#at least until part2 i guess

[myfairstarlight]

An Ode to Friends to Lovers - Colin and Penelope's story

Fine, I give in.

As someone who considers themself more of a casual viewer (as in, I've never engaged in the fandom before), I went into this new season with mild interest. And then I fell down the rabbit hole. I should have suspected it though, Friends to Lovers is a trope I affectionate particularly when it comes to romance, unfortunately one I very rarely think is done well. So I was still skeptical going in.

But by God, did they deliver on that front and I need to break it down and talk about it. So I guess this is my review of Bridgerton s3, part 1.

Under the cut though, because this is gonna be a long one (seriously, this is a warning).

I don't particularly think Bridgerton is a complex show, and one can argue all day about whether it is even good (in my eyes, as long as it's entertaining, I don't care if a show is "good"), however, the number of takes I've seen online not understanding basic story-telling worries me a bit.

Don't get me wrong, I agree this first half has pacing issues but I do not think Penelope's and Colin's love story suffered that much, it did not feel rushed to me since we already knew these characters for two whole seasons (and I maintain Colin has always had more depths than what people pretend he does, it seems like, just like the ton, viewers like to overlook him and just characterise him as naive).

And I guess this long ass post was born in the process. So:

Part One: Penelope's glow up

Yes I'm starting by looking at them individually first. I think this post on reddit sums it up so perfectly. I get we're all joking about how unrealistic it is that no man was ever interested in Penelope despite how she looks like an absolute goddess (and I maintain she was the cutest in both previous seasons as well!) - unfortunately it is realistic. That's the reality of bullying, it doesn't get solved by a glow up. Even her association with the Bridgertons through Eloise and Colin did not lessen the bullying, so without them? Even the prettiest dresses would not have changed the ton's perception of her, and she's still the awkward, anxious girl she's always been, and unfortunately, most of these men are not attracted to that. It's not satisfying, she doesn't get her triumphant revenge on a society that always ostracised her - and I think it's important that she does not. That she accepts it. She should not have to change for a ton that will not change for the better either. And it's a lesson she learns quickly - someone will love her for who she is, pretending will only lead to misery. And, it is when she's being herself that she successfully gets the interest of some gentlemen (shout out to Lord Remington! I was so hoping we would be seeing more of him on top of Debling. He's such a Whistledown fan I thought that even after the whole lesson reveal scandal he would have stuck to call on Penelope the next day to gossip together, it would have been cute but I guess he too wanted to avoid being written about) (also I'm just saying in fics he should be the one considered as a proper other suitor for Pen since they seemed to have a genuine connection, meanwhile Debling was really searching for practicality).

The thing I wanna add to that post is this: despite all that, she decided to change her looks for herself. When I first learned of the plot of this season, Colin helping her find a husband, I was scared it would mean Colin would be the one to tell her to have a makeover. It doesn't happen. Sure, Penelope subconsciously requests for a more Parisian style for her new dresses because it is the last place Colin went to, but by that point she has already given up on him. She wants something new, and to feel good in herself. That's how she blooms, by finding a style that she feels comfortable in, finally free from her mother's horrendous tastes. That's what allows her to be more confident as well, the new looks and her motivation to move on from her "unrequited fantasy". As for Colin? He never comments on her change, he compliments her dress (and mind you, that is when he's trying to play up the charm because he knows she's upset with him and he gets humbled, hard) but he never says it looks better on her than what she wore before, he never has a "I never realised how beautiful you were" moment we see a bit too often in friends to lovers stories, because to him she's still his Pen, new dresses, new hairstyles, but the same Pen he's always loved, even if he didn't realise to what extent yet.

But Penelope's confidence... is not quite there yet. Difficult to be, when she's grown up in a loveless home, with horrible sisters, a father who barely cared and a mother who constantly puts her down. Whenever she gets a compliment, her first reaction is "ah, it must be a joke" - that isn't even exclusive to Colin, in the brief interaction between Edwina and Penelope, when Edwina compliments her dress, Penelope also dismisses it. And then, there's Colin, who is always oh so honest with her and does not shy away from praising her. But I'll touch more on that later.

Part Two: Colin's new self.

And then we have the opposite: Colin showing up with a new attitude, and succeeding at it (well, on the surface). Something I haven't seen people bring up a lot though is that he's already tried a new look in s2, and he got mocked for it. The only one who didn't? Penelope. Why didn't he try to emulate being a rake back then? Because Penelope's letters grounded him, he admits it himself. It's seeing himself through Penelope's letters that gave him confidence. But that kind of confidence was not enough in the ton's eyes, and on top of that, between s2 and s3, this time Penelope doesn't write back, and neither do his family. He grows insecure, he's lost the one person who kept him grounded, he thinks his family is annoyed with him, and he still is in search of a purpose, so what does he do? He clings to Anthony's words in s1 after the disaster that was his engagement with Marina: he's too green, time to "fix" that and be more like his big brothers. They got it together, they know their purpose (well, Benedict lost his again but that's a story for another day), so surely, if he acts more like them, and not like the sensitive and naive boy he was, then surely everything will be alright! Right? Note that as opposed to s2, where he kept talking about his travels and it annoyed everyone, in s3 he doesn't go into details about them anymore, even when he's asked. They're only interested in the company he kept during the travels rather than the sights he saw. And honestly, it was heartbreaking to see right away how much of himself he was holding back, even with his own family. Penelope, however, gets the details without even asking because he already knows she likes hearing him talk about them and she makes him comfortable, and he's fully aware of that when he apologises in s3e1.

(I also want to note that, even if this new persona is fake, his new style genuinely fits him better. Just like Penelope, this season Colin found the style that makes him feel good and confident.)

And here's where I need to praise Luke's acting for a bit, because he absolutely nailed the subtle way Colin behaves differently with Penelope vs everyone else. His voice is softer, he is effortlessly charming (I was kicking my feet when he recalled how they met), his smile is bigger, even his whole face looks more relaxed whenever Penelope is around, meanwhile he always appears stiff and like he's calculating his every move when around his "friends". In fact, it is in the carriage scene we finally truly see s1&2's Colin back. When he has that look on his face, as he decides right there and then he's gonna marry her, and then a second later when he asks the question, his face. By God, his eyes are sparkling, he's so happy, and he looks as youthful and carefree as he did in previous seasons, far are the thoughts of trying to fit in a society that he hates.

Because above all, these two know and understand each other in a way no one else in their lives does. And that is a fact that remains despite the outward changes. So yes, I liked that their dynamic did not shift to romance because of their "glow ups", but because they are spending even more time together now. Speaking of which:

Part Three: Authenticity and Vulnerability

One big theme this season is being true to oneself. It's no coincidence mirrors are such a big part of it (even outside of the yet to be seen spicy scene), because looking at a mirror means looking at oneself, and be vulnerable. If s2 was about duty vs heart, eldest siblings trying to do right by their family to the point of self-sabotage, s3 is a battle between the head and the heart. It is not even exclusive to Polin - Eloise is learning and growing by trying to take genuine part in society but struggling to fit in. Cressida wants to become a better person, torn between the pressure put on her shoulders by her parents and this new friendship with Eloise. Benedict is looking for his purpose after learning Anthony paid his way to art school, and feeling like a fraud as an artist. Anthony and Kate are unashamedly in love, as they deserve to be after the struggles they went through last season. Francesca has no care for the suitors the Queen and her mother parade in front of her as the "sparkler" of the season (sidenote but I hated that, stupid name, should have stuck to diamond or select another gem) as her heart seeks out the handsome and quiet John Sterling instead. And this will continue in part 2, as Penelope will have to be honest about Lady Whistledown (because she's always her most authentic self around Colin, there is still this big secret she is so determined to keep to herself, when she should not).

The beauty about friends to lovers stories to me is the small declarations of love sprinkled throughout the relationship. It's about the trust already built in with no expectations and the vulnerability we'd never allow anyone but our closest friends to see, something even our family can be ignorant to. I mentioned earlier that Colin never shies away from praising Penelope, way before their dynamic shifts to lovers. He tells her she's good, constant, loyal, special, warm. All of these are declarations of love, even if not with romantic intent, it's about showing his appreciation for her, for the role she holds in his life. And Penelope responds in kind as well. That is why I believe people who think the romance was rushed in s3 either did not watch the past two seasons or see friendship and romantic love as two distinct things rather than a cohesive continuation of each other. In s1, people focus so much on the Marina stuff, as if that cancels out Colin's friendship with Penelope. We still do see Colin actively seek out Penelope at balls, and defending her against Cressida, he compliments her and tells her she's the one who inspired him to travel. Then s2 rolls in, and they're exchanging letters, which will become the cataclysm for their dynamic changing later on. And then there's one of my favourite scenes with them: them talking about their purpose. They both open up here, Colin about his insecurity, Penelope about her dream, it is so intimate. And then, there's of course Colin protecting the Featheringtons from ruins. I'm mostly emphasising Colin's actions, because Penelope's crush on him was always in your face, and while Colin may not have realised it yet, he's always cared about Penelope in a special way, as manifested by his actions and how vulnerable he allows himself to be around her, when even his own family has no idea about what's going on inside his head.

There's a misconception that Colin calling her his friend was him rejecting her, and yet we see in s3 he had no idea whatsoever that she has a crush on him, so he could not lead her on (unlike his book counterpart, who was aware of Penelope's infatuation and was careful never to toe the line until he realised his feelings. Show Colin though? Completely oblivious. And it makes sense, he's still young.) He asks Violet "how do you know it was reciprocated" and not "how do you know you're in love with your best friend". As of right now at the end of part 1, he genuinely thinks he's the one who fell in love first, or at least realised it first. His "You're Pen, you do not count, you're my friend" in s2, was not a rejection in his eyes, but a declaration of love; he's forsaken love and women but not his Penelope, never her, she's his exception And it's not like Penelope resented him for that friendship he so readily gave her, yes she had a crush, but she was proud to call him her friend! He was, with Eloise, her solace away from her family. At the end of the day, this is a friends to lovers story, it is silly to get upset that they considered themselves friends first before there is a click as they realise they are now on the same page to shift their relationship.

Side note but I've never liked the term "friendzoned" because it makes it sound like being friends is a bad thing. I've had unrequited feelings before but I've always felt grateful that being friends with them allowed me to stay close to them even if I knew nothing else could happen. I was still very much happy and content. But maybe I'm projecting on Penelope and that's another debate.

See, what I ended up loving about the lesson plot, which I was so wary of at first, is that Colin barely teaches Penelope anything. At first, he goes for the "do what society expects women to do" (since it worked for him) but then she acts awkwardly, she can't fake it, and it surprises him for a moment. That's when it clicks for him, she just needs to be comfortable because with him, she's always smart, witty and charming, she's herself. He's always seen her that way, and he did not quite realise he had that privilege in the first place. And I love how we see him slowly realise it is no longer a privilege thanks to his help. We see it in e2. When she talks to the guy with the dead horse (forgot his name, oops), Penelope forces the flirt and Colin is amused by it. Fast forward Penelope approaching Lord Remington by herself, without Colin's initiative, and she's being more authentic, and suddenly Jealous by Nick Jonas plays in the background and Colin doesn't look proud, but apprehensive, or dare I say jealous. The shift in Colin's head happens long before Debling is in the picture. I'd argue it already shifted earlier in that episode, in his study, which he flashbacks to in e4.

His journals detail how unfulfilled he feels when he lays with random women in his travels. He longs for emotional intimacy. And guess with who he finally finds that, when a certain red-head asks the one question that allows them to break the physical barrier they had to keep between them for the sake of propriety?

Ah yes, that first kiss. To Colin, everything has been building up to this, this is his true Oh moment. A favour turned into a revelation. For Penelope, this is quite literally the end of her fantasies. This is Penelope's most vulnerable moment. She bares her heart, she's sad, she's desperate. And some people have been calling that moment pathetic, interpreting it as her being weak and giving in to her crush again, saying that she should not have to beg for that man's affection. I concur that she is brave, and bold. I also concur that some of you all are a bit too attached to the girlboss archetype forgetting that allowing oneself to be vulnerable is also a strength. She's never had to beg for Colin's attention anyway because he readily gives it to her, but in this one instance, for once in her life, she is truly being honest. In her head, she has nothing else to lose, and she wants to experience the one thing she thinks she can never have so of course she's gonna turn to the one person she's always trusted and feels the most comfortable with, because before her crush, Colin is her friend. She's asking a favour from a friend. And then she can move on, whatever "moving on" will turn out to be. In this instance, she has the power in her hands.

And it is her bravery that is the true cataclysm for things to change properly. Of course, things have already started to change the moment she stopped replying to the letters, but that moment really expedited their relationship.

Part Four: Lovers, but in a best friends way

The thing with Bridgerton, in the books or in the show, is that each couple has their trope. This is not news to anyone, I think. We've had fake dating, and enemies to lovers, and one characteristic that these two tropes share is a growing tension between the characters before it snaps. There is a reason the early marketing for s3 focused on Penelope being cold towards Colin, tension and conflict are more appealing on the surface. And then the first half of the season comes out and that conflict between our main couple? Solved after one episode because they did one thing that is severely missing in most romance dramas: communicated healthily. Penelope laid out why she was upset (although she does not stay to let Colin explain and then vents out her feelings in Whistledown... she still has some learning to do), Colin immediately went to apologise and make up for it. All of this by talking. And yet I'd argue friends to lovers still has its own tension, just not to the same intensity as the other two, and more difficult to market. The tension comes from the brewing feelings, the way you start seeing every touch, every interaction, in a whole new light, and wondering if it's only in your head or if it's reciprocated. But now combine that with Colin who's always been so earnest about his feelings with Penelope? And Penelope who's always quietly wanted their relationship to evolve that way? Of course they figured it out quickly and got together in half a season. And I'm delighted that we will see them handle the whole Whistledown mess as a couple, as two people aware they love each other deeply, which gives a whole new meaning to the conflict compared to the book where I felt like it was brushed over a bit too quickly (because they got distracted in that carriage). It is the last secret between them, their last obstacle.

I also do not like the "Colin should have grovelled and pined more" argument, when he is the one who insisted on the lessons to help her find a husband in the first place, and then has to face the fact that actually, he doesn't like the idea of another man taking Penelope away, and oh, isn't that the consequences of his own actions? He is grovelling, you just don't see Penelope holding it over his head, because that's not the person she is, this is not a revenge fantasy story, in fact she does not realise the power she has on him because she is used to Colin seeking her out. I like that he didn't stew on his feelings and decided to act on them right away. I also don't like how this whole grovelling thing makes it sound like love is a competition, that just because Penelope has known she's been in love for longer and "suffered" longer, that means Colin needs to do the same to even the planes. Because in my eyes love isn't exactly something to be earned — it is given. Now, are you worthy to keep it? To nurture it and make it bloom and last? That is the real question.

Admittedly, since this is only the first half of the season, we do not see them in a romantic setting a lot. That first half is focused on them rekindling their friendship lost during the summer when Penelope stopped responding to the letters, and Colin having the realisation he cannot live without his best friend, not just because she is his best friend, but also because he loves her. But we do have two important, and obvious instances.

So let's talk about that first kiss again. It is, in my opinion, one of the most gentle and romantic moments in the show so far and also showcased their friendship really well. Colin trying to joke to lighten the mood as Penelope spirals down (peak best friend behaviour actually), the gentle, swelling music, the light of the moon, Colin's deep exhale of realisation as he holds her face when he goes back in for the second kiss, with the furrowed brows of a man on a mission. This is Penelope's most vulnerable moment and Colin's big realisation. And I felt like I was intruding.

And same goes for that carriage scene, but even before they go at it; now this is Colin's most vulnerable moment, and Penelope's realisation that they can be more. He chases the carriage by foot, then goes on his knees to confess his feelings to his best friend in the softest and most determined voice we've ever heard him use this whole season, eyes wide, tears threatening to fall as it is his turn to bare his heart and ask for a chance. Meanwhile Penelope takes it all in, running her hand through his hair because she can finally touch him, melting under him. Things get steamy. And then... and then... The carriage stops, they get startled, Colin jokes that the driver should have kept on driving and then... they laugh. They just made out, and went to second base together, and yet here they are now, laughing. It is such a genuine and lovely moment. And it's then that Colin has that look in his eyes, that "I'm gonna marry her" look. That is when he realises he cannot live his life without her. That his purpose is now right in front of him: making Penelope Featherington, soon to be Bridgerton, laugh until the end of their lives.

Conclusion

There's no conclusion, I just love them so dearly. Yes, there still is the whole Whistledown mess to deal with and sure, the argument with Eloise may make you think great angst is ahead but if there is one big difference between Colin and Eloise, it is this: Colin has always listened to Penelope, and this is not a diss on Eloise. Eloise, bless her heart, can be pretty self-centred, she's loud and a bit immature, something she is growing from in s3, and you cannot ignore that she did not really listen to Penelope (she has no idea Penelope wishes to marry when Penelope tells her she does in s1, we can blame the writing, but I do think it fits with Eloise's journey to realising how privileged and dismissive she is. Penelope was too polite to call her out until their falling out. Meanwhile Cressida is exactly the type of honesty she needs for a wake up call). Colin, on the other hand, is very sensitive and a good listener. Furthermore, this season, Penelope is learning to be more confident, to voice what she wants, and I like to think it is leading to her finding her own voice and not needing Whistledown to hide behind anymore. If there's someone with whom she has no filters, it is Colin, so I have faith that when the reveal happens and an argument breaks out, this new Penelope will not back down and will lay out all her reasons and all her regrets, and Colin may be stubborn, but he loves that woman and he always listens.

A part of me also wishes they keep the jealousy he felt about her writing in the book, and that they don't focus just on the whole "you lied to me" aspect (we've already had that with Eloise). How he, himself, is insecure about his writing, and here Penelope is, less fortunate than he is, and yet who did have the courage to get her writing out there, even if publishing under another name. Because that is also a reality in relationships, when your partner is at a different stage in their career, and how they can communicate to support one another.

Anyway, I'm just rambling now (as if that isn't what I've been doing this whole time). I like them. A little. Just a bit. I'm very normal about them <3

[ninguitar]

꣑ৎ　────　𝓟OP THE HOOD , DA 　　　　　lovin' you long takes the pain away 𓈒𓈒

───﹙⚙️﹚𝓢. ｡｡　a trip to the froyo shop ends up leaving daniela with a broken-down car, but hey—at least she got a pretty girl to fix it!

𝓹airing. daniela avanzini x mechanic!f!r 𝓰enre. fluff wc. 1.9k notes. haiaiaiaiia idk anyt abt cars so take everything that is said abt cars w/ a grain of salt 😛 also thinking ab a part2 but idk !! lmk how yall feel or wtv (MASTERLIST)

now playing ⋆ ballad of a badman by tory lanez

MAYBE IT WAS DUMB LUCK.

daniela just wanted to get froyo on her way home; it shouldn't have to be such a big deal, and it sure didn't need to turn into a shit-show. her mustang was starting fine at first—jamming her keys into the ignition, a grin adorning her face as the engine roared lively. she drove safely, but not even an hour later, she stood at the side of the road, smoke coming out the cabin, and her eyebrows knitted together.

though, maybe her luck wasn't so bad, because barely a block away stood an automechanic shop, flashing the words, "tony's wheels & tires." and when she finally arrived at the shop from pushing her car all the way there, it appeared to be a big open garage with a couple cars parked in the slots—full of grease and strewn equipment, the faint smell of smoke and fuel lingered in the air. the bell above the door chimed every few seconds, the sound of engines running accompanying it.

and the sight of a disheveled you underneath a car, fiddling around with the bottom of it, welcomes daniela. a weary, heavy sigh escapes from your throat, as you mutter curses under your breath, before sliding out from beneath the car. shaking your hand in pain, you grunt, and your other hand jots down words on a yellow notepad frantically with a pen. while you were too immersed in writing down the cost of some repair, the latina slowly walks up to you, and you barely raise your head up—though not enough to spot her clearly.

interrupting your dazed, concentrated expression, daniela clears her throat, and your head shoots up, your expression falling into embarrassment. your eyes wander to the girl above you, and for a second, you stare palpably for a fleeting moment. with heat curling at your cheeks, you begin to fumble your words, "shit—didn't see you come in, sorry. hi, welcome to tony's."

the latina meekly flashes a soft, reassuring smile at you, and god do you look at her like she was the one who put the stars in the sky. "it's fine, i just got here," she murmurs, laughing lightly, as her gaze flickers to the navy blue mechanic's button-up that hugged your frame, her eyes fixating on your bright red name patch. and before you could respond back, a beagle appears at daniela's feet, its ears comically perking up, "hey, move along," you groan, gently shooing it away.

"sorry, 's just the owner's dog—she's usually a recluse, but i guess she just likes you or somethin'," you shake your head, a gentle smile painted on your face, before you raise your eyebrows, "so what can i do for you?" you tilt your head, fixing your gaze at eye-level, as you clutch your hand, sliding your notepad and pen into your pockets.

"my car—it broke down, and it wouldn't start. i tried to pop the hood open, but it started smoking, so i pushed it to the slot over there," she explains meekly, her hands clasped together, before she pointed out to her mustang. your eyebrows furrow, confusion washing over your features.

"you- you pushed it here?" you ask, laughing breathlessly, "christ, you know you could've called us, and we would've towed it, right?" you shake your head, a grin curbing your lips, as a playful glint remains in your eyes.

"i- fuck, you guys do that?" a sigh drifts from daniela's lips at your words, warmth spreading around her cheeks, as she wishes the ground could just swallow her up right now. god, she was embarrassing herself in front of you—an insanely, drop-dead gorgeous girl.

and really, she doesn't think it could get worse until you reassure her, your voice dulcet and coaxing, "yeah, but don't worry 'bout it. i think it's cute that you pushed it all the way here." the unbridled sincerity in your words accompanied by the series of giggles escaping your breath makes her knees buck, her self-restraint crumbling bit by bit. "anyway, i'll take a look at your car. 's the red one, right?"

once she nods, you brush past her, the plethora of keys cluttering your carabiner ringing through the lot. and while you were out there, checking out her car, daniela's gaze wanders around the place—random trinkets of spiderman, portraits, and posters crowd the back of the front desk. a bright red clock sat above the posters, ticking each second, and accompanying it was a sign that read "please ring the bell for service," with the words "don't" scribbled above it. and before she knew it, the door jingles a second time, the bells chiming, as you enter back inside.

your navy blue button-up was completely discarded, now swung over your shoulder, and instead, you had a grease-stained mickey mouse graphic shirt on. a thin line presses onto your lips, and reaching for your notepad in your back pocket, you pop the pen cap off. "your car isn't in such bad shape," you start, trying to alleviate her worries, before writing down on the notepad hurriedly, "your fuel pump's a lil' faulty, and you have a coolant leak." your eyes flicker to the latina, watching her profusely nod, trying to process your words. and continuing, you explain the time it'd take to finish the repair and the cost—the only words, 'not gonna be finished until at least next week,' registering in her head.

daniela huffs in defeat, crossing her arms against her chest, "next week? fuck, that's gonna be awhile," she mutters under her breath, worry lines creasing her forehead. you lean against the counter, shrugging, "i know, i really can't do that much—there's still a lot of cars that need to be fixed before yours," you murmur, a frown jutting at your lips, as you look back at her.

and with your eyes tracing her features, you blink, noticing the latina's tense posture, her fists clenched; you could tell she was visibly nervous. you teeter, as you cock your head, a resigned expression on your face, sighing, "i- i mean, if you wanna stick around for a little, i could, maybe pull some strings. just this once though." at your words, daniela's eyes light up, a fox-bright gleam in her eyes, and the corner of her lips quirking up, as she crosses her arms loosely against her chest, "really? you would do that for me?"

you hum lowly in your throat, nodding your head slowly, and scribbling over words on your notepad, trying to keep your eyes glued to your paper. you nearly go into anaphylactic shock at her smile, as your eyes flicker to her features, "yeah—'course, i'll see what i can do." a toothy smile curbs your lips, and you're so sure you look like an idiot trying to win her over—with a simple repair job at that—but you're just desperate.

you shrug, grabbing your toolbox that had random stickers stuck onto it, from under the counter, as you stroll back out into the lot, the curly-headed girl following you shortly. and noticing your stickers, daniela chuckles, "you must really like spider and mickey mouse, huh?" a teasing smile plays on her lips, as she watches you freeze in your movements, rubbing the back of your neck awkwardly.

"you could tell?" you murmur, as you lean over the car hood, pulling the handle up, and popping the hood. you softly hum under your breath, before you look back, the girl standing gingerly while watching you, "you- you can pull up a chair from there if you'd like," you mumble, your hand pointing to the stack of chairs by the window. your eyes darts around the different fuses, biting the inside of your cheek to suppress a.

"what's your name anyway? never got it," you ask, as you check the clogged fuel filter again, your hands moving around meticulously. "daniela," she answers flatly, her eyes shamelessly trailing down your body. your face scowls at the blockages, too lost in looking at every fuse of the car to even notice the latina mindlessly watching you intently.

"you're a lifesaver, you know that?" she cracks up, chuckling, as she watches you concentrate with your eyes all narrowed. you roll your eyes, shaking your head, "been called stuff here and there but never a lifesaver." you tilt your head, a shit-eating grin curling on your lips. she scoffs, shaking her head in response, "i'm sure you're just exaggerating to make me feel special." her gaze flickers to your lips and then back to your eyes.

and for the rest of the repair, silence falls, leaving daniela with her thoughts. while you scrutinize her car, replacing a few things here and there, daniela couldn't help but notice the way your muscles flexed while your chest rose and fell, exasperated grunts escaping your lips every few seconds. synonymously, she couldn't help but chastise herself for gushing over you—a girl she barely knew but a sweet one at that. your eyebrows furrow, the tightness blooming in your chest, as you toss the girl a look over your shoulder, checking up on her, before brushing away a feeble string of sweat on your forehead.

after a good hour, you screw the hood closed, as you turn your head over to look at daniela—the girl practically knocked out on the small chair beside you. a chuckle escapes your breath, before you tap her shoulder, waking her up. "it's all good now. sorry for uh, keeping you out for awhile," you profusely apologize, dropping her keys onto her lap, as you wipe your hands on your rag, leaving your hands awkwardly clinging to your belt loops. a look of pity washes over your features. your heart knocks and knocks out of your chest, as you try to discern her expression, hoping she wasn't too bored.

daniela shakes her head, and with her voice smooth and calm, she drawls out, "it's fine, at least it's done earlier than in a week." it felt as though you were gonna drop dead at her reassuring tone, and in response, you hum, trying to dismiss the heat spreading at the tip of your ears. you lean against the car before fumbling over your words, "you- you can try out the car, see if it works y'know."

the latina nods slowly, "yeah, i'll definitely try that," as she enters the car, twisting her keys with a quick flick into the ignition, and finally does the engine actually rumble to life. you couldn't help but let a smile dance along your features, your arms crossed against your chest, as she rolls down the window.

"how much do i owe you?" she asks in a hushed tone, and you think for a fleeting moment before murmuring in between your teeth, "$30's fine," hoping nobody else could hear—especially when you lowered the bill by more than half of its original price. and in response, daniela furrows her eyebrows, clearly confused at how the price was now suddenly lower, but she nonetheless shook it off, handing you the money.

and before daniela takes off, she winks at you, a grin plastering her face, and you swear your heart squeezes ever-so-tightly that you could combust, melt, and ascend to the heavens. with your cheeks flushed, you take a few steps back, watching the curly-headed drive away from the lot. before you could wave, your coworker—kazuha—teases, "you know you have a fuck ton of cars to fix, and you need to pay the rest of her bill," as she nudges your shoulder.

you huff, sauntering over to the cash register inside, "shut up, it was worth it," you murmur, as you open the register, pulling out your wallet. you narrow your eyes, as you notice words written sloppily with a black marker on one of the bills daniela handed you.

call me, pretty (###)-####-#### - daniela

"can't believe a girl as gorgeous as her wants… whatever you are," kazuha snickers, raising her eyebrow, as the japanese girl flicks your forehead, making you push her playfully in return. you huff, a scowl on your face, before you slip the written bill into your pocket, shoving bills from your own wallet to pay off the rest of daniela's tab. and maybe you did have to work extra shifts to repair the rest of the cars, but you got daniela's number, and that was all that mattered to you right now.

so when you look me in my eyes

will you take some time?

　　𝔀ant to be on the perm taglist? comment on this post or send an ask !!

current 𝓽aglist :

@lararajjj @kisshae @sed7ction @yeetaberry127 @vrtualstar

@jellaaa @artrizzler19 @falling-intoo-deep @c-yerim @ssamlovr

@gtfoiydlyj @rinapomu @meganskiendielsbtc

[ludwig-van-gaythoven]

Cabin Fever - (Regina George x F Reader)

Fandom;

Mean Girls (2024)

Pairings:

Regina George x Reader

Summary:

The students of Northshore go on a school trip for a week in the forest. You end up getting to know the apex predator in a way you’d never seen her before.

Warnings;

Underage smoking, underage drinking, implied ED

Parts

Part 1// Part2// Part 3// Part 4// Part 5// Part 6

School trips were never really your thing. Sure it was good to be out of classes but to you it just seemed like an extension of school and honestly you’d rather be anywhere else.

One of the teachers thought it would be a bright idea to take you all out of school for a week to spend it in a forest ‘immersed in nature’. Possibly their tactic to get everyone to stop being at eachother a throats especially after the whole Cady incident a few months back.

It didn’t help that your best friends Janis and Damien both ended up getting sick at the last minute so couldn’t come with you , now you had to stay in your shared cabin alone. At least you didn’t have to room with a random person the whole trip, small mercies I guess.

The coach drive there was boring. You sat near the front, making sure to put your bag on the seat next to yours so nobody tried to sit with you. Of course Queen Regina and her minions took ownership of the back of the coach, that’s why you decided to sit upfront. Best to stay out of the firing line.

It’s not that you hated Regina, you understand why she’s the way she is. It’s a smart move to position yourself at the top of the food chain to avoid being mauled. Your tactic has always been to just steer clear of the food chain entirely which has worked so far.

The coach finally comes to a stop after a few hours and everyone shoves their way off and mills around in groups before a teacher starts to call out names and lodge numbers so people can go and unpack.

As soon as you turn the corner you hear Regina’s shriek of horror.

“Eww, what the fuck are these. I thought we were staying in chalets”

You roll you eyes. The cabins were clean, neat, maybe a little rustic. Of course Regina would still have to be dramatic about it.

“I’m sure forcing us to stay in one of these is some form of neglect.” She snarks at Mrs Norbury as she takes her hot pink suitcase over to her accommodation.

Luckily you get assigned one of the cabins at the edge of the forest, it’ll be quiet. Unfortunately it’s the next cabin over from the plastics. Not that they’ll even notice you there, I’m not sure any of them even know your name. It feels safe to be invisible, if not a bit lonely.

Once everyone is settled, a teacher comes round to each cabin explaining that tonight you can just get settled. No hiking or activities today, just a campfire and dinner later. That suits you perfectly. You sit on the creaky bed in your cabin, pull out your Switch console and start to get lost in a game. Hours pass before dinner call and you make your way, alone to the campfire.

You sit on your own, out of the way of all the different high school cliques. At this point you wish Janis and Damien were here. It feels vulnerable sitting alone.

To distract yourself you watch the other groups like a documentary maker. Noting the way they interact, the tension between them and the clique next to them. However nobody quite catches your eye like Regina.

She’s like a lioness. She has this invisible hold over everyone. They can all fuck about in their own groups but as soon as someone steps a foot out of place she roars and swishes her mane and everyone scampers back to obedience.

Currently she’s sitting at a bench with Gretchen and Karen, they’re talking enthusiastically about their plans for the trip; makeovers, cabin decoration, girly shit. Regina seems zoned out, she’s been pushing the same bit of food around her plate for a good 15 minutes. Every few minutes it’s like she’s trying to solve a puzzle, rearranging everything until teachers tell us to go back to our cabins and rest for the evening. You’re not sure you saw her eat a single thing, the food is probably not up to her standards.

Regina stands and suddenly seems snapped out of her trance, flashing a grin and summoning Karen and Gretchen back to the cabin with her.

You follow, a good distance behind. No point getting too close to danger, and slip back to your Cabin unnoticed.

There’s not much to do alone in a forest so you end up putting on a movie and start a new page in your sketchbook. Janis and Damien are the only ones to know you draw. That’s how you ended up speaking with Janis in the first place. If that news ever got back to Regina she’d probably have something to finally pick on you for, but so far you aren’t even on her radar.

You lose a lot of time sketching out some of the trees you can see out of the window, lots of tall, looming pines fill the page, you start to sketch a lion between the trees.

Eventually darkness creates a blanket around the forest. There’s a soft glow from many lamps outside of cabin doors, but past that, the forest seems endless in the dark. It’s 10:30pm. Teachers are fast asleep. Students definitely are not.

You hear snickering coming from the plastics cabin. Their lights are still on, not that you care at all.

Since all the teachers are asleep you decide that it’s probably safe to sneak out and have a cigarette. You stand down the side of the cabin so that your silhouette is obscured slightly by a bush and hunt through your pockets for a lighter. Finally you light the cigarette, trying to blow the smoke downwind, away from the teachers window.

“Karen! Fuck! Would you just stop puking, shut up!”

You watch from the shadow as Karen falls out of the door and begins to heave into the bush next to their window. Gretchen follows quickly, shaking Karen by the shoulders, desperately trying to get her to shut up so they don’t wake anyone. Regina steps out too, slightly loosing balance and nearly falling down the steps after them.

Clearly they’re all drunk. Someone must have snuck alcohol in.

Regina tries to keep a composed look but you see panic flash across her face briefly as her eyes scan around them, watching for any witnesses. You stay completely still against the cabin wall.

Karen finally stops for a second and they grab her by the arms to try and get her back inside. Their balance isn’t very good either and on the way in Regina’s foot connects briefly with a terracotta plant pot which wobbles for a second and then crashes to the ground, smashing over the front step. A sound that cuts through the night air.

The light to the teachers cabin flicks on.

You quickly drop the cigarette and stomp it out before silently scrambling back into your room, making sure the door closes soundlessly, watching intently through the window.

Mrs Norbury storms over to the plastics lodge, already suspecting they caused the noise.

You can’t make out exactly what’s being said. There’s a lot of shouting, from both parties. Then Mrs Norbury leaves, and the plastics light goes off too.

You quickly get into bed. It’s unlikely anyone will check in on you, but you decide it’s time to sleep anyway, it’s late, and drift off to the sound of the wind through trees. The wind sounds faintly like a roar.

In the morning you shower and begin to get changed when there’s a knock at your door.

“Regina will be rooming with you for the rest of the week, make sure she doesn’t try sneaking out.”

[writer-motivator]

While…. I might not have the urge to write anymoreee. I still want to! Like. It’s annoying honestly when I got all these good ideas but I AINT WRITING IT. why honestly….? Like especially for like. The shiny idea where he sees the mark in her eyes, which is SO FUN, and I actually have an idea of where to start it! But I guess, as soon as I think about…. actually writing it. I go blergh. Cuz it’s not like. Completely…. Urgh how to explain this…..

So like. You have an idea. It’s like. “R kisses M on the lips” and it feels straight forward but like. When you’re going to write, you don’t know where they are, you don’t know exactly how to write it.wnd mmmh. This isn’t the perfect explanation, as I do know like. What kinda of happens but it’s just. The words isn’t there….? Like I have to actively think about it. Like how exactly to start. I don’t have any clear thing to grasp on.

And that’s! Like annoying! It’s energy taxing! I don’t like it! I’d rather not work on it! I like it when I have somewhere to start. But also, I guess I do. Like I could literally go “He grabbed her hand” I guess there’s something else at work here. Mmmmh. Let’s try and get to the bottom of it.

Cuz like yeah, I know how the scene will go and stuff. I guess it’s more like… it’s not smooth? Like I know that he could possibly grab her hand, that I could start with that. But it isn’t exactly an opening I want. Like im not…. Sure? If that’s the word. Mmmmh.

Ah, I think it’s more like trail and error thing. Cuz there are many ways that I could open this with…. Like idk what to…. No that’s not right explanation either but on the right lines….

Was just scrolling through my wips and. I think I got it. It’s like yeah I have like. Openings that I could work on. But it’s just that, thinking about where to start. Requires. Actually thought. So like, I don’t want to bother with actually writing it physically it and rather stew on it, poke at it…. like until I actually get like. A line that I could work with. Sometimes, it takes time. HUH. that is really good discovery to make. Because it has always been so frustrating when like — I have this idea, but I don’t write it. Because I just… can’t. In simple form.

Huh, so like. At least. Knowing this, it makes that frustration not bubble up. I’m feeling instantly better rn. And it has… freed me at this idea? Like suddenly feel like I can crack on it, but more in a way of like…. Idek what im on here but suddenly feeling urge of WANTING to work on this and solve this opening problem heh.

I wonder how I could. So like. I want… ahhh…. okay. so I know I want it from her pov, I did ponder like. Maybe his. But it’s better if it’s like hers. And this is like during maybe when she helps him sleep — I honestly haven’t decided on that and it’s a flexible thing — but REALLY. like that he’s there when he gets an…. Oh…. OH….. I really wanna write a thing about ep5 when he’s THERE when she wakes up! but I don’t want that for this idea, mmmh. but I did want to write something else about ep5, too, like about the whole waking up hugging. it would be fun to dig into his pov then. but urgh his pov in part2 is so hard to write for me :( wait I guess his pov in general is hard to write LOL but part….. two…. Part two….. I guess it would be a fun challenge

aNYWAYS to go back to that idea. so like. idk, but the thing is that i really would like him to be THERE while she has a memory, and like. be like what’s wrong??? when she gets the ~dizzy~ spell heh. and like from her pov, it would be so good to write his reaction. the way she doesn’t know why he’s acting like this and just… assumes it’s cuz of her dizzy spell. BUT NO. org, I thought that this would be when he realises but no no I realise that. He wouldn’t. Like the confusion???? The way the mark disappears????? Of course he’d think that he saw something that wasn’t there. Cuz he wanted that. Heh 🤭

And it’d be so fun to write. I guess I should focus now is like…. The beginning part. Like. What leads to like. Her being there before she’s getting the memories. That part is… completely blank for me. Mmmh. I think that’s important for me to figure out, it’d put things into place — cuz like, having that. I can see where they are better before that scene.

As much as I do like it to be a “helping him sleep” plot, I don’t want it for that. Since that feels more like awkward, distance and not-distance distance ahaha. And seems idk too convenient, it’s boring !!!! to me !!! . And plus o want to explore that in another fic so….

oh I really like it if they had something like ep5 that scene where he sees her walking around and just Watches her. ahhhhh, I really do like something for them that like. causes them mmmh to like be outside together! go on lunch! it would be so FUN to explore and like the way it :) leads into the he sees the mark scene :) oh I LIKE THAT

but mmmh. now to actually think about…. what they are doing and like what leads them to that moment. I KNOW that this is like first so actual official time that they are Doing considering how he’s so distant and barely home. yeah. so v delicious thing to bite into. I don’t think I want it to be an external force that makes them so, and I don’t think I like it to be a “coincidental” meet up.

I think I do like the idea of her asking him to go somewhere and initially, maybe he refuses but like. Idk. It depends on what she’s asking. I think im getting more of a picture as to what to write. IM SO HAPPY. and this has been much helpful! I think I’ll adopt this approach in other ideas.

Ahhhh let’s try it for this ss one I have. Where I did mentally write it, but LOL forgot. Well, it’s more accurate to say that it “faded” away. Yeah. Anyways heheheheh let’s GO. I will try this one mentally to see how it goes. Whether me physically writing the process of thought does change. Things. Mmmmh. 11:39

[ell-vellan]

Iron Bull banters that informed my opinion of him the most part 3 of 3 (at least until I have more thoughts)

Protector Bull

part1 part2

This is Bull's inner monologue after he saves Krem and loses an eye doing it. He immediately ignores his own injury, knowing there's nothing he can do now to save his vision, and focuses on what good he can do, which is reassuring Krem. Even with the fight and the injury, he's had enough wherewithal to notice details about Krem to specifically ask "what do you want me to call you?" instead of "what's your name?" He asked for Krem's preferred name with the suspicion that it might be different from his birth name.

Bull shuts down anyone asking about his private romantic life with the Inquisitor. He's so noncommittal he literally doesn't even open his mouth in his first reply to Varric. He doesn't do the same if he romances Dorian, and he freely discusses what he does with other people around Skyhold, and you can hear other people talking about it in ambient dialogue around Haven too. This is their specific dynamic that he's tailored for the Inquisitor and their needs - the Inquisitor being a highly scrutinized public figure with little privacy as it is, he takes pains to ensure it for them when it comes to their relationship. At least until Inquisitor specifically gives the okay.

Bull takes the hits meant for others. He's a tank, so that makes sense, but it's especially impactful when he does so for Cole, who is the embodiment of everything that's most terrifying for a Qunari, and the subject of Bull's literal childhood nightmares. He will let himself be in pain and sacrifice his own body before he lets someone he cares about come to harm.

Varric sees the truth of the choice Bull made if he becomes Tal-Vashoth. He chose to save his own little found family of misfits; he loves them so much he became Tal-Vashoth to keep them safe, losing the only things he's ever known: his home, his philosophy, and the purpose he was literally born and bred for.

Also, as previously stated in part 2, Bull's also deflecting any attempt for people to delve into his new identity. He won't acknowledge anyone saying he's free like it should be a happy thing because for him, it's more complicated than that.

In-game, Bull's voice goes thoughtful and surprisingly soft when he says "I guess I can see that." He's glad when Cole sees his friend's true self and I think it gratifies Bull that he's made a positive impact with Krem. Bull has treated Krem like a brother since day one, unquestioningly, and earned a lieutenant that so loyal he'd die for him. Since this is the end of this particular banter, it feels like Bull is struck sort of speechless or pensive as he sits with the "You make it better."

Also he loves Krem so much omg

[mint-yooxgi]

just finished reading vampire yuta, so good 10/10, and ik u JUST put it out but…. can u do a part2

Anonymous said: we all need a part 2 for that yandere vampire yuta because holy hell that one was fantastic

Part One

***

Only two days have passed since the whole incident with Yuta, and you have yet to leave your apartment. You had to call in sick to work the one day, too scared to even attempt opening your front door or even look out your windows in fear of seeing his face just beyond the threshold. The feeling of being watched has never been so intense, even with all your blinds shut.

The only problem being cooped up in your home is that you’re starting to run out of food. You had needed to go shopping soon, anyways, but literally being forced to stay indoors lest you want a highly trained predator breathing down your neck has been difficult to say the least.

You need food, and fast.

There have been a few times where you’ve contemplated ordering groceries to be delivered or even take out from your favourite place, but you worry for the courier’s life. Who knows what Yuta might do to the poor, unsuspecting human tasked with delivering your food. Besides, you don’t want him to use those items as a bargaining tool. Not that you think he’d let you starve, but you just can’t be too sure.

It’s only been two days, and already you miss looking out your windows. Gazing at the sky as the sun set, or even glancing up at the stars at night used to be some of your favourite pastimes. Except now, you know Yuta is lurking in the shadows just beyond, waiting for the prime opportunity to see you again.

Now, sitting beside the window to your fire escape, you let out a sigh. Resting your head against the wall, you watch the curtain sway slightly at your movements. So badly do you just want to sit outside in the cool evening air, letting the breeze wash over you as you watch the sun paint the sky in hues of orange, pink, and red.

Your stomach growls.

Tears of frustration line your eyes as you squeeze them shut. Two days of this and you’re already considering waving your white flag. You don’t know if you can take much more. How are you supposed to live your life?

Letting out a huff through your nose, you get an idea.

Half an hour later and you’ve opened the curtain in your room, standing just before the window with the fire escape on the other side. In the blink of an eye, Yuta has appeared on the other side, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. That is, until he sees the object held in your hand.

The glint of the knife in the setting sun has the smug look falling right off of his face. Immediately, worry settles on his features as he takes a step closer to the window, voice muffled but still loud enough to hear. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing right now, don’t do it.”

You smirk, “I was going to open the window so we could talk, but if you’d rather not...” you trail off, letting your words sink in.

Instantly, his hand is pressed against the glass. “I’m listening.”

“Step back.” Your voice is firm in your command. When you see him remain in his spot, looking at you with those same intense eyes of his, you sigh. “Then I guess the window stays closed.”

It’s like a glitch in a video game: one moment he’s standing right in front of your window, and the next he’s leaning against the side rail a few feet away. His hands grip the bar, and you can see the tension in them. You just hope he doesn’t warp the metal.

Slowly, you open your window.

Again, as soon as the opening is wide enough, he’s in front of you in a flash. You lean back.

“Woah there, old man,” you huff, tightening the grip on the blade held in your hand, “I’m calling the shots here.”

Despite the situation, his dead heart warms. At least you’re still calling him that god awful nickname you gave him. You can’t still be that upset if you’re using it.

So he says the first thing that comes to mind: the truth. “I’ve missed you.”

It’s true. Every second spent away from you has been agony. Not being able to even see you the past two days has been torture for him. He may be a creature of the dark, but he sure doesn’t like living in it. Especially not when it comes to you.

You ignore his statement. “I need food.”

“I’d be more than happy to take you out for dinner,” he replies.

“I am not going anywhere with you.” You state, and you swear he lets out a low growl at that. “I can’t trust you.”

“You know I would never hurt you.” Comes his immediate response, repeating his same words from the other night.

“Physically, maybe,” you agree, “but I know the first chance you get to be close to me again you’d try and compel me.”

His lips purse. “I made a mistake.”

“You only say that because you got caught.” You hiss, shifting the knife in your grip and noticing his gaze flit down to your hand.

“Darling, put down the knife.”

Pointing the dreaded object in his direction, you snap. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“Then tell me what to do.” He leans forward as much as he can, resting his hands on the windowsill before you.

“I need food.” You repeat.

He blinks. “Then tell me what you need and I'll buy it for you.”

You smile, and normally, seeing such an expression on your face would set his whole body tingling, if not for the way you look at him so condescendingly right now.

“Here’s what’s going to happen.” You state, bringing the knife up so you can observe it as you twirl it between you index finger and other hand. “I’ve already ordered myself groceries. The delivery should be here in about-” you hum, “twenty minutes or so. You will not touch the courier, nor my items, or even come anywhere near my apartment until I have everything safely in my hands. Do I make myself clear?”

“You expect me to allow another person to take care of you when I am more than happy to do so myself?” He voices, incredulously.

“Oh, believe me, you’ve shown me how considerate you can be towards me.” You eyes flash and you stop twirling the blade. “You are not to interfere. Do I make myself clear?”

Yuta pauses, his eyes glinting in the twilight. “And if I do?”

“Would you rather me starve to death slowly or stab myself and end it quickly by bleeding out?”

He blinks, his heart sinking like a dead weight in his chest. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I?” You hum. “Tell me, how helpless would you feel knowing that you once could have entered my home, but now you’d be forced to watch as I died right in front of you, knowing there was nothing you could do to save me?”

Clenching his jaw, Yuta is the first to look away from your intense gaze. 

“Fine.” His voice comes out low, raw with an emotion you don’t quite understand. “You have half an hour.”

As soon as you blink, he’s gone, leaving nothing but the cool breeze to drift through your open window.

[perfectbananaglitter]

The Talk part 3/3

Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/perfectbananaglitter/701297777559355392/the-talk-part1?source=share

Part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/perfectbananaglitter/703470832957210624/the-talk-part2?source=share

“-I’m sorry, they did what? Do you want me to beat someone up?”

I was expecting this reaction when I decided to tell my sisters about the bet. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was Jade threatening my teammates with her 50 kg on a good day.

I gaze at my sisters, who seem to be in a silent conversation.

Jade turns to Bailey, “Sidney and Karim will help me, right? They wouldn’t miss the chance to mess with the hockey guys. How dare they? That’s so insensitive of them. Who do they think they are? They’re supposed to have your back!” Delilah drops her hand on her thigh, trying to calm her down even a little.

“I just felt so betrayed, not even mad. It didn’t cross my mind they could do something like that. I wasn’t expecting to be welcomed with open arms like we’re heroes. I was worried they would be homophobic assholes. But I didn’t think they would have held a bet on a potential relationship months ago. They didn't even bet to know if we were together or not; No! That was a given. They bet on whether we were going to expose our relationship. Nobody doubts that at one point we’ll sleep together. The question was when, where, and how we’ll say something.

“I mean, it was insensitive of them. They shouldn’t have, and you and Jensen have every right to be mad at them and feel betrayed. But at least, now you can be all mushy with your boyfriend. You need to look at the bright side. You’ll be able to cuddle up on the bus. No more having to twist your shoulder at a weird angle to hold his hand while he’s sitting behind you. And the team won’t think you’re going to tear each other's heads off every five minutes.” Bailey tries to reassure me. She has always been the rational one.

“No, they’ll have to worry about them jumping each other every chance they get…” Jade says with a smirk.

Both my sisters make disgusted faces at the idea of their baby brother having a sex life. And I get it; I don’t want to know what any of my sisters are doing with their partners. I shake my head, trying to get rid of those terrifying images that are unfortunately forming in my mind.

I’m so lost in my fight against those ideas that I don’t realize Cauler is joining us until he’s sitting next to me, his hand on my knee, his voice whispering a hello in my ear.

I freeze for a moment, not expecting him to be here. I turn to face him, my sisters' words still ringing in my head. Cauler looks at me with concern, noticing my hesitation. "Is everything okay?" he asks, his hand still on my knee. “Nobody can see us.” I take a deep breath and nod, trying to push away the anxiety of being in public. "Yeah, everything's fine," I say, hoping to sound convincing. I smile at him and intertwine our fingers.

Cauler looks at me for a moment longer, trying to analyze my face. I can see his brain going miles an hour, trying to know if I’m lying to him. But he nods and squeezes my hand before turning to my sisters and Jade and saying hello to them.

As I watch him asking Jade questions about her latest art project, I can't help but feel grateful for Jaysen’s presence. He always knows when something's wrong and tries his best to make me feel better. I take a deep breath, trying to forget about the bet and our teammates for a while. Maybe a good meal and some company will help me clear my head. For once, I feel hungry and like I could eat the whole menu, so when the waitress arrives to take our orders, I don’t stop myself from ordering everything my heart desires.

But when Bailey asks him how he’s feeling after the bet, the previously light and nice atmosphere switches to something heavy and uncomfortable.

“Hum… I’m… Okay, I guess. It wasn’t nice of them. Terzo was really upset. I get why he was, though. They really betrayed his trust, and he doesn’t give it easily.”

My sisters share a look.

“His trust? Do you mean ‘our’ trust?”

“Hum… I guess?”

“Jaysen, darling, you do realize you were betrayed too? You don’t have to be used, but you’re allowed to. You gave the team your trust, and they broke it too. My brother is a little shit with too many feelings he doesn’t know how to deal with. So he’s a bit overdramatic. But you’re also a victim here. And I need you to tell me you realize that.”

He’s frowning, his eyebrows drawn together. His eyes are fixed on his plate, but I can’t tell he’s not really seeing it.

“Oh.”

Oh. He didn’t. He was so upset on my behalf that he couldn’t be on his own.

His face turns sad as reality hits him. I can only watch emotions crossing his features. I squeeze his hand, trying to bring him an ounce of comfort. But it’s all I can do. Knowing my boyfriend, he needs to process this new information on his own. So for the rest of the meal, he just picks at his food, smiling only when someone talks directly to him. And even then, he often asks them to repeat. He’s so lost in his own head, I can’t help but ache for him, knowing very well what he’s going through.

As we leave my sisters to walk to my room, I can sense the weight of the situation on Cauler's shoulders. Still in his own head, I guide Jaysen to the dorm where we will be able to talk if it’s what he needs. I know he's trying to process everything that's happened, and I want to be there for him. But at the same time, I'm not sure how to help him.

The walk is short. I close the bedroom door as he sits on my bed. "Hey," I say, breaking the silence between us. "I know this is all really overwhelming for you right now, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. We'll get through this together." I sit next to him, draping my arm around his waist.

Cauler looks at me, and I can see the pain and confusion in his eyes. "I just can't believe they would do something like that," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. He drops his head on my shoulder, resting his forehead, hugging me."I thought we were all friends, you know? And now I feel like I can't trust anyone. And I can’t believe I didn’t realise that. How oblivious am I ?"

"I know," I raise my hand to the back of his neck, embracing him.

Cauler, sigh and we continue sitting in silence. I can feel his sadness and frustration, and I wish there was something I could do to make it all go away. But I know that healing takes time, and all I can do is be there for him, no matter what. My therapist would be proud of me.

"I'm sorry," Cauler says, breaking the silence. "I know I'm a mess”

"Don't apologize," I say, putting my arm around his shoulder. "You have every right to feel the way you do. And I'm here for you, no matter what. And if anyone of us is a mess, we both know it’s me"

This answer does make him laugh at least a little, easing a bit of tension from this situation.

After a few minutes, Cauler lifts his head and looks at me. "Do you think we'll be able to trust them again?" he asks, his voice laced with uncertainty.

"With time, I do think so," I say, being honest with him. "They’re our friends, they’ve done something stupid and insensitive. But they didn’t mean to hurt us. And they regret it, so much. Have you talked to Zero?"

"No, I haven’t seen any of the guys, not yet.”

"You should, when you’re ready and not a second before.” I drop a kiss on his head. “I talk with Dori, it was hard, but I think it was the best thing to do.”

He nods but doesn’t move. I pull him so we can lie down together. We stay there bathing each other. We’re alone, and that’s exactly what we need. Some alone time to process what happened. And if I get to cuddle my hot as fuck boyfriend, that’s not so bad.

[iamasimperyk]

Killer(Part 3) -Vinnie Hacker

Note: I guess that is the last part, but don't worry, I have a lot of ideas for other imagines:)

Warning: Violence, angst, fluff, sadistic actions, kidnapping

Summary: Vinnie kidnapped Y/n and his sadistic side came out, till something else happens.

Part1 Part2

When I woke up I was in my basement, tied up, and blindfolded.

Vinnie. He had known I was going to run away, and now he was going to kill me like he had been planning all along.

Once again, I was scared, it was cold, and I couldn't see anything. The only reason I knew I was in the basement was because of the smell. I never came down here. I don't know why, but it smelled rotten and mouldy down here. A cold shiver ran down my spine, and as if that wasn't enough, I suddenly heard footsteps. It could only be Vinnie, and suddenly all the love I felt for him was gone.

I felt a hand on my cheek and immediately tried to free myself from the ropes. "You're awake. Don't worry, princess, I won't hurt you. Not yet, at least." He whispered in my ear, which sent another shiver down my spine.

"P-please." I said with a dry mouth.

"Shh, it's going to be okay. But I'm really disappointed in you. You were going to leave me." He sighed, but the anger in his voice was visible.

"I didn't want to leave you, but I couldn't sleep, and I wanted to go for a walk." I lied, hoping he would believe me.

I heard him laugh briefly, "You wanted to go for a walk in your pyjamas? You wanted to go for a walk without taking your keys with you? You wanted to go for a walk without a jacket even though it's cold outside?"

I felt how he got angrier and angrier until he finally pulled the blindfold off and looked at me. He looked at me with a grin, but not that seductive grin, but the grin of a maniac. A psychopath, he was a psychopath.

"V-Vinnie, please. I was afraid you'd get me pregnant even if I didn't want to." I started to cry.

He shook his head and took a step back, "You're so pathetic. No wonder you lived here alone and took me in right away. You're nothing, a nobody, and I will make sure no one ever takes you as his girlfriend again."

What was that supposed to mean?

"I know...you're going to kill me, right?" I asked, and he laughed out loud.

"Oh, Y/n. My naïve little princess. Of course not, but I'm going to make you suffer like I suffered when I saw you trying to leave me," he grinned sadistically, "That reminds me, my initials are still engraved on your ass cheek. That's the first reason why you won't find someone else, because which man wants another's men initials on his girls' ass?"

If that was even possible, I was even more scared now. "What are you going to do with me?" I asked fearfully, looking at him with glassy eyes.

"I could get you pregnant, of course, and you would be bound to me for life, but you don't deserve to have my child, but I will make sure you can't have one from any other man as well." He grinned before the door opened, and a man in a white coat came in.

"Mr. Hacker, we can start now." He said, to which Vinnie just grinned and put the blindfold on me again. He leaned down to my ear, "I will see you later, don't scream too much, princess."

I heard the door close as Vinnie left the room, and I was alone with the stranger. Before I knew it, I felt a hell of a pain in my vagina. One cut. Two cuts. Three cuts.

After a few more painful minutes, the pain stopped. I was numb, I heard the door open, and before I knew it, the blindfold was off, and Vinnie was standing in front of me.

"Don't be sad, be happy that you no longer need to fuck anyone. It would be hard without a clit." He grinned, and my eyes fell on my bandaged vagina. I began to scream and cry as loud as I could until everything went black.

"Fuck. Y/n wake up," Vinnie shouted, and I sat up, tears streaming down my face.

He immediately hugged me and stroked my hair with his hand, "It's okay. I'm here."

"You- you took my- my-" I burst into tears, and he held me tighter.

"What did I take, princess? You fell asleep after breakfast." He says softly.

It was all just a dream. A nightmare. I never wanted to escape, and Vinnie never locked me up. It took me a little while to finally breathe normally again, "I dreamt that I wanted to escape because I wasn't ready to become a mother. You caught me, held me captive in the basement and then some man...he took my clit-" I didn't get any further as I burst into tears again.

Vinnie kissed my forehead and smiled lightly at me, "It's okay if you don't want kids yet, but no matter what happens, I would never hurt you."

Vinnie normally wouldn't have shown anyone that he had a side like that, except me. All I wanted was him, and I never wanted to lose him.

I think I was finally ready to live with Vinnie forever.

[siriannatan]

Winter's Canary 3/3

Tango sometimes thought about what Jimmy was up to in Hells. Especially after meeting his player equivalent. In a death game organised by one of the friends, he met on hermitcraft. It paired contestants with soul bonds making them share their lives, pain and hunger. And to a lesser degree feelings which led to some awkward questions from Jimmy. Like why Tango would sometimes get sad. Saying Jimmy reminded him of an old friend seemed to work well enough. 

Inspired by the wonderful Hells To Pay AU by @aquaquadrant and @lunarcrown.

<Part1>

<Part2>

AO3 link for those who prefer to read there

Warnings: Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Stockholm Syndrome, In a way, Mysterious Potions, Hells Scott, Hells Jimmy, Harpy Jimmy, Scott is evil, violence

Tango sometimes thought about what Jimmy was up to in Hells. Especially after meeting his player equivalent. In a death game organised by one of the friends, he met on hermitcraft. It paired contestants with soul bonds making them share their lives, pain and hunger. And to a lesser degree feelings which led to some awkward questions from Jimmy. Like why Tango would sometimes get sad. Saying Jimmy reminded him of an old friend seemed to work well enough. 

Not that they had much chance to discuss it, being the first pair out. Tango would take full responsibility for it. It was a bit hard to focus for him when his mind wandered back to where he was from.

He wasn't down about the loss for long. Decked Out kept him so busy he had little time to think about other things. At least until Grian's weird rift opened and a whole bunch of hermits, Tango included went through.

It turned out to lead to Empires. The server Jimmy was on and spoke fondly of. They got scattered all over, Tango guessed the rift wasn't stable enough to transport them properly. Not that he knew much about this kind of stuff. Luckily he happened on Shelby's little mangrove swamp house and, after getting an amazing hat, she got him reunited with his friends on a massive tour of the whole server. And met the other Jimmy once more. 

He felt a bit bad about staying in Gobland, initially before hermits settled in their own spot. But he did not want those thoughts plaguing him. Besides, he still visited Tumble Town and Jimmy didn't seem to mind even if his and fWhip's relationship seemed tense at best. He was a bit more interested in Scar which might have stung a little bit.

It was during one of his Tumble Town visits that all that's good went bad. Namely, a hells resident appeared in front of them looking panicked. Tango vaguely recognised him as Tinker or the other fWhip. Well. More like fell out of the sky screaming in panic.

"Ahh. Not... you're not him..." the redhead panicked seeing Tango and Jimmy. "Hi, Tango. This where you've been?" he laughed nervously while looking around. "I really can't stick around..." he mumbled trying to stand up and instantly failing.

"You okay man?" Tango asked helping him up. "I'll explain it a bit later," he tossed to Jimmy with a tense smile. Tinker had freeze burns. There was only one person in Hells who used ice. "You got Minor angry?"

"It's not from Minor. He's got a new hunting bird... Our Jim... I have no idea what and when he did to him but..."

"Tut. Tut. Tut." a sudden slow noise had Tinker freezing. "Running away is one thing but rumours... that's just terrible," Tango recognised the voice as Jimmy's hells almost instantly. It was almost as it used to be but... a lot colder and... "You're lucky Scott wants you alive Tink. Otherwise you'd be dead already," he hummed landing right behind Tinker.

Tango understood what Tinker wanted to say. Jimmy has changed. His feathers were much more muted gold, almost as if they were frosted over. His brown eyes were cold, skin even paler with sickly visible veins. And his wings were bigger and much more like an owl's than a canary's.

"Tango?... Tango... Hi. It's been a while. How are you doing?" Jimmy seemed confused for a second but quickly shook it off and, while easily picking Tinker up with one hand, waved at tango with a quite emotionless smile. 

"I'm great... What happened to your wings?" Tango asked, trying to hide other Jimmy behind himself.

"Nothing bad. Just a side effect of a little thing... Would you happen to know where a Chromia is? Scott said he's waiting there... I'm supposed yo bring Tinky to him so he can apologise, right Tinky?"

Tinker wiggled and tried to get out of the avian's grip but it was all for nothing. Whatever the wings were a side effect of seemed to increase his strength by quite a bit. "I do..." Tango said, a bit hesitantly. If Minor was near Scott... It was best they cooperate for now.

"Can you take me there? Don't worry about other me, I'm a bit busy. Scott wants Tinky," Jimmy was still smiling while creeping turning his head nearly 90 degrees to the left. Not blinking, with no hints of the smile in his empty, dead eyes.

"Sure..." Jimmy nodded before Tango could. "What did he do to your Scott? Are you fine with the nether?"

"Is nether warm? If so then not much... And Tinky said he'd do a thing for Scott and then didn't do it and tried to run... Very rude," Hells Jimmy huffed, shaking Tinker a bit. "No fainting," he scolded shifting his grip so he was not choking him too badly.

"We can fly then, it's a bit far but it should be fine," Jimmy nodded.

Somehow Tango found himself at the back. Flying behind two Jimmys, one holding Tinker and giggling about Scott... What in the Hells sake did Minor do to Jimmy? Was the guy lying when he let Tango out of Hells? Did he... No. Jimmy would not...

His mind was no less confused when they reached Chromia. And the sight of two Scotts sharing a tea was not less confusing. Not one bit.

"Scott!" Jimmy let out a happy hoot, no longer paying any attention to his guides. "I found him!" he added shaking a terrified Tinker. 

"I see Jimmy," Minor smiled slightly as he set his cup aside. "Thank you for the delicious tea, my other self, but Jimmy does not deal with warmth too well, so we'll be off... Hello Tango. It's been a while. I hope you're happy with where I landed you." his smile grew a little as he noticed the blaze. "Oh. And a second Jimmy, how cute," he chuckled opening a portal. 

"I'll die... I"ll freeze..." Tinker panicked, trashing in Jimmy's grasp. 

"It won't be that fast no need to panic. Go on first, I'll be right behind," he encouraged a happily hooting Jimmy to go through the shimmering gate of ice. No protests, No snarky comments Tango would have expected from him.

"What did you do to him?" he could not help but ask just as Minor was about to leave.

"Nothing much, just made sure the temperatures of my lair did not bother him," Minor smiled coldly over his shoulder. "Don't worry, he's staying with me fully willingly," he chuckled, not sounding at all convincing, and also went back to Hells. Leaving Tango confused and regretting a lot of his life's choices.

There was a heavy silence hanging over Tango, Jimmy and Scott. None of them was sure what to say after that brief but one-of-a-kind interaction. It was the sheriff that spoke first. "What just happened?" he asked flopping down to the ground. 

"Well... you two just met your Hells..." Tango said, slowly, not sure how to describe it. He had no idea how and why Hells worked and existed. "Hells is a different dimension. A mesh of overworld and nether with no End. It's destruction and death wherever you go and look... A terrible place and... I'm originally from there. There's an actual player Tango or whatever his name is out there... I never looked..."

"So that was me? But not quite?" Scott hummed when Tango stopped talking.

"Yes. From what I understand, we, Hells are... sort of twisted parallels of players. A certain aspect of theirs tuned up to a thousand... Other Scott, Minor, is a manipulative and cunning and cruel man of ice and frost. Very powerful... He's the one who let me out of there... Jimmy took me to him after I used a favour he owed me... I think I brought him into Minor's trap..." he sighed feeling himself heat up in frustration.

"Did he know what kind of person Minor is?" Jimmy asked, resting a hand on Tango's shoulder. The blaze hybrid could only nod. "It's not your fault then. I'm sure he knew what he was getting into... What was that... favour he owed you?"

Tango sighed. "The respawn in Hells is a bit faulty so if things like wings get too damaged before you die it will not fix them... I saved his wings one time... I think it meant a lot to him. There was nowhere else I could go to get out... I had to get out..." he mumbled, staring into a panic spiral.

"Who did he even bring here?" Scott asked in a desperate attempt to change the topic. "He looked like fWhip..."

"Tinker. And you got it, he's the other fWhip. He's good at setting up very destructive traps so most try to not get him angry with them. Apparently Sc... Minor asked him for something that was too much and he tried to get out of it... Can we not talk about that? I hate that place..."

"How about we pet llamas instead?" Scott offered and nearly pulled them to the garden. There was nothing like a llama cuddle pile to lift a mood.

[sestra-inestro]

Pleaseeee can I request a Part2 of ‘you know and I know better’. Where Wanda says it’s okay for her and R to break up and then Nat finds R and R is devastated still because of Nat and they argue before R breaks down and tried to hard all hard but Natasha sees how badly hurt she is. This broke my heart please mend it

Heartbreak Hotel

A/N: So sorry this was so late dear reader. I think this was submitted right after I took a break. But here it is, it’s a little different than what you wanted. I also don’t ever react to cheating like this but I’m feeling mushy because I’m watching New Amsterdam. Thank you for this request.

Warning: mentions of suicidal thoughts or potential self harm/suicide, cheating, otherwise just possible typos: unedited.

Masterlist

Another relationship left hanging. You just couldn’t catch a break.

Wanda sat on the other side of the bed, facing away from you as she listened to your sniffling.

She just told you that she was still in love with Vision, despite them not being a thing for a while.

In a way, you knew they would always be meant for each other. Maybe you just wanted to be selfish for a little while, just to be happy for yourself, even if it was with another Avenger.

“I’m sorry, June.” Wanda said softly. “I just can’t help my feelings.”

You wiped your nose and nodded your head.

“At least you told me, I’m grateful for that.” You said back in a husky voice. You didn’t think your heart could handle another beating like the one Nat gave you. You told her that it was okay, and with hesitation pain in her chest, Wanda left.

She left you there on the bed to break down by yourself like you wanted.

You grip your hair and fall back onto the bed to let your pain overcome you so you can move on.

-

Wanda moves back into the compound once she is done with everything at your house. Her and Vision can finally be together and they don’t try to hide it from everyone else. Nat stares at them in the kitchen as they attempt to prime Visions cooking skills again, making an absolute mess. Nat frowns to herself, Wanda was acting the same way she is with Vision now with you only a few months ago when she saw you two on her jog. She deliberately avoided that track so you wouldn’t see her and so she wouldn’t have the see the very confident pda that she was witnessing right now.

Tony waltzes into the kitchen with a whistle and spring in his step and stops at the displace of disgusting cuteness that she was staring at.

“Um, what? When did this happen?” Tony asks, I interrupting them.

“Oh, well it kinda just did.” Wanda says, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

“Weren’t you with June?” Tony asks bluntly.

“Yeah, but it just didn’t work out. Me and Vision still had feelings.” Wanda says and Tony frowns at Vision, clearly wondering how Vision has feelings.

“So you broke up with June for Vision?” Nat says, not even bothering to hide the judgement in her voice.

Wanda glares at her. “At least I broke I with her first.”

The tension becomes very noticeably thick, Tony and Vision stand and stare at them both after Wandas dig at Nat.

Nat stands up, the chair behind her sliding against the floor loudly and she leaves. Everyone watches her go and wait until she’s left before moving again.

Tony turns to Wanda. “Y’ouch.” He says while cringing.

“What? You don’t think she deserved that?” Wanda asks him.

“I didn’t say she didn’t.” Tony nudges her with his elbow before standing to think about what it was he came in for. He shrugs before leaving the kitchen.

“I don’t think you were out of line. A bit blunt, though, but not out of line.” Vision pinches her chin and smiles at her. She smiles back and thinks about you. Of course she felt bad about hurting you again, but at least she broke up with you right.

Tony comes back into the kitchen, suddenly remembering his mission from before, breaking her out of her trace and forgetting about you again.

-

You had had your time to be in pain, but after a few days, you think it was finally time to pick yourself back up. Starting small, you gathered yourself up for the day and headed out to grab some lunch. You were actually going to sit outside and eat it by yourself, getting air. You went to your favourite food place and went to sit at the pond where the ducks always are. You haven’t been here in a while so you took this chance to enjoy it. The ducks swam up near you and you threw in some peas that you had brought from home.

As they ate, you ate. And when you finished, you just sat there.

At the end of the track, Nat was jogging and keeping an eye out for you. She knew that whenever you were happy or sad, you came here. You used to talk about the ducks and how they slowly became to trust you but she never actually came with you. She only jogged passed. But this time she was keeping an eye out. If only she had looked just to the left a little. If only she actually ran on the path she would have ran right in front of you. But she missed you. Just by a few steps.

Nat wasn’t about to let that let her down. Instead of running back to the compound, she ran straight to the address she has fished out of the system from when Wanda moved back in. The apartment block stood tall and dull, the perfect hiding spot for an Avenger, Nat guessed. She ran to the floor that your room was on and stood in front of the door. She took a deep breathe, remembering the last time you two actually spoke and cringed. She hung her head, remembering you coming into the room and seeing what her and Bucky had just done. She hadn’t given you the time of day in the last few weeks leading up to your breakup, why on earth should you give it to her now, especially if she never apologised.

But Nat swallowed her pride, there was no room for her to be embarrassed anymore and she needed to let you know that there was nothing wrong with you. You were not the reason the last relationships didn’t work and she was going to show you that.

She took another deep breathe and raised her fist, knocking hard on the wooden door.

Nat waiting for a second, listening for any sound of movement on the other side, hoping to hear your footsteps. But she heard nothing. She frowned and knocked again. You couldn’t have moved out already, it had only been a few days.

“June?” She called out, cringing at her voice saying your name again. “It’s Nat.”

Still nothing.

Nat stepped back to observe the door as a whole and looked up and down the hallway. It was quiet like no one else lives here. Thoughts begin to run through Nat’s head and she starts to worry, she should know better but she can’t help but think of the possibilities that could’ve happened. You could just be out. But it also only takes one push to get someone over the edge. She remembers seeing a fire escape of the side of the building and she needed to get in to see if you were okay.

In ten minutes she was on your apartment through the fire escape window. Moving quickly she checked both the bedroom and the bathroom. The apartment was empty and in a way, Nat was relieved.

She sighs and puts her hands on her hips, observing the your living space. She is totally invading your privacy right now but she couldn’t help but smile a little when the apron in the kitchen caught her eye. I loved to cook and she thought that the apron would be the perfect gift for you, because of its ‘sweet but salty’ saying on the front. She had given it to you late because she was too busy being an Avenger. Her pity thoughts come to an abrupt end when the sound of keys jingling in the keyhole and a lock turning came from the front door. Nat stood paralysed as you walked through the door.

You sighed walking through your door and drop the half empty bag of frozen peas. “Damn it. You grumble and bend down to pick it up. You see a shadow move on the floor and quickly lift your gaze. You freeze, seeing Nat trying to get out of the fire escape quietly.

“What the fuck, Natasha?” You yell and Nat jumps.

She turns her head to look at you sheepishly. “Hi.”

“What the hell are you doing in my apartment?”

“I just wanted to see if you were okay. I heard about you and Wanda-“

“I’m peachy.” You cut her off. “Now you can leave.”

Nat sighed and went to walk passed you to the front door but you took your key out and slammed it shut. “Nope. The way you came in.” You pointed to the window and crossed your arms.

“Are you serious?” Nat huffed at your attitude.

“Deadly.” You stared her down.

Nat sighed at your glare. “I just wanna talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.” You voice was hard.

“Then please just listen?” Nat asked.

You gave a little huff but stayed quiet.

“I know that what I did was wrong. I was horrible at the end of our relationship. And I wish I could go back and change how I handled it and how I treated you.” Nat said. You advert your eyes down to the floor, you didn’t have it in you to fight and you wanted to be better. But you also know that your relationship with Wanda was somewhat of a distraction from your breakup with Nat.

“I just need you to know that you are not the problem. What happened with me and with Wanda was not your fault. And I am so sorry. I would treat you right if I had the chance again. You’re an amazing person.” Nat said before touching your arm and giving it a slight squeeze.

You squeezed your eyes tight in response as she walked passed you and went out the front door.

You didn’t know what to do. You thought of what you would’ve said to Nat a millions times if you ever saw her again, but you couldn’t say any of it. You frowned to yourself as you went over her words. You didn’t think twice as you reached for your phone.

-

Nat kicked herself for breaking into your apartment. She should have just trusted that you take care of yourself, not allowing a woman to bring you down that hard. She didn’t jog back to the compound but she sped walked, passing by the people quick feeling like she needed to give you more space.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket by her hip and she rolled her eyes, thinking it’s Steve with mission info. She pulls it out of her pocket and sees the message is from you. She stops her steps and reads the message.

June - Was that you asking for another chance?

Nat didn’t know how to take your words.

Natasha - No, but I wouldn’t oppose to it. I also don’t want to overstep.

She waited to see if you would answer her back, wanting to give you the decision.

June - Do you want to come tell me how good of a person I am some more?

Nat smirked to herself a little before turning around and heading back to your apartment.

[straykidsworldwild]

Duskwood

Phil Hawkins x MC

Part 2 (1/2) : MC goes to work and a certain boy comes to meet her for lunch.

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

Heyy guys! Here's a piece of part2. It was too long to put the whole thing on Tumblr at once (apparently) so I had to cut it in half 🙈 (2/2) is coming!!

(I just made the collage. Credits go to the creators of Duskwood and the owners of the pics.)

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

I slowly wake up, feeling and hearing something buzzing. With my eyes still closed, I slide my hand under the pillow next to mine to grab my phone. I hate waking up by alarms… It feels like I am being cut in my sleep. And I’m not going to lie… I love my sleep just as much as I love food. Who doesn’t? I open my eyes and turn the alarm off before quickly closing them again. I didn't sleep well last night… When I went to bed after texting Phil to tell him I got home fine, I couldn’t stop thinking about the discussion we had at his bar. Was I right to say “yes” for lunch tomorrow noon? Was he being serious? Is he playing a game? Am I falling in his net? I don’t know and I think that’s what terrifies me with him. I just don’t want to be his next hookup… If I start something, it’s for a serious relationship, not to play around. That’s not my thing. But that’s exactly what Phil does so… I guess I should just trust a little more myself. Anyway, that was just the first part of the night, because the next part, all I could do was think about my uncle. Every time I closed my eyes, I just recalled amazing moments with him. Moments that mom, he and I won’t ever have again… I laid on my back, on my sides, on the side… And I did this over and over until managing to fall asleep.

I turn on the lamp on my nightstand when I hear my phone suddenly buzzing again. But I turned it off… Oh! I grab my phone and answer the call after looking at the I.D. caller.

- Hey, mom, how are you? I just woke up… I tell my mother with a still sleepy voice as I sit on the side of my bed. The light is still too much so I close my eyes for a few seconds more. Suddenly, a noise coming from behind the phone call catches my attention. It’s not a noise I am used to hear her make... Mom? I call her with some concern.

- “He's gone…” I hear her simply whispering through the phone as another sound catches my attention again. Sobs… Mom is crying. I’ve heard my mother crying before. It’s so… Strange and heartbreaking. I mean, mom has always been that strong figure, fighting everyone coming in her way or in mine… But she never broke down before me.

- I know, mom. I'm so sorry. But… I begin to respond calmly, keeping the pain to myself. I’ve never heard nor seen my mom crying in my life. She’s all I have as a family and hearing her in such pain… It’s heartbreaking.

- "Can you come over today? I'll need you to finish the preparation of the funeral. I can't do this alone. And..." She interrupts me, sounding overwhelmed and submerged. I lower my head and keep a desperate sigh inside of me. I wish I could already be next to her and tell her to not worry. That she doesn’t have to do anything. That I will take care of this for her. But I can’t because of my dumbass boss… Unbelievable...

- I'd love to, mom, really. But I have to go to work, I begin to say, sounding sad and sorry for not being there for her. I hate it. I feel like I’m betraying my own mother. That I’m not giving her the support she needs right now. And maybe the one that I also need... But she knew uncle Alex for longer than I did so it’s fairer that I should be there for her... But once I'm out, I'll stop by your house to come help you, okay? So I can see you a little bit too, mom. I should finish at 3p.m. today, if my boss doesn't think otherwise, I tell her gently. Though, an unsure point is heard in my voice. We never know with my boss… If he had a bad day, he is capable of giving you two extra hours to do just because he wanted to.

- "You know, your uncle was always there for me. I remember when we were kids…" I frown with sadness to the sound of her voice. It’s broken… She sounds empty. Out of life. "There was this horrible kid terrorizing the youngsters. I was one of those kids being terrorized, but of course, as my big brother, he protected me. He always did. He was really protective, you know?" She recounts me in brief words with a trembling voice. I know the story by heart. Uncle Alex used to tell it to me as a bedtime story. He was the hero of course. I never doubt that… I hear mom sniffling and letting another sob out. "So was he with you, baby. He loved you as his own, you know?", oh… When she said "baby", her voice just completely broke. I could barely hear it. I continue to look down as I feel a lump forming in my throat. I miss Uncle Alex like crazy... "And he did the same when your father left..." She admits to me, going to the topic about how my uncle was protective. Which I already knew as well... It honestly hurts to hear all of this so soon after his tragic death. I still haven’t digested it. It’s still not real to me. I still think I will see him today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow... But it seems to make mom feel better by saying those words to me, by recounting her memories. So, I'll listen carefully. Or I'll try, at least… If I don't break before too. Her pain is so profound… And shared.

- Mom, you don't have to tell me all of this now. Let some time pass. It's hurting you, I say with a slight pleading tone, hoping she will listen to me. I know it's hard to not think about it or to not want to talk about it. But I just think it's too soon for her. And for me... She can't turn the page in a finger snap. It’s impossible. Even if she feels like she did or she has to do it, it might not be the best way.

- "I love you, MC. You're my baby girl." She says over the phone, sniffling sadly again. I nod even though she doesn't see me. I am staring at the floor, my sight being blurry. Not again...

- I love you so much, mom, I reply to my mother, controlling my voice as much as possible despite the tight ball in my throat. She doesn’t need to know that I’m about to cry too. I hear her sniffling behind the phone call again followed by a new sob. I can't… Look, I have to go, mom, but I'll come see you later today, okay? I'll come with a little surprise, I tell her gently, wanting and feeling the need to cheer her up. I just want my mother to be happy again.

- "A surprise? You know I don't like surprises much, MC.", She replies with a mix between her crying and a faint chuckle before reminding me how she has always hated surprises. I know…

- That's why I'm bringing you one, I answer to my mom, cracking a smile to the sound of her faint chuckle.

- "You're a little Devil, just like your uncle... What's the surprise?" She begins to say before pausing. It's true, I got a little bit of him too. I guess it's because he sort of raised me and because I'm a (l/n) as well.

- Mom, if I tell you there would be no point for me to call it a surprise, wouldn't it? I answer with a gentle and playful tone before giggling. I hear her crying turning into giggles.

- "I tried. Okay, go to work, baby, and... I'll do a few things here... I'll try. Oh, and I ordered the flowers you asked me to pick for your uncle." She responds with another small chuckle before sniffling one more time. I smile a little more, glad to hear that I managed to make her smile a little bit despite the situation. She ordered the flowers… My smile grows a little more, glad about this news.

- Okay, call me if you need me for anything. Doesn't matter if I work or not, okay? I love you, mom, I reply sincerely to my mother, giving her a little cheerful tone.

- "I will. I love you too, baby. See you later.", She says back to me, sounding a little better then when I answered the phone. I smile and wait a few seconds before hanging up. Right… I feel like I have another long day coming… I let a long sigh out, as if I am trying to get rid of a weight on my shoulders, before wiping the tears in my eyes. Well, I've got to get ready...

Almost an hour later, I am on my way to work. Like every day, I see the same streets, the same cars, the same shops, the same streetlights… Of course, I am not going there with an ounce of motivation. I’d rather stay home or go anywhere else, but not there. I’m not saying being a waitress is the worst job, but my boss and some clients are actually really hard to deal with. Anyway…

I rapidly reach the back door of the restaurant I work at and enter the building which leads to the kitchen. The cooks and the waitresses are all here, ready to work. Oh, almost… I hold the door for Angie and she runs in, thanking me at the same time. We exchange a smile and get ready to start working. The clients should start coming soon… It's been three months since my boss decided to expand the restaurant to include a little coffee shop. I think it was a good idea, a good change in Duskwood. It was a test at first to see if people would like it. The clients seemed satisfied so that’s why I am here so early every morning now.

- MC! I look up immediately after hearing a gravelly voice yelling my name. My boss walks briskly towards me, a frown of madness plastered over his face. As usual... What time does my watch indicate? He asks me while showing me his watch on his right wrist. What…?

- 8:01am.? I answer, not sure where this is going.

- You were supposed to be here at 8:00a.m.. Not at 7:59a.m., not at 8:01a.m., but at 8:00a.m.! Is it so hard to understand in your dummy brain? He tells and asks me with madness, actually scolding me for arriving one minute late. As always, he raises his voice while talking, making sure everyone can hear who is commanding here. I guess you see what I meant when I said that I wasn’t very motivated to come to work...

- I'm sorry, boss, I simply say as I don’t want to argue nor lose my job. Well, it’s mainly that I’m not up to an argument right now… I have other things to think about. To worry about.

- Don't. Since you came late, you'll go home late. You're finishing at 6p.m. today, he tells me with a correcting tone, looking down on me. He’s joking, right? 6pm?

- What? You're making me do three extra hours for one minute late? I demand him with disbelief as I’m getting upset.

- And you're not paid for those, he points out seriously, still speaking as loud as before. Not paid?! Better and better...

- Sir, I can’t work extra hours today. I have to go see my mom this afternoon after work. My uncle passed away yesterday and I have to help for the funerals and… I explain to my boss with seriousness, going up against him. I mean, I can be shy and quiet and all, just don’t take me for an idiot or play with me.

- That's not a valuable excuse. Get to work before I change my mind and actually fire you for rebellion, he orders me seriously and sternly. Right… I look down, not responding to not receiving any consequences later. Everyone, back to work! he screams to all of his employees before walking away to do his life. Dick!

- Don't listen to this cold hearted dick, MC, I hear Angie telling me as she comes to stand in front of me. She’s a little taller than me. If you need to leave, then do. I'll cover for you. I knew something wasn't right yesterday but we barely crossed paths so I couldn't ask you what was wrong. I'm really sorry about your uncle, MC, she apologizes sincerely to me as she puts her hand on my shoulder. Angie is one of the only workers I get well along with here. Yeah, nothing goes well in this restaurant… It’s sad because it could have its potential. I smile at my friend while weakly nodding.

- Thanks, Angie, I thank her sincerely as I place my hand on top of hers. She smiles and nods back before the two of us take separated ways to go do our work.

The morning passed pretty quickly to be fair. I prefer when it’s like this. Working and watching the time pass is one of the worst feelings. There were so many clients this morning that I didn’t have time to get bored. It’s actually pretty rare that there are so many people coming in the morning. I mean, it’s still a little buzzy usually but not this much. I hope that will put my boss in a good mood and he’ll kind of forget the late minute thing this morning… Right, even I don’t believe this… I take the plates and cutleries that customers have left to clear the table. I clean it well and let other customers settle in. The noon hour and 1pm are the worst. There is often a line of customers waiting for a table but it goes on pretty well usually. Anyway… It’s time for my break. I put the dirty dish and cutleries in the bassin which is on a cart to later go to the kitchen.

- Hi, I turn around to look at the person who is not so unfamiliar to me, I'm looking for a pretty (h/c) with crazy (e/c) in which you would easily get lost in. Have you seen her around? says and asks me, a man, using a flirtatious and slight playful tone at the same time. I smile and softly laugh while nodding.

- Yeah, I think she went back to the kitchen a little while ago. But I don’t know where she went after, I reply playfully to my friend as I point towards the kitchen. The man softly laughs back before passing his hand in his long hair which isn't in a ponytail or a bun for once. How dare he look so good?

- How are you, Gorgeous? Asks me gently, Phil, as we are facing one another.

- I’m good. I have the same problem as last night, but I’m good. You? I answer with a very faint sigh as I keep a small smile before asking him.

- I'm good, thanks, he responds, having that damn smirk in the corner of his lips. The two of us stare at each other for a little moment, a smile on our face. I can’t really explain why or how, but seeing him here, now, like we said last night, makes me happy. So, is it still on for having lunch together or...? He asks me, a point of nervousness heard in his voice. He isn’t sure of himself which is so rare to see.

- Yes… I begin to tell him before hearing a gravelly voice calling for me.

- MC! I turn around and see my boss approaching us. Oh… No time for talking! Get back to work! He tells me harshly in front of Phil. Oh God… So awkward! I know I have said stories to my friends about my boss, but none of them actually saw the man talking to me that way. And I wish it wouldn’t have been Phil seeing and hearing him talking to me this way. What is he going to think?

- You're seriously letting that dumbass talking to you this way? I hear Phil whispering lowly in my ear. His deep voice echoing in my ear… He sounded like he couldn’t just believe what he just heard. Oh but it’s real, Phil… I live it every day like all the employees here.

- It's almost 1p.m., sir. I'm on my break… I begin to respond to my boss, not forgetting that I actually want to get out of work at 3p.m and not 6p.m. I still have hope… A faint one but, it’s still there.

- Break? He repeats my word with disbelief as he is standing right before my face now. No break for you today. Come on, move! He exclaims, speaking with a mad tone as usual. If I didn’t know him, I would think he actually hate me. Which might be the case… It’s not possible to scream so much on someone without reasons, right? Ugh, is that guy ever happy? Or just calm?

- Hey! I hear Phil’s loud voice coming from behind me before I could say anything to my boss. I slightly widened my eyes in surprise as I didn’t think Phil would say something. She's your employee, not your stooge! You should watch it! He tells him with a warning tone which I’ve never really heard before. The only time I heard him using this tone was when one of his regulars overstepped the line. I look on my left as I see Jessy’s brother standing next to me, slightly getting before me. Oh… He looks so mad.

- And who might you be to talk back to me? Questions, my boss to Phil. Oh no… I glance around us and notice that customers are staring at us, watching the scene. So awkward… Before Phil could do something or say a word, and mostly before it goes too far, I grab discreetly Phil’s wrist. He doesn’t move nor look at me. My boss is still staring at Jessy’s brother. He is not pleased at all...

- Look, sir. She's been working since 8:00a.m., and it's 1p.m. in less than five minutes. You can't take off her lunch break just because you're her boss, it's against the law. But if you think you are above them, maybe we could stop by the police station to see who's right? Responds calmly and politely, Phil, all while still having this warning and serious tone. I’ve always been amazed by how polite he can stay despite the circumstances or the situation. I mean, it’s easy to lose control due to anger, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he fights.

- 30minutes. No more, tells me, my boss, reluctantly giving me a break. Thanks to Phil… I nod positively before he turns around and leaves us at a quick pace. Phil turns around before looking down at me.

- Thanks, but you didn't have to do that, Phil, I thank him with a small shy tone, yet, thankful he actually stepped in for me.

- I did and I wanted to. But honestly, that guy deserved more than just a "talk", he replies with sincerity and seriousness. While talking about my boss, I could hear the madness in his voice. I nod understandingly as I give him a small smile, appreciating it for standing up for me. It’s not every day it happens. Come on, he suddenly tells me with his infectious smile. I don't answer. Instead, my smile grows wider while the two of us walk through the restaurant to reach the outside. Oh, he has a bag! How did I not see it?

[mandowh0re]

Peter’s Emergency Contact

Summary: Peter meets the Avengers. It doesn’t go well.

A/N: I’m a terrible person tell me to finish my wips. Also I’m sorry about May :(

P.s. it’s been a long time since I picked this fic up so there are some continuum issues, please forgive me.

Part1/ Part2/ Part3/ Part 4

Part 4

Putting it mildly, Peter was fucking bored. It was summer, but both Ned and MJ were on vacation with their families. And on top of that, it was way too hot to go out and do anything, including patrol. He was, however, on stand by if Karen came through with anything that required Spider-Man’s assistance.

A few floors down, the ex-Rogue Avengers were doing god knows what. They had been pardoned a month earlier and moved back into the tower. Peter had yet to meet them, though Tony seemed okay with them. But Peter didn’t really trust them.

Well, okay. He more-so didn’t trust Steve. Even though the others fought against Tony too, it was Steve that scared Tony. Peter noticed minute things that Tony would do whenever the Captain was mentioned. He’d fidget, or grab his left wrist, or rub his chest, or bite the inside of his cheek. Mostly stuff that would fly past most people.

But Peter wasn’t ‘most people’. Officially, Peter was Tony’s child. After a car accident killed May about eight months prior, Tony legally adopted Peter. Since then, Peter has learned all of Tony’s tells. Wanting to get to the bottom of these anxious ticks, Peter hacked his way around FRIDAY’s systems to figure out what had happened.

Peter wasn’t one to give into rage, but that day he spent a majority of his time in the gym or swinging through the city because he was basically vibrating from the emotion.

But they lived in the same tower, and maybe Peter was desperate for something to do, so he decided to head down to the common room where FRIDAY had informed him that a few of the Avengers were hanging out.

The elevator dinged and Peter walked out to the sight of… Christmas decorations?

“What the…” He breathed, looking around the room.

“You’re not Stark,” Natasha said, suddenly appearing in front of Peter.

Peter had to literally fight down his fanboy excitement to greet the literal Black Widow!

“Uh, no. I mean, technically I am but-”

“You’re Peter, right?” Was that a smirk? Peter couldn't tell.

“Uh, y-yeah. How-?”

“I have my ways of finding things out,” Okay, now that was a smile, “I haven’t told anyone though. So you’ll have to introduce yourself to them.” She said as she tossed her head to the side, motioning to the others on the floor.

“Oh, right.”

Peter followed Natasha farther into the room, gaining the attention of the rest of the crew including Wanda Maximoff, Vision (who Peter had actually met before), Clint Barton, Sam Wilson, and Bruce (who Peter had also met before as he and Thor showed up about two months after May’s death).

“Uh, who’s the child, Nat?” Clint asked, sitting on the kitchen island.

Natasha looked at Peter, who began picking at the hem of his shirt. A nervous tick of his own.

“Uh, hi, Mister Barton. I’m Peter. Uh, Peter Parker. Or, Peter Parker-Stark now I guess? I’m-”

“Wait, excuse me, Parker-Stark? Since when the hell did Stark have a child?” Sam cut in.

“Let him finish,” Wanda berated the man, who seemed to currently be baking cookies, “Go on,” She said to the other teenager in the room, smiling kindly.

“Right, so uh, Tony hired me as his personal intern like two years ago, and we got pretty close. My aunt died last December and since she was my last family, Tony took me in and adopted me.” Immediately after mentioning his aunt’s death, almost everyone in the room looked at him with pity.

“I’m sorry kid,” That was Clint again, “Life sucks sometimes.”

“I’m adjusting,” Peter replied, but he quickly changed the subject, “Why are you decorating for Christmas? It’s almost a hundred degrees outside, not to mention it’s July.”

“Ah, that was my idea!” Sam called from the kitchen where he was currently pulling cookies out of the oven, “Since we’re on house arrest until further notice, I thought we could entertain ourselves with Christmas in July. It’s something we used to do when I was younger.”

“Oh, that sounds fun!”

“You’re welcome to join, kid.” Bruce called from his spot on the couch.

“Really? Thanks guys!” Peter jumped onto a seat at the island.

“Have a cookie, man.” Sam said, holding out a plate of santa shaped sugar cookies.

“Aw sweet!” The boy grabbed one and took a bite, “Thanks!”

About fifteen minutes passed by when Peter’s senses upped a few notches.

“Any cookies left, Sam?”

Peter nearly choked on his current cookie and jumped up to see Steve Rogers walking out of the elevator.

“Yep, a few plates full. There’s sugar, gingerbread, and chocolate chip.”

A few seconds passed before the super soldier noticed Peter.

“Um, hello. I’m Steve, you are?” He offered a hand for Peter to shake.

Peter tried to respond, but the room suddenly began spinning. He gripped onto the counter to steady himself.

“Son?” Steve asked.

“Don’ call me tha’,” Peter tried to glare, but he wasn’t even sure he was controlling his face properly.

Out of nowhere his legs gave out, and black began overtaking his vision.

A chorus of exclamations rang out as everyone ran over to tend to the boy. Fortunately and unfortunately, Steve was the closest and was the one to grab Peter before he hit the ground.

“No! Let me go!” He struggled against Steve’s arms to no avail.

“Calm down, son, I’m just-”

“What happened?” Bruce asked, feeling for Peter’s pulse.

“He just collapsed.” Sam answered.

Then Peter began seizing.

“Fuck, Sam, start a timer to time the seizure. Steve, pick him up and bring him to the medbay with me. Natasha, call Tony.”

“Why are we calling Tony?” Steve asked, following Bruce into the elevator.

It was silent for a moment where Bruce and Nat exchanged glances before Bruce answered, “He’s Tony’s kid.”

“Since when-”

“Later Steve. One thing at a time.”

***

“This better be important. Like, life or death because you pulled me out of a meeting and Pepper-”

“Shut up, Stark. Something is wrong with Peter.”

Tony was quiet for a moment before growling back, “Explain, Romanoff. Now.”

“I don’t know, Tony. He came down and introduced himself and was hanging out with us when he just collapsed and started seizing. We’re taking him to the medbay now-”

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I’m in DC. I’ll have to come back with the suit but it’ll still take me an hour.”

“What do you want me to-”

“Do not let him out of your sight, Nat. I don’t want him waking up alone and you and Bruce are the only two I trust enough to watch him. Keep me updated, I’ll let you know when I’m there.”

“Got it.”

***

“He’s showing symptoms of anaphylactic shock,” Bruce said to the other two occupants after injecting Peter with an anticonvulsant, “ FRIDAY, is Peter allergic to anything? Override code six one three three nine seven five.”

“Peter is allergic to peppermint, and as well has severe reactions when in close vicinity to insect repellents.”

“Was there peppermint in Sam’s cookies?”

“One moment, Doctor Banner.” A few seconds passed before the AI came back with an answer, “Mister Wilson has supplied that the sugar cookies had peppermint extract in them.”

“Peter had several of those,” Nat said quietly.

“Okay, okay at least I can work with that. Steve,” Bruce called to the soldier while pulling out an epinephrine pen, “I think it’d be better if you waited with everyone else. Thank you for helping.”

Steve wanted to argue, but he looked at Nat who seemed to agree with Bruce.

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything else.” He offered before walking out the door.

As soon as the door shut behind him Nat spoke, “If Peter hadn’t accidentally poisoned himself I’m pretty sure he would have punched Steve.”

Bruce finished injecting the medicine and pulled the pen away from Peter’s thigh, “He still might.”

Natasha helped Bruce fix an IV drip in Peter’s arm in silence.

“You don’t have to stay, I can watch him until Tony gets here.” Bruce offered.

“He won’t be here for another forty five minutes. Plus, I’m supposed to keep watch. Stark’s orders.”

Bruce nodded in understanding, “His vitals are starting to return to normal. I’ll go update the others.”

“I’ll call Tony.”

***

Peter felt like he’d been hit by a train.

Had he?

Honestly he couldn’t remember what had happened. He opened his eyes to see Tony next to his bed (why was he in the medbay?) talking to someone on the other side of his bed. Soon his ears stopped ringing and he heard another hushed voice. Probably whoever Tony was talking to. Why did Tony look upset?

Peter turned his head to see Steve standing there.

And

What?

Without really having his wits about him yet, Peter jumped up and shoved the man back, pulling and knocking over his IV stand in the process.

“Woah, Pete! Calm down-”

“What? You didn’t get to kill him in Siberia so you thought you’d come and finish the job while I’m out?” Peter practically snarled.

Steve’s eyes blew wide, shock and shame overtaking his features, “Son, I-”

“And stop calling me that!” Peter shoved again, sending the captain into the wall, leaving a sizable crack.

“Peter!” Tony yelled, grabbing at the kid’s arm, “Calm down, bud. He’s not here to hurt me, or you for that matter. Can you please sit back down before you give me another damn heart attack?”

Peter obliged but his eyes never left Steve, who looked to be in too much of shock to really say anything.

“Cap, let the team know he’s awake, will ya?” It really wasn’t a suggestion or a question, more like a thinly veiled disguise to get him out of the room before Peter decided he hadn’t had enough.

Nodding, Steve hightailed it out of the room, but not before looking back at Peter and offering a quick apology.

It was quiet for a few moments, in which time Tony set the IV stand back up and made sure Peter’s IV was still in place. Finally the older man spoke, “Pete, buddy, what was all that about? How do you know what happened in Siberia?”

Peter’s demeanor fell slightly as he came back to himself, “Wasn’t hard to guess.”

“Mhmm. Wanna try again? Maybe with the truth this time?” Tony said as he sat back down next to his kid.

Peter crossed his arms and looked down at the floor.

“I hacked FRIDAY,” He mumbled.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Tony asked.

Peter sighed audibly before repeating himself, louder this time, “I hacked FRIDAY.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because you were beat up and withdrawn after we got back from Germany. Which, okay, fine. We weren’t in a place for you to tell me what happened. But then the pardon for them was beginning to go through and every time Steve was even mentioned, you had these reactions like you were nervous or something. And I wanted to know why. I already had a pretty good idea. Then I saw the footage and I just… I don’t want him near you..”

“Peter, buddy. Look at me, please,” Tony gently held the boy’s chin and turned his head so that he looked at Tony, “Thank you for looking out for me. But that’s not your responsibility,”

“Yes it is! I can’t-” His throat catches and a lump forms, tears making their way to the surface, “I’ve lost everyone because I couldn’t protect them. I can’t lose you too.”

Tony pulls Peter in for a hug, and cards his fingers through the kid’s curls, “It’s okay to cry, honey. But I’m not going anywhere. Remember that. The universe will have to personally fight me before I let anything get between us. Understood?” Peter nodded slightly, but clung to his father’s shirt as he cried.

Eventually Peter fell asleep in Tony’s arms.

“I love you, kid. I’m not going anywhere.” Tony whispered, placing a kiss on top of the curls on his kid’s head.

And yes. Peter did end up punching Captain America. We don’t bring that up.

***

IronDad tag list: @tranquility-or-chaos @a-black-pegasus @do-you-downey @ididntdothatnope @marvelbased @yourwhatisstuckwhere @terriblygoodrockandroll @love-every-fandom @starkaroos2034 @prism-opals @howisavebrainspace @multifandom-slytherin @insaneskyler @starlightfound

Permanent tag list: @a-place-to-blog-marvel-stuff @yes-iamironman-blog @paradoxicalblueberry @the-regal-warrior @transparentparadiseglitterzombie @marvelgem @propertyofmarvel @avngrsinitiative @my-leg-is-not-a-chew-toy @lyricalstella @just-the-daydreamer

!! I’ve removed several urls from my tag list because they don’t work anymore. If you would like to be part of my tag lists please send me a message or an ask!!

[fandom-necromancer]

Coffee, crushes and complications 

This was prompted by a lovely anon! I hope you like it, I sure did!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: pre-Reed900 [Prequel]   [Part2]   [Part3]   [Part4]

 ‘Reed? In my office!‘ Gavin couldn’t think of what he had done wrong, but considering how many times he had heard this sentence before, the anxiety settled in immediately. Still, he stood up, downed the last sip of coffee and walked over to his boss’ office. ‘Yes? What’s wrong?’, he asked, sitting down in the chair in front of the table. ‘What’s wrong?’  The man in front of him laughed heartily and Gavin nervously laughed, too. God, had he phcked up that badly with his last job? ‘Reed, nothing’s wrong, quite the opposite! How you handled this rich asshole was… I would say impressive, but that doesn’t do the thing justice. God, how they could ever throw you out of the police force, I can’t understand. You didn’t let him off the hook until he answered your questions and gave him nothing to work with! That is investigative journalism at it’s finest and damnit, Reed, no one else deserves it more!’ ‘What?’, Gavin asked relieved, but also proud. ‘A raise! I would promote you, but I need you where you are now. I hope you understand that?’ ‘Hey, sure. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than in the field.’ ‘Alright. Then I’ll just sign the papers and send them to you. Really, Reed, you out-did yourself with this one!’

-

When Gavin came home that day, the first thing he did was jump and cheer in triumph, then pick up his unsuspecting cat and hurl her around. ‘Oh, Bready, today is the day!’ He kissed her on her shoulder, before she finally decided she had enough with an angry growl. Immediately Gavin let her fall to the ground and hurried to the kitchen, grabbing the phone along the way. The number he searched for was only two clicks away and he let it ring while pouring out some kibble for Bready and heating up yesterday’s leftovers. ‘Hey, Eli!’, he excitedly called into the phone. ‘How are you? You won’t believe what happened today!’ He let his brother guess a few times until the microwave pinged and he let himself and his food fall on the couch. ‘Urgh, Eli you are boring and have too much creativity at your hands. No, I got a raise! Honestly, getting fired might have been the best thing to ever happen to me. I get raises for being a nosy asshole! My new boss phcking loves me and my colleagues actually seem to like me. Oh, I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. We need to celebrate that! When are you free?’

He took a breath and began eating while listening to his brother complain about new work politics. Gavin actually felt with him for once. His view on androids had changed quite a bit. He got to know quite a few androids during his work and the day one of his colleagues had come in in tears saying they would have to resign because of some anti-android assholes, Gavin had changed. It had only been a few months since he started his new life, but for the first time he felt like he had his life under control. And like he enjoyed it. Being fired from the only job he thought to be ever good in had been hard. But after being stuck in that low for weeks he had realised that if he wanted to be happy, he had to work for it. And he did. And it had become better. Seeking professional help, reconciling with his brother and finally finding a new job he actually liked had been the end of a long journey that was far from over. But he was happy. And he was confident it would go up only from now on.

Their conversation dropped into casual talk, a few jokes and teasing. It was already late when Gavin decided to end it for today. He was tired and he wanted to at least watch another episode of this new show he enjoyed so much. ‘Okay, so when do you actually have time? Tomorrow? Nah, can’t do, I’m meeting Tina at this new coffee shop. Maybe on the weekend? Yes? Oh, that would be awesome. Okay, bye! Love you too!’

He smiled as he wanted to stand up to bring the phone back, but Bready had already made herself at home in his lap, so he just laid it to the side and switched on the TV.

-

‘Hey Tina!’, Gavin greeted the woman already standing in line. She turned around and her face lit up. Shortly after, Gavin was encased in strong arms and had to chuckle. ‘Hey, hey, let me down, alright?’ ‘God, I haven’t seen you in ages!’ ‘You saw me last month’, Gavin reminded her. ‘I see you dipshit every week on TV! That’s not the same. I miss you.’ ‘Wait you watch it?’ ‘Of course I watch it!’, Tina said and punched his shoulder. ‘What do you think of me? Also, it’s funny seeing you be a dick to people that obviously hide one or two bodies under a rug somewhere.’ Gavin shrugged. ‘Well, whatever floats your boat.’ ‘It’s good to see you like it’, Tina then said seriously. ‘I worried about you after you left.’ ‘I know’, Gavin groaned. ‘But I’m fine, okay? Really, I feel better than ever. Now shut your mouth for a while, I have to think what I want to order for a moment…’

They got their coffee and tea as well as two slices of cake soon enough and sat down in a corner of the room. ‘So, how’s work on your end?’, Gavin asked. ‘Hmm, nothing interesting at the moment. We had a suspected serial killer last week, but it turned out the cases weren’t connected after all and thankfully nothing more than the two murders happened before we got them. Otherwise… Nah, nothing interesting you want to talk about.’ So only stuff regarding the new guy. Gavin had said upfront he didn’t want to know anything about the person that had replaced him. It wouldn’t be any use after all. Tina thankfully respected his decision.

‘I did get to know someone’, she then smirked as silence threatened to stretch. ‘A beautiful, funny android lady. She also likes cats!’ ‘Oh that’s cool, tell me more!’, Gavin demanded and smiled, listening to Tina ramble on, cake and tea completely forgotten. Gavin had been determined to listen intently to her, but his attention was drawn from her as someone entered the coffee shop. Someone very familiar. ‘You got to be kidding me’, he hissed, and Tina caught on to him, turning around. There at the counter stood Hank and Connor, looking at the board. Wait. Was that another Connor? ‘Hey, T, who’s the other Connor?’, he whispered. ‘Can’t tell you without breaking a promise’, she admitted, ducking her head. ‘No phcking way a damn Connor replaced me!’

Maybe he had been louder than expected, maybe Connor just had picked up his name, but the RK800 turned around to him, eyes going wide and tapping Hank on the shoulder pointing over. Hank looked in his direction and apparently wanted to bolt immediately, but the friendly barista behind the counter had already placed their drinks on it. In that moment, the other Connor following them had spotted him too. The next thing he did was march over with large steps.

‘Oh hell no, I’m not doing this! I-‘ ‘Hello. My name is Richard. I’m sorry to have replaced you.’ ‘Oh, get phcked!’ Gavin was not having it. He had wanted to drink his coffee and talk to his best friend. He had no interest in talking to this machine. ‘I have waited very long for this moment, my colleagues having tried their best to make this meeting impossible. So, no, I won’t “get phcked”. Not before I you didn’t accept my apology.’ ‘Yeah, whatever. It’s fine. I was an asshole. Deserved getting fired. Now shoo!’ ‘I still don’t deserve getting a job when a human needs them to survive. It wasn’t fair. I heard you… did not fare well after being fired.’ Gavin took a deep breath, before standing up, the sound of the chair scratching on the ground like a precursor of a fight. ‘Listen here, Richard’, he said, pointing his finger at his chest. ‘My personal history doesn’t concern you in the slightest, okay? It’s true, I wasn’t stable in my old job. I was easily angered, I overworked myself on a regular basis without even realising it in the end. I had no friends. I am depressed. My life was one giant, gaping shithole. When I was fired it was for a good reason, but it send me spiralling even deeper down. But you know what? One day I hit rock bottom and knew it couldn’t get any worse than this, might as well try to make it better. And I worked hard for it. I worked my ass off trying to rebuild bridges I’ve burned and seek help. Get over my own walls and live. Be happy. Find a job. And you know what, you goddamn tin-can? I did it. I am a different man and I am happy. So don’t-‘ He took another breath to steady himself. ‘Don’t you dare giving me pity. I am no sorry broken soul you can comfort so you feel better! So you have completed your good deed a day! I am fine. I am better than fine. So thanks, but no thanks. Don’t need it. Phck off.’

That actually worked. The android blinked at him, obviously processing, before apologising and heading over to where Connor and Hank had sat down. Gavin got back on his seat, too and took a large gulp of his coffee. As he sat the mug down, he stared into a grinning face. ‘What?’ ‘So aggressive’, Tina laughed. ‘Dude, the guy just wanted to be nice.’ ‘Oh, did he?’, Gavin grumbled and tried to get an inconspicuous look at the android. Of course, he had chosen the same moment Richard had looked over at him, so he quickly turned back around. ‘Yes’, Tina chuckled. ‘You don’t know how annoying he can be. Replacing you being unfair is the one topic he can’t shut up about.’ ‘Perfect’, Gavin sighed, but couldn’t keep his thoughts in check. Had this android really tried to advocate for someone he didn’t even know? ‘Yeah, always said how after going through your open cases and notes, he couldn’t believe someone fired you. He thinks you are some kind of genius I think.’ ‘Oh, wow, an android has a work-crush on me’, Gavin over-exaggerated and rolled his eyes. ‘Hey, you wouldn’t be that far from the truth there’, Tina shrugged. ‘”Gavin Reed would not have” is like every second sentence of his. It’s cute actually. And ever since you put him in his place just now, he is staring at you, that fancy mood-light turning yellow.’ ‘It’s what-‘ Gavin turned around, cursing when he stared in his eyes again: ‘Shit! What’s his problem? Anyways, you wanted to tell me more about Steph. Please. I beg you. Ramble about your soon to be girlfriend, I want to think about anything but this android.’

-

Richard on the other hand knew exactly what his problem was. He had exactly 335 software instabilities and errors to keep track of while he couldn’t keep his eyes off this human. He had known the man to be remarkable. But after that reaction? Oh, he definitely had to get to know him better. So, long after the human had left the shop and even after he had driven home, Richard was still planning how to see the man again. Maybe Tina had been right. Maybe he truly had a crush.

[>next part]

[karliesbuzzcut]

(100) Million Dollar Lawsuit

Intro | part1 | part2 | part3 | part4

We are on the last chapter (for now) and this the most chaotic one. Mainly because it doesn’t follow any kind of chronological order (or logical sense), it’s just Russ going in circles for literal years.

But I’ll try my best to condense it for you, so all you need to do is to keep your seat belt fastened until the aircraft stops completely.

Right after the failed Ari lawsuit, Russ goes back to his one and only love: Taylor Swift 💫 And he has learned a lesson — not a good lesson, mind you, but a lesson: small claims courts won’t take him anywhere. If he really wants to punish women for not complimenting his suit, he will have to file a multi-million dollar federal lawsuit.

But, since denying sex from The Russell isn’t illegal (yet), he had to come at it from a different angle. I’m going to give Russ a chance to explain himself first.

Before you ask: yes, the following was Russell’s response to a woman thanking Taylor for visiting an 8 year-old girl who was very badly burned in an accident.

As I’ve always said, it’s okay if you aren’t fluent in Bullshit. That’s what I’m here for.

You see, Russell views human interactions as a series of transactions: I make a tweet worth liking, you go on a date with me; I take you to Olive Garden, you give me a handie for free; I put on a suit, you hug me and smile; I write you a song and sue you, you produce said song. Whenever women don’t fulfil their side of the deal, he becomes enraged.

But the reason he has such a strong hate-boner for Tay, is because she seemed to also follow his same ‘moral code’. A kid makes a cute video, she visits them at the hospital. A fan writes her a letter inviting her to their wedding, she goes to the wedding. A couple of kids fold 1989 paper cranes for Andrea, Taylor invites them to one of her concerts.

Russ thought “this is a done deal”. He didn’t write that song for Taylor because he particular liked her; he just thought she’d be the most likely artist to produce it — or at least acknowledge his existence.

I mentioned before that Russ wrote a whole-ass book about this. And I think it’s as good a time as any to talk about it. For a short amount of time, Russell chilled out about the ✨100 million dollar lawsuit ✨ but my guess is that he thought his book would get him the same results as a lawsuit? To be fair, the book is fantastic. 5/5, would recommend. 

He details the harassment he went through after suing Taylor Swift (the first time). Apparently old ladies at coffee shops would scream at him because he dared to sue Our Queen. A Mexican even pointed a gun at him (it wasn’t me, guys! Just a fellow countryman ❤️) and ordered Russ to drop the lawsuit. Computers at his job caught on literal fire because he was sent very powerful viruses. His friend Ken — who definitely exists! — was hit with a Molotov cocktail. Yep. 2016 was definitely the year people were willing to murder for Taylor Swift.

There’s also this brilliant dream sequence that involves an owl with the voice of Morgan Freeman, and Taylor’s agents guarding a tower in which she’s being held captive. 

ALSO ALSO: an entire chapter is called “SHE CHOSE HIM OVER ME”. Taylor Swift chose Joe Alwyn — a man she actually knows — over a man she’s not even aware exists. Women, amiright?

I think Russell would enjoy the Kaylor community to a certain extent. Not the lesbian part, obviously: he doesn’t trust women who don’t want to touch his peen. I just mean the baseless hatred of Joe. Look, I made a little collage of his rants ❤️ tell me if any of this sounds familiar!

You know — I’ve been joking around a lot about Russell just wanting to do the nasty with Taylor. But you know me, I like joking around. In reality Russ only wants what is fair. He wants to put a stop to all these senseless acts of kindness perpetrated by Taylor ‘The Generous’ Swift.

This isn’t about him at all, actually. Shame on you for thinking there’s an ounce of greed in that selfless little body of his. HE’S DOING THIS TO PROTECT THE KIDS WITH CANCER!

There are no ulterior motives here! This isn’t about a date!

THIS IS NOT ABOUT A DATE AT ALL GUYS STOP SAYING THAT.

I think this is my favourite post of his, because– grammatically speaking –he doesn’t specify which of them is wearing the red dress. And that sends me every goddamn time.

Anyway. The book, as magnificent as it was, got him absolutely nowhere. I know, I can’t believe it either. So he went back to focus on his lawsuit. But apparently not enough, because he didn’t serve her properly..? Now, don’t expect me to understand this, because I am very stupid (so it’s quite a good thing that I haven’t sued anybody for millions of dollars) but something about him sending the lawsuit to her old legal team..? And then trying to force UPS to serve her? I think he even said he was going to serve her in the middle of one of her concerts... but I’m guessing that didn’t go as planned 🤷‍♀️ oops.

Of course, Russie wouldn’t allow such an anticlimactic ending. Can you guess what he did? Please tell me that you can guess what he did. HE MADE ANOTHER SONG 😭❤️

This one is called ‘I Don’t Get You, Taylor Swift’. Another masterpiece that we definitely didn’t deserve 🙌

This was around April, 2019. By then I was being lured away by Kaylors, so I broke it off with Russ. I know that he filed a 3rd lawsuit against Taylor last year, which is just like the second one but hopefully this time he’ll be able to serve. And listen— I know that sounds like an awful thing to wish on Taylor, but I’d rather have Russell occupied suing a rich woman (who isn’t even going to deal with him), than a poor sex worker in Nevada. I bet TayTay would prefer that too.

Well guys, I’ve mentioned this a few times already, but I really had to be selective with the amount of information I was going to throw at you. I’ve avoided some of the shittier stuff he said or did, because I wanted to keep these posts as lighthearted as possible. I also didn’t touch on many things because they would just derail us. Like for example: one of the few lawsuits he has filed against someone who isn’t a woman, was against the state of Utah. I know, right? He’s trying to singlehandedly legalise prostitution in Utah, and even wrote a book (more like a pamphlet) brilliantly titled ‘Why I'm Making It Legal for Your 18 Year Old Daughter to Get In Bed with a Complete Stranger for Only 500 Bucks: A Short Essay from a Pro Se Litigant who is Challenging the Utah Brothel Bans’.

I copy-pasted that title guys, I swear to god.

The book is very graphic. This one I certainly do not recommend as I still suffer nightmares because of it.

Soren is a character who also had to be cut out — which is a shame because he really tried to be a good christian and help Russell. Not as in “I support you, Russell” but as in “why don’t you take a nap, Russell”. Turns out, even cinnamon rolls have a limit. Russ, of course, blames Taylor Swift for the fact that he’s losing his friends. I’m not joking — it’s an article in his lawsuit:

Greer has lost family relationships, friend connections and business connections because of the trauma of Taylor Swift. His family tells him to "get over it," resulting in shouting matches and strained relationships. Greer's friends get annoyed by his focusing on the trauma of it, when nobody knows the pain of getting rejected by a public figure — twice — and the fallout that has resulted from it.

Russell embodies that comic/meme of the little guy who puts a stick in his bicycle’s wheels and then blames Taylor Swift when he inevitably falls.

Sooooo...

Maybe someday I’ll write a post about Russ’ latest antics. I know he still posts stupid stuff on Facebook, which he later deletes. He shined especially bright at the peak of the BLM movement. He also plead guilty to electronic communications harassment— did you see that conviction coming? Yes, yes you did 😌

Regarding Taylor, I read that Russ knew someone who knew Todrick Hall — and Russ sent him a song and video for Taylor. All he got back was a Cease and Desist letter. But I’d have to do a bit of digging to get the details. I was already so overwhelmed with organising the information I was previously aware of, that I decided to leave the newer stuff for another time. You know, once I’ve had some time to inform myself... as well as a really long shower.

Since I left so much shit out, I’ll be taking questions if you have any. And if you can muster the courage to ask them. I’m weirdly proud of being some kind of Russell encyclopaedia. I might not have much going for me...

There’s no ‘but’ — that was the complete statement.

Before I go, I wanted to add this screenshot. I absolutely love it because it summarises ✨The Russell Experience✨. Russ wants Taylor to know pain, poverty and punishment. But when asked “why?” his answer is just “oh, I was ignored lol”

*none of the screenshots are mine

[shyficwriter]

You guys seemed to like my "Fic Improv" idea, so here we go lol

I'll test the waters with a few questions, trying to be as least spoiler-y as I can (because I already know the basic direction the story will take lol) (These will be regarding my current Who's Tougher? (Part2 | Part3) series:

What could you envision Loki doing to Reader to get back at them?

Name something that might embarrass OR scare the Reader.

What is a way Reader might try to avoid Loki? OR What is a way the others might prevent Reader from avoiding Loki?

Name something that might prevent Thor and Loki from leaving sooner, OR one thing that might make them leave early.

In 5 words or less, what might you like to see happen in the next chapter(s)?

How I'll do this is I'll wait for your thoughts, answer as many or as little of these as you like (sending them via ask might be easiest, but feel free to reply in notes as well) and I'll see what you guys might like to see.

I think I'll post these asks to give others a chance to weigh in on ideas (i.e: if more people like it, I know it's something you all want to see happen) HOWEVER, this won't act like a voting system, just a gauge for me to see what you guys want lol

And to keep it fun, I won't be telling which ideas will make it into the story until the chapter comes out, to keep you guys guessing (because if I told you, I also feel like it would spoil it lol)

[whengreenmeetsbrown]

Robbing the same house

Part2! I haven’t really done a good job with this one so I’ll find a new prompt soon! But if you what me to continue, we need to reach at least 50 notes 💗

Read part1 here :)

Harry Potter wasn’t a force to be reckoned with. He was unpredictable at times, really, you wouldn’t know if he was feeling happy, or sad, or none. That didn’t mean he was a cold person, or had a trauma from his childhood. The thing was, he wasn’t really expressive, only with the ones close to him. Even Ron and Hermione, his best friends, got to experience his mood swings at times. But right now, at this moment, in the middle of the night in front of this woman, very pretty, if he had to say, he was feeling weirdly confident.

That’s why he had held out his hand, if this woman, whoever she was, would help him in robbing his perverted principal’s house.

And she had taken it.

She had taken his hand.

He didn’t really think she would, just a wild assumption.

But she did.

And her grin told him that she wouldn’t leave him until they did clean the house full of its gold.

He was in for a ride. And he would ride it. Ron did tell him to be a bit un-boring. Like that was a real word.

“So what’s your plan?”

She stared at him. “Plan?”

“You did come here to rob Mr. Dickie’s house eh? You must have an idea how to get in past those ferocious dogs and go inside-“

“Mr. Dickie huh? Suits him.” She snorted.

Harry rolled his eyes. “As I was saying-“

“What’s your name? I should know it so if we get in trouble, your name would come first.”

“Harry. Harry Potter.” He said reluctantly.

“Nice to meet you Potter. I’m Ginerva Weasley, but you can call me Ginny.”

“Okay Ginny, like I said, we need a plan.”

“Don’t you have one?” She asked folding her arms.

He rolled his eyes again. “I did before you came along.”

She laughed, and Harry was about to quiet her when he remembered he had done so himself before.

“Okay. We’ll just get in and get eaten and then thrown to jail. Sounds like a plan?”

“Yeah.”

She hoisted her bag and pulled her cap lower than it was before. Then opened the gate. And went in.

He couldn’t believe his eyes, as she confidently went inside and looked sideways. Then she turned around and motioned him. He quickly tugged his hoodie’s cap down and followed her, having a big pipe by his side, in case anything happens.

They went inside and looked at the huge mansion in front of them. He didn’t know his principal was that rich. Although he did know he had dogs, but they were no where to be found, no sound, no guards, no security. He found it a bit weird to be honest. But Ginny didn’t, he could tell as she strutted ahead of him.

“Um Ginny,” he whispered as quietly as he could. “I find this a bit weird. Where are the dogs you said that’ll eat us off? And the guards? There’s no security.”

“I know that’s what I thought too. But this is a gigantic house, they could be anywhere.” She had turned around and they were face to face, Ginny a bit shorter than him of course. And he saw her properly for the first time this night.

Freckles. Red hair. Rosy cheeks and lips. Chocolate brown eyes. Petite body.

And he stepped back. “I uh, yeah let’s go on.”

They went a little further, and saw nothing but trees surrounding the house. “Let’s go in.” Harry said holding out his hand for the girl. She clasped his hand and they went inside the house, holding their breaths.

Harry was the first one in, and he couldn’t believe what he saw.

“What the absolute fuck?” Ginny sweared.

This wasn’t the principal’s house, no. This was his warehouse. Where his clothes were dumped, and something that wasn’t appropriate for something to be at a warehouse.

“Did we both get the address wrong?” Ginny sweared again and Harry had to resist the act of dumping a soap down her throat.

“I think so. Although I did get the address from his office. Maybe he knew I would that-”

And he stopped himself. No saying anything. She was just a stranger.

“But how did I?” Ginny started, “that man gave me his address wrong too that fuc-“

And Harry put his hand over her mouth, before she could say something else. Where did she learn these words from?

-

A cafe that was open at 4 am in the morning was just what they needed. And a cup of coffee.

“I guess we both were robbing the wrong house.”

“Yeah.” Harry stirred his coffee. He felt awkward now that there heist was over. What were they do? Part ways? After only an hour when he actually clicked with someone? A pretty someone?

“Would you like me to give you my number?” She said, and Harry looked up in surprise.

“You would?”

“Yeah,” she smirked, “in the most cliche way possible.”

She took a tissue from the holder and took out a lipgloss and pen from her bag. She wrote the numbers and Harry noticed how she stuck out her tongue while doing that. Adorable. Then she applied her lip and kissed the tissue.

“Here.” Then she got up.

“I hope we can meet up sometime.” She said holding out her hand.

“Yeah?” Harry ran his hand through his hair.

“Yes. Good night.”

“Good night-“

“Or should I say good morning?” She pointed at the sun.

“Anything’s fine from your mouth.” He clasped his mouth. Did he really just say that?

She smirked again. “Good bye.”

And she walked off in the sunrise, her red hair tumbling behind her.

Harry knew he was in big, fucking trouble.