#anyways i made her few months ago for that high school pack which i hated <3

[onewingedangels]

THE SIMS 4 (2014) dev. Maxis

[undressrehearsal]

right back where we started

summary: ellie is on tour as the opener for a popular band. she begrudgingly passes through the hometown that she had sworn she would never see again and runs into the one good thing she left behind.

tags: some sad stuff, ellie has daddy issues, mentions of alcohol, modern au, not rockstar ellie but that same kinda genre???, no smut in this one sorry this is all setting the scene, this is another shorter one 3.6k words

a/n: listen. I'm gonna level with yall. life's been fucking insane. it's been what 3 months since I posted something?? and it's because 1. my fiancée and I are buying a house 2. and planning a wedding 3. I work 45 hour weeks (at a job I hate so much omg) 4. I'm writing a book and 5. I'm preparing for a p major surgery (I go on tuesday)

so yeah, life's been insane. but I missed writing fics. I'm writing my book so I never stopped writing but writing a lil fun fic just hits different yk?

anyway enjoy and look forward to a few (I'm thinking 3?) parts of this

love yall. reply and lmk if you wanna be added to my tag list. also I'm posting this on my phone so the formatting might be fucked lmk

part 1

Ellie couldn’t remember the last time she had been in this city.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She could remember exactly the last time she had been in this city. She had watched it disappear in her mirror when she had driven her bike west three years ago in search of the horizon. She had hoped she would find something more once she got there - more than the dingy dorm room she had loosely called home and the classes that had made her eyes glaze over; something more than playing at the bar’s open mic nights, her guitar hard to hear over the noisy din of drunk students and drunker professors; something more than a future that had been planned for her by the time she was in high school.

Her dad had kicked her out after she dropped out, of course, but that was fine. She had planned to leave that night anyway; she had kept a packed bag hidden underneath her bed for months. She hadn’t seen him in three years, either, and she planned to keep it that way.

But when she woke up and saw the city outside the bus window, silhouetted against the rising sun, something in her chest rose to her throat and refused to be swallowed back down.

She hadn’t missed it - but as she looked down at her shaking hands, Ellie figured her body must not have gotten that memo.

The band she was traveling with were still sleeping; she could hear the singer snoring in her bunk, could see the bassist's leg sticking out into the aisle. She had never been a morning bird - back at her shitbox apartment, you'd rarely catch her up before noon - but something about being stuck on a bus for days made her restless. It was her first time touring - after three years of playing at open mics and taking small jobs singing at the senior center - and she wasn't used to feeling her own bed constantly shifting beneath her.

Which is how she always ended up pacing the length of the bus, tapping her fingers against her thighs as the confined world around her slept, waiting desperately for the driver to pull off to whatever venue they had booked. She wasn't sure what the band did before their shows in the evenings, but she didn't stick around long enough to ask. Maybe it was rude, but she couldn't force herself to hang out with the band who only chose her because their usual opener had “flaked” on them - which was how they described it when the opener couldn't travel with them for several months after their mother had just died.

So, yeah, Ellie couldn’t find it in herself to feel bad about it when she rushed off the bus as soon as it parked, not even sticking around to let the band know where she was going. They wouldn't care either way. Hell, they were probably so hungover they wouldn't wake up until their show started in several hours.

The driver - his name was Zachary (never Zach) and he was the only one who paid her any mind - helped Ellie hoist her bike down from the rack on the back of the bus. The band had teased her about bringing it, bitching about how it showed she didn't want to hang out with them. She had been tempted to tell them they were right, but she couldn't really risk losing the first real gig she’d gotten. She lifted the seat and dug her helmet out, waving to Zachary as he disappeared back into the bus to get his own well-deserved rest.

The purr of the bike was a familiar comfort beneath her. Lowering the visor of her helmet to block out the sun, she squinted at the streets sprawled before her. She realized, with dizzying familiarity, that she was in the next neighborhood over from her old apartment. Hell, she had watched a few shows at the venue she was playing at - something in her stomach clenched.

Fuck, she needed coffee.

With the wind cold against her bare arms, Ellie let the world fly by, the city waking up around her. Her phone remained snuggly in her bag; she didn't need directions here, the familiar streets leading her down well-worn paths, winding all the way back to a life that was no longer hers.

It was muscle memory that led her back to the coffee shop she had frequented as a student. She looked up at it, a glow around its worn brick from the rising sun, and something tightened in her chest. They had replaced the patio chairs - the old ones had been practically falling apart three years ago - but otherwise it hadn't changed.

Ellie cursed under her breath, swallowing around the foreign lump in her throat, and climbed off her bike. When she took the steps two at a time, it felt like somebody else had taken the wheel. It was a familiar stranger that opened the door.

The smell hit her first. They say that scent has the strongest tie to memory, and the smell of burnt coffee beans hit her like a punch. There had always been a sweetness underneath it, something she had never been able to place but thought might be honey? When she stepped up to the counter, she could even smell the milk they were steaming.

The barista - a young girl with faded pink hair tied up into space buns - looked up from her phone and said, in a voice teetering on the edge between cheerful and bored, “How’s it going?”

Ellie took her in briefly, noting the brown corduroy overalls and the star-shaped nose ring, and was comforted knowing that this place was just as queer as she had left it. She would bet money on the fact that if she peeked over the counter, this girl would be wearing beat up Docs. She was young enough to be a student - probably an English major, if she had to guess.

She always ordered the same thing - iced mocha with oat milk. She had never understood why her dad drank his coffee black.

The barista - her tag said Dianna She/Her/Hers - eyed her as she rang Ellie up, brows quirked. When she smiled, dimples caved her cheeks. “I haven’t seen you around before. Are you a student?”

Ellie fought the urge to groan - this girl was just trying to be friendly (and was probably trying to decide if Ellie’s flannel meant she was gay or was just a bad fashion choice), but the last thing she wanted to do after failing to sleep on a bus and waking up at the ass-crack of dawn was to make small talk.

Still, she smiled and said, “I used to be.”

She paid and stuffed the remainder of her cash into the tip jar. When Dianna thanked her, her cheeks were as pink as her hair. Ellie could feel her eyes lingering on her as she walked away, nodding awkwardly in thanks.

This place really hadn’t changed in three years. The coffee shop had a reputation of students writing all along the walls - over a decade ago, they had simply stopped trying to paint over it, so the walls were littered in signatures and drawings and claims of call this number for a good time. Scattered poetry was written along the edges of the windows, an incredibly detailed Sharpie drawing of a cat peeking over the top of the doorway. When she searched for it, she found that her own scrawled handwriting was still there, small letters where nobody would think to look, right underneath the thermostat: Find me where the sun sets east. Don’t forget me.

She swallowed the lump that threatened to choke her and stepped away. Her eyes stung from sleep deprivation and nothing more.

Ellie scanned the room and found that, to her annoyance, nearly every table was taken. Students huddled around notebooks and laptops, engrossed in their work or else on Netflix to avoid studying. Professors blinked wearily, clutching their own cups of coffee as though they were lifelines holding them to this realm. Ellie could see the spot she had frequented herself - a booth tucked by the window, where she could write her songs in a dingy notebook without anyone looking over her shoulder.

Now, there was a guy with his cheek pressed to the cold surface, snoring lightly.

Ellie jumped when Dianna called her name, holding out a cup so filled with coffee that it trickled over the side and down the glass. Ellie took it gingerly, holding it in careful fingers to not spill any more on the countertop.

Dianna held onto the cup for several seconds longer than necessary, her fingers - cold from the glass - lingering on Ellie's. When a crooked smile pulled at her lips, her brown eyes sparkled. There was a teasing tilt to her voice when she said, “I hope to see you around, Ellie.”

Ellie gave her what she hoped was a friendly smile - judging by the way Dianna’s cheeks bloomed pink, she must have succeeded - before turning away. She almost felt guilty for the relief she felt when she found there was no phone number left on her glass this time. She was never sure whether it was nicer to ghost somebody or to send a gentle rejection through text, and she did not have the energy for that decision.

She turned, searching for an empty seat to slouch in and try not to fall asleep into her coffee, when her eyes found you.

You hadn’t changed a bit.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true either. You had changed - anybody would in three years. You had changed your hair, and now you dressed differently than she remembered - you used to bitch so much about how you couldn’t dress how you wanted, and now, looking at you three years later, she was happy to see that you were finally dressing like all those pictures you had saved in your little Pinterest folder of “outfit inspo.”

Ellie could see the mark of three whole years, but truthfully, you hadn’t changed. You were slouched over a laptop, leaning way too close to the screen, and you still had that pinch between your brows when you concentrated, the one that she used to run her thumb over; she could still feel how soft your skin was beneath her fingers.

She should have ignored you - she should have gone to slump in a corner of the coffee shop like she had planned, trying not to fall asleep into her cup and pretending to not notice you even as her eyes kept cutting across the cafe to find you again. She should have pushed the memories away just like she had pushed away all of the other memories associated with this city - hell, she should have never come back to this city in the first place. There were too many memories here that she had spent three years, a thousand miles, and an ocean of whiskey running away from.

And yet Ellie found her feet carrying her over to your table of their own volition. She walked the tightrope between who she is and who she once was, chasing a memory of the only good thing she left behind.

You didn’t look up at her as she approached. You kept your head bowed over your laptop, your bottom lip stuck between your teeth. There was no reason for you to look up - Ellie could have been any nameless stranger coming to bother you when you were clearly just trying to work.

But Ellie had never been good at leaving well enough alone. Which is why she hesitated for only a moment before reaching out and tapping lightly on your shoulder. She had to bite back a laugh when you jumped, pulling your headphones from your ears and swiveling around to look up at her.

She’d be lying if she said her heart didn’t do an embarrassing acrobatic jump when you met her eyes. And she had always been a terrible liar.

“Hey,” Ellie said, trying her damnedest to keep her voice steady; she only somewhat succeeded. She cleared her throat, lowering her voice when she said, “Remember me?”

Satisfaction bloomed warm in her stomach when your eyes widened, taking in the sight of her. Truthfully, she must’ve looked like shit; she had had to take a disturbingly brief shower at the last rest stop - the water apparently didn’t get any warmer than antarctic - and she hadn’t looked in a mirror for a few days. She had forgotten to pack her brush, so her hair must have been standing up at odd angles. And God knew what the lack of sleep was doing to the ever-growing shadows under her eyes.

But none of this stopped you from running your eyes down her body, cheeks pink when you finally looked up to meet her eyes again. And Ellie couldn’t stop the slow smile that spread across her face, her own cheeks growing warm. It wasn’t intentional when her voice dropped another octave, nearly a murmur when she said, mostly to herself, “Yeah, you remember me.”

“Holy shit, Ellie?” You jumped to your feet, a smile pulling at your lips as you gripped her arm. The familiar shine in your eyes did something funny to her stomach that she was way too stubborn to name. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I was just, uh- just passing through town,” she found herself saying, rubbing at the back of her neck. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but explaining to you the actual reason she finally came back to this hell-hole town suddenly seemed daunting. “Wanted to check out some old haunts, I guess.”

And then you just… looked at her, for several long moments - long enough to make Ellie squirm. Your eyes bore into hers, searching for something that she had buried three years ago.

You jumped, and whatever spell that was floating between you broke when your phone buzzed from where it still sat on the table. You scooped it up and flashed an apologetic smile to the glaring student a few seats away. Swiping at the screen, you cursed under your breath:

“Fuck, I have to get to class.” You looked back up at her again, a question behind your eyes, and Ellie had never wished so hard that she could read minds. You hesitated for only a moment before saying, words rushed, “Do you want to walk with me?” Before Ellie could respond, you continued, picking up your cup and fiddling with the straw, “It feels like forever since I’ve seen you and I want to catch up. But you’re probably busy, so you don’t have to-”

“I’d love to,” she cut you off, trying to smother the smile that pulled at her pink cheeks. She failed drastically when you smiled back at her.

After asking for a to-go cup from Dianna - thankfully no number written on the plastic cup either, despite the way the barista eyed Ellie as she left - she followed you out the door and back into the blinding morning sun. The mid-October air bit at her cheeks, creeping under her flannel; the cold coffee in her hand made her fingers sting, but you were already walking away, so she grit her teeth and followed.

And it was like you both just fell back into place, aligning with each other as though that empty space had never existed. You were working towards your graduate degree, Ellie discovered, and were working as a TA to get through; the class you were heading to was the dreaded public speaking class that you taught around your own curriculum. You laughed as you talked about some ridiculous speech a student had recently presented, and Ellie had forgotten just how much she liked the sound until it was burying behind her ribs again.

Ellie didn't tell you exactly why she had come back. When she’d left, you had known she was chasing a dream - it was the main reason she had presented when she broke up with you. The idea of long distance was too hard - too complicated - and Ellie didn’t want anything tying her to this town.

Even so, her body still wanted to fall into old habits. She told you about her roommate and how, when Ellie had been up too late writing a new song or her roommate had had a late shift at the hospital, they would play truth or dare until they were too drunk to stay awake, and her fingers brushed against yours, muscle memory making her reach for you. Ellie told you how she had visited her sister, Sarah, while passing through Houston, and she wanted so badly to lace your fingers together. She wanted to wrap her arm around your waist - hell, she even wanted to grab your ass right where everyone could see, just like she used to. She tucked her free hand in her pocket.

“You still haven’t told me why you came back,” you said, coming to a stop in front of the Communications building - it was just as tall and ominous as Ellie remembered. Her stomach lurched at the site, remembering all the speeches she had to make in her own classes. She supposed Public Speaking wasn’t a useless class now, considering she didn't stutter when she had to speak in front of an audience now.

Ellie shrugged, dropping her cup into a trashcan without looking at you. “Like I said, I’m just passing through-”

“Bullshit,” you said, but there was no malice behind it. You tilted your head to meet her eyes and smiled at her, even as your eyes held something unreadable. “The Ellie I knew couldn’t wait to get out of this shithole - her words, not mine. She wouldn’t simply pass through - she would go out of her way to stay in the next town over. So,” you crossed your arms, “what changed?”

Before, if you had ever crossed your arms at her, Ellie would reach out and gently pull your arms away from your chest, pulling you into an embrace. She wanted nothing more than to pull you into her, instinct unaware of the three years and a thousand miles that had separated you. Instead, she leaned against the wall of the building, the brick biting into her back. “Nothing’s changed. Trust me, if it was up to me, I wouldn't be here.”

For only a second, your face twisted into something unreadable that pulled at Ellie's stomach. But you quickly schooled your expression, tilting your head, your smile soft. “Listen, I have to go - if I'm too late, these fuckers are just gonna try to skip. But we should meet up later - I want to catch up.” When Ellie opened her mouth to say you had been catching up, you continued, “Really catch up. I want you to tell me everything - it's been years, so we have a lot to cover.” You looked at your phone and cursed. “Look, my last class ends at 3:25. Meet me on the green after?” For good measure, you stuck out your bottom lip and added, “Please?”

Ellie had never been good at resisting that look - she had given into you so many times from that look alone. She had to bite back the sudden, stupid smile pulling at her cheeks, so she pressed her lips together and looked away. After three years, you still made her cheeks flush without trying.

“Okay,” was all she could say.

Without warning, you rushed forward, wrapping your arms around her neck briefly. Her hands hovered at your sides, unsure of where to go. Feeling your body pressed against her again - feeling the warm brush of your breath against her neck - short-circuited her brain, leaving her gasping on dry land.

Before she could figure out where to put her fucking hands, you murmured in her ear, “I really did miss you, Els,” and pulled away, just as quickly as you had come. Ellie's mouth hadn't even caught up to her brain by the time you were gone, the door closing softly behind you.

Later, after she had had a proper breakfast from McDonald's, she was still thinking about you. Seeing you again had opened up a bottle that she had sealed away, and the cork wouldn't fit back into it. Her fingers itched with the memory of your skin beneath them. When you had hugged her, she had smelled the shampoo that you apparently still used, and she remembered how it had felt to have your head on her chest, breathing you in as she pressed a kiss to the top of your head. And your lips next to her ear - that opened a whole subcategory of memories that she tried desperately to push away.

She was only here for the night. She lost count of how many times she had to remind herself.

Ellie was stopped at a red light, leaning her bike from one foot to the other, when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She glanced at the blinking crosswalk sign - twenty seconds, so she still had plenty of time before the light turned green - before fishing her phone out. She had to squint against the sun, straining to make out the screen. She nearly dropped the phone when she saw the familiar name popping up on her screen, fumbling to open the text.

There was a screenshot of an Instagram post from the venue she was going to play at. The band's name was in bold letters, stars pasted around a grainy picture of the group. And in small letters underneath - like an afterthought - was her name: Ellie Miller.

And underneath, in all caps:

YOU'RE PLAYING AT THE HAWTHORNE?????

Her face flushed all over again. After all these years, you had still kept her number.

tag list: @macaroni676 @ellstronaut @elliewilliamsmiller0 @elliescoolerwife @letsreadsomesins-shallwe @liliflowers-blog @filtered-sunlight

[alienaiver]

Half the Battle, pt. 1

Kuroo Tetsurou x gn!reader

find part two here!

warnings: slight angst about childhood/parents fighting/divorce, one (1) bottle of wine is opened, someone is betrayed in Mario Party, NOT beta-read! apologize for any mistakes! (lmk if there’s any warnings i missed!)

wordcount: 5.5k

content: soulmate AU, mild angst, fluff, post-timeskip but slight canon divergence (i haven’t read the manga yet so this is loosely based off of their canon timeskip lives), gender neutral reader, reader is a video editor, reader is bad at eye contact but the details as to why are vague/up for interpretation!

notes: this was made for @gg9183 ​ ‘s wonderful birthday event, a soulmate collab! (go read the other wonderful works!) happy birthday once again, gray!! this was meant to be a 2k one shot but.... plans and inspiration changes sometimes, right? 🥺 so this ended up as a 5k part ONE lmfao i hope thats alright w u!!! part2 will be up asap, i promise!! i hope you enjoy this!!!! 

—————————

Not meeting his soulmate was fine, Kuroo often found himself thinking. The odds of finding your soulmate’s way too low to be realistic anyways, he supported the thought. It’s illogical to spend so much time fretting about it, he finally added for good measure.

Soulmates were a natural part of life, always had been. But with the big wide world filled with over seven billion people, meeting yours wasn’t completely unheard of. But given the powers of soulmates even existing, it wasn’t unrealistic to also believe that some kind of fate would pull you towards each other throughout your lives so that you would meet each other. Kuroo however, prided himself in not caring about soulmates. His life was rich enough. People explaining their feelings about “something being missing until they finally meet them” was incomprehensible to him.

Kuroo had lived for 29 years without being able to see color. And you know what? His life was damn well fulfilling enough. He had a beautiful apartment, an economy that flourished, an adorable cat named Cucumber and good people around him. What would he really need a soulmate for? He could ignore his friends comments on how wonderful the world was in color, if only he would just start looking for his soulmate, how much meaning it gave life. Just because the people in his closest circle had all magically met theirs – not to mention how many of them had already met in Goddamn high school, Kuroo scoffed and was always able to move on.

Even though a lot of people actively made eye contact with everyone they met, even people on the street, to make sure they would meet their soulmate, Kuroo kept his eyes down. He wasn’t insecure, come on, he was perfectly happy! He just didn’t need to be late for a meeting because he got eye contact with some stranger, you know?

His life was in perfect balance as is.. Until yesterday, of course. It had turned out there was mold in his apartment complex so they had to evict it for a month while a crew would go through everything to remove it. He didn’t want to go to his mother’s place, that was too far from his work, but he wasn’t in the mood for a hotel, that was way too expensive, so he turned to his best friend of many years with the biggest set of puppy eyes he could muster and the prospect of making every dinner while he lived there.

“Fine… but don’t get in the way,” was all Kenma had to say.

And so Kuroo spent his last weekend in his own apartment packing things down to make it accessible to the cleaning crew. Cucumber hated other cats with a passion so he couldn’t bring him to Kenma’s, where three cats already happily lived, so his mother would pick him up tomorrow afternoon.

__

He sat on his couch, scrolling his phone mindlessly with Cucumber on his lap who had been stressed with all the packing down, sensing something was up. He was being extra cuddly towards Kuroo who, honestly? Didn’t mind at all. He loved when Cucumber was in mood for cuddles, though it wasn’t very often. He had been told his cat was orange and while he didn’t have a measure for what that color actually looked like, he was happy with his gray cat.

His mother was supposed to arrive any minute now, so he should have gotten up and put the cat in his carrier but it was easier to get him in it if you had two pair of hands. He scrolled through Instagram, reaching a photo put up by Tsukishima of his soulmate, the light-haired manager of their high school volleyball club, with a tooth-eating grin on her face and proudly showing off a ring on her finger, the caption said, This smile makes me wanna brag. Kuroo could physically hear the provocative tone of his voice, knowing he was one of the first in his circle of friends to actually plan a wedding. Kuroo clicked his tongue with a smile on his face and double-tapped to like the picture.

He didn’t know if it was the combination of that post and the fact that his mother was on her way but memories of his parent’s wedding flooded his mind. For a lot of people, weddings felt obsolete in the face of the whole “you already got your soulmate and you know this” thing, so a lot of couples were happy not getting married but just being together. But there was also the benefits of marriage in the practical sense, so some people did anyways, some hosting parties, some not. His parents weren’t married when he came to, but after he turned five they decided to do it so he would be protected by both of them, in case of any emergency.

It had been a small wedding, only the closest family and friends but Kuroo was vivid, so excited about being part of that whole romantic ordeal, even helping his mom find a dress and everything. He had been a huge and important part of the wedding – if he did say so himself. Everyone had been glowing at the day, the food was delicious, there was laughter, song and cheers and everyone had brought so many presents – even some for little Tetsurou, who had been very excited about his new train tracks.

But when Kuroo was seven years old, it wasn’t as romantic anymore. His parents were fighting a lot, he wasn’t entirely sure why or about what because they would never tell him about it, no matter how much he asked. When he tried to listen in, the words he heard didn’t explain anything to him because even though they were yelling at each other, the important words were always whispered, as if they knew Kuroo was listening in.

When he was eight his mom had come into his room, hugged him and with tears in her eyes and said that they were going to move away.

“Where are we going?” he asked simply, no emotion to be read on his little face. He was exhausted from his parents being this way – they were soulmates, right? Why did they fight like that?

“To Tokyo, just you and me, my love.”

That’s when he met Kenma. He had been very closed-off and shy back when they met, he reminisced. He had been a regular kid when he was younger but the way his parents split up – his soulmate parents – had closed him off pretty bad, so it was a miracle he met Kenma and started opening up again.

Kuroo smiled to himself bitterly before scratching Cucumber’s ear. He supposed this was also why he wasn’t interested in his soulmate. So many people had romanticized the whole soulmate ideal so a lot of people forgot that relationships still took work, took effort and just because they were made for each other, didn’t necessarily guarantee that they would stay together. His mom and dad didn’t officially talk anymore, but when he asked his mom as a child whether or not she still saw color, she said that she did. He also found long letters in her bedroom when he was nine, letters from his dad, so he supposed they still talked together, though Kuroo wasn’t let in on it – nor was he particularly interested. And he definitely we wasn’t interested in ending up in a relationship with someone who would end up not wanting to put in the effort for the relationship to flourish.

After Cucumber had been picked up by his mom it was time to leave for Kenma’s place. He carried the last boxes of valuables down to his basement and locked them in before trekking down to the subway with his suitcase and sports bag.

_____

You were late for work, so you scrambled to pack your things. It was Wednesday afternoon and you were supposed to meet in at 3PM, because that was around the time that Kodzuken had planned to finish his recording, he told you yesterday. You were a video editor and had met Kenma through your old part-time job in his favorite convenience store quite a few years back, back when he had first bought his house when he was 24. You remembered talking to him about video games in the store since you also played some, and after a good while of polite customer service and talk about new games, you had started hanging out outside of work as well. When you had then told him you were actually a freelance video editor but just didn’t get many jobs, he had almost instantly hired you to do his YouTube videos for him and general editing and set-ups of his streams. I know video games, not recording equipment, he had told you so many years ago.

Your original thought had been wary, because working for a friend might get messy but Kenma cared a lot about keeping it professional when you were on the clock, which you appreciated very much. In his house, down by his game room, there was a room next door with screens and all the best editing software just for you to play with. Your pay was higher than average for such a “simple” but regular gig but when prompted about it, he simply shrugged and told you it wasn’t up for negotiation and no one was being treated unfair – and who were you to go against such a good pay for a job that you loved doing and wanted to do full-time? With Kenma being a famous streamer and gamer, he often made lots of different videos for various sites so your job hours resembled a nine to five job, easy, even if the hours were off from the more conventional jobs and you usually came in later in the day and sometimes finished off late in the evening – some of his videos had a time limit for a release date of a game, so there was also days where you were extremely busy and scrambling to get the video done right for a release of a game.

As you closed your bag and ran out the door towards the subway, you checked your phone for any updates. If he’d finished early, he would’ve texted you about it, so you put your phone in your pocket and hurried towards his house.

When you arrived you immediately rang the doorbell before catching your breath, you were used to Kenma spending a few minutes before reaching the door and opening it, so when the door opened almost instantly you took a step back before looking up. The one opening the door was taller than Kenma and in a loose dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top - that’s all you saw before your eyes darted down to your feet.

“...Hi! I’m uh… Where’s Kenma?” was all you got out while fidgeting with your purse strap, it certainly wasn’t his boyfriend Hinata opening the door today.

“Oh, hey! You must be his video editor, right? He told me about you!” The man said, pointing to himself with his thumb,

“I’m Kuroo Tetsurou! Kenma’s childhood friend! Sorry to intrude, I’ll be living here for the next month, I promise not to get in your way!” As he finished his introduction, he moved aside so that you could enter. As you took off your shoes you heard Kenma’s feet shuffling towards you, “oh hey, welcome, you’re early,” Kenma said with his usual deadpan expression but you could clearly hear the teasing in his voice.

“At least I’m here now, right?” You smiled back, instantly relaxing at the sight of your boss and friend. You turned to Kuroo again, bowed and introduced yourself before taking off your coat and putting it on a hanger, while Kenma and the guy named Kuroo seemed to bicker a bit about whether or not Kuroo should answer the door while he lived there.

“I’ll go set it up, have you transferred the video files to the hard disk?” you asked Kenma as you moved towards ‘your’ office, sending Kuroo a polite smile while keeping your eyes on his neck.

Eye contact was hard for you, it always made you extremely uncomfortable and you didn’t really have any before you felt comfortable with the person. Your mother had often scolded you, saying you’d never find your soulmate at this rate, which you always acknowledged with a hum or a simple yes without starting a discussion.

You honestly weren’t sure whether or not you cared for a soulmate. Your biggest argument to wanting to find one was so that you could see colors, because it’d help your career. Kenma already had his soulmate, so he was the one deciding the color scheme for his videos and helped with the color-related editing, which worked fine as of now, but you would probably appreciate to be able to do it yourself. You had also spent some years coming to terms with your struggles with eye contact and accept that this was just how you functioned. If you missed your soulmate in a random supermarket thanks to it one day, well, you’d be none the wiser, so you felt sure you’d survive without one, but you also couldn’t deny that the sound of a soulmate sounded really nice and comforting. That someone out there existed to fit you, that you were born to love someone who was also meant to love you. You were sure that finding your soulmate wasn’t a dance on roses, it was sure to still be hard, frustrating and maybe even painful sometimes, but you also couldn’t just have all the good, there was a balance that was sure to exist within soulmates as well.

After hours of going through the raw footage from his video game play and slowly editing while watching it, you popped your shoulders and stretched your arms for a moment, yawning as you did so. Your hours were always a bit intense, but that couldn’t be helped when you had six hours of raw footage to work with. Looking at the clock you saw that it was 5.30PM which meant that soon Kenma would wake up from his pseudo-sleep (which was more like a nap in your opinion) to look at your process and ask what you wanted for dinner.

Soon after a soft knock was heard followed by the door opening slowly, Kenma standing in sweats and a hoodie with bags under his eyes, “do you like hotpot?” he asked, and you smiled at him, “sure, are you cooking tonight?” he yawned while he shook his head, “Kuroo is. He insists on a ‘fulfilling meal’, whatever that means.”

You giggled before beckoning Kenma in to see some of what you’ve done so far and making minor adjustments along the way. “Now, something smells delicious and I’m thirsty,” you stated after the two of you had talked a bit about the rest of the video’s plans. As you went towards the kitchen you could hear the sound of of a nameless tune being hummed, pans sizzling from something being cooked and kitchen utensils being used.

Inside, the table was already set with plates and prepared ingredients lying ready for the pot that Kuroo was just about to put on the table. It seemed he had made an endless supply of different side dishes and really put in a lot of work for it, so you looked really forward to eating it and it smelled delicious. You grabbed a glass from the set table and went to the sink to get some water and just as your hand reached it, Kuroo had extended his hand as well to the sink and you accidentally touched.

You both recoiled as if you had been burned and you couldn’t stop the gasp that accidentally left your lips. A feeling was rushing through your body you hadn’t experienced before and you immediately apologized to Kuroo and went back to the table, foregoing the water. You didn’t notice how Kuroo was frozen in place from when he touched you before Kenma called out to him and he immediately started moving again.

You ended up eating shortly after, Kuroo serving the food and talking animatedly about him and Kenma’s childhood, making you laugh quite a bit at their (or more, Kuroo’s) antics and their volleyball days. Kuroo was the type of person to make you relax in his presence and have fun which you didn’t even notice until you got home later that evening and really thought about what a great time you had had. You found yourself surprised by how easily you clicked with Kuroo, a total stranger. It must be his charm, you thought to yourself before going through your night routine. You had to come back tomorrow and finish work, after all. You estimated the video would take you a few more days to finish but that would end up fitting well with the weekend coming, so as you went to bed you felt yourself more relaxed than you had in a while.

_____

“What are they like?”

It was Friday and it seemed you had finished Kenma’s video and therefor you weren’t here for dinner – for the first time in a few days, which did let down Kuroo just a tiny bit. He had talked a lot with you during dinner preparations when you came out from the office and during dinner as well and while you did answer all his questions (which, he admitted, there were quite a few of them) and follow up with your own for him, it still felt… off… talking to you – and Kuroo didn’t like not knowing why. “What do you mean?” Kenma asked, taking another bite into his mouth.

Kenma swallowed a piece of meat before looking up at Kuroo who was stabbing his plate with his fork in what seemed like a useless purpose. He knew he was being a little weird but meeting you was weird, even though he had no reason to explain why.

“I mean, is this how they usually act?” He didn’t even know what that question meant or why he was even asking it, nothing made sense! But he had a desperate feeling that he needed to get to know you – he was afraid of what that implied and what suspicions he needed to hold onto, but he was sure it was his gut telling him you were dangerous for Kenma to be around – that had to be it! Kenma was his best friend, his childhood friend, it had to be a gut feeling meant to protect him!

“Who knows, they’re being more polite than usual, I think. But that makes sense,” Kenma replied calmly before adding, “I mean you are a stranger who’s really intent on being social with them over our dinners, they were a bit shy as well when I met them,”

Kuroo nodded and finally took a bite of his own food. He didn’t notice Kenma’s raised eyebrows or the questioning look that was sent his way, so Kenma decided to let the subject rest.

Not seeing you today felt weird to him too and he couldn’t help the irritation building up inside him – you had just met a few days ago and only in the evenings when he was done with work and ready to make dinner – and yet, the thought of you kept invading his mind. He had gotten through work today thinking you were going to be there for dinner so when he came home and found out you wouldn’t be there, the first seed of irritation had been planted – why was he suddenly looking so much forward to seeing you? Had it been like this yesterday too? Why was it suddenly important that you weren’t there? He ended up sitting in front of the laptop in the guest room for the rest of the evening, the document left open and completely untouched.

Kuroo, however, didn’t let the subject rest in his head for the rest of that evening. Hinata was in town, having time off after a big game yesterday so Kuroo was left to his own devices – which really wasn’t a problem considering he had to make the paperwork for a promotional deal for a meeting Monday morning that he had procrastinated making – which wasn’t like him at all, he usually never pushed assignments to last minute and he then realized the reason he wasn’t done yet was because he had spent so much time over the dinner table with Kenma and you, talking even after dinner had been done for a while. You always offered to help him with the clean-up so you also spent some time talking there, drifting off to various subjects far passing the cleaning duties and sitting down again with a glass of water.

He enjoyed your company, it felt... easy, somehow, the sensation that something was off was there but it didn’t really settle in his stomach until every time after you left, as if it was left to grow a bit from a small sensation to a problem, which worried him – Kuroo prided himself as an impeccable people-reader, he was captain for both the volleyball team in high school and college, he knew how to act around business relations so well because he could read them so flawlessly – so the feelings he got from you was unsettling and unreadable and it took some control away from him – and Kuroo always felt uneasy when he wasn’t in control.

____

Kuroo heard your name and almost got whiplash from how fast his head moved towards Kenma, “what?”

“I asked if we should invite them? To game night? Being three is a little annoying in Mario Party.”

“Oooh, that’s a good idea! I’d love to see them again!” Hinata happily exclaimed before taking another bite of the lasagna Kuroo had prepared tonight. It was Saturday and Kuroo had been in a daze the entire day, first at the office for a quick meeting with his boss about a potential partner he might be able to reel in soon and then doing his laundry at Kenma’s and continuing to try and make the stupid paperwork but ultimately failing before he had to make dinner.

“Isn’t it a bit late to invite someone? I mean, they could have plans already...” Kuroo tried, knowing what a pain it could be to be asked to something an hour before it happened and he didn’t want to let you go through that – that’s what he tried to tell himself, at least. In truth? He was a bit afraid of seeing you again, afraid of his potential reactions, since he had spent his entire Friday in a stupor just thinking about you. His thoughts didn’t mean much for Kenma and Hinata though, who was already texting you to ask.  “Oi, no phones at the table, have you parents taught you no manners?” Kuroo chided and Hinata immediately shrank back and apologized – Kuroo smirked, yea the Chibi-chan still had respect for his seniors. But he was quickly pulled back to thoughts about you by Kenma’s phone lighting up again, “they’ll be here in an hour. They’re asking if they should bring anything?” Kenma looked up to gauge Kuroo’s reaction, having noticed something about his friend had been off the past few days. He immediately made a funny grimace before turning it into a smile. “Yea, they can bring a bottle of white wine, if I have to beat you all at Mario Party, I would very much like to be a tiny bit buzzed,” Kuroo said, and Hinata looked at him with wide eyes, “you drink wine!? So grown up!” Hinata exclaimed, to which Kenma just muttered, “or just an old man…” Kuroo didn’t hear that though, too busy to fidget with his hands under the table, suddenly feeling nervous that you were showing up.

Hinata plopped down between Kuroo and you with a controller in hand, “I’m gonna beat you all in this Mario Kart!” to which you laughed loudly, “good luck since we’re playing Mario Party.”

“Huh? Is there a difference?” Hinata asked, making Kuroo belt out a loud laugh as well, holding his stomach, “you just told us you’d beat us but you don’t even know what we’re playing!” Kuroo couldn’t contain his laughter for a bit until he noticed how you were looking at him and instantly retracted his laugh, sitting up straight with a cough, and apologizing for being loud, which confused him to no end. He had never been self-conscious of his own laugh! He knew it could be obnoxious and loud, but he also liked it himself, and-

“That’s a really cute laugh.”

The comment earned you the stares of the century from the three other people in the room, with Kenma in genuine shock – he wouldn’t say he disliked Kuroo’s laugh, just that it was… special.

“Uhm… Uh. Thank you?” Kuroo could feel that his blush went all the way to his ears but he hoped that the light in the living room wasn’t bright enough to catch it. “Yeah uh! Sure! Mhm,” you awkwardly coughed a bit as well before reaching for your glass of wine.

You had brought a bottle of white wine for Kuroo on the promise that you’d get a glass too, saying he was your first friend who also liked wine. The word ‘friend’ had dumb-founded him and he’d just answered “you can have it all,” to which you had laughed and said it’s fine with half, you weirdo.

The game was about to begin but Kuroo was still sitting stuck on the fact that his laugh was cute – cute? Had anyone else found it cute before besides Bokuto and his mom? He wasn’t sure – he sure couldn’t pinpoint them right now anyways. He tried to shake it off and focus on the game, though quite a bit of time was spent explaining the rules to Hinata who apparently had thought they were just playing Mario Kart.

When you were 12 laps into it, it seemed that you were set to win with your four stars and 121 coins. Kenma was right behind you with three stars and Hinata and Kuroo had been left in the dust with zero stars. You had stolen Kuroo’s first (and only) star early in the game, so he was plotting his vengeance in quiet but was getting afraid that the game would end before he could do anything to you – but just as his hopes were at the smallest during the last round of the game, you were put in the same team as him in the last mini game.

Kuroo had a wide smirk when you cheered and said, “this’ll be easy then!” because no, it would not be easy for you. If he had to go down in order to take you down a notch, then so be it. He’d rather Kenma win than you did with stolen goods!

The last mini game was “Tow the Line” where two players were put in a sewing box shaped with nine dots as a grid and two players tied together with a string and the objective was to make the shape with the string as shown in the middle of screen. As soon as the whistle sounded, Kuroo lowered his hands and stopped using his controllers, all with a big grin on his lips.

“Kuroo, what the fuck! Get moving, we’ve started!” you yelled at him as Kenma and Hinata won the first round, signaling the next round began, Kuroo started whistling and looking away from the screen, to which you got up from your seat, “fine, I’ll just take your controller and do it myself!”

Kuroo put his arm with the controller behind him, “nah-ah-ah! You’re not winning this, fiend! That’s what you get for stealing my star!” He grinned up at you with his eyes closed as you stood with your hands on your hips, “come on man! I stole that star in the fourth round! Kenma stole a star from me as well!” you tried, “maybe he stole the one that was yours, who knows! Get over it so we can win!”

But as soon as you’d said that, the third round had just been won and you sighed and flopped down on your seat again, “not cool Kuroo, not cool. I’ll remember this!”

You both laughed as the game made ready to announce the winner, Kenma and Hinata entertained by your antics.

“You can’t avenge something that I avenged in the first place! I only did it because you did me wrong, you know!”

“You can’t use logic on me, it doesn’t apply!”

To no surprise, you won the entire game, even winning one of the two bonus stars given at the end of the game.

After the last sequence and a bow from you there was a quick break before you decided to play some Mario Kart for Hinata’s sake, since his argument was that he lost due it being Party instead. You played quite a few hours and after another toilet break you had switched places with Hinata so Kenma could cuddle up against him. You yawned, drinking the last of the wine in your glass and said, “I should head home, I have a friend coming over for lunch tomorrow.”

Hinata and Kenma both started to get up to say goodnight but you waved at them with a smile, “I can walk out myself, it’s fine!” But Kuroo had already gotten up from the couch as well, so you walked with him towards the hallway where you put on your shoes. There was a comfortable silence between the two of you, which Kuroo noted and scowled a bit - he might have only known you for less than a week but for some reason he felt like it had been a lot longer, like you were old friends – it felt strange, to be so close with a stranger. He didn’t know anything about you, really. He knew your name, your job and how you liked some of your vegetables and which meat was your favorite, he knew you also loved cats but didn’t have one (he couldn’t remember if he knew why) and he felt pretty sure he would recognize you in a crowded area – why it was so intense, he was unsure of, he hadn’t tried meeting someone this way before. It had also seemed like having this game night had made you considerably more relaxed in his presence, even joking around with him instead of being polite, which made Kuroo somewhat giddy, though it didn’t really make sense to him as to why.

“I hope you had fun,” Kuroo said awkwardly, as if he had been the host and scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah, I did! I’m sorry I stole your star, though,” you laughed, buttoning your jacket.

“Nah, no worries, as they say, all’s fair in love and war, right?”

You giggled and picked up your bag from the dresser while Kuroo opened up the door for you. As you exited, you turned around with a bright smile, “well, thanks for toni-”

Everything ended up a blur, too bright, too much, too noisy, too… colorful? Kuroo was still looking into your eyes as all that went through him, completely blindsided. As he took a proper look, he could see that you looked just as surprised as him, your eyes wide but still never leaving his either.

“Is… Is this? Are you? Is…” You asked after what felt like both days and milliseconds, I could stare at them so much longer, he thought to himself, the colors only making your face more clear to him. Had you really not had eye contact at all? Had you seen each other for several hours – more than a few times, without looking each other in the eyes at all? Kuroo was more baffled by this happening so late than the fact that it was happening.

He was about to say something, anything, when you promptly turned around, nervously yelling, “I-I uh, I gotta go! Goodbye!” as you hurried out of the driveway and down towards the subway.

“W-wait!” Kuroo belatedly and unhelpfully yelled out as you turned a corner, too late. You were gone. A hand was dragged down his face as a sigh left him, what the fuck had just happened? He obviously needed to talk to you about this, but he also needed to gather his thoughts about all of this, so he slowly closed the door and went back towards the living room, greeted by Hinata and Kenma who looked up at him curiously, “why did you yell?” Hinata asked with his head tilted.

“I think I just found my soulmate.”

[spxllcxstxr]

Post-Hogwarts Enemies to Lovers with Sirius • Headcanon

(Gif not mine)

Warnings: firewhiskey mention, weed mention?, Death Eaters, curses (both language and magic), near death experiences, blood and injury mentions

Request: Hello! Can I have a Sirius headcanon please, one where it’s post Hogwarts in the time of the first wizarding war, and reader was a quiet, loner ravenclaw when she was in Hogwarts whereas Sirius was obviously very popular and loud, and they didn’t like eachother back then but now they’re in the order and dating and it’s just enemies to lovers angst to fluff 🥺 — @mabelle-cherie

A.N: Headcanons are weird because I have no idea if this is long or short. Anyway. I might’ve strayed a little away from the request? But it’s essentially the same. I think I like this one, actually...Love you all ❤️

Sirius Black was the most obnoxious entity you’ve ever encountered

James Potter was obviously a close second

Remus Lupin was tolerable, but only when his nose was stuffed in a book and when he was alone

Peter Pettigrew? He was more scared of you than you were of him. Completely harmless

They would strut around the castle, smug looks glued on their faces, like they owned the place

And you know what?

They practically did

Ever since they pulled their first prank, they’ve had the entire school wrapped around their fingers

Classmates idolized them

Teachers struggled to hide fond smiles

You despised it

You were here to sit, learn enough to get a good job, and keep your head down

The so called “Marauders” obviously had their own plans

The second Sirius witnessed you scoff and roll your eyes at another one of their stupid disruptive pranks, you were on his radar

The first time Sirius ever directly spoke to you, you were in the farthest corner of the library buried underneath a mountain of books trying to finish your three essays

You didn’t even notice him until—

“(Y/Ln), right?”

You were too busy writing about the Goblin Rebellion of 1612 to even entertain the idea of giving him a proper response

So in your haze, you just gave him your default response

“Piss off, Black.”

If you said that to any other person, it would’ve worked

But Sirius Black is not any other person, unfortunately

“Well that’s not very nice, love, now is it?”

And thus, your enemyship begins

That was in your fifth year, meaning you had about two and a half more years dealing with him and his merry band of pricks

By the next day, you were ready to toss yourself out of the Astronomy Tower

He now spots you in every room you’re in together, which is a huge inconvenience, considering you would rather be left alone and unbothered

But he prances towards you, shit eating grin plastered on his face, ringed fingers raking through his hair

He’s a pest

“Leave me alone, Black.”

“Aw c’mon, (Y/Ln), I’m just saving you from being lonely.”

“I’m not lonely.”

“Well you don’t talk to anyone. That’s lonely.”

“I talk to people, Black. I just don’t talk to you.”

You try to leave with the last laugh

You really do

“Pretty sure you’re talkin’ to me right now, love.”

His stupid infuriating smirk makes you wanna hex him into oblivion

Instead, you walk away fuming

And that’s how the rest of your time at Hogwarts goes

Sirius Black bothers the shit outta you

You tell him to go fuck himself

He doesn’t

Wash, rinse, repeat

There are a few times your patience wears so thin that you throw a couple hexes his way

You’ve reversed his knees, made his head grow four sizes too big (to finally contain that ego of his, you told him), made his toenails grow straight through his shoes, and even managed to shave off some of his precious hair

And yet he still came back

Every single time

Sirius would just brush it off and laugh like it was the funniest thing in the world

At that point, what do you do?

You try to ignore him the best you can

There are times you find him alone, drunk on top of the astronomy tower

Or high behind greenhouse number two

You like him better this way

He seems more real

Not because he’s under the influence

But because he’s not giving you a cocky smirk or a wink and laughing at every little move you make

You almost tolerate him

But then the next morning he’s back to calling you love and shouting at you at the top of his lungs across the Great Hall

And you’re back to hating him again

You’re counting down the days to graduation

And when it finally comes you bid him a firm farewell

Sirius finishes off with a “More like see ya later, (Y/Ln), love”

But you don’t care because the next day you have your bags packed to study in Bulgaria

But with one foot out the door you get an urgent letter

Something called the Order of the Phoenix

And and after carefully scanning through the contents of the letter

You unpack

And go meet up with your old Headmaster

Headquarters is a dilapidated shack on the outside

Chipped paint, broken shutters, water damage, the works

But the inside is elegant

Long purple rugs running throughout the house covering dark wood flooring, glass vases, magical artifacts strewn on top of dark counter tops

Sirius Black sitting, cigarette in one hand, twirling his wand in the other—

Sirius Black?

You almost march straight out the door

But you’ve already been spotted by Dumbledore and Alastor Moody, so you can’t exactly back out now

“Long time, no see, love, eh?”

The smirk, the attitude, the wink

It’s all there

Thankfully, he’s sitting in the middle of his friend group, so when you take a seat at the table, there’s about four people between the two of you

You smile at Alice and Frank, who you only know because they helped you with potions assignments a few years prior

You notice a glimmering ring on her finger

Everyone turns deathly serious when Dumbledore and Moody start explaining the situation with Voldemort and his Death Eaters

And how the Ministry of Magic is practically incompetent, though you knew that already

Even Sirius knew when to keep his mouth shut

He sat there, smoking, taking harsh sips of firewhiskey

Yes,

You noticed

You noticed how his fists would clench in anger

And how he silently swore

When James would put a hand of his shoulder to calm him down

And when Remus would start edging away his tumbler

He would twist the rings of his fingers

And smoke through an entire pack of cigs during the meeting

You’re not going to Bulgaria anymore, you’ve decided

Everyone got assigned stations they would patrol

Just your luck

You got Diagon Alley

With Sirius Black

You want to slam your head on the table

“Did you really bribe Dumbledore and Moody to put us together, Black?”

“It won’t be so bad, (Y/Ln), promise.”

“You’re a prat.”

“Well now that’s just rude.”

So everyday, you and Sirius donned dark cloaks that covered your faces and ambled through Diagon Alley, keeping an eye and an ear out for anything out of place

You would stop into shops, pretend to browse through items, keeping an eye on people

Sirius would convince you to get ice cream or stop in the Leaky Cauldron

You hate to admit it

But these little breaks the two of you took together were...

Nice?

The two of you would just be sat in the farthest corner of the tavern

Cigarette smoke swirling around

Eyes watching through the haze

There’s small talk between the two of you, but mostly silence

“The Potters died a month ago.”

He tells you out of the blue, eyes still trained on the other customers

You might not know Sirius Black well, but everyone knows how he ran away from his abusive home to James Potter in sixth year

“I’m so sorry, what was it, if it’s ok to ask.”

“Dragon pox.” He takes a second to exhale completely. “They were old, they knew it was coming. Just doesn’t feel right.”

So that’s how your partnership works

Sirius would be utterly insufferable during meetings and other get togethers

Silent during patrol

At least one of you would spill some secret or heartbreaking thought while on break

And then it would be back to silent concentration

Maybe you didn’t hate him anymore

But you certainly didn’t like him

About six months into your recruitment into the Order, you get a tip off about a huge Death Eater raid in a nearby Muggle village

Moody leads the rest of the Order to the village, and sure enough, there’s a crowd of Death Eaters dressed in black cloaks and silver masks already starting to make their way down the hill and into the main square

Spells are shot at an alarming rate

You’re forced to run, dodge, hide

You have have to not only fight a whole group of people happy to use Dark magic, but you have to continuously check on the numerous Muggle families asleep in their homes

It’s tiring

There’s bruises and cuts all over you

Lily had to save your arse a few times

You shoved James out of the way from the Cruciatus curse, getting hit with it instead

You were staggering, barely taking in enough air, but still you fired off spell after spell

You lean heavily against a wall, the bricks digging into your skin

The world around you spins and turns blurry

You fight to hang on, but your body is in so much pain it wants to shut down

You get cornered by a tall man in a dark cloak and a skeletal mask

“Well, well, how unfortunate.”

Your ears are ringing but you can hear him loud and clear

A gloved hand slips into his cloak and produces a silver dagger, shining in the pale moonlight

“Maybe I’ll gut you the Muggle way.”

He chuckles darkly, and you shudder in fright

The tip of the blade just touches your abdomen, the cool point sending goosebumps up your skin

You try to muster all the strength you have left in you, but it’s not enough to break free and fight back

You get ready to accept your fate

“Get off of her, you bastard!”

A figure bodyslams the Death Eater away from you

And the two of them roll around on the street, the silver of the blade flashing between the two forms

You have no idea who’s winning

You do hear a guttural cry coming from Sirius, but when you look back down, the Death Eater is apprehended and there’s a fresh and bloody cut across Sirius’ collarbone

Somehow, anger surges up in you

“You could’ve died, Sirius! You shouldn’t have been so stupid and reckless!”

You shout, pushing yourself off the wall and limping towards him

One of the Prewett twins comes to take the Death Eater away

Sirius scoffs

“Since when did you care about me?”

“You’re my partner, Sirius! Of course I care about you!”

At this point, the two of you are face to face, close enough to smell stale cigarettes and cinnamon on his breath. Copper mingles with the scent

“That’s the first time you’ve called me Sirius, (Y/n).”

He points out softly

You two are so close, eyes gazing into eyes

No, you don’t kiss

You got hit by the torture curse like fifteen minutes ago and then almost got impaled

You faint directly into his arms

How romantic

You wake up on the black velvet couch in headquarters

However, when you turn your head to the side, eyes open, you notice the head of a shaggy black dog resting near your face

Their ears are back, sad and glistening eyes staring at you, nose wet and cold.

The dog perks up when he spots that you’re awake

You hear their tail thunk against the base of the couch

You move your hand to scratch behind those soft ears

The dog whines and sighs in happiness

And then suddenly the dog in gone

And Sirius Black is kneeling at your side instead

“Always knew you were a dog.” You mumble out

“I saved you, and you call me a dog? How kind.” Sirius smiles, relieved

You soften. “Thank you, Sirius. Thought I was a goner.”

He brings a hand up to your face, his thumb rubbing your cheekbone gently “Just glad you’re safe and awake.”

You lean into his warm touch

“Can I kiss you, (Y/n)?” He asks softly, stormy eyes flicking between your eyes and your lips

You notice that he calls you by your first name

“You save me once and now you think you can kiss me, Black?”

You raise an eyebrow, but you aren’t serious.

His face falls and he opens his mouth the apologize, the thumb in your cheek stuttering

“Oh, alright, Sirius...I don’t mind.”

His face lifts back up at your smile

And he kisses you lightly on the lips

“Been waiting to do that for years.” He tells you when you finally separate for air

“Don’t be a prat, Sirius.”

And you know what?

You never hated Sirius Black

You especially didn’t hate Sirius Black now, that’s for sure

You would even say that you love him

Even when he is a prick

•

Sirius Black Taglist: @fific7 @quindolyn @msmb

All Character Taglist: @aspiringsloth20 @amourtentiaa @cherie-draco

[kai-uh-arcadian]

Ackersmith Cafe 

Pieck x Reader

Word Count: 2.7k Cw: minor cursing Disclaimer! This is my first story/fic/head canon type thing ever, so feedback is much appreciated! ( :

enjoy!

* Lots of wholesome fluff ( : <3 *

Ships involved: Pieck x Reader, Hitchani, Eruri, Yumihisu,  Implied EreMika, Implied Niccolo x Sasha

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⁃ Ackersmith cafe, a quaint, dark academia type coffee shop

⁃ Leading local competitor “mom and pop shop” of the Shiganshina county against Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts and Bakers Dozen

⁃ Used to be called “Smith Cafe” owned Grandma and Grandpa Smith before Mr. Erwin took over and married Mr.Levi

⁃ You and your parents have been going here since you could remember! Even before Mr.Erwin won his battle against cancer but lost his arm

⁃ Even though you’re in college now, it’s still walking distance from Paradis University and the neighbor university—Liberio University

⁃ You introduced your college friends, Sasha, Mikasa, and Annie to this place

⁃ You go here almost everyday to study and do uni homework

⁃ “Mr. Erwin!” You announced every time you walk in with Annie, Sasha, and Mikasa as the bells of the cafe ring

⁃ “(Y/nnnnnnn!)” he says waving his bionic arm that Hange, the other barista, made for him

⁃ (Hange chooses to work here every other weekend as a way to “relax” from their researching job, crazy right?)

⁃ “Hey twerp, when did you get so tall?”Mr. Levi flashes a smile from behind the counter, remembering you getting hoisted up on your dads shoulder while ordering a hot chocolate from when he was a trainee here a few years ago

⁃ “Mr. Levi, it’s been years since I was your height” you chuckle glancing at Mikasa, Sasha, and Annie stifling back a laugh at they witness this interaction

⁃ “Tch. You brats, I’ll kick you out any second!” he jokingly gets defensive

⁃ “Levi” Mr. Erwin puts a hand on the small of Mr. Levi’s back “Be nice to my favourite and most important customers! You’ll drive out our daily revenue” he laughs

⁃ “Yeah yeah whatever. The usual, brats?” Mr. Levi rolls his eyes holding back a soft smile

⁃ “Yep!” You all say in unison

⁃ “Should’ve guessed” as his rings up your guys’ total “I’ll bring it right out for you guys” he says before disappearing into the brewing station

⁃ You, Sasha, Mikasa, and Annie go to your usual booth right by the front window of the cafe

⁃ You 4 begin to pull out your computers and begin to do homework

⁃ Sasha and Mikasa are typing away on a shared Google Slide for a project they were both assigned to for their ENGL 2273 class they both happened to have together while you and Annie are looking out the window dozing off

⁃ “(Y/N),” Mikasa says grabbing your attention “Do your work.”

⁃ “Alright alright” you begin opening up a blackboard assignment your Professor assigned to you

⁃ “Slacking off again (L/N)?” Mr. Levi’s voice startles you as you look up

⁃ “No!” You shyly smile at him as you pretend to type away at the assignment

⁃ “Tch. Anyways, a white chocolate mocha latte with a glazed donut for you Annie, a hot, unsweetened, caramel latte for you Mikasa, a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant with a cinnamon dolce frappe for you Sasha, and a matcha frappe for you (Y/N). Anything else brats?” He smiles as he hands everything to you guys

⁃ “No thank you!” You say in unison once again before he nods and walks away

⁃ As you sip on your delectable drink, Annie’s face lights up and it’s not from the donut (this time)

⁃ “Eh? Annie, what’s got you smiling?” Sasha says nervously chewing on her croissant at Annie’s surprised face

⁃ “Oh.” Annie’s face goes back to the typical stoic look “nothing, it’s just I know those people about to walk in” she gestures to a tall, muscular blonde man, a tall, brunette who is visibly sweating, a dirty blonde man with an undercut, and breathtaking black haired women with languid eyes and a perpetual soft smile

⁃ “Huh? How?” Mikasa looks up from her work and towards the girl sitting to her left shoulder, peeking a glance at the group about to walk in

⁃ “Eh, I went to Marley high school with them. I had a few classes with each of them throughout the years but never really interacted too much. They aren’t mean or anything— I just recognize them. I think they go to Liberio university” she says taking another bite of her donut

⁃ “Her names Pieck Finger” Annie said with a mouth full of donut directly at you “I’m guessing you were wondering” she smirks

⁃ Your face heats up. Did Annie notice you were staring at her?! Oh no… if Annie noticed… did this mean that Pieck girl also notice?!”

⁃ “No no” you laughed it off, “I wasn’t wondering I was just staring off into space!!”

⁃ This earns a chuckle out of Mikasa, she read you like a book

⁃ The Liberio squad orders as your little Paradis squad begins to pack up after being there for about hour and a half

⁃ “Annie?” The muscular blonde says from a few tables over

⁃ Annie lights up a bit at the seemingly familiar voice coming from behind her

⁃ “Reiner?” Annie walks over to the table as you, Mikasa, and Sasha continue to pack up

⁃ “Oh! These are my friends (Y/N), Mikasa, and Sasha. We usually come here almost everyday” annie says as each of you light up at the sound of your name

⁃ “Nice to meet you all! This is Bertolt, Porco, Pieck, and I’m Reiner”

You 4 wave to the Liberio 4 and you make direct eye contact with Pieck, she smiles softly at you

⁃ “It was nice seeing you all again, we were just on our way out” Annie waves to the group

⁃ “It was nice meeting you!” You, Mikasa, and Sasha say in unison

⁃ You made eye contact with Pieck once again before exiting

The next day

⁃ you text the group chat during your last class of the day “Ackersmiths?

⁃ Annie replies “Hitch nagged at me this morning claiming she deserves more attention so I'm taking her on a date tonight. ”

⁃ Mikasa replies “I’m being forced to meet Niccolo today😐”

⁃ “Okay so you all hate me😩I’ll go alone” you respond to the group chat

⁃ “Yeah that’s exactly what we mean (Y/N)😪😪😪” Sasha replies

⁃ “Yeah whatever.😫 I’ll be over later tonight and bring you guys your usuals if you want” you reply

⁃ “You’re a saint!🛐” Sasha says

⁃ “Sasha’s dorm as usual? I’ll be there around 8 o’clock” Annie says

⁃ “Perfect, I’ll see you guys then, i know you guys love me🥰🥰🥰🥰” you sent the text and began walking to Ackersmith’s

⁃ you walk in and greet Mr.Levi and Mr.Erwin like always “Mr. Leviiiiii! Mr. Erwin!!! It’s your favourite customer!”

⁃ “Oh? I didn’t see Sasha walk in though?” Erwin banters back as you walk towards the counter

⁃ “Yeah yeah, be glad or else you wouldn’t have any pastries left to sell today” you laugh “could I get the usual please?”

⁃ “Of course! I’ll have Levi bring it out to you in a second” Erwin beams and heads towards the machines

⁃ You begin to head to the table usually sit at when you aren’t accompanied by your usual gang but it seems to be taken

⁃ “Grandpa Arlert!?” You exclaim

⁃ Distracted by your excitement, that ethereal black haired Pieck, walks in and sits at a table closest to the entrance by the window. She instantly notices you chatting with (in her eyes) a random sweet old man

⁃ “(Y/N)!” He begins to get up

⁃ “How’s Armin doing? I haven’t heard much from him while he’s been in France but Mikasa tells me so much, maybe too much,  about Eren’s studies abroad”

⁃ “He’s doing well, I miss seeing you 4 all the time. I’m about to be on my way but come see me anytime kiddo” he pats you on the head

⁃ “I’ll come by this weekend okay Grandpa Arlert?” He nods as you sit down and pull out your computer

⁃ Pieck is gazing out the window but every now and then she glances at you. She can’t help but find you adorable when you focus on something— you furrow your brows a bit, squint, and bite your bottom lip

⁃ As Pieck is totally engrossed in your cute little studying quirks, she quickly averts her eyes and your head snaps in her direction as the entrance bells chimes and a couple walks in

⁃ You focus on the couple as the blonde one in a flowy pink dress pushes the stroller to nearby table and the taller brunette one in slacks and a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow goes to order (for the blonde one as well, you assume)

⁃ The gears in your head are shifting as you begin to figure out who the hell that couple could be as they are SO familiar to you

⁃ Then. A lightbulb! “Historia?!” You say to the women about three empty small tables away

⁃ (It’s a local favourite, how could you not see people you know here?)

⁃ (Y/N)?! You get up and start walking over to Historia’s table accompanied by a stroller

⁃ (Y/N)? The tall brunette walks over with a strawberry pastry and a plain croissant

⁃ “Ahh, Ymir!” You exclaim embracing her

⁃ “And who might this little one be?” You question while lovingly waving to inside the stroller which held a baby with dark hair, freckles, and bright blue eyes

⁃ Somehow(?) a perfect mix of Ymir and Historia

⁃ “This is baby Freida” (after her late sister) Historia grabs the about 7-month baby girl and gives her a kiss on her chubby cheek

⁃ “Sooo this is what you’ve guys have been doing since we left high school. I always wondered where you guys took off! You both completely went AWOL “ you chuckle while holding your index finger out as baby Freida grasps it

⁃ “Yeah, after high school I decided to take a gap year and Historia decided to become a CNA, I’m working on my realtor license” Ymir says taking a chomp out of the croissant

⁃ “I’m so happy for you guys! Seeing you guys and plus this cute little one just made my day. Could I hold her?” Your eyes looks as if they’ve been possessed by literal stars

⁃ “Of course!” Historia gingerly hands you baby Frieda and to your surprise, little Frieda giggles while you rub your cheek to the baby’s chubby one smiling

⁃ While this interaction is happening, Pieck has her eyes GLUED to you

⁃ Her heart is bursting at the seams right now. From seeing you interact with the sweet old man you refer to as Grandpa Arlert to you holding a cute ass child AH! Her heart IS exploding

⁃ It’s like she’s emitting a pink aura out of her body and little hearts are circling her as well

⁃ You hand baby Frieda back “it was nice chatting with you guys, text me if you guys are ever back in town!” And with that you retreat back to your original spot

⁃ Hyper focused on what you’re supposed to be doing on your screen you’re interrupted by Levi’s booming voice

⁃ “Hey brat, sorry it took so long. The blender got jammed, probably from all the stupid ice it took to make your dumb frappe”

⁃ “Also, you’re probably too oblivious to notice but, don’t look now, there’s a dark haired girl by the window who has been making googly eyes at you the moment she walked in”

⁃ (WINGMAN LEVI?!?!?!)

⁃ You nonchalantly glide your eyes over to where he was talking about and he referring to Pieck

⁃ THE PIECK FINGER from yesterday

⁃ Your face turns red as you grab the drink from Mr.Levi and begin to stutter

⁃ “I— uh-“

⁃ “Don’t think I didn’t notice your little interaction yesterday” he scoffs hiding a smirk

⁃ …is he referring to me staring at Pieck from the window????

⁃ (That sounds creepy but in an innocent young teen/adult puppy love way)

⁃ “If you’d like, I can send a drink over from you. She ordered the weirdest frappe-combo-shit yesterday so I remember it. It was a matcha frappe with strawberry purée and strawberry drizzle with matcha dusted on top of the whip cream…” he scoffed “but what do I know? I’m just an old married man”

⁃ WINGMAN MR. LEVI!!!!!!

⁃ “Yes! That would be perfect, I trust your gut Mr.Levi!” You hand him your card and he smiles as he begins to walk away

⁃ At this point you’re nervous. Yes you’re looking at your computer but you CANNOT think about anything else but how Pieck will react

⁃ Does she have a boyfriend? That (stupid) undercut guy?

- The tall sweaty guy?

⁃ Or maybe the muscular guy

⁃ No no, she looks too smart to date a meathead

- She seems too outgoing to date a super nervous guy

⁃ Or a seemingly fuckboy

⁃ But who am I to judge her preference?

-Is she even gay?

- She probably has a girlfri--

⁃ “Thank you for the drink” a sweet voice danced in between your clouded thoughts

⁃ You look up and you meet eyes with the one and only, Pieck

⁃ “May I sit here?” She gestures at the empty seat in front of you

⁃ (Mr. Levi’s plan worked?)

⁃ “Of course!” You shyly smile rubbing the back on your nape

⁃ “Your names (Y/N), right?” She took a sip of the drink

⁃ “Hmm.. Doing a bit of stalking I see. How’d you know my exotic drink of choice?” Those heavy words came out so smoothly you could barely react to the accusation

⁃ “Oh! Uh— no it’s not that” you instantly became flustered

⁃ The laugh she let out was so beautiful that it made you stop in your tracks

⁃ A bit of the puree was on her lips, which made them glossy and her head tilted back which let her flowy silky black hair waterfall off her shoulder

⁃ A bit of confidence shot through you

⁃ “Actually, a little birdy told ME that you were the one “stalking” and they decided I should do something to get your attention” you raised an eyebrow

⁃ Pieck’s angelic laughter came to an instant halt and her face become the same colour of the little bit of strawberry purée on her bottom lip

⁃ Now YOU were the one giggling at her reaction

⁃ “Don’t worry don’t worry! You waved your hands in a surrendering motion “in all honestly Mr. Levi said he saw you looking at me today and remembered your ..interesting.. drink from yesterday and also remembered about how I was looking at you when you walked in with your friends and suggested I send a drink over to you” you reassured

⁃ Oh shit

⁃ She giggled at how red your face got after realized what you had just told her

⁃ “Well if you’re going to be honest I will too, I thought you were the cutest thing yesterday. Today really solidified that thought because I mayyyy… have noticed you with that cute little baby” she gave you a languid smile fiddling with her hair nervously

⁃ Taken a bit aback from this

⁃ Are you hearing this correctly???

⁃ “Could I possibly get your number? Maybe later this week we could go on a proper date or something?”

⁃ “I’d love nothing more than that, (Y/N) she gives to the sweetest most genuine smiles there can be

After you exchanged phone numbers, you and Pieck spent about 2 more hours there talking about everything and yet nothing at the same time. You both shared pointless stories about each other’s upbringing, majors, fun stories about your mutual friend Annie, your own friends, and little sarcastic shots at one another here and there before walking her back to her dorm at Liberio University (about a 30 minute walk back to Paradis University)

She thanked you for the fun night by giving you a small peck on the cheek.

When you both returned to your assigned dorms

Pieck spent the night fangirling about you to Porco, Reiner, and a 4th year named Zeke

While you spent your night fangirling to Annie, Sasha, and Mikasa

“Oh (Y/N)!? Speaking about great things you find at the cafe, where’s the drinks? ” Sasha asked after your little spiel about Pieck

“Shit!”

Ackersmith Cafe has always held a special place in your heart but the love you’ve had for the place just got deeper.

sorry if the ending sucks but lmk your thoughts!!!!!! (:

- Kyah

[wrenhyperfixates]

I’m Here For You

Pairing: teen!Loki x female teen!reader (platonic) Summary: Loki comforts you when he finds you crying over school. Warnings: none :) A/N: Here you go nonny! In my head the reader has a tiny crush on Loki, but this can be read as an entirely platonic relationship. Hope you like it :)

Permanent Tag List: @lucywrites02​ @frostedgiant​ @lunarmoon8​ @twhiddlestonsstuff​ @lokistan​ @lowkeyorlokificrecs​ @gaitwae​ @whatafuckingdumbass​ @castiels-majestic-wings​ @kozkaboi​ @cozy-the-overlord​ @birdgirl90​ @myraiswack​ @mythicalgarlicknot​ @what-a-flammable-heart​ @marvelouslovely​ @laurenandloki​ @fallinallinmendes​ @sophlubbwriting​

Disclaimer: Gif not mine

Reincarnations were a pesky business, really. Loki had been through it more than enough times to know. Unfortunately, his latest one didn’t go exactly as planned, and he’d ended up a kid. It wasn’t all bad, though, as now he had happy childhood memories. He still had the old, haunting ones too, but he no longer viewed youth with nearly so much disdain.

For the past number of years, he’d been living in the Tower with Tony, who he called his uncle but really was more of a father to him than Odin ever was. Thor dropped in fairly often too, and their brotherly bond seems to have benefitted from the little reset Loki went through.

Life on Midgard was different than Asgard, especially when he wasn’t being raised as royalty. Admittedly, he enjoyed the more laid-back life. He took walks in the parks, hung out with friends, went to the mall, and attended school just like everyone else. Ok, maybe not exactly like everyone else, considering he did still have thousands of years of knowledge.

Anyway, he was in his last year of high school, with only a few months left before graduation. Most of the people he knew were obsessing over their next step in the journey of life: college. Not him, though. For once, he was living for himself, and decided to take a gap year. College would still be there after. That is, if he wanted to go at all. Again, he did still have his old memories, so maybe he’d never even feel the need to. Maybe he could just travel the world helping others or work with Tony in the lab. Either way, he wasn’t in any particular rush to figure it out.

Loki was about to head into the renowned Tower he called home when he swore he heard sobbing coming from somewhere. He shoved his keycard back into his messenger bag and walked around the small campus to where he thought the sound was coming from. Stopping in front of some bushes, he saw the outline of a girl hunched up into herself through the leaves. The young god cleared his throat to alert her of his presence, which prompted her to quickly stop making noise. Though, he still could see her body convulsing from the now stifled sobs.

Sighing, he sat on the ground. “Hey, is everything alright back there?” No reply. Maybe it was more than just embarrassment stopping them. Maybe they also weren’t supposed to be here. He decided to try to lighten the mood with some playfulness. “You know, Tony doesn’t mind people being on the campus, but I gotta warn you, he’s kind of cheap with tissues he buys. I’m thinking of getting a handkerchief. What do you think? Is it possible to make me look any dorkier than I already do?”

That earned him a light chuckle. “You don’t look dorky at all. Like ever.”

He startled and said your name, not having realized it was you back there, but recognized your voice. “Is that you? Hang on, I’m coming back.”

You were Stark’s newest prodigy intern. He’d started the program a few years ago, giving some kids an inside look and experience in the tech field. This year, your application had been chosen out of thousands. You were a bright teen, so it made sense to Loki. He’d talked to you a few times before, but the conversations were incredibly short as you were extremely shy, barely even lasting two full minutes. Still, he’d been sure to give you a wave and a smile when he came across you, but it didn’t really ever do anything to help you out of your shell.

After crawling through the greenery, he plopped down next to you in the small, squished space between the bushes and the building. You’d scooched over a little so there would be room for him. He hated the way you were still holding in your cries.

“It’s alright. Just let it all out, ok?” he hesitantly said. That seemed to be all the encouragement you needed before your tears took over again. Slowly, so you could pull away if you wanted to, Loki wrapped you in a hug. When you calmed down, for real this time, he finished rubbing a last few large circles on your back before pulling back a little to look at you. “Feeling better?”

You nodded. “Sorry.”

“Sorry?” he parroted back in question. His thumb caught one of the last tears trickling down your cheek. “Whatever for? There is no need to apologize for having emotions.”

“Your shirt,” you sniffled.

He looked down to see it was, in fact, wet from your tears. He just shrugged. “I’ve got more. Besides, it’ll dry.”

“Thank you,” you whispered.

“No worries, kid. Want to come in now? I could make you some tea or coffee or hot cocoa or whatever. Name it.”

“Can I have some cocoa? I-if it’s not too much trouble,” you mumbled, wiping your nose with the back of your hand.

“Of course! And you know I was kidding about the tissues, right?” he chuckled, fishing a pack out of his bag.

Once you’d cleaned yourself up a bit, the two of you crawled out from your hiding place, Loki offering his hand to help you stand. Then he led you up to the kitchen to get your drink. Tony would have had no problem with you using the kitchen—or any of the rooms in his home, really—but you were too nervous to overstep and never actually did. You were both seated with mugs of the thick, steamy, chocolaty liquid before Loki tried to find out what was wrong.

“So. What’s up?” he began.

“Oh, nothing. I’m fine,” you replied with a falsely bright smile.

“Kid, I know a thing or two about crying. You’re not fine.” You ducked your head in shame, and he was quick to clarify himself. “And that’s not a bad thing! You’re  human, you have human emotions. No one’s ok one hundred percent of the time. And... And you don’t have to talk about it, but maybe you should. It might make you feel better. So, if you want to, I’m here.”

“It’s stupid,” you shook your head with a wry laugh. Your lip was quivering, more tears threatening to spill. “School is stressing me out.”

“That’s not stupid, it’s how you feel. And, might I add, it’s perfectly understandable and valid. I mean, not only are you trying your best there, but you also come here every day for your internship. Norns, you must be freaking Supergirl or something.”

You chuckled at the colloquial from his home world. “I dunno about that now. It just... It seems like no matter what I do, I’m not good enough. I don’t have the best grades, or the most friends, or the prettiest looks, or the greatest anything, really. Ugh, it all just feels so pointless sometimes.”

“You know what? You’re right. It does all feel pointless. But it’s not. Don’t get me wrong, school doesn’t measure how smart you are; it measures how good you are memorizing stuff and taking tests. Which is incredibly frustrating! But it helps you explore some subjects and have fun with the friends you do have. The most important thing it does, though, is teach you perseverance. Like we said, school’s hard. But you keep trying, no matter what. And I see a smart, talented, beautiful young girl before me. Your feelings are valid, but don’t let them consume you. Trust me, you have a lot to be proud of.”

Loki picked at his nails while you stared at your mug, mulling over his words. He worried he said something wrong or overstepped in some way, but he’d been where you were not too long ago.

“Thank you,” you finally said. “I don’t think I can just fix everything overnight, you know? But what you said really does mean a lot.”

“You’re quite welcome,” Loki responded with a warm, friendly smile. He took a swig of his own drink, choosing his next words carefully. “No one should expect you to fix anything that fast. As long as you’re trying, you’re doing something right. A lot right, actually. You deserve breaks too. And if you ever need someone to vent to or whatever, I’m here.”

“Thanks again. And I’m here for you, too.”

He gave you a natural, lopsided grin as the two of you exchanged numbers. He was glad to see you were much more at ease, though still considerably shy with him. Still, he could imagine you becoming more bold as your friendship blossomed. You timidly ducked your head when Tony walked in.

“Oh no. You better not be turning her to the dark side,” Tony teased as he made himself a cup of coffee. “I’ve had enough pranks for a lifetime.”

“Relax, Uncle Tony. I haven’t recruited her for any mischief... Yet,” he joked back with a wink in your direction, causing you to giggle behind your hand.

“Whew, that’s a relief. Well, if you two aren’t plotting my untimely demise, feel free to head to the lab whenever you want, kid.”

“Actually, I’m good to go now, Mr. Stark.” You stood up and grabbed your bag from beside your chair where you’d left it earlier. “Bye, Loki. Talk soon! And, uh, thanks again.”

With one final smile, you scurried off to your destination. Loki smiled back and waved as you left, feeling some sense of hope and direction bloom in his chest. You’d given him an idea.

“Hey, Uncle Tony. I was thinking, how would you feel about another Stark Industries youth program?...”

[yandere-mha-blog]

Chapter 1: Boredom

Words: 2130

Boredom, Sure most people hated the feeling of fear the worst, or some people even hated the feeling of love. But you hated the feeling of boredom, so why you chose to take this excruciating lackluster lecture for your class was beyond you. You were tapping your nails against the desk scribbling down a few notes here and there, stuff you already knew. Why this college made you take classes that were so painfully basic was beyond your understanding, oh wait a second, money that's why.

“Hey (Name)?” your seatmate said to you

“Hmm?” you said

“Can I please see your notes? You always know the right stuff to write down,” she said

“Sure,” you said pushing your notes over a bit so she could get a better look at them

“Thank you.” She said, you nodded your head and kept listening to the drone of a lecture. Once it was finally done and over with you packed up your bags and were going to head to the courtyard.

“Man, that was boring. I don't know how you pay attention to this so well.” Your seatmate said

“I can’t really.” you said putting away your pencil case “Hope the notes help.”

“They will, hey you want to eat lunch together?” She asked

“Sorry but I like to eat alone,” you said

“Ohhh, okay we'll see you in class tomorrow (name).” she said and left, you followed suit and went to the vending machine, got a quick snack, and headed back to your dorm, the next class was in an hour and might as well relax a bit for the time being. You pulled out your phone to read the latest news.

Villain dubbed the Name NightHawk strikes again, police are looking for any leads.

“This guy again huh, he must be stalking this area.” you thought “Wonder how long he is planning to stay around this boring area.”

After looking at one too many cat videos you headed off to your next class, Mutation quirk and medication. With the wide range of quirks, there were many issues that could harm the quality of life. Studying to become a doctor sure did take a lot of work, even more work now that humans could have any range of growths, bumps, dry spots. Could that be a part of their quirk or is it a tumor that needs to be removed? This was one of the classes that interested you, the hands-on approach, if you didn't have a strong stomach you shouldn't take this class, takes you back to high school when you had to dissect a frog, then a squid, and who could forget the pig fetus. The teachers were not too thrilled that you used your quirk to open up the animals though and sent you to the counselor afterward.

Oh well

Drawing down the diagrams, your seatmate who you seem to have a lot of classes with looked over

“Man you are really good at drawing, can I take a photo?” she asked

“Sure,” you said

“You are a woman of few words huh.” she said, “but you are really nice (name).” “Thanks,” you said, trying to pay attention to the lecture, she must have gotten the hint and went back to her note-taking. Still with this being the last class of the day you were finally ready to take a nice hot bath and relax.

“So (name).” she said, “I was wondering if you want to come with me and a couple of friends tonight, we are getting some drinks.”

“Hm I don't know, I don't like getting drunk on a school night,” you said

“You have classes tomorrow?” She asked, sounding let down by that news, well not like you had anything else to do and maybe a couple of drinks with some people would curb your boredom a bit.

“Oh wait, today is Friday, I have tomorrow off.” you said “I don’t like to stay out too late, I'll still go just won't be there the whole time.”

“That's fine, I've been wanting to hang out with you, I'll pay as thanks for helping me with the notes.”

“Sounds good, which palace are we meeting up at?” you asked

“Oh, it's called cherry steam.” She said, “You know I just realized I never told you my name, it's Fumiko. Also, we are meeting there at six so in two hours

“Okay I'll meet you there,” you said and left, it had been a while since you went out so finally an excuse to wear that new dress you bought months ago, you didn’t get invited out often because most of your classmates thought of you as aloof so this was a nice treat.

So when you arrived outside Cherry Steam and it only hit you then that this was a mixer, and they were short a girl for this group of five men, just great. You sat at the end sipping away at your, you lost count, fruity drink as the guy across from you tried to make conversation.

“So uhm what are you in school for?” he asked

“Doctor, what about you?” you asked taking another sip

“Business major,” he said

“Is that so,” you said swirling the drink around your glass, god could this be any more painful, this guy was incredibly duel.

“So what's your quirk, not to brag but mine is really cool.” he said “I'm able to see behind my head with a third eye.”

“Huh that's neat, guess it must be hard for people to get the drop on you.” you said “My quirk has a habit to scare people off, so not sure if you can handle it.”

“OH come on you can show me,” he said, finally something interesting, so you held out your hand

“You sure you wanna know.” you teased

“Well now I can’t, not see it,” he said, as you flexed your fingers and your five-inch talons came shooting out of your nail beds, he jolted back. “Holy…”

“Told you.” you said taking another sip, this got the attention of the others “I'm able to flex my fingers and these talons come out.”

“Wow you could become a hero with those.” the other guy said as they looked over “can I touch them.”

“Only if you want to get cut,” you said putting your talons back in under your nail beds.

“Does it hurt when they pop out like that?” another guy asked

“Not really.'' You said, as you continued to have the conversation with these guys, you didn't notice the other girls getting a little pissed off by the lack of attention they were getting. Till Fumiko tapped your shoulder

“Hey, I need to go to the restroom. Can you come with me?” she asked

“Sure, I don't mind,” you said getting up and walking out of the booth and following her, only for her to stop outside

“(name) I'm glad you are having fun but the other girls came here as well, can you dial it down a bit?” she asked, you were now confused

“Dial what down?” you asked

“You are flirting with all of them.”She said, “So can you just, you know tone down the flirting a bit.”

“...I think I should leave,” you said

“(name) wait that's not what I meant.” She said

“Look it's getting late anyway I wasn't planning on staying out past ten.” you said “I want to make a scene I’ll just leave so you can all have fun.”

You walked back to the booth and grabbed your purse slinging it over your shoulder.

“Heyy where are you going?” the guy asked

“It's gotten late.” you said “I need to head back, thanks for the drinks.”

“Awwww, what lame.” Another guy said

“Maybe another time, bye-bye.” you said and left the booth, Fumiko came back

“Fumiii your friend left, I didn't even get her number.”

“Hey who said you would be the one getting her number?”

“Hey who said, who said you would be getting her number!” his other friend yelled at him, they started fighting amongst themselves they didn't see their other guy friend leave, till Fumi looked

“Hey didn't we have an extra guy just now?” she asked

“Hey, where is Akio?” His friend said, “That lousy bastard ditched us.”

Well, at least now we have a perfect amount of people.” One of the girls Fumiko brought said

“Greta another round then!”

You were walking down the street rather pissed off, first, she tells you it was just a couple of drinks, not the fact it was a mixer, and that they needed another woman to come. Secondly, the second that they start paying attention to you, they get all pissed off. You never understood people as you kept walking down the street in a huff letting people know to stay out of your way.

“Hey (name).” you hear a males voice oh it is one of the guys

“Huh what are you doing here?” you asked, man you felt drunk this is why you didn't drink you can't handle your booze.

“You just left all of a sudden, you okay?” He asked

“I'm fine, I'm fine, you can go back to your friends now,” you said your words were a bit slurred but you could make it home by yourself

“It's no fun when there isn't the same amount of men and women, here let me walk you home.” He said, and oh no you knew what that meant with these guys

“NO need, I can take care of myself,” you said and kept walking, he must have not gotten the hint because he kept walking behind you, before putting his arm over your shoulder

“You are stumbling let me help,” he said

“I told you I am fine,” you said slinging his arm off and kept walking, you just wanted to get away from this guy, there was a shortcut you thought not thinking correctly as you tried to lose him.

“Hey (Name), can you just listen to me, I'm just trying to be nice,” Akio said grabbing your wrist

“I don't want you to be nice, I want you to let me go before I cut you.” You said as he grabbed your other wrist.

“You won't be able to cut me if you can't move your hands.” he said, his tone shifting yup he was getting violent “You do have such an amazing quirk you know.” “Let me go already.” You said struggling before you flexed your fingers and pointed them down to stab him in the arms

“AGH YOU BITCH.” He yelled pulling back his arm and you booked it down the alley shortcut, you could hear him chasing after you. When he grabbed the back of your dress and yanked you into his chest.

“What's this, a lovers quarrel?” you heard someone else's voice, having no idea where it was coming from “You know women don't like pushy guys.” “Who the fuck said that?” Akio said not letting go of you

“I did up here.” the voice said with a whistle, and you looked up to see a man who looked around your age on fire escape legs dangling down as he was eating take out.

“This doesn't concern you,” Akio said, as you kept trying to crack loose, Akio was freaking out and now this strange man was just watching on.

“It kinda does, because here I am trying to enjoy some take out after a long day and now I see some brute manhandling someone who isn't interested.” He said as a can of coffee hit Akio on the head, not even in front of the direction the man was in. Akio must have thought it was not worth it and shoved you down and ran for it.

“Yeesh what a load of work.” The man said, “You good down there.”

“I'm… fine,” you said trying to gather your thoughts as you got up, great you skinned your knee, the man got up on his feet and looked down.

“I saw that you have a pretty neat quirk.” He said, “ Reminds me of bird talons.”

“Most people say cat paws.” you said getting up, was this guy trying to lift your spirits or something “I really wasn't thinking while coming down here, do you know the way out?”

“Yup, strength down that way to the left, wouldn't recommend going that way,” he said pointing the direction Akio booked it at.

“Thank you,” you said grabbing your purse and walking down, As the man looked in the direction Akio came to. Before an arrangement of red feathers came out from hiding in the alleyway and attached to his back, he had one more thing to do.

[twiistedgalaxies]

Three Times Jaskier Didn’t Seem Quite Human

(And one time Geralt asked too many questions.)

      “Jaskier isn’t human,” Yennefer stated bluntly, swishing a wine glass in her right hand.

      Geralt blinked, “What?”  This gave Yennefer pause. She knew that her on and off again lover was oblivious, but she hadn’t realized it was quite to this extent. Jaskier gave her a pained, pleading look from the other end of the table. She ignored him.

      “You seriously haven’t noticed?” she continued with a huff.

      “...No?” Geralt’s brows furrowed together in confusion. The nerve of these idiots. Yennefer had half a mind to just state the obvious, to keep these two from continuing to dance around the subject, possibly until the end of time.

      But it was much more fun to gently direct Geralt to the answer and watch his bard squirm. Yennefer took a sip of her wine, mentally cursing her high alcohol tolerance, “You’ve been travelling with the man for decades,” Geralt’s face was blank, the puzzle pieces not fitting into place, “He hasn’t aged, Geralt.”

      “That doesn’t mean anything,” he protested, though from the way his eyes shifted towards his companion he was clearly thinking it over. If they were not at such a high profile party Yennefer would have strangled him. He opened his mouth to say something else, but it was at that exact moment that Jaskier decided to pick up his lute and perform for the crowd - granted, it was what he had been invited to do, but Yennefer sent him a withering glare anyways. She was met with a cheeky wink. Oh if looks could kill. 

      “I could prove it to you, you know? A few well placed detection spells and-”

      Geralt shook his head, “He’ll tell me when he’s ready.”

      “You two are hopeless,” Yennefer sighed.

-@~*^*~@-

      It had been after a particularly difficult hunt, when Jaskier had to dress his companion’s wounds for the umpteenth time. Geralt sat upon a stool in the center of their tiny room at the inn. He looked more irritated than usual as Jaskier gave him what was essentially a sponge bath around where a kikimore had stabbed his shoulder with one of it’s spindly arms. Jaskier winced, it was too close to important organs for comfort. Humming as he worked, Jaskier tried to stitch shut what he could and thoroughly bandage the rest. The wolf medallion on Geralt’s chest thrummed contentedly each time the bard’s delicate hands drew near.

      “Where did you learn?” he asked suddenly, his gruff voice cutting through the peaceful quiet.

      “Hm?” Jaskier hummed, ignoring the Witcher’s grunt of pain as he applied one of his many salves to his shoulder, “You’re going to have to be more specific than that, dear.”

      “The salves, the stitching, all of it,” Jaskier raised an eyebrow at that, but Geralt continued, “It’s a very odd skill for a bard to have.”

      A laugh, Geralt had to bite back a hiss as Jaskier’s touches grew less gentle. He clearly wanted him to drop it. “What? Do you think that I was helpless before you came along with your bulging muscles and witchery glares?”

      The witcher shook his head, silver hair sending droplets of water in the air, “No it’s not that,” the bard had certainly proved capable and skilled many times over, “It’s just, were you a healer before you became a bard?”

      Jaskier froze, seemingly caught in a memory, “Something like that,” he began to bandage Geralt’s shoulder, “This kikimore did quite the number on you, didn’t it?”

      Geralt gave him a look of disbelief because obviously.

      “Come on, come on, give me the details, I can’t write my ballads off of just grunts and intrusive questions now can I?”

-@~*^*~@-

      Jaskier had tagged along on what was supposed to be a minor contract. Nilfgaard had stormed a small town, leaving destruction and countless corpses in their wake. Corpses that were perfect for every Alghoul in a three mile radius. 

      He and Geralt were engaged in their usual banter (which consisted mostly of Jaskier rambling about whatever was on his mind, punctuated with the occasional grunt from his witcher), when a sudden, piercing screech rang through the air. It was high pitched, shrill, and caused Jaskier to clutch his head as he let out a groan of pain. 

      Meanwhile, Geralt immediately leapt into action, drawing his silver sword as a pack of the necrophages surrounded them. He was able to take out several, his sword and the ghouls creating a smooth, gory dance. It all seemed to be going well before an Alghoul caught Geralt off guard, leaping onto his back while extending its spines. This sent Geralt off balance, and he was quickly overwhelmed. His sword got knocked out of his hands in the scuffle and he thought that this, however stupid it may be, would be what would kill him. 

      A cry of rage. Slashing, tearing. Suddenly the weight that was dragging Geralt to the ground grew lighter. He felt something wet and sticky. Geralt looked up to see Jaskier standing over him, holding Geralt’s silver sword, out of breath, and covered in Alghoul viscera.

      The bard looked down at himself, annoyance on his admittedly handsome features, “That was my favorite tunic too!” The tunic in question, once baby blue (like his eyes which were now flashing gold, what the fuck?) was now stained red and black. Jaskier brushed a bit of entrails off his shoulder, visibly disgusted.

      “Huh?” Geralt said, intelligently.

-@~*^*~@-

      The pair was making their way north, Jaskier strumming on his lute and Geralt sat atop Roach. The dirt road was a tunnel bordered by a wall of towering trees, whose orange and red canopies blocked out the sun, casting the duo in dappled shade. 

      Jaskier strummed a few chords in the major key, before he spoke, “Geralt, are you doing alright?” His face was soft and forget-me-not eyes distant like they often grew when he was lost in thought. Geralt shot him a confused look. “It’s just that, you’ve seemed rather distracted lately.”

      “Hm?”

      “I,” Jaskier sighed, collecting himself, “It’s just with the kikimore and the alghouls, and just last week when you forgot your potions in Roach’s saddlebags. I’ve never seen you get like this before, what’s going on?”

      “It’s nothing.” Geralt replied, gaze sliding to anywhere but his bard.

      Jaskier reached up, intertwining his lithe fingers with Geralt’s own, “I’m worried about you, Love.”

      Geralt huffed, he could never resist the man’s pouting lips and puppy-dog eyes, “Yen and I had a conversation at that party a few months ago.”

      He felt the bard tense, “Is that so?” There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them. Jaskier must have realized Geralt, man of few words that he is, wasn’t going to elaborate any further, so he spoke, “What did you two talk about?”

      “She said you aren’t human and I just thought about it more and… it makes too much sense,” Geralt began, feeling awkward as he tried to find the words to explain, “The way you don’t age, your medical knowledge (even of witcher potions!), how you know your way around a sword and how your eyes gleamed-”

      “Geralt, as you know I have an impeccable skincare routine and-”

      He frowned, “Don’t give me that shit, bard.”

      Jaskier sighed, “You really want to know?” A nod. “Okay, well, here goes nothing.” The bard let go of the witcher’s hand, and pulled off a golden ring that, now that Geralt thought about it, he had never seen the man without. A shimmer fell over the bard’s body, like a statue being unveiled. The first thing Geralt noticed was his eyes, they were a sickening, piercing yellow. His face was marred by countless scars, from claws, burns, knives, and magic. Jaskier’s build underneath the glamour more closely resembled Geralt’s, though he retained his shorter stature. The bard smiled sardonically at the witcher’s shocked expression, “Like what you see?”

      Geralt’s mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again, “How?”

      “You’d probably know me better as Julian,” Jaskier’s eyes got that distant look to them again, his face was downcast, an unusual expression for someone who typically embodied sunshine, “I was in the Griffin school, before we were attacked,” a joyless laugh, “I had never wanted to be a witcher, ya know? Wasn’t cut out for it. But my father, Viscount Pankratz himself, couldn’t pay a witcher for his contract, so he offered me up instead. I failed as a noble, so maybe I wouldn’t fail as a witcher. He was wrong, of course, I spent most of my time writing poems instead of studying Signs. Singing instead of sparring. After the trials I spent a few years on the path before I grew sick of it and returned to Kaer Seren.”

      Geralt hummed, encouraging Jaskier to continue.

      “I was made to look after the students, I had to patch up their wounds and keep them from blowing themselves up with alchemy. I loved the little rascals, which is why..” Jaskier trailed off, fingers tracing the grooves in his lute.

      “It’s okay,” Geralt said, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

      He shook his head hurriedly, “No, no I want to, I have to,” his voice cracked, “I left after the trials killed them. All of them. I couldn’t bear to be a part of it. A part of everything. So I ran, like a coward,” He spat out that last word like a curse.

      The pair stopped. Geralt placed his gloved hand on the bard’s shoulder, a rare gesture of affection and reassurance.

      “Eventually, I found a mage and spent my life’s savings on a well-made glamour and the lute the elves at Posada so lovingly destroyed. It wasn’t until I had graduated from Oxenfurt that I found out what happened in Kaer Seren.”

      “Why didn’t you tell me?” Geralt asked, his voice gentle.

      Jaskier’s face flushed red with shame, “I was afraid. Afraid of what you would think of me. That you’d hate me.”

      Geralt frowned, “I don’t hate you. I could never hate you.”

      At that, Jaskier laughed, “Just look at me! I’m an ugly fuck-up.”

      “No,” Geralt said resolutely.

      “Huh?”

      “I said no. Do you know how many times you’ve saved my life? Made long nights on the path easier to bear? I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for you,” Geralt continued, looking Jaskier directly in the eyes. He didn’t reply to that, just slipped his ring back on and hugged his arms to his chest.

      The rest of the day’s journey was spent in silence.

A/N:  I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment, I love hearing feedback. I had one hell of a time writing this, I originally had only written the first scene, and it took a few months for my single window's screensaver brain cell to finally hit a corner and figure out how to continue and finish the story.

Ao3

[dramatic-squirrel]

Damianette December Day 2- Swordplay

I’ll apologize in advance for the duel scene. I’m mostly just taking a stab in the dark when it comes to writing action, in particular fight scenes, but at least I try.

@daminette-december2019-2020 “Are you really okay with teaching me Kagami?”

“Of course Marinette. I would not offer my help half-heartedly only to change my mind at the last moment. Besides, you are determined to learn and already naturally talented at fencing, it would a shame if you did not learn.”

The two girls faced each other, each with a rapier in their hands. The park was oddly quiet despite the perfect day. And it was the day Marinette was finally going to learn to fence. Swordsmanship wouldn’t be much help with her yo-yo, but if she ever became Lady Noire again, she wanted to be prepared.

“We’ll start with the first position, en garde.” Marinette mirrored Kagami’s position as best as she could. “Not too bad, but you’ll want to angle your back foot at a bit more until it’s at a 90° angle from the front foot, Make sure your weight is balanced.” Marinette shifted to correct her position. “Yes, that’s satisfactory. Adrien has already told me from your first match with him that you’re footwork is already very good, so we will start with parrying. I’ll attack first.”

And so they spent the next couple of hours practicing in the park. Obviously, Kagami won most of the matches but, Marinette managed to get a few lucky points in, surprising the Olympic fencer. 

It just so happened as they were practicing however that someone who knew Marinette recognized the pair and made their way over. 

“Hey Pixie, what’re you doing here?” The voice stopped Marinette during the match, letting Kagami get the point.

“Jason! Why are you in Paris? It’s good to see you again!” It was the first time she had seen him ever since they first met almost a year ago. “You said you had to head back to Gotham to take care of some family business. Did you finish?”

“Uh… yeah. In fact, I’m in Paris for some more business, this time with the rest of my family.” He looked at the foils that each girl was holding. “Are you a fencer? Is that what you’re doing out here?”

She was a bit embarrassed at being called a fencer, she could hardly say she had enough experience to be called a fencer. “Actually, I’m just a beginner. My friend, Kagami, is teaching me. Oh right, I didn’t introduce you too. Jason, this is Kagami Tsurugi,” she pulled the girl forward. “And Kagami this is Jason. He came by the bakery a lot when he was staying in Paris back in October last year. He managed to help out a bit with some of the more rude customers when my mom was out of the shop.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jason.” Kagami turned to Marinette. “Would you like to stop here for today, we’ve already been at it for some time.”

“Sure, we can get some orange juice from the bakery after we pack up too.” Except before they could start packing up, Jason stopped them.

“Actually, before you leave, would you be interested in helping me take one of my brothers down a peg?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

About a week later they met back up in the park. This time, Adrien joined Marinette and Kagami and Jason brought along someone who could only be his brother. He was about their age although he seemed more serious than any high school student should ever look. 

Apparently, he was also very good at every style of swordsmanship, including fencing. Which is why Jason dragged Marinette into this. He wanted them to fight and, assuming she won, would ‘humble’ his brother. At first, she didn’t want to participate in the whole debacle but, Jason did make it seem like his brother, Damian was really rude to everyone else in their family because of some superiority complex and she really hated people who looked down on others.

Of course, this plan would only work if she could beat him in a fencing duel, and she doubted that that would happen anyway. Jason said he saw a bit of her practice match with Kagami and that if she really was a beginner, she was naturally talented (She wouldn’t tell him that it was really her miraculous giving her a cheat ability.

Although the only reason she was chosen for this role instead of Kagami was that Kagami was too recognizable as a famous fencer. Marinette’s advantage would be her natural reflexes that have been honed by her superhero duties, the stupid amount of luck she gained from wielding the ladybug miraculous, and the fact that her opponent was bound to underestimate her capabilities.

So, here they were, taking a part in Jason’s plan. His utterly ridiculous plan, as Chloe would say. Without a word, Marinette took up a position on one side her lack of enthusiasm showing. On the other side, Damian, clearly annoyed and unwilling to be there, took up a position at the other side facing her.

“Let’s get this over with quickly. I don’t know why I have to duel an amateur like you but, I’ll make sure to take it easy so as not to completely crush your pride.” Those were the first words he spoke to her. And while she agreed that he would probably win, his attitude was more than a little infuriating.

“Bold words for someone who hasn’t won yet.” She raised an eyebrow at him, thinking about the way Kagami might act in the same situation. Suddenly, her determination to win was surging. He looked back at her a bit stunned at the change in her demeanor. But, he still held confidence in his ability to win. So, when Kagami calls en garde, he was not entirely prepared for her attack.

She wasn’t going to wait for him to take the right of way, so she lunged at him with the foil. Taken aback by her sudden move forward, he parried her foil just in time and moved to riposte, unfortunately for him, she was too quick, and she managed to disengage before he could scour a point. Recovering back to the en garde position, she back down a bit to see what he would do next.

Damian took the opportunity to also recover back to the en garde position and analyze the situation. Marinette was fast, faster than one would normally expect from a beginner, implying previous experience with fighting but, that could be any number of things. She could gain quick reflexes from learning any number of martial arts or sports. He would either have to be faster than her or catch her off guard. 

He feinted to her right before going to attack her left side, yet it didn’t work. She didn’t fall for the feint and when he made his move against her, she was ready to parry. Deflecting the blade, she advanced forward, and, attacking from the slight angle below that her short stature afforded her, she came from under his blade and jabbed him with the point of the foil, ending the match. 

If Jason’s plan was to embarrass him, he managed to fail. Rather than embarrassed, Damian was in awe that this petite girl actually managed to beat him at a match. He acknowledged that if she had fallen for the feint then she wouldn’t have been able to block his attack and then he would have won the advantage but, either she was incredibly lucky or incredibly skilled at managing to see through the feint.

He just stood there for a while, making Marinette concerned that he may be in too much shock. “Are you alright, Damian?” she waved a hand in front of his face. He blinked in response finally showing some emotion. 

Except he still seemed out of it. He was mumbling to himself but it was loud enough that Marinette was still able to hear it and blush at what he said. “I think I’m in love.”

Jason started laughing out loud when he saw Marinette’s face go up in flames. He had a fairly good idea of what Damian had said if she was reacting like that. And so did Adrien. 

Adrien made his way up to them and, leaning against Marinette’s shoulder, spoke to Damian. “She’s free tomorrow at 12. She’ll meet you near the Canal Saint-Martin. Make sure you be there or you’ll have half of Paris ready to hunt you down.” 

“Adrien!” she whacked his side in annoyance. “Don’t just make plans for me.” His only response was to raise an eyebrow at her and she admitted defeat. “Well… thank you anyway, I’d probably be stumbling over my words for the next three months otherwise.” she turned to talk to Damian who was still a bit shocked over everything happening. 

“If you’d like, we can hang out tomorrow. We didn’t really start with the best impression of each other but, first impressions can be misleading, right Adrien? Kagami?” she nudged his side and then looked at the girl who seemed like an ice queen but was really sweet. “I’d love to get to know you better while you’re staying in Paris. What do you say?”

He finally managed to understand what was going on and, to say he was out of his depth was an understatement, but he knew his decision immediately. “I would love to accompany you tomorrow. It’s a date?”

She smiled at him. “Yeah, it’s a date.”

[snapefiction]

Can I request a Snape x Reader where the reader gets pregnant and reveals her pregnancy in the form of a Christmas gift, maybe some cute baby kittens? 🥺 absolutely love your work, and thought to keep it christmassy!

A/N: Thank you so much for your compliment and for this cute request! I hope you like the way this one turned out! ❤️

❤️ Please remember that English isn’t my native language and that my Writings will include Mistakes and maybe weird formed sentences. ❤️

Word count: 2189

Warnings: Mentions of throwing up, Swearing

Due to your Job at the tea shop at Diagon alley you always got very busy around the Christmas Holidays. Starting at the end of November the Wizards, Witches, goblins and a lot of more magic beings started to flood the small shop only to get the best tea in whole England, atleast that's what Severus your longterm boyfriend called it. Severus was a Potions Professor at Hogwarts one of the most popular schools for magic. The two of you met around 6 years ago when he ran into your shop only to get a bag of tea. He was very late and you actually already had closed but when your gaze met his you fell for him. That's why you let him in your shop after closing time to buy the last pack of peppermint tea. On the Next day he came back early in the morning as the first costumer of the day only to buy some more tea. This continued two weeks long until he had every variation of tea at his kitchen and finally dared to ask you out. Since then the both of you have been inseparable. The both of you never fought- you always somehow agreed with each other on every topic. Even though he might be a little older than you are, eleven years to be exact, he always shared your opinions. 

That's why you knew exactly what to get for Severus on Christmas and what not. To bring more happiness into the small house at Spinners end the both of you always thought about adopting a cat. At first Severus was a little bit skeptical but when he saw that little kitten at the animal shelter in Cokesworth he fell in love with a little lady named Ally. He was crazy about her and you had never seen him this happy about something before. Because the Owls approached shortly before Christmas this year and you couldn't take some time off before the 24th of December you had to decide that Ally would move in with you the day after Christmas. It wouldn't be fair to her if she, as she was only a kitten yet, would've to stay at home all alone all day long. That's why you decided to wait which seemed to be the best solution for everyone.

Anyways. Today was the 16th of December and only after two hours after your shift started your feet started to hurt. This usually only happens short before your shift ended at 7 Pm but not at 2Pm. Not thinking anything about it you kept working and selling everyone the most variously teas in town. But it wasn't until a few hours later as you noticed how the smell of Vanilla almost made you choke. It turned from one of your favourite smells into your worst nightmare. Thinking about enchanting the damn box of vanilla tea you got more and more stressed out by every minute.

,,Is everything alright Y/N?" Your co-worker and chef Kim asked as she passed you a cup of tea. Curious she raised her brows.

,,Yes, I'm alright. Just caught a Cold or something." Smirking she nodded and you knew that she probably thought of completely other things.

,,Or maybe it's because you are all my cupcakes, dear." She now said in a bit huffing tone only to show you the empty plate as an evidence sign.

,,I'm sorryyy- they're just so great." Rolling her eyes Kim now sat down next to you. ,,I know. That's why you stole them the last few weeks from the fridge."

,,I'll get you new ones tomorrow, I promise." Chuckling you grabbed a cookie from your lunchbox before taking another sip of your tea.

,,I really hope so. Or else I have to ask Severus for a Potion that could make you hate Cupcake or I don't know.. enchant them or something. He's probably more intelligent than I am when it's about inventing spells and potions." She mumbled while browsing through a new catalog of tea ingredients and jars. The day went by without any further events and you almost couldn't wait anymore until Severus would come back home in less than 8 days by now.

Waking up in the morning you knew something wasn't right. Your stomach turned around and you barely made it to the toilet until the cupcakes and cookies from yesterday and the tea made their way up your throat again. This couldn't be happening. It was the most important time of the year for the shop and you just couldn't get sick right now. Somehow, even though you were 25 Minutes late, you still made it to the tea shop where a stressed out Kim was awaiting you.

,,Y/N! Thank Merlin you're here! I though you wouldn't come at all." Shaking your Head You silently took her place at the cashbox so she could do her job. As the lunchtime came around and you got to close the shop for round about 30 Minutes Kim wasn't waiting long until pressuring you to another smalltalk again.

,,Why do you look so sad? Did you forgot the Cupcakes or something?" Her Face was tensioned as the thought of not getting her loved cupcakes again.

,,They're in the fridge." You sighed before rubbing your eyes and leaning back against the wall. Watching her hovering above the plate of cupcakes you had to talk to her. ,,Sorry for being late. I just- I had to throw up all morning long. It's a nightmare." Holding a Cupcake in her hand the pink haired woman who was also somehow your best friend now listened closer to what you said.

,,Let's hope You're not pregnant, I wouldn't be able to lead the shop without you." She mumbled and bid into the sweet bakery in her hand. ,,Maybe it's just something about your Period coming up. PMS or so what."

,,I don't know. I can't even remember my last Period." You joked innocently, bid into a cupcake as well only to almost spit it out a few seconds after. Kim's eyes widened as well.

,,No way!" She said now putting the cupcake aside. ,,No fricking way!" Kim now gasped and held her hand above her mouth. You instantly realised that you couldn't remember your last period because you didn't had one. Wiping your mouth with a paper towel that Kim just gave you you rethought the last few months. The last time you really remembered your period was around October. October?! ,, Don't Play jokes on me!" She almost squeaked jumping happily up and down. If you really were pregnant she'd always of course support you and Severus. Wait- Shit- you had to tell Severus! But you didn't even made a test yet. Was it even necessary? Of course it was necessary. Looking back at Kimberly you just noticed how she had been talking to you all the time.

,,You know what, Sweety? You will take some time off today. I'll get Sarah to help me out and you can things get figured out, ok?"  Just nodding easily you couldn't be happy just yet but just worry. If you were pregnant you were sure that Severus would be a lovely father but what about you? Are you ready to be a mom? A good mom the child of someone like Severus would deserve? And even worse if you weren't pregnant, would you feel sad or relieved? Would Severus even like to have kids with you? Your thought were so busy to rethink everything that you got out of words when you sat at the bathroom on the rim of the bathtub holding up the potion Kim just handed you and thinking about the Muggle pregnancy test you also got which were also about to tell you if you were expecting a baby or not.

,,And how do I use the potion?" You had asked Kim on the phone.

,,You have to spit in it and maybe shake it a little bit. If it turns red you're not pregnant." She said as her curiosity almost made her jump through the phone but you just hung up while still being shocked. Doing as she said you spit in the small jar, mixing it up with the fluid in it and shaking it. As you sat it down on the counter you buried your face in your hands. This was nerve wrecking! And a few seconds later you had your results.

24th December You had set up the Christmas Tree by yourself and already made Dinner so you and Severus could relax as soon as he would arrive late at the evening. Also you managed to pick up Ally earlier then planned due to Kim telling you to stay at home until Severus would be back again. The last few days you were so nervous it was stealing your sleep. Not being able to relax you sat on the couch watching Ally sleep in her small basket. Only when you heard the Keys turn in the lock you felt like some weight fell off your shoulders.

,,Y/N, love. I'm home." Your tall Boyfriend instantly went looking for you. Pulling you close to kiss you he softly hummed against your lips- you missed him so much! After he let go of you he instantly kneeled down to pet Ally. ,,She's so cute, isn't she?" Nodding he looked up to you. ,,She's a baby!" His voice was so high pitched it made you chuckle instantly. He was a strict man and seeing him becoming so excited about this tiny kitty was just too cute. As he got himself to let go of her he took off his jacket and sat down on the couch next to you. He always enjoyed slowly arriving at home just spending the first few moments with you but you were just too tensed. ,,Ready for Dinner?" You quickly pressed. Before Severus could answer you already hurried to the Kitchen.

The Dinner went on surprisingly unproblematic. He talked about the so very ugly Christmas sweater he got from Minerva and how he gave her some pink socks in return. To his disadvantage she loved the socks and wasn't upset or anything at all. They loved getting themselves the ugliest Presents they found so they could watch the other one being teased. Last year he got her the Biography from Lockhart- ohh she was raging about this one! ,,I'm never ever going to wear that ,thing'. Anyways, your presents are always the bests. I can't wait to see what you got me." He said before downing the last bite of chicken down with some wine. Smiling nervous you just nodded getting up to wash the plates. ,,Y/N, let me do that after we unwrapped our gifts." He smiled and kissed your neck softly.

Your legs felt like they would collapse any second that's how nervous you were by now. How would he react? Well, you were about to find out.

Sitting next to each other at the couch he smiling gave you another kiss. ,,What's bothering you so much?" He whispered against your lips and you knew your cover has been blown. His hands carefully petted the small kitty who just walked over his legs to lay down on your lap.

,,I'm just nervous that you maybe won't like my present. That's all." And by that you gave him the small box form below the tree.

,,I'm sure i will love the present as much as I love you." His smile was as wide as could be but as he opened the lid of the box and it discovered the small cat plushie, the potion you used to discover your pregnancy and a small baby body in the colours of Slytherin it faded. He was staring at it not believing his eyes. ,,What does this mean?" You opened your mouth but no words left your mind.

,,Y/N, if you're just joking - that's - that's not funny." He said now suddenly vulnerable and his eyes started to glistening. ,,I'm pregnant, Sev." You mumbled trying to hide your Face behind your hair. He suddenly breathed out and he hugged you tight.

,,I'm going to be a father?" Getting up while still hugging you he spun you around. Chuckling you noticed how all your worries weren't important at all. The relief was knocking all your doubts down. Looking at Severus you couldn't help it but cry - he was so very happy.

,,You're going to be the best father ever." ,,And you the best Mom. I knew that your present would be the best!" Letting you down you both sat down again. Instantly Severus hand found their way to your stomach trying to feel any type of Life.

,,Well, I have to admit that the new teacup I got for you isn't as good as your surprise. But I hope you still like it. I never thought I’d become a father myself- that’s so great!“ And again you kissed him being happy about the changes and the new members of your family. The both of you couldn't be happier!

Taglist: @deepperplexity , @monstreviolet , @wow-life-love4

Let me know if you want to be added in my Taglist. :)

[fruityutas]

wild | l.yy

yangyang x gn!reader

not proofread

genre ~ best friend!au, pining, one-sided love, angst, happyish ending

wc ~ 1.9k

warnings ~ cursing? uhh mentions of food, and ofc the angst lol

synopsis ~ yangyang would always be your best friend, but a person in love can only take so much before their breaking point

note ~ based on troye sivan’s song wild, and part of the blue neighbourhood series

taglist ~ @du0tine , @badwithten​ , @softsungchan​

the school year was coming to an end, and that meant summer was beginning. liu yangyang, your best friend, was raving on about all the plans he had for you two. you were barely listening, focusing more on him than what he was saying. you’d liked yangyang since middle school, and that was seven years ago. now seniors in high school, he still didn’t know. you honestly did plan on keeping it that way, but plans get spoiled all the time don’t they?

“hey, are you even listening?” yangyang snaps you out of the fantasy land in your head. “uh, yeah you were talking about… uh the water park?” he rolls his eyes. “no. but good guess, you doofus.” times like this made your heart pound. he was so close to you, staring into your soul. it made the butterflies erupt in your stomach. it was getting harder to avoid your feelings for him, the past seven years building them up. “should we get some ice cream? i heard this new place across town is really good.” you nod in agreeance and get up, dusting yourself off. “c’mon we can go in my car.” you both walk the short route to his house before he drives you to the shop. the hot air signaling the first breath of summer in your quaint town. the bell to the shop rings its sweet tune to alert of any customers coming in. yangyang races ahead of you and begins his order, turning to you after he finished. “i can get mine, it’s fine.” “if you don’t order right now-” you punch him in the arm before stepping up to the counter. “one scoop of mint choco in a cone please.” the worker makes quick work, and soon you’re stepping back outside into the humid air with cones in hand.

cause there’s still too long till the weekend, too long till i drown in your hands. too long since i’ve been a fool.

harboring your feelings for yangyang was hard, especially since he always looked so kissable. you hated yourself for not acting on your feelings. every time he talked about a girl, it broke a piece of your heart. you knew he didn’t like you back, and you tried to accept that. still, loving someone who could never love you back in the way you wanted was painful. everything about the world around you reminded you of him. almost every second of free time was spent with him, and when you were younger, you made a pact with each other. “i solemnly swear that we’ll always be best friends.” you smiled at the memory of you sitting with him in your backyard, sweaty from a game of tag, muttering the words to each other. if keeping yangyang in your life meant being hurt from this one-sided love, then you would hurt for the rest of your life. he meant so much to you and throwing that away was out of the question.

you’re driving me wild, wild, wild.

the first month of summer, yangyang kept his promise of hanging out with you, but he met someone during that time. she was everything you wanted to be to him. delicate face, soft voice, amazing personality. to say you were jealous was an understatement, every waking moment of the day you wanted to despise her so much, but it was impossible. she was perfect in every way. the days went on and yangyang would still hang out with you, but he would constantly talk about her. it hurt knowing he found someone to like, and it not being you. but you made a promise to yourself to be happy as long as he was.

never knew loving could hurt this good.

the weeks went on, and yangyang lessened his interactions with you in favor of his girlfriend. you would always say that it didn’t matter, but oh boy did it hurt. he told you one summer night that he thought he loved her. “she’s just so…” “perfect?” he snaps his fingers in agreement. “how do you always know what i’m trying to say?” you send him a small smile, patting his shoulder. “because i love you.” it came out a mumble, not meant to be heard by him. “what was that?” you stutter out a cheap excuse, terrified he heard you. “be...cause i’ve known you for so long!” yeah nice save idiot. 

the days grew longer and air hotter. it was the second month of summer and you were getting busy preparing for college, packing all your things little by little. you’d still call yangyang daily like normal, and talk about future plans and your days. you were going to the beach in three days, and yangyang was supposed to join you, it was a tradition between you. “oh, i forgot to tell you that i can’t come to the beach this year.” you stopped packing clothes, dumbfounded. “well why not?” a sigh was heard from his end. “i promised yingqi that she could pick a day to have a date and she chose wednesday… i wouldn’t have been able to do both since they overlap. i’m sorry but i promise that i’ll make up for it.” you stay silent, tears forming in your eyes. “uh, ok well that’s cool. just um, let me know when you come up with something else we can do. but listen i gotta go my mom is calling me for dinner, i’ll talk with you tomorrow yangs.”

you’re driving me wild.

the beach trip was lonely without yangyang there. your parents could tell his absence affected you more than you’d like to admit. it just wasn’t the same without him there. after getting back, you didn’t hear from him for three days. you were worried that maybe something happened while you were gone so you went to his house. his mother opened the door, giving you a much-needed hug. “it’s been so long, y/n! where have you been?” you laugh, she was always the worrier. “it’s been a bit busy with college preparations and all. do you know where yangyang is? he hasn’t texted or called in three days.” she snorted, letting you in the house. “that girlfriend of his has taken a lot of his time lately, but he’s up in his room right now.” you nod and yell a thank you as you ascend the stairs. creaking open his bedroom door, you call out to him. “yangyang? are you in here?” you hear shuffling from his closet, and a string of curses come out. “yeah, i’m in here.” you chuckle and walk further in his room. “is everything ok? i’ve had radio silence from you for three days.” he walks out with a few hoodies in hand. “oh yeah, shit. i’m sorry about that. i meant to call you after you got back but yingqi decided that would be the perfect time to call me. and then i went on some dates with her and it slipped my mind. dude, i feel bad.” a fake smile makes its way to your face, masking the pain. “it’s ok, you were spending time with your girlfriend. no biggie.” how could he see he was hurting you when he didn’t even pay attention to you?

“what are those hoodies for? are you finally cleaning out your closet?” he fakes offense to your statement. “of course not, i’m giving these to yingqi. i think she’d be cute in my clothes.” you hum unenthusiastically. “you’re weird.” he rolls his eyes and grumbles. “anyway, did you wanna hang out today? i missed you.” he nods and his hair bounces, which was just so cute to you. “yes i actually have something planned to make up for me missing the beach.” you laugh, slightly in annoyance and slightly in happiness. “well what is it?” “a surprise, doofus.”

the day was well spent, yangyang took you to an amusement park and let you do whatever you wanted. you had a good time with your best friend and you felt as if everything was falling back into place. he dropped you off at your house and told you that he’d call you tomorrow. the butterflies that erupted in your stomach made you feel guilty. you can’t feel like this anymore, he had a girlfriend. but oh, you craved him to be yours so bad.

you make my heart shake, bend and break, but i can’t turn away and it’s driving me wild.

summer was ending soon, and you’d be going off to college. you were terrified of losing yangyang, the days of interaction slipping away. you met yingqi twice, and you couldn’t even try to force yourself to hate her. she was an angel to you, and even wanted to be your friend. you gave her insight on yangyang, and she treated you with such respect. that night, you cried yourself to sleep. she was so perfect for him, and it hurt so bad to see her live out your dreams. hold him, kiss him, wear his hoodie and cuddle with him. you were in so deep that you couldn’t breathe. drowning in your own feelings for your friend, with no escape. how will you ever tell him that you’re in love with him when he’s in love with another? your wounds will never close, and new ones appear every time you see him with her. you promise yourself to get over him, but subconsciously you know that it’s no use. you couldn’t get him out of your head, he was your everything without even being with you. 

you were restless that night, and it showed in the morning. your parents asked if you were feeling ok, to which you said yes. no, you aren’t. you barely told them where you were going before racing out the door to yangyang’s house. you had to tell him. even if it meant jeopardizing what you had. his mom answered the door again and you sped past her, yelling a good morning and a sorry. you bust into yangyang’s room, your mind set on explaining everything. “dude, what are you doing here so early?” you don’t answer his question, getting straight into your confession. 

“yangyang i have something to say. i’m in love with you, and i have been since middle school. i’ve memorized every detail about you, from your favorite color to the way you like your eggs.  i have never told you because i was afraid of rejection. the pain it would bring me and the risk of losing you as a friend. but i’ve had enough, i can’t pretend anymore. i’m happy for you, don’t get me wrong. you’re my best friend and i’ll always support you, no matter the hurt it causes me. to be honest, i’m scared that doing this is gonna ruin what our friendship is, but i really need you to know. i’m both happy and hurting that you’re dating yingqi, and no matter how hard i try, i cannot hate her. she is so perfect for you in every way, and i hope for the best because she really likes you. being your best friend is amazing and i wouldn’t trade it for anything this universe has to offer because i care about you. so i hope this doesn’t fuck everything up, but you deserve to know and i really don’t want our dynamic to change.” you take a deep breath and look over to yangyang, who is staring wide-eyed at you, mouth agape. “you don’t have to respond. i get it if you don’t wanna be friends anymore.” he shakes his head. “i just… don’t know what to say. but we’ll never stop being best friends, ok? you mean too much to me, please remember that.”

it’s driving me wild.

[yuta-nakamots]

santa tell me - l.yy

Pairing - Yangyang x Reader

Genre - Fluff, Angst

Warnings - None

Summary - Growing up, your wishes to Santa were always things like a doll set, a pretty outfit, or a Nintendo gaming system. You didn’t know if he would answer to a wish that was not tangible, like wishing for a person, but it didn’t hurt to try.

Word Count - 4.2k

Taglist - @danishmiilk @dearyongs​

A/N - bolded phrases are song lyrics taken from the songs listed in the prompts. special appearance by @orange-nimon-cross​. 

Written for the Walking In A Winter Wonderland Collab hosted by @suh-insane​ and @neocitybynight​. 

Prompts:

“Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe” - Ariana Grande (Wit it This Christmas)

“Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year.” - Ariana Grande (Santa Tell Me)

When you had first started off in university, one of your biggest worries was not being able to make new friends and fit in with them. Granted, you chose to stay home and go to one of your local schools meaning that some of your high school friends would still be with you but you also wanted to meet new people so you’re not stuck with the same idiots for the rest of your life.

Such idiots being Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno who had stuck with you all through high school. Both of them had told you that they too would be staying at home and would be going to school with you, which you were secretly extremely thankful for, though you knew they too were probably itching to make new friends.

Luckily, you three were all majoring in the STEM field so many of your classes coincided with each other. You stuck with Jaemin as biology majors on the pre-med track while Jeno majored in engineering. Somehow, Jeno, one of the most quiet and intimidating people at first glance, had managed to connect with the other freshmen, introducing you to Yangyang and Renjun, both of whom he met in his calculus class.

Yangyang was majoring in bioengineering, a quite daunting major to say the least, while Renjun was going into computer science. Much to your surprise, Yangyang was actually local. It's just that he had gone to one of your rival high schools which was why you hadn’t yet met him unlike Renjun who actually flew in from a different city.

Like this, your little friend group was complete for your first year of college. With all of you being in the STEM fields, group study sessions were a must, especially for Renjun who felt the need to be over prepared for every quiz or exam though he claimed that the rest of you were just ‘underprepared’.

“So who can tell me what the values of N(0) and N(9) are?” Renjun asked, standing in front of the whiteboard in the study room you all booked to prepare for your calculus exam the next day.

Everyone was silent as they analyzed the problem. “Oh, N(0) is 41 and N(9) is 325, right?” Yangyang answered.

“Correct, they’re simply the values given to us in the problem,” Renjun explained as he wrote the numbers on the board, “and so from here, what do we do if we want to find the unknown relative growth rate?”

“Is that the equation with all the letters and stuff?” Jaemin chimed in. “You know, the one with all the P and the t and the-”

“The exponential growth equation.” Jeno interrupted, playfully rolling his eyes at Jaemin who proceeded to throw his eraser at the former.

“Hey, we’re here to study, not for us to babysit you two,” Renjun scolded, “anyway, which values will we be plugging in?”

“9 for the t, 325 for the P(9), and 41 for P(0),” you stated, pretty much unphased by the antics of your friends, “then you divide the 325 by 41 and multiply both sides by the natural log to get rid of the e.”

“Very good-”

“Wait slow down-”

“I don’t get it-”

Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin all spoke at the same time, shooting each other looks as they fought to decide who should speak though Yangyang beat them all to it. “We’re trying to find the growth rate which is why we divide the final value by the starting value, it’s like finding the rate of change, you know?”

“God, at least I know three of us won’t fail the test,” Renjun muttered.

“Hey,” Jeno complained, “I understand it, I just need more time to write it all down, don’t be so mean.”

“Yeah okay, whatever, let’s just finish up this problem already because I’m hungry and I swear, if we don’t end before the cafeteria closes-”

“Multiply both sides by 1 over 9 to isolate the k constant and from there plug it into a calculator and solve to get the unknown relative growth rate,” you commented, your own stomach growling the tiniest bit at the mention of food.

“Oh my baby is so smart! I’m so proud of you,” Jaemin exclaimed as he reached over to try to squish your cheeks though you were quickly pulled out of his reach as someone moved your chair, “hey! Don’t take my baby away from me.”

“She’s not a baby, she’s already 18,” Yangyang reasoned.

A loud sigh came from the front of the room, effectively interrupting all conversation. “Jaemin, can you at least try to put in some effort?” Renjun whined.

“I did! Look, the k constant is equal to 0.23003 and I have everything written down here,” Jaemin defended, sliding his paper closer to Renjun who was struggling to see it from a distance.

Renjun made a noise of both content and confusion, “then why did you say that you didn’t get it?”

Jaemin shook his head, “oh no no no, I didn’t say that I didn’t get it, I was going to say that I don’t get how our y/n is so smart already. She’s going to be such a good doctor!”

“That’s your goal bro, not her’s.” Yangyang interjected.

There was a loud sound of a book shutting and everyone looked over at Jeno who was packing up his stuff. “What?” He questioned, when he noticed everyone's eyes on him. “Aren’t we going to get dinner?”

The rest of you started following suit after doing one last check that everyone was good on all of the material for the test tomorrow. “What score do you think you’ll get on the exam?” Yangyang asked as the group of you headed over to the cafeteria.

You let out a hum as you thought to yourself. “Maybe like an 85 or something around there.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure you’ll hit at least a 90, or even a 90 exactly,” he responded with a cheeky giggle.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Because I’m the 10 that you need.”

Sure enough, you scored 90 points on the exam, prompting Yangyang to excitedly treat you for lunch that following weekend. One small date became two and eventually three which was when he asked you to be his girlfriend.

When you told the rest of the guys that the two of you were together, Jaemin let out a whoop before turning to the others, “you both owe me twenty.”

You raised an eyebrow at them, asking for an explanation. “We made a bet on when Yangyang would finally get the guts to ask you out. Turns out it was a lot faster than we thought,” Renjun explained dryly as he opened his wallet to hand Jaemin the bill.

The rest of your first year in college went by in the blink of an eye jumping from spending Christmas with Yangyang, Jeno, and Jaemin, to submitting your registrations for the next school year, then to finals to wrap up the term.

If there was one thing about freshman year that you’d keep dear to your heart, it would be the little Christmas party the four of you had at Jeno’s house. You had each brought a gift as each other’s Secret Santa, yours was a cute pair of pink socks with strawberries on them for Jaemin who you knew hated strawberries though he’d wear them anyways because they’re from you.

Supporting your predictions, Jaemin changed his socks right then and there with a smile on his face because “they’re so cute, just like my baby” causing your boyfriend, who was in fact your Secret Santa, to jokingly make a gagging sound at Jaemin’s affection towards you.

The gift Yangyang gave you was a thin bracelet with a single little sheep charm dangling off of it. “In Korean, yang means sheep so I thought it would be cute to give you something that could be a reminder of me when I’m not with you.” Now it was Jaemin and Jeno’s turns to make the sounds of disgust as you kissed Yangyang’s cheek to thank him.

So I think you should give your love to me. Baby, let me know

Sophomore year was when things started to change starting with Yangyang leaving to continue his studies in China where he was accepted into one of his dream universities. He had told you about his plans beforehand and you celebrated every milestone with him like when he first submitted his application, when he got his acceptance letter, and then a scholarship. Here you were finally, sending your boyfriend off at the airport before the beginning of fall semester.

“I love you so much, stay safe and don’t get sick,” you told him as you held him in a tight hug, not wanting to say goodbye just yet.

Yangyang laughed as he felt you trying to nuzzle into his chest. “I’ll be back sooner than you know it. Just four months and I’ll be back for the holidays.”

Even as your tears began to fall, you still smiled, not wanting his last moments with you to be sad ones. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He locked pinkies with you, sealing the deal.

It was difficult to be in a long distance relationship, especially when it seems like the time zones are working against you. When you’re awake and going about your day, Yangyang is winding down and finishing up his work, about the head to sleep. There was never a good time for you to call each other, especially as the semester progressed and your workloads only increased.

“I really miss you, you know. I miss getting to hold you in my arms and mess up your hair only to have you hit me all the time.” You paused the voice recording he had sent you a few days ago, wanting so badly for time to go by faster and for Yangyang to return home sooner.

You sent him a voice recording back. “I passed that test I was talking about last week! I didn’t really do too well but it’s okay because apparently Jeno and Jaemin didn’t do all that great either. I miss having you here to help me study and tell me that I’m doing well. How did your ochem lab go? I’m sure you aced it.”

Sending each other voice recordings was the next best thing after calling because you could still hear each other’s voice while also still doing it at a time that was comfortable for you. It was like texting but with your voice instead of typing out words. Though sometimes it left you anxious because it wasn’t like a call where the other person is responding in real time. Yangyang would often leave you on read and would take a few days to respond so you inadvertently began doing the same thing.

It wasn’t until one weekend when both of you had free time that Yangyang finally snapped during a call. “It’s like you don’t want me anymore.”

“What? No, what do you mean?” You questioned.

“You don’t respond all the time and it’s like I’m not a top priority anymore,” he rambled.

“To be fair,” you began, “you don’t respond to me all the time either-”

“Yeah because I’m busy.” Yangyang interrupted.

You let out a sigh. “I’m busy too. We’re both college students majoring in some of the hardest fields, we know how hard we have to work for our education.”

“I know but like, you can still text me back. You don’t have to send voice recordings so often if you’re really that busy-”

“No, don’t make it sound like I’m exaggerating how busy I am. You are a top priority, but you’re not my number one and that should be common sense.” You tell him, feeling your own temper starting to go.

You could practically see Yangyang rolling his eyes at you. “I’m not trying to downplay your work at all. I’m just saying that it’s not that hard to put effort into our relationship.”

“Then how about you give me something to go off of first instead of making me change for you. You barely respond to me either so I can say just the same thing for you,” you argued.

“Look, I think we need some time away from each other to clear our heads and figure this out when we aren’t being weighed down by all our other problems,” he reasoned.

You let out a laugh. “You say that as if we haven’t already been separated from each other for two months already but okay.”

“Goodnight, y/n.” You heard the line go dead. He didn’t even end with an ‘I love you’ or anything like that though you chose not to think too hard about it because he was probably just as tense as you.

When Yangyang came home in December it felt like everything was right once again. He got to be reunited with the original group along with meeting the two newest additions, Haechan and Shotaro who were both business majors and were roped in by Jeno who had a shared class with both of them.  

Yangyang had gotten you a second charm, the number 10 to go on the bracelet he had bought you the year before which you still wore almost constantly. “Ten because I’m the ten you need, remember?” You nodded as you smiled up at him, glad to finally have him back in your arms.

He had to go back to school sooner than the rest of you so your time with him was short-lived and things went back to the way they used to be, except even more distant this time around. Normally Yangyang would be sure to call you back if he ever missed a call from you, but he didn’t. He’d go days without responding to you, opening your messages but never sending anything back.

But it’s hard to tell if this is just a fling or if it’s true love that he thinks of

That semester, the two of you decided to break things off after yet another fight in hopes to preserve the friendship that you had before things got any worse. It was like a breath of fresh air for a moment, getting to finally focus your energy on your work and not worry about having to respond to messages from a boyfriend who didn’t really seem like one. Only when you slowed down did things really start to hit you.

When Yangyang came back during summer, your group was torn on how to handle the situation, wanting to hang out with both of you but not wanting to make things uncomfortable knowing how rocky things were between the two of you. You ended up pulling yourself back and encouraging them to go out with Yangyang since they could see you during the school year whereas he was in a different country and it only seemed fair.

That was really the last you saw or heard of him as you chose to bury yourself in work for the next year, not wanting to let yourself fall behind in school because of your emotions. It was, by far, one of your most productive years. Not only did you take some of your grad school tests and applied for many scholarships, you also earned yourself a spot on the Dean’s list and took part in a notable marine biology study done on the effects of pollution on the local animals.

Between balancing all of your current works and goals along with things to prepare you for your potential future careers, the mere existence of Liu Yangyang slipped your mind for just that short time. It was only a year later, during the summer before your senior year, did you hear from Jaemin that Yangyang was planning to come back.

“Yeah he was asking Jeno what we’re planning on doing for housing next year and if he could join us.” Jaemin informed you as the two of you were running an experiment and working on tracking the carbon output of the little plants in front of you.

“So what did you say to him?” You asked as you placed the oxygen gauge inside the chamber of the first plant.

Jaemin paused to see if the gauge was sending data to the computer. “I told him that the six of us were looking into getting one of the campus apartments in the fall so we might not be able to accommodate him.”

“Wait, six? Aren’t there five of us?” You started listing the names of your friends in your head.

“Haechan is going off-campus and Jeno’s girlfriend is joining us,” Jaemin corrects, “so next semester it’s us, Jeno and Yunha, Renjun, and Shotaro. Six. We probably won’t have space for him unless someone backs out.” You stared at the rising and falling of the line on the computer graph, not really sure if you were happy or sad at this. “Would you have liked it if he were to join us?” He questioned after seeing your silence.

“I don’t know, it’s not that I’m ‘uncomfortable’ around him…” your voice trailed off as the computer finished collecting data and indicated for you to reset and move on to the next plant, “it’s just that we didn’t really have a clean end to our relationship, if you know what I mean.”

Jaemin nodded in understanding as you moved the gauge to the second plant. “Would you like to get back together with him if given the opportunity?”

“Well, yeah but not if we’re both as busy as we are right now.” You explained, looking over at the screen to see if the oxygen was tracking.

“Try inserting it a little further,” Jaemin instructed when you both saw that the line was running a bit low, “but anyway, you guys are both going into the medical field, there’s no escaping being busy.”

“Yeah that’s exactly wh-”

“No, listen. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to both see each other all the time. Think about it. There’s tons of people out there who don’t even understand their partner’s job but they still make it work-” He rambled

“And who’s to say you can group me in with a majority?” You interject.

Jaemin looks away from the screen to roll his eyes at you. “That’s not the point. I’m just saying that maybe you should think about giving him another chance whether he lives with us or not.”

“I mean, I’ll think about it. That doesn’t mean I will.” You decide, wanting to get back to the experiment.

Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year

Truthfully, you hadn’t really gotten over Yangyang, you had merely forgotten about him for a while with all the stuff you were doing, which was what you had planned to do. A part of you wanted to see if things could still work out again but the other part of you didn’t want to put yourself in that same situation again, especially now that both you and him would probably be even more busy than before.

You didn’t know if he’d be coming back for good or if he’d be leaving again to go somewhere else and you didn’t want to take the chance of falling for him only to lose him shortly after. Thankfully the other guys didn’t ask too much about it seeing as how the housing situation was already settled.

It was just your luck and misfortune that you went in to work on a research assignment on the day you did. As you walked down the hallways of the lab building, you heard that one familiar voice ringing throughout the halls from an open door. You paused in your tracks, diverting from your course through the building to see if your suspicions were true as you peeked into one of the labs.

As you looked in, you saw his back towards you while he talked animatedly with one of your colleagues about how different it was to go to a university in China. You quickly ducked away when your colleague waved in your direction, not wanting to be seen by Yangyang.

“Who was that?” He asked, his voice getting fainter as you sped away from the room. You heard your name mentioned followed by an “oh” but that was about it as you got into the elevator to head to the archives.

And I’m trying to play it cool but it’s hard to focus when I see him walking around the room

Senior year progressed just like any other year, though you were glad that you got to live with your closest friends and at least see them for meals when you were all too busy to actually hang out. If anything, it was just the slightest bit more calm since there was no longer stress about passing general classes now that you were in more specialized biology courses that were actually enjoyable.

The annual Christmas party came up much faster than you expected but now that the six of you shared an apartment, it was only that much more convenient and because it would be your last year all together, Jaemin insisted that it be an actual get-together for your friends.

He invited Haechan and some of the guys he was now living with, though they were all older too. Renjun brought over some of the other computer science grad students that he had gotten close to recently, similar to Jeno in the engineering field.

As more people showed up and you worked on keeping all of your guests entertained, you hadn’t managed to keep track of everyone who set foot into the door, trusting Renjun to not let anyone in who had no business with you guys. It wasn’t until dinner started that you saw a face you hadn’t seen in a while.

“Hey,” Yangyang began as he almost ran into you exiting the kitchen with a plate full of food in his hands.

“Hey,” you said back, startled and unsure of how to actually react.

After you had gotten your food and returned to the living room, you say that he had taken up a seat next to Jeno and Jaemin as some Christmas movie started playing and you opted to sit on the sofa next to Jeno’s girlfriend Yunha, who gladly scooted over to make room for you. “Who’s that?” She asked, nodding over to where her boyfriend was.

“That’s, uh, Yangyang. He was one of our close friends during our freshmen year but he left to study at a school in China,” you inform her, glad that she accepted the simple explanation.

You successfully avoided him for almost the rest of the night, not because you didn’t like him but because you were scared of talking to him after so long. It was nearing the end of the night when Renjun had yelled for everyone to “sit your asses down in a circle” with the present they brought for the white elephant game gift exchange game.

The apartment was filled with laughter and cheers as the game progressed and people opened the gifts they chose, finding things outrageous as a whisk or backscratcher or even a bag of clothespins. The best one was the gift Jeno, a cat lover opened, pulling out a box of dog treats.

“Aw, our big samoyed!” Jaemin cooed. “Do some tricks for us!” Jeno shot him a glare before allowing the game to continue on.

The gift you decided on keeping was a small red envelope sealed with a shiny golden sticker. When you opened it, you pulled out a postcard from Shanghai and you felt a wave of emotion hit you. You held it up to show the people around you what it was before quickly slipping it back into the envelope and placing it on the ground beneath your crossed legs.

Once everyone had opened their gifts and a few people were starting to leave, you decided to get a head start on cleaning up in the kitchen as your roommates bid everyone farewell and wished them a safe drive home.

“I think it’s kind of funny how you got my gift,” a voice said from behind as you transferred the leftover dumplings from the plate they were on into a tupperware container.

You shrugged your shoulders. “The minimum price requirement was $5 and I’m sure you couldn’t have spent more than $2 on that.”

“The envelope and the sticker made up for the other $3,” he stated, his playful attitude ever so present, “so how have you been lately?”

“Pretty good, I guess. Got accepted into grad school, finishing up my remaining courses, just normal college stuff, how about you?” You finally make eye contact with him as you have to nudge him out of the way for you to open the refrigerator. He looks nearly exactly the same as when he first left but somehow more handsome and less boyish.

“Oh, I’ve been doing just about the same I could say. I decided to stay home for this school year, though I suppose you already knew that seeing as how you were spying on me at the beginning of the semester.” He shot you a wink as you returned back to the counter to start working on another dish.

You let out a gasp, “I was not spying on you.”

“Then why did you just peek into the lab and leave before I got to see you?” He inquired.

“Because I had other things to do,” you respond quickly.

“Well what if I told you that I actually wanted to see you and was disappointed that you ran away?” He took a step closer to you.

You secured the lid on a container of fried rice. “Then I guess you’re not the only one.”

“Hm, so you really did miss me then,” Yangyang chuckles.

“Will the two of you stop talking and just kiss already?” Jaemin shouts from the hallway.

Yangyang lets out a laugh. “You heard the guy. Come here.”

You gave in to your heart as you closed the refrigerator again, turning to face him and taking only two steps until you were in his arms once again as his lips met yours.

Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe

[simonsrosebud]

Kevin's first real christmas with dalton!!

kevin says he’s celebrated christmas before, but it’s not true.

sophomore year he spent it locked in wymack’s apartment with a broken hand and ongoing anxiety attacks.

junior year he went to new york with matt and nicky and the others which was weird because they didn’t actually do anything christmas-y and he was drunk for a lot of the trip.

and last year he had dinner with abby, his father, and andrew and neil.  but then neil was having a panic attack because this time the year before he was at evermore.  they left early and kevin ducked out because he didn’t want to intrude.  

then he spent the whole next few days panicking over meeting dalton’s family.

this year, his last year at palmetto, dalton asks if he wants to spend christmas in maryland with him and his family.

there’s no question, of course he’s going.

dalton tells him when they’re at the mall about all the things they do, and how they’ll go to new york again if he’s okay with it.  and then, “what do you guys normally do for the holidays?”

kevin freezes.  he thumbs at a shirt on the rack in front of him.  “uh... last year me neil and andrew had dinner with my father and abby, but neil was having some ptsd relating to this time of year, so it was kind of a mess...”

“that sucks.  for him, i mean.”

“yeah.”  he nods.  it does suck, and kevin still blames himself.  “and the year before i went to new york with the team to matt’s dads place, but i was drunk most of the time,” he mumbles.

dalton feels like an idiot for asking, “and before?”

kevin shakes his head.  broken hand.

“we ran practices every day of break at the nest.  never celebrated any holidays growing up.”

he did have one thing he did every year.  he lit a candle for his mother.  he didn’t realize it until his first christmas away from the nest, when he was hidden at wymack’s apartment and noticed the man didn’t have a single candle lying around.

he sparked wymack’s lighter and sent up a quick prayer instead.

dalton slides up to his side and wraps an arm around his waist.  “i’ve got to impress you this year, then.”

“the bars set pretty low.”

when dalton’s on the phone with his mom that night, he tells her about kevin’s lack of experience with the holidays.  “have you done the tree yet?”

“i was planning on doing it tomorrow, why?”

“do you think we could wait and do it all together when me and kev are there?”  he hesitates.  “he’s never really celebrated christmas and done the typical traditions, and i know he wants to cause his mom used to.”

anne’s heart wants to break a little.  “i’ll save it until you get home.  and he’ll be here in time to make cookies, too.”  oh boy.  “you guys can go ice skating if that one place does it again- you know the one, and uh... should we get him a stocking?”

“me and bella got him a present!”

“is that carm?”

“yes!”  she steals her mothers phone.  “he always pays for things for us when he’s here so we got him this peanut butter sampler pack and an ocean city maryland crewneck.”

dalton pouts, but only because it’s cute to him that they did that for his boy.

when they drive up, dalton’s family welcomes him like they haven’t seen him in years, and it makes kevin smile every time.  they don’t get in until late, but bella still peeks into dalton’s room once they’re in bed for the night.  “did you bring your racquet?”

kevin’s got his eyes closed, he’s tucked underneath dalton’s big comforter and arm with an ankle thrown over his boyfriend’s.  he hums a yes.

dalton grumbles.  “shut the door, bella.”  and tugs the blanket up to his chin.

they wake up earlier than they’d like.  anne and george are at work, and the girls are still asleep.  he has dalton at his back and an arm holding him close.

kevin doesn’t ever want to move.

he only does when dalton’s phone alarm goes off.  “what’s that for?”  he groans.  dalton reaches over him to shut it off and drapes his arm and leg right back over kevin.

dalton’s voice is muffled.  “shopping day.”

oh fuck.  he knew d had said something about shopping yesterday.

it takes them another half hour to get up, and kevin hates the mall to begin with, but this is unbearable.  he’s just lucky they’re there a week out and not the day before christmas eve.

kevin stops.  they’re in a clothing store, and he’s wandered to the women’s side.  he sends a few pictures to allison, and when dalton come over he holds up a fuzzy bomber jacket and an oversized jean jacket.  “for the girls?”

“i already got their gifts.”

“but from me?”

“oh.”  dalton smiles.  “then absolutely.  did you already text allison?”  he’s joking, but laughs when kev shrugs because that’s so a yes.

anne has the family decorate the tree that night after dinner- takeout, and kevin is kind of in heaven looking through dalton’s ornaments from when he was a child.

“you wanna put the star on top?”

their ceilings are high enough for them to have a fake tree tall enough for kevin to not be able to reach, which is definitely a first for him.

so instead, he gets on dalton’s shoulders.

after they’re done, anne sits next to kevin on the sofa.  “you know, i never did the thing where i show you all of dalton’s baby pictures, but i did find this yesterday.”

and kevin turns to look at the book in her lap, and smirks.  “no way.”  

it’s a small book, with all of dalton’s school picture day photo’s going back to kindergarten.  “this is better, i think.”

dalton stops, and lets his head roll back.  “can we not?”

“no, we can.”  kevin takes the book and opens it up to a random page.

“you’re not allowed to mention the braces.”

“but they’re so bad!”

christmas eve is fun.

kevin is no cook, dalton is and even then that’s saying something, but anne puts kevin to work after he’s up in the morning.  they’ve got a lot of family coming over around six, and she needs help in the kitchen.

he’s doing pretty alright, he thinks, and his face lights up when anne tastes a bit and pats his arm.  “that’s really good.”  it’s a passing thought, and she leaves right after to make a run to get more of something at the store.

but when dalton comes back from the alcohol run, kevin’s plenty proud of it anyway.

and then, because he’s already dirty from cooking anyway, he helps dalton’s father with stuffing the turkey.  “you actually stuff it?”

he knows it’s called stuffing, but he’s never actually seen it prepared.  or eaten it, he doesn’t think.  abby doesn’t make it for thanksgiving or anything because only she and nicky typically eat it.  it goes to waste.

george nods.  “stick your hands up there, kid.”

kevin lowers his stare to dalton just sitting there across the table.  he grins.  “you’re doing great, babe.”

kevin takes a shower after he’s done while the others do what else needs to be done.

once dalton’s family starts filtering into the house it’s a little chaotic.  in a good way, opposed to the way that he typically knows chaotic to be.

he’s fine, really, once he gets used to it.

at this point they all know who exactly dalton’s boyfriend is, but kevin only recognizes a few faces so he still gets the excited introductions from the few that are fans.

two of them are younger kids, anyway, so that’s at least entertaining and cute.

dalton comes to stand with kevin and his cousin.  “can i steal him for a sec?”  he takes him by the hand to the other room where the two younger cousins are lounging.  “dessert is out, guys.”

they go running out of the room.

“that was cruel,” kevin says, but then dalton is holding something above their heads and-

oh

mistletoe.

“are you sure?”

kevin smiles.  “i take it back.”  and pulls dalton in.

dalton grins against his lips, and after a moment pulls away just a bit.  “that’s not actually why i pulled you away, but i got lucky.”

kevin kisses him again, because he can, and dalton turns.  there’s a ledge above the unused fireplace that his mom usually uses for picture frames, but there’s a candle in the middle, now.

“you’ve told me about lighting a candle for your mom, and i figured maybe you’d still want to do it even though you’re here this year.”

he definitely does, and dalton presents him with a lighter when he nods.  kevin lights it silently, and watches it for a moment.  “thank you,” he says quietly.  “i know you listen, but i didn’t expect that...”  he wraps his arms around dalton’s waist.  “it’s really nice.”

“yeah, well, i’ve got to impress her.”  he kisses the top of kevin’s head.

christmas morning, kevin looks surprised when bella says “kevin’s turn” because he really isn’t expecting to get gifts.  he has money, he doesn’t need anything.

but then he opens the peanut butter sampler package, and after taking a moment to read it he starts to smile to himself.  “i love peanut butter.”  it’s almost a whisper, but it makes everyone laugh and sends warmth through his chest.

he hugs the box to his chest.  dalton hugs him from the side for a moment, and then kevin gets more surprised because dalton’s parents are handing him a bigger box and oh my god it’s a little portable mixer for his shakes and a nike gift card.

he and dalton do their gifts alone.

dalton gets him a big chunky weighted blanket and a new pair of sneakers that he’s been eyeing for weeks, and then kevin unwraps a small frame.  and in the middle is the ticket to the first game of kevin’s that he’d gone too, with a heart drawn on the corner so many times that it’d been indented the ticket.

he remembers teasing him about the heart, but he never knew he kept the ticket all this time.

kevin tackles him from where they’re sitting on the bed.  “i love it, and you.”

kevin gets dalton airpods, sweatpants that say “my boyfriend likes my tramp stamp” on the butt as a joke, and a box of his favorite coffee k-cups from a brand that supposedly stopped selling them months ago.

and last, a thin gold necklace, long enough to tuck under his shirt like he used to do with his cross necklace until it broke.  except this one has a small “k+d” hanging.

dalton’s smiling down at it, and rubs the charm.  he pouts and looks up at kevin.  “you got this made?”  he nods.  “can you put it on me?”

he nods, and drapes it around his neck to clasp it.  he presses a kiss to the back of dalton’s neck when he’s done, and dalton kisses him when he twists around.

“i love you.”  he wraps his arms around kevin’s neck and leans into him.  kevin lies down on his back so dalton’s on top of him.  he thumbs at the necklace hanging.

“looks good on you.”

dalton kisses him.  “i know.”

they have dinner at dalton’s aunts house.  it’s just her, her husband, and her two kids, so it’s nothing like the night before.

wymack calls just after dinner.  “merry christmas.  what are you doing?”

“merry christmas, we just ate, we’re at his aunt’s house.”

“everything going good?  no problems?”

he glances through the doorway at dalton at the table and smiles to himself.  “no problems.”

[eyeofthedrgn]

I have finally decided on a title for this multi chapter Rowcan fic: A Heavy Battle Symphony. Inspired by two Linkin Park songs (Heavy{feat. Kiiara}, Battle Symphony) that seem to fit the bill of the overall tone of the story. Since it deals with such dark topics and mental health, it just works. I wasn't intending for this to be song inspired, but here we are.

Also, I'm bad at summaries, but here we go:

Set in a modern high school AU. Lorcan was forced to live with his Aunt Maeve and boyfriend James Perrington, both of which are abusive. Once they move to Orynth, Lorcan's life is thrown into disarray when he meets Rowan.

Trigger warnings : language, mental abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse, violence, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, self harm, self-esteem issues, sexual abuse (only alluded to briefly in future chapters), just a lot of trauma, angst, smut - lots of lovely gay smut

Word count: just over 2k

Chapter 1 - Numb

Lorcan Salvaterre has had a pretty shitty life for only being 17. He's been to so many different schools, he doesn't remember them all. His mother died long ago, he didn't have a father, and he was then forced to live with his despicable Aunt Maeve when he was five. Lorcan didn't remember his mother anymore, all he knew was the cruelty of his aunt and her boyfriend, James Perrington.

Maeve's job required them to move every few months. Which meant his schooling was rather poor and often overlapped from school to school. He was always the loner and easily overlooked, at least until his growth spurt last year that catapulted him to be six and half feet tall.

He'd never had a friend in his life. No one would ever want to be friends with him in the first place. He always had a scowl on his face, wore black, long black hair, head down, his skin was a beautiful deep olive, his eyes dark as onyx. He was rather strange. And since his growth spurt, his hulking frame kept everyone away.

He never smiled, he rarely talked. To anyone. Not that he had much to say. He had no hobbies, no pleasures. All he was allowed to do in this meaningless life were chores, his homework, and lay in his room staring at the ceiling.

The way Lorcan had grown up was brutal. There were beatings for not finishing chores, misbehaving, or most of the time, just existing. He never got three meals a day, on the very rare occasion, he would get a small dinner, but generally, the only meal was usually lunch at school or when they were traveling. Even then, Maeve would order the smallest meal for the boy, gods forbid she had to spend more money on him than necessary or look bad in front of people.

That also meant that if he needed new clothes or something for school, he had to work extra for it. A lot of the time, he felt like a severely more abused Cinderella. His aunt made him do some of the most tedious chores in payment for his necessities.

The chores he could handle, sometimes they were even relaxing. The beatings on the other hand were less than desirable. Especially when most of the abuse wasn't even a result of Lorcan's supposed incompetency. But every beating was recorded in Lorcan's journal and accompanied by self harm.

Lorcan's mental health was far from healthy. He wished he had the courage to slice his wrists deeper, but if he failed to finish the job, he couldn't imagine how Maeve would react and what she would make Perrington do to him. So, he settled for the scars. 

His wrists and forearms were covered in scars. Every shirt he had was long sleeved to cover his coping habit. He didn't want questions or people staring, he hated being pitied. Honestly, he hated pretty much everything.

---

The new apartment Maeve had rented in Orynth was just like the rest of them. Lorcan's room was the smallest and also used for storage. Not that it mattered to Lorcan he only had a few things anyway, but it did mean that either his aunt or her boyfriend would barge in, whenever they wished, to grab something. Since Lorcan realized they were never going to stop and they always removed the lock from his door, he took to changing in the bathroom.

Lorcan was exhausted. He had spent all day moving every single box Maeve and Perrington had into the new apartment, making sure he put the boxes in the correct rooms. And setting up his room to give himself some semblance of privacy with the way he piled the storage boxes. 

A sleeping bag, a duffel bag full of worn and faded clothes in various shades of black, a few well worn books, a journal that he used to record every beating and every cut, and a fraying backpack full of school supplies were all of Lorcan's belongings. He didn't even have a real bed. Or a pillow.

Almost asleep in his sleeping bag, Maeve barges into his room and starts yelling at him.

"Lorcan! Where in the gods' forsaken apartment are my hair products!"

Lorcan had no idea why she needed them at midnight. "They're in your bathroom." Obviously.

"If they were, I wouldn't be here, you useless piece of shit!" She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up, then shoved him into the hall. He knew better than to fight as he stumbled down the hall, he did his best to keep his face neutral, but fuck, that hurt.

Resisting the urge to rub his poor scalp, he stalked to Maeve's bathroom and opened the box labeled MAEVE'S HAIR PRODUCTS. Lorcan sighed when he was greeted with her towels.

"I already looked there, you little welp," she snarled. "Now find my shit!" She stormed out and slammed the door.

Lorcan hung his head and looked around the room. He just wanted to sleep. It wasn't his fucking fault she mislabeled her fucking boxes. Again. Finding the box labeled MAEVE'S TOWELS, he opened it and sighed with relief as he set eyes on her missing items, and set the box on the counter. He informed Maeve of his discovery before heading back to bed.

---

Five hours later, Lorcan woke up, like clockwork. He released a heavy sigh and rubbed his eyes. Hel, he was tired. Time to start an exhausting day of learning a new school and schedule.

Every morning was the same, up at five, shower, get ready for school, make breakfast that he wasn't allowed to eat. Only the adults were allowed breakfast. He'd get a knee to the gut if he attempted to snatch a strip of bacon or a link of sausage, or even a piece of toast. So, his stomach would growl until he got to eat a pathetic school lunch.

This morning would be slightly different from the rest, though. Maeve would have to take him to school and make sure he was registered. She always acted the caring aunt in public. It disgusted Lorcan. Especially when she would go the extra mile and kiss his cheek.

After Maeve left without a word to Lorcan, he stood in the main hall with his schedule and map in hand. This school was huge. Much bigger than most of the other high schools he had been to. That was to be expected, though. This was Orynth High after all, the biggest high school in the biggest city of Terrasen.

He looked over his schedule. He had no idea how he made it to senior year with all the holes in his education.

Fuck, why was pre-calc first? At least he was good at math.

He looked at the clock at the end of the hall, he still had half an hour before school actually started. Rather than wasting time, he found all of his classrooms in order, twice, and then went to the library to grab the necessary textbooks. 

By the time he left the library, the halls were filling up. Kids all around him were chattering, he was either ignored or kids looked at him with scared eyes and scurried out of his way.

He tugged his hood up and shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket and made his way to first period.

---

Since it was the start of a new semester, most teachers ignored that Lorcan was new to the school. That was fine, he didn't want the attention anyway. But in his last class of the day, creative writing, they had to split into groups for an assignment. Lorcan hated group assignments. He was partnered with the smallest teenager he had ever seen.

"I'm Elide. You're new here aren't you?"

His nod was barely perceptible.

"It's Lorcan, right?" He nodded again. "Where are you from?" Her eyes were filled with pure curiosity. 

He cleared his throat. "Originally from Doranelle, but I don't remember it. My mother died when I was five. My aunt took me in and we move a lot." He blinked and shook his head in confusion at himself for telling a complete stranger something he hadn't told anyone else before.

How did this petite young woman bewitch him to talk more than he had in weeks? Lorcan felt exposed under her gaze. It felt like she could read him like a book. It was unnerving. 

"That sounds rough. I hope you like it here and I hope we can be friends." She finished with a smile.

Lorcan just turned back to the assignment.

The class passed without much other conversation besides about the assignment they had to do together.

Finally, the bell rang signalling the end of the day.

The first day at this school was done and he was exhausted and hungry. Lorcan was so focused on packing up his supplies into his ratty backpack that he didn't realize Elide was talking to him.

"A group of us are going to the park to hang out, wanna join?" He was zipping up his backpack, not hearing a word she said. "Lorcan?"

"Huh?" He looked up, confused. She giggled. His cheeks heated just slightly.

"Do you want to hang out with my friends and I after school?"

Why would he want to do that? Lorcan did remember saying she hoped they could be friends, but he thought she was just being polite. Now, she was trying to follow through.

But there was only one answer.

"No."

---

Elide adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she walked to the park to meet her friends. She could see Lorcan walking on the other side of the street away from her. His hood was up, head down, hands in his hoodie pocket, his posture slightly hunched. She thought he could almost pass for a shadow if his black clothes weren't so faded and worn.

She remembered looking into his eyes during class and seeing deep pools of onyx, they would have been gorgeous, but instead, they were dull, and lifeless. He had been so hard to read. Elide had guessed that he didn't have a good home life and they were poor, by the state of his clothes and backpack. She had seen the scars on his wrist when he reached into his bag for an eraser. It broke her heart. Watching him walk away, she noticed how awkwardly his clothes hung off of him. He was definitely too skinny for his frame.

So lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear one of her friends come up behind and loop his arms through hers. Elide yelped and then realized it was her friend, Rowan Whitethorn. He had silver hair and pine green eyes that were always bright.

"I didn't mean to scare you! I called your name, but you were off in your own little world!"

"Sorry. I was thinking about the new kid that you will probably end up having a crush on." Rowan scoffed, Elide just laughed. 

They walked a bit in silence until Rowan made his confession.

"He is hot! He's in my gym class. Tell me everything, my precious Elide! I want to know!" Rowan was so excitable, it was infectious.

"He's in my creative writing class and we were partnered together. He said he's from Doranelle, his mother died when he was five, and his aunt took him in. And apparently, they move a lot." She also told him about the assumptions she made from her observations.

Rowan soaked up every word.

---

Lorcan was doing homework at the kitchen table when Maeve and Perrington came in with take out. It smelled good, Lorcan's stomach rumbled. Damn it. To his surprise, Maeve set down a small Chinese take out box right in the middle of this textbook. He blinked at it, and then up at his aunt, she looked kind for once. "Thank you." It was barely a whisper, but he knew she heard it because she nodded before walking away.

Sometimes he actually thought she loved him..

After his studies and meager dinner, Lorcan laid in his sleeping bag, using an old hoodie that didn't fit anymore as a pillow, trying to sleep. A sigh left his lips and he rolled over.

He couldn't sleep even though he was exhausted, so he pulled a well worn novel from his duffle bag. It was The Hobbit. Lorcan had read it many times. The spine was broken, pages were dog eared, some of the pages weren't even glued in anymore. But he enjoyed the adventure.

Lorcan was halfway through his book, when his window started lightening with the new day. He groaned and his stomach growled.

++++

Rowan couldn't get that new dark haired boy out of his mind. Lorcan Salvaterre. He had soaked up all the information he could from Elide about his new crush. Concentrating on his homework was so hard.

"Ugh." Rowan ran his hand through his hair and smacked his cheeks a couple of times to get himself to snap out of it. He still had homework to finish.

"Rowan, love, would you like some hot chocolate?" His mom leaned into his room. "You seem distracted today."

His mom, Barb, was the sweetest lady and the best mother one could ask for. They talked about everything. And he swore she had eyes everywhere because she always knew everything. Sometimes, Rowan hated that his mom was so observant.

"Yes, please." He got up from his desk and followed his mom to the kitchen. He enjoyed his cocoa with marshmallows. After taking a few sips, he told his mom about the new kid in school. She just smiled knowingly at him.

"Elide says he moves a lot. But I don't know exactly what 'a lot' means. Also, he's probably not into guys." He quirked his lips to the side. 

"You should probably start with actually talking to the boy."

Rowan whined, "Mom!" She just laughed and kissed the top of his head before retreating to the living room, leaving him with his thoughts and empty cup.

_____

Thanks for reading! I'll probably post the next chapter next Thursday or Friday.

[severetimetravelnerd]

Let’s Switch Things Up (ft. MINO) (2)

Part 2

Minho just keeps surprising you.

A/N: Heyy! So this is my new series, that I’ll be updating every Thursday. All images I’ve used in this moodboard that I’ve made are just representative of the emotions, not the way the reader looks :))  Please show this lots of love!

Comment if you’d like to be added to the taglist.

Taglist:   @herewecomeitsjekki  ; @kwonnansi ; @happiestgirlontheeastcoast ; @unabashedturkeytreeslim; @to-all-the-stories-i-love​

I only write on this blog on tumblr, so if you see my work on any other platform, please let me know!

Word Count: 2028

Warnings: Suggestive, snarky? Mentions of cheating

——————————————————————————————————-

He paused and blinked a few times.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right. What did you just say?”

You laughed.

“You heard me right. I’m attending my ex’s wedding. And he’s marrying my friend who he cheated on me with.”

He tilted his head to the side.

“I don’t understand.”

You laughed again, a little more bitterly.

“Yeah, neither do I. I’m only going because of my best friends.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is the first time in ages we’ll get to meet in person.” Your eyes softened. “And I really miss them.”

The guy had a light smile on his face.

“I get it now.”

“It’s just that… I know I will be made fun of for not having a plus one.”

You shook your head at his raised brows.

“Yeah, a lot of my old classmates can be mean.”

He inched a little closer.

“Could you tell me what happened? Only if you’re okay with it, of course.”

You shrugged.

“Yeah sure, I don’t mind talking about it.”

You took a sip of water and began.

“So, all of this happened two years ago. We had been dating for three years. And I knew that something was off. It was understandable. He was very busy with his job and I was busy with mine. We weren’t getting time to spend with each other. And every time I tried, it seemed like he would try his best to get out of it.”

You smiled sadly.

“I know. I should have seen the signs. But he was my longest relationship. And we had been friends for years before dating. I trusted him. When he told me that he’d have to spend two months abroad for work, he wasn’t lying and I didn’t doubt him. At that point, things were just really strained and he was very stressed. So, to make things a little easier for him, I introduced him to my friend who lived in the city he’d be working in.”

You paused, grip on your dress tightening slightly. You didn’t notice that he noticed.

“And from there, it’s pretty obvious what happened. Soon, he started ditching my calls saying he was busy. He just never told me he was busy with her. And then, one long weekend, when I flew over to surprise him, I found her in his bed.”

He surprised you when he reached over to hold your hand, gently rubbing his thumb across your knuckles. You stared at him for a bit, trying to gauge whether he was trying to make a move on you or whether he was just being nice. Looking at his eyes, your heart melted a little. He was definitely just being nice.

“Yeah. I really should have seen it coming. But I didn’t. I saw them together and walked straight back out and took a flight back home. I packed up all my stuff and left home for Seoul.”

“You just packed up and left?”

“Yup. Needed a change of scene. I couldn’t deal with being in that apartment anymore.”

He nodded.

“I understand.”

He didn’t really understand, because everything seemed too sudden for him, but somehow for you, who just started talking to a stranger on a plane who seemed scared, it fit. He looked down at his hand. He didn’t know what possessed him to hold your hand, but again, it just seemed right, even if it was something he had never done before. He found himself opening his mouth to ask you something.

“So, they’re getting married now?”

“Yeah. And it’s not a normal wedding. They had to make it an all-expenses paid wedding that goes on for literally three days.”

“Okay. Wow.”

“Yeah.”

And although you looked perfectly content, something told him that you were upset. Again, he didn’t know what he was doing, because he just wasn’t an impulsive or spontaneous person, but he found himself retracting his hand to shake yours. You looked up with an eyebrow raised.

“Hi. I’m Song Minho and I’d be more than happy to be your plus one for this wedding.”

You widened your eyes.

“Oh. Oh wow. Are you sure? You don’t have to if”-

He shook his head. You studied his face for a few seconds before grinning.

“Hi then Minho! I’m Y/N L/N. And I’d love to have you as my plus one.”

---

“So, tell me a bit more about your ex and his fiancé. I don’t want to be clueless when I meet these … interesting people.”

You nodded and whipped out your phone, pulling up some old photos.

“Okay, so I know this is a group picture, but he’s the shirtless one in an apron and she’s the one holding a cake.”

Minho’s jaw got ever so slightly tense when he realised how alone you were in the picture. Sure, your ex’s hands may have been draped over your thighs, but you were struggling to keep a smile on your face. It was so obviously fake. And your ex was so obviously unbothered by it.

“Ah okay. What’re their names?”

“Andy and Liza.”

“Okay, tell me more. How did you meet?”

“Oh right. We were in high school together. At that point, we were just friends, but when we ended up working the same part time job in college, things started changing and one day, after months of flirting, he made me a cake with the icing saying, “Will you go out with me?””

Minho forced a smile.

“Hmmm romantic.”

“It was. It really was. He wasn’t always that bad. He…just got incredibly forgetful over the years.”

Again, Minho found himself saying something he never would.

“So basically, he took you for granted?”

You paused, stunned for a moment.

“Yeah, yeah he did.”

There was a moment’s silence before you turned to him.

“Okay, so if we’re going together, we have to know basic things about each other. So… how do you feel about twenty questions?”

Minho hated twenty questions, but he nodded anyway.

---

An hour or so later, you pouted as Minho helped you with your bags.

“We weren’t done with the game though.”

He finally managed to get the last of his bags and started walking towards the exit with you.

“I know, but don’t worry. We can figure this out once we get to the hotel.”

“Thank you so much Minho. I honestly can’t explain how much it means to me, especially since you’re here on vacation.”

“No, don’t worry about it. My friend was a little busy for the next few days anyway.”

Lies. You would soon learn that whenever his left eye twitched, he was lying.

“No, but still”-

“Y/N!”

You froze. You’d recognise that voice anywhere. Before you could react, you felt Andy’s arms wrap around you as he hugged you.

“Y/N! I’m so glad you could come!

Minho stiffened when he noticed how uncomfortable you were with Andy’s overfamiliarity. Minho didn’t like him. Something about his behaviour with you was odd. Liza also hugged a visibly uncomfortable you and smiled.

“Y/N! The reason this is all happening!”

Your fake smile slipped. And that was when Minho couldn’t watch this anymore. Again, he found himself doing something he would never otherwise do. He walked forward, wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you closer.

“Hi. You must be the happy couple.”

Your tense body relaxed a little when you heard his voice and felt his arm around you, which was odd. You always took a while to warm up to strangers. Andy’s expression tensed though.

“And you are?”

Minho stuck out his hand.

“I’m her boyfriend.”

Your breath hitched for a second and a light blush spread across your cheeks. You had been planning on introducing him as a close friend. Oh well.

Andy took his hand and smiled a visibly forced smile.

“Oh, I didn’t know she was seeing someone.”

His grip on Minho’s hand tightened.

Minho’s eyebrows shot up. Oh. So, Andy was that kind of guy. The one who felt oddly possessive over his girlfriends no matter how badly he treated them. Scum.

Minho’s grip tightened even more.

“Well, I doubt you know much about her anyway.”

Your eyes shot up from your fake smile to stare at Minho in shock. You did not see snarky Minho coming.

Andy just stood there for a minute with his eyes wide. He couldn’t believe what he heard. When he finally got around to reacting, Minho had already moved on to shaking Liza’s hand and offering her a smile. It was fake, and you knew this because every time he had smiled at you, with that ridiculously adorable smile that just lit up his whole face, you found yourself melting. Andy, however, interrupted your thoughts. In a mocking tone, he asked,

“I’ve known Y/N for 8 years. How long have you known her for?”

You glared at Andy, and wrapped your hand in Minho’s, prepared to leave and apologise to Minho about Andy’s behaviour later, when Minho replied in a tone of pure ice.

“Long enough to know her worth.”

Your jaw dropped. Liza’s smile was long gone and Andy was practically red with anger. So was Minho. On the outside, he seemed calm, cool and collected, but he hated the way Andy treated you and felt so entitled to your kindness. The way he treated you when you were so clearly uncomfortable was just the tipping point. A smile tugged at your lips, even though you made a half-hearted attempt to glare at Minho. He pulled you a little closer, shooting you the smile that made you lose track of thought.

Andy was furious and it was clear Minho wasn’t going to back down. It was also clear that you weren’t going to do anything to stop Minho. It wasn’t like Minho was lying about something. You were at an impasse. So, when Liza awkwardly suggested they show you guys to your room in the hotel, everyone jumped at that chance.

Half an hour later, the four of you walked in awkward silence as Liza led you to your room. She offered you a genuine smile.

“Here you go Y/N. We picked one of the pool facing rooms because you like those.”

You struggled, but smiled back at her. It was their wedding. You were not going to be unnecessarily mean.

You and Minho walked in and when you saw the large bed in the middle of the room, your eyebrows shot up. Natasha, one of the two friends you had really missed, told you that all the rooms had two beds. 

“Why is there only one damn bed here?”

Minho blushed and looked away, but you jumped when you heard Andy.

“Why? Is sharing a bed a problem?”

You turned around to find Andy right behind you, about to lean on your shoulder. Before you could even react though, Minho stepped in between.

“No, absolutely not a problem.”

“Oh yeah? Then why did she sound so annoyed?”

Both you and Liza were glaring at Andy, though for very different reasons.

Minho closed his eyes for a second and decided to just go for it. No matter what happened, he would not let Andy bother you any more than he already had. He wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you close.

“We had a bit of an argument before getting here. But we’ll be fine, right babe?”

If you thought your heart was beating fast because he called you ‘babe’, when you looked up at him and he placed a soft kiss on your forehead, you thought it would burst out of your chest.

His hand slipped a little lower, from your waist to your hips and played with the knot holding your dress up. He had the most wicked smirk on his face when he mumbled,

“Besides, these things have a way of working themselves out, right princess?”

Andy let out disgusted snort, grabbed Liza’s hand and stomped off, but you didn’t register any of that. You could only register the look in Minho’s eyes and the way your knees were weakening. Did…did you like him?

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

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[angrylizardjacket]

dirtbags // 5: Charlotte

Summary: High School AU. 1985. Winter. Charlotte and Razzle are officially not dating, while Lola’s not dating someone but won’t say who, though she’s contemplating sleeping with Tommy in an effort to get him to stop pining for her, which Charlotte thinks is a terrible idea. Except that Charlotte lets slip to Tommy that that’s Lola’s plan, and he doesn’t take it well. The whole pack ends up at the Drive-In, which is going great for Charlotte and Razzle right up until Nikki decides to be an ass, and Charlotte realises that Tommy has spoken to Lola about their fight. It looks like things will be getting worse before they get better.

A/N: 6655 words. long overdue sorry!! @misscharlottelee and @evaangelics my beloveds this is, as always, for you both. ft. asofterworld quotes

my sister and i both hate antique shopping. but we love hating things together.

So yes, technically Charlotte and Razzle spent the better part of Heather’s party in a dark corner being altogether gross, as an incredibly drunk Peach had informed them both before she was pulled away by a far more sober Vince, which Charlotte hadn’t thought much of at the time, herself more than a little tipsy, but hearing Eileen rant in the diner the following day had made her feel a little guilty for not paying more attention. Not that anything bad happened, but still, she felt partially responsible for the young ginger girl. 

But the point is that Charlotte and Razzle are not dating, despite what everyone in their weird and ragtag bunch of lunchtime delinquents likes to imply. If Charlotte could justify punching Nikki again, she absolutely would. It’s not her fault that Razzle’s interesting and kind and honest and funny, and if she finds herself feeling a little heady, a little good-nauseous, like she had back when she and Duff had first been dancing around the idea of being a couple, she pushes those feelings to the back of her mind and distracts herself with something, anything else. 

Right now, she’s got a terrible headache and is having a whisper argument with Lola in the middle of art, trying to talk her out of pity-fucking Tommy.

“You make it sound so crass and heartless,” Lola’s lip curled, frowning at the red pencil in her hand and the cartoon drawing of a flower in her notes, “pity-fucking,” the word sounds wrong on Lola’s lips, tone derisive, “you say it like I don’t care about him.”

“Don’t pity-fuck my cousin, you can both do better,” Charlotte rubs at her temples, eyes closed, as Lola makes a noise like she’s not too sure if that’s a compliment, “a few weeks ago, you promised me you were just friends -”

“He’s a hopeless romantic who keeps hearing about cheerleaders sleeping with people who aren’t him, lemme put him out of his misery -”

“By fucking him? What if he catches further feelings for you?”

“I dunno, I’ll kill him?” Lola suggests flippantly, and when Charlotte cracks her eyes open to level a glare at Lola, the dark haired girl is grinning, clearly joking.

“Why Tommy? Why can’t you sleep with someone less related to me?” Charlotte hisses, tone vaguely annoyed and desperate, “I thought you were getting laid? What’s up with you and Nikki anyways?” There’s a shift in her tone, and Lola makes a face, pressing a little harder with her pencil. 

“I am sleeping with someone less related to you,” Lola says, though there’s a strangely guarded quality to her voice, “not Nikki, for the record; he’s the one who suggested I sleep with Tommy to begin with. He’s too much of a bitch to fuck me himself,” she mutters, mostly to herself, a little wrinkle creasing the bridge of her nose as she thinks about it. 

“Wait, you’re seeing someone? For real? And it’s not Nikki?” Charlotte’s expression lit up, and Lola gave her a calculating looking out of the corner of her eye.

“I bet we both know another person I’m not sleeping with,” and Lola’s tone is mean and a little venomous as she deftly changes the subject, “how is our favourite exchange student, by the way?” Charlotte realises too late that her excited questioning of Lola’s private life may have touched a nerve. For all that Lola’s become more open in the few months they’ve been friends, there were strange lines Charlotte kept finding. Lola never really acted as though she cared much about Charlotte and Razzle’s vague status, so to use it against Charlotte was a surprise, and a clear giveaway that one of those lines had been crossed. It got Lola’s message across well enough, and Charlotte’s mouth snapped closed. 

Lola was a terrible distraction when she wanted to be.

“Lola’s not seeing anyone,” Nikki says flatly around his cigarette, and when Charlotte realises she’s gossiping with Nikki Sixx, she wonders idly where her life went wrong, “she’s fucking someone,” he corrected, “and she refuses to tell me who, but she’s not seeing anyone.” He sounds far more annoyed than Charlotte had anticipated, and she can’t help herself. She tugs on that string.

“Wait, so it’s actually not you?” 

“Lola’s dad is built like He-Man, Master of the Fucking Universe, have you seen him, Charlie? I couldn’t stick it in his daughter and bring myself to look him in the eye every other day; and I’m past worrying if he’s gonna toss me into space like he’s an Olympic hammer thrower,” Nikki considers for a moment, before heaving a sigh, “I just don’t wanna disappoint him.”

“You think fucking Lola’s gonna disappoint her dad?” Charlotte’s brow wrinkled with slight confusion, “why do you even talk to her dad every other day?”

“We work together?” Nikki says, like it’s the simplest answer in the world, and oh, suddenly Charlotte knows exactly why the back of the fry cook in Leo’s looked so familiar. Nikki can obviously read it on her face as the realisation, the full understanding of the situation dawns on Charlotte, but it still doesn’t stop her from bursting out with laughter.

“Oh dude, you definitely cannot fuck your boss’s daughter, no matter how much you so clearly want to -”

“Hey!” Nikki snapped, “bold words coming from you, Miss Lee; you already made sure Razz has had the full American High School Experience, or are you waiting for Prom to go full cliché about it?”

“Nikki, I’ve already punched you in the face once, so help me -”

“Yeah but now I know what to expect, I’m kinda into it,” Nikki’s grin is all teeth, and he leans across the table, into Charlotte’s space, “do it again, Miss Lee,” he teases, offering up his cheek to her, grinning from ear to ear. Charlotte makes a disgusted noise, leaning back, crossing her arms.

“You disgust me; can you please quit your job so you can fuck Lola?” 

Thankfully, this seems to take the wind out of Nikki’s sails, his expression falling to something irritated as he huffs and drops his gaze, sitting back dejectedly, and pointedly refusing, unable to come with a snide comeback in time to save face. 

“Lola would punch you in the face,” Charlotte pointed out, tone a little smug, and Nikki presses his lips together, trying very hard to keep his expression neutral as a blush creeps up his cheeks. 

“So would that leggy redhead of yours,” he’s quick to change the conversation, “isn’t she in the musical? You know my band’s still looking for a singer -”

“Lemme stop you right there,” Charlotte stops Nikki in his tracks, holding up a single hand for silence, “first of all, the only person Eileen hates more than you is Vince Neil, and she told me personally that she’d rather eat glass than join your band, secondly -”

“You talked about my band with her?” There’s something a little bashful in Nikki’s voice, and the blush hasn’t left his cheeks; the whole picture would be endearing if he wasn’t such a colossal asshole.

“Secondly,” Charlotte tries again, “you know her name’s Eileen; everyone knows her name is Eileen, stop calling her my leggy redhead,” she ordered, before taking a deep breath, trying to let her irritation subside, “and thirdly, Lola was the one who asked Eileen to be in your band, Eileen just brought it up to me because she knew Tommy was in it.” Nikki, who had already been pink all over, was steadily turning red, trying to hide it as he made a show of patting down his pockets looking for his cigarettes.

“Lola... uh, she talks about my band? She asked if Eileen wanted to join us?” He’s shooting for casual and missing the mark miserably, much to Charlotte’s delight.

“You’re so in love with her,” she smirks. Nikki scowls at her. The bell rings.

i have found a way to watch video in your head. high definition, with instant replay. it is called having regrets.

When Eileen invites Charlotte to the drive in, and suggests bringing Razzle, she insists it’s not a date, that some of the people from the musical were just getting together to watch the new horror movie, and she thought it would be good for Razzle to experience a proper, drive-in movie. That probably should have set of alarm bells in Charlotte’s mind, since everyone knew that if you take someone to a horror movie at the drive-in, you generally don’t end up actually watching much of the movie. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. 

But Eileen’s adamant, and Charlotte honestly wouldn’t actually mind sneaking off with Razzle at some point, if the opportunity arose, not that she’s admit that. 

“I should ask Lola to go,” Tommy says, tone a little wistful, when, on Thursday, Charlotte tells him her plans for the following evening; alarm bells definitely start ringing. 

They’re in Tommy’s kitchen after school, with his mom at the supermarket, and his dad at work, they’ve got the house to themselves, apart from Tommy’s sister upstairs, monopolising the phone. Charlotte’s sitting on the counter, while Tommy’s staring into the refrigerator, not actually looking at what’s in there, thoughts miles away as he considers his own words.

“Shut that if you’re not going to get anything, and no you shouldn’t,” Charlotte shuts him down immediately, to which Tommy frowns, asking derisively when she became the boss of him, slamming the fridge closed, “I thought you two were just friends,” Charlotte counters with.

“I can ask a friend to the drive-in,” though the way he suddenly can’t meet her gaze betrays him, and he flits over to a cupboard, opening it and staring at the food inside, trying to decide on an afternoon snack, “why are you here, anyways?” At this, Charlotte goes quiet and pensive, looking down at her knees as her heels kick softly against the cupboards below, trying not to think about how her mother keeps leaving college brochures out, with Law, Accounting, and Medicine courses all meticulously highlighted, or how whenever they’re in the same room, she’s treated to passive aggressive questions about whether she’s seen the brochures her parents know she definitely hasn’t touched.

“Am I not allowed to hang out with you?” Charlotte finally surfaces from her thoughts to see that Tommy is waiting for an answer.

“Not if you’re going to be an asshole.”

“If you’re going to daydream about Lola, I’m going to be an asshole,” Charlotte fired back, snarkily, and Tommy narrowed his eyes at her.

“You’ve become kind of a bitch since you started hanging out with Nikki,” he huffs, and Charlotte straightens up where she’s sitting, eyes going wide with disbelief, with slight outrage.

“I’m just fucking sick of hearing you chase after girls who don’t want you! It’s all you ever talk about!”

“Lola wants me! Lola fucking wants me, Charlie!”

“She doesn’t want you, she wants to pity-fuck you so you’ll get off her damn case! Just how naïve are you, Thomas?” Charlotte yells back, and immediately smacks her hand to her mouth, regret written all over her face. Tommy’s expression falls like his heart is breaking. “Tommy -”

“A real, fucking bitch,” there’s a shake in Tommy’s voice that is breaking Charlotte’s heart, and she tries to apologise, but he tells her to go home. 

Yes, she leaves, she shuts the door behind herself, but she can’t bring herself to go home. Her feet carry her while her mind is blank, but when she looks up, she’s pushing open the door to the gas station, seeing Mick Mars look up from his magazine. Before he greets her, she sees the way his eyes search the space around her, roam the empty fuel pumps, as if expecting Tommy to pop out behind her. Then, once he considers himself safe, he puts down his magazine, tilting his head curiously at her, at her dejected demeanour. 

“Charlotte?” She’s actually surprised that he knows her name, and Charlotte hovers in the door, letting in the cold air from outside as she deliberates. Why had she come here of all places? “Are you okay?” The words sound strange, like he’s not used to saying them, not used to showing any sort of care, but she appreciates them nonetheless.

“I was a massive asshole to Tommy,” the words spill from her before she can stop them, and she watches Mick’s expression, can almost see him fight back several sarcastic or congratulatory remarks, suppressing his own well-worn irritation for her cousin, instead, just making a noise in the back of his throat that she can’t quite decipher. Then, he looks out the window, looks to the clock on the wall, and takes his feet off the counter carefully. 

“Do you want a slurpee?” He asks, obviously a little uncertain of how to proceed.

“Not really,” Charlotte admits, and Mick awkwardly looks around, as if to offer something else.

“Do you smoke?” He’s already pulling a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. Charlotte shoves her hands into her coat pockets, shaking her head, looking at the floor, not quite sure where to go from here herself, “do you mind if I smoke?” 

“No,” her voice is small.

They sit on the step by the door outside the gas station, side by side, silent for a few minutes as Mick smokes his cigarette. No cars approach, but they watch some drive by as the sun sinks lower in the sky. 

“I told him Lola doesn’t want him, that she’s just interested in pity-fucking him because she thinks it’d get him off her case,” Charlotte admits, and from the corner of her eye, she sees Mick wince, a sign that what she’d said truly was a dick move. 

“That would’a broken the kid’s heart,” Mick muses around his cigarette, and Charlotte, who’d had her knees curled up to her chest, rests her chin on them, with a quiet ‘I know’. 

“He said I turned into an asshole since I became friends with Nikki Sixx, and then I just managed to prove him right,” she seethes, disappointed in herself more than anything else. 

“That’s your first problem; being friends with Nikki Sixx.”

“That was an accident,” Charlotte tried to defend herself, “and I’ve been friends with Nikki for kind of a while, honestly, but I was just so sick of hearing Tommy moon over girls who don’t even look twice at him, like they hung the stars in the sky -”

“Charlotte,” Mick interrupts her, his voice soft but insistent, and when she finally looks at him, he’s actually frowning at her, hands stilled with another cigarette half-pulled from it’s packet, “that’s not... you know why what you said hurt him, right? You know you could’a said that about any other cheerleader he was into and it would’a rolled right off his back, right?”

Oh. Oh no. Slowly, Charlotte’s expression crumbles as the full weight of her words dawns upon her, her guilt skyrocketing. Face in her hands, she actually wails, and Mick gives a firm pat on the back as a show of support. 

“They’re friends, Mick.”

“I know, Charlotte.”

“God, fuck, he probably thinks that I mean she doesn’t even like him as a friend, Mick!”

“Yeah,” he sighed deeply, giving another pat, “I know, Charlotte.”

“I just... don’t want him to get his heart broken,” she admitted, her only attempt to justify herself, which Mick didn’t accept as a proper answer for a moment.

“He’s sixteen, he’s gotta make his own mistakes, and,” at this he hesitates, lighting up his cigarette and taking a long draft as he deliberated saying his next words, “don’t ever let her know I told you this,” he adds seriously, “but the last thing Lola wants to do is hurt that kid; if anything, she’s hoping hooking up with him will strengthen their friendship, and raise his confidence for when he goes after other girls.” This... is a lot to process.

“How do you even know this?” Charlotte asked, bewildered, and Mick scrunches his face up and takes another long inhale on his cigarette.

“We’re friends,” is what he settles on.

“What?”

“Lola and I... are friends,” he sounds like he doesn’t want to admit it, and visibly cringes as he follows it up with, “she cares about that kid, and speaks very highly of him, and of you, honestly, and maybe the kid’s not as irritating as I had him pegged as. He’s still irritating, but he,” and he audibly groans, hanging his head for a moment, as if disappointed that he’s even saying any of this, “he’s a good friend to Lola.” It’s like the words themselves hurt him to admit, so he changes the topic quickly, “she told me he’s in a band with Sixx, actually,” and his tone is thankfully much less strained as he straightens his posture a little, ignoring Charlotte’s frankly flabbergasted expression, “I’ve been seriously considering joining them.”

“You sing?” Is what Charlotte hears herself say, without really registering it. Mick snorts derisively.

“Fuck no, I play guitar.”

“You sho- you should join them,” Charlotte babbles, trying to make sense of everything that she’d just learned, and now this of all things, but it’s going to take her a while. 

“I should,” he agrees with the barest hint of a smile, once more clapping her on the back. He hesitates before he stands, like he wants to say something else, but instead, he gives an awkward smile and gets to his feet, heading back inside, leaving Charlotte in silence. 

Eileen gives her a lift to school the following morning, seething about how Peach got a part-time job and their parents still aren’t happy. It’s conflicting for the older sister, who hates hearing the derisive way her parents refer to Peach as a ‘burger flipper’, while Peach herself had sneered when Eileen had asked about the job, telling her older sister that she was done grovelling at their parents’ feet just to exist, with an implied ‘unlike you’ which had been so uncharacteristic of the usually kind and upbeat Peach that it had sent Eileen spiralling. It was the third day in a row Eileen had been ranting about it, about how she just wanted to support Peach, but that her whole family appeared to be turning on each other.

Charlotte found herself relating to that particular sentiment far too well.

Half their ragtag bunch of lunchtime misfits is notably absent from their usual lunchtime hang out, so while Charlotte spends the forty minutes picking apart her food like she’s trying to deconstruct it atomically, Razzle sits diligently as Eileen carefully and meticulously braids his hair, while he asks if he needs to bring anything, or wear anything special to the drive in that Friday. Charlotte’s not paying them any attention, just letting her gaze roam distractedly essentially until the bell rings, and Eileen pulls the hairband from her own hair to secure Razzle’s braid, before taking off. 

“Anybody home in that head of yours, Charlie? The bell’s gone,” Razzle’s offering her his hand where he’s standing, and Charlotte finally returns to reality from her blank, concerned mind, wiping the last few crumbs of her sandwich on her jeans picking up her bag with one hand and taking Razzle’s hand with the other. Today he’s chosen to wear a royal purple collared shirt, several sized too big for him, with the sleeves rolled up, tucked into tight, acid-washed jeans littered with naturally-made holes, his backpack on his back, and a black, corduroy jacket slung over one shoulder; with his newly acquired braid, the whole look is quite fetching, quite -

“You look like a prince,” Charlotte feels rather foolish for even saying it, can feel as the blush rises on her cheeks, but Razzle’s beaming as he pulls her to her feet, and doesn’t let go of her hand for a moment. 

“Well then I must be truly lucky to get court a princess like you,” and coming from anyone else, it would have sounded cheesy, or the phrase princess would have been derisive or snide, but he’s sincere, almost painfully so, and Charlotte ducks her head, “not courting,” Razzle corrects quickly, and Charlotte doesn’t think about how her heart sinks at that, despite how they’d talked through this.

“Princess Charlie -” something about the way he says her name always hits her hard, because hearing how it sounds, the reverence with which he says it, the nervousness, she leans in and kisses him quickly, can’t help herself, can’t stop herself. But then she’s leaning back, getting a better grip on her backpack, but - “wait, wait, wait, Charlie, wait -” Razzle, for the barest moment, tightens his grip on her hand, and she’s terrified that she crossed a line, that she’s done something wrong, but she turns back, and he doesn’t seem to be mad or concerned, instead he drops the jacket he’d been holding, gently taking her face in his hands, “can’t spring that on me and get away with it; lemme do it proper.” 

i am going to build a new boyfriend out of garbage and dirty feathers. no one else will touch him. 

 “Did you tell Tommy we were coming here?” Eileen hissed, startling the hell out of Charlotte at the concession stand at the drive-in before the movie began. Charlotte, who had been hovering in line, nervously retucking her nice blouse into her skirt every few minutes, almost jumped out of her skin at her friend’s voice in her ear.

“Yeah, I - why?” Looking around, Charlotte thankfully can’t see Tommy’s shitbox of a car, but it becomes readily apparent the source of Eileen’s frustrations, when she spots a shiny, red sports car parked four cars past where Keanu and his good friend and well known fellow theatre kid Alex Winter were sitting on the hood of Keanu’s car, chatting animatedly with Razzle, who they had been quick to warm to him upon meeting him about twenty minutes ago. 

“Charlie!” The name came out as a frustrated noise from between Eileen’s clenched teeth, her eyes glued to Vince Neil’s ostentatious car, and Charlotte looked down for a moment, before adjusting her skirt again and retucking her shirt as she spoke.

“I didn’t know he’d tell Vince; I haven’t spoken to him since yesterday afternoon,” and she hesitates before adding, “we got into this fight and I’ve been trying to figure out how to apologise but I don’t know how, so it kind of slipped my mind, I didn’t know -”

“We’ll talk about you and Tommy later, I promise, but right now I need you to tell me three convincing arguments as to why I shouldn’t pop one of Vince Neil’s fucking tires.” Eileen’s hatred of Vince is perhaps getting out of hand, Charlotte considers, prying Eileen’s vice-like grip from her upper arm, considering for a moment.

“I know you have no qualms about becoming a felon to protect Peach,” Charlotte says with half a smirk.

“Absolutely none,” Eileen agrees without missing a beat, which was both amusing and heartwarming.

“- but your mom would probably pull you out of public school to enrol you in that strict, girls-only, future-nun-school, Our Lady Of Perpetual Sorrow,” Charlotte’s trying so desperately not to smirk, not to give her amusement away at the concept, “and you can say goodbye to any chance you had of ever making out with your co-star on or off stage.” 

Eileen turns as red as her hair, but at least she takes a moment to calm down, glancing over her shoulder at the three boys who were waiting for them. Keanu looks over for a moment, catching her gaze, waving and grinning from ear to ear, and Charlotte practically cackles as Eileen’s blush deepens. 

“Look, Eileen look,” Charlotte pointed insistently back at the boys, to where Alex had hopped off the hood of Keanu’s car, and was making his way over to the pack of kids Eileen had vaguely gestured to earlier, mentioning that they made up most of the technical theatre department, despite their leather jackets and motorcycles, leaving Razzle and Keanu chattering away, “Alex is going to hang out with the Crew boys, leaving Keanu free to comfort you during the scary movie.”

Eileen takes a deep breath, not even pretending like that wasn’t what she wanted, steeling herself to head back, and ignore Vince Neil’s goddamn car. After a beat, however, she turns to Charlotte, looking altogether stern and collected.

“I know I said you and Razzle could stay in my car, since I’m hanging out with Keanu, but don’t have sex in there -”

“What?!”

“Don’t have sex with Razzle in my car,” Eileen practically ordered, and Charlotte nervously looked to the guy ahead of her in line. He looked back at her, between the two girls, then thankfully stepped up to the counter without a word. 

“I wasn’t planning on it!”

“Well you also weren’t planning on being make out buddies after getting drunk and being the gross PDA couple at Heather’s party,” Eileen sniped back, “listen, I just want Peach to be able to sit in my car without either of your bare asses having touched any of the seats.” 

“I won’t let either of our bare asses touch the seat,” Charlotte agreed, mortified.

“And no stains -”

“Eileen!” Charlotte all but screeches, right as the messages before the movie started playing.

“Eileen, the charming Mister Reeves wants a word with you,” Razzle’s voice joins them just moments before Charlotte’s pretty sure she would have expired from embarrassment, and at the mere mention of Keanu, Eileen relaxes a little. All three of them glance over to Keanu’s car, to see the man himself leaning against his windshield, cigarette idle in one hand as he watches the first of the preview trailers. As much as he makes gestures like he’s about to take a drag, the cigarette never quite makes it to his lips before he extends his arm out beside him again, like he’s going through the motions without really following through. Eileen, as if drawn to him by a spell, practically floats away.

“She’s a strange one,” he says fondly, though Charlotte kindly doesn’t point out the hypocrisy in his words, “Keanu and Alex act like she’s some aloof, inscrutable woman; weren’t sure we were talking about the same woman,” he huffed a laugh, much to Charlotte’s disbelief.

“Eileen... she is an aloof, inscrutable woman, you just happen to live with her arch nemesis, and- you’re- we’re- you know, we’re...” Charlotte gestured between herself and Razzle, flushing, as his smile widened, “and you know, I’m her best friend.”

“Guys, are you buying food or what?” The concierge asks; a tired-looking kid Charlotte recognises from Tommy’s year. She hops forward, ordering food, and waiting for it to be prepared, all while standing by Razzle’s side, his chin on her should as they watch the preview trailers. He’s behind her, warm and solid and grounding, which is exactly what she needs as her cousin’s beat-up excuse of a car screeches into the lot, almost spraying gravel thanks to his sharp turn into the first available space. 

“Oh god, oh fucking hell,” Charlotte breathes, clenching her eyes tightly shut, “if you see a blonde-haired, six-foot stick-insect, who looks like he’d cheat on his girlfriend,” she starts, whole face scrunching with frustration, “and-or Nikki fucking Sixx, well, that would be about right; that feels like how tonight would go,” she lets out a long, frustrated breath, and she feels Razzle lift his chin from her shoulder right as he makes a noise of confusion.

“Tommy just arrived,” she clarified.

“Oh?”

“And we kind of got into an argument yesterday.”

“Oh.”

Charlotte’s name is called and she collects the bucket of popcorn she’d ordered for the pair of them, and Razzle picks up their drinks, heading back to the car as the movie opens. 

“You wanna talk about whatever’s going on with you and that Drummer Boy?” Razzle asks as they’re settling in the back seat together. Charlotte’s detaching the front seat’s headrests with possibly too much vigour, but declines, despite the frustration written all over her face. Razzle keeps a careful hold on the drinks that he’d thought were safe to balance on the centre console as Charlotte foisted herself over the back seat to pull the blankets she’d packed from the trunk. 

“You sure?” Razzle tried again, still with one hand nervously keeping the drinks in place, the other firmly holding their bucket of popcorn out of harm’s way. With a blanket securely bundled in her arms, Charlotte gives him a flat look, that quickly disappears in the face of his genuine concern.

“No, Razz,” she sighed, “I’m just mad at myself for letting this, like, fester, you know? I should have apologised sooner,” she huffs a sigh, unfurling the blanket with far more care now, draping it across both of their laps. 

“You’ve a good heart, Miss Lee,” Razzle assures her, but Charlotte’s face scrunches reflexively at the nickname, having only ever associated it with Nikki Sixx’s dreadful attempts to hit on her.

“Thanks, but please don’t call me that,” Charlotte gives a strained little smile, but Razzle nods and takes it in stride, finally getting himself comfortable and sitting back against the seat, one arm draped across the back, the other holding the popcorn in his lap.

“No worries, Love; I could call you Charlie, but I always thought it sounded a bit weird coming from me,” Razzle is rambling as Charlotte settles against him, tucking herself up close to him, “had a mate back home called Charlie, but short for Charles; absolute cockhead,” he clicks his tongue as Charlotte can’t help but giggle, “I could always keep just calling you Love, but it’s not as personal, you know? And Charlotte... it’s a pretty name, but it would be like if you started calling me Nicholas, be a bit weird, don’t ya think?” He mused, and Charlotte’s eyes drifted from the opening scene of the movie, where a menacing looking knife-glove was being created, to Razzle’s face as he chattered away. 

“I could keep calling you Princess Charlie,” as he says that, he looks to her, and seems a little startled to see her looking back at him, “like the other day,” his voice is softer, eyes wide, roaming her face, as if trying to capture her fond expression in his memory forever.

“You wouldn’t imagine your friend Charlie from back home a tiara?” Charlotte’s voice is amused, as is her expression, and Razzle’s eyes crease in the corners as he smiles; his eyes as so blue, so honest.

“You’d be the only Princess Charlie in my life,” he assures, giving her shoulder a squeeze where his arm is wrapped around her, and Charlotte doesn’t even think about how they’re less than a minute into the movie before she’s kissing him. 

At least it gets her to stop thinking about Tommy. 

Honestly, it gets her to stop thinking about everyone and everything that isn’t Razzle in this car in this moment, which is fine for her, because her life is somehow currently a stupid, complicated mess of people and emotions, and Razzle is nice to her, and a damn good kisser, and gentle, and his hands are warm -

“Miss Lee, does the Declaration of Independence mean nothing to you?” Comes shouted through the wound-up window of the car, startling Charlotte, who’s been in Razzle’s lap with his lips on her neck, so much that she jumped, smacking the back of her head into the roof of the car. Razzle reached out for her, expression concerned and lips kiss-bruised, as Charlotte held her head, wincing. Looking to the window, however, she could see Nikki Sixx pressing his face to the glass, looking altogether unsightly, with Lola a few feet behind him, drawing something in the gravel with the toe of her shoe. 

Assholes!

“I’m gonna kill him,” Charlotte says with deadly calm the moment she understands the situation, though Razzle seems to have anticipated this, and has his hands on her thighs, keeping her secure in his firm grip.

“No,” Razzle says, voice equally as calm, his gaze focused on Charlotte, and not on Nikki who had put his open mouth on the window, puffed out his cheeks, and proceeded to lick the glass. Charlotte scrunches her expression for a moment, internal debate raging between her desire to stay in the car with Razzle, and her need to beat the ever-loving shit out of Nikki Sixx for being a smartass.

“I’m gonna crack the window and inch and tell him to fuck off,” Charlotte says, looking back to Razzle, who was wearing an expression of faint amusement, and his grip became a little less firm. Reaching over, she wound down the window an inch. Immediately, Nikki looked through the gap, cheek still pressed to the window as his gaze darted around the cabin of the car, no longer obscured by the window tint. 

“I’m surprised you know what the Declaration of Independence is,” Charlotte said, tone icy as she moved to sit next to Razzle. 

“Honestly I stole that line from Lola,” Nikki admitted, and upon hearing her name, even faintly, Lola joins them, thankfully not pressing herself to the window, instead standing close to Nikki, her hip by his, hands in her jacket pockets. 

“Were they doing it?” Lola asks far too casually, almost too quiet for Charlotte and Razzle to hear, though they do, and both blush, even as Nikki pulls back, making a face. 

“No,” Charlotte calls back, and Lola’s expression turns smug as she holds out her hand, making a ‘hand it over’ gesture to Nikki, only for him to begrudgingly hand over a five dollar note. 

“Shoulda waited ‘til the end of the movie to ask,” Lola’s grin stretched wider, even as Charlotte tried to splutter a protest, and Razzle had to press his face against her shoulder to muffle his laugh at the whole situation.

“Why are you assholes here?” Charlotte hissed; strangely, Lola’s expression fell, and she stepped back again, adding more to her gravel drawing with her shoe, not looking at the car. 

“We’re at the drive in because I’ve heard this is a good movie,” Nikki goes back to staring at them through the inch crack in the window, “and we’re here-” his tone turns proud while his smile turns sharp as he taps his nail against the glass, “because we’re trying to give Tommy and Heather privacy,” he all but sings. There’s... a lot to unpack there, however before Charlotte can process any of it, Lola grab’s Nikki by the elbow, pulling him away.

“Come on, I didn’t take a night off to talk to people I can see every day, did you bring weed or not?” She insisted, tone frustrated leading him towards the concierge stand. Something about it had Charlotte’s heart sinking, even as Razzle’s still chuckling and confused about what was going on, Charlotte’s heart was sinking. 

Tommy had driven Nikki and Lola - and Heather? What? - to the drive in. Tommy and Lola had almost definitely spoken about the fight Charlotte and Tommy had had, which means Lola almost definitely knew what Charlotte had said. 

“Everything okay, Princess?” Razzle had asked gently, his arm around her once more as Charlotte had buried her face in her hands. 

“My whole life is fucked,” Charlotte muttered, and Razzle pulled her in close to him. Her legs bridge over his thighs, and he’s holding her close with both arms, keeping her warm and secure, and Charlotte takes a moment, then another, then a third, to take comfort. 

She’s going to miss this. Going to miss him. Fuck, she can’t think like that, can’t keep reminding herself of the time limit on their friendship, the reason she’s scared to call it anything more. 

Everything is fucked, but this one moment, how Razzle was holding her close, devoid of it’s context, it was pretty damn great.

a friend will help you move. a best friend will help you move bodies. but if you have to move your best friend's body, you're on your own

Charlotte goes to see Tommy on Saturday morning, but when she gets there, he’s not home. 

“He’s at a movie~ with a girl~!” Athena sings, when Charlotte asks, and Charlotte, confused and concerned, looked to her aunt, Tommy’s mother, who gave a kind smile and nod of confirmation. 

“He was so nervous and excited, spent a long time doing his hair just right,” she giggled fondly, pride in her voice, but Charlotte’s heart was in her throat. Had what she said somehow guilted Lola into dating her cousin? That could only end badly for both of them, oh fuck -

Except when she bursts into Leo’s at eleven, after most of the breakfast diners had vacated, and the lunch rush was still about half an hour away, Lola was standing behind the counter... with Peach? Teaching her how to fold silverware in napkins correctly? 

“Do you know... do know that thing where you fold it into a swan?” Peach asks, giggling, right as one of the other kind-faced staff members approaches Charlotte and asks her how many people she’d like a table for. Lola instinctually looks to the door, and Peach catches on a moment later, and suddenly both girls behind the counter are frowning in Charlotte’s direction. Lola mutters something to Peach that’s too quiet for Charlotte to hear, and the younger redhead immediately takes the silverware they’ve already wrapped, going around and dispensing it amongst each table’s silverware holder. Peach is in uniform. 

“I just...” Charlotte’s voice is soft, while her gaze is locked with Lola’s, brushing past the host who’d greeted her, “I need to talk to Lola.” The host looks over his shoulder at Lola, who looks his way for the barest moment and gives half a shrug. The kid backs off, looking past Charlotte to the street outside to see if anyone else was coming in after her, and upon seeing no-one, he heads back to the counter. 

“Hey Peach,” Charlotte says as the redhead slides past her to get to another table. Peach doesn’t even look at her when she gives a flat greeting in response. 

“How can I help you?” Lola’s painfully sweet customer-service voice hurts more than any sarcastic remark she could have come up with, and it’s eating Charlotte alive to know what Tommy told her, what Lola thinks Charlotte thinks of her to make her act so hostile. The way she’s smiling so widely coupled with her dead-eyed stare is unnerving. 

“Keola!” It comes as a shock when a firm voice comes from the kitchen, and Lola practically jumps from her skin. Looking to the source, Charlotte sees the face of the man she’s only ever seen the back of in the kitchen, taller than anyone else in the restaurant, and he looks like Lola.

“What?” Lola hisses, surprising Charlotte, and the man looks to Charlotte, giving her a warm, friendly smile, before he answers.

“If you need to talk to,” and the man pauses, tipping his head a little as he looks to Charlotte, “Charlie?” And Charlotte, kind of confused and nervous as to how he knows her name, nods in confirmation, “you can take your break, okay? Water, fresh air, outside -” and without waiting for a confirmation, he calls the kid who had greeted Charlotte to come and take Lola’s place at the counter, as Lola begrudgingly grabs a bottle of water from beneath the counter, and storms out from behind the counter, past Charlotte to the door. 

Charlotte, a little terrified, looks to the man, who gives another bright smile.

“Sorry we haven’t properly met, I’m Leo, glad to finally meet you, Charlie,” and immediately everything makes total and complete sense, and Charlotte nervously greets him, and takes off after Lola, who had disappeared down the street.