside himself thinking that you died again.” Tim pleaded, making Jason freeze in his seat.

         “Again?” you repeated, looking from Tim to Dick to finally Jason. “What do you mean by that? Jason died?”

     Jason was internally swearing and cursing and maybe punching Timothy a little bit on the mouth.

    “Look, Y/N-“Jason tried to say before he was cut off again by Dick.

    “It was a long time ago, and thankfully, it didn’t stick. So, Jay, you want to pack a bag, and head back to Gotham?” Dick said, turning to Jason.

     “For the last time Dick, I’m not going back with you or Timothy. I’m perfectly fine right here. And please, please stop answering for me! I have a voice that I can use too. I’ve grown since we’ve parted ways, and ya’ll want to pull me back in?!” Jason said, incredulous, making Tim take a step back, and leaving Dick slack jawed.

      You felt very awkward watching this before your very eyes, and tried to make as little sound as possible so the attention didn’t divert to you. You could understand his frustration though; Jason had changed a lot since she first met him. He was more vocal and though he claimed to have a problem with his temper, you’d never seen it to this extent.

       Until he was surrounded by his brothers, and they were probably dragging up memories Jason wanted to forget.

       “There’s that anger that Jason always wielded.” Tim commented, taking a bite of that cookie. “You’ve probably gotten use to this, huh Y/N?”

         “Actually, I’ve never seen him get this angry until now.” You say, before Jason can reply, and they both look surprised at that comment.

          “No way, are you sure? Jason Todd? Former Robin, sidekick to Batman, and former Red Hood?” Dick said, sounding confused.

           Jason slammed his palm on the table, causing everyone to jump. All three gazes were on him, and there was an expression that you’d never seen on his face before.

          Even the time when Jason almost fought the guy at the fair, he didn’t look this angry.

          “I’ve heard enough out of the both of you; get the fuck out. You brought me nothing but problems, and I’m over here trying to live my life peacefully.” Jason said, in a voice so low, and threatening, you got goosebumps scattered all over your arm.

          “But-“

          “Now Dick. I’ve heard enough and I don’t want to hear anymore. Tell Bruce I said he can go fuck himself, I’m so tired of all of you.” Jason replied harshly, getting up from the table, and heading off to his bedroom.

           The door slams, and you watch as Tim deflates, shoving his phone back in his pocket, Dick getting back up from his seat.

           “I’m so sorry, I can have him reach out to you when he’s calmed down.” You say, and Dick waves off the offer, giving her a strained smile.

            “No worries. It was a bit too much coming down here with no warning and expecting…anyways, thank you for your hospitality. My brother and I will take our leave.” Dick replied, and Tim nodded in agreement, clenching and unclenching his hands.

            You walk both out, watching as they disappeared into the night, and headed back inside.

            Jason hadn’t come out of the room, and your worry for him grew. You slipped into the shared bedroom and slid into the bed next to him. He was facing away from you, but when her felt the bed move, he turned and pressed his face against your chest, wrapping his strong arms around your waist.

          You held him, not saying anything, and that’s when he broke down and cried, and told you everything.

Someone steps out from behind a tree, gazing at the front of the house where it’s been confirmed that Jason Todd lives at.

     Pressing on the comm in their ear, the person gives their boss a status update.

     “This is the right one. Jason Todd is residing here.”

To be continued…?

[ladykailitha]

Do You Know What Shovels Dig? Graves Part 6

And this is it. The last part of a short little idea that kept me up all night that turned into this beautiful story that is one of my favorite stories I’ve written.

WIP Wednesday allowed me to finish this up for you before I went to bed. I got a job that I will be starting on Monday which will slow my writing down some, but I will still try to keep up on the stories I have. I love writing these stories for you guys and wish I could make it my job. But alas, capitalism.

Also this is for all the people that wished to see what the Corroded Coffin boys would say and for all the people that wanted to have Erica actually apologize. I was like “if you guys can get her to apologize, great, because I couldn’t!” But then I realized that there was someone who could get her to apologize. Robin. So here you go.

Thanks to that anon for the barbecue idea. That’s here too.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

*

After Max, Lucas, and Erica had gone, Steve sat with Eddie, El, and the Byers boys.

“I think all in all,” Eddie began, “those were some pretty good apologies.”

The other three nodded.

Steve sighed. “It doesn’t change the fact that it took an actual honest to god intervention to get them realize they were wrong.”

“No it doesn’t,” El said. “Which is why I told them that they’ve been grounded from Steve for two weeks.”

“Uh...” Eddie said, “what now?”

“It means,” Will explained. “That if they want to hang out with him they have to do on his terms, not theirs. No begging for rides, no stopping by for food and then bailing, and just no taking advantage of Steve.”

Steve blushed. “Thanks, guys. I mean it. It was nice knowing that there were people that weren’t going to threaten me and took this whole seriously.” He gave Jonathan’s knee a squeeze. “I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t stopped by. But I’m really glad you did.”

Jonathan squeezed his shoulder in response. “Me, too. I hope they learned their lesson.”

“That is the hope,” Will said.

Steve scratched his cheek. “Why don’t we have barbecue at your guys’s place after the two weeks and see how they fair?”

Will brightened. “I like that idea. That way if they are still having problems we can talk to them about it.”

“Do you think your mom will go for it?” Eddie asked.

Jonathan grinned. “Hell yeah, she would. She’s been wanting to show off her new house to everyone for awhile now.”

El grinned too. “We have a plan, then!”

*

Steve was pleased to see that the Party actually started to make actual changes in how they treated him.

Lucas invited him out to play basketball at the rec center and biked himself there. Steve offered him a ride home after, which he happily took as they were both sweating afterwards.

Dustin made sure that Steve knew he was joking when he was making comments. And Steve made sure to snark right back unless it really bothered him and then they would talk about it.

Robin and he had a longer talk about the gay vs bisexual thing. She admitted that she had been wrong to assume that because Steve was bisexual that it would be Eddie getting his heartbroken and not Steve. She had some ingrained biases that she had to get over and was really sorry she didn’t have his back when he needed her to.

There were a lot of little changes but the final major change came a couple days after the intervention when Jeff, Gareth, and Brian all walked into Family Video together to properly apologize to Steve.

“Hey, Buckley,” Jeff said, “can you give us some space?”

Robin straightened her spine and wiggled her shoulders. “Steve has had apology monitors to ensure that it’s an actual apology, and as Eddie or Will or Jonathan aren’t here, it’s going to have to be me.”

Steve laughed and shook his head. “Apparently there are certain people who think I’m too nice,” he explained to the other boys, “and let people get away things that I shouldn’t so they took it upon themselves to be my guard dogs to make sure it’s an actual apology.”

“Have they met you?” Gareth asked, incredulous. “You’re the original bitch.”

Steve laughed again. “Who let Tommy and Carol walk all over me. I tend to roll over for friends.”

They blinked and then nodded.

“Yeah, okay,” Brian said. “That tracks.”

Steve just smiled. “So how can I help you fine gentleman today? May I interest you our latest releases?”

That got a couple chuckles out of them.

“No, man,” Jeff said, “we’re here to talk about the whole shovel talk shit.”

Steve leaned against the counter and folded his arms. “You do know I don’t fault you guys for that, right? You guys are Eddie’s best friends. I didn’t really fault Wayne, either. But the execution of that one...” he winced when Robin gasped. “Poor choice of words, sorry.”

“What he do?” Jeff asked.

“Borrowed Chief Hopper’s shotgun and cleaned while we talked,” Steve said with a grimace.

“That ain’t right...” Brian said, shaking his head.

Gareth looked at Jeff and then back to Steve. “Yeah, but here’s the thing about our shovel talk...”

“It wasn’t necessary,” Jeff finished for him. “We’ve had time to get to know you before you and Eddie started dating. We knew that you two would do anything for each other even without being a couple.”

Brian nodded. “It’s just...something we thought best friends did. The whole ‘break his heart, we’ll break your knees’ kind of thing.”

Robin looked down at her feet and cleared her throat.

Jeff sighed dramatically. “Please tell me she wasn’t one of the ones that gave you the shovel talk. Because that’s messed up, man.”

Steve looked over at her and then back up to Jeff. “Yeah, she knows.”

“By the way,” Gareth said, waving his hands, “Eddie doesn’t know we’re here. So I don’t want thinking this is a forced apology or anything.”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

Brian cleared his throat. “I mean he did threaten to kill off our characters if we were mean to you, but he didn’t tell us to apologize or anything.”

Steve laughed. “That sounds more like the Eddie we all know and love.”

“But we would have come anyway,” Jeff said. “Because our shovel talk added to a heaping pile of bullshit that you didn’t need. And definitely didn’t deserve.”

“So this is us saying we’re sorry that everyone you knew decided that you were going to break Eddie’s heart,” Gareth said. “And that we made you feel like you weren’t worthy of dating Eddie. Because you are, man. Like seriously the only guy Eddie’s brought around that we actually want to be friends with.”

“Hell yeah,” Brian said. “You’re so cool and you love to take care everyone. We’d want you to stick around because we like you, too.”

Steve’s eyes blurred and he cleared his throat. “Thanks, guys. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

They all came up and gave Steve a hug, blocking him from outside viewers so he could cry. Once they were sure he was going to be okay, they let him go.

They said their goodbyes and walked out, leaving behind a stunned Robin and grateful Steve.

*

Just before the barbecue started Robin brought over Erica to Steve by holding her ear.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Erica was yelling as she was half dragged over to him.

Robin sat her down and said, “I learned that this little hobgoblin didn’t properly apologize for her shovel talk. And Eddie let her get away with it.”

“God, what’s your problem?” Erica huffed up at Robin. “They understood. Why can’t you?”

Robin grinned. “Green ooze, little girl. Green ooze.”

Erica’s jaw snapped shut. If Sherlock Holmes had his phrase for humbling him when he got too proud, this was Erica’s. She was going to drink it before it turned out to be acid. Like literal acid.

She turned to Steve. “Shovel talks aren’t right and no one should be giving anyone shovel talks because it’s a pointless exercise in latent hostility. So I’m sorry I contributed to an archaic practice used by bullies and abusers. I won’t do it ever again.”

Erica looked up at Robin, who gave her the thumbs up. Erica hopped up and ran off to play.

Steve blinked up at Robin in shock. “Like how the hell did you manage that?”

Robin just batted her eyelashes and said nothing, walking away with a whistle on her lips and a swagger in her step.

Eddie came up to him in shock. “Did I just witness an actual apology from Lady Applejack?”

Steve nodded mutely.

“I think I’m more afraid of Robin, now,” Eddie muttered and Steve could only agree.

*

Eddie was starting to see a trend. One that made him laugh the third time it happened.

The first, though? Claudia Henderson.

“Eddie!” she greeted warmly. “I haven’t seen you around much. How have you been?”

Eddie smiled at her. Even before the Upside Down, Claudia was one Eddie’s favorite people. She was bright and happy and loved her wacky son with all her heart. Something that Eddie could absolutely get behind. “I’ve just been busy. But name the date, and I’ll be there.”

She smiled back. “That’s sweet, dear. You know you have an open invitation. But why don’t you and your uncle come over for Sunday dinner. Steve has already said yes for himself.”

“Sounds great, Mrs Henderson,” Eddie agreed.

“How are you and Steve?” she asked gently. “Dusty was telling me that Steve hadn’t been doing well lately.”

“We’re good,” Eddie said bobbing his head. “Things got a little rough a couple weeks back, but we’re on firmer ground now.”

She patted his cheek. “You really need to be taking better care of that boy. He looks tough on the outside, but he needs someone who can take care of him, yeah?”

Eddie smiled. “Of course. Taking extra good care of our Stevie is my number one priority.”

She nodded and went to go make sure Dusty was eating enough.

The next one was Karen Wheeler of all people. Ted was suspiciously but expectedly absent. She came up to Eddie and introduced herself.

“You must be Eddie!” she said with smile that reminded him of that Dustin Hoffman film.

“Oh hello,” he replied a little confused.

“Nancy has told me all about you,” Karen said with that same smile. “She’s always going on about how Steve finally found the person he was meant to be with and what a great person you are.”

Eddie smiled back. “Nancy’s a great girl.”

She sighed a little, her smile turning into something a little more genuine. “I miss having Steve over. Jonathan is great boy for my Nance, but Steve sparkled where Jonathan only shines.”

“I won’t argue with you on that one,” Eddie said. “But then Jonathan isn’t my type.”

She swatted at him playfully. “All I’m trying to say if that Steve is a good boy and deserves only the best. So you’ll take good care of him, won’t you?” It was sweet and sincere, but a hint of steel. And suddenly Eddie knew where Nancy got her backbone of steel from.

“Always,” Eddie promised, hand over heart.

“See that you do,” Karen said and wandered off to compare brownie recipes with Joyce.

The third was a squirrelly looking balding guy with thick glasses and far too knowing stare. He had come with Chief Hopper and had spent most of the night watching Eddie. He had asked Nancy who he was and she said his name was Murray Bauman and he was a conspiracy theorist. Which really didn’t clear anything up for him, but this rag-tag group of rebels and fighters were all a little weird.

He wandered over to Eddie and looked him up and down. He said in a clear voice, “I have seen things you wouldn’t believe, I’ve done things that would make your hair curl on end,” he stopped for a moment, “make it curlier and I know where the bodies are hidden. If you hurt Steve, you’ll be the next one.”

“Murray!” Hopper yelled. “What the hell was that? Why would you say that?”

Murray blinked at Hopper and then tilted his head. “Because we love Steve?” He says long and slow like he’s talking to a stupid person.

Eddie burst out laughing.

“No, no,” he said between giggles. “It’s fine Hopper. It’s all fine!”

Murray looked him over again and then nodded. “Yes, you’ll do.” And then he wandered off back into the house as if he had done what he had come to do.

A few minutes later Steve came up and sat next to Eddie. “I’m sorry, I don’t even know what that was.”

Eddie giggled and bumped their shoulders together. “It’s fine, sweetheart. It’s actually kinda adorable.”

Steve frowned. “What is?”

“That it’s the moms plus Murray here,” Eddie said jerking his chin in the direction Murray had wandered off to, “that are the most protective of you. Both Mrs Wheeler and Henderson have told me under no certain terms am I allowed to hurt you and that I’m supposed to take care of you.”

Steve blinked and searched the crowd for Claudia first. She spotted him looking at her and she waved at him. Steve smiled and waved back. Then he searched for Karen. She didn’t look at him directly, but merely winked and went back to talking to Wayne about something he couldn’t quite hear.

“Oh.”

“But don’t you worry, darlin’,” Eddie purred. “I’m gonna take very good care of you.”

Steve kissed him, slow and deep. “And I will always take care of you, Eds.”

“Perfect.”

It really was.

*** 

Tag List: @justforthedead89 @zerokrox-blog @ihavekidneys @didntwant2come @thelittleclare @liorereshkigal @estrellami-1 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @telidina @stevesbipanic @paintsplatteredandimperfect @a-little-unsteddie @jonesn4coffee  @resident-gay-bitch @obliosworld @croatoan-like-its-hot @evix-syne666 @emly03 @wonderland-girl143-blog @bookworm0690 @mysticcrownshipper @i-must-potato  @pnk-lemonades 

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for making my daughter morning baskets?

Okay so this has been going in circles for almost a month and I feel like I'm losing my mind, so getting external opinions.

I have 2 sisters, A and B. A is happily childfree, B has 2 kids, (6 and 2), I have 1 kid (1). We were all together at Christmas, and Sis A asked how daycare was going (we started doing part time daycare in September). I said it was good, I was getting the time to focus on work when I worked 3 10s the days my daughter goes to care, and then half days the 2 days she's home.

I also mentioned that I'd recently started doing morning baskets for her. My phrasing was something like 'I started doing this silly Pinterest morning basket thing, but it's actually working really well for us, so that's nice.' Sis B mentions that she's seen the idea, but didn't really think it would work for her. I said that makes sense, her mornings are different than mine (she is a SAHM and homeschools her 6 yo).

Conversation moved on to other things and I thought nothing of it, until after the holiday Sis A messages me that I was cruel to Sis B, bragging about making more money than her, and should apologize. I ask what she's talking about and she says the morning basket thing. I clarify that while some people do printables/coloring in their baskets, my kiddo is still eating crayons, so I'm literally taking a couple books and toys that she already has and putting them in the living room so that it's the first thing she sees in the morning. I've found that since there's only about an hour between waking and leaving for daycare, it's helpful to not have her drag every toy she has out for me to clean up later. When I said that my sister's mornings are different, I mean that she's staying home and also doing school/prek activities with her kids, so it's a very different flow of the day. I explained all of this to Sis A, who maintained that I was bragging about my income.

Concerned that I was the AH, I contacted Sis B, because I wanted to apologize even if it was just a misunderstanding. Sis B has no issue, says she's not discussed it with SIs A at all, and further that she assumed I meant her kids' school activities when I said her mornings are different (which is exactly right). Also, because Sis B's youngest is a year older than mine, a fair amount of my kid's toys are hand-me-downs from her, so she thinks the 'bragging about toys' comment it silly. Fair, honestly. I move on.

Until next time Sis A calls. 'Have you apologized to Sis B yet?' Telling her about our conversation and that she's the only one who wasn't on the same page has no effect, she maintains that Sis B is just 'feeling too shamed' to tell me how she really feels. She's now telling our extended family that I'm 'lording my wealth' over them both, and I've got aunts telling me I should apologize. But to whom? For what? AITA??

~~Example of a basket, in case info is helpful: stuffed dino, dino hotwheel car, a couple of books about dinosaurs, some blocks to round it out. This is all stuff that we have already, I'm just grabbing some things around a loose theme the night before.

What are these acronyms?

[daytaker]

Only Human

Solomon thinks he deserves a little more credit.

Ship: Solomon x Reader (One-Sided) Word Count: 823 NightBringer Timeline Cross-Posted on AO3

Welcome home! What did you get up to today?

Ah… Uh-huh…

…What a headache.

Brothers, brothers, brothers. It’s always all about the brothers for you. It’s a little unfair, you know. Who’s there to protect you when things with “the brothers” go south? Hm? That’s right. But you just keep on charging after them as if they’re all that matters in the world. Never mind that I’m the one who literally followed you back in time. Never mind that I’m the only one who knows everything about your situation. Never mind that I’m the only one here who doesn’t have any agenda besides getting you home.

…Fair point. I suppose saying I don’t have any agenda isn’t completely honest. But who would I be if I didn’t sprinkle in some friendly, misleading comments with a big smile on my face?

I’ve become very attached to you. I’m not ashamed of that, and I’ve never tried to hide it. You’re a very charming person, and it’s only natural that if angels and demons are susceptible to that charm, I would be too. I’m only human, after all.

But please don’t forget this: you’re only a human too.

Allow me to reassure you that I’ll never become so resentful that I’d leave you behind. You’re far too precious for me to pull a stunt like that, and you’re far too unpredictable for me to even pretend I’d do it. For all I know, the minute I turn my back, you’ll somehow find yourself contractually obligated to serve as Vizier to the Acting Demon Lord for the next seven centuries, or be married to three or four of the brothers all at once. No, that isn’t how things work in the Devildom, but I still wouldn’t be surprised if you somehow pulled it off by sheer force of will.

Why don’t you just calm down and settle down with me instead?

Of course, I don’t suppose I plan on ever settling down. It would be awfully hypocritical of me to hold you to a different standard just because I felt a little jealous.

Yes, I feel jealous. You know I’m not ashamed of my feelings. That’s something I learned to get past after my first century or two of life. Being ashamed over your own feelings is a good way to make yourself miserable.

So I’ve come up with a great way to make myself less jealous and make you less attached to these past versions of the brothers. Are you ready to hear it? Why are you making that face? It’s a great idea, trust me!

We should become lovers.

What’s that look? You’re going to hurt my feelings. Anyway, there are plenty of practical reasons to follow this course of action; reasons that have no basis in emotion at all. For one thing, my reputation precedes me, so you would benefit from the respect and fear that attach themselves to my name. It’s also possible that strengthening our bond might make it easier for you to follow my trail of energy back into the future. And on a more immediate, practical note, it would cut down on heating expenses if we shared a bed.

Haha! I’m kidding, I’m kidding! You should have seen your face. And I thought Lucifer could be scary!

It seems like I haven’t convinced you yet. You’re awfully stubborn, you know? But I like that about you. I like almost everything about you.

Everything except that irritating fascination you have with those seven.

I guess I haven’t been too open about how I felt about that in the past (or in the future?). But I may as well lay my cards out on the table now. I would love to know how it feels to have you look at me the way you look at them. Maybe if you just had that sort of connection with just one of them, I could accept it, but it’s an entire family! It shouldn’t be that hard to squeeze an eighth person into the fold. But sometimes it feels like you barely spare me a second glance. Me! The greatest sorcerer to ever live; a human so enigmatic that angels and demons and reapers can barely understand me. 

Do you have a thing for demons in particular? Is it the tails? I suppose I’ll always come up short where tails are concerned. Dare I ask why you find tails so appealing? Surely it isn't...?

Hahaha! Oh, man, that face was even scarier than the last one!

It doesn’t really matter, I guess. Adore whoever you want to adore; I’ll always be the one who taught you magic. And no one can take that away from me. Not even you, my adorable apprentice.

Just so we’re on the same page, was that a ‘no’ to becoming lovers?

What about sharing a bed?

Sigh… You’re as cold as ice sometimes. I love that about you.

[theflyindutchwoman]

The Tim Tests -- those don't make me like him. I know. You're nothing like him. I… Come here. You're nothing like him.

| ANATOMY OF A SCENE - CHENFORD EDITION 4.09 - Breakdown

The symbolism of Lucy helping Tim remove walls in his childhood home, of all places, is incredibly poetic. When she met him, he had built so many - metaphorical - walls around him, they were practically a fortress… But that didn't stop her from seeing through them and find a way in. And since then, she has been by his side, helping him lower them. So it's only natural that she would be there for him, when his last walls are tumbling down. When he confronts the person who made those walls necessary in the first place.

The level of vulnerability and honesty he displays here is astonishing. He doesn't try to downplay what he's feeling, and considering how painful this chapter of his life is, it says a lot on how much he trusts Lucy to be here and see him like this. This may seem inconsequential but this is huge for someone who had to learn to hide his emotions very young to avoid setting off his abusive father or to shield his younger sister from what was truly happening. Only here, he can't hide behind a mask. Not after talking to his father. It's the confirmation that the latter protected his mistress all along, even on his death bed, when he never did any of that for his own family, when he was the monster they needed protection from, that breaks Tim. His feelings of disappointment, betrayal and anger are so raw. So visceral. And this ultimately explains why he's always amazed when Lucy fiercely defends and protects him.

Which is also why her previous comment about the Tim Tests struck a chord. To be fair, I don't think she ever meant to imply he was anything like his father. It rather sounded like she had found the final pieces of a puzzle, the answer as to where these tests came from since Tim was the only TO doing them. I'm not even sure she realised she was saying it aloud until it was too late. Nevertheless, her remark dug deep… even more so since it piled up with his sister's who at times sounded almost dismissive towards his feelings and his own boundaries on the topic. It was important for Tim to address this. He needed the reassurance that he wasn't anything like his father. But most of all, he needed to hear it from Lucy specifically, and not just because of that remark. Her opinion matters to him a lot. She knows him the best, met him at one of his lowest point, saw his demons, has never been afraid to call him out… and she's also someone who sees the best in everyone. Just the thought that she - of all people - could think that he might be like his dad is too much already. There's a moment where he instinctively steps back, as if he's bracing himself for the worst. Tim looks so much like a lost kid in that moment, all teary-eyed. But Lucy is right there to reassure and comfort him. She wasn't going to let him entertain the thought any longer. The way he sinks into her embrace, the big breath he takes when she repeats adamantly that he's nothing like his father, the swaying… This is exactly why he wanted her by his side in the first place, why he invited her. She is the person with whom he can drop his mask and not be self-conscious about it because he feels safe with her. She is his safe space. And the hug is the perfect embodiment of this.

[pixelnrd]

obvously river ultimately made his own choices, but april put a lot of pressure on him to conform and join her dad's company and be someone he ultimately wasn't for her own gain (which wasn't necessarily NEGATIVE gain, their family needed to be provided for but still). Now it feels like instead of having learned her lesson from her own road with unhappiness from conforming she's just...doing the same thing to Dustin?? Instead of trying to figure out why he's so unhappy she's just trying to push him to do things because he's interrupting her time with the woman she left his dad for??? at least that's how it feels, idk i'm annoyed with her lol.

I can understnad this interpretation of April as being a bit... selfish? Hypocritical? She definitely is, and from the sentiments in comments about April on recent posts I get the feeling that others feel the same way about April (which is valid! not devaluing that at all).

BUT I want to counter this with a different interpretation (long post sorry!)

For all her faults, April isn't meant to be seen as unfeeling or callous. April is a product of her own upbringing and time period, and if anything she is a victim of changing societal norms in the 70s/80s with second wave feminism. Her parents gave her a great education and expected big things from her with college and a career - she became a doctor. But society also expected her to have the husband and the house and the babies. And she did all that, she played her life by the book as it was laid out to her - and ultimately found that cumulatively, over time in was a burden. It made her burnt out and unhappy. She was expected to uphold her own career, raise the kids, look after the house, have dinner on the table for them all. That's a huge burden to bear, and at a time when men weren't expected to pick up any of the slack to allow women to enter the workforce and become more than homemakers (and let's be real, plenty of men still don't do this in the 21st century). River in that sense did not make it any easier for April - he was playing his own role, one that didn't expect him to share that burden of homemaking and childreading beyond hanging out with the kids on the weekend and doing the odd handy job. He was blind to the burden that April was bearing.

April was also running in the rat race from college, to career, to wife, to mother. She didn't get time to stop and check in with herself on whether she was having a good time. In fact I don't think April could pinpoint when it started to go wrong either. It was the wearing down over time of a person who was expected to do it all and be everything for everyone.

I do feel like everyone comes out in defence for the heir (which, hey, is fair - its their story!). But I've tried to portray all my characters as having flaws and negative traits, making mistakes and not being perfect. River was far from perfect as a husband and Dad. He just slid right on into the breadwinner male role without question because in the era he lived in, that was what husbands did. He grew up in a non-traditional household and was always subconsciously rebelling against that. He grew up poor and got himself to college. He was given a career opportunity that would make him a lot of money and he genuinelly wanted that. He wanted to have material wealth to show for himself after having grown up with no electricity, eating home grown vegetables and wearing thrift clothes. Ultimately he didn't realise the cost of the lifestyle he sought, or why ultimately his parents rejected it - they were happier people, even though they had less.

It's not entirely April's fault that River went down a path that didn't make him happy. Being with April presented opportunities and a lifestyle that River bought into. But as time went on, and they had a house and kids, River became trapped in the cycle of upholding that lifestyle.

River and April were only 20 when they met. They got locked down too young thanks to societal expectations and familial pressures and ultimately they grew up during that marriage into different people. I think the beauty of their separation - even thought hurtful for all involved - was that they were finally able to explore who they really wanted to be.

That's not to say that they didn't learn their lessons. April tries to tolerate Dustin's apathy, but probably finds it hard considering the pressure her parents put on her, and the sacrifices she feels that she made to give him a great upbringing and feeling taken advantage of - after all, she was full time Mum and and a full time doctor.

When writing the character of April, I thought a lot about my own Mum and my Grandmothers and other Mums I have known in my lifetime. And I thought about how they all did double shift, coming home from their paid work to do the unpaid work of being a wife, Mum and homemaker. I wanted April to have her liberation from this system, so that was what I gave her.

I worry that April's character hasn't come across the way I intended, and that makes me feel like I haven't done her justice. If anything that's a lesson to myself in storytelling! But I hope this essay-like response can give others a different way of thinking about April 😊

[daintylovers]

it had all started with a snarky little comment from mike about how you just couldn’t keep your hands off him. to which you fired back about how he shouldn’t even be talking about that.

i mean does he not remember literally shoving you into the bathroom at chrissy cunninghams party because he couldn’t wait to walk a mile home??

and of course, being the competitive fuckers you both are, this sparked a little game. who ever breaks first, has to do whatever the winner says. this included no kissing, no grabbing, and absolutely no whispers of anything sexual related.

but both of you also forgot that hormones were a thing, so about three days into the contest you were feeling the withdrawal symptoms. another day went by and you ended up dreaming of mikes hands roaming your body, as you gave in and lost the competition.

needless to say, you almost broke that morning. but after catching mike staring at you from across the hall, there was a newfound hope that you might win.

he had been feeling it ever since the competition had started. what can he say, you angry always hits the spot for him. that day in the hall, all he was able to think about was you. sucking on your neck, hearing you whimper beneath him.

what broke the contest was when you were hanging out in his basement, five feet away from each other on the couch, and you were eating a fucking popsicle. it was starting to warm up in hawkins. perfect timing for you to wear that new mini skirt and enjoy one of mrs. wheelers complimentary popsicles.

mike lasted all of five minutes, just staring at you obscenely licking up and down the treat until he caved.

“alright, alright, you fucking win! i can’t take this anymore.” and then he was on top of you, the popsicle already being discarded carelessly onto the floor. (fuck it we ball)

“wait wait wait- hold on” you gasped, pushing him to an upright position. “ i won, remember. that means you do what i say.”

“well then say something bunny. you’ve got me in the palm of your hand” he whispered into your ear

“i want you in between my legs”

and that’s all he did. just position himself in between your thighs. of course he wasn’t going to play fair, nothings ever fair with that bitch.

“come on sweetheart, i don’t got all day. use your words and tell me what you want me to do while i’m sitting pretty in between these thighs”

“fuck you asshole” you said, but he knew you didn’t mean it. you were just getting all worked up over his words, well two can play at that game. “i want you in between my legs, eating me out like the good slut i know you can be.” god even saying the words had you squirming.

and boy was he quick to obey, flipping up your skirt and discarding your panties in record time. then he was lapping at your arousal like a starved man. which technically he was, but god you wouldn’t trade it for the world.

when his nose started to brush on your clit, he found himself having to grip your hip bones into place because you kept thrusting up into his face. from how hard he was grasping the delicate flesh, you wouldn’t be surprised if later, bruises started appearing.

all the while, you have one of the decorative pillows practically shoved in your mouth. i mean fuck, the rest of the wheeler family is watching t.v. right above you. one ill timed moan, and you both are done for.

the moment he pressed two fingers inside you and brushed against your walls, was the moment you collapsed. thankfully he had moved out of the way, only his arm in between your thighs as your legs smashed together, trying to keep him in place as you reached your high.

mike, being the good boyfriend he is, kept moving his fingers while you rode out your high. once you had settled, you turned to the red cheeked boy. he had your arousal coating his chin, staring at you like you held all the power in the world.

“well, that was fun. have a great time jerking off into a sock again” you said rather cheerily as you started to make your way to your discarded clothing items.

the look on his face was priceless, i mean surely you couldn’t be serious??? “wait, seriously??” he asked, trying to give you his best puppy dog eyes. he needed this, fuck he needed this so bad.

“don’t start something when you aren’t prepared to lose wheeler”

[inchidentally]

https://www(.)autosport(.)com/f1/news/stella-singles-out-exceptional-japan-f1-podium-as-piastris-2023-highlight-/10559510/

I think you've posted about Andrea Stella's relationships with Lando and Oscar before and I've been thinking about this and just needed to share my thoughts with someone.

when Oscar talks about his best weekends, its always Qatar where he felt like he really maximized his result and SIlverstone which he talks about as one of his most complete performances despite missing that podium.

When it comes to Japan and his first podium, it's like he's happy with the result and what that meant for the team, but it's not actually a weekend he reflects on super positively in terms of his race. I feel like he's never the one bringing it up, it's always like a reporter being like "and Japan?" and he's just like "yeah I guess that was nice too", but he doesn't really talk about it as a personal highlight (even though I'm sure he isn't like... upset over it, just not a performace he rates as his strongest).

all that to say I love that Andrea actually picks out his qualifying performace there as a highlight of his season, because it was! it just feels really subtlely supportive of him to bring up a moment that Oscar doesn't really talk about himself, and kind of got lost in all the comparisons or race pace between him and Lando.

idk i just needed to tell someone this lol

oh anon and I am so glad you shared it with me bc I wanna go offfff

truly this quote is the kind of thing I could see making Oscar feel emotional about and puff up with pride. it's the sort of meticulous score card that his big brained A-levels overachieving ass must eat up with a spoon:

"In terms of speed, in terms of capacity to learn very rapidly, in terms of collaborating with his engineers and extracting the information that he needs to grow so rapidly, in terms of his own awareness of where he is in the various stages to go from: ‘I know nothing about this track, first time in a Formula 1 car' to being P2 on the grid. And also the way he keeps himself calm, controlled – therefore always capitalising on his potential because he doesn’t create any unnecessary stress - that’s quite exceptional. And I can see why he was so successful in junior categories."

and god, the stern but loving dad role Andrea has taken with Lando and Oscar. especially when you think from Oscar's perspective how he was coming into a team fresh off of a dramatic court case and filling a seat that everyone - including Lando - was still deep in mourning over. from what I remember Oscar's "promo" by McLaren was more like something they'd do to announce a new reserve driver rather than Lando's new teammate. especially considering the weeks of emotionally overwrought posts and content about Daniel leaving. I'm guessing a lot of that had to do with trying to mitigate the comment sections turning rancid on any Oscar content (and I'm being generous saying that). but there was exceptionally low fanfare attending Oscar's arrival, especially considering him having such a scorching record coming up to F1.

so for someone like Andrea to come into his new role and choose to watch Oscar so closely when Oscar was honestly sort of - either ignored or still hated bc of Daniel and Alpine - during those races before Silverstone has come good in the huge revolution of public opinion about Oscar. Lando was already comfortably at home and only needed a little managing. side note I love how many times in challenges Lando would pretend to pout and say "Andrea said there has to be balance and fairness between teammates sooooo" akgfkasgs he had Lando's number already <3

but for all that Oscar has been a trooper about having to kind of operate without the kind of consistent found family that Lando has and dealt with the press and DTS dutch angle drama interviews in such a mature way idk. I feel like sometimes Oscar sees himself as only existing as one of the drivers once he's actually in the car. he's never found that footing of becoming one of the F1 personalities the way that even Logan has (thank you Williams and thank you Alex).

a lot of the time you could confuse Oscar's presence in the garage and the paddock with another engineer. and tbh when you consider how much of an online meme he was in F2 and F3 and how strong his twitter game was it definitely feels like he's intentionally suppressing his personality to maybe ? just get through his rookie F1 season with as little drama as possible. I've gone on and on and on abt how Prema Oscar would have made the perfect fan favorite dynamic with Lando the same way he was with Arthur or Robert. but Oscar's personality has only come out on camera a few times and otherwise he just watches Lando or stiffly gets through his own parts.

that's why I had to compile these instances of Andrea seeking Oscar out and being so incredibly tender with him. Lando is the always beloved child at McLaren and he absolutely earned that. but he was also definitely thrown by Oscar choosing to go so quiet and under the radar - I don't think in a bad way, but I will be interested to see the clips from DTS that haven't been chopped to hell so we can get a better glimpse of that.

but someone in higher authority than Lando needed to go out of their way to regularly remind Oscar that yes, he's One of The Big Boys and yes, McLaren is his home now. he has as much right as the rest of the drivers all feel to stand up and ask for what they want and speak for themselves and even cause a little trouble if they feel they need to. an F1 grid are always drama queens to some degree because they're basically the lead singers of a band. they had to as Lando rightly said "be fairly selfish" to get to their rarefied position. not that they're bad people at all, just that they have to treat themselves as of utmost importance in order to achieve the performance and mentality to even get a shot at F1. but not only is Oscar not naturally like that (his forms of self-care involve sleep and seeing friends lol) he certainly wasn't going to stir things up anymore than he already had.

but! what Oscar does have is incredible courage, unflappable calm and towering competitiveness. like I said once he gets in the car his focused self-belief overtakes everything else. the amount of times his rookie season it was down solely to the car or to other drivers that resulted in taking him out of a race or knocking him down the grid as opposed to pure rookie error or personal mistakes is amazing. and guess who said that back in August:

"For us being in this journey with Oscar, it makes it even more exciting, because it was very clear right from the start – the level of talent.

“Even the analytical behaviour, looking at things, trying to learn, and at the same time always remaining very calm. He is able to absorb things, execute things, always staying very calm, which I think is a strong point of Oscar.”

and guess who gives us some of the best insights to the kind of driver Oscar is when no one else can? (apart from sexy daddy Mark ofc)

“I think the quality which, if you want, maybe one of the key enablers [of] why he can grow so rapidly is just the man beyond the driver,” Stella told GP Blog. “He’s so calm. He’s so good at keeping himself in a status in which he can use the best of his talent.

“I don’t have that quality, I have to think very actively about ‘What am I thinking? What are my emotions?’ I have to think about my psychology to actively keep myself in the most productive state. For Oscar, this seems to come quite naturally. That’s the main enabler.

“I think he, potentially, has a natural gift. Or, maybe he worked throughout his young career through that. I don’t know. But, certainly, he’s remarkable. And even when I’ve seen great drivers currently or in the past, all of them sort of sometimes underperformed because they don’t stay in the status in which they give their best. I think, for Oscar, this is quite natural.”

oh and guess who also tells us the most about the fact that Lando has taken his role as established driver and leader seriously wrt Oscar and how well they've complemented each other?

“So Lando can say ‘ok, we can do this in this corner’, and so on. And likewise, obviously, for Oscar with Lando. The second element, which is remarkable this year, is how similar the comments are between the two drivers.

“And this is not only in the off-line debriefings, but it's also when the drivers come back after they run the first run during a session. They actually use the same terminology, like it looks like they are in communication before reporting their feedback.”

papa is giving his boys their props!! they did him proud and he's not going to hold back on telling the world!

and I even love how Lando and Oscar both choose Silverstone without any hesitation as their favorite race of 2023 and that Lando said how much Oscar deserved to be up there with him. that's exactly what Andrea had instilled in them and shows his values have fully sunk in.

you're absolutely right anon, we should never forget that Andrea is the one who went to Oscar when Oscar needed it and that Andrea established the team culture that has let someone like Oscar thrive at the same time as someone so different from him like Lando.

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articles sourced: