#and. more important. just/close as important as ava.

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

time

Summary: Not wanting to face Joel after you found out that you're pregnant, you leave the Boston QZ to live with Bill and Frank. Almost four years pass before you can't hide from him anymore, letting him finally know why you ran from him all these years back.

Pairing: Joel Miller x fem. reader

Wordcount: 6.7k

Rating: E

Warnings: angst, unplanned pregnancy, secret pregnancy, secrets, fluff, trust issues, Joel being Joel, making up, kissing, age gap (not specified but it's around 15 years), smut (unprotected sex), mentions of alcohol, Joel really is bad at feelings, but he's trying, Girl Dad Joel Miller, happy end

A/N: if these two had a relationship status it would be "it's complicated" Another WiP done! So now I am allowed to think about Biker Raider Joel for a moment, right?

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Pedro Masterlist || Joel Masterlist || Main Masterlist

“You know you’ll have to face him at some point,” Frank had a fond smile on his lips as he sat in his wheelchair next to you. He was watching Bill who let himself chase across the yard of his picture perfect post apocalypse home. 

Nobody would expect that just down the street, outside of the fence the world as you knew it had ended. 

“I know,” you sighed. 

“He asks for you every time he’s here. If we had seen you, if we knew where you are. He’s gonna understand,” Frank said and you scoffed. 

“He’s not gonna care. He has Tess and… he’s not…” you shook your head, searching for the words, “he’s not the man I fell in love with.”

“We all can change,” Frank said, reaching over to squeeze your hand. 

“Bill is the best example for that. Could you have imagined him like that when you showed up here three years ago?”

You watched Bill play with your daughter, Ava, playing catch. 

“Joel is not like that. He was like that. Before. But that part of him died long ago.”

You sat in silence for a while, just watching Bill and Ava, trying to soak it all in. It would never be like that again and you were already dreading having to explain all of this to her. 

“I’m gonna miss you,” you whispered, fighting against the tears as you looked at Frank. He smiled softly at you before he came closer, kissing your forehead. 

Four years earlier

You knew he could tell when you were lying. He would know with one look at you that you were full of shit telling him that this was not working for you anymore. Whatever this between you was.

Joel and you had known each other since before the outbreak. You had started babysitting Sarah to earn some extra money while you were finishing you degree when she had just been nine years old and you had moved in next door.

You had been there on outbreak day. Next door, still living at home to take care of your sick father. You would never get the picture of his infected body lunging at you out of your head the night the world changed. 

You and Joel… You didn’t know what Joel and you were exactly. 

You loved Joel, you knew that. And you were pretty sure he loved you too. You just wanted… more. Most people did not allow themselves to love so openly anymore. And in Joel’s case? Losing Sarah had changed him. After fifteen years the man who had been Sarah’s father was gone, replaced by a man that still had his face, but was missing the warmth and comfort Joel Miller had once provided. 

You could see it in glimpses, whenever his hand would rest on your back when he passed by. When he fell asleep in your arms deep in the night. When he kissed your forehead before he headed out for work. 

Loving Joel Miller was easy. 

Being loved by him was close to impossible. 

You never really labelled your relationship, mostly because you did not think of it as important. You trusted him more than any other person on this planet. It’s why you ignored the way he had started looking at Tess. It’s why you did not question him when he stayed away at night. You ignored it all, opening your arms for him when he chose to come home to you, letting him in your bed just to feel close to him. To feel something. 

The jealousy was killing you slowly, making you reckless when you let him have his way with your body. 

But once you had missed your period the first month, and then the second, you knew that there was only one possible answer to your dilemma. You had never been late before. A ration card swapped for a twenty year old pregnancy test had your worst fears come true. 

You were pregnant with Joel Miller’s child. 

Fifteen years after you both buried his daughter. The daughter he never got over losing. 

You could already see his reaction. The eyes you loved so much empty before he would tell you to deal with it. 

You could not face his anger or disappointment, but mostly you could not face him not caring. So you packed your little belongings once he had left you in the morning, sneaking out of your bed without a word.

You did not leave a note, just fled the QZ, making your way over to Bill and Frank, hoping your friendship with Frank would make them take you in. 

Of course Bill hadn’t want to, but once he saw your stomach swell (and tasted the sweets you baked in his kitchen) he had put all his work into making the house next door into your home. 

“Mama, can we go get Strawbebbies?” you chuckled, holding her hand as you walked with her on your daily walk by the fence. 

“Strawberries, baby,” you tried to correct her. Ava pouted at you, her dark curls swinging in the wind, her brown eyes so much like her fathers. 

“That’s what I said!” she put her little hands on her hips and you smiled. 

She was definitely her father’s daughter.

“Okay, baby. Let’s get some Strawbebbies,” you picked her up, making her shriek with laughter. Once again you were glad you made the decision to come here. She could grow up like a child was supposed to. 

Even though now that Bill and Frank were gone it was getting kind of lonely. You had all enjoyed a last dinner together before Bill and Frank had tucked Ava in for one last time and read her a story. 

You had tried to keep the tears at bay as Bill had reminded you of the folder full of instructions of how to take care of things around here for you. 

After dinner you had walked them to the gate, opening the fence for them as they took their last walk. You had watched them until they had disappeared into the dark woods before you made your way back to their house. You had cleaned the dishes and tidied everything up, before with a heavy heart, you had turned off all the lights and closed the door behind you before you walked to your house, allowing yourself to cry yourself to sleep as you sat on the floor next to the bed of your daughter, watching her sleep. 

That night was almost three months ago. The days were getting shorter, the nights colder. You’d have enough firewood for this winter but come spring you would have to find a way to make more. 

You had just finished making breakfast for Ava when the motion detector alarmed you that someone was at the gate. You froze, telling Ava to eat her fruit salad before you made your way downstairs to check out what was happening. 

Your heart was pounding against your chest, once you noticed his face. 

Joel Miller. 

And a…. Teenage girl?

The gate swung open after he put in the code and you allowed yourself fifteen seconds to panic. You knew this day would come. The day after Bill and Frank had gone you had checked the basement, finding that Bill had put on 80’s music, the distress signal. 

Even though you had turned it off immediately deep down you knew he would show up at some point. 

You just did not think it would be that soon. 

You grabbed your gun, checking if it was loaded before you made your way back upstairs. You did not think you would need it, but it was better to be prepared. 

“Ava? Remember when Uncle Bill played hide and seek with you and showed you the best place to hide?” you asked, hiding the gun in the back of your jeans as you got to your kitchen. She nodded. 

“I want you to hide there until I come and get you,” you said. 

“Hide?” she asked. You nodded, kissing her cheek. 

“Take Sluggi with you,” you smiled. Sluggi was the stuffed plush slug Bill had gotten for her. She nodded and ran out of the kitchen and upstairs, You heard her door to her room close and took a deep breath, calming yourself. 

You knew this day would come. You knew one day you would have to face Joel Miller and you knew you would have to face his reaction. 

You never regretted your decision to leave. Life has definitely been better here. That did not mean you had just stopped loving him, no matter how much he had hurt you in the past. 

Stepping towards your front door you could see him walk towards Bill and Frank’s house. 

You closed your eyes, taking a calming breath before you opened the door and stepped out. 

His head snapped towards you once he heard the door opening, eyes widening for a split second before he pulled the girl that was with him behind his back. 

He was protecting her. 

“What are you doing here? Where are Bill and Frank?” he asked, his voice low. 

“They’re dead. Frank got worse and… he couldn’t…” you shook your head, lost of words. He just looked at you before he shook his head, trying to put in words what he wanted. 

“I just… We need some…” he took a deep breath, looking up at you, a million emotions playing over his face. 

“Are you hungry?” you asked the girl behind him. 

“Starving,” she replied and you smiled a little.

“There’s some fruit salad left on the kitchen counter if you want?” you asked. She stepped around Joel and he looked at her. 

“It’s safe. There’s… there’s no one there,” you lied. He gave her a nod before she walked past you into your home. 

It had been years since you’ve been alone with him. He did not really change. His hair maybe a little grayer, the lines around his mouth a little deeper, but he was still Joel Miller. 

“You left,” he said. 

“I did.”

“Why?”

You took a deep breath. You looked past him towards the house the girl had walked in, hoping your little girl continued to hide. Knowing her she had was working on her puzzle. She would be okay for a moment. 

You knew she was safe. You just needed a little moment alone. 

“You can have some fruit salad too. I am going to get some vegetables for dinner,“ you gave him a nod, before you turned around and walked towards your garden, ignoring him as he called after you. 

With a basket full of salad, cucumbers and some tomatoes you pushed the door of your house open. Joel was sitting on the stairs, across the door, already looking at you. 

The girl walked past the both of you towards the living room, an apple in her hand she was munching on. 

„This is so fucking weird,“ she shook her head and you snorted while Joel hissed at her. 

„What? It is weird,“ she said, her head turned towards him. 

You smiled a little as you looked at her, before you walked towards the kitchen, setting the basket down. You had to go up to check on Ava. 

And you had to talk to Joel.

You couldn’t hide her from him, even though you wanted to do nothing more than that. 

You took a deep breath when he walked into the kitchen. 

„Is it okay if Ellie takes a shower?“ He asked, knowing that there was warm water around town. 

„That’s her name. Ellie,“ he clarified.

„Oh. Of course, yeah,“ you nodded and Ellie walked in, snorting as she looked up at Joel. 

„You could use one too dude,“ she said and you had to fight hard against the grin as you watched the look on Joel’s face. 

You were about to offer her to show her to the bathroom when you heard a door upstairs click open, followed from little footsteps, your eyes widening. Joel frowned, his hand immediately searching for his gun, his arm putting Ellie behind himself. 

He raised his gun, taking a step forward as you ran around the counter, the knife you had put out to cut the salad now in your hand. 

„Gun down,“ you hissed and his head snapped to you, his eyes widening when he saw the knife in your hand. You stood in front of him. 

„I will not repeat myself, put the gun down, right now or I will put this knife in your thigh,“ you fingers flexed around the handle of the knife. The footsteps came closer as you kept eye contact with Joel until he slowly lowered his gun. You nodded at him once you saw him put the gun back to wherever it came from, then looked at Ellie who was looking at you with wide eyes, before you let the knife fall down to the floor just in time as Ava jumped the last step down, rounding the corner. 

„Potty?“ She whispered shyly, looking up at you with big eyes and you sighed, before you nodded, the people behind you forgotten as you picked your daughter up. You risked a glance at Joel as you turned towards the stairs, your daughter in your arms.

His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, before you practically ran up the stairs. 

„Who is the man mommy?“ Ava asked as she was finished, washing her hands like you taught her, making as many bubbles as possible as she rubbed her hands together. 

You sucked your bottom lip in as you watched her, your hand brushing over her soft hair. 

„That is an old Friend of mommy,“ you explained, and she nodded. 

„And the girl?“ She asked. 

„That is a friend of him, I think. I am not sure.“

She finished washing her hands and you handed her the towel, her little face full of concentration as she dried her hands, making you smile.

You got down on your knees in front of her, your hands on her shoulders. 

„Do you think she’s gonna play with me?“ She asked, hopeful.

„We can ask her,“ you said with a smile.

You weren’t prepared for the sight in your kitchen when you came downstairs. Joel was standing at the counter, the sleeves of his shirt rolled back as he cut the tomatoes with the knife you had threatened with him not only ten minutes ago. 

He didn’t look up as you entered the room, but Ellie did. You looked between them warily. 

„I’m Ava,“ your daughter chirped and you took a deep breath, Joel still not looking up. Ellie looked at him with a frown, before she sighed, rolling her eyes, and walked towards you.

„I’m Ellie,“ she said and smiled a little and bend down to her knees. Ava looked first at her, then at you. 

„Ellie, do you like sea turtles?“ You asked and the girl looked at you. 

„Uh…. I guess?“ She said and you smiled. 

„Because Ava loves them. Her whole room is full of them,“ you said and saw interest flicker in her eyes.

„Can I see?“ Ellie asked and you nodded. 

„You wanna show Ellie your sea turtles?“ You asked Ava and she nodded eagerly. 

„Awesome,“ Ellie said, taking Ava’s hand before you could offer to show them, the girls already walking upstairs towards Ava's room. 

Which left you alone in the kitchen with….

„How old is she?“ Joel asked, still not looking at you as you turned to face him. He grabbed the cucumber after he had used the knife to put the tomatoes in the bowl you had prepared for the salad, beginning to slice them. 

You took a deep breath. 

„She turned three last month,“ you said, watching him nod slowly, the knife hitting the cutting board the only noise in the room. 

„She has my eyes,“ he finally said and you sucked your bottom lip in, nervous. 

„Yeah she has,“ you agreed and he finally looked up at you, setting the knife down, his hands spread out on the counter, resting his whole weight on them. 

„Why didn’t you tell me?“ He asked, his voice quiet. 

„I didn’t know how. Joel…. You were barely acknowledging me outside of when you were inside of me. You spend all your time with Tess doing god knows what. How would you have reacted if I told you that I was pregnant? You never even acknowledged what we…“ you stoped yourself, shaking your head. 

„You should have told me. I could have…“ he stopped himself, searching for what to say and you looked at him, waiting. 

„I could have helped you. I would have….“ He shook his head, his hands shaking. 

„I’m gonna need a moment. Can you watch after Ellie?“ He asked and you nodded, confused and he nodded back before he walked past you and out of the house. 

You just didn’t think it would be almost two days before he got back. You were outside in Bill’s garden, letting the girls help you pick everything that was ready from the garden when you noticed him walk towards the house. 

You knew he was still inside the little locked up town Bill had made his safe haven. None of the alerts had went off, indicating he had left. And yeah you could have searched after him, but what good would it have done?

You’ve known him from almost twenty years, and you knew that he needed time to process certain things. 

He hadn’t talked to anyone in almost a year after the outbreak and what happened to Sarah. 

„Look what the cat dragged in,“ Ellie said as she spotted him and Ava perked up, her little head turning towards where Ellie was looking. 

Joel nodded at the girls before he looked at you. 

The sun was already setting and you had dinner prepared inside. 

„How about we have some dinner and then Ellie can read you some more of the story you started yesterday?“ You asked and both girl smiled at you. Ava ran past Joel who looked after her as she disappeared into the house, Ellie following her. 

„Next time you ditch me, at least tell me?“ She glared at him before she walked back into the house. He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. 

„Can we talk?“ He asked. 

„After dinner?“ You said, getting up and grabbing the basked full of fresh vegetables. 

„Yeah. Yeah okay,“ he nodded and you walked towards the house, giving him a hesitant smile when he grabbed the basket from you and walked inside after you. 

It was two hours later that you found yourself on the left corner of your couch, your legs tucked under you, a glass of wine in your hand. 

Because this conversation needed some alcohol. 

And not only because of what you were about to talk about, but because of the man who was sitting on the other side of the couch, similar glass of wine in his hand. 

Because he looked so damn good.

He had showered while you put the girls to bed after dinner, the whole scene feeling so domestic. Like a dream you had many many times before when you were still dreaming. 

Dreaming of a normal future. 

Dreaming of a normal life. 

Dreaming about how it would feel like if Joel Miller loved you back. 

Because no matter how much he may have hurt you in the past, you just could not stop loving him. 

„I’m sorry,“ he whispered after a while and you turned your head to look at him, his eyes already on you. 

„I’m shit at talking about those things….“ He stopped.

„Those things meaning feelings?“ You helped and he groaned. 

„Yeah. Always sucked at it. Even before….“ 

He sighed. 

„Sarah would be so angry with me with how I treated you,“ he whispered and your eyes softened. You could count on one hand how often he had brought Sarah up ever since she died. 

And while you thought you could understand him in the past, you loved her like yours after all, now that you had Ava, you realised that loosing her would kill you. 

It would be something you could never come back from. 

But he did. 

„I never cheated on you. I know you thought I did, can’t blame your for it. Tess was just…. Fuck, how do I explain this?“ He sighed, his fingers rubbing over his chin. 

„I never deserved you. You’re too fucking good for me. For everyone really. Because even after the whole world went to shit, you still had some kindness left for everyone around you. I know how much you hated what we did in the beginning. And I hated myself for putting you through it. I hated myself for putting you through everything I did to you since the moment Sarah died…“ he said and you could see his eyes watering. 

„Can’t blame you for hating me and leaving. And not telling me about….“

„Joel….“ You said, setting your glass down and getting closer towards him, your hand reaching for his. Slowly he turned his hand so you could put yours in it, his fingers wrapping around your hand softly. 

„I’m not gonna lie and tell you that it’s okay. Cause I was hurting. You were hurting me. Every time you left in the morning without a word. Every time you passed out drunk and drugged after you came back. It was like living with a ghost and it was killing me. That was the reason I decided to leave when I found out. I could…. I couldn’t bring a child into this. And I knew I wanted her before I even met her. Even though it seems crazy to bring a child into this world. But… She was half you. And the thought that there was even the possibility that you didn’t wanted her….“ You took a deep breath. 

„Honestly? I can’t tell you how I would have reacted. I was… I was really fucked up in the weeks before you left. I was taking too many drugs. Drank too much. Got too fucking reckless. But that changed when you left,“ he said and squeezed your hand. 

„Not right away. It might have gotten worse first but… I got better. Not perfect, but better. And I… Fuck I even talked through some shit with someone. Made me realise I never even told you how much I love you,“ he said and you were pretty sure you stopped breathing as he looked at you, a small smile tilting his lips up. 

„Pretty sure I fell for you the first time you walked through my door wearing that pretty baby blue dress. Even though you were way too young for me. Still are. But…. I hope you knew, know. I really fucking love you,“ he said and you felt a tear running down your cheek. 

„Can you tell me about her? About Ava?“ He asked before you could form an answer to his confession. And so instead you told him. 

You told him about how you craved strawberries your whole pregnancy. How Bill traded one of his guns for the seeds from Tess.

You told him that she only slept through the night in the beginning, when Bill put her to sleep. 

You told her how much she reminded you of Sarah when she smiled at you. 

You told her how every time you looked at her you saw him. 

Hours went by where you two talked, you ending up leaning against Joel’s side, his arm around you. His fingers brushing over your arm, his other hand still holding yours. His lips brushing over your skin when he told you about how Ellie ended up at in his care. 

How he wanted to take her to Wyoming to search for his brother who might know how to find the fireflies. 

„Do you know where he is?“ You asked and he shrugged. 

„Not exactly. I know he messaged me from the Cody tower, so that’s where we’ll be going,“ he mumbled and you nodded. 

„We could take Bill’s truck,“ you said and he stilled. You looked up at him. 

„We?“ He asked and you chuckled, sitting yourself up so you were facing him, your hand now on his cheek. 

„You really think I’m gonna let you go now?“ You asked with a smile. 

And then you finally kissed him. 

It was decided that you would leave within the next 5 days, giving you enough time to make a list (You always made lists) of everything you had to pack. 

Which was a lot. Getting four people across the country on a trip that hopefully would be just like you remembered road trips to be, took a lot of supplies. 

And while you were preoccupied deciding which food was best to take, Joel had asked you if he could spend some time with Ava. He wanted to get to know her. And of course, you agreed. Watching him, Ellie and Ava walk towards the garage where they spend hours doing god knows what. 

It was almost dark outside when they walked back in, your heart melting as you watched Joel carry a very sleepy Ava inside who told you all about how seatbelts where very scary, something you would make sure to ask Joel about as you took her upstairs, putting her to bed. 

The days went by quickly like that.

Joel quickly became Ava’s favourite person which could have to do with the fact, that she was always allowed to sit on his shoulders. Ellie had been confused, yet delighted at the change in the grumpy man she had left the QZ with. 

He even got his Dad jokes out, making the teenager groan in mock annoyance throughout the day. Ellie also spend a lot of time with you, wanting to learn everything you offered to teach her. Starting from making protein bars for the trip down to how to properly braid her hair. 

Even though she preferred you doing it. 

You got the impression that she never really had anyone how just… listened to her or wanted to spend time with her. She told you she grew up in FEDRA School and that her mother had died while giving birth. 

She had no family and her best friend (though you got the impression Riley had been more than just a friend) had died not that long ago. 

That the only thing she had left in life was her purpose to save the world. Joel had told you that she was immune, Ellie showing you the healed scars to confirm it. 

„You know that that’s not the only thing you have left, right?“ You asked her, sitting on the porch next to her, enjoying one last sunset, watching Joel and Ava play soccer. Her little feet chasing after Joel with happy squeals. 

„What do you mean?“ Ellie asked and you looked at her with a smile. 

„You have us, Ellie. You think we just gonna let you go?“ You asked and she stubbornly shook her head. 

„I have to do this. It’s my purpose. I have to save the world,“ she said and looked away from you. 

„Are you saying this because you feel that way, or because someone told you so?“ You asked and she looked at you. 

„Because it should be your decision what to do and what not. And… think about it, even if they are somehow able to make a cure out of your blood, do you really think they will be able to make enough to make a vaccine for everyone? Who will decide who gets it? And if they end up deciding on giving it to everyone…. There are so many bad people out there. Do they deserve to be saved too?“ You asked and you could see her thinking about your words and you smiled softly at her. 

„Even if you don’t like hearing it, your a kid Ellie. You should grow up and live first before you make a decision like that. You don’t even know how they would get whatever they needed from your blood. If I remember correctly Cordyceps grow in the brain, what if they have to get into your brain to get out whatever they need?“ You said and her eyes widened. 

„But Marlene….“ She whispered and you reached over her, taking her hand. 

„I don’t know how well you know Marlene, but I’ve known her for more than ten years. I know how she manipulates people to get what she wants. You wouldn’t even notice it,“ you said and she sighed. 

„I’m gonna think about it,“ she said finally and you gave her a small smile. 

„That’s all I ask about. Now how about you get upstairs and take one last long hot shower before we are on the road for days?“ You asked and she nodded, standing up and turning away from you to walk inside the house before she turned back to you and hugged you quickly.

After saying good night to Ellie later you walked towards your daughters room, her little suitcase for her toys laying open next to her bed, waiting for Sluggi to be put into the next morning. She was already in bed, Joel sitting on the floor next to her, reading to her. 

You wished you could take a picture of this. Unfortunately the Polaroid camera had broken earlier this year. 

„Mommy!“ A tired Ava smiled as she saw you, her arms raised towards you. Joel looked up and smiled at you as you walked over, climbing into the bed behind your daughter, pulling her into your arms. 

„What story is Joel reading you?“ You asked. 

„The little mermaid,“ she said and you found Joel’s eyes. You had been thinking about it for the last days now. Telling her who Joel really is. He slipped into your life like the missing piece, the man you had fallen in love with all these years back seemingly falling right back into his role as being the best father there ever could be. 

So before you could talk yourself out of it you said

„Your sister loved that one too.“

Joel gulped, his eyes growing sad for a moment, before he looked at Ava. 

„I have a sister?“ She asked you, her eyes big.

„Mmmh…. Her name was Sarah. She watched the movie every single night before she went to bed,“ you explained and Ava pursed her lips in an ooooh motion. 

„There was a movie?“ She asked in awe.

„Oh yeah there was. And a cassette with the music. Can’t remember how often she made me listen to it“ Joel said and smiled softly. 

„Where is Sarah?“ Ava asked and your smile went sad. 

„She’s where Uncle Bill and Uncle Frank are. Watching over us,“ you explained and she hummed. 

„I wish I could hug her,“ she whispered and you nodded, tears in your eyes, squeezing her against your chest, your hand reaching out Joel’s hand finding yours as you kissed her forehead, looking at him who had tears in his eyes. 

„Me too baby. Me too,“ you whispered before taking a deep breath.

„You know Joel is her daddy,“ you finally said and she looked at you. 

„He is?“ She asked and you nodded. 

„I bet he is the best daddy,“ she sighed and you chuckled at Joel’s cheeks turning pink. 

„Yeah he is. What would you say if I tell you that Joel is your daddy too?“ You asked and her big eyes looked at you first and then her head turned towards Joel. 

„My daddy?“ She asked and both you and Joel nodded with a smile, her smile getting wider, before she jawned.

„I always wanted a daddy,“ she whispered before her eyes dropped close. 

You were walking down the stairs to Bill's basement after you showered, finding Joel checking if he could manage to take any more guns. The supplies had all been packed into the truck already, but he just couldn’t bring himself to leave anything of value behind. 

He looked up when he heard your footsteps, giving you a small smile. 

Walking over to him you were surprised when he reached for you, pulling you into his lap, one of his arms looped around you, his other hand on your cheek, his fingers brushing over your skin. 

„I didn’t know you were gonna tell her,“ he whispered and you smiled. 

„She deserves to know. I’m sorry I didn’t tell her sooner. If I would have stayed you wouldn’t have missed so much…“ he stopped you by kissing you softly. 

„None of that. We both know I would have fucked this up. I would have said some really fucked up things and hurt you even more. So, there’s nothing you have to be sorry for, okay?“ He looked at you, his eyes pleading. 

You released a long breath, bringing both of your arms up to cross behind his neck. 

„Have I told you lately that I love you, Joel Miller?“ You whispered with a small smile that he mirrored. 

„Don’t think so. But I don’t blame you, I gotta say it a lot more often than you to make up for all the years I didn’t tell you. I do love hearing it though. Love you,“ he mumbled before he kissed you again. His lips moving on top of yours slowly, his hand tilting your head up a little so he could deepen the kiss. 

With a little sigh you parted your lips for him, his tongue dipping into your mouth, a deep moan coming from him, his arm pulling you closer against him. 

There had been lots of making out in the last days, stolen kisses when the girls weren’t in the room, secret touches under the table while you had dinner. 

But you haven’t slept together. 

And you were ready. 

„Joel,“ you mumbled, parting from his lips. He hummed, his lips running down your jaw. 

„We aren’t gonna be alone for a while,“ you whimpered, your head tilting up to give his wandering lips some more space. 

„What are you proposing?“ He asked, playfully nibbling on your neck. 

„I’m proposing that you fuck me, Miller. Right here,“ you gasped when you felt his other hand slip between your legs. 

„Right here?“ He asked, his fingers over the seam of your slick panties. 

„Mmmmhh….“ You closed your eyes, biting your lip when he pushed the fabric to the side, his fingers dipping between you slick folds, lazily teasing you. 

„All that for me?“ He asked and you opened your eyes, crashing your lips against his. 

„It’s been almost four years Joel. Please don’t tease me,“ you whined and his eyes softened before he picked you up and set you down on the table behind him. Within the next minutes you were both naked, your hands in his hair as you kissed him as he stood between your parted legs, the heavy weight of his cock resting against your stomach. 

„Gonna need to prepare you,“ he hummed, his hands on your ass. You shook your head. 

„Please just fuck me. You know I can take it,“ you whined, one of your hands wrapping around his cock, making him hiss. He groaned, sucking your bottom lip between his before he slapped your hand away, his dark eyes fixed on yours as he held his hand out to you. Waiting. 

Feeling your whole body heat up you spit in his hand and the left corner of his mouth twitched. 

„My good girl,“ he praised you and you couldn’t stop whimpering. 

He brought his hand down to wrap it around his cock, coating it in your saliva, before he lined himself up. You had dripped on the table you were sitting on, more than ready to take him. 

„I love you,“ he whispered and you looked at him with a soft smile, your lips parting when he slowly pushed his cock into you. Filling you inch by inch, both of you starring into each others eyes. 

„Missed this,“ you moaned. 

„Missed you,“ you crossed your legs behind him, giving him a little push, his cock finally filing you up completely. 

„Fucking Perfect,“ he groaned kissing you again before he began to move, pumping into you slowly. 

You let yourself fall back down against the table, stretching your arms over your head, your back arching, your tits moving every time Joel fucked into you. 

He licked his fingers, bringing it down between your legs, his thrusts getting harder as he rubbed your clit, your pussy clenching around him. 

„Yes… Baby… Just like that….“ You moaned, your hands coming down to play with your tits. 

„You gonna be a good girl and cum for me?“ He asked, moving faster, his skin slapping against yours every time he moved.

Nodding, you moaned, your eyes rolling back as you came, your whole body shaking as he fucked you through it. 

„Shit….“ He groaned, both of his hands now coming to rest on either side of you as he leaned down, fucking into you deeply, chasing his own orgasm. 

„Want you to cum again,“ he grunted, kissing you, drilling his cock into you, the whole table moving over the floor. 

„Want you to cum inside me. Let me feel you,“ you whimpered, your hands in his hair, trying to meet his thrusts. 

„Fuck that is…. Not a good idea….“ He laughed and you grinned. 

„I don’t care. Wanna feel you. Cum for me, Joel. Cum inside me,“ you whispered and he groaned, fucking into you a half dozen times more before you felt him twitch inside of you, filling you, making you cum for a second time. 

Both out of breath you looked at each other before Joel leant down and kissed you. 

„Sleep in bed with me?“ You hummed against his lips. 

„As long as you let me,“ he answered against your lips before you both sneaked upstairs. 

Against all odds after six days of a rather boring trip across the country you reached the radio tower in Cody. And two days later a group patrol of people on horses found you, asking you all kinds of questions before a man pulled the bandana that had been covering his face down, revealing Tommy Miller in the flesh. 

By now you were living in Jackson for almost a year. 

Ellie had decided to stay and live her life, the constant threat of someone looking for her still on the horizon, but it was decided that the town was not in immediate danger. Patrols kept an eye out for fireflies, but they haven’t spotted anyone. 

You were living a happy life all things considered. 

Ava went to pre school, Ellie went to normal school. They really became sisters in the last year, spending a lot of time together. 

Even though Ellie started to spend more and more time with a girl called Dina you suspected was more than just a friend. 

Joel was always working on improving the house. 

He had changed the most, back to the man he had been before the outbreak. Yes, he still was the protector when he needed to be, but most of the time he was just Joel. Your husband. 

„Yellow?“ He asked, holding the can of paint up.

You walked over to him with a smile, nodding.

„It’s a happy colour. I like happy colours,“ you shrugged and he chuckled, setting the can down on the floor before he put his arms around you, pulling you against his chest.

One of his hands came to rest on your growing belly, the baby inside kicking up a storm as if it could sense their dads hand, making you both smile. 

„Still think it’s gonna be a girl?“ You asked and he nodded, before he kissed you softly. 

„Think I’m meant to be surrounded by beautiful girls,“ he hummed before he kissed you again. 

[gguk-n]

Chapter 1- Anonymous Conversations

Unravelling Max's Mystery (Max Verstappen x Online Friend!Reader)

Series Masterlist

Summary- Y/N formed an unexpected bond with a boy behind the screen. He doesn't have many interest it seems, except for reading her stupid poems.

{Reader's POV}

12/07/2012

Dear Diary, Stella is leaving for Canada tomorrow forever. Today was the last day of school before the summer break so I went to Stella's house after school. It's so shitty, how can she leave me like this and before the start of high school. I don't have any friends other than her, what am I supposed to do??? This isn't fair, first Faye moved back to her home country a couple years back and now Stella. It's like they don't even care about me. I made a google plus account so we can stay in touch. Actually everyone's on google plus, I'm just late to the party. I'm sure we'll still be close.

02/01/2013

OMG!! I think I'm in love. There's this new boy band, One Direction. Ava told me about them last year but I brushed her off saying they weren't my cup of tea, but OMG!!! They are fucking perfect and I love Niall so much. He's so cute and has the dreamiest eyes and his accent, I'm gonna faint. I bought the Take Me Home album yesterday!! I even put up their poster above my bed, hehe!! Sooooo, I may or may not be writing now. I think I'm gonna be an author. The stuff isn't great like Shakespeare but I'm sure I'll improve. I've written a couple poems and Aria read them and she thinks they are great. I'm gonna start uploading them on google plus. I made a separate page for it, under a pseudonym. If I really improve, maybe I can publish my work.

I was sat at my laptop, typing the latest story I came up with during lunch so I could upload it. There were a lot of people who were reading my work and even encouraged me. There is improvement, but then again, we can do better, I'm sure. My parents aren't very happy with how I'm wasting my time writing instead of focusing on my education since I'm in high school now. I finished typing the story and clicked the upload button, I got a comment on the post. It was from this guy, named Max, just Max. He always read all of my work and writes the nicest comments under them. I haven't spoken to him personally ever since my mother kept warning me about stranger danger and that it could be some 50 year old dude. But his comments are encouraging and make me want to write more. I hope he knows the kind of effect he's having on me.

My birthday is in a couple of days, I don't know what I'll do since I don't really have a lot of friends. Even Aria is away during that time, so I don't really have anyone to go out with. My parents are busy as always.

So, out of desperation or sadness, I don't know which one, I posted on google plus saying that it was my birthday. The first person who replied was Max as always. I really wanna know when this guy sleeps or how he gets any work done if he is online so much. He messaged me personally too, to wish me again and even asked what I did. I couldn't lie because my heart was heavy, so I told him. I literally just unloaded about not having any friends and spending the day alone because work was more important for my parents. He was so nice about it. He spent the next hour talking to me and cheering me up. He's apparently 15, from Netherlands. He loves cats and lives with his dad and sister. He sounds like a fun guy.

After that, both of us ended up chatting on google plus regularly. I would message him immediately after school and spend the next couple of hours talking to him. Some times, he'd be gone a couple weekends but it was no biggy. I'm sure he had other commitments instead of entertaining a dumb teenager.

Max's birthday is on 30 September. I wanted to be the first one, so I stayed up late to match the dutch timings and wished him. He replied a little while later. He wasn't very excited about it. I get it, maybe his friends aren't there or couldn't make it to his birthday. I was gonna cheer him like he cheered me up. I wish I could send him a present. He really was a light in dark time. When I had no friends in school I could rely on, he came like the knight in shining armour. I just want to be a good and reliable friend to him like he is to me. He is such a sweetheart. We've never spoken on call yet. I guess I'm still a little scared and we've only known each other for a few months. I'm gonna hold on that but Max is a genuinely nice person in my eyes. But his dad doesn't sound like the nicest person from what he says, but I can't tell him that his dad is shitty so I just read his texts.

18/12/2013

Dear Diary, Maxie is the cutest. I haven't seen or heard him yet but I feel like he is. Otherwise, why would he encourage me to follow my dreams? He was so understanding and gave great advice. You might wonder why I needed the advice, diary. I told my parents I wanna pursue a degree in literature and we had a huge fight since apparently I'm throwing my life away and I should try to get a proper degree that might get me a job. Apparently, I'm not thinking straight. I've been thinking about becoming an author for some time now, it's my one passion, I've realised. And if it means struggling, I would rather struggle and be happy than be in a dead end job. Just because they are some big shot business people doesn't mean I wanna do that do. ugh!!! I hate them. Maxie calmed me down honestly, he heard me out and told me it was okay to follow my dreams. I think he is such a good friend. I won't tell him that, he has a big ego as is. LOL!!

I've been gaining a lot of traction on my posts on google plus. I have a couple thousand followers but Max is the most active of them all. Max is so effortlessly funny. He did ask one time if we could talk on call, I told him that my microphone was broken. I'm still a little skeptical. I know, even though I'm literally sharing everything with him, I've never spoken on call or video with him. Maybe some day.

04/03/2014

Dear Diary, I got a new phone and a new number. The previous one was one of my parents multiple numbers but this one is my own. I feel like an adult, hehe!! I made a whatsapp, maybe I'll share my number with Maxie and we might start chatting on there. Google plus had become a bit of hassle and I'm not uploading on it like I used to. I usually only open it to talk to Max. I think it would be better to shift it to another service. He's been a little busy this year compared to the last, didn't tell me much but I think it has to do with him being in his final year of high school. Can't relate, but I hope I'm done with high school soon. It fucking sucks. But on the bright side, I've gotten close to Nia and Aria and I could call Aria my best friend but she considers Nia her best friend. I don't mind being her friend. I have Max anyways.

Max has been quite busy lately, but I don't blame him. I would be busy in my final year of high school too. Even with all that, he has taken time out to talk to me. I did share my number with him, so now instead of google plus, which is a barren wasteland, we text on whatsapp. I've suggested talking on call some time when he's free, which hasn't happened yet.

We had set up a time to talk, it was really early here but I didn't mind, I was up anyways. I couldn't wait to hear his voice. I was anxious as well, what if he's some pedophile; all these thoughts raced through my head when my phone rang. Max- Hi, Y/N! Y/N- Hey, Max!! How are you? Max- I'm good, what about you? Y/N- Yeah, I'm good too. haha!! This is so weird talking to you. Max- yeah, you sound pretty. Fuck was he flirting, is this flirting? A million thoughts ran through my head, no one's ever flirted with me before. I felt my cheeks heat up. Y/N- You sound nice too. I mean....you have a nice voice. Max- haha, thanks, this is the first time some one has said that. Y/N- soooo, what have you been up too?? You've been so busy lately. There was a pause on the other end. I heard shuffling. Max- yeah, I've been busy with stuff. I'll be done soon for a while now. Y/N- That's great I need my best friend back! The conversation flowed smoothly. It didn't feel like we were talking on call for the first time. I had a lot of fun talking to Max. He sounds like a teenager, much to my relief. He's just as funny on call as he is on text.

After that, we ended up calling each other regularly. Max would answer my calls whenever but sometimes I felt bad about calling him at the crack ass of dawn in Netherland so I would avoid calling him whenever. He is so kind and listens well but damn does he talk. Every one who knows me calls me talkative, if they heard Max their ears would bleed. But I like hearing him talk, he has the most random and vast knowledge, he's helped me write too many of my papers because I didn't have to research, I could just ask him; he's like a walking encyclopedia.

17/05/2015

Dear Diary, I think I'm in love. It's not some celebrity this time but I think it's Max. I don't even know that dude's last name but I'm in love. He not like the guys in school, he's so mature and funny and sweet and understanding and he supports me so much. I didn't know when or how but I think I love him. Obviously I won't tell him. It's prolly a crush since I have't dated anyone ever. I'll get over it, can't ruin my friendship over this. As is, he has gotten so busy. I think he is going to college. He didn't say it explicitly but why else would he be so busy right now if not applying for colleges. I don't know the dutch education system but I'm sure he busy pursuing higher education. He said he liked cars, I think he'll do something with cars. I didn't really ask in more details. I'm sure he'll tell me when he wants to. We have a chill friendship, we share when and what we want to. Alas, I hope this crush doesn't ruin my friendship.

09/08/2015

This is bad, my crush on Max has only gone on to increase. He's so kind to me, what am I supposed to do? Also he's the only one who can calm me down after a fight with my parents regarding my future. Sadly, he gotten so busy. He's gone for a while every few weeks. But lately he's been free. We've been talking a lot. He sounds a lot more rested lately too. I'm sure college is tough. But he's strong and I know he'll do it.

[Little did Y/N know, Max was busy racing across the world in Redbull's junior team. He was in his first year as a formula one driver, hence he was so busy. Max had no intentions of telling her, he liked being just Max, a guy from Netherlands who could talk to her. He enjoyed the disconnect he got with her]

[janeyseymour]

chosen family

summary: jacob hill has always been like something of a son to Melissa Schemmenti. You, Melissa's partner, make him realize that.

WC: ~3.3k

Melissa Schemmenti has always been drawn to people who could not be further from herself. It’s always been that way for her. 

You are not the exception. You couldn’t be more different than the fiery redheaded teacher. Just like everyone else to work there that she is close with, you couldn’t be more different. You’ve picked up on this pattern. You’ve also picked up on other things concerning your new colleagues.

Barbara Howard is a perfect example of being entirely different from Melissa Schemmenti- her work wife, her platonic soulmate until the end of time. The first day, you were made very aware that Melissa Schemmenti and Barbara Howard were something of work wives and platonic soulmates. While yes, they both attend church every Sunday, the kindergarten teacher is much more devout. Barbara Howard is a rule follower, where Melissa bends the rules in ways nobody ever thought possible. While Barbara Howard is often steady and stable, Melissa Schemmenti could light someone’s car on fire over something as trivial as picking up the wrong pasta sauce on the way home.

Janine Teagues, someone who radiates sunshine and positivity, is somewhat of a daughter or a niece to the redhead. The same goes for Gregory- he’s like a son or nephew, in an odd way. You’ve learned that one thing to be aware of is that Janine is never stopping- she’s always going to the point of exhaustion and usually ends up creating a bigger mess than the one she was trying to clean up in the first place. You’ve learned that her and Gregory are dating; but apparently they’ve only officially been dating for a few months now. Before then, they’ve been the ‘will they, won’t they’ talk of the staff room.

Mr. Johnson has such a free spirit that it irritates Melissa at times. But they see eye to eye when it comes to important things in life- like how they would survive on a desert island or a zombie apocalypse. The two have a friendship that confuses both of them. He is there for fun, despite having a crucial part in the school.

Ava Coleman, at one point an enigma to the teacher, has a special spot in Melissa’s heart. At first, it was hatred. And then it was something of a kinship. Ava Coleman may not be conventional by any means, but it worked. Melissa found that she quite liked the zest and interesting takes that the principal held with her. It took time, but they found a rhythm, and that rhythm has since been perfected. Ava Coleman, much like the custodian, wants all fun and no work.

And that left Jacob Hill. Jacob hill, a soft and at times skittish gay man that Melissa couldn’t stand when he first was employed by the city of Philadelphia. But now? Now they’re like two peas in a pod. They’re quite the unconventional pair- a very soft and somewhat skittish gay man and a tough, mob-like redhead. But they seem to work. They seem to work far better than anyone had expected, including the two living together. And the last thing that you’ve come to understand about the young man is that Jacob Hill is something of a son to the fiery second grade teacher. When you first started working here, you actually did think that Jacob was her son- that was quickly laughed off by Janine and she told you the truth of the matter. 

And since you’ve worked at Abbott, you’ve become quite close with the second grade teacher. You’re actually dating her now. It’s something that you’re still having a hard time grappling with. How could someone as beautiful and as… Melissa, as she is end up with someone like you?

But it seems to work out. The green eyed woman seems to be drawn to people who could not be further from her. 

Jacob has quickly become a staple at the apartment that the two of you now share, him moving out a few months ago- it makes sense in all actuality. He and Melissa are quite close, and in turn the two of you are closer now as well.

You see how happy it makes your girlfriend to have the always grinning, and yet somehow still always subtly cynical, man around. You see it when she’s able to make him a plate of dinner, share lunch portions with him, when she’s able to give him advice (in teaching or other), when he’s settling on the couch with the two of you to watch what they know refer to as ‘their’ show. Melissa mothers him more than she mothers Janine, leaving that job to her platonic work wife. It’s a sweet little relationship that the two of them hold very dear to their hearts. 

You’re about to enter the staff room when you hear the two of them chatting quietly over their lunches.

“You’re still coming over tonight to watch, right?” you hear your girlfriend ask.

You can hear Jacob scoff. “Of course I am. Where else would I be?”

“I figured now that you’re seeing Ravi a bit more seriously, maybe you would want to-”

“Mel Mel, no,” you hear the middle grades teacher laugh. You can practically see him rolling his eyes. “Why would I want to be anywhere else?”

You see this as a good time to enter the room, taking your seat next to the redhead. You peck her cheek delicately before diving into your leftovers from last nights Schemmenti family dinner.

“Jake’s coming over for dinner tonight, that okay?” Green eyes look into yours for any sort of hesitation from you.

“He knows he’s always welcome to come over.”

So that’s how you spend that night. You’re in the recliner reading your book while Jacob and Melissa veg out on the couch with their popcorn and sour cream and onion flavoring. They each have a glass of wine, and they’re deep into conversation about who is slighting who and why. It makes you chuckle as you half listen to their conversation, half read about the drama that is happening in your book.

“What are you reading?” Jacob asks. Only then do you look up from your book and realize that your girlfriend is nowhere to be seen.

You show him the cover before asking, “Where’d Mel go?”

“Bathroom,” he tells you. “Then we’re going to watch a movie since our show is over… she thought it might be a nice way to wind down, and who am I to deny that?”

“You’re such a good son to her, you know,” you say casually as you return your attention back to your book. You flip the page. 

Jacob is left searching for words. “She’s not my mother.”

“No, but you’re still the best son she has,” you shrug and reach over to pop a piece of popcorn in your mouth.

He goes to say more, but Melissa returns, reaching for the blanket that is draped over the edge of the couch. She lays it across the two of them before reaching for the remote to turn on whatever movie the two of them will be watching. Jacob swears he sees a smirk dancing across your lips. And he’s right- you are smirking. Because now you know he’s thinking about what you said.

He supposes he sees it- the way that Melissa mothers him. If he’s being honest with himself, his own mother doesn’t even treat him like this anymore. It’s… nice to have someone care for him like that. 

That night ends in Melissa sending Jacob off to his house with a Tupperware container full of Braciole and a “Text me when you’re home and safe in your apartment!”

As time goes on, your words linger in Jacob’s head. He’s like the son Melissa never had. And that is oddly okay with him- he like’s being the best son that your girlfriend has.

And when he and Ravi end with a messy breakup, your girlfriend is the first person he calls. He doesn’t call Janine, he doesn’t call Gregory, he doesn’t even call his own mother. No. The first person that crosses his mind as he leaves Ravi’s apartment for the last time is Melissa.

It’s late, and logically he knows that she probably isn’t awake and hasn’t been for hours. But he wants some maternal love and dials anyway.

You and your girlfriend are curled up in bed- her asleep, and you on the verge of sleep- when her phone rings to life.

“Who the fuck is calling at…” she blinks her eyes awake and glances at the clock. “1:30 in the morning?”

“Just let it go,” you sigh softly.

She reaches for her phone, and when you expect her to set it back down and pull you into her arms again, she doesn’t. Instead, her voice sounds concerned.

“Jacob?” is the only thing that she says into the phone.

You can hear his labored breaths. He doesn’t speak.

“Jake,” your girlfriend sighs. “Jacob, what’s going on? It’s 1:30 in the morning.”

“I- I know,” he chokes out. “But I- Ravi and I just broke up, and I didn’t know who else to call.”

“Oh,” Melissa’s face absolutely drops. She knows how much the social studies teacher liked the firefighter.

“I- I’m sorry,” he says pathetically into the phone. “I- I don’t even know why I called. Get back to-”

The redhead clears her throat, trying to get any of the remaining sleep out of her voice before she speaks again. “We’re still up. Come over.”

“It’s okay,” the distraught man sighs into the phone. “I can just…”

“Jacob, your ass better be here within the next thirty minutes,” Melissa tells him sternly. “You called me, you clearly don’t want to be alone, we were already up, so just come over.”

And that’s how you end up curled up next to your girlfriend, a glass of white wine in hand while Melissa sits in her spot, two glasses of red wine poured out for when her work son arrives.

“Babe, when he gets here though-”

“When he gets here, I’m moving to my recliner so you can mother him,” you roll your eyes as you yawn. “I don’t even know why I have to be here when he comes in.”

“Because I told him we were both up, and I don’t want him to think that we got out of bed for him,” Melissa tells you.

You smile at her softly as you rest your head on her shoulder. “You’re a good mother to him.”

“He’s not my son,” she chuckles.

“No, I know,” you sigh. “But he might as well be at this point. He called you, not his own mother.”

That thought makes her quirk her head to the side, thinking on this sentiment. She doesn’t have much time though, because Jacob is at the door knocking softly. You pick your head up and stand with her. While Melissa makes her way to the door, you take up the space in your recliner and curl up under the blanket, immediately reaching for the television remote.

You hear his sniffles as he comes in. He kicks off his shoes, and your girlfriend ushers him to the couch. She hands him the wine and wraps her arms around him. All Jacob can do is cry. 

The redhead hushes her coworker gently, promising him that everything will be okay. And Jacob believes that- because if Melissa is saying it, it has to be true.

That night ends with him falling asleep on your girlfriend’s shoulder, and Melissa lays him down on the couch when the two of you finally decide to retire back to bed. She pulls the afghan from the back of the couch and gently drapes it over his body before running the tip of her index finger over his cheek.

“You’ll be alright, hun,” she whispers to him. Then she turns back to you and takes your hand.

As the two of you are curling up in bed for the second time that night, you hum, “You really would make a wonderful mother.”

When the time comes that you finally (according to Jacob and Janine) think about getting engaged and married to Melissa, Jacob could not want to be in on it more. He helps you find the perfect ring, he helps you plan it all, and he even insists on hiding out in the shadows in order to capture the event.

“Trying to make your mom happy?” you tease him.

He rolls his eyes with a smirk on his face. “She’s not my mother, but… Melissa being happy is all all of us want.”

When you do end up proposing to her, you expect Barbara to be the first person that your girlfriend flies into the arms of. Instead, it’s Jacob. Barbara, of course, is second. But Jacob seems absolutely ecstatic, telling the redhead that he helped with almost every aspect of the proposal. Melissa tells him that she couldn’t have wished for it to be anything else, and that she was very proud of him. Jacob blushes profusely, and it reminds all three of you just how close your Abbott family really is.

As wedding plans come along, Jacob is there for all of it. It’s a sweet thing. He looks like a kid in the candy store as Melissa, Barbara, and he look for the perfect outfit to get married in. Barbara is of course Melissa’s matron of honor, and Jacob is just happy to be there. He has no idea that at this appointment, Melissa is also going to be having him try on suits to match the bridal party.

“So,” Jacob leans forward with excitement. “What colors are you planning on doing for the bridal parties?!”

“Y/N and I decided that a nice salmony pink color might be good,” Melissa says with a twinkle in her eye. “So… you better start looking at ties and suits, mister.”

Barbara, who knew that her best friend was going to reveal this bit of information, grins. Meanwhile, Jacob’s jaw absolutely drops. He’s astounded.

“What? Why would I have to find a tie for-”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t have you in my wedding party?” the redhead rolls her eyes as she opens up her arms. “You’re as close to a son as I’m going to get as of right now. Of course you’re in the wedding.”

Tears begin to pour over the younger man’s face as he fully tackles his work mother in a hug. “Oh my god.”

“I don’t know,” he chuckles through his tears. “I just thought that I was here to-”

“To help me pick out my outfit, but also to help figure out the perfect color that you’ll be wearing and to get fitted for a suit, if you want,” Melissa tells him.

Barbara passes out three glasses of champagne in celebration.

When your wedding day finally comes, you’re standing up at the altar in your own suit as you await the moment that Melissa will be walked down the aisle by none other than Mr. Johnson (he was elated when your fiancee explained to him that he was something of a father figure to him). 

The ceremony is beautiful- perfect even. Everybody laughs, everybody sheds tears, everybody is just thrilled at the fact that the two of you are tying the knot.

The reception is a thrill. Both you and Melissa make small toasts, a few others speak, and then it’s time for dancing.

You have your first dance with your wife (good God, you can call her your wife now!), she dances with Mr. Johnson, you dance with your own father, and then… Melissa makes her way up to the microphone.

“Hey youse guys,” Melissa chuckles nervously. “I know everyone else wants to get to dancing, but there is one more special person that I’d like to dance with… if he’ll make his way up.”

Nobody stands, but your wife’s green eyes are trained on Jacob.

“Me?” he gasps. At Melissa’s nod, he stands hesitantly before making his way over. 

“Of course.” You see that those green eyes start to turn a little glassy, and she takes a deep breath to steady herself. “For those of you that don’t know… this is Jacob Hill- grade A pain in my ass turned something like a son to me.”

The two dance to a beautiful song written by Elton John, “Chosen Family”. By the end of it, there are no dry eyes in the audience. It’s a song that feels like it was written for them.

And then the night is off, everyone is dancing, and you’re just relishing in this beautiful moment that you have in your hands.

Jacob is dancing near the two of you when you decide to make your way over.

“Hey,” you check him with your hip gently. “Welcome to the family.”

The man smiles at you from ear to ear.

“You’re such a good son to her,” you compliment softly as you envelope him in a hug.

He just chuckles in your ear. “I know. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have her in my life.” Then his jaw drops. “Oh my god. Does this mean you’re like a weird sort of step-mom to me now?!”

As time goes on, you and your wife decide to try to expand the family. And somehow, by some grace of God (Melissa would tell you that it’s because Barbara prayed over you two night after night), you end up pregnant after the first treatment.

If you thought Jacob was a part of your household before, he’s only over more now. He’s constantly bringing over baby clothes and toys, helping Melissa to assemble the crib and the rocking chair as well as installing carseats into both of your cars, he’s bringing over remedies to help you with morning sickness and then creams and other things to help you feel the most comfortable that you can be during this pregnancy.

When you go into labor, he’s the first one Melissa calls, and then she calls Barbara.

You deliver a son, a beautiful baby boy. He’s perfect. And he has an even more perfect name.

“Go get Jake,” you tell your wife gently as you continue to cradle your son to your chest. “He deserves to meet his godson, and lord knows that boy has been sitting in the waiting room since he got your call.”

Melissa just chuckles as she stands from her place on your bed, kisses you softly, strokes the boy’s cheek, and then heads out.

She brings back both Barbara and Jacob, who immediately squeal upon seeing you as a mother for the first time. While Jacob fully thinks that you’ll hand the baby to your wife’s work-wife first, you actually hand the baby to him. He looks at this baby like he’s never seen anything more perfect.

“Do we have a name?” Barbara asks.

You smile at the man holding your newborn. “We do.”

“And it is?” Barbara prompts.

“Mel, do you want to tell him what his godson’s name is?” you prompt.

Jacob’s eyes go wide, and his jaw drops. “G-godson?”

“Godson,” you confirm, tears in your own eyes. You wipe at them gently as you lay back in the hospital bed.

“His name is,” Melissa chuckles through tears of her own as she makes her way over to the pair. “Milo Jacob Schemmenti… Milo meaning beloved, and Jacob, after you.”

“After… after me?” Jacob’s voice goes high as his eyes fill with even more tears. He holds the baby even closer to him, if that’s possible.

“Of course,” your wife smiles as she wraps a proud arm around him. “And if Milo turns out half as good as my first son, that kid is going to be set for life.”

TAGS: @schemmentis @thesapphictimelady @marvel210 @itisdoctortoyousir @morgana-larkin @thesamesweetie @doesthatsuggestanythingtoyou @marvels--slut @gwennybriggs @megamultifandomtrashposts @lemz378 @http-sam @melissaschemmentisbranzino @imaginesmultifandoms @sexysapphicshopowner @lilfartbox1 @maybe-a-humanbean @imlike-so-gaydude @sapphicxrat @a-queen-and-her-throne @sunsol-22 @notinmyvocab @melanielaufeyson @dvrkhcld @cosmichymns @sasheemo

[redroomreflections]

Words For US

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Request:What about Luke's first time saying mom or Mama to R? I know she'd be over the moon! Or maybe if you wanted to share Luke's words with both Nat and r while he's sitting on the ground playing ball with midnight and he points at both both r and Nat on opposite ends of the couch and squeals Mama!

The car was a madhouse.

Luke’s wails pierced the air, his little fists thrashing against the straps of his car seat. He hated being strapped in, and it didn’t help that it was after school — when his patience was nonexistent. Paige, from her spot in the back, was loudly insisting on playing Cocomelon for the hundredth time, her voice climbing over Luke’s cries.

“I said Cocomelon, Mama! Please, please!” Paige’s pleas turned into whining as she kicked the back of the seat in front of her.

Meanwhile, Charlie, seated directly next to Luke, was on her own mission, talking a mile a minute about something that happened at school. “—and then, Mom, she said I couldn’t have the glitter because Ava took it, but it wasn’t fair because—”

Natasha’s hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, trying to focus on the road ahead, while you juggled between soothing Luke and listening to Charlie's rambling. Your head was spinning from the constant noise. It was pure chaos, the kind that came with having a car full of kids on a wild, post-school energy high.

“Okay, everyone, let’s just—” You started, turning toward Luke in the back, trying to calm him down.

But the chaos had its own rhythm. No one was slowing down.

Luke screamed a little louder, the pitch of his wails rising.

Paige stomped her feet against the backseat, shouting for her music.

Charlie was still prattling away.

"Dear God, I'm going to walk home from now on," Cara sighed in annoyance. She pressed her headphones tighter into her ear. No matter how much the volume was turned up she couldn't cancel out the sound of her sibling's voices.

Your head pounded.

Natasha's grip on the steering wheel tightened even more. "Okay, everybody!" She yelled, her voice louder than the rest, "Everybody needs to calm down!"

Even Luke’s cries stopped at the sound of Nataha's serious voice. His tiny, tear-streaked face twisted into something determined as he pointed, still hiccupping, toward the front seat where both you and Natasha sat.

“M-mama!” he squealed, the word clear and insistent, cutting through the air like a beacon. His little finger bounced between the two of you. “Mama! Mama!”

"Did he just?" Natasha looked toward you. For a while, Luke's progression with his vocabulary had remained stagnant. His only words were Dog, Ball, and Mine. All very important words of course. But hearing him speak so clearly was new, and his word of choice was enough to make you want to cry.

You nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, he did."

Paige clapped excitedly. "Yes, Lukie, say it again."

Luke's smile grew as he heard Paige's voice. "Mama," he giggled.

You and Natasha looked at each other again, your heart racing as Luke began to point toward Paige, repeating his new favorite word.

"I am not, Mama, silly," Paige laughed. "I'm your sister."

"Ma-ma," Luke said, his tiny brow furrowing. "Out!"

"No, no, don't throw your toy!"

"Ma-ma! Out!"

"It's okay, bud, we're almost home," You reassured.

But that was the wrong thing to say, and soon, his little face was twisting up. "Ma-ma! Mama! Out!"

"Okay, okay, buddy, I've got you," You said, releasing the seatbelt and reaching toward the backseat, undoing Luke's buckles, and scooping him up into your arms. "Let's just pull over for a minute and everyone breathe."

You had no idea if this was the correct way to handle this situation, but what the hell. You needed to get out of the car anyway.

The moment the car pulled over, Luke calmed down, his tears disappearing like they'd never been there at all. "Mama," he cooed, pressing a wet, sloppy kiss against your cheek.

"Thank you," Natasha breathed.

"No problem," You laughed, holding Luke close to you.

[xjackjackx]

Alan Becker Theory: How Victim Returned

Ok so this is my first real Tumblr post, but basically I want to talk about the Animator vs. Animation series and its first and now most recent villain: Victim. More specifically, how he "returned" after seemingly being killed by the Animator at the end of his first appearance.

When we first saw Victim in AVA 1, he was deleted by the Animator. He closed the program without saving changes, without saving Victim onto anything, thus removing him from existence. Something like that seems pretty hard to come back from...

...but, 17 years later, he has come back without any scratch (besides turning gray).

Now, it's not the first time a character survived being deleted, but none of the previous examples are similar to Victim.

Orange survived being deleted by Task Manager and then stabbed by the Dark Lord's Vira-Blades, but he's clearly special in a way: from knowing a lot since creation to having superpowers that not even he knows of (until he saw a video of him killing a guy with them). He's far from a normal stick figure.

The Chosen One survived being hit by several code-erasing blades, but he's a superpowered being compared to the completely normal Victim.

Herobrine survived being deleted with the rest of Minecraft, somehow resurrecting several years later, but he's not even a stick figure, and another superpowered being that's arguably even weirder then Chosen.

So, how does the completely normal, powerless Victim survive being deleted with no superpowers or anything special about him?

It's simple. He didn't.

I'm not saying that Grey Dude is actually a burnt Dark or something, that was debunked and never made sense anyway. What I'm suggesting is that the AVA 6 Victim is not the Victim. Rather, he's a copy.

... well, a better word to use is recording.

Animation VS YouTube was always a weird entry, in my opinion. It somehow makes every entry in the series an actual video in-universe, it somewhat breaks continuity by having the Minecraft icon on the task bar, and it just gets weirder every time it returns (such as that one scene in Showdown). But, I think AVA 6 made it really important in hindsight.

While fighting YouTube, Green and Orange encounter a recording of the first AVA 1 and witness Victim's birth. In the climax, Green defeats YouTube by putting himself inside a video and destroying it from the inside, thus destroying the website's sentient avatar.

I think Victim came back in a similar way. Thanks to the Animator posting AVA 1 on numerous websites and it being reposted countless times, there are countless videos of Victim: thus, countless opportunities for a Victim recording to escape a similar way Green did. The AVA 6 Victim - let's call him Vic - is one of those: a recording that came to life and broke out. He's not the true Victim, just evidence that he once existed, but he has his memories and will continue his fight with the Animator.

But, there's an issue: Green entered a brand new video, he didn't record himself. A clear difference. Which is why I think Vic didn't escape his video by himself. Someone freed him. But, who?

Well, think about it. Who is Vic close to? Who is special and gets attention from IRL Alan, compared to the others? Who has the most important role in AVA 6, aside from the hollow-heads and RYGB?

Who does Vic trust so much, he puts his own life in their hands when entering the Box?

I think the Glasses Guy - let's call him Agent cause that's the best nickname I've seen - is the one who freed Vic. It would explain why Vic would trust him so much or why he'd get so much attention besides just "the villain's right hand who is badass".

I also think that Vic's trust in Agent is what will fuck him over in the end. That he will not be the final villain of AVA 6.

If you watch The Box closely, you'll see Vic is saved on the Box's files. Nothing special or surprising, right? I mean, he's in the Box, of course he'd be saved as part of it. But... Chosen is not.

In fact, none of the items on the list are inside the Box, aside from Vic. Not the sword, not the chains, not anything. But, they can still be summoned. Which means that the Box doesn't work like "You go inside it, you are part of its files": You need to be saved onto it, and once that happens, you can be summoned whenever one wants, even when you're not inside the Box. What does that mean?

That, at any point in time, Agent can clone Vic hundreds of times, as many as he needs. That Vic is replaceable.

I think that's the big twist of AVA 6: Vic will be killed by Agent sooner than anyone would think, allowing Agent to become the true villain and create a Vic Army. What is Agent's motive? Why did he bring back Vic, only to plan to kill him when he's no longer needed? Frankly, I have no idea. We don't know enough about him to speculate his motives. But, I know one thing:

Vic cannot escape who he is. That, behind the different color and the fancy company and the fact he's but a copy of the real deal, he is still Victim. And who is Victim?

A stick figure who was mistreated, killed and forgotten by a man with animation tools.

[dibidibidismynameisleeknow]

Friendsgiving

Pairing: Mingyu x (AFAB) Reader. Non-idol au

Synopsis: Just a little love story, reader and Mingyu are down bad for each other.

Characters: Mingyu, Wonwoo, Seungkwan, Jihoon, O/C Ava as Jihoon's girlfriend

Warnings: none, it's fluff, maybe a few innuendos and swears, nothing serious, Seungkwan is a menace. Despite there being no smut I still don't want minors interacting, it makes me comfortable, I'm an adult.

A/N: I was feeling inspired by S1 E9 of Friends. Fun fact, I don't decide who to write for, I let the fic tell me. The word count is almost 3,800. This is fiction.

~~~~~

🐶: Hey, any plans for Thanksgiving?

🌸: Hey Mingyu, no, I’m going to stay home this year

🐶: You’re going to be alone?

🌸: Yea, that’s okay, I’m sick of always traveling for the holidays

You figured that was the end of your conversation with Mingyu. You honestly didn’t mind not having plans for the holidays. The thought of extra time off work and not being around a bickering family for Thanksgiving was too enticing to pass up. Matter of fact, you were rather looking forward to it; maybe explore the city some more, see if any cute cafes or restaurants were open. The possibilities were endless. Your daydream of a peaceful Thanksgiving was interrupted by the ringing of your cell phone. Mingyu.

“You can’t be alone for Thanksgiving!” Mingyu refused to accept your reasoning. “As much as I would like to respect your boundaries. I am afraid that I cannot. I’m pretty sure that not being around people you care about during the holiday season is unconstitutional. I’d hate for you to have to pay a fine. Is that what you want? Do you really want to have to fight to pay the ticket like you did your parking ticket?”

You let out a snort, amused by Mingyu. “You put too much thought into that.” He really was too cute for his own good. At this point in your friendship, you’d do anything to protect him, to make sure no one hurt him. (Even though it was looking like you might be the one to break his heart).

“Mingyu, I’m tired. I just want to relax this year. Are you trying to get rid of me or something?”

“No. Stay here. Stay with me.” The line was filled with a moment of silence. You had never expected Mingyu to invite you over for a holiday. Was he cute? Yes. Do you enjoy every second you’re around him? Also yes. “This is our first Thanksgiving together. Please.”

“Why is this so important to you?” There was a slight possibility that you’d give into his plea. 

“You’re important to me. I’m thankful for our friendship. I want you here.”

Mingyu was honestly the sweetest person to grace this planet. The more you got to know him the more you could feel yourself falling for him more and more. At this point it was getting bad. The thought of Mingyu caring so much was enough to bring tears to your eyes, but you didn’t want to worry him, so you tried your best to hold them in. 

“I do a Friendsgiving every year. I’d really like you to be a part of it. There’s no travelling involved except maybe to my place, but that doesn’t count because you and I live pretty close to each other.”

“That does sound kind of nice actually. Thank you, Mingyu.”

“You’re welcome. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Text me the details.”

🐶: Saturday, come over whenever, it’s an all day thing

🌸: Do you need me to bring anything? Who am I going to meet?

🐶: Bring yourself and a positive attitude about spending the day with me! As for the guest list, I guess you’ll have to come and find out

🌸: Mingyu -.-

🐶: Fiiiiiiinneeeeee… Jihoon and his girlfriend are bringing dessert, Seungkwan is bringing drinks, and Wonwoo in typical Wonwoo fashion is bringing games. I’ve got the meat ;)

🌸: LOL I can’t wait to taste your meat Mingyu

🐶: I’m sure you’ll love it, you might even want seconds ;D

~~~~~

Mingyu ended up texting you Friday morning asking if you minded arriving extra early Saturday morning to help him prepare everything. Every year he underestimates how much work actually goes into hosting a holiday party and his social circle only seems to be growing. As important as Mingyu is to you, and as important as Friendsgiving is to him, you couldn’t imagine turning him down. You wanted this holiday to be perfect for him. If anyone deserved it, it was Mingyu.

🐶: Actually, do you mind spending the night instead?

🌸: Mingyu! That’s quite a jump in this friendship. Very risque, not demure

🐶: I’m worried about you going out in the holiday rush and I wouldn’t mind your help decorating, if you don’t mind.

🌸: Anything for you

“Oh, Kim Mingyu. How I don’t deserve you.”

~~~~~

Thankfully Friday night rolled around quickly and you were oh so grateful that Mingyu wanted you to spend the night… for convenience sake. Traffic was already wild and you could only imagine that it would get worse. After quickly packing an overnight bag you ordered dinner to have delivered to Mingyu’s place, you knew you two would be in for a long night, and day tomorrow. A token of your gratitude as well.

The evening with Mingyu went well, much better than you anticipated. The evening was spent decorating, prepping whatever food you could and overall just enjoying each other’s company. 

“This feels oddly domestic,” you noted, while placing a few decorations.

“It’s nice though, isn’t it?”

You hummed in agreement with Mingyu. “Anytime spent with you is wonderful.”

Even with you both busy preparing for tomorrow’s dinner, Mingyu still made sure to pull you in for a hug.  “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

You soaked in his warm embrace but you couldn’t help but long for more and to be held by Mingyu more often.

“We should hurry up and get this done. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” As much as you didn’t want that moment to ever end, your heart needed it to. 

~~~~~

“Hey, now that we’re done, did you want to hang out and watch a movie or something, or would you rather head to bed?”

“I kind of want to get to bed. Do you mind if I shower?”

Mingyu scrunched up his nose and looked you up and down. “Please do.”

The gentleman he is (aside from his earlier comment) led you to his bathroom and carried your overnight bag for you. “If you get tempted to use my soaps, help yourself. I know I smell irresistible.” 

“Get out of here,” you laughed. He does smell good, maybe I’ll have to take him up on that offer. 

You were just about to finish up your shower when you heard a faint knock on the bathroom door. 

“Come in! Sorry, did I take too long?”

“You’re fine. I just wanted to bring you a warm towel. I threw it in the dryer for you.”

“You’re amazing. Thank you.” 

The person who falls in love with Mingyu will have no idea how lucky they are. Hopefully they’ll treat him half as amazing as he treats you, and you’re just friends. Just a friendly self reminder. 

Stepping out of the bathroom and about to trail to the living room to get some sleep, you felt Mingyu’s arms wrap around your torso and pull you into his much taller, stronger and bigger frame.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Mingyu questions, almost as if you had done something wrong.

“The living room to sleep. Duh.”

He lowered his head closer to you, as if you couldn’t hear him clearly from his normal standing position, making your knees weak in the process. Still holding you, he spun the two of you around. “My bedroom is that way.”

“That was hot.”

“Yeah? You think so?” You could almost hear the smirk on his face, which means…

“Shit. Did I say that out loud?”

“You sure did sweetheart. Make yourself comfortable. It’s my turn to shower, I’ll be there with you in a bit… if you want.”

“Yes, please. I mean sure, if that’s cool with you. It is your bed. I don’t mind, if you don’t mind.”

Mingyu’s room was really nice, and his bed was huge and looked ridiculously comfy.  You just couldn’t wait to get in it, you knew the second your head hit the pillow you would be out for the night. It would be rude to fall asleep without saying goodnight, right? You thought to yourself. Climbing into Mingyu’s bed you realized you were right, it was comfy like you anticipated, and it smelled oddly like lavender, just like your own bed. You did happen to mention in passing to Mingyu that you purchased a lavender bed spray that was supposed to help you relax and fall asleep. It was possible that he decided to give it a try when he found out how much you liked it. You also noticed that off to the side of his bed, atop the nightstand was a white noise machine, similar to the one you have at home. Either you had more in common with Mingyu than you thought or he just paid really good attention to you. If the second option was the case, you didn’t realize how much you meant to Mingyu, which only made your heart race even more. 

“I didn’t know you liked white noise while you slept,” you noted as Mingyu climbed between the sheets.

“I don’t,” he replied before rolling over to turn it on. “I bought it because you were spending the night. The least I could do to thank you for your help was to make sure you were as comfortable as possible.”

“And the lavender spray?”

“For you.”

“Seriously, Mingyu. How are you still single?”

Mingyu rolled back over to face you and his arms found their way around you again and pulled you closer to him. Figuring it was okay, you rested your head on his chest. Just laying there listening to his heart beat. 

“I’m just waiting for someone very special and specific.”

You hummed in acknowledgement before starting to doze off in Mingyu’s arms.

~~~~~

The next morning you noticed the bed was significantly cooler than it was last night. Mingyu’s presence was significantly therapeutic and you found yourself missing it. Oh, this is bad.

“Good morning, beautiful. How did you sleep?”

“I think that was the best I’ve ever slept. Thank you for doing all of that for me.”

“I’m glad to hear that. You deserve the best.”

“I think I just might have to spend the night more often.”

“My door is always open for you, princess.” What’s with the pet names? You decided just to shrug it off, even though it made your head spin and your heart flutter. Oh, Kim Mingyu, you’re going to be the death of me.

~~~~~

In the kitchen you were greeted with the sight of a very domestic Mingyu, again. You watched and admired while he paced around the kitchen trying to throw everything together. There was still quite a bit to do for the evening but Mingyu couldn’t look happier. He was just glad that a few of his favourite people would be there to celebrate the holiday with him. Plus, he also looked adorable in his apron, so you wouldn’t complain one bit. You’d be lying to yourself if you hadn’t thought of husband material Mingyu once or twice in the past. 

“Alright, how can I help?”

Thankful for your help, Mingyu pulled you in for yet another hug. Is this going to be a constant thing? My heart can’t take much more of this. At this point it was a miracle that Mingyu couldn’t feel your heart race with the proximity of your bodies, you were sure that your heart would beat out of your chest any moment now. What you failed to realize though was that Mingyu also didn’t want to let go, but the knocking on his apartment door demanded his attention. 

Slowly, one by one his friends started to trickle in, making sure to say hi and introduce themselves to you. They all seemed very friendly, and you really wanted to make a good impression.

“It’s so nice to have another girl in this friend group,” Jihoon’s girlfriend Ava gushed, coming in to hug you. She seemed very sweet, you could see yourself turning into good friends. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. We’ve heard so much about you!”

You glanced from Ava to Mingyu, back to her, before glancing back to ask Mingyu, “you talk about me?”

“Talk about you? He doesn’t shut up about you.” Ava answered for him.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Jihoon panicked, pulling Ava off of you. “Let’s go help Wonwoo and Seungkwan set things up.”

Thinking they were out of earshot Ava tried to whisper to Jihoon. “Wow, Mingyu wasn’t lying when he said she’s really pretty.” It didn’t turn out that way though, she might as well have yelled it. 

“You think I’m pretty?” you teased.

“You have a mirror, don’t you?” For the first time since you met Mingyu, you finally caught the blush creeping up on his cheeks and his red ears. You couldn’t help but chuckle at how cute Mingyu looked when he was acting shy. 

“Let’s go play some games. I’ve got asses to kick.”

“Oh, you’re on.”

~~~~~

While Sackboy was a game that called for teamwork, Seungkwan and Mingyu seemed to have formed an alliance to try and sabotage you. Ava caught on pretty quickly and managed to talk Jihoon on backing you up against them. It involved a lot of throwing each other’s character off the edge and losing lives and slapping each other…in the game. Multiple levels had to be restarted. Thankfully Wonwoo got the boys to start playing properly so the night could go on, and you often got to the finish line first. Never against Wonwoo though, you knew he’d probably get to the finish line first, but your ego was well fed after coming first against Seungkwan. 

Seungkwan huffed out in annoyance, “Mingyu, your girlfriend cheats!”

“She’s not my -”

“Maybe you just suck,” you fired back. 

You caught Wonwoo leaning in to tell Mingyu, “she’s cool. I like her.” At least one of his friends tried to be subtle. But you missed Mingyu saying back, “yea, I like her too.”

Things started to die down a little bit more as dinner rolled around, but with Seungkwan’s competitive streak you all knew the peacefulness would be short-lived. Almost as if he could read everyone’s mind, Monopoly was dropped onto the coffee table.

“Alright, I want a rematch.”

Trying to remain calm, Jihoon rubbed his temples, almost as if Seungkwan pained him. “Dude, you’re embarrassing yourself. Just take the loss.”

“Yeah,” Ava whined. “We like her, don’t scare her off.” 

Mingyu was getting ready to step in and have Seungkwan back off and leave you alone but he found your hand on his knee enough to stop him.

“If he wants to lose, let him. Just know Seungkwan, this game takes a while so be prepared to suffer.”

Mingyu couldn’t help but enjoy that you and his friends seemed to be getting along so well. He also really enjoyed watching you absolutely destroy Seungkwan every chance you got. 

“My money is on Seungkwan,” Wonwoo chimed in as you and Seungkwan started to set up the game. 

“Thank you. I’m glad that someone believes in me.”

“My money is on you losing,” Wonwoo clarified. Maybe everyone else also enjoyed how things were going between you and Seungkwan. Mingyu didn’t realize that he stuck two of the most competitive people in a room together. 

Jihoon was the first to pull out his wallet. “Alright, I’m in.”

Seungkwan let out a groan of defeat as he fell backwards onto the floor. Jihoon used this sulking episode as an opportunity to divide the winnings amongst everyone that bet on you instead of Seungkwan. Which was everyone. 

~~~~~

The night had turned out amazing, as you expected. You found yourself really enjoying yourself and your new found friends. It was much nicer than spending the holiday at your own apartment and it was a nice change from your regular holiday plans. Which you made sure to tell Mingyu, you really couldn’t be more grateful that you had been so important to be included in this little tradition.

“Ava, did you make this pie?” you asked. “This is absolutely amazing.”

She blushed at the praise. It really amused you how someone could go from being so bold one minute to so shy and quiet the next.

Mingyu figured it was probably time to get involved with the conversations. He had been rather quiet the past little while just taking in his favourite people, and watching to make sure you were having a good time. “We’re convinced that’s the reason Jihoon is dating her.”

Jihoon just shrugged at his friend’s accusation. “Who doesn’t love free dessert?”

“You really like it?” Baked goods were Ava’s love language and it meant a lot to her when people could bond over good food. 

“I love it! Seriously, I want to climb inside and live in this pie. I think I want to marry the pie.”

This time Wonwoo was not so subtle with his next comment, “damn Mingyu, you’ve got some competition.”

At this point Mingyu gave up. There was no possible way that you didn’t know about his feelings for you. He wanted his friends' help on how to bring it up and what to say, but he didn’t expect it to turn out like this. 

“Yeah, I’m actually kind of jealous of the attention that pie is getting.”

Seungkwan jumped on the opportunity of embarrassing Mingyu. “It’s getting more attention than you.” 

“Seungkwan, be nice or I’ll kick your ass at another stupid game again,” you threatened. Mingyu couldn’t be more thankful that you were deflecting the situation away from him and not making him feel even more embarrassed and awkward than he already was.

The day started to fade bringing Friendsgiving to an end. It seemed like a good time to start cleaning up and gathering your belongings, you wanted to get home and rest a little bit before it got too late. 

“Are you leaving?” Mingyu asked, his voice laced with a hint of disappointment.

“Shortly, yeah. I just wanted to help get things cleaned up.”

“Oh, I don’t want you to leave,” he pouted. 

“What about me?”

“No, Seungkwan, I definitely want you to leave.”

“I feel like you’re picking favourites and it’s not me.”

Mingyu tried his hardest to get his friends to leave, but his friends seemed to sense his wish of wanting to be alone and spend more time with you that they took their time leaving. Except Jihoon, he was glad to finally be heading home and had to pull Ava off of you. 

“Mingyu give me her number, and don’t fuck this up.” On the bright side, at least his friends approved of you. But the big picture: did YOU approve of Mingyu? Could he be what you deserved? What you wanted?

Seungkwan said his goodbyes before gently (but purposely) knocking you into Mingyu, forcing him to catch you. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to push you under the mistletoe.”

“The what?” you glanced up and there it was, a very out of place decoration. “That’s the wrong holiday,” you noted, almost as if you were unsure. But you did know for a fact that neither you nor Mingyu put that decoration up. 

“I thought you two could use the push.”

Wonwoo could see Seungkwan’s life flash before his eyes, if Mingyu’s facial expression was anything to go off of.  “Dude, you better start running.” Seungkwan almost didn’t want to believe Wonwoo, but Jihoon did, and pulled their friend away, leaving Wonwoo behind with you and Mingyu. “I’m so sorry about him. I hope you stick around. It was lovely meeting you.”

You exchanged your goodbye with Wonwoo before turning back to Mingyu. Poor Mingyu, cheeks tinted red, so embarrassed and worried that his friends scared you and that he might lose you after his feelings were aired out so blatantly. This evening was supposed to be fun and relaxing, his feelings weren’t meant to be a part of it. He didn’t want to put you on the spot like that, it wasn’t his reason for inviting you over, he honestly just wanted you around. When he asked his friends on how he should go about telling you his feelings he didn’t mean that exact day, or even a day when they were around. Actually, they most definitely were not supposed to be there when he confessed his feelings. But here he is, forced to come out and say something. Mingyu’s trance was disrupted when he felt your hands work their way to the nape of his neck, forcing him to maintain eye contact with you.

“I lost you there for a second.”

“I’m so sorry about all of this, this is not what I expected. I don’t know what’s wrong with them. Are you mad? Let me grab your bag and I can walk you to your car.” Mingyu stopped in his tracks when he heard you quietly say,

“I would have kissed you without the mistletoe.”

“You what?!”

“Kiss her! Kiss her!” Seungkwan and Ava chanted from down the hall. Right. Mingyu was too wrapped up in his own existential crisis and didn’t make it back into his apartment. He muttered a quick “assholes” before pulling you back into the apartment, and making sure the door was locked and inaccessible from his nosey friends. 

“So, rumour has it, you have a crush on me?”

“Fuck it,” Mingyu sighed. “Yeah, I do. I have for a while actually. You were not supposed to find out this way.” You tried to reassure Mingyu that it was really okay, and figured he must have forgotten what you said previously about the mistletoe.

“Mingyu, I like you too, so much. You’re the most amazing person I know… as for the mistletoe.” you brought his attention back to the decoration. “We can’t break tradition, can we now?”

Mingyu watched as you stood up on your tiptoes closing the distance between the two of you. He wasn’t sure how to go about it, he hadn’t ever expected it to happen, but was relieved when you seemed to have everything under control. Despite trying to remain calm, cool and collected, nothing could have prepared him for what your lips on his would feel like. He couldn’t help the smile that came across his face and finally gained the confidence to return your affection back. When he realized you weren’t going anywhere he pulled you closer, silently hoping this moment wouldn’t end. Things only intensified when you ran your hands up his side and across his chest before stopping your hands on either side of his face and pulling away as Mingyu’s phone went off with a text notification.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Mingyu.”

Seungkwan > did you kiss her yet?

Ava > how was it?!

    > also, we heard you, there’s nothing wrong with us

Wonwoo > except EVERYTHING

Jihoon > freaks

> I was talking about Ava and Seungkwan by the way

Ava > rude, enjoy sleeping on the couch

    > add her to the group chat

Mingyu chuckled and showed you the conversation, a silent ask if you wanted to be a part of that mess. You handed Mingyu your phone, you couldn’t be happier to be welcomed into the group.

“Oh no, what did I get myself into?” you joked.

[zamoimagines]

Women of Abbott Elementary - First Date (Headcanons)

A/N: Hey ya'll! I have so much fun writing for these girlies, I love them all so much. If you guys want more of them, please let me know! - Headcanons under the cut - **DISCLAIMER: None of the gifs are mine, all credit goes to the original creators**

Ava Coleman:

If there’s one thing about Ava Coleman, it’s that she loves luxury

Anyone who is with her is bound to know that and she’s more than happy to share the wealth with someone she cares about 

A first date for her is definitely at some hip new bar she found on social media with lots of fancy cocktails and champagne, maybe a few shots here and there

She insists that she pays for everything since she has a lot saved up (surely not for a potential zombie apocalypse, but she could afford to dip into her funds) 

She absolutely spoils you and tells you to get dressed up. She’s definitely in a sleek cocktail dress with a faux fur coat, or maybe a really fashionable jumpsuit. It’s whatever she’s feeling that night. Regardless, she looks hot and expensive 

The whole time you guys have drinks, she’s flirting hard with you. Unlike her other dates, she also spends some time getting to know you and asks you about where you’re from, where you see yourself in ten years, who your favorite celebrity couple is, etc. All the important first date topics 

Definitely calling you every nickname under the sun; baby, princess, cutie, baby cakes, honey, sugarboo, you name it, she’s calling you that 

Also making sure to take plenty of pictures of you, making you pose and encouraging you to be confident in how gorgeous you look

You stop her when she almost tries to make a tik tok video, but she respects you. Just means she has more pictures of you to look at later on her own time 

Absolutely making sure to touch you as much as possible, whether that means touching your hand, lightly jabbing your shoulder, maybe even playing with your hair a little bit

She definitely has a stare that could see right through you and while it’s intimidating, she also knows exactly how to make you squirm without doing anything at all 

After you guys are a little too tipsy, she’d surely take you to her favorite club. She’s dying to get you out onto a dance floor, especially when you both look so damn good together 

As soon as you guys arrive, the bouncers immediately let you through the door and you guys skip the line. She pulls you right out to the floor and encourages you to fuck it up 

The more you let loose for her, the harder she’s simping. More than likely, she’s grinding up against you, holding your hips to hers, rocking with you and making sure to keep you close

God forbid if ANYONE tries to dance with you, they’re getting kicked out of the entire club. She doesn’t give a fuck 

Straight up, she would make sure to put her arm over your shoulder just to be more possessive of you and make sure that everyone knows your her date. She respects you, she just doesn’t like it if someone doesn’t respect you

During a more slow song, she holds you super close so that you don’t get too far from her. She’s much more comfortable being vulnerable with you in a setting like this 

“I had a good time tonight. You’re so cute- Forreal, I can’t keep my hands off of you, baby” 

Right after, she’d lean in really close to your ear and ask you in a very husky voice, “You wanna come home with me, baby? I could take really good care of you.” 

Absolute best sex of your life as a nightcap, Ava is fully on board with having sex on the first date- especially if it’s with you.

Barbara Howard:

Barb is the most traditional out of all of them. After all, she’s a good Christian woman

She picks out the cutest local restaurant that’s not too snooty, but not too cheap. She also happens to be a regular there, but she doesn’t give that away immediately 

She’d meet you there, showing up a little early so she could have the table ready and waiting for you. When you arrive, she stands up and makes sure to give you a very tender kiss to your cheek and a little squeeze to your hand 

When the waiter comes by to ask for a drink order, Barbara makes sure to get a simple cocktail and urges you to do the same since the have the best ones in Philadelphia (in her own opinion)

For a while, you two start to talk. You both talk about work, then maybe move onto other first date topics like favorite movies, colors, foods, etc. Eventually, you both get on a topic in which Barbara tells you everywhere she’s traveled and you learn how much she loves cruises. 

You guys finally order, and you’re still not sure what to order because the conversation has gotten away from you. She most certainly asks for your permission, but offers to order for you to ease your mind a little. You give her your consent, and she tells the waiter exactly what to bring. Absolutely hot to you that she could take care of you in so many different ways like that. 

The more she finishes her cocktail, the more comfortable she becomes. You could tell she was slightly nervous before, but since it’s going so well, she comes into her own a little more. That signature Barbara confidence shines through with vigor and it only makes you swoon more 

She gets as bold as to hold your hand for a moment, and even takes time to gaze into your eyes while she’s speaking to you. When she laughs at your jokes, you could swear that she could be the personification of sunshine 

The food arrives, and you two eat happily to which you compliment her decision on picking this restaurant in particular. The food is delicious and she ordered you the perfect meal 

At the end, the chef surprises you both with a cute little dessert that’s sharable. It takes Barbara off guard, especially when they insist it’s on the house. You both feel like giddy teenagers in that moment, but you share it anyway 

Barbara would notice that there was a little speck of something on the corner of your mouth and would say, “Oh- Sweetheart, let me get that for you-” 

She’d take her napkin and start to wipe it away, but your heart would race at how close her hand was to your face. She’d notice how close she was too when the napkin slipped out of her hands 

There’s a moment where her hand is literally just caressing your face and neither one of you can move, completely swept up by the moment 

Once she snaps out of it, she apologizes to which you tell her not to worry. Secretly, you’re hoping she’d touch you like that again 

As you two finish up, you grab out your wallet to pay but she insists you put it away 

“I invited you out to dinner, darling. Let me take care of it.” 

You know better than to argue with Barbara, and so she pays for the whole meal. When you two leave the restaurant, she walks you right to your car to make sure you’re safe and taken care of. 

“I had a wonderful time with you, dear. Thank you for coming. I’ve been looking forward to this all week, and it was even better than I imagined it would’ve been.” 

Which is so cute to think about Barbara planning this whole thing just for you, and you make sure to thank you and assure her that you had a good time as well

There’s an awkward silence between the two of you as she takes in every inch of your presence, just silently swooning over how much she adores you

She cuts through the silence and softly asks, “May I kiss you?” 

You’d nod, but you can’t believe she just asked that question. You never thought in a million years that Barbara Howard would’ve been taking you on a date 

As you’re swimming in your thoughts, she’d lean forward and give you a firm yet sweet kiss to make sure she makes it perfect for you. 

You’d kiss back in an instant (how could you fucking not), and as soon as you accept her love, her hands move to hold your waist as she pulls you in closer, her other hand moves to caress over your cheek

She’d rest her forehead to yours and admit, “I’ve been waiting so long to do that” 

She’s certainly a lady and respects your boundaries enough to not invite you home, but you bet your sweet ass that she’s most certainly asking you on a second date. 

Janine Teagues:

Janine is a pretty classic girlie and takes you to see a movie 

At first, she’s trying to psyche herself up to see a drama or a horror movie, something that is way too serious for her tastes because she wants to impress you

She offers to pay for everything- The movie tickets, the snacks, she even tries to shove gas money in your face 

You try to insist that you can split everything, but she’s incredibly stubborn 

Once you have your drinks and your food, you guys go into the theater 

She made extra careful plans to sit in the perfect spot so you two could have enough privacy but be far enough from the screen to see everything 

The movie starts up and it’s clearly too much for her, you can tell by the way she’s getting tense and how she’s trying to hide her face every five seconds

She gets way too nervous and steps out to use the bathroom, but after she’s gone for so long, you make sure to go and check on her 

You’d use a line like, “You left your purse under your seat” or something along those lines 

To which Janine would completely crumble and let you know that she was acting all out of sorts just to make sure you’d still like her. She’s terrified of being too boring or not being “cool” enough for someone else 

You’d definitely have to reassure her very tenderly because you went on this date knowing it was Janine. Clearly you love everything about her, even her little quirks. You’d have to make sure to tell her that upfront so she could finally relax

Once everything was out in the open, she’d finally calm down. 

She’d say something like “Good- I was kinda hoping we could see Paw Patrol because my students have been going nuts over it. I heard it was a pretty wild time.” 

She’s definitely nervous about admitting that, but as soon as you’re on board, you two refund the tickets for the next showing of the other movie. This time, you make sure to get the drinks and you guys settle in.

You can clearly see she’s more excitable, laughing and being adorable as ever

She’d even hold your hand and make sure to whisper little things to you so that she didn’t get too lost in the movie 

Once it’s over, you guys would hit a little coffee shop and just talk for a while. Really gushy stuff, like laughing about how Janine picked the worst movie for a first date initially, maybe she goes on about how much she liked the actual movie she wanted to see. You guys stay for hours and talk about everything under the sun until the cafe closes.

“Well uh… Guess that’s it then.” She’d fidget a little, definitely super nervous about how to end the night. You’d let her know that you had a great time 

Which would give her enough courage to launch herself forward and kiss you right on the lips

Right after, she’d pull away and blush super hard and start apologizing and rambling like she does

But you’d cut her off and give her another kiss. In return, she’d just melt in your arms and you two could just let yourselves get caught in the wholesome gay vibes that the whole night had been leading up to <333

Then she’d most definitely ask you to come back to her place to hang out and cuddle, maybe play some board games she’s been dying to show someone. Absolutely more kissing- She wouldn’t be able to stop kissing you once she knew it was okay to do so.

Melissa Schemmenti:

Definitely plans a date at her place

Who needs a fancy restaurant when she’s the best Italian cook in all of Philly? 

She’d invite you over and everything would be super casual, she’d probably insist on it just so she could make you comfortable 

But nothing would be quite ready whenever you got there 

In fact, you’d get all dressed up in your best

And Melissa opens the door in jeans, a tank top and her denim jacket she always wears around her house, hair up in a ponytail with a small kitchen towel hanging off her shoulder

“Damn- You really thought you were coming to the Met or something, huh?” She’d definitely laugh it off, but she’d assure you that you look incredible. She’d even apologize for not being more specific or for not dressing up herself 

Her idea of an adorable date is letting you help her cook. Being able to make a meal with her loved ones always makes her feel at home, and you’re no exception to that 

She’d definitely teach you how to make a kick ass risotto and would hold your hand the entire way

If you did something wrong, she wouldn’t be nearly as harsh as she would’ve been with Jacob or Janine. She’d lightly redirect you and even show you how to do it by guiding your hands with her own

And for the most Sicilian thing to do, she makes sure to get out a bottle of wine so you two can indulge in some drinks while the meal is getting prepared 

She has on her favorite tunes in the background, and the more tipsy she gets, she definitely starts to sing to you which is so sweet (even though her voice is completely off key, still super charming) 

Absolutely letting you be a taste tester, offers you the cooking spoons or makes you eat something out of her hand 

She won’t say it out loud, but she loves how you go with it. It’s adorable to her that you’re comfortable enough to trust her and lowkey she thinks it’s kinda hot how your mouth feels around her fingers ANYWAY

Once the food is done, you help her set the table and get all the food set up. She cracks open another bottle of wine so you guys can still drink during dinner 

You literally wanna pass out because the food is so good. You had no idea that she could cook like this, and it’s very clear she takes a lot of pride in her work with that pleased smirk on her face.

She’s also just so happy to see you so happy and in her space being so comfortable, that’s all she wants in a partner and you’re fitting in so seamlessly with her life

You guys talk about everything under the sun; About work, about annoying people, she tells you crazy stories from her family, maybe some about her antics and how she’s run away from the law, in return you’d tell her stories of your own 

Before you know it, dinner is completely gone and so is half the bottle of wine 

You both are much more tipsy than before, but it feels so cozy and warm. Melissa is even gazing back at you with her chin resting against her hand, just taking in how beautiful you are

“Mm.” She’d hum a little bit while she’s just silently staring at you, to which you ask her what’s on her mind 

“Oh, nothin’. Just was thinking about what it would be like to kiss you.” 

There’d be a small pause before she just leans in and presses her lips to yours 

It’s heated almost immediately, because this woman does everything with as much passion as she possibly can- But she’s also so tender and makes sure to hold you while she’s getting closer to you

Melissa doesn’t care about rules, ya’ll are going straight up to her bedroom if you’re comfortable with that. If not, she fully intends to cuddle you on her plastic wrapped couch 

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box Series— Gender Reveal Edition

23-24 Season Masterlist

surprise! i lied!

soooo turns out, i’m impatient! this is NOT a post in real time, meaning all penalty box posts as of now will be as if she's still having twins and doesn't know the gender!

JANURARY 12, 2024

yourusername

liked by _quinnhughes, trevorzegras, and 28,611 others

yourusername i'm elated to announce that during my eighteen weeks sonogram, a third future little chaos creator was discovered🤍

the best mom in the world came with us to find out the genders for our gender reveal party (planned by yours truly with mom and taryn <3), and trevor and i cried tears of absolute joy when we found out that we'll be having all girls!

trevor and i put a lot of thought into the names for our girls. since trevor's got some greek in him, we thought it would be cute to pick out names with greek origins!

"pheobe" means bright, radiant, and she was a titaness as the goddess of intellect

"katerina" is a derivative of the greek word katharós, which means pure (plus, she's a character in the vampire diaries, and the originals' saying is that family is "always and forever")

and "evangeline," even though it's also from english origin, still has greek roots. it's a combination of the words evangelos, which means good news, and elen, which means shining. the news that we'll be having a third girl is so good, so we feel that it fits perfectly<3

thank you to everyone that flew in for the day! it means the absolute world to trevor and i and i'm so beyond lucky to have each and every one of you🩷

quinn, jack, and luke, you three are going to be the most amazing uncles. our girls will never know a world without love; not like i did. you three gave me love. you showed me what it was like to have a family, to have friends. i know we fight and argue and tease each other relentlessly, jack and i a little more than the rest of us do with each other, but we're still each other's best friends. we'd do anything for each other and have proven that time and time again. if my girls are even a fraction as close as we are, they'll be the luckiest girls in the world.

griffin and ava, i know we aren't as close as i'd love to be, but seeing you two today for the first time since we told you both the news made my heart so warm. you're both going to be such great influences for the girls and i hope that their eyes light up when i tell them that uncle griffin and aunt ava are coming to see them!

cole, alex, and jamie, trevor and i put a lot of thought into choosing you three as godfathers and i know we made the best decision possible with you guys. you've all become some of the most important people in our lives, both individually and as a couple. i hope that the girls grow up to have their own cole's and alex's and jamie's, because i know i'm a better person with all of you by my side. i love you three!

i could go on and on and make individual messages for everyone, and i won't, but my own twin needs a little extra love. jack, we might not be twins by blood, but we are by our souls. we were meant to meet each other and to live on the same street as kids. we were meant to grow up together and figure out who we are as people with each other by our sides. no one knows me like you do. not trevor, not quinn, no one. i hope the girls have that. i hope the girls can read each other's minds with just one look, i hope they have secrets that will die with them, i hope they fight for each other even more than they fight with each other (and know that they do it out of love). most of all, i hope that they earn the nickname "triplets of terror," even though no one does that better than us. i love you insanely🫶

i love you all! thank you for coming, thank you for showing me love, thank you for being there for me, and thank you in advance for adoring our triplets! trevor, i cannot wait to take on this next chapter of our lives with you. i love you, always🤍

tagged trevorzegras

view all 436 comments

trevorzegras you're my whole world, my sweet girl, but our world is about to get a lot bigger so you're going to have go make room! i love you, forever❤️

yourusername i love you so much it makes me sick, my gorgeous, magic, mesmerizing sweet boy<3

trevorzegras that might also be the "morning" sickness

yourusername pissy it's still going on😭

trevorzegras it'll all be worth it when our little lights of chaos escape out of you

jackhughes @/trevorzegras you're my little light of chaos

yourusername @/jackhughes i’m having his babies can you please not flirt with my man?

jamie.drysdale @/yourusername you're MY little light of chaos

yourusername @/jamie.drysdale oh?🤭

trevorzegras @/jackhughes this is your fault

jackhughes @/trevorzegras it usually is

user49 SCREAMING AND CRYING IN THE CLUB OMFG😭

jackhughes sissy, you've outdone yourself with this caption and i'm totally not emotional right now. i really do hope these girls show all the good parts of us twins of terror❤️ i love you crazily!

yourusername i *am* emotional right now and i’m not scared to admit it because you're my soulmate and i want my girls to not be afraid to express their love <3

jackhughes was i guilt tripped and complimented in one long sentence?

yourusername and ridiculed a lil bit!

jackhughes please don't teach the triplets how to bully me

yourusername no, that's my job, jacky boy! they can bully quinn

jackhughes i’ll teach them to bully luke and you can teach them to bully quinn?

yourusername you've got yourself a deal, soulmate

_quinnhughes @/lhughes_06 the twins of terror are plotting again

lhughes_06 @_quinnhughes that never goes well for any of us

colecaufield @/yourusername can't you only teach them how to be nice? and giving? and all the best parts of you?

yourusername @/colecaufield awww, you sap! no <3

trevorzegras @/colecaufield she's mostly kidding

colecaufield @/trevorzegras the girls will be your spawns wether you teach them how to crazy or not

lhughes_06 @/colecaufield not if we kidnap them

_alexturcotte @/lhughes_06 i'm in

jamie.drysdale @/yourusername don't do this to us

yourusername everyone needs to CALM DOWN !!!! you all know the zegras-hughes triplets will be the kindest girls! if one is silly goosy, and another is shy, and the third is a brave wild child out to get us, they all will still have hearts of gold

trevorzegras @/yourusername yes they will, my love❤️

user6 i'm crying so hard right now oh my god😭

user77 NOW NO ONE IS LEFT OUT FOR BEING A GODFATHER😭

griffinzegras i love you, too, y/n! i can't wait to meet my future nieces

yourusername i hope you're their favorite uncle <3

griffinzegras that's the biggest compliment i’ve ever received

trevorzegras @/yourusername you really said "fuck my brothers"

yourusername @/trevorzegras they're my favorites so griffin needs more love to balance it

griffinzegras @/trevorzegras was i attacked and also complimented?

trevorzegras @/griffinzegras she's really good at that

_quinnhughes @/griffinzegras she somehow attacked and complimented all four of us at once

jackhughes @_quinnhughes which is really impressive i’m not gonna lie

lhughes_06 i don't enjoy this

yourusername @/griffinzegras @/jackhughes @_quinnhughes @/lhughes_06 MWAH!

user86 oh this was so sweet i'm gonna throw up

anaheimducks congratulations on your three new ducks family members!

yourusername thank you, bestie admin!🧡

_quinnhughes you're going to be the most amazing mom, sissy, and i am so proud of you! i can't wait to love and spoil these girls! they're going to look so cute in canucks jerseys! i love you way past beyond❤️

yourusername i love you way past infinity❤️ i better get started on their uncle quinn jerseys!

_eliaspettersson @/yourusername and uncle petey jerseys!

bboeser @/yourusername and uncle brock jerseys!

colemcward @/yourusername i don't know what i'll be but they need my jersey, too

yourusername @_eliaspettersson @/bboeser yes, yes, they'll get your jerseys, too!

yourusername @/colemcward uncle cole jerseys!

_quinnhughes @/yourusername that's too many. i'm the most important.

yourusername @_quinnhughes be grateful that they'll have your jersey at all

_quinnhughes @/yourusername please let them love me

yourusername @_quinnhughes i’ll think about it

user16 i’m obsessed with these names🥹

user48 half the league is having babies and sissy said "hold my beer"

colecaufield i'm so honored to not only be your best friend number two, but now godfather to one of your future little crazies! you just keep making my life better, sissy❤️ i love you!

yourusername i love you, coley woley❤️ you deserve the world so i'm happy to share part of mine

colecaufield you're gonna make me sob in the club

yourusername do it, no balls

colecaufield i’m no longer emotional

yourusername then you no longer have balls

trevorzegras @/yourusername what did you do with them?

yourusername @/trevorzegras i gave them to aphrodite as an offering

colecaufield @/yourusername you're having triplets! i don't think the goddess of fertility needs more offerings from you

_quinnhughes i have no words

_alexturcotte @/yourusername give him his balls back

yourusername @_alexturcotte fine! bossy...

colecaufield @_alexturcotte thank you, king🙏

slknight35 congratulations, you two! i'm so happy i got to come and experience all the love today! i love you so much, sissy❤️ you're going to be the best mom in the world

yourusername i love you endlessly, spency! you being here means everything to me, thank you so much <3

trevorzegras thank you, knighty! it was great seeing you

slknight35 @/trevorzegras you're so obsessed with me

trevorzegras @/slknight35 damn right ;)

yourusername @/trevorzegras somebody gets around

trevorzegras @/yourusername i’ve got a lot of love to share

user43 the zegras-hughes triplets are going to have so many uncles omg😭

lhughes_06 you're the best big sister i could ever ask for, sissy! if you're anything with these girls like you were with me when we were kids, then they're gonna be the most loved daughters this world has ever seen. i love you, sissy❤️

yourusername i'm so lucky to be your big sister, lukey moosey! i love you so much❤️ i no longer want to sell you on the black market because this was so sweet, you sap!

lhughes_06 thank you?

yourusername you're welcome!

_quinnhughes @/lhughes_06 i'll still sell you

jackhughes @_quinnhughes i already have some offers

lhughes_06 sissy! save me!

yourusername @/lhughes_06 you're on your own, kid

colecaufield you always have been

lhughes_06 damn

jamie.drysdale you two have been there for me in more ways than one and now i get to be a godfather for one of your daughters! that means more to me than anything else, i love you both!

trevorzegras you deserve it, jimbo! i love you, too

yourusername you've been by my side since day one, jamie baby, and i am so happy that you exist! i love you more than life❤️ you deserve this!

jamie.drysdale saps

yourusername always!

trevorzegras it's the theme of the day, apparently

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras jack and sissy are planning to teach your daughters how to bully us

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes you can't win them all

user96 AHHHHHHHHHH

avazegras i love you, too, y/n! i can't wait to spoil these girls! being the only legal aunt is going to be my biggest accomplishment🩷

yourusername can't wait for girls days! i'm so happy they're going to have you as a role model<3

trevorzegras they'll be obsessed with you, aves!

avazegras @/trevorzegras i know

yourusername we love a confident woman!

user63 i'm crying my eyes out oh my god

dylanduke25 CONGRATULATIONS, SISSY! these babies are going to be the most loved babies in the entire world!! i love you!

yourusername i love you more, duker! these girls will be surrounded by love and i'm so happy that you'll be apart of their lives

edwards.73 mom's so close to being a mom!! i love you, mom!!

yourusername @/edwards.73 i love you, too, son!

trevorzegras @/edwards.73 you're only a few months away from being further down the favorite child latter

edwards.73 @/trevorzegras why would you say this to me?

lhughes_06 @/trevorzegras RUDE

colemcward i hate it here

_alexturcotte i love you, too, girly hughes! i still can't believe you two are going to be parents! it feels like yesterday we were all plotting to get you two to realize your feelings for each other. i can't wait to become a godfather❤️

yourusername you've always been our biggest fan, lexi❤️ you're going to be the most perfect godfather!

trevorzegras oh you and your plots

_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras well they worked, didn't they?

jackhughes we made some good plots

slknight35 they were hard to do

colecaufield it took way too long to get these two together

_alexturcotte it was agonizing

yourusername @/jackhughes @/slknight35 @_alexturcotte @/colecaufield just don't take credit for us having babies. that was all us.

jackhughes @/yourusername that's disgusting

colecaufield @/yourusername that's what you think

yourusername @/colecaufield perv

user89 EVANGELINE LIKE THE PRINCESS AND THE FRONG SONG OMG😭

matthew_tkachuk my little mouse is so close to becoming a mama mouse! i'm so proud of you, sissy, you're going to be the most magnificent mom❤️ i love you!

yourusername the tears have returned! i love you so much, my rat❤️ these girls are gonna love their uncle matty! (matthew? chucky?)

matthew_tkachuk whatever they say first😂

taryntkachuk @/yourusername one of each

_quinnhughes uncle rat! uncle rat! uncle rat!

yourusername @_quinnhughes no! that's for me!

yourusername @/taryntkachuk genius

matthew_tkachuk @/yourusername don't confuse them! let's go with uncle matty

yourusername @/matthew_tkachuk mmmmm okay i think i can make that happen

user91 THIS IS THE BEST NEWS AHHHH

leocarlssoon congratulations, mom and dad! i can't wait to meet them! i love you!

yourusername i love you, too, my favorite son❤️ don't worry, they'll be getting your jersey, too!

trevorzegras thank you, son! i love you, too

masonmctavish23 @/yourusername your baby closet is going to be 90% jerseys

yourusername @/masonmctavish23 yeah, i'm thinking about not getting them yours to have more room

masonmctavish23 @/yourusername i did not hold back your hair while you threw up multiple times to be treated like this

leocarlssoon @/masonmctavish23 from morning sickness?

masonmctavish23 @/leocarlssoon that, her being too drunk, her just being sick. i don't know why it's always me but it is

jamie.drysdale @/masonmctavish23 she's allergic to you

masonmctavish23 @/jamie.drysdale she bites me so that can't be it

yourusername @/masonmctavish23 alright, alright, successful guilt trip! uncle mason jerseys for them!

trevorzegras is just need to address my love one last time on this post! y/n, i can't wait to marry you, and having our girls there is going to make our wedding even more magical. we've got this. we're going to give our girls the best life. you're my stanley cup, but you making me a dad makes me feel like i'm king of the world❤️ i love you, forever, my sweet girl!

yourusername i love you, always, trevor❤️ we've got this!

---

thank you to everyone that's been here since the beginning, and thank you to everyone that has joined in on this little universe later on for being apart of my little universe <3 i wouldn't be here without any of you loving sissy and supporting me! this, is for y'all🤍 tell me what you think! rb's appreciated <3

[shamythelazypotato]

"Going back" AvA AU

First part of this / Next part

"A weekly battle?" Chosen asks with a confused look. It's been a week since he moved in with the CG, and it's been... interesting to say the least. He got his own room in a pixelated place thanks to something the kids called 'Minecraft.' He had heard of it before; it became a pretty popular game for a while. But to be honest, nothing interested TCO more than conquering websites alongside Dark back then.

Ah, Dark. For some reason, his thoughts always drift back to him...

Chosen found out the kids lacked individual names. Oh, they claimed they did, but in reality, they were simply identified by their colors. Red, Green—mere descriptors that couldn't help but make Chosen scoff inwardly, How could they settle for being identified solely by their colors?

It seemed too simplistic, too devoid of identity, for Chosen, his name had always been his beacon, his identity etched into every pixel of his existence.

Powerful, glorious, strong, special.

It is true that the black hollow-head didn't grasp the importance of it at first, but after what happened, Chosen actually had time to think, not about destruction or mayhem, just actually think. And now that he thinks about it, these kids are way more different than he is or what he's used to. Still, being named after a color is stupid at least. It looks like Alan couldn't care enough to at least name them properly.

No, Chosen shakes his head slightly as his red eyes glance at the bar task under him.

It's better this way, no expectations, no destiny or something. The kids are actually lucky, luckier than he was at least.

"What are these weekly battles about?" Chosen finally asks. He reclines himself over the soft sofa on the left side of the desktop, leaving enough space to appreciate the battle that is about to start.

"Oh, that's easy!" Second says with a smile. "It's when we usually reunite together to have like a sparring contest! The winner gets one of these," Second says excitedly as he takes out of nowhere a cubic-like trophy in gold. Seems like these kids have made their whole life around Minecraft.

The red kid (Chosen assumes the youngest one) is bouncing eagerly around, throwing punches at the air and getting excited in general. Meanwhile, the green one is patting his shoulder, probably to calm him down and then pointing at himself in an arrogant way. Red only points at him, saying in a tone of defiance, "Hey! Just because you mostly win it doesn't mean you're the best!"

Green says, leaning with his hands on his hips and smirking, "Isn't that exactly what it proves? That I'm the best?"

"Ugh! Don't try to use your mind tricks on me Green! It won't work," but Chosen could clearly perceive a hint of hesitation in Red's eyes. Kids, he thinks in a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

Meanwhile Blue and Yellow were standing more closely to Second, who was almost Infront of Chosen.

The blue one seemed excited as well but in a calmer way, while the yellow one shared his enthusiasm in the same level of excitement, she was also talking about possible strategics and nudging playfully at her blue partner about winning.

They really think this is a game.

Chosen's pupils look at the side without moving his head.«No wonder these kids don't know what to do in a real fight» his eyes narrow as he stares at a lost point on the desktop. His perceptive memory still remembers how the same sticks disintegrated in front of his helpless form.

Pinned, bloody, and beaten up. Helpless. Weak. Weak.

Cursors. Chosen hates Dark for making him feel this way, and this desktop is not helping at all. Ironically, the only other place where he has felt like this before. Thanks to a certain cursor.

Why did he think it was a good idea to come back to this place in the first place? Maybe his house was too painful destroyed to live in. Maybe it's because there are multiple wanted signs searching for him (not that he's afraid). Maybe it's because it doesn't matter where he is anymore.

He will grief survive anyway.

He won't fail again.

"Wanna join us Chosen?" Since Chosen told his name to the kids, he hasn't stopped hearing his name, he almost felt self conscious of it, Chosen glances at Second and says in a monotonous voice "Wouldn't it be unfair?"

"Unfair?...uh" Second trails off as he rests his hand on his chin. Second tilts his head with a curious look to the black stickfigure. "Maybe, but it's just a friendly sparring! You can even teach us cool moves or new techniques to learn! And probably-"

"I meant you" Chosen says in a dead tone, his crimson eyes flickering to see the green confusion in Second. "Isn't it unfair if you and I fight with them?" Second has a puzzled expression on his face.

"What do you mean by that? We're all the same here! Well except for you that you're super fast and powerf-"

"We're both powerful" Chosen says bluntly, he narrows his eyes slightly, «strange» since they came back from defeating Dark, Chosen tried to give his thanks to Second yet, the orange stickfigure looked confused about it, trying to deny he remembers anything about "healing powers" or "Resurrection" and thanking Chosen instead.

And just now, Second shakes his head stubbornly as he says "No Chosen! I already told you, I'm glad you appreciated our efforts but I was just as helpless as my...friends were" Second bows his head in the floor, his lip trembling slightly "I... almost died with them, until you saved us"

At the mention of death, the rest of the stickfigures fell silent and glanced at Chosen then at Second, seems like it was still a sensitive topic for the colorful sticks.

«So he doesn't really remember anything» Chosen thinks inwardly with a sigh, it's not of his surprised that Second is oblivious of his own powers, probably even Alan doesn't know anything about them.

Funny enough it's how it was only activated when he had to survive.

Chosen remembers being in control since the first time he was created, not a trigger or a reason, just a purpose

Survive

Still he's smart enough to know when he has done enough questions to someone, Second actually looks affected by what has happened a days ago before. Even the rest of the colorful sticks were silent and looking down or leaning on each other as if to reassure to each other they're good, they're alive.

«Enough probing»

Chosen sighs again

"If I join you, do you guys will let me be?" Chosen asks with the slightly twitch of an eyebrow in a questioning tone, sounding more reluctant than excited yet Chosen tries.

Second seems to not notice and he perks up at his question, his face splits into a wide smile as he says in a joyful tone "Oh yes please! It'll be fun, we promise!"

Red, who's in the right side of the desktop also smiles, he exclaims childlike "Yes! You'll see me kick this dude's ass!" Red chuckles as she shoves Green playfully, the latest snort at Red's statement and shoves back affectionately as he says "Hah! In your dreams!" And start bickering.

Yellow just smiles in amusement at his friends antics as Blue says with a more gentle smile looking at Second "Yeah! Maybe that would help us to improve our fighting skills as well!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Second beams as he approaches to the now excited stickfigures, shaking his arms up and down in anticipation.

Chosen looks at them with a questioning look for a few seconds, before his lips traitorously twitch slightly into the attempt of an amused smile. Kids

He quickly composes himself as he gets up slowly from the couch and asks

"So? When do we start?"

[itslilacokay]

pls pls PLSS tell me about your NS? au i need to know as much as humanly possible...

sniff... i.... i thought no one would ever ask........... nows my chance...... to yap..........

AHEM.

ns?AVA (normalswap?ava) is my swap au! its not normal

victim and tco both take tsc's role, while tsc just takes victim's role

mercenaries swap roles with cg, though its not exact on which mercenary takes specific a cg member's role and vice versa, theyre quite jumbled around

though one specific stick in the cg doesnt take a mercenary's role and that's yellow, in fact he takes tdl's role! as for tdl he takes tco's role

"so in your au there's like only 3 mercenaries instead of 4?????" no i thought of something else to remedy that

you know that cloaked guy that gave king the command block? yeah hes a mercenary now

speaking of king........ he has a different role as well but that's in ns?avm, which i'll get to later because i need to explain more ns?ava things

so fun fact! the hollowheads have new names for this au

tsc -> The First Victim (tfv)

tdl -> The Chosen Lord (tcl)

victim -> The Return (tr)

tco -> The Second Chosen (scn)

btw the animator is alexcrafter28, aka that minecraft kid in lush caves

for ns?ava lore, i wrote down what happened in ns?ava1-4 a few months ago so if you dont miiind

SWAP-AVA 1 -tfv becomes a rogue animation and destroys the computer -tfv finds the stickfight website and convinces the colorgang to destroy the computer with him, they agree -colorgang gets "ended", which makes ctv want to destroy the computer even more -ends like normal ava1 with the fla closing without being saved, since tfv is bound to that fla file he disappears with it

an extra thing to note is that if this were a video, there would be an ""animation error"" where yellow didnt get shown to be ended, an aucanon explanation would be that yellow managed to escape to the outernet, albeit on accident

SWAP-AVA 2 -tcl is made and destroys the pc, wow what a shocker -alex eventually traps him and just renders him powerless, though tcl's able to still wander around the pc

SWAP-AVA3 -yellow appears back in the pc and starts destroying it again -tcl tries to stop him but eventually joins him and also the code that disabled his power gets removed (yellow did it) -just like normal ava3, it ends with them both completely destroying the computer, ending with a blue screen of death

SWAP-AVA4 -starts like normal ava4, in the middle of an online chat -however, it starts in the middle of scn destroying the computer -scn comes across an fla file and finds tr and co -they hang out for a bit but alex eventually finds the fla with them inside -fight sequence -as soon as alex is about to close the fla a few flashbacks to (swap)ava 1 happen -they come up with a compromise, scn doesnt wreck the pc and alex lets him and his new friends hang out in said pc -a little while later it shows that scn, tr and co are in their own fla, with a house drawn inside it (similar to the stickfight website)

a few extra things i want to add before heading to ns?avm is that in this au, when tfv gets brought back from deletion he tries to immediately go back to the stickfight website in hopes of bringing back the cg

it works, but yellow is still missing

they then find out about the outernet and try to find yellow there

along the way they founded illustratiocorp

just to make it clear they dont care about the animator, or at least getting revenge on the animator is of less importance to them at the moment, for now they just want to find yellow

the reason why tcl is wanted is because he was suspected to have involvement with yellow somehow,,, and also the past instances/news of internet terrorizing but yeahhg

i think thats all for ns?AVA for the moment, now is time for ns?AVM!

so in ns?AVM, gold and king found purple and took him in (purple's lore up until that point still stays, orchid dies and navy leaves)

purple died in the minecraft event and gold feels severe survivor's guilt and now wants to destroy minecraft

unlike king, gold's ,.,,, a child so this hatred against minecraft is more severe

speaking of king, yeah he's still traumatized but he still has a bit of moral left and doesn't want gold to go through with this plan

gold then early on finds out how to enter minecraft because of the cloaked guy (gasp)

in this au, cloaked guy originally resided in the mac and later led gold to said mac

gold decided this would be a good time to start destroying a bit of minecraft currently on the mac, but accidentally ended up being a ruler of the mac village (definitely not because cloaked guy gave him the crown and silently left and the villagers took that as cloaked guy passing down the crown to this kid)

then skip to a whiiiile later, gold and cloaked guy are kinda working together and cloaked guy is also teaching gold how to work with the command block

now that golds more confident on working the command block, his plan to destroy minecraft can finally begin right after making a staff because he still liked his old staff during his time as ruler of the mac village

honestly i havent thought much about ns?AVM as much as i have with ns?AVA so maybe i'll post some other lorethings about ns?AVM after i think some more, but apart from that i thiiink thats about it yeah

[mxmeiyun]

(Kristina comes on around the 3:42 mark.)

Do you see the edits? "I do see the edits. I don't see all of them, but I've seen quite a few. Sometimes I watch these things and I'm like, I was there. I did the scene. I did the scene ten times. Why am I crying?"

When asked about the Mother Superion and Jillian ship: "God knows that, well. Both of them need somebody to love and to love them... Like Mommy, I mean mother, I mean."

"The saddest part is we don't know when we'll see each other again." 😭

Is Beatrice a tea or coffee person? "Tea. I feel she'll know how to prepare every single type of tea and she'll she'll be very anal about how to do that. And she'd probably yell at Ava for doing her tea wrong or whatever."

Is Beatrice really royalty? "No, I don't believe so."

On following ice hockey: "Yeah, the only thing you need to know is don't whack people with the stick no matter how much you want to."

On Beatrice's name: "Sally's gonna haunt me forever. I'll hear it in my dreams, softly whispering in my ear. Sally. Sally. I'll wake up in cold sweats, screaming."

About who's the big spoon: "I think they spoon interchangeably. Take that as you will."

Obviously you're aware of how much of an impact the character Beatrice has had on so many people. But how has she personally impacted you, and what have you taken away from her that you would like to bring to your own life? "Decorum." "I think there's a there's a sense of confidence, even if you are not. Confident in all of yourself, you can still be confident in the parts that you are secure in, and you know your skills. If you're not ready to be completely open and live your truth in full honesty, then it doesn't mean that you still can't have integrity and confidence and stand up for yourself. And integrity of character and belief in my skills that Beatrice has cultivated already, and that I definitely, when I started playing her, I was like, I am an imposter. I'm gonna get fired from the show immediately." "But like you get that feeling when you go to work or whatever. You go to school. You're like, I do not know any of the things that I know and then you slowly start to realize that you do know, and then you're like, OK, I can hold on to that and make that my my backbone for now until I'm ready to face all the other things that I know to be true about myself, but I'm not ready to project into the world or or represent in the in openly in the world."

If you could spend a day with any of the characters, who would it be and why? "I think I'd have a pretty good time with Ava."

Do you think you're more like Ava or Beatrice? "It just kind of depends on the situation. I feel like if you just talk to me and we're like really good friends for a long time, I might come off more like Ava. But I feel like if I'm not really that close to you, I might come off more as a Beatrice."

How are you taking care of yourself in light of today's news? "Well, first of all, thank you. I'm doing fine. I am in therapy. Therapy great, guys." "It certainly feels like a massive hit to the community, and to us, as well. It's important to take those feelings that are coming up now and try to cultivate them into how you can- I'm just speaking for myself, I can't speak for anybody else- but for me it's about how can I turn these feelings into something useful for me going forward rather than languishing in it for too long. Obviously, your feelings are valid and should be felt to their fullest extent, but don't let them consume you, because then that's not doing anyone service." "Someone taught me a method in acting school, my improv teacher, and he said, 'Whenever something bad happens in your life, pretend you're going into this helicopter. The further up you go in that helicopter, the smaller the problem is, the more you can see around you and the more you can see how that problem does or does not affect everything else around your helicopter. And put into context of how you can affect change positively once you come back to the ground, once you're in the midst of it rather than staying too close to the to the issue at hand and and not actually realizing all the other things that are going on." "I think that's that thinking has helped me a lot whenever something kind of goes wrong or things are not going the way I want them to. But take time for self-care. That's like the most important. If you feel like things are overwhelming then it's always important to look at the things to reprioritize um and always prioritize yourself. Spend your own health and your own wellbeing." "Because anything in life, even if it seems like a little thing like this show got cancelled and now you're upset, you know it might seem to some people like a little thing, but their opinion is not a priority. Your wellbeing is a priority, so always keep that in mind." "And HYDRATE."

Responding to a comment about Beatrice really resonating with a lot of fans and praise of her performance, time, and energy: "Thank you... Beatrice launched my career so she's one that i'm definitely going to hold to heart for many many years to come."

Reflecting on her increased visibility: "You know, at this point, it's not a burden. At this point, I can do this with you guys and it's completely fine. It's the same thing with anything; when something new starts happening, you learn to deal with it and where your boundaries are. I've been so lucky that you guys are all so respectful, and I really, really appreciate that from all of you. It's definitely not the norm for every fandom, so it's incredibly special what you have made this to be. So I commend all of you and I'm so grateful."

Were you shocked by the broad reach of the show, or was it something you anticipated? "Definitely. I was surprised when the first season came out, it was so globally successful. I mean, that just goes to show that some subject matter is felt all around the world. And a beauty of Warrior Nun is that there are so many characters everywhere around the world you can definitely find one that you can root for."

Responding to one fan whose wife has recently passed, and with whom she watched the show with love: "Oh my God, you're gonna make me cry. First of all, so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine how that must be, and I applaud your courage. Thank you. I'm glad this show can be a good memory for you guys and continuing forward. That there's something you can always remember with a warm heart."

Responding to love from Brazil: "I fear if I ever go to Brazil."

"Fear not the bowl of rice, 'tis but a bowl of rice."

Responding to one of the APOP producers wanting to make sure none of their tweets made her uncomfortable: "I'm, like, fully aware of what I've gotten myself into." Do you see all those, Christina? Like, I know there's a joke that you have a burner account, but. "No, I don't. This is my only account."

"I feel like if the pope joins this conversation, he'll no longer be able to call himself His Holiness." Did you see the Warrior Nun stan that recommended the show to the Pope? "No?! Nice... Yeah, somebody just has to tell him to skip that episode, you know?"

*Records an alarm sound for a fan named Janina with increasing intensity*

Wait, Kristina, can you say gay rights? "Wait, what about it?" Just the phrase. "Gay rights." *awkward cheers* "Really lukewarm cheers from the crowd."

Kristina, to Ange Hall: "Well, actually, and I have a question for you. Tell me again, what was the progression of the dickwaffle conversation?" "I feel like Netflix being harassed by penis waffles- someone needs to draw the art of." "Make it rain dickwaffles. No, I mean, obviously, do it respectfully. But like, respectfully make it rain dickwaffles. For legal reasons this is completely a joke. But also, you can't really get mad at dickwaffles. Like, come on."

[fadingdaggerr]

Hey can I request a melissa schemmenti x femreader based on season two episode 1.where maybe the reader is rlly stressed out and maybe she can’t park bc Ava is using her parking spot to celebrate the eagles game and maybe mr Johnson comes into to tell the reader her is getting toed away so her,Melissa and the other teachers run outside and maybe the reader is getting angry and shouting at the man,melissa is begging her to calm down.and then she does what Janine did in the actual episode and she gets in the car and try’s to drive off and everyone is telling her to stop and Melissa try’s to get her out the car and out of rage she kicks the car and hurts her foot and then maybe the reader storms back into the school and melissa goes to find her when the school day is over and the reader has a panic attack and Melissa comforts her. Tysm ❤️

delphinium blooms

pairing: melissa schemmenti x gn!reader

summary: request above! i made little changes, mostly just so i wasn’t just rewriting janine’s scene but with r and mel but i hope you still like it :)

warnings: hurt/comfort, r has a morning of unfortunate events, r is kinda mean (to a man so it’s fine), stress/anxiety crying

note: i rewrote so much of this because i kept thinking of things and creating nonsense lmao but i had a lot of fun writing

development week has always been the calm before the storm. you had everything planned already: each month’s separate decor to keep a lively room, the giant drawing paper for the wall so students could doodle during free time (and you could proudly display their art), and even the seating chart was done. everything was perfect and in order, everything just needed to be set up.

but sometimes the storm comes before the calm, or the calm packs its things and jumps out of the moving car.

the coffee maker in your apartment died on you, only about half a cup of watery coffee in the bottom of the pot. you didn’t have the money, nor the time, to stop that the cafe one block over. rent’s more important, we can get coffee at work, you tell yourself. you soon found that it was nearly unbearable to eat breakfast without your coffee and splash of oat milk creamer. coffee and maybe breakfast at work, i guess.

at nine in the morning, there is a full-on barbecue in the parking lot of abbott elementary. janine’s parking spot was a grill station. your spot, which was two down from janine’s, was currently being used as a blow-up pool splash zone. you roll down your window when you see ava close by.

“ava! what the hell is this?” you yelled out your window.

“it’s a development day party!” the principal responded with a big, happy grin.

you sighed, “your party’s in my parking spot.”

“pay valet or park somewhere else, i have a party to host,” she waves you off as she turns to talk to whoever approached her. after a, give-or-take, nine hundred point turn, you parked your car on the street. you prayed to the meter-maid goddesses that you’d have time to move it before someone came and ticketed you.

you pulled box after box out of the backseat, stacking them in your arms, creating the leaning tower of heavy-as-shit. as you slowly walk towards the fourth grade classrooms, you top few boxes get lifted away, easing the load significantly. you look to see who it was, expecting gregory, but instead you’re met with jade green eyes and fiery hair.

“trynna show off carrying all these?” she says with a laugh.

you laugh with her, “oh, of course. how else am i going to impress the ladies?” melissa snorts a laugh at this, opening the door to your classroom and letting you in ahead of her.

“and who are these ladies?” she jests.

you look at her, taking in the smirk on her face before answering, “we both know it’s just the one.”

she helps you spread out the boxes and get everything open before asking, “ready to head to the opening meeting?”

“you mean the ava show?”

she laughs, “yeah, come on.”

—

you half-listen to ava’s little speech and flirts to gregory, your eyes trained on melissa’s rings instead of ava’s vacation photos. you only perked your head up when janine mentioned donuts at her little mixer.

“and why would i wanna go to that?” melissa answered janine, barbara nodding in agreement beside her.

“you said donuts?” you ask janine, she nods eagerly, “then count me in teagues, but if there’s no strawberry frosted i’m leaving.”

there was no strawberry frosted. you dropped into a seat next to melissa, who was happily eating a chocolate frosted donut. she sees your pout and offers you a bite, which you accept with a smile. she wiped a blue sprinkle that managed to land on your cheek, the action is enough to make you smile a bit, warmth spreading through your cheeks.

just when you think the worst part of the morning is over, the tried and true mr. johnson walks into the library.

“anyone drive a beat up sedan?” all the hands in the room rise up. “who drives a silver one?” less hands, but still a good amount. “one with a sticker that says ‘if you see this, thank a teacher’ on the bumper?”

janine pipes up, “oh that’s mine!”

“you’re getting boot on your car, young lady,” he answers, and janine immediately is running out with jacob, gregory, and barbara behind her.

“oh and anyone got a green sedan? little cat bobble head on the dash?” mr. johnson speaks up.

melissa turns to look at you before you say, “don’t tell me it’s being booted.”

“course not,” you sigh in minor relief, “you’re about to get towed.”

you’re immediately running out to your car, melissa hot on your trail. you get outside to see a boot placed on janine’s car and the tow guy is rigging your car to the truck.

“aye, back off the car! what are you doing?” you yell, getting close to the tow operator, eric.

“no parking zone, can you read? it’s for the buses. we’re pulling ya,” he says as he continues his work. you groan in anger, walking closer to the car where he had already hooked it up.

“what fucking buses? school hasn’t started yet,” you counter.

“it’s still a bus zone, and you’re still getting towed,” eric says.

before you start throwing hands with the guy, melissa steps in, “how much to not tow the car?”

he laughs, “you can get it back at the lot, should be two hundred. might be three for wasting my time. you’re not getting it back now, it’s parked illegally.”

you see red when he mentions raising the cost, you couldn’t even afford the original one, “wasting your time? your time?! i’m supposed to be in that building making lesson plans for children who will be here next week, and i’m wasting your time?”

“yeah, you are. now move your ass or i’ll move you,” the man answers angrily.

you bravely taunt him, “try then.”

“sweetheart…” melissa tries to reach for your arm, but you step just out of reach.

barbara and gregory say your name at the same time, both of their tones advising caution. melissa is stuck between wanting to help and letting you just handle it. she wearily watches as you squat down and start undoing clasps and hooks, taking the chains off the car. you’re movements are fast, getting two wheels free from the rigs.

“hey! you can’t be touching that!” eric yells once he hears the disconnect. he stomps over to you and grabs your arm, harshly yanking you away from the car with a tight grip. “stupid little shit,” he mutters.

“touch me again and i’ll break your fingers,” you threaten, and by the look on your face, melissa knows you’re serious. now is when she has to step in, she knows that much.

“twenty bucks says our scrappy-doo over here wins!” ava yells over, holding her phone up, ready to record if you followed through.

“not helping ava!” barbara and melissa shout at the same time.

melissa moves to gently wrap her arms around you from behind, pulling you away from your car and away from the tow guy. when you try to pull away, she tightens her hold, muttering to you to calm down and slow your breathing. you’re irritated, and melissa can feel you shaking against her. she knows you’re using your anger to coverup how much you want to cry.

once the car is all set, the man speaks to melissa only, “here’s the address of where to pick it up. and thanks for keeping your dog,” he pointedly looks at you, “on its leash.”

once he drives off with your car, melissa releases you slowly. your chest rises and drops with every unsteady breath, and you groan loudly. immediately, and without much thought, you repeatedly kick the stone wall around the entrance, even when pain strikes after the first one.

“sweetheart. baby, stop…” melissa grabs you again, “you’re going to hurt yourself.” barbara ushers away everyone else, giving the the redhead space to calm you.

it took a few moments for your breathing to slow, but when it stuttered, melissa turned you in her arms and hugged you tightly. your face instinctively tucked itself away in the junction of her neck and shoulder, your arms firm around her waist. you could feel her arm around your shoulders, the other rubbing soothing circles on your back and she swayed from side to side, in hopes the motion would help you focus your breathing.

“baby?” melissa asks with a hushed tone.

you pull away from her to sniffle but tuck back into her skin before answering, “i can’t afford a cup of coffee. i can’t afford a new coffee maker. i haven’t eaten since we had dinner last night. and this half-wit just stole my car and put it up for ransom, because there was a pool in my parking spot.”

the accumulation of everything from today being said aloud made fresh tears fall from your eyes. melissa held you tighter, whispering soothing words to you even if they fell on deaf ears. after you’ve calmed down again, she coaxes you back so you can see your face. her hands hold your face delicately, thumbs stroking away left behind tears.

“i will hand deliver you coffee every morning until you find a new coffee maker,” she says making you huff through your nose, “and i’ll buy you lunch, maybe make you dinner too, if you want,” she sees you perk up at the offer, “and i’ll stab a hole in the pool.” you laugh for real this time, making melissa smile. these days, she found that making you laugh was her favorite thing to do.

“what abo-” you start, but melissa cuts you off.

“oh, you’re not paying a dime,” you go to tell her not to pay it, but she’s ahead of you. “and neither am i, trust me. i could pull a uncle carlo and get them to give me three hundred bucks, for my time.”

you shake your head, “you bringing the bat or just that cute face?”

melissa cheeks grew rosy at your words, “you were crying five minutes ago and now you’re flirting?” you nod, biting your lip, but still waiting for an answer. she gives in, “the bat will be stay in the car unless they really deserve it. scout’s honor.”

you laugh and press a kiss to her cheek, mumbling against her skin, “thank you.”

she turns her face, pressing her forehead against yours with her eyes closed. she leans in and presses a sound, loving kiss to your lips, then your cheek, then the other, a final one placed on your forehead. she holds your face once more, “you needed me, and i was there. you don’t have to thank me, i love you. it’s what i’m supposed to do.”

you kiss her again, very quickly, then say, “i love you, too.”

—

after she bought you lunch, she didn’t drive you straight back to abbott. no, melissa was parked in front of market street towing company. she wordlessly got out of the car, but motioned for you to stay when you went to undo your seatbelt. you just watched her walk away nervously until she disappeared inside.

two songs and one radio ad later, you see your car pulling out of the fenced lot, melissa behind the wheel. you jumped out of the car as she got out of yours, grabbing her tightly.

“oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you,” you say excitedly, only hearing her laugh a bit.

“no one was harmed, except maybe a couple egos,” she says before pulling back to drop your keys in your hands. “we still on for dinner?”

you grab her chin between your forefinger and thumb, bringing her lips to yours in a slow kiss. when you pull away, you revel in her stunned look, and it’s just too tempting to kiss her again, but she beats you to do. she breaks the kiss for air, and you speak quietly in the small space between you, “dessert, too.”

i hope u like this anon and i hope i did ur vision justice <3 feedback appreciated as always

[cookiesupplier]

Every Rose Has Its Thorns - Part Twenty-Seven

pairing: Ricky Olson x ofc x Chris 'Motionless' Cerulli

warnings/tropes: slow burn, soulmates, strangers to enemies to lovers, betrayal, angst, fluff, smut, language, panic attack, stalking, online bullying, serious mental health issues.

summary: In a world where soulmates inexplicably receive a tattoo that will match that of their soulmate the moment they turn eighteen years old, being famous and covered in very visible tattoos can make finding your true soulmate a questionable fate. For everyone involved.

❗❗ author’s note: This chapter includes serious mental health situations in the past of a character, involving in this case voluntary treatment in a mental facility. Treatment for Depression, Anxiety, and Grief Counselling. Please beware of these potential triggers. I am in no way a medical professional writing this.❗❗

an2: finished editing last night, so you are getting this baby EARLY, going to try and be back to my usual schedule! Now.. concerning this part.. *hides*

tags: @tearfallpixie @cncohshit @jordynyingling0219 @faceless-mirror @nyxthedestroyerofworlds @wild-child-7747 @witchyweeb34 @black-damask1999 @jilliemiw86 @ilovesamkiszka @lyschko666 @lacktoesandtoddlerants @bngurngheart @collapsedglasshouses @laurpartyprogram @sunsshinesunny @malerieee

Tag List is Open, please let me know if you would like to be added to it or in general.

Talia took in a surprised breath when Chris said he’d been committed. She would never in her life say that she thought he was the type, because who in their mind was the type, was she the type? No. No one was a person she could look at and think, oh, that would be someone she for sure thought should end up in an institution at some point in their life. She would absolutely hate herself if she did. Even the people who talked to themselves didn’t deserve to be thought of that way, they were people who were in desperate need of help, not people who needed to be judged like that, it was cruel. Still, at that moment, knowing what she did already, she was lost.

She glanced from Chris to Ricky, unsure of what to think, and saw the concerned expression passed between them, Rick reached for Chris’ hand, and she swallowed slightly, her soulmate tattoo tingling, but it wasn’t upsetting, it was… she wasn’t sure how she’d describe the feeling. When did she start categorising them? Pleased.. Whatever was driving these feelings, it was pleased.. Seeing him comfort his friend, seeing this side of him, was that it, was it pleased, this, the bond between them. She watched, staying quiet as they spoke softly, whispering, not wanting to interfere, but hearing whispered words, knowing they weren’t for her though.

“Are you sure..”

“She’s bound to find out-”

“But-”

“Rick, I know you’re worried, I get it, but I trust her.”

As Chris’ whispered explanation of why he should tell her to Ricky continued, Talia chose to purposely pushed them from her mind. She didn’t want to be unworthy of that trust, unworthy of her friendship with Chris, because with how close they had gotten, he meant the world to her. He had become more important to her than he could possibly know, and it, and the thought that he was willing to trust her with something so personal like this.. Looking down at her hands, trying not to think about the fact that she’d just trusted them with something that she’d not spoken of out-loud about since she’d left the facility, to anyone. Not even Ava.

She should tell her the truth, she should tell all her friends and hope that they won't hate her for hiding it from them for so long. Taking in a deep breath, holding it for a moment to ground herself, before letting it out slowly, just grounding herself for a moment while the boys sorted themselves out. Chris’ voice, clear and no longer whispering, brought her back.

“You okay, JellyBean?”

Chris looked across the table, whispering with Risky, semi-arguing with him about the validity of telling her the whole story about everything that had happened. Rick didn’t understand why he had to tell her, when part of the reason his life was as peaceful as it was from stalkers and shit these days, was that no one outside the immediate band and crew that we trusted implicitly, knew. The thing was, he wasn’t sure he could explain it to Ricky, but even though he’d only known her for a short time, he did trust her, especially after hearing what they’d just heard.

This was a woman who has had her soul bond ripped open by not only her own flesh and blood family, whom she could no longer trust, but strangers that her family put their trust in more than her, and she still came out fighting to keep going. He’d seen her over this past week, sitting in that café, laughing, and smiling, and was the most wonderfully sweet person, even after what she’d been through. Yes, he trusted her, because, above all she was right here, sitting with her soulmate, she didn’t give in, she didn’t give up. Well, some might say she did, but she didn’t do that because of the doctors, she did that because of a fucked up stalker that tipped the scales just a little bit too far, and frankly, Chris got it now. The day Talia had seen Ricky with Grace, had seen them together, and seen what she thought him to be, happy, he more than understood why she took that giant step back and didn’t fight against it. When someone you were destined to love was happy, all you wanted, was that happiness for them.

When Talia’s eyes opened and met his and a soft smile curving across that beautiful face, Chris returned it,

“There she is, are you okay? We don’t have to talk about this if it’s going to be too much?”

And yet it was Chris’ hand that Ricky was squeezing slightly, his fingers tight, he knew how he got about the whole thing, if he only knew lately.. If he only knew.

“I’m okay, Chris, are you?”

He nodded slightly in response to her worry, just keeping his gentle smile.

“Yes, but I should really start from the beginning, it’s a bit of a story, some of which you probably know, but not everything. Are you okay with that?”

Hearing everything, Chris didn’t want to put this all on her, it had been an intense day, and he didn’t want her to feel like she had to take the weight of his story on top of it at the same time. However, before he had much time to worry about whether she was going to have a hard time with the situation, she was shifting her chair along the table so she could reach for his other hand, a comfort from both of them, his fingers curving around her delicate ones.

“As long as you’re comfortable, Chris, I’m not going anywhere.”

His smile growing at the thought, squeezing both of their hands gently,

“Well, you probably know I was in a long-term relationship, we were engaged, wedding planning, had a date set.. Venue booked.. Her dress was picked out and being altered, it was..”

He sighed remembering, looking down at the table, just finding a spot on the wood, barely paying attention to the fact that neither of them had let go of his hands, but at the same time, his fingers were clinging to theirs a bit tightly. Chris needed the touch not to get lost in the memories, for in more ways than one, which he knew she’d understand. 

“It’s common knowledge in the fan base that she wasn’t my soulmate, but neither of us cared, we loved each other, and wanted to be together.. At least that's what I thought, how we felt at the time.”

Chris shook his head slightly, this wasn’t even the hardest part to talk about, but it all lead to why he’d been committed, because if he just said the little bit at the end, it didn’t tell close to the full picture.

“A few weeks before we were meant to be married, a woman claiming to be my soulmate turned up, her tattoo was perfect, a fake, but perfect, so she thought. I knew she wasn’t my soulmate, I proved it easily, I’d laid out false trails for my soulmate tattoo years ago. Where it was, what it was, how big it was, she was not my soulmate.”

He felt Ricky’s hand squeeze his firmly, he knew, Ricky had been through all of this with him, he’d had to deal with the whole debacle as well, and now again with Grace on a whole different level. Chris felt for Rick, because hiding his tattoo was so much worse for him than Chris, at least his could go under his shirt most days, there was a reason that there wasn’t very many shirtless photographs out there of him in the world. Those that there are, he’d covered in paint and makeup usually, so it worked for him.

“My fiancé, however, didn’t take it well, she tried to continue like it didn’t matter, but during the lead up to the wedding my fiancé became, distant. Worried about what she was thinking I tried to reassure her, I tried to help everything go as smoothly as humanly possible, but, nothing helped, nothing worked.. I loved her, and she.. A few days before the wedding she broke it off. She couldn’t handle the possibility my soulmate could turn up, and so publicly try to claim me.”

“The way she fucking said that, as if you were something for your soulmate to own.. Cunt.”

“Ricky!” Chris looked over at him, scolding him, despite the fact this was no the first time he’d heard him speak of her in such a hostile way.

“What? She was! I’m sorry Chris, but what she did was fucking shit, I get it, she was having second thoughts, but she blamed you, and how you were famous, how and your soulmate could turn up at any time. Well funnily enough, her soulmate could have turned up at any fucking time too, but she didn’t think about that, now, did she?”

Chris took in a breath, yea, that was something he’d thought about as well, and Ricky was spot on, but he didn’t want to argue about it, not in front of- oh- he looked over towards Talia as he felt her squeeze his hand again.. Seeing her nod with a small smile, she got it.

“It’s okay, Chris, he’s right.. You both had other soulmates, her putting it on yours turning up, wasn’t fair. Especially if she loved you.”

“Exactly.”

His breath was shaky as Rick agreed with Talia,

“the Story isn’t over, and Ricky knows it, so…”

A half-hearted glare at Ricky which pointedly said a silent shut up, which earned a bit of a giggle from Talia, Chris smiled as he continued. 

“After the wedding was cancelled, I hit a patch of depression, which wasn’t helped when the stalker saw an opening, and started attacking my life since her main obstacle was suddenly gone. She came at me in so many different ways, you don’t want to know, it will keep you up at night, it was, frankly, terrifying thinking about all the different things that did and could have happened, I ended up in the hospital A&E more than once because of her, and it wasn’t pretty.”

Taking in a deep breath, he didn’t want to go into detail, because it was hard enough to talk about as he was, and Ricky being here with him, and knowing he wasn’t going to be home on his own after all of this, was a fucking comfort if he was being honest.

“Eventually they caught her, we were able to keep most of it out of the press, because the stress, the pain,  had me cracking.. But, but um.. About a little over two months after I was supposed to get married.. My soulmate tattoo..”

Chris’ voice cracked, and he felt both hands almost simultaneously grip his so tightly, even if only one of them knew for certain wasn’t coming, the other could fucking guess, there was one thing everyone in the world knew happened to the tattoos without a doubt.

“It turned white.”

The moment it did, he knew his soulmate had died.

“I never even got to meet them. Never knew who they were.. And ah,” Chris heaved a deep sigh, pausing before he continued. “Because of government regulations, everyone that loses a soulmate, whether met or not, bonded or not, I had to go through the mandatory grief counselling within six months. So, I knew that with everything that was happening, there was no way that I was going to be able to handle, ah, I couldn’t handle doing the basic therapy, so, I willingly admitted myself to a private confidential inpatient care, with a NDA twist. Of course, most facilities have those included when it comes to medical patients, but I went into one specifically for those trying to stay out of the press. Not just for grief counselling, either, but also for depression and generalised anxiety.”

Chris glanced at Rick, before looking towards Talia,

“Sort of felt like therapy for the soul for me sometimes.. And Talia, I hate that what you went through was so horrible.. Because it should have never been like that.. JellyBean.. They’re supposed to help you, listen to you.. Not assume, and from the sounds of it, that's all that they did to you.”

They hadn’t helped her, they’d listened to her parents and given in to the money that talked. Taking in a deep breath as he squeezed her hand back slightly, hating that she went through something so horrific when his time in the facility had been so therapeutic in the long run. Now, now, back to the whole point of why he was telling the story in the first place, back to the point of why everything was happening. Their soulmate marks.

“Ever since I finished my treatment, I’ve been kind of fascinated by all the theories and different studies involved with the soulmate phenomenon. It is a phenomenon, because no one can fully prove or explain how or why it even exists. Not one scientist in the world, that I have found in any publication, can scientifically prove a damn thing. For all the studies, and papers, it is all theoretical.. Even what's happening to you was nothing but a proposed theory that I’d read about, until now.”

Dividers by @saradika-graphics (roses) and @cafekitsune (trigger)

[busyheaded]

don't say yes (run away now) [1/4]

summary: Ava is so close that Beatrice could reach out and brush her thumb along her bottom lip, could tuck the fallen lock of hair behind her ear, could count the number of times she blinks and hold her breath when she doesn’t. Not that she would. Obviously. Because she’s not insane.

“I’ll tell you everything,” Ava repeats. “But I just have to make sure. You’re in, right? You’re still in?”

God, if you’re up there, Beatrice prays, I’m sorry I said I don’t believe in you anymore, but please don’t let me regret this.

or, wedding crasher for hire au

excerpt:

“So, do I get to know what the event is?” Beatrice says, raising her eyebrows. “And who is the host?”

“Yes, that’s… that’s certainly important,” Ava says.

More silence.

“You’re not talking,” Beatrice observes.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice,” Ava says dryly. 

“Are you nervous?” Beatrice asks. It seems like a stupid question, but there’s really no other explanation, and the whole situation can only be a mystery for so long. Might as well get it over with, right?

“You seem like a good person,” Ava sighs. She throws out a sloppy grin. “True or false.”

“True,” Beatrice says. “As far as I’ve been told, anyway.”

“I’m worried that this is, like, moderately immoral,” Ava admits.

“Immoral,” Beatrice repeats.

“Yes,” Ava confirms.

“But only moderately?”

“Could be worse.”

Another pause.

“You know I’m not a hitman, right?” Beatrice says, raising her eyebrows. “I don’t kill people. Or kidnap them or anything.”

“Oh, God,” Ava says, shaking her head vigorously. “No, of course not. It’s not illegal, alright? It’s just, on a scale of, like, from the Dalai Lama to Jeff Bezos, this is maybe sort of right in the middle.”

As if that’s not the weirdest scale of measurement. Beatrice frowns, trying to conceptualize it. Ava is implying that one end of the spectrum is a saint, the other end is a morally corrupt but technically not actually criminal billionaire. And this job is… in the middle of that?

Beatrice shakes her head. “Ava. I think you just have to tell me.”

READ NOW ON AO3

[loveysloveclub]

THE MAN! UMICH AU chapter iii. training

in which, molly formally meets her new teammates.

the next few weeks before hockey training began were filled with classes, late night pit stops at a local diner and ava choi.

the asian girl was quick to find a place in molly's heart. she was more academically driven then molly, and had informed her that the less frat parties and the more studying, the better. michigan wasn't her top school of choice, and in order to transfer at the end of her freshmen year, she had to step up her game and get the grades necessary.

but alas, the settling down period of molly's college experience had come to an end, hence why she was up much earlier than she was used to, running around her dorm to make sure she had everything for her first training.

nervous would be an understatement to how she was feeling, molly maxwell was freaking the fuck out. this was important to her, but so many things could go wrong. she already knew that the level she was now playing at would be harder than her last, especially since hockey was an american sport and not an australian one. and to add to that, apart from the small conversation between her fellow freshmen teammates she ahd eavesdropped on during her first day, she had no idea how the rest of the guys on the team would react when they were informed that the new teammate was a female. she knew how some of these guys work, having played with and against them before. if they didn't think she was supposed to be there, they would have no issue telling her so.

"i've watched you check that bag four times, you've got everything and you've got this. now scram!" ava was sat at her desk, revising for a quiz she had in her law class. she was up early nearly every morning, and the dedication to her education genuinely surprised molly. she could barely find the motivation to attend her classes, and they weren't nearly as hard as ava's.

molly nodded her head before heading for the door, hands shaking with nerves. all the boys, even the freshmen, had already met each other due to some pre season bonding over the break. and a quick stalk of one of the seniors instagrams told molly that they were a close knit group already, which only increased her nerves.

molly had made sure to visit the rink once or twice over the pass few weeks, just so she knew the layout and wouldn't get lost. both times, she was told by cleaning staff that it wasn't opened and she had to leave the premise.

finding the extra changing room, which is where she was told through email by her new coach is where she would get changed as she obviously couldn't change with a bunch of boys in the room, was easy enough. however, walking towards the ice proved to be difficult. not because she got lost, but because she quite literally couldn't get her feet to move.

by the time she actually made it to the rink, all the boys were huddled around coach, receiving a talking to.

"speaking of the new teammate, here she is boys. everyone, i'd like you to meet molly maxwell, she comes from australia. make her feel welcome, but not too welcome, please." a few of the other staff on the ice giggled at his innuendo, but molly was more focused on the confused glances from the rest of the team. only one was glaring at her and only one was smiling, offering her a small wave, in which she returned quickly. she vaguely recognised him as one of the boys who were throwing a football and talking about her a few weeks back.

"alright, boys and girl! let's start the season!" quickly abandoning the shock of having a girl playing with them, the team all cheered before venturing further out onto the ice.

practice passed in a blur. none of the boys had made an effort to talk to molly, which she was fine with. she was still wary on all of them and would rather observe from the sidelines for the next few weeks to pick the ones who wouldn't treat her differently because she was a girl and befriend them.

that didn't stop her from feeling left out every time one of them jumped on the other or laughed loudly at something another one had said. but her exclusion was partly her fault as well.

after training, all boys headed back to their change room, while molly opted to sitting on the bench to untie her laces. it wasn't as bad as she had thought it was going to be this morning, and the team seemed good enough. she was only interrupted from her thoughts when the same boy from earlier sat down beside her.

"dylan duke, but you can call me duker." he said immediately after taking his seat, also untying his laces. "molly maxwell, but you can call me-"

"maxxy, your nickname is now maxxy."

molly had never gotten a nickname from her teammates on her old team, despite hockey being notorious for it. the idea made her smile.

"you a freshmen, too?" molly nodded her head at the question, to which dylan responded with a small nod.

"well, it was nice meeting you maxxy. but i have to go study for a test that i'm gonna fail." and with that the boy was standing up and running off. his run was funny looking, which earned him a laugh from the blonde girl.

"what's so funny?"

"your run is mad goofy." molly retorted. "your face is mad goofy." dylan shot back, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. molly's jaw dropped, and dylan wondered for a moment if he had already crossed a line with the new girl. his questions were answered when she stood up, charging for him.

the boy let out a shriek before taking off in the other direction. both of their socked feet became wet from the ice as they slid around, slipping and falling as they chased each other.

"duke! maxwell!"

both college students head snapped towards the exit of the ice, where their coach stood with his hands on his hips. "get the hell out of here!"

next chapter previous chapter

[shoshiwrites]

Hi! I’m the anon that requested the handholding prompt, and I just wanted to say thank you. It was everything I could have hoped for and more!! It made me smile!!

If you are still taking requests, I would request Jo/Egan with the prompt touching foreheads or bandaging/stitching an injury. As you can see, I couldn’t decide between one prompt, once again. I look forward to whatever you write and of course, never feel pressured to write anything. I hope you are doing well 🫶🏼

Hello anon! Thank you so much for your lovely message. I'm so glad you liked that prompt, and I appreciate your understanding very much. I've kept "bandaging/stitching an injury" on my list, and filled this one for "touching foreheads." This is my first try at Bucky POV, and we kind of ended up on the depression-nap side of things (see my terrible header below). Thank you to @mercurygray for helping me work the end. Bucky Egan x War correspondent OC.

Six months. 

And he’s felt every minute of every one, or at least it seems that way on days like this. Gray as all hell, like a storm gathering over the lake. Every minute if you didn’t count the gaps, the headaches, the days he sleeps away, the things he couldn’t remember those first few weeks. His jaw still wakes him in the night, dull if he’s lucky, a screaming pain if he’s not. He can never forget the things he’d actually want to forget, can he? Now that would be too easy.

Never coughed up an explanation for Buck either, even when Buck looked at him sideways about something or the other. Even if he wanted to, his throat goes dry at the thought, like the dust and dirt along the floorboards.

Holding onto it gives him something to hold onto, at least. The anger. 

Six months of this damn nightmare, the bloodshot bone-chilled day and night. Different nightmare than the sky. He has those too. This is the kind of dream where you’re stuck in it, you can’t move, there’s footsteps outside the door. He’d had those as a kid. Terrified him. 

It’s sure not the the kind they nail up pictures for, paper edges catching on the unfinished timber, hoping to summon some kind of vision. He’s so tired he’s practically drooling into the pillow, letting his eyes wander far enough along the wall that it hurts, over Rita and Ginger and Ava’s shining faces. 

There are pictures kept in books too, pouches and the occasional wallet, those all but sewn into jacket pockets. Girls back home.

Not even a letter. Not one goddamn letter, he thinks, the sigh of it harder than seems fair to his mother or his sisters, trying to get around the mail delays and sending cards for every holiday they could think of. What the hell even was Arbor Day, anyway?

(“Trees,” Brady had said, not looking up from the keys of his saxophone.

“...right.”)

He thinks about Texas, and Florida, and Idaho, and Nebraska. Girls and dresses and perfume, manicured hands, no dirt around them. Marge’s friend, he can’t remember her name, pretty, dark hair, disinterested in a kiss but amenable to dancing. They’d all wanted to forget, right? Not when you’re flying out the next day. 

He thinks of Lil, the cupid’s bow of her lip and the goosebumps under her sweater. She’d wanted to forget too. A brother somewhere in…he can’t remember now. Burma? Her grandfather hadn’t had too many nice words for him, John. Not that he could blame the man.

He thinks of Jo. Crouched over that little green typewriter the way Brady fiddles with his sax, the sound of the bell, the sound of the keys. Like Buck over the radio. The way she looked up at him, like she’d just realized something important. The way she smelled when she let him get close enough, like flowers after a spring rain. 

The air’s sour in here, and cold. Showering helps, besides freezing your damn balls off. 

He lets himself think it, about his head in her lap in the grass, or on a sofa, or anywhere, really, where she’s leaning down and she’s touching him, the little calluses on her hands, and her forehead close to his.

It hurts too much, and maybe he can admit it, here in this damn coffin of a bunk, mattress about as comfortable as one, that maybe she’d wanted to forget too.

You don’t kiss like that, he thinks, with acid in his throat, when you care what comes next.

She writes like she cares, though. She writes like she believes in all of them, like it’s real and not just what her paper wants or somebody wants to hear. 

Maybe he can admit that now, if he doesn’t think about the note she’d left.

He’d rather think about anything else, hell, he’d rather walk outside with no shoes on, listen to the Yankees lose by a single run.

He’d rather wish this damn pillow was a different kind, her thigh or her body or her forehead, even, pressed against his. Not that he’d admit it out loud. 

And her mouth right there, he thinks, like he can just make that half-second trip to kiss her, and kiss her again.