#because it looks cooler (shrugging emoji)

[jitteryjive]

i started rewatching mlp:fim (as of writing this i’m near the finale of s2) but even before that i’ve been wanting to make mlp designs for the shifter twins and they are now real!!! originally i wanted to make them reformed changelings but after rewatching i ended up making them ponies with weird powers because i wanted tons of liberties. while i would’ve liked to respect their tooniness i also adore the show style so i gave them pie eyes as a rubberhose regard!!

[bradshawssugarbaby]

God, Your Mama and Me (Jake Seresin x Reader)

A/N: told y'all I listened to country music and it inspired me. Inspired by and quotes God, Your Mama and Me by Florida Georgia Line. I'm not religious but that song gets me all heart-eye emoji every time.

pairing: Jake Seresin x reader (I'm 99% sure I kept reader GN the whole time with no mentions of appearance)

content/warnings: reference to God via the song (the line is "no one's ever gonna love you more than God, your mama and me"), Jake being adorable and trying his best to be romantic but he's more awkward than he wants to be bc he doesn't do PDA, brief references to potential character death (I promise no one dies)

word count: 1.6k

Jake took you by the hand, running playfully through the sand. Coronado Beach was where he’d taken you for your first date. It was where you’d met, where you spent every free weekend, where you’d meet with his friends at The Hard Deck for drinks on Friday nights and where you’d sit and watch the planes taking off from North Island as you waited for him to come home, not knowing what each day would bring but hoping and praying he’d come home to you safe and sound every time. 

For the last three years, Coronado was an integral part of your life. It was where you’d held Jake’s 35th birthday party, a spontaneous beach gathering complete with a cooler of chilled beers and a portable speaker belting out country tunes. Despite the groans from others, the music had a magical effect on the usually reserved Jake, prompting him to join in with spirited, off-key singing every time. 

It was where you and Jake had shared your first kiss, where he’d first told you he loved you - a sentence he admitted he never thought he’d say to anyone, swearing up and down he’d lead the bachelor life until he either died or retired, whichever came first. He’d always claim it was because he just “wasn’t the settlin’ type”, but his friends always saw right through it. 

“He’s just scared,” Bradley had assured you one day over a beer while Jake tossed darts effortless at the board a few feet out of earshot. 

Reading the puzzled look on your face, Natasha hummed playfully as she sipped her drink before raising an eyebrow at you. 

“He doesn’t want to settle down because he’s scared,” She and Bradley nodded in unison. 

“Yeah, doesn’t wanna leave behind a war widow kinda thing,” Bradley shrugs, “You’d think it’d be me who feels that way considering my dad died when I was literally a toddler, but no, apparently it’s Blondie who’s got the commitment issues.”

The first time Jake referred to you as his girl, the usually chatty Bradley had been rendered speechless, mouth agape while Natasha had choked and sputtered on her beer as she looked wide eyed at Bradley and back at Jake. Jake shrugged it off as if it was nothing, but everyone, even you, knew it was uncharacteristic of him. 

The following weekend after stunning his Navy buddies, he’d been called away to the first mission since you’d started dating. You weren’t expecting it, but you got a heartfelt, emotional goodbye from Jake, one that was genuine and raw, a side of him you’d never seen before. He’d hugged you tightly and kissed you slow and sweet, making it last, permanent on your mind in case he didn’t make it back. As he promised you he’d return, you could hear his normally velvety smooth Southern drawl crack as his voice caught in his throat. 

When he came home a few weeks later, you’d greeted him with a warm embrace, and he held you tighter than he ever had before, his first true public display of affection towards you. Bradley and Natasha could be heard whispering, while Bob simply looked on smiling, knowing how in love Jake really was, watching as it mirrored Bob’s own relationship with his girlfriend. 

“Jake, where are you taking me?” 

You laughed as you snapped back to the present, raising an eyebrow at him as he continued to lead you across the sand. His cargo shorts were hugging his hips perfectly, golden-tanned skin from the California sun illuminated in the light of the setting sun. His green eyes were full of a child-like excitement, his signature grin plastered on his face, looking like it couldn’t be wiped off even if you tried.

“Just trust me, ok? You trust me, don’t ya, Sugar?”

“Alright, alright, I trust you.”

“Atta girl, c’mon, almost there.”

You shook your head and shot him a playful eyeroll as he continued to guide you along the shore. Your mind flashed back to when you and Jake had first slept together - instead of the playful arrogance, overwhelming confidence and cocky egotistical attitude he gave off around his friends, he was the opposite when it came to loving you. He was gentle, caring, passionate and considerate. He checked in with you, making sure you were comfortable and enjoying it. He was selfless in the way he loved you - making sure you were taken care of in all aspects before he was, and if for whatever reason, his climax came before yours, he made a point to bring you to yours by whatever means necessary. 

When Jake asked you to move in with him, the look on your face was one of pure shock and disbelief, you were sure you were dreaming it. Your wide-eyed gaze and raised eyebrows were enough to make Jake laugh, shaking his head at you.

“Now that’s not how I thought you’d react, babe.”

“I’m sorry…I just…can you say it again?”

“Ask you again?”

“Yeah, please?”

“Ok, Sugar, you’re losin’ it, but sure, I want you to move in with me, that sound alright to ya? We both complain we don’t see each other enough, and well, I just feel like it’s time we do somethin’ ‘bout it, right?”

You nodded your head and simply threw your arms around him, letting Jake embrace you tightly as he kissed your cheek. He had his friends help you pack and by the end of that week, you were moved in with him, sharing the little house on base together. His Cowboys jersey hanging in the closet next to your Commanders one - your teams were bitter rivals, and Bradley, who had come from Virginia, your home state, was beyond shocked to see Jake allowing you to wear a Commanders jersey to their Sunday night football watch parties. Bradley, forced to wear a jersey for another team, pouted at Jake.

“How come when I wear my Commanders jersey, I get told to fuck off and stay outside?”

“You don’t look cute in Washington’s colours, Bradshaw,” Jake replied matter of factly as he kissed you on the cheek, leaving Bradley to pout once again.

Jake stopped in front of you, turning his body to face you, bringing you back to reality for another moment. His unwavering grin still on his face, smiling at you as if you were the only sight around him for miles. Your heart melted when he looked at you - it always did - the love he had for you was always evident on his face, his gaze full of admiration and affection for you.

Your eyes widened as Jake went down on one knee in front of you. The sounds of the waves crashing against the sandy coast echoing softly around you. The odd passerby gawking as they went for their stroll in the dusky glow of the beach as the sun began to set on Coronado. Jake beamed up at you from where he stood on bended knee, his eyes matching the seafoam that was pooling around you, inching closer and closer to where you stood. 

“Darlin’, remember that date I took ya on, where you made me dance with ya on the beach, after I swore I never would? That song you made me dance to, the one by Florida Georgia Line?”

“I remember,” you said, gazing at him with tear soaked eyes.

“Sugar, you know I’m not good at this kinda stuff - it’s more Bradley’s thing, being all sentimental and shit, but I’m gonna try my damnest, ok? You know how that song goes, “Baby you know my love is never gonna run dry, never gonna come up empty, now until the day I die, unconditionally,”

Jake’s cheeks blushed a soft pink as he tried his best to carry the tune, serenading you by the oceanside, “then it’s like, “You know I’m always gonna be here for ya, no one’s ever gonna love you more than God, your mama and me”? Guess that’s what I’m tryin’ to say here, no one on this earth is gonna be able to love you, or anyone else more than I do. I’m sure of it. I didn’t even think it was possible for me to love you as much as I do, but Baby, do I ever love you.”

“Jake,” you started, feeling yourself becoming breathless with excitement as he spoke.

“Babygirl, will you do me the greatest honor ever, and become Mrs. Seresin? I never thought I’d ever marry anyone, but I’d be a fool to not marry you, darlin’.” 

Speechless, you nodded your head quickly, unable to make any sound other than an excited squeal of delight as he slipped the ring onto your finger. As Jake stood upright, he wrapped his arms around you, enveloping you in a loving embrace, his lips crashing against yours as he kissed you passionately.

From behind you, you could hear familiar voices cheering - you broke the kiss and turned to see Reuben, Javy, Mickey, Bradley, Natasha and Bob standing there, all beaming at you. Bradley wiped a single tear from his eye in his usual dramatic fashion, while Bob gave a proud thumbs up to Jake. A congratulatory smile formed on Natasha’s features, while Javy, Mickey and Reuben all applauded you both. You were overcome with emotion as you shared this moment with Jake and your friends. 

“You all knew?”

“Of course we knew, Jake can’t keep a secret to save his life,” Natasha grinned, shrugging her shoulders.

“I get to be best man, right?” Bradley grinned as he clapped his hand onto Jake’s shoulder in a congratulatory substitute for a hug. 

[daggerspare-standingby]

THE CHASE - PART 7 | Hangman x Reader

Running high off the endorphins of your amazing first date with Jake, and the happy ending to your evening as well. Except it leaves you with more questions as to what you and Jake actually are, and as you're about to enjoy a day on the beach until you let some intrusive thoughts enter your mind. Jake makes sure to let you know exactly how he feels and what the two of you are.

2602 Words!

WARNINGS: this part does feature some body image insecurities, I try to make my stories as inclusive as I can - hence why I don't generally post too many descriptive terms about reader. And I try to put a little bit of myself into my writing, I have experienced my own body image insecurities, but please remember to be kind to yourself, and that every body is beautiful. <3

You woke up feeling like a completely different person. You had managed to get all your chores done after breakfast, including putting away the laundry that seemed to pile up on the chair in the corner of your room. All the while you thought about your date with Jake, he had been a perfect gentleman. Followed by the kiss on your front porch and him telling you to ask him to leave, the butterflies seemed to constantly flutter in your stomach when you thought of it. Of course then there was the phone sex. Something you’d never done, but now that you had, you were surprised that you enjoyed it as much as you did. You were really looking forward to seeing him at the bar at some point this week, but you didn’t know when the next day would be. There was a small part of you that wasn’t sure how he was going to react. It being a Monday, you weren’t expecting a text from Nat as you donned a bikini and sundress. You were about to head down to the beach by the bar, catch some sun and get some reading done. 

Nat: Picking you up in 15, Beach Day. Too Hot to fly.

You shrugged and texted back a quick thumbs up emoji before tying your hair back in a neat braid to keep it off your neck and away from your face. You threw your beach towel, sunscreen, and the latest book you were reading into your bag and brushed your teeth. What you didn’t think about, was that it being too hot to fly meant that the whole squad was heading to the beach too. 

Nat honked from your driveway exactly 15 minutes after her text, the top and doors removed from her red jeep, Bob in the passenger seat gave you a small wave. You waved back with a smile, locking up and slipping your hat and sunglasses on before making your way to the car and hopping in the back seat “Hi friends! This is a nice surprise” Before pulling out onto the road, Nat turned to face you “so what happened with you and Hangman, because he's actually been a decent human being today.” You hadn’t expected a question period and wasn’t sure exactly where you stood with your relationship with Jake or what he had told his colleagues. “What do you mean?” You thanked goodness that your sunglasses were hiding the nervousness in your eyes. Bob clocked your tenseness in the mirror “Nat, come on, let’s head to the beach, we still need to stop at the gas station for ice for the coolers.” Nat narrowed her eyes at you from overtop her sunglasses and then pushed them back into place “fine, but I will find out.” She threw the jeep into drive and pulled out onto the street heading down to the beach by the Hard Deck. 

Nat pulled her Jeep in next to Bradley’s Bronco and you saw Jake’s truck a couple spots down, suddenly feeling nervous. How were you supposed to greet him when you saw him? You shook it off and figured you would let him take the lead. Nat and Bob grabbed the cooler out of the back, while you took their bags and the three of you maneuvered your way through the sand and through other beach goers as you headed to the spot that your friends had claimed with multiple umbrellas, blankets, coolers and towels. Some of the squad was tossing a football around, some were already relishing the cool of the ocean, but two aviators you didn’t see were Bradley and Jake. You set your bag down and laid out your towel, figuring they would show up sooner or later. Nat and Callie brought their bags over to you as well and Bob set up an umbrella to provide some shade, which he quickly occupied. You slip off your sundress while you chat with your friends and begin applying sunscreen to your arms, legs, stomach and face. When you looked over your shoulder, you saw Jake and Bradley making their way through the sand each with a hold on a cooler. 

Jake had gone with Rooster to grab ice and drinks from the hard deck - Penny had given them permission to do so and they were on their way back to the group when you arrived with Nat and Bob. Jake could make your form out a million miles away and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t puff out his chest a little bit. He hadn’t told his colleagues about your date, obviously except for Javy, and he hadn’t told a soul about your late night phone call. He had no idea how you wanted to go about this, whatever this thing between the two of you was. You had only gone on one date last night, sure he was down bad for you, infatuated, obsessed (in a good way), in love - he would never admit that last one, not yet anyways. But you hadn’t established what you were, and that’s what he desperately wanted to do, and he wanted to yell it to the entire pacific ocean and the whole beach that he had a girlfriend. He wanted to kiss you in front of his friends and flip them the bird when they whistled at you both. He wanted to come home to you at the end of the day. As they got closer to the group, they set the cooler down in the shade next to Bob and Jake’s eyes met yours. You raised your eyebrow in a silent challenge and you certainly didn’t miss the way his gaze slowly raked down your frame, making goosebumps erupt over your entire body by saying just two words “Hey Darlin’”.

Damn him. Damn him and his sweet accent and the nickname he had for you that held entirely new meaning now, damn him and his ridiculously defined muscular chest and abs. You tilted your head slightly with a small smile on your face “next time I need to lift the heavy beer cases, I know who to call” you nodded towards the cooler that he and Bradley set down. Bradley grinned at you and flexed his arms “anytime sweetheart, just give me a call.” You laughed as you picked up your sunscreen “yeah I’ll just crow from the bar and you’ll pop right up.” Bradley laughed along with you and then ran off to join the game of football that had picked up, taking Bob and Jake with him. You watched their retreating forms, and let out a small sigh as you applied your sunscreen and lay out on your towel. A small twinge of disappointment that Jake said absolutely nothing beyond those two words to you. 

Jake wiped the sweat from his brow - the heat was really blaring down on them and he thanked Cyclone or whoever pulled the strings that they allowed them the day off, if they were flying today they’d surely burn up in their cockpits. They had played a couple games of football and now their stomachs were rumbling. Jake hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to you at all yet, and he was getting anxious. You spent most of the day alternating between the sun and reading in the shade. He always strategically had an eye on you throughout every game and as they wound down this last match, he watched as Bradley jogged over to you and then held out his hand to you, helping you stand up. Jake’s eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses, wondering Rooster's intentions. He couldn’t do anything but watch as you smiled and started walking towards the beach hut in stride with Bradley. 

You were minding your own business reading your book when Bradley approached you, sweaty and sun kissed and his aviators perched crookedly on his nose. “Wanna come to the beach hut with me to grab some lunch?” He asked as he held his hand out to you. Your stomach grumbled loudly and you both laughed “I guess that’s a yes” You took his outstretched hand and he helped you up, and you both began making your way over to the small snack hut. “I can’t believe you guys are running around in this heat.” Bradley laughed “it beats being in a heavy flight suit and pack and sitting basically in a giant magnifying glass.” You nodded, thinking about it “yeah I guess you’re right.” Bradley smiled at you and gestured for you to order first, and then proceeded to order and pay for both of your meals. “Bradley, you didn’t have to do that” He shrugged and stuffed his hands in his jean short pockets “I wanted to. Maybe sometime you’ll let me buy you something more than a burger on the beach?” His sincere brown eyes peeked at you over his sunglasses and you couldn’t help the way your eyes widened slightly in surprise. “I um, that’s really nice of you Bradley…” Your mind was racing for an excuse, “I do really appreciate that, but I’m kind of seeing someone?” You couldn’t help the inflection of questioning that was at the end of that sentence and winced slightly. Bradley pushed his sunglasses up his nose “and you see me as just a friend right?” You couldn't help but nod “I’m really sorry, I can give you the money back for lunch-” he shook his head, a small smile on his face “nah, it’s alright. I just figured I would shoot my shot, but also because Hangman has been staring at you all day and I bet my next paycheck that he’s been watching us since we left.” You laughed lightly, nervously, “There’s nothing going on with me and Jake.” The server called your food number, and Bradley’s grin grew “I never said there was.” He jogged off to grab the food order and returned with the bag for both of you “I’m not sure what happened between you two, and I don’t really want to know, but he’s actually being a decent human being today and what happens on the ground usually translates to the air so” Bradley shrugged as you made your way back to the group. 

You were smiling and laughing with Bradley, in a conversation Jake could only see, and not hear as you made your way back to the towels and blankets they had set up. His chest burned with a feeling he could only guess was jealousy, he had never felt this way about anyone before and it was a little bit scary. He watched you smiling with Bradshaw and wished more than anything it was him you were smiling at. The part that ate at him more was the fact that he could easily change that, and make that happen. And he had half the mind to go over to Bradshaw and his stupid mustache and stupid jean shorts and tell him to get away from his girl. He was about to do just that when a few girls in bikinis came right up to him and began chatting with him. He was trying to step around them when one of them put her hand on his chest and he stiffened, he didn’t like this feeling.

You watched as the pretty girls in bikinis walked right up to Jake as if they owned the beach, they were talking with him and it seemed friendly enough, at least until one of them put their hand right on Jake’s chest and you felt the flame of jealousy light and begin burning deep in your chest. Jake didn’t make any additional movements or move to push them away, and you weren’t sure what bothered you more. You sat down on the blanket and began eating your lunch, but the burger you ordered suddenly seemed less than appealing, as the girls in the skimpy bikinis and flat tummies and big boobs turned up the charm flirting with Jake. You put your burger back in the bag and pulled on your coverup, picking at your french fries and watching Jake give the skimpy bikini girls attention that you wanted. You missed the knowing looks that Bradley, Bob and Natasha shared behind your back.

As the sun went down hours later, the games of football died out, Skin pink from the heat and the boys built a bonfire. You kept to yourself most of the day after the two girls were so openly flirting with Jake. They had left giggling not long after and you mainly kept your nose buried in your book, and only briefly looked in on the football game when a particularly loud cheer rang out. Now you were seated next to the fire wearing your sundress and nursing a bottle of beer. You were watching the flames dance along the logs similarly to how jealousy danced along your skin earlier today. You had no right, there was nothing that tied you to him besides a really good first date and a late night phone call. It stung a little bit, that he hadn’t really said a word to you all day, he certainly didn’t instill confidence in his promises from last night. You were so focused on the thoughts running through your head and staring into the flames that you hadn’t heard anyone approach until they cleared their throat. “Darlin, can we talk?” 

You jumped out of your skin and Jake winced “sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” You shook your head and gestured to the log beside you with a nod before raising the beer to your lips and taking a swig. “Guess we can only talk in the dark then, too embarrassed to speak more than two words to me during the day?” He detected the sadness and disappointment in your voice and his heart squeezed. He had hurt you, by being selfish and in his own head about Bradshaw and doubting your connection, he’d inadvertently caused you pain. “Darlin, let me get one thing straight, I am not, and let me emphasize not, embarrassed about you at all.” He made a move to reach for your hand that was resting on the log and relished in the fact that you didn’t immediately take it away from him. “You seemed pretty interested in talking to those skimpy bikini girls earlier… if that’s what you want Jake you should just tell-“ “absolutely fucking not don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Your mouth snapped shut, and you watched as he took a deep breath with his eyes closed and then opened them, meeting yours intensely. “The only girl I want in a bikini around me is you… I wanted to talk to you about it all day and there just never seemed to be a good time. We never really established what this was going to be” He gestured between you two before squeezing your hand “but the long and short of it Darlin’ I want you to be my girl. I want to be able to tell all the other girls that you’re mine, I wanna kiss you in public and show you off and I really really don’t wanna see Rooster flirting his ass off with you.” You waited until he let out a breath like he had gotten a weight off his chest and you stood up in front of him. A look of worry flashed across his face for a moment as he raised his gaze to yours “well then, what are you waiting for Seresin. Kiss me.”

--

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[cal-daisies-and-briars]

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼(is this the right triangle emoji? I forgor which way the triangle pointed as soon as i opened the ask box 😓) (also buddieshannon throuple??? YES PLEASE. ESPECIALLY AFTER THAT NEW DELETED SCENE DROPPED.)

HEY! Yes it's the right triangle haha. AND SO HAPPY YOU'RE EXCITED FOR THAT! Here we go!!!!

30 for ⚡️:

---

“What?”

“I’m not secretly unhappy with anything, Eddie.” Buck says. “However we get where we’re going, I’m thrilled. Okay? I’m not going to pull the rug out from under you one day and say I’m not. If something bugs me, I’ll say so.”

Oh.

Eddie exhales. 

“Okay,” he says. “I guess… I guess I just don’t want to be, like, working towards something I think we both want, only to find out I’ve steamrolled the whole thing without noticing, and somehow ignored what you want.”

“Well, you’re currently doing the opposite of that, okay? I promise.”

Eddie sighs. 

“I’m being crazy.”

“Yep,” Buck replies.

Eddie scowls at him.

“You’re not being crazy.” Buck says. “I think you’re just being hard on yourself. Which, you know, nothing new there.”

Well… That’s true. 

“And, if you think I don’t have a list of demands,” Buck continues. “You are sorely mistaken.”

Eddie’s mouth quirks. “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh is right. Careful what you wish for.”

“What are they?” Eddie asks. “Hit me with it.”

---

30 for 🩸:

IT'S ABOUT TO GET NSFW HERE AND GOES FURTHER THAN I USUALLY GO SO SORRY IN ADVANCE.

---

There is something thrilling to Eddie about how much of Buck there is. How much space he fills. How tall he is. The size of his hands as they remove the belt from his pants. The size of him, standing fully erect, once those pants are off. 

Damn.

Buck hardly gives Eddie time to observe and take it all in. Which really isn’t fair or considerate. The guy sees himself all the time. He doesn’t understand how breathtaking he is. Or how much Eddie’s brain is glitching, apparently, because he pulls Eddie into the shower like it’s any other day. Maybe, one day, this will just be an everyday occurrence. And isn’t that thought thrilling, too?

Buck turns on the showerhead, and a spurt of too-hot water streams down on them. Eddie flinches a little.

“Cooler,” he says. “I’ll cook like a lobster. Can’t do the heat.”

“Mmm, okay,” Buck adjusts the temperature. “Then you’ll just have to keep me hot.”

“That’s so corny.” Eddie complains.

Buck shrugs and pulls Eddie in towards him, under the spray of a much more reasonably warmed water. For a good few minutes, they’re good. Not hasty. Taking it slow, testing the proverbial and literal waters, for Eddie’s sake. They make out, loose and slow and honey-sweet, bodies pressed against each other, dicks making stiff, exciting brushes of contact. 

Eddie feels good. He feels really good. He feels a sort of good that he doesn’t think he ever felt in the before of his life.

---

30 for 👑:

---

She gives him a sympathetic look. Like on some level, she gets it. 

“That must be difficult for you,” she says. 

“It… Can be,” Chim admits. He wants to change the topic. “But you and your brother must be close?”

“We were,” Maddie nods. “I’d like to be again. Now that we’ll both be back in town.” 

Chim doesn’t get a chance to ask her about what she means by that, because the clerk hands him his box of pastries, and he turns to offer her the promised egg tart.  

“Okay, this is amazing,” Maddie says after one bite. “You were right.” 

“I know. Not to brag, but I am an excellent judge of pastry.”

Maddie laughs. “I can see that.”

“So, what’s the verdict? Good enough for your brother?”

“Oh, yes,” she nods. “I’ll put an order in. But… Okay, one more question.”

Is it for his number? Please let it be that.

“Sure,” Chim says. 

“This might be weird.” She cautions. 

“I’m okay with weird!”

Stupid. What a stupid thing to say. Damn it.

---

30 for 🔼:

---

“Okay, honey,” Nancy says, turning back to Shannon. “They’re almost here.”

Almost isn’t fast enough. Every second is horrendously painful. She can hardly keep still, she’s in so much agony. But Nancy keeps telling her not to move her neck. She wants to thrash, despondently. It feels like every moment that passes where she’s not getting care, is a moment her baby is at risk. This baby she didn’t think she wanted. 

“Can I call your husband for you?” Nancy asks. She looks at the lack of a ring on Shannon’s hand. “Or, uh, boyfriend?”

“M-my husband,” she says. “Eddie.”

Nancy searches Shannon’s purse for a phone. 

“Password…” Shannon mumbles. “Zero… One… Three… One… Eleven…”

“Okay, got it.”

Nancy searches through Shannon’s contacts and calls Eddie. 

“He’s not answering,” she says after a minute.

Shannon could weep. 

“Maybe… Working?” Shannon tries. She hopes he’s working. She hopes he’s not just ignoring her now. Not that she wouldn’t deserve it. 

“What does he do, honey? Keep talking to me.”

[lessthanpure]

Making the Best of it Chapter 2

Pairings: Pete Alonso/OFC

Other people: Jeff McNeil

Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics, attempted rape/non con (in the beginning and not by Pete), LOTS of pov switching, New York Mets RPF

Summary: Sloane heals.

Wordcount: 2636 (what a good number)

ao3 link

Sloane updates Pete once a week, and they talk about other stuff too. She finds out Pete likes to do metal and woodwork in the offseason, and she shows him some of her drawings. He compliments each one intelligently- the colors, the emotion, the composition- and it makes her stomach flutter. They also send each other random shit. She had laughed until she almost threw up about his stupid ‘scarecrow getting an award because he was outstanding in his field’ joke. 

Then she gets the good news that her rib fractures are healed completely, and there won’t be any problems in the future. She smiles when she gets back to her mom’s house. ‘Hey. My ribs healed. 🎉’

Pete chuckles at the emoji party favor. ‘Congrats.’ He pauses. ‘You should celebrate,’ he offers.

‘Yeah, my friends already said they’re planning a ‘welcome back’ party.’ And it’s true- they had been pestering Sloane for updates and had come to visit a few times. They had all gushed about how hot Pete was and Kensie had teased Sloane mercilessly about Jeff’s crooked smile. 

‘Sounds like fun,’ Pete texts back. He wonders if it’s in the range of politeness to invite himself.

Sloane looks at the text and steels herself. ‘It should be. You and Jeff can come if you want.’

Pete stares at the screen. ‘Are you sure?’

‘I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.’

Pete relaxes. ‘Okay. Thanks.’

‘Cool! I’ll text you the details once my friends cough them up.’

Pete smiles. ‘Sounds like a date.’ He erases the last word and writes ‘plan’ instead.

Sloane sends back an emoji thumbs up. 

Two weeks later, Sloane sends Pete the details of the party. It’s gonna be at Kensie’s house.

Pete sends the information to Jeff.

Pete drives them to the address he had saved. The men look around the nice suburban street before Pete rings the bell. Sloane is the one who answers the door, and Pete’s heart stutters. She’s smiling widely, the bruises and cuts are healed, and she smells like vanilla. She’s wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. “Pete! Jeff! So glad you guys could make it, come in!” She stands aside and they walk in. Sloane closes the door behind them. 

Pete looks around- the living room is big with a sectional and a TV, it’s open to the kitchen via a cutout window, and there’s a hallway that must lead to the bathroom and/or bedrooms in front of him. There’s a staircase going up, too. 

“It’s good to see you two again,” Kensie comes around the corner. “Food and drinks are here, mingle if you want,” she points at a table and then flaps her hand in the air. 

Pete and Jeff go to the table with the food and drinks. There’s snacks and pizza and soda, and then a cooler for alcohol. Jeff kneels and roots through the cooler. He makes a triumphant noise and comes up with two bottles of their preferred brand of beer. He opens both with the bottle opener sitting on the table and hands one to Pete. They clink and sip. 

Pete looks around for Sloane and finds her laughing with a guy. As he watches, the guy puts his arm around her shoulders and pulls her into his side. Pete’s hand tightens on his bottle and Sloane soon walks away from him. Pete approaches the guy. “Hey,” Pete says. 

“Hi,” the guy smiles widely. “I’m Topher,” he extends his hand. 

“Pete.” They shake hands. 

“Topher,” a guy calls, and he turns his head. A blond guy comes into the room and tucks himself under his arm. Topher pulls him in and kisses his cheek. Pete relaxes. “I’m Mac,” he extends his hand.

“Pete.” They shake hands. 

“You did a really brave thing,” Mac says, smiling. “You saved Kensie and Sloane.”

“We just did what anyone would do,” Pete shrugs. “And it wasn’t brave. Those guys were cowards. Only cowards ambush people like that.”

“Amen, brother,” Topher says, lifting his can of soda. 

They talk sports, but steer away from baseball. Pete appreciates it. Pete sees Sloane cross the room and watches her. He excuses himself and approaches her. Before he gets there, a girl stops him. “You did a great thing, stopping those assholes,” she says.

“Just what anyone who could help would have done. Pete,” he offers his hand.

“Penny.” She shakes it. “It was still great. You helped my friends.” 

Pete sticks to water after his first beer- he’s the designated driver tonight. He mingles and talks with Sloane’s friends.

“Dessert,” Kensie calls.

The party starts to move to the kitchen and Pete follows. He sees a spread of desserts- cupcakes and brownies and other little things. Sloane ends up next to him. “You’re really gonna try to tempt me off my diet, aren’t you,” he teases.

“I’ll tell you what,” Sloane says, looking at him. “I’ll match your desserts.”

“No, eat what you want,” Pete protests.

“I gained some weight when I couldn’t walk much,” Sloane shrugs, obviously embarrassed as she runs her hand against her lower stomach.

“You look great,” Pete says before he thinks. Sloane looks up at him and smiles gently. 

“Thanks. But matching?”

“Eat what you want, Sloane,” Pete assures. She shrugs and takes a tiny plate, getting two chocolate covered strawberries. She offers it to him, but he shakes his head with a soft smile. She picks one up and bites into it, juice running down her chin. He wants to lick it off. She walks away and he tries not to watch her eat.

The party winds down and Sloane and Kensie make sure everyone too drunk to drive are either staying over or in a car with someone sober behind the wheel. Pete finds Jeff and they say goodbye to first Kensie and then Sloane. “We had a really good time tonight,” Pete tells Sloane softly.

“I’m glad,” she smiles. “Text me when you’re home safe,” she requests, touching the crook of his elbow and making tingles shoot up his arm.

“I will.”

“Bye, Sloane,” Jeff says.

“Bye, Jeff. Bye, Pete.”

Pete walks Jeff out. Jeff isn’t plastered, but he is too buzzed to drive. He sits in the passenger seat of the car with a grunt and Pete pulls away from the curb. Jeff leans his head against the cool window. “That was fun,” Jeff says quietly.

“It was,” Pete smiles.

“Mmm. Kensie’s and Sloane’s friends are nice.”

“Yeah.”

Pete puts on soft rock music and drives Jeff home, making sure he gets in his apartment okay. He gets into his own apartment and gets a beer, opening it before he sits on the couch and opens his phone to Sloane’s contact. ‘Home safe. I had a great time.’

‘I’m glad for both. I’ll invite you two to the next one we throw.’

Pete smiles. ‘That’d be great.’

Pete puts his phone down and finishes his beer, recycling the bottle and taking a shower before he goes to bed.

Sloane is in Pete's apartment and he settles on the couch, facing her. She slowly approaches and straddles his lap. “Hey, sweetheart,” he greets. He gets a noseful of warm vanilla as she stretches. He hums in pleasure as Sloane relaxes into his hold. He noses her neck and she tilts it for him without question. He licks her jaw and makes her purr against his mouth. Pete bites her throat gently and she hums. He thrusts against her and she laughs lightly. 

“Do you want something, Pete,” she asks, even though she knows.

“You,” Pete growls lightly. 

“You have me,” she says. 

Pete hums and smiles. “Yeah I do.” She presses her hands through his hair and kisses him filthily. He moans, pressing up into it. He’s getting hard. She twists her hips against him, making him growl. “Bed. Now.”

“Yes, Alpha.” He shudders at the title. He picks her up and carries her to his room while Sloane licks his jaw. He lays her out on the bed and she stretches slowly. He gets on top of her and peels off her shirt. She’s wearing a pretty red bra and he gets his mouth on the join of her neck and shoulder. She purrs. He gets her pants off and she’s wearing matching panties. He sits back and just enjoys the scents pouring off her. Rich vanilla and the sweet scent of a flustered Omega. And, of course, slick. He growls at the latter and pulls off her remaining clothes. She’s perfect. 

Pete kisses her, moving her up the bed until she’s lounging on his pillows. Sloane hums, raking her fingers gently through his beard. He kisses her fingers sweetly before he kisses down the center of her body and puts her legs over his shoulders. She arches prettily against him when he licks into her. She tastes amazing and Pete doesn’t think he’s ever been harder in his life. But he needs to get her off first. He licks into Sloane, hand coming up to rub her clit. She whines beautifully and he licks deeper. Pete moves his head up and licks her clit, fingers sliding down and pressing into her. She sighs, hands coming down and touching him like she can’t help it. She scratches against the back of his head, playing with his hair. He rumbles appreciatively and licks around his fingers. She tastes amazing. “Pete, Pete, Pete,” she chants. 

He licks into her again. She screams when she cums. He comes up, licking his lips. Sloane shudders, staring at his mouth. She gestures him up and he crawls, letting her lick his jaw before she kisses him. She must taste herself on his tongue but she doesn’t seem to care when Pete tangles tongues with her. She pulls at the hem of his shirt and he sits up, jerking it over his head. He shimmies out of his pants and boxer briefs and she wraps a hand around his cock. He stutters his hips into her grip. 

“Sloane,” he groans through his teeth.

“I want to suck your cock.” Pete moans and nods. He lets her flip them and she gets between his legs. She licks him from root to tip slowly, seeming to just want to taste him. He winds a hand into her long soft brown hair and watches her. She tastes every inch of him and then goes to his head and licks teasingly, fist around his base and tongue barely flicking out between her pretty lips. 

“Sloane,” he moans.

She starts to swallow him. She gets to his base, not even a hint of a gag reflex. 

Pete startles awake, hard in his bed. He groans, covering his face. He needs to stop acting like a high schooler with his first real crush. He’s almost 30, God damn it! 

Pete takes off his boxer briefs and slowly touches himself to the memory of the dream. He cums, his release dripping over his fist. He can imagine that pretty Omega eagerly licking up every drop. Pete wipes himself up with tissues from his bedside table, too tired to wash up properly, and goes back to sleep. 

Pete picks up his phone the next morning, face warm from remembering the sex dream. He opens up Sloane’s contact and pauses. He can’t say he enjoyed the party, he’ll sound like a broken record. And he can’t ask how she’s feeling because she fully healed weeks ago. He groans and opens Jeff’s instead, knowing he rarely gets hangovers. 

‘What do I text Sloane? I already told her we liked the party and she’s completely healed. What do I do?’

Jeff texts back after ten minutes. ‘Chill, dude. Ask her out!’

‘You make it sound so easy,’ Pete scowls as he texts.

‘Look, I get that it’s scary. Most first dates are. But you know she has a crush on you and you like her too. You’re gonna have to bite the bullet eventually if you want to date her.’

‘I do,’ Pete admits. ‘Any pointers? You’ve dated more recently than I have.’

‘Just be straightforward,’ Jeff advises. ‘Don’t let there be any confusion about what you’re asking.’

Pete nods and goes back to Sloane’s messages. “Just be straightforward,” he whispers to himself, psyching himself up. He types. ‘Hey. I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with me sometime.’ He sends it before he can second-guess himself. Actually, it would be more like quadruple-guessing himself. If he knew the word for eight times, he’d use that one but quadruple is the max one he can think of.

Pete makes laps around his apartment for an hour. His phone makes his text tone noise and he grabs it. ‘So, how did it go,’ Jeff asks.

‘She hasn’t responded.’

‘She could be working,’ Jeff offers.

‘She works online.’

‘She could just be good about not checking her phone during work hours,’ Jeff points out. ‘Not everyone is as glued to our phones as we are.’

‘True.’

Or maybe she doesn’t want to date you and won’t see or talk to you ever again , the mean part of him says. “Shut up,” he tells it.

Pete cleans his apartment while he waits. He flips through channels, antsy. He finally gets a response at noon. ‘Sorry Pete,’ he reads, and his stomach drops out. ‘I didn’t see this until now. I’d like that.’ Pete puts his fist in the air and whoops. 

Sloane finishes up her morning meetings, two of which could have been emails, and is relieved to take her lunch hour. She pulls her phone closer and sees she has a text. She always puts her phone on silent while she works, otherwise she gets sucked in. She reads the text from Pete and her heart stutters and her eyes widen. She smiles and taps out a reply. She waits for Pete’s text. ‘What do you like to eat,’ he asks.

‘As long as it isn’t too spicy and isn’t raw fish, I’m pretty good about anything.’ She’s the classic white girl- practically any spice is too much. And raw fish just weirds her out because she watched too many medical drama shows in her teen years and there were a few cases of mystery intestinal worms. Ew. 

‘There’s this American place I’ve been meaning to try out. It’s called Wehner’s. Have you heard of it?’

‘I haven't,’ Sloane replies. She looks up the restaurant on her computer and smiles at the cozy decor. It’s not overly romantic, but it’s nice. ‘This one,’ she sends the link to Pete. 

‘Yeah, that’s it. What do you say around 6 on Friday,’ he offers.

She’s about to accept when she remembers a trick she had learned from Kensie when the other girl was dating online. ‘Sorry, I’m doing something then,’ she says. ‘How does Saturday at the same time sound,’ she counter-offers. She puts her phone down and waits. Guys can be controlling about when and where they take dates. Pete hadn’t seemed like that, but it’s always good to double check. 

‘That’s fine, too. Do you want to meet there?’

Sloane exhales, relieved. ‘Sounds perfect, Pete. See you Saturday at 6.’

‘See you then.’

Pete grins like a fool in his empty apartment. He’d listened to Canha talk about restaurants enough and written some down in his phone that sounded like he’d actually like them and weren’t literal Michelin Star restaurants. That’s just too fancy for him. Give him a burger and fries and he’s a happy man. He makes a call to the restaurant and gives them his first name. He makes the reservation no problem. He also texts Jeff.

‘See? I told you it would work out.’

Pete laughs. ‘Yeah, yeah. No need to rub it in.’

[seongsangi]

playing games

pairing: jaehyun x reader x jaemin

summary: you meet jaehyun and jaemin for the first time at a lake house during summer break. they quickly take a liking to you, pulling you into a game you don't want to lose.

word count: 8.2k+

genre: more smutttt

warnings/tags: a little bit of drinking, this one’s kinda nasty (in a good way)...

You and your best friend went to different colleges, but you kept in touch with each other every day. It was hard not seeing her all the time like you used to, so you and her would spend time together every summer and winter break. Sometimes she'd come home and sometimes you'd take a trip up to see her. This summer break, it was your turn to visit her and spend a few weeks together before coming back home.

As the days passed by just enjoying each other's company at her cozy studio apartment, she gets a text from her friends from school. They want to go to a lake house and spend a week there with a group of friends. It'll be 8 people in total: you, your friend, her two other girl friends (call them S and M), and a few guys named Jaehyun, Jaemin, Lucas, Taeyong, and Johnny. You told your friend that you might feel a little awkward around them, especially since you've never met them before but she assures you that they're all easy to get along with and they love meeting new people.

"Trust me, you'll love them! Don't be shyyy, would you rather stay here with me in my boring apartment or you wanna go to the lake?" You sigh, admitting that having a little getaway in a lakehouse does sound like fun.

You all plan to meet up the next day and take two cars, guys and girls riding separately. The drive is two hours away, but you quickly become friends with the girls in the car, playing loud music as you drive down the highway singing your hearts out and talking about the guys riding in the car behind them.

Your friend slips that S and M have crushes on Johnny and Taeyong and that's mainly the reason why they planned this getaway.

"What the hell, so you didn't tell Y/N that you like Lucas?" One of them asks defensively. You look at your friend in disbelief because she didn't mention that she liked anyone, much less someone you're going on a trip with!

"BITCH WHO IS LUCAS TELL ME ALL ABOUT HIM??" You quickly badger your friend, now excited to meet the guy she likes and has been keeping a secret from you. You're not mad about it, you're more happy for her that she finally found someone.

"Chilllll, I don't like him like thattt," she drags, obviously lying. "But I do like being around him... he's so hot but such a dork at the same time and makes me feel all giddy whenever I'm with him or talk to him."

"Do you think he likes you back?" you ask.

"I don't know, maybe? I haven't asked but we do talk quite a bit so the feeling might be mutual. Damn, I don't know, I guess I'll take my chances and find out this week," she winks at you and you're already egging her on. You were so pumped to meet the guys they like.

You ask, "What about the other two guys? Jaehyun and Jaemin?" They were too busy talking about their own crushes that no one mentioned them.

"They're cool, we don't have anything against them, I just like Taeyong more," S chimes in and you swear you could see her turn into the heart eyes emoji.

"Yeah, those guys hang out in their own circle, they're always together so we invited everyone to hang out. I would have felt weird if I didn't invite them too," M adds.

Your friend nudges you with her elbow, "They're both single... you never know what could happen." She's always teasing you, and you slap her arm. Everyone laughs, thinking nothing more of it.

Once you get to the lake house, you're shocked by how nice it looks just on the outside. And the inside is to die for. There are five bedrooms and three bathrooms. Jaehyun and Jaemin in one room while Johnny, Lucas, and Taeyong in another. You and your friend share one, while S and M in another. There'll be an extra master bedroom not used by anyone, presumably where M's parents would stay when they come up here. The bathrooms look like they came straight out of a home makeover show. You note that M's parents must be loaded to have such an extravagant place. As you walk around the house, you notice there's a boat in the garage.

"You didn't tell us you had a boat!" You say to her, eager to get out on the lake already.

"Oh, shit I didn't? Go get dressed, we'll take it for a spin when the guys get here." You set your stuff down in the room you share with your best friend, and put on the cute new royal blue bathing suit you bought for the occasion, your favorite color.

"Damnnn, that looks good as hell on you," your best friend comments, making you shy. "You might just steal all our men while you're here," she teases. You both laugh it off, hyping your friend up when she puts on her pink bathing suit and head out to the back.

Just then, the guys pull up and you and your friend walk to their car to introduce yourself. As they get out of the car, you're stunned by how good looking they all are. You've never seen a group of guys that attractive. You can definitely see why the girls fell for them.

"Finally, you're here!" Your friend yells, giving them all a hug as you stand by. "We're about to get on the boat, so go get dressed. But first, this is my best friend Y/N! She's from my hometown and she's visiting me right now so she came along too."

You exchange greetings with everyone, trying to remember their names since this is the first time you're meeting them. You pay special attention to Lucas since he's the one your best friend has her eyes on, and you can't blame her. He's hella tall, has a gorgeous smile, contagious laugh, and his voice is much deeper than you expected it to be. Johnny is the tallest one and he's got a cute smile that could draw any girl in. Taeyong has these sharp eyes that you could get lost in and see why S is all heart eyes for him.

Jaehyun and Jaemin are the two that really catch your eye though. Jaehyun has deep dimples that make your heart swoon and Jaemin beams down at you with a bright smile to match that perfect face of his, you swear he's not even real. Neither of them seem real to you, and you suddenly feel nervous again. You know the other three guys are off limits but you know these two are single, suddenly becoming very aware that while everyone else is trying to get in each other's pants, you three don't have any attraction towards each other. You tell yourself it's gonna be awkward around these three couples.

As the boys are unloading their stuff from the car, you and your friend head to the garage where S and M are waiting. You don't notice the way Jaehyun and Jaemin look at each other before they turn their gaze to you, thinking to themselves that this trip might not be bad after all.

Lucas and Jaehyun brought out a cooler full of drinks, obviously ready to get the party started. "Someone's gotta drive the boat though, so they can't drink." You all play rock paper scissors, and Johnny ends up having to drive. You can tell he's super disappointed about not being able to drink.

"You lost, Suh, now take us out on the lake." Lucas mocks, popping open a can of beer and teasing Johnny. He cranks up the music and everyone gets to chatting with one another. You love the way the wind whips past you as Johnny speeds up. You take in the beautiful view of the blue water, stretching as far as you can see. Houses are lined along the shore, taking notice of how extravagant each of them look. The sun is hot and beaming right on you from where you're sitting at the front of the boat with no shade. You pull out some sunscreen from your bag, not wanting to get burned as you so easily do.

"Oh, damn I forgot mine. Could I get some of yours?" Jaehyun asks across from you. You hand it to him with a soft smile, and his hand brushes past yours as he reaches for it. You're sure that wouldn't have happened with the way you handed it to him unless he did it on purpose, but you shrug it off. As he's putting the sunscreen on, you can't help but take a longer look at him, noticing his defined abs and beautiful skin. He's quite literally glowing, but you don't know if it's the sun or if that's how he actually looks...

He looks up for a second and you quickly turn your head away, not trying to get caught staring at someone you just met 10 minutes ago.

"Where'd you get this from?" Jaemin asks as Jaehyun hands the tube to him. 

"Y/N let me borrow it, put some on unless you wanna get burned." Jaemin takes his shirt off before lathering the sunscreen on, and again, you're staring at someone you just met 10 minutes ago. Jaemin is less toned than Jaehyun, but he's got broad shoulders that you can't help but look at. Jaehyun is looking off into the distance, and Jaemin is too busy putting sunscreen on that neither of them notice your eyes darting back and forth between the two. You don't know who you're more interested in, but from the way they look right now, it might just be both...

"Y/N!!! Want a drink?" She holds up a bottle of Ciroq and you're having a flashback to the last time you went on a boat ride.  

"Bitch, you know what happened last time," you yell back at her. She laughs, clearly remembering. "Just don't drink so much this time!" You comply, taking a quick swig of the bottle instead of opting for a mixed drink. A few sips wouldn't hurt, you tell yourself.

"Can you pour us some?" Jaemin asks, holding his and Jaehyun's cup out, half full of Sprite already.

"Tell me when," you say as you start pouring. He doesn't say when until both their cups are half Sprite, half Ciroq.

"Damn, that's a lot though," you comment, knowing you wouldn't be able to handle what they're having. They both just laugh as you give the bottle back to your friend and take your seat again across from them.

"So tell us about what happened last time," Jaehyun says to you, intrigued to hear your story. You suddenly feel embarrassed, not wanting to tell them how much you drank and how messed up you were afterwards. It's not a time you would like to go back to, but you can't say you didn't have good laughs thinking about it afterwards. You tell them what happened and they're in disbelief, laughing with you over how silly the story sounds. You got so drunk off the green apple that you were crying the entire car ride home. You don't even know what you were crying about, that's just how fucked up you were.

"You only took like three swigs and you were THAT fucked up?" Jaehyun asks, already halfway through his drink. You're staring at him like HE'S the crazy one, drinking so much in such a short time.

"Yeah, well, I've never been good at handling my alcohol. Give me that, you can't have any more, you're gonna end up like me." You reach to grab his drink out of his hands but he holds it away from him and you almost fall on top of him. He laughs as you stumble, taking another swig and boasting that he's pretty good with drinking.

"We both are, unlike someone," Jaemin teases, obviously talking about you. You roll your eyes at the remark, feigning annoyance before you successfully grab Jaemin's cup from his hand since you couldn't get Jaehyun's.

"I made half the drink for you, I think I can have it now," you say with a smile, teasing him back. He stares at you as you take a drink from his cup, keeping your eyes locked on him so you can feel like you got the upper hand. You feel more comfortable with them now even though you haven't been here for long. I guess people really can bond over drinks.

The boat comes to a halt and Johnny announces, "If anyone wants to go swim, do it now. We're just gonna chill here for a bit." Taeyong, Lucas, Johnny, and the girls are excited, finally getting a chance to get in the water.

"Are you gonna go?" Jaehyun asks, nodding his head to the group of people jumping into the water.

"No, I can't swim. Are you guys gonna go?" Jaehyun shakes his head while Jaemin is getting revved up to jump in the water too. You watch him as he dives in and comes back up, hair wet and that beautiful smile on his face. You turn your body around to face the crowd, watching them splash each other and have a good time, leaving Jaehyun to admire you without you knowing. He's tracing the curves of your body, loving the way the royal blue looks on you. He's only seen you in one outfit, but he's sure that color suits you the best. He's staring hard, and he's glad no one can see the way he's devouring you with his eyes. He gets up and stands next to you, resting his hands on the edge of the boat, watching all his friends but he just wanted an excuse to get closer to you.

Your best friend swims towards the boat and suddenly splashes water at you, laughing as you retreat from her attack. Everyone else joins in, splashing water into the boat at you and Jaehyun since neither of you were getting in the water.

"Stop, you're getting everything wet!" You yell at them, throwing your bag to the other side to protect your belongings. They eventually stop and go back to swimming, leaving you and Jaehyun to wipe the seats down. You decide if you weren't going to swim, then you were going to have fun in your own way. You down the rest of Jaemin's drink as Jaehyun stares at you incredulously. "Hold on, don't go too crazy."

You make your way to the cooler, grabbing a Seagram and telling him not to worry. "I'm a big girl, I can handle this much," you smile at him. You both take your seats as everyone starts to get on the boat again. The sun is starting to set and Johnny makes his way back to the house. Jaemin approaches his seat, wiping his body and hair with the towel he brought, looking a little too good with wet hair.

"The water was so cold at first," he says, telling Jaehyun he should have went in.

"I didn't want to leave Y/N alone," he says so you couldn't hear. Jaemin catches on quickly, knowing that Jaehyun has taken a bit of a liking to you. He watches as you stare at the water and lets his eyes roam your body, much like Jaehyun did earlier. He can see why Jaehyun would be a bit attracted to you, he couldn't help but feel a little pull himself. The way your bathing suit accentuates your breasts has him imagining all sorts of things.

"Y/N, did you have fun today?" Jaemin calls out to you, drawing you from your thoughts. You turn a bit too fast to look at them and you can tell the alcohol is kicking in. Your head feels heavy and the boat is moving so fast, you don't know if you can keep up. You don't feel as drunk as you did last time, but you're definitely feeling something.

"Yeah, I had fun," you reply, finishing the last of your drink and getting up to throw it away in the trash bag someone brought along. You can't tell if you're wobbly because the boat is moving or if it's because you're actually wobbly from the drinks. "Oh shit, maybe I shouldn't have drank Jaemin's drink," you laugh at Jaehyun, who shakes his head in an "I told you so" manner.

"You drank it all? There was still a lot left," Jaemin asks in disbelief. "You were just telling us you're bad with alcohol." "What can I say? I already drank it all," you shrug at him with a smile.

"You're crazy," he laughs, "but we'll take good care of you if you want."

You don't know what he means by that, but you're imagining it's not as innocent as it may seem.

When you make your way back to the house, everyone heads off to shower. You all meet downstairs afterwards. S and M are making dinner with the help of Johnny and Taeyong. You see your best friend and Lucas on the couch, watching something on TV. You don't see Jaehyun or Jaemin, thinking they're probably still in their room. 

Wait, they didn't give me back my sunscreen. You head upstairs to their room and knock on the door, to which someone says "It's open." You peek into the room and see Jaehyun lounging on the bed and Jaemin in the bathroom with the door wide open. He's only dressed in a towel and wiping his hair, presumably fresh out the shower. You avert your eyes quickly, not wanting to stare for any longer than you have to. Jaehyun perks up at the sight of you and asks what's up.

"Uh, I just wanted to ask for my sunscreen," you say from the door, not wanting to step fully into their room.

"Oh, it's in our bag somewhere, just come in, I'll get it for you." Jaehyun hops off the bed and turns to the bathroom to look for it. You walk in and stand awkwardly by the door. Jaemin comes out and you're trying your best not to gawk at him, knowing he's got nothing but a towel on. He smirks, and you can just feel it without even looking at him. You watch the TV and notice some movie is on. "Jaehyun, are you watching Insidious?" you ask him, trying to distract yourself from the fine ass man in your periphery. It's one of your favorite horror movies and you'd recognize it anywhere.

"Yeah it was just playing so I was watching it. I think I left it on the boat, sorry about that. I'll get it for you tomorrow," he says, coming back into the room. "It's okay! Sooo, can I watch the movie with you?" He hums in agreement, jumping back in bed as you sit on the edge, not wanting to get too close to him. Jaemin comes into view fully dressed this time, thank goodness. He lays in bed next to Jaehyun and all three of you watch. The part that scared you the most when you first watched it is about to come up, and you cover your eyes.

"I like scary movies but I still cover my eyes when I know something's about to happen," you say out loud to them. Sneaky Jaemin is inching closer to you, waiting for the scene you're talking about to come up. He grabs you and screams at the same time the scene you're dreading pops up, making you jump and scream even louder. Your heart races and you yell "What the fuck, Jaemin!" The two are laughing at your reaction and you slap him on his arm.

"You can't tell me that wasn't funny," he mocks you and you're ready to beat his ass before you hear someone yell "dinner's ready." You storm out of their room embarrassed.

The next few days you guys spend together are filled with the same antics, Jaemin teasing you and Jaehyun laughing at everything you two do. You're getting real tired of both of them at this point, Jaemin for never leaving you alone and Jaehyun for egging him on every time. But you can't say you don't enjoy spending time with them. They always manage to make you laugh even if they do frustrate the hell out of you sometimes. You find yourself gravitating towards them, since the other couples are also focused on themselves. You didn't want to cockblock anyone, so you let them have their alone time together whenever you saw them around the house. You notice your best friend leaves your shared room late at night, gone for a few hours doing who knows what with Lucas.

Jaemin was always getting on your nerves, jump scaring you every chance he got. When you turn a corner, he'd be there to surprise you. When you turn around and almost bump into him, he'd tell you to watch where you're going but it's obvious he was the one getting in your way. You've thrown so many punches his way to get him to stop messing with you, but he just says it's fun every single time with that annoying ass perfect smile of his. Jaehyun on the other hand was more flirty with you and you've definitely noticed. He wasn't exactly being subtle with it either. He'd say "good morning beautiful" to you when he got the chance, or he'd always choose the seat next to you when there are plenty of other ones open. He'd smile at you with those cute ass dimples and you'd look away quickly, not wanting to fall for his charm. His hand would brush against yours or he'd hold your waist to get past you, feigning an "excuse me" just to touch you. You'd look up and catch him staring at you, and he doesn't even look away when you notice. It's like he's challenging you, knowing he's getting under your skin and making you feel some type of way.

One evening, you wake up from a nap to a quiet house. A text from your best friend says they went out to get food for dinner and it's just you, Jaehyun, and Jaemin at home. You dread it already, you don't even want to be alone with them and have to put up with their antics again. You walk into the kitchen to see the two making themselves a quick snack. You sit at the counter, asking Jaehyun to pretty please make you a sandwich.

"You've got hands, do it yourself," Jaemin says to you without looking up from what he was doing. You get up from your seat and start hitting him, "I didn't ask you. Jaehyun's nice to me, he'll make me one, right?" He's already getting it ready for you and you love that about him.

Jaemin scoffs, and says under his breath, "Yeah duh cause he likes you."

Jaehyun yells at him, obviously not wanting you to know. You giggle, thinking it's cute he doesn't think you already know. You can tell from the way he's been acting around you and you feel like riling him up a bit. You walk towards Jaehyun, hands behind your back, and say in a sing-songy voice, "Really? I didn't know. Maybe I like him too," you tease, enjoying the way he looks away from you and back down to the sandwich.

"What's wrong? You're always staring at me when you think I'm not looking, but now you can't even look at me?" You tease further. He shoves the plate towards you, finished with your sandwich and takes his own plate to the couch. You and Jaemin look at each other, knowing you've got him right where you want him. You don't let up, following him to the couch and sitting right next to him as he always does with you. You cross your legs and snuggle a little closer to him, letting your thigh rest on his as you eat your sandwich and watch TV like you aren't obviously trying to get Jaehyun flustered. Jaemin comes to sit next to you and you're officially squished between the two. You didn't know Jaemin would sit right there and you look at him, telling him to move with your eyes. He shrugs and continues eating.

You all sit on the couch, watching something to pass the time. You get up first to put your plate away but when you come back, the two guys are holding their own plates out, signaling for you to put them away for them. You groan but you do it anyway since you're already up.

"Y/N can you get the remote?" Jaemin asks as you come back. It somehow ended up on the floor... ten feet away from them. "What the fuck how did it get over there?" You bend over to pick it up and you hear a "wow" from Jaemin. You look back at him to ask what he's talking about, but you don't even need to ask as he's staring at your ass, your shorts leaving little to the imagination. You didn't feel self conscious wearing shorts around them before because you didn't feel like you needed to, but with the way Jaemin is literally eye fucking you right now, you suddenly feel very shy. You tug your shorts down and throw the remote at him to get him to stop looking at you like that. Jaehyun didn't make any audible noise, but you can tell from the way he's looking at you and back to Jaemin that he felt the same way. You don't even want to sit next to them any more, giving up on messing with Jaehyun.

You're the one getting riled up this time, but you don't want them to know that. The way they're looking at you isn't something you can handle so you sit on the next couch away from them. They look at each other without you knowing and have their own game in mind now.

"Y/N, come back over here," you hear Jaehyun call out to you and pat the seat in between them. You don't even look in his direction and focus on the TV, giving him a firm no.

"He wasn't asking," Jaemin's voice dropped a couple octaves, making you tingle. You're afraid to look back at them, not wanting to play whatever game they were about to pull you into. You're getting turned on and they haven't even done anything but said a few words to you. You feel silly letting them get to you so quick. "You come here or we go over there."

You turn around but don't make a move to get up, just to look at them. They're staring at you with gazes you can't read, or maybe you can read them but you don't know if you're ready to decipher them. Jaehyun nods his head, beckoning for you to come back to your spot. Your heart is pounding now and your body starts to get really hot. You slowly make your way back towards them, their eyes pulling you in like they've got you under some spell. You don't sit down, just stand in front of them, unable to make eye contact with either of them.

They both reach for your hands at the same time, tugging you down and you have to catch yourself with your knees resting on the couch. Your back is now towards the TV and you're facing the back of the couch, an awkward position to say the least.

"Good girl," Jaehyun coos, making you clench around nothing as you feel yourself getting more turned on. "Now stay right there and don't move." He gets up and makes his way around the couch, standing in front of you as Jaemin stays beside you. "You listen to us better than I thought you would," Jaemin says, his hands sliding up your thighs. You start fidgeting, trying to turn back around and sit on the couch normally. He lands a hard slap on your ass and you whimper as the pain subsided into pleasure and you don't try to sit normally again.

"I said don't move," Jaehyun snarls, grabbing your chin to face him. "You thought you could get out of what you said earlier? You know I like you baby but that doesn't mean you can make fun of me in front of Jaemin." You turn a bit to look at Jaemin, and he's got that same annoying ass smile on his face, enjoying the way your ass is on display for him. Jaehyun roughly yanks your chin back in his direction, "Don't look at him, look at me."

You don't know what you should say in this moment, you're feeling extremely turned on with the way Jaehyun is talking to you and Jaemin's hand on your lower body isn't making things better. You're thinking what the fuck happened? You don't know how things turned 180 that quick. You're half embarrassed about what's going on right now, but the other half of you wants to see where things will go. You let the latter half take over. You're all alone right now, what's stopping you from beating them at their own game?

You arch your back more, pushing your ass further out for Jaemin to see and put on your best pout for the man in front of you. "Sorry Jaehyun, I didn't mean to make you upset," you whine at him, leaning on the back of the couch. You turn to look at Jaemin, shivering at the way his hand is caressing your ass. "Jaemin, that hurt," you fake pout at him too, "but I liked it." You quickly jump off the couch onto your feet before either of them can reach for you, boasting a flirty smile that has the two of them ready to pounce.

"Come get me," you sing, making a run for their room as soon as you see them both racing towards you. Your adrenaline is pumping and you love that they don't waste any time to follow you. You make it to their room before they do, locking it before they can barge in. They both bang on the door, impatient and eager to have their way with you for the stunt you just pulled on them.

"Y/N open the door, now." Jaehyun sounds so sexy when he's mad and you just want to keep pushing his buttons.

"What are you gonna do about it?" You can hear their footsteps trailing back downstairs, unsure of what's going on. Did they give up? Shit shit shit no wait come back. You wait a bit longer, to see if they really left. You hear them come back and you're about to say something when you hear a key in the door. You forgot that your friend told you where the keys to each room were in case you locked yourselves out for some reason. They both barge in, successfully opening the door and they don't look happy. Fuck.

They're glaring at you, and you feel small in their presence. You weren't prepared for this, this wasn't in your game plan. You don't know what to do any more. You back up as they make their way towards you, the back of your knees hitting the edge of the bed. "No, wait, I take it back I didn't mean it," you try to talk your way out of it but Jaemin pushes you onto the bed, not wanting to hear your excuses. You try to get away from them, but they're much stronger than you and hold you in place, Jaehyun's hands on your waist and Jaemin holding your legs down. You feel like you should be afraid, but you're actually getting wetter with each second. You weren't sure if you could handle either of them when they were looking at you in that way, let alone both of them at the same time.

"Do you like messing with us?" Jaemin asks, his hands sliding further up your legs.

"You mess with me all the time Jaemin," you retort, which earns you a slap on your thigh. "Don't talk back to me."

"Are you gonna be a good girl and listen to us this time?" Jaehyun slides his hands underneath your shirt, gliding across your stomach, getting close to your breasts.

You bite your lip, unbelievably wet at this point. "What are you gonna do?" you ask quietly, not sure if you're ready for their answer.

Jaemin moves away from your legs and sits in the middle of the bed. He holds your cheek and says in a low voice, "Mmm, we're gonna do so many things to you." You can't hold back your whimper, heart racing at all the thoughts running through your mind.

"You have to tell us if you want it though. We won't do anything without your consent." Even with the way they've been playing with you and eye fucking you downstairs, they still ask you in case you want to stop.

"Yes, I want it, I want both of you, fuck you guys are so hot" you breathe out, unable to play their game any longer. You want nothing more than for both of them to pleasure you and make you scream their names. You're up for anything and you want them to know. You're soaking through your panties, and you squeeze your legs together to get some kind of friction. "I'm so wet because of you," looking at both of them. Jaehyun cocks an eyebrow, eyes trailing down your figure, taking note of the way you're squirming underneath him. Jaemin wastes no time in pulling your legs towards him. Jaehyun lifts your shirt up to expose your chest to him, pushing your bra up and going straight for your breasts. He kneads one with his hand and sucks on the other, going back and forth between the two. You love the way his tongue glides across your nipples, and you throw your head back when you feel Jaemin's hand rubbing at your core through your shorts. Both of them are making you feel so good, but you crave more.

"Take them off Jaemin," you urge him, wanting to feel his hands on your body and not on your shorts. You lift your hips, waiting for him to slide them down your legs. When he does, he groans at the sight before him. "She wasn't kidding, she's hella wet," Jaemin says to Jaehyun, moving his fingers back to your clit, making slow circles. The only sounds in the room are your small moans and the sound of your wetness as Jaemin plays with you. He pushes two fingers in to the hilt without warning, and your hips snap up, moaning even louder as he pumps them in and out. At the same time, Jaehyun moves his lips to your neck, nipping and sucking at every inch. His hand reaches your core and rubs your clit as Jaemin finger fucks you.

"Fuck that feels good Jae," you don't know if you're talking about Jaehyun or Jaemin, but they were both making you feel on cloud nine right now. Jaemin pulls his fingers out of you and they're coated in your wetness. He brings his hand to your lips and you wrap your mouth around them, tongue swirling around his digits, licking yourself off his fingers.You feel Jaemin shifting, pushing your knees up and laying down in front of your core. Jaehyun pulls back, watching as Jaemin presses kisses on your sex before diving in and lapping up all your juices. You grab onto his hair pushing his head closer to you, mouth left in an o-shape, not making any sounds but feeling so good underneath Jaemin's tongue. "I could eat you out all day, you look so amazing right now" Jaemin comments, making you shy, trying to close your legs only for him to hold your thighs tighter and keep them open.

"I bet you'd look better with my dick in your mouth," Jaehyun says as he steps off the bed to pull his pants down and you reach your hand out to grab his member. He's taking in the view before him: your legs spread wide by Jaemin's hands as he devours you, your eyes locked on his own and your hand pumping him up and down, all needy for him. He kneels on the bed beside you, telling you to open up. You greedily take him in your mouth, licking what you can and moaning when Jaemin sucks on your clit. You close your eyes, trying to focus on the pleasure Jaemin is giving you while trying to pleasure Jaehyun at the same time.

Jaemin is keeping his eyes on the two of you, watching the way your hips buck every time he licks your clit and the way your mouth is wrapped around Jaehyun. He pulls away from you, wiping your arousal off his mouth and chin. He brings his hand down, slapping your pussy hard. You yelp and close your legs as a reflex, only for Jaemin to push them back open. He keeps your legs spread but doesn't stop, slapping both your core and inner thighs. You can't focus on sucking Jaehyun off when Jaemin is abusing your pussy in all the right ways. "Jaemin!" you cry out, and he smirks. "That's what you get for sucking him while I'm eating you out, you're supposed to focus on me."

You whine, unsure if you should keep sucking Jaehyun now that Jaemin has stopped. You look to Jaehyun, and he's staring at your body, core dripping even more than before. He turns to look down at you, hand still holding his member and you pump him slowly, loving the way his big dick fits in your hand. "Want me to fuck you first baby?" You nod, a bit too eagerly, earning a low chuckle from him. He pulls your legs towards him and throws his shirt off swiftly and now it's your turn to eye fuck him. You couldn't stop staring at him the first time you met, but this is even better than before now that he's completely naked and about to ruin you. As Jaehyun aligns himself to your core, Jaemin groans, upset that he isn't getting any action right now. You take pity on him and reach out to him, asking him to kiss you. He jumps at the opportunity and lays down beside you, pulling your face closer to his as he hungrily kisses you. Tongues clashing, you both fight for dominance, not wanting him to win you over.

Jaehyun slides in and you gasp against Jaemin's lips, knowing it was coming but you still weren't ready for it. He grips your waist as you wrap your legs around him, pushing into you with such force that you can't even kiss Jaemin properly any more. Jaehyun starts to get lost in the way your pussy clenches so tightly around him. "Damn, your pussy feels so good baby," Jaehyun moans, watching the way your breasts bounce with each thrust. You pull away from Jaemin's lips, but keep eye contact with him as Jaehyun fucks you senseless. Jaemin is rock hard by now, watching your face contort in pleasure while still looking him in the eyes, pleading silently for him to do something to you. He can tell you want Jaehyun but that you also want him just as much, which prompts him to undress and kneel on the bed, member in hand, waiting for you to take him.

Jaehyun pulls out and flips you on your stomach. You immediately get on all fours, moaning as he pushes back in again and look at Jaemin, sticking your tongue out for him to fuck your mouth. He swears, taking in the image of you getting fucked by one of his best friends but still begging for him like the slut you are. "You look so pretty like this," Jaemin says, pushing all the way in to your mouth. You gag a bit, but you want him to be rough with you. Jaehyun is fucking you so hard you moan on Jaemin's dick, making him close his eyes and revel in the way your perfect little mouth is making him feel so good. Jaehyun slaps your ass so hard, you can't help but pause on Jaemin's dick a bit, waiting for the sting to turn into pleasure. He does it again and again, and you cry out, your head falling onto the bed, unable to keep Jaemin in your mouth.

"What's wrong baby girl? You said you liked it earlier," Jaehyun mocks you, pulling your hair up so that you can face Jaemin again. "Be a good slut and suck his dick."

You take Jaemin into your mouth again, unable to deny him when he's looking at you like you're the sexiest person he's ever seen, taking two dicks at once. You feel so full, so fucked out, so good that you can't focus on either of them. You look up at Jaemin, who's pushing further and further into your mouth, fucking your mouth just as hard as Jaehyun is fucking your pussy. You don't want either of them to stop but you don't know how much longer you can go. Your body is about to give out, and Jaehyun can feel your knees starting to fall on the bed.

"We never said we were done, don't act like you can't take it princess," Jaehyun and Jaemin both pull out of you and you collapse, trying to catch your breath. Jaemin takes the initiative, laying down in front of you. "Ride me baby."

You regain feeling in your legs and climb on top of Jaemin, sinking down on his dick as his hands move to your ass. You rest your palms beside his head, moving your hips up and down slowly. You squeeze around him and he lets out a sigh. "God, you're still so tight even after that fucking Jaehyun gave you." His hands caress your sore cheeks, still red and left with hand marks. Jaehyun watches the two of you, paying close attention to the way your pussy grips Jaemin's dick as you ride him. "She's doing so well, isn't she Jaemin?"

"She's the best I've ever had, can't get enough," he responds, looking at you sweetly. This is the first time you've seen him look at you in that way, and you realize you can't deny it either, no matter how much he's annoyed you in the past few days you've spent together. You lean down, littering his neck with warm kisses. Your soft lips on his skin makes him burn up. "Jaemin, fuck me, make me yours," you whisper in his ear, quietly so that Jaehyun doesn't hear. The intimacy shared between you two, even with Jaehyun still in the room, makes you both insanely crazy for each other. He doesn't have to be told again. He holds your hips still, shifting his feet so that they're propped against the bed. He asks if you're ready, and you kiss him softly in response. He wastes no time, drilling into you, hitting your sweet spot with every thrust. He makes you scream his name, hugging your body close to his as he fucks you so hard your head is spinning. Jaehyun is sure you said something to Jaemin, but he couldn't make out what you said. He feels a slight tinge of jealousy, wanting to know what made Jaemin snap.

You can feel your orgasm coming, and with the way it's been building up since Jaemin ate you out and Jaehyun fucked you, you know it's gonna hit hard. "I'm gonna cum, will you make me cum baby?" you plead in Jaemin's ear, and he knows he's close too. Your pussy clenches around him, getting even tighter than before. "I'm close, you need to get off," he warns, but you don't want to. You look him the eyes, "It's okay." And with that, all his inhibitions go out the window. He brings his hand to your clit, rubbing fast and hard to get you to finish at the same time.

"Fuck, I'm cumming," you yell, throwing your head back as your orgasm washes over you. Jaemin's hips stutter as he lets out a string of moans, releasing his load in you. You both take a second to come down from your high, almost forgetting that Jaehyun was in the room until he grabs your hips, pulling you off of Jaemin and throwing you onto your back.

"What the fuck was that? Neither of you wanted to tell me you were about to cum?" He's beyond jealous now, wanting to be the first one to finish in you. Your mind is still cloudy and you can feel Jaemin's cum slipping out of you onto the bed. "Sorry bro," Jaemin chuckles with his half-ass apology. Jaehyun looks at you and you can only smile weakly at him. He spreads your legs apart and thrusts two fingers in, pushing Jaemin's cum back into your core. With your own arousal and Jaemin's, you're the wettest you've been all night. You whimper, still sensitive from the intense orgasm you just had.

"Oh baby, did you think that was the end of it?" Jaehyun quickly moves his fingers in and out of you, thumb rubbing your clit as you try to move away. "I can't take any more,” shaking your head weakly.

"You can and you will," he assures you, wanting to punish you for forgetting about him. His hand snakes up your body, gripping your throat firmly, making it hard for you to breathe. The lack of air and the way he's finger fucking you makes your head feel light. You love the short, sweet moment you had with Jaemin, but Jaehyun's roughness makes your body tingle in a different way. You enjoy them both, and soon you're becoming another mess underneath Jaehyun.

"Shit, Jaehyun don't stop please," you moan loudly, feeling another orgasm approaching. He removes his fingers from your core and you feel empty, a second high so close. He throws your left leg over his shoulder, holding the other leg down as he slides right in. You can't keep up with him, can't do anything but just take it, he's so good at abusing your pussy and you love it so much. His hand presses against your throat again and he's making you feel so delirious.

"I told you you could take it. Tell me you like it," he says harshly, letting go of your throat a bit so you could respond.

"Fuck, I love it," you pant, getting close again.

"What do you love?" he presses further, undoubtedly so Jaemin could hear. He scoffs in the background, knowing Jaehyun is doing it on purpose.

"I love it when you fuck me, you make me feel so good Jaehyun," you tell the truth, not wanting him to get any more jealous. He kisses you, the first time he's done that tonight. You hold his face, letting him take control of your lips, your body, your mind. You're drowning in the pleasure he's giving you, and you can tell he's close too.

"Cum in me baby," you whisper against his lips, wanting him to fill you up. 

"You’re too much for me sweetheart, I'm gonna cum, I'm gonna cum," he groans. You reach your second orgasm of the night, and this one is even more intense than before. Jaehyun watches as your eyes roll to the back of your head and your legs begin to shake as he stills in you, spilling his own load into you. Jaemin watches as both his cum and Jaehyun's leaks out of you.

Both Jaehyun and Jaemin take a moment to admire you looking absolutely delicious in your fucked out state. They look at each other, wondering if they were too hard on you.

"Was that too much?" Jaehyun asks, as he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, pulling you out of your trance. You feel their cum dripping, but as one last bold move, you spread your legs and gather a bit on your fingers, bringing it to your lips to let them know you loved every bit of it.

"You're so sexy, I might just have to go again," Jaehyun leans down to kiss you, telling you how you did so well for them. Jaemin is already running the shower for you so you can clean yourself up.

After your shower, you hear rustling downstairs and you're glad your friends didn't come back 10 minutes earlier. Jaemin's already taken the sheets off the bed to throw them in the washer. You and Jaehyun meet everyone downstairs, ready for dinner after everything that just happened.

"Hey, what have you guys been up to since we left?" Lucas asks, getting the grill ready for some Korean barbecue.

"We just played a few games in our room," Jaemin responds, giving you a wink. "Y/N thought she would win but me and Jaehyun put her in her place."

[jamaiskookie]

i would like more soundcloud rapper yoongi x idol y/n please it’s so cute

v-live alert! -myg

pairing: idol! y/n x soundcloud rapper! yoongi

wc; 2.9k

a/n: lots of you asked, and so you shall receive. ps, i wrote this really rushed but i kinda love it. lmk what you think, love you guys <3

[V LIVE] Surprise LIVE! 

the v-live notification. or, more accurately, the sound of war. alternatively, you dance around your studio on a livestream and yoongi has a mental breakdown. 

masterlist  PREV

“i miss you too!“ you say, replying to one of the first comments that pop up on the live.

you probably should’ve showered before going live... and you probably should’ve changed out of sweats. 

whatever.

it’s not like your fans haven’t seen this before.

half of your pre-debut pictures are just downright disgusting. 

the number of viewers on the top of your phone begins to climb up to the thousands, increasing every half a second. 

it always amazes you how many people show up to your lives. sometimes you wonder if your fans genuinely have nothing better to do. how do they always show up so fast?

the comments begin to flood with greetings and exclamations of ‘oh my god i’m so early!11!1’ and the multicoloured heart pop up on your screen, building up an impressive stream of likes. 

“where am i?“ you read through the comments and look around, as if you forgot where you were. “in the studio.“ you grin when the comments flood with questions asking if dreamcloud is getting new music.

you can’t answer, of course, but it’s fun to see. you squint at your phone, which is propped on an elaborate setup that you spent the past twenty minutes preparing. 

(three books on one eyeshadow palette and a selfie stick gingerly placed on a small stool)

((you pray to every deity out there that it won’t fall))

“i was just bored,“ you shrug, speaking to the screen. “so i decided to come on here and talk to you guys. how have you been?“ you ask. 

hundreds of comments answer. 

“i’m alright“

“i’m good!“

most of them contain some form of sappy declaration like ‘my day is much better now that you’re here!’ it makes you smile. how cute. 

the v-live notification. 

or, more accurately, the sound of war. 

that cursed, terrible ding! haunts yoongi’s darkest and most terrifying nightmares. the sheer amount of panic that rushes through his veins when he hears that godforsaken noise, god. 

the number of lives he’s missed- yoongi can’t even bear to think about it. 

so maybe it was a blessing in disguise that yoongi put his phone on do not disturb so he didn’t have to hear that disgusting sound. instead, he found out the news via a gorilla’s screech.

“Y/N’S LIVE RIGHT NOW STARTED FOURTY SECONDS AGO HURRY UP YOONGI GET YOUR ASS UP AND STOP STUDYI-“ jimin yells from his room down the hall. 

yoongi almost falls out of his chair scrambling to get to his phone. it’s not like he was really studying anyways- more like using his pencils to tap out a cool-sounding beat on his desk out of boredom. 

watching your live > passing his music theory class.

priorities. 

with shaky hands, he grabs at his phone, slumping onto the floor and he sees the familiar blue icon with the notification popped up on the screen. 

[V LIVE] Surprise LIVE! Y/N: let’s chat <3

an unnatural squeak that slightly resembles the sound a mouse slips out of yoongi’s mouth.

even when he was a baby starrie and was glued to his phone at all times, he’s never been this early to a live. he unlocks his phone, cursing his momentary clumsiness. he clicks into the live, smiling when your beaming face blasts up on his screen. 

you haven’t gone live in so long- it’s nice to see your face again. 

“- how have you been?“ 

“good.“ yoongi types out in the comment box, mumbling the words as he’s typing. “way better now that you’re live.“ sometimes yoongi cringes at himself when he types these things. i mean, who could possibly guess that min yoongi, resident scary-emo-couldslapyouintheface bad boy socially un-responsible simped over a k-pop idol?

he can already see his reputation go down the drain. 

he also wonders what it says about himself that he’s a 20-something college student who’s life practically revolves around you, an idol who’s just about a year younger than him.

but dreamcloud is a part of his identity now. he identifies as a starrie no matter what. you know how the old saying goes-

once you stan, you can’t unstan. or something like that, he’s honestly not sure. 

you tuck your head onto your hand, diligently trying to keep up with all the comment. with a gasp, you nod at something. “oh, you’re right, user yoonalova98!” - that’s another thing special about you. whenever you read out comments, you also read out the username of whoever wrote it. 

you explained in one interview- that it’s cooler to give credit and talk to your fans as if you’re just chatting as friend. saying the username feels like you’re saying their names. 

what kind of lucky fan would get their comment read aloud by Y/N?

ugh. 

yoongi blinks when he remembers that technically, he’s sort of part of this group of elite, recognised fans. 

his twitter stan account got almost five thousand more followers after Y/N replied to his selca. the post itself has tons and tons of likes and retweets. 

insane, that Y/N- Y/N herself- knows of his existence. Y/N- the love of his life, has seen his FACE. she commented three HEART emojis below a selfie that he took. 

if he thinks about it too much, he’ll start feeling faint again.  

“our anniversary is coming up soon! i can’t believe it’s been three years already. time does pass by when you’re having fun.“ you say. yoongi thinks that it’s rather ironic that you would forget your anniversary, when yoongi’s had a calendar countdown to January 14th since the beginning of september. 

“ahh,“ you say, leaning in closer to the screen. “from user lialiarach, ‘did you watch jisoo unnie’s acting debut’ - i did! we all watched it and cheered her on during the premiere!“ 

jisoo’s new drama is good. it’s a fantasy-horror blend, and he, jimin, namjoon and jin finished all 16 episodes in two days when streaming hit Netflix. 

your head tilts and you smile. “song recommendations?” you wonder aloud, and yoongi scrambles to get a pen and notepad out. you don’t do ‘y/n’s listening parties’ as much anymore, but your taste in music is impeccable and he collects all the songs in a playlist. 

it’s called ‘wedding tunes’ (jimin named it, not him, yoongi swears) 

everytime he tries to change it back, it somehow switches back to wedding tunes the next day. 

it’s disturbing how good jimin is at this kind of stuff. hopefully yoongi won’t have to bail him out of jail one day. 

“okay!“ you say, pulling your laptop open. you hum as you scroll through some page that yoongi can’t see- and he anxiously waits for the first song to be played with twitchy hands and a strong grip on his pen. 

the first bar plays out and yoongi’s already in love.

“this is,“ you say over the music, double checking just to make sure. “don’t need your love by NCT...“ you squint. god knows there are too many NCT members. “dream! NCT dream featuring HRVY.“ 

“NCT dream...“ yoongi mumbles to himself, writing the song down on the notepad. 

“you know,“ you say over the music, spinning in your chair and nodding to the beat. “i’ve only met the NCT guys a couple times at music shows and such but they’re all so nice. i can’t remember all their names, but i’m decently familiar with their faces. how do they even have 23 members? how does it all work??“ 

you dance around the studio, singing along nonsensical lyrics that don’t make sense but sort of fit the rhythm of the song (??) 

“don’t need your loo-ooove-!!! dum dum duhhhh duhros noya!!!” yoongi stifles a laugh. there’s a reason why you constantly forget lyrics on stage. 

which is quite ironic, actually, because half the time you’re forgetting the lyrics to a song you wrote yourself. 

afterwards, you play all the hidden gems- and yoongi’s proud to say he’s familiar with quite a few of them. 

airplane by j-hope (a youtube star turned successful rapper-vocalist-dancer)

sweet night by v (the internet’s resident eye-candy)

and then you continue to scroll through your laptop, biting your lip and murmuring quietly to yourself. you glance once back at your phone screen. 

okay, listen.

yoongi knows that he’s delusional, okay?

but everytime you look straight in the screen it’s almost like you’re looking directly at the camera it’s almost like you’re staring into his soul. which makes zero sense, but it still makes his heart skip a beat.

let him dream, please

“what am i scrolling through?“ you say, reciting a question from the chat. “soundcloud, user chachachae.“ 

soundcloud? 

oh.

that’s pretty cool.

he didn’t know you had a soundcloud account!

you usually post all your covers and random shorts to instagram or another one of your personal blogs. 

for a moment, yoongi indulges himself by wondering if you’d ever listened to his music. his soundcloud account is linked in his twitter bio, after all... 

but he shakes those thoughts away as fast as they came. he doesn’t need to entertain himself with such silly thoughts. 

“ooh, this one’s good!“ you say, clicking onto something. 

still with you by JAYKAY (pffftt haihdkahjd) starts playing and you lean back, humming along. yoongi knows this one too!! now he’s 3 for 3!! he and you do share a similar taste in music, so maybe it does make sense. 

even though you’re actually main vocalist and lead dancer, you do listen to a lot of rap music. but the music you make is nothing like the old school hip hop tracks that yoongi is partial to. 

the music you make- how can he explain it? 

sweet like honey with a little bit of tang. 

like barbecue honey!!!!

ok that was a bad analogy. 

all of his favourite dreamcloud tracks are written by you- cloud nine, up in the sky, are u still here, quicksand- the list goes on and on and on. 

it’s like listening to your voice solves anything he goes against. bad day? dreamcloud. something to celebrate? blast your debut song. in need of a party song? easy fix. he gets aux cord rights? (granted, this doesn’t happen very often, since seokjin insists that his music taste is superior to his friends.) but anyways, y/n can fix it. 

listening to your voice feels comforting. it invokes something in him that he honestly cannot explain with words. you’re his inspiration. not just in music- but in life. he admires how you’re able to smile through anything, how you take responsibility for your own actions. 

he admires your kind heart, which offers generosity and forgiveness to even the most underserving people. 

he admires your passion, for music, for your members, for the smallest things. he admires how you’ll love everyone and anyone. 

even though he’s never really met you, he feels like he knows you. he wishes he could, anyways. he wants to thank the person who’s gotten him through such bad days. 

yoongi curses himself again for being so delusional. 

he keeps telling himself that he can’t get so attached. then he’ll end up like one of those creepy fans who are convinced their idols actually like them. 

blech.

“okay, next song!“ you exclaim cheerfully. “i really like this one, guys. he’s this soundcloud star. he makes really cool music.“ yoongi readies his pen. if this person really is a soundcloud star, then there’s a high chance yoongi knows of him. a smaller chance that he actually knows the guy personally; either online or from real life. 

you press the space bar almost obnoxiously, like you’re about to reveal something grand. you look into the camera, and you lock eyes with yoongi- through that cursed, horrible screen. 

the first note plays and yoongi thinks that it sounds... oddly familiar, actually. for a moment, he sighs in disappointment. this one doesn’t sound as great as the previous few songs. almost like it’s incomplete, imperfect. something about it bugs him at the very bottom of his gut. 

jimin figures it out before he does. 

“AHHHHHHHHH YOONGI!!! OH MY GOD-!!!! YOONGI ARE YOU SEEING THIS? YOONGI!! HYUNG!“ yoongi grumbles, wondering what the hell jimin is screeching about now. 

“oh, for fuck’s sake,“ he mumbles. the difference between him and jimin is the way they express their emotions. while yoongi bottles it all up, choosing to deal with things alone and slump around, jimin has no other choice but to scream things out. it’s a wonder they’re such good friends, really. “what is it now?“ yoongi mutters to himself. 

“yeah yeah, a gentle breeze- “ and then it hits him. all at once. 

“holy fucking shit.“ he whispers to himself, slumping down on the floor. he can barely hear what you say next.

“this song is called people by agust d. he goes by the name suga on social media-!“ yoongi falls down, gasping for air. “i’m a fan,“ you remark casually. “mr. suga producer-nim!! i’m your fan! please continue to make good music!“ you chuckle. “what am i doing right now? he probably isn’t even watching.“ you stare innocently at the phone camera, as if you don’t even know that you’re changing someone’s life right now. 

out of his peripheral vision, he can see jimin rushing into the room, crouching next to him and placing a hand on his back, murmuring something yoongi can’t hear through the sound of his sobs. 

huh. when did he even start crying?

“he makes rap and really cool hip hop music. you guys should give him a listen. his lyrics are really meaningful, too.“ you nod along, reciting the lyrics word for word- even though you really can’t rap. 

“what kind of person am I? am I a good person? or a bad person? many of ways to judge just a person. everyone will live on, everyone will love, everyone will fade away“ you headbang along to the beat. 

yoongi slides down the wall inch by inch. he wonders if he’ll faint or vomit first.

other people seem to make fun of people like him- people who find solace in idols, in music. that’s partially why he doesn’t like disclosing the fact that he’s a diehard fan of an idol girl group. 

but in hindsight, that’s so stupid. who gives two fucks about his interests? hell, yoongi’s been depressed half his life. and if a group of girls who sing songs and perform make him feel better, what’s so wrong with that?

 jimin’s voice is a little clearer now, and so is yours. you’re singing along to the lyrics- the lyrics that he wrote. the lyrics that he spent hours agonising over, wondering whether his shortcomings and anxiety in his life were worth posting on the internet for his measly following to see. 

wondering if the music he made had any impact at all, if one day he might see his dream come true, to see his music being played in public. wondering if anyone might hear his songs and think that it helped them get over a bad day. just like you have for him. 

yoongi’s sobs wrack through his body, tears flowing freely on his face. he’s crying hard. ugly crying, like a baby throwing a temper tantrum. his cries echo through the room. if he could see himself right now...

well, he doesn’t want to think about it. he’s sure it’s not a pretty view. 

jimin looks over him, smiling proudly. his eyes are glassy, and he tucks yoongi’s head in his chest, putting his arms around him and embracing him. 

yoongi’s shoulders shake. if it was any other day, he would usher jimin out the room. he hates it when people see him being vulnerable. even his own family hasn’t seen him cry that much. 

but right now, he can’t bring himself to do anything but cry. other people may ask why this is such a big deal, why someone emotionally constipated like min yoongi would cry like this for such a small matter. 

this, he doesn’t know how to explain either. 

all he can think about is how much it means to him. that someone he admires so much is now, in turn, saying his music- no, his life- is good. nothing much else. but just knowing that you’ve listened to his work, that you know of his alter ego’s name...

his crying sounds grow larger. 

jimin pets at his hair. “shh,” he murmurs. “it’s okay.” jimin’s voice also grows a little shaky. he tears up, but continues to comfort the crying boy in his arms. “you did it, hyung. it’s okay. you made it. you did it. why are you crying? this is good news! this is so great! i’m proud of you, we’re all so proud of you.” 

yoongi tries to speak; it doesn’t go very well. but when he tries again, he manages to choke something out. 

“i did it.“ he says, before burying his face back into jimin’s hug. the two boys sit on the ground, crying together. an hour passes, then two. 

slowly, yoongi drifts off to bed on the ground, the melody of his own song blended with sound of your voice echoing in his head. 

my ordinary became your special, my special became your ordinary. so what? what if you just brush by? what if you get hurt? sometimes you might get hurt again, sometimes you might shed tears. so what? so what if you live like that? 

~ people by agust d

tags; @jksbbyfacebunny @extremeobsessions101​​ @dwcljh​ @stonyiscanon​ @bishuthot​ @s0seo​ @cecedrake2217​ 

[lesyah]

moshang childhood friends to lovers au pt. 3

Hello! here is a fic that was posted to my twitter. it has songs to go along with it from my twitter. If you’d like to look at the songs for each part, or just check out my twitter (where I have threadfics and other twitter fics not posted here), feel free to do so!

part 3 [age 17]

“Do you know what you’re doing for school next year?” Shen Yuan asked, unpacking a wrapped up lunch box Luo Binghe had given him. Shang Qinghua watched him untie it and take apart the box. 

“Not really,” he said, resting his chin in his hand as he stared down at the food. Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan weren’t dating, but neither were very subtle with their affections. Shang Qinghua took every opportunity to make fun of him. “Did he drop food off at your house today? To take to my house?”

Shen Yuan grabbed his chopsticks and began eating. “No, he gave it to me yesterday.”

“Why’d he pack you food yesterday?”

“Because we’re hanging out today.”

Like that made sense. Shang Qinghua let it go. Shen Yuan was so spoiled that he had gotten to the point where he found Luo Binghe normal. It was hard to tease someone who was convinced nothing was amiss.

“So you have a year left to decide what you want to do with your life and you have no idea what that looks like?” Shen Yuan continued, voice muffled by the food in his mouth.

“Nope,” Shang Qinghua said brightly, picking up a clementine slice that was being used as ears to a little rice puppy. 

Shen Yuan swatted his hand away and pulled his lunch closer to himself.

“Mobei says he’s interested in some kind of natural science.”

Shen Yuan chewed his food and stared at him. When he swallowed, he had a condescending look on his face. “I didn’t ask about Mobei. I asked about you.”

Shang Qinghua blinked a few times and leaned back in his chair. He sighed and folded his legs underneath himself. “Isn’t that sort of the same thing?”

Shen Yuan studied him. “I guess. Is that what you want?”

“Sometimes.”

“And other times?”

“Other times I think I’m insane. That I’m digging a deeper hole for myself. It’s comfortable there, though, you know?”

Shen Yuan looked thoughtful, but also much too pitying. “Qinghua, I don’t get why you don’t just ask him if he feels the same way—”

“Haha,” Shang Qinghua said loudly, leaning away from the table. “I think that is very easy for you to say as you peacefully eat the five star meal your boyfriend made you.”

He flushed. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Oh?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Shang Qinghua laughed and leaned back in. 

Shen Yuan had a few more bites, looking affronted, but slowly softening again as he ate. He looked up after a couple minutes. “Just tell him. Or, at least, stop feeding it. Broaden your social circle or something.”

Shang Qinghua shook his head. “No. No, I’m fine. He’s all I need.”

“I beg to differ,” Shen Yuan muttered, biting into the rice puppy. “All you do is sit around and pine for him.”

“Not true.”

“So true.”

Shang Qinghua scowled at him. His phone buzzed. He pulled it out and opened a photo Mobei Jun had just sent him. It was a picture of Luo Binghe on the ground, evidently after just falling. He snorted, showed Shen Yuan, and laughed as he was scolded for always bullying Luo Binghe with Mobei Jun. Shang Qinghua sent back copious crying laughing emojis and settled back into his seat as Shen Yuan continued to grumble.

Yeah. This was all he needed. 

He waited until the TV turned off and the footsteps sounded down the hall to his mom’s room. It was late—the early hours of the morning—when Shang Qinghua’s mom finally went to bed. She tended to stay awake until she was dead on her feet. Shang Qinghua felt for her, but sometimes he just wished that it could be quiet. He just wanted it quiet. 

He gave it a few more minutes before he knew she was probably sleeping already. He pulled on a light jacket, though the summer air was likely a little warm. He pulled on his shoes and left the house. He pulled his phone out as he snuck through the now-silent house. He opened the door and slipped outside, typing with one hand. 

Leaving now.

He sent the message and slipped his phone back into his pocket. The street was silent, just as his house now was. He could hear a light buzzing from the electrical wires above his head, but it was quiet enough that it was somewhat relaxing. 

Shang Qinghua zipped his jacket up halfway when a gentle breeze blew towards him. He put his hands in his pockets as he neared the small park. He went straight towards the patch of grass at the end, one of the only parts of the entire place that wasn’t covered in wood chips or dirt. He flopped onto his back, starfished on the grass. He stared up at the sky and found respite in the way the clouds were wispy and gray, a watercolor against the deep blue.

It wasn’t easy to see the stars with the light pollution, but he was far enough from the main cities that he could see a hint of them, like he was looking at space through a piece of wax paper. 

He didn’t know how long it had been when another body settled beside his on the grass. Mobei Jun laid a bit further below him, so he could be beside him but not on top of his arm. Shang Qinghua brought his arms back inward and scooted down so their heads were level. The grass was cooler there, where he hadn’t warmed it with his body heat. 

“I didn’t know if you’d see my message. You weren’t asleep?”

“No,” Mobei Jun said, moving to put his hands behind his head. “You weren’t asleep either.”

“Nope,” Shang Qinghua agreed, looking back up at the sky. 

“Why’d you come?”

Shang Qinghua shrugged a little. “Dunno. Just felt like I needed it. The quiet, I mean.”

“You left while your mom was still awake?”

He smiled a little. “No, she had just gone to bed.”

The question was there, but was left unspoken. 

Shang Qinghua blinked a few times, eyes tracking the movement of the clouds as they slowly revealed the moon. “Maybe it was me who was being loud.”

Mobei Jun turned his head to look at him. Shang Qinghua turned his own head to meet his gaze. He removed one arm from behind his head and put his elbow back down by his side. He held his forearm out, hand open. Shang Qinghua grasped it and Mobei Jun settled their hands between them. 

It was quiet.

[hutchhitched]

Screw West

Written by: @hutchhitched​

Prompt 137: Friends to lovers road trip au! Katniss wants to take a summer off to explore the country, Peeta volunteers to go with her. Bonus points if one of them is an absolutely oblivious idiot. [submitted by anonymous]

Ratings/Warnings: T

A/N: I’m continuing to post the nine @everlarkficexchange prompts I took and then sat on throughout the early months of the pandemic. Usually, I travel a lot during the summer, but not so much in 2020. Instead, I wrote this story for you. Enjoy!

___________

  Peeta Mellark sifted through a stack of notes and sighed in frustration. “None of this makes sense anymore,” he grunted. “I thought the point of planning this was to have a, I don’t know, plan or something.”

 Katniss Everdeen, his best friend since their freshman biology class a million years ago, looked at him in amusement and rolled her eyes.

 “I thought you were supposed to be the spontaneous one in this friendship, Mellark” she laughed. “I promised you a road trip, but only if you’ll help me figure out some kind of time frame for when we’ll be back. I have lesson plans to write for the fall, you know. Some of us actually have a schedule. I know this was my idea, but you did agree to join me.”

 Peeta grinned at her mischievous smile and shrugged. He’d been hopelessly in love with her since forever, and she had no idea how excited he was that she’d agreed to him accompanying her on her trip. The fact that she’d told him she wanted to take the summer to explore the US, and he’d called in every favor he could at his job to make this happen was something he’d never admit. He’d had to lobby his editor pretty hard to convince him that Peeta could write his column remotely and that doing so from different tourist destinations would actually strengthen his following rather than diminish it. Haymitch Abernathy only budged when the newspaper’s owner, Effie Trinket, pressured him to agree. Peeta wasn’t about to question Haymitch’s approval. With orders to keep the costs to a minimum and turn in his stuff on time, his boss had told him to report back after Labor Day.

 So, he’d broached the subject with Katniss, hoping she hadn’t been joking when she said she wanted to head out and see all the things she’d never had a chance to in her childhood. He’d been absolutely ecstatic when she’d hugged him hard and thanked him for being her road trip buddy across America. The problem was they had no idea where they were going, no concrete plan, and absolutely no idea how to make a firm decision.

 “Maybe we could start on the East Coast and work our way south first,” he suggested, but she shook her head.

 “I think I’ve done that. I mean, we both grew up in the Appalachians. Didn’t you see about as much of the eastern seaboard as you’ve ever wanted to? I haven’t been to Florida, but it seems kinda similar to the outer banks in North Carolina and the Low Country in South Carolina and Georgia. I’ve definitely been there.”

 “Yeah, I guess you’re right, but it seems like a waste to head due west when we’ve got the time to ramble a bit.”

 “Screw west? What?”

 “Due, Katniss. Due west.”

 “Ah. That makes more sense.” She nodded thoughtfully, but then made a note. “Maybe we can swing back through the South on the way home later in the summer?”

 “Sounds good,” he agreed. “So, we’re going north first?”

 “Maybe just west like you said? I don’t know. I want to see what’s on the other side of the mountains. I’ve never been further than Pittsburgh that direction, and that’s just kind of sad.”

 “So, we’re going to drive through flyover country.”

 “Exactly. Something’s gotta be there, huh?”

 “I guess we’ll figure out why everybody calls it that, anyway.”

 Katniss flipped through an outdated atlas for a few minutes and finally shoved it to the side. She turned her body toward him, and he looked at her, desperately trying to hide his affection. He felt like a heart eye emoji every time she was in the same room.

 “I think we ought to just pack for every situation we can fathom, get in the car tomorrow morning, and start driving. We’ll figure it out then. And we’ll be together, so it can’t be that bad, right?”

 “Right,” he breathed, his heart caught in his chest. “I guess I better go home and pack. Pick you up at 8:00 tomorrow?”

 She leaned over and gave him a hug that made him want to bury his face in her neck and press kisses there until she moaned his name.

 “See you then.”

 He left shortly afterward, walking to his car with a pang in his stomach. He was headed out on an unplanned road trip with the love of his life, and she had no idea how he felt. He had only one thought as he started the car and headed home.

 “I am so screwed.”

 ****

 Bleary-eyed and anxious, Peeta pulled into the Katniss’ driveway at 7:58 am the next morning and honked lightly on the horn. He knew she was up since she’d texted him three times asking him if he was awake and on the way and, oh, would he stop by their favorite coffee shop and pick up pastries and espresso? If he wasn’t half in love with her (okay, completely in love with her), he would have turned off his phone and gone back to sleep.

 Except he wouldn’t. He’d jump out of bed every single day just for a glimpse of her, and that was more truth than he ever wanted to admit when it appeared she had no interest in him outside of their very close friendship.

 Heaving a sigh, he climbed from the car and bounded up the steps to her door to knock three times in rapid succession. It opened, and Peeta had to bite the inside of his right cheek not to embarrass her by telling her how gorgeous she looked. Because she did. She was sleep rumpled, but her face was lit up with excitement. So excited she was practically wiggling, she flung herself at him for a massive hug and then motioned him inside.

 “Are you taking all that?” he asked when he spied the mound of luggage by the door. Or a pile of random stuff was maybe a better way to describe it. There were a couple of boxes, a cooler, a duffel bag, a backpack, and two grocery bags stuffed full of shoes and what looked like swimming paraphernalia.

 She shrugged and walked down the hall to the bathroom. “I packed up some snacks and things I thought we might want, and I have my electronics and some books, and we agreed to pack for any occasion, so I’ve got swimming stuff and a couple of jackets if it gets cold in the mountains, and who knows how hot it’ll get? And hiking boots. I want to do everything, Peeta. Ev-er-y-thing!”

 And could he help it if that shot straight to his dick? Because he wanted to try everything, too, except he wanted to try it all with her. Naked and in bed. Kissing and rubbing together and—

 “I’m so screwed,” he whispered before grabbing her backpack and cooler and stalking out to the car.

 ****

 Katniss hopped into the passenger’s seat with a wide smile and bounced a few times before fastening her seatbelt. She turned to him, glanced at the backseat to make sure she could access everything they might need in the new few hundred miles, and crowed, “Road trip!”

 He couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. It was adorable—she was adorable—and he was suddenly flush with eagerness to spend the next few weeks with her. They hadn’t really decided on how long this would go, just that they would be together and make it up as they went along, but he hoped he had at least three weeks since he had the okay from work to be gone the entire summer. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could stretch it into a month or more. Like Katniss, he hadn’t seen much of the US past the Appalachians, and he was looking forward to discovering what the nation had to offer.

 “So, where are we headed?” he asked, his foot on the brake and hand on the gear shift. She laughed and leaned into his shoulder. He gulped and swallowed hard at the feel of her soft skin against his arm.

 “I thought maybe we’d head out of town first,” she teased.

 He shot her a wry smile and rolled his eyes. “Yes, thank you. Very informative, as always. Which highway?”

 She turned fully to face him and tucked her left leg up on the seat. Her eyes sparkled, and she leaned toward him as she wiggled in her seat.

 “Where have you always wanted to go?”

 “Anywhere with you,” he said softly and then snapped his mouth shut. He hadn’t meant to say it, but she was so adorable. She’d never understood the effect she had on him, but he was powerless to resist her pull. Whatever power she had over him had only grown over time, and he wanted to spend every day of the rest of his life with her. If not that, then he wanted to freeze this very moment in time and live in it forever.

 “So kind,” she scoffed, “but I’m serious, Peeta. I’ve never been further west than Pittsburgh, unless Nashville counts. What’s out there, anyway?”

 “I have no idea,” he murmured, but that didn’t matter to him. What he wanted was right in the car with him, even if she had no idea how he felt, or how he’d felt about her for the past ten years.

 With a shrug, he put the car in reverse, backed out of her driveway, and headed for I-64. After all, it took them due west.

 ****

 Peeta glanced over at the woman sitting in the passenger seat and asked for what felt like the hundredth time, “Okay?”

 Katniss nodded, the ghost of a smile twitching on her lips. The windows were partially down, and a breeze blew through the locks of hair that had escaped from her braid. They were somewhere in central Kentucky, and he felt like he’d won the lottery.

 Lush forests of deciduous trees graced the sides of steeply sloped mountains that fell to a valley in which the interstate bordered a swiftly flowing river. Wildflowers sprung from cracks in rock along the side of the road, and the air smelled fresh, a little like spring and also a bit similar to a summer barbeque right before a thunderstorm. It was humid and sticky, but the circulation kept them from sweating too much. Besides, they were saving a shit ton of gas by not running the air conditioner.

 “Want me to drive?” she asked, and he glanced over at her. Her cheek rested against the headrest as she looked at him, and his stomach dropped to his knees. She was so beautiful.

 “At the next stop, sure,” he managed and shifted in his seat. If he left himself, he’d start imagining scenarios that would only get him in trouble—some in which she leaned over and did more with her mouth than talking, and that seemed disrespectful to his friend.

 “How much longer do you want to go today? I mean, the whole point of this is to see what’s out there, and we won’t be able to when it gets darker.”

 “Is there some place you want to stop? Anything catching your eye?”

 “Not really. This is pretty, but we don’t have to stay on the interstates if you don’t want to. They make the trip faster, but that’s not really the point, is it?”

 He nodded and watched the signs for a few miles before signaling and exiting. He needed to use the restroom, and he wanted to take a look at the map and figure out where exactly they were in relations to a place he’d gone with his family when he was young. They were in the general vicinity of somewhere that held special memories for him, and he wanted to make some new ones with his best friend.

 Once they were back in the car, Katniss in the driver’s seat this time, he handed her the keys and suggested they head south on the highway instead of getting on the entrance ramp. When her eyes sparkled, he knew he’d made the right suggestion. They’d been traveling for over five hours, and they’d done nothing more than watch the scenery pass outside the window. It was time to be part of it.

 It took another 45 minutes or so until he saw the sign, and he directed her to the second exit into Daniel Boone National Forest. Back when he was younger and his parents still pretended to like each other, they’d taken a family vacation and stayed at the park for a few days. He and his two brothers had hiked and played happily for hours, and that time was still one of his favorite memories from when his family was together.

 “It’s beautiful,” Katniss gasped as she pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car. “We’re going for a hike, right?”

 “Yeah, sure. I mean, if you want to. I came here with my family when I was younger, and that trail has a little waterfall at the end, if I remember right.”

 They changed quickly into their hiking boots and set off through the woods. It wasn’t a tough hike over slightly sloped and fairly wide space. They met other couples and families, many holding hands, and Peeta yearned to reach for Katniss and walk with her hand folded against his. They got to the waterfall by late afternoon and took the time to sit quietly and listen to the wind in the trees. Visitors popped in and out, but they didn’t mind the intrusions. Eventually, each left, and they had the place to themselves for a little while before another group stumbled into the clearing to see the falling water. Eventually, though, the sun dropped further in the sky, and Peeta suggested they head back to the car, find a place to stay for the night so they could shower, and then grab dinner. The snacks they’d had in the car during the drive just wouldn’t satisfy him after such a long day.

 It took a little while, but they finally stumbled upon a small mom and pop hotel in a tiny out of the way town. Peeta offered to get their luggage while Katniss checked them in, so when he followed her to room 415, he wasn’t prepared for what faced him. Katniss worked the key (an actual key, not a keycard) into the lock and opened the door. Her surprised, “oh!” should have been enough for him to figure it out, but he still gaped when he stepped into the room and saw…

 There was only one bed.

 Flustered, he offered to ask for another room, but Katniss waved him off like it didn’t matter. She reminded him that they’d fallen asleep on the couch together dozens of times since they’d known each other.

 “This won’t be any different,” she insisted and grabbed her toiletry bag and some fresh clothes. “I’m going to shower, and then you promised me dinner.”

 Peeta watched her retreating back and sank onto the lone bed. Bouncing a little bit on the firm mattress, he looked to the ceiling and whispered, “I’m so screwed.”

 ****

 Dinner was lovely, if Peeta said so himself, and he did. It wasn’t much, really just a local family diner with a menu focused on home cooking and large portions, but it left them both full and satisfied. Better than that, they’d talked a lot. It probably helped that they were facing instead of sitting next to each other in the car. He was grateful for the laughs and intimacy over the meal, but now he sat on the edge of the mattress, his leg shaking as he waited for Katniss to finish in the bathroom.

 Because, did he mention? There was only one bed.

 The bathroom door opened, and he shot up to standing. Katniss tossed him a distracted smile as she crossed the room. She wore ragged sweats and wrinkled t-shirt he’d seen her in a hundred times, so at least he didn’t have to worry about her wearing some sort of lingerie (not that he would have expected that since they’d always planned to share a hotel room, if not a bed).

 “I’ll just…” He trailed off and waved toward the bathroom, and she nodded while scrolling through her phone.

 He stared at himself in the mirror and berated the image there for being so awkward. This was Katniss. They’d been friends for forever, and he loved her deeply. This wasn’t that big of a deal. She’d camped out on his couch dozens of times, and they’d woken up together with no problem at all. There was no reason to think this would be any different.

 The light was off in the room when he emerged from the bathroom and made his way to his side of the bed. Carefully, he pulled back the covers and climbed in, careful to keep himself on his half. When he was settled on his back, he glanced over at Katniss to see her back to him.

 “G’night,” she murmured, and he returned the sentiment before nestling below the covers and falling asleep after several long minutes during which he cursed his overactive imagination.

 He slept dreamless until just before waking, when he envisaged driving a car through a red-sanded desert. The car sped down a hill, and he pressed the brake a few times before admitting to himself that they weren’t working. Panicked, he looked to his right to see Katniss with a smile on her face as the wind blew through her hair. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as they charged toward a rock wall.

 Bolting upright in bed, he gasped and shook at the vividness of the dream. Katniss still slept next to him, her hair splayed around her head on the pillow and her legs tangled with his. She remained on her side of the bed otherwise. She hadn’t cuddled into him overnight, and he wondered if he should be relieved or disappointed. He decided to allow himself a little of both and quietly untangled himself from her and made his way to the bathroom. The last thing he needed was for Katniss to wake before he could get his anatomy under control.

 Once the door was closed behind him, he breathed out for several seconds. His morning wood was uncomfortable, so he spent a few minutes attempting to quell it. Unfortunately, his mind continually flitted to the image of Katniss lying in the bed, her face angelic, and her hair fashioning a halo around her head. After a few minutes, he turned on the shower and stepped inside. Cold water should do the trick.

 A few minutes later, he was clean and completely unsatisfied but in control ready for breakfast. Katniss sat on the edge of the bed, bleary-eyed and grumpy. When he greeted her, she grunted and stumbled to the bathroom without a word.

 “So, further west today?” he asked when they had checked out and snagged a booth at the local Waffle House. He’d forgotten how good and cheap the breakfasts were there, and he inhaled a stack of pancakes and some ham while she picked at an omelet. He studied her over his coffee and then stole a sip of her orange juice. When she didn’t protest, he nudged her foot with his. “What’s wrong?”

 She shook herself and managed a wan smile. “Nothing. Just tired. I didn’t sleep great last night.”

 “We don’t have to go as far today. We can take it easy.”

 “Sure. That sounds good. I’ll take the first shift.”

 She drove silently, while he studied the map, both physical and on his phone. He guided her back to the interstate and then pulled out his laptop and typed a few notes. They helped him organize his thoughts and gave him an excuse to stay quiet.

 “What’s there to see in Paducah?” she asked, startling him from his bubble.

 He shrugged and typed the city into his phone. He glanced at the map for a few seconds and then offered, “There’s a local brewery. We could check it out. Stay there tonight. Not in the brewery. In Paducah, I mean.”

 That turned out to be the perfect plan. They checked into a hotel (two beds this time) and walked several blocks to the brewery where they found a table and ordered. The beer helped them both relax, and it wasn’t long before they were chatting and laughing like normal.

 “So, Paducah’s now the furthest west you’ve ever been. Feel any different?”

 “Totally. My life is complete.” When he laughed, she continued, “I mean, no. It doesn’t feel much different. What does feel new is this trip at all. I’ve never really done this—strike out on a whim and let the road take me where it wants to. It feels good to let go of all that control. Thanks for giving me the chance to do that.”

 “Of course. I’d do anything for you. You know that.”

 “Uh, I hate to tell you this, but there’s a woman over there that looks like she really wants to do a few things to you,” Katniss said and pointed her half-empty glass over his shoulder. He glanced behind him and gulped.

 “Wow. She’s undressing me with her eyes, isn’t she? That’s bold, since I’m here with you.”

 “Yeah, but you’re not really here with me, are you? I can make myself scarce if you want to…” she trailed off suggestively, and he fought to keep his face blank. He didn’t need another reminder that she didn’t see him as anything more than a friend, but here it was. God, it hurt. Every single time she expressed her lack of interest, it broke his heart a little bit more.

 “I really don’t.”

 “You might not have much of a choice. She’s headed over.”

 Panicked, he gulped his beer and beseeched her, “Feel free to be my girlfriend. Save me!”

 She snorted just as the woman appeared at their side, and the stranger dismissed Katniss with a disdainful glance before speaking to him. “Hey, there, handsome,” she drawled. “I’m Glimmer. Can I buy you a round?”

 “Uh, well, I—”

 “Excuse me,” Katniss said and slid off her stool. He watched helplessly as she made her way to the restroom and left him alone with his unwanted guest.

 “Now, that we’re alone,” Glimmer purred and ran her hand over his forearm. She settled into the vacated stool and smiled widely. “So, what’s your name, honey?”

 If he wasn’t already head over heels in love with his best friend, he might find this woman and her southern accent charming, but that wasn’t the case. He didn’t want this washed out version of a companion. He wanted Katniss. He hemmed and hawed for several minutes, attempting to discourage her without being rude, but she was more insistent than he liked. He caught Katniss’ eye as she stood by the bar ordering a beer and shot her a pointed look. Thankfully, she seemed to get the point. She paid for her two beers and threaded her way back to him.

 “I got you another, babe.”

 He grabbed the glass and thanked her, but Glimmer still didn’t take the hint. He introduced the two half-heartedly and watched with humor as Katniss studied Glimmer and thanked her for keeping Peeta company while she was gone.

 “I think he’d like me to stick around,” Glimmer said pointedly, and Katniss turned to him.

 “Is that so?” And then she leaned in to kiss him.

 Shocked, Peeta didn’t know what to do at first. The kiss remained chaste for a few seconds, but his mouth opened involuntarily. She didn’t hesitate to sweep in with her tongue. She pressed into him, and he let go of his beer to cup her face as he tangled his lips with hers.

 Suddenly, Katniss broke away and grinned at him while he gaped at her. “You’re welcome.”

 He blinked a few times and realized Glimmer was gone. Katniss resumed her seat and calmly took a sip of her drink and then suggested some options for the next day. Peeta ducked his head and pretended to listen. Now that he knew how she tasted, he had no idea how he was going to be content remaining friends. After a few minutes, he excused himself so he could regroup in the bathroom. There he faced himself in the mirror and whispered his road trip mantra.

 “I am so screwed.”

 ****

 The next day they crossed the Mississippi River and stopped briefly in St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch and eat, even though the barbeque was different than what they were used to. Both preferred the vinegar base and coleslaw of the Carolinas, but what they had wasn’t bad either. When the waiter asked for feedback, he suggested continuing on I-70 and comparing what they’d had for lunch with that in Kansas City.

 “It’s sweeter. Almost caramelizes on the meat. You might like it, and it doesn’t hurt to try different styles if you don’t really have an agenda.”

 That was how they ended up in an upscale hotel near downtown Kansas City and eating ribs and burnt ends for the second time that day.

 “This is definitely better,” Peeta groaned through a mouthful of pork, and Katniss agreed.

 “So, I’ve been thinking,” she mused. “We’re pretty deep into the Midwest, and nothing really looks much different, right? I think we should slow down. We’re halfway across the country, and we’ve been gone three days.”

 “I’m okay with that,” he agreed.

 “I vote for staying here for a few nights. Relaxing, sight-seeing, swimming, maybe putting together a little more of a plan. Eventually, I want to make it to the west coast. Drive up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, maybe see the redwoods, but there’s about a zillion national parks between here and there. Can we go? Please?”

 “Of course, we can. We can visit whatever you want. I told you I’m all in before we started this thing.”

 A smile split her face, and she threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Peeta.”

 He gathered her to him and held her to his chest for several minutes before she pulled away. He didn’t even bother to say it out loud this time. He simply closed his eyes and internally chided, “I am so screwed.”

 ****

 A week later, Peeta wanted to die. If he’d thought he loved Katniss before, he was irrevocably, head over heels, undyingly in love with her now. Waking up with her day after day, sometimes in the same bed, sometimes just in the same room, was excruciating. She was grumpy and irritable in the morning, but it was absolutely adorable. He loved watching her let loose and enjoy herself more than he’d ever experienced back home in Virginia. They shared more than they ever had and dug up memories he hadn’t even remembered until she punched something loose in the back of his brain. Before long, it seemed like she knew, not just his mind, but his entire soul.

 It was so easy with her. He felt like his best self with her, and his writing was flourishing. She talked through lesson plans and ideas about how to arrange her classroom and shared her thoughts about moving into counseling as a better way to help her students. They talked about their families, their current lives and what they imagined for the future, and she told him about her past boyfriends and asked about his girlfriends.

 Sometimes, Katniss looked at him while he drove. He often wondered what she was thinking, but he didn’t have the guts to ask. He relished the feel of her skin under his fingertips when she handed him snacks from the vastly depleted stash in the backseat, and he gave himself a bruise pinching himself when she wore one of his t-shirts the day they stopped to do laundry in a small town in eastern Colorado. He drove where she suggested and snapped pictures of her in front of breathtaking scenery and took selfies of them both when she asked. When she shivered in the mountains in Colorado, he shielded her from the wind by holding her against his chest, and he groaned gratefully when she rubbed his tight shoulders at the end of the day. By the time they made it to Wyoming, they’d stopped correcting the hotel clerks who automatically booked them to single rooms. It saved money, and neither of them minded that there was only one bed when they got to their room.

 “This may be the most beautiful place I’ve ever been,” Katniss announced when they stopped in the Grand Tetons. They’d agreed to spend a week exploring Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, and neither of them regretted it. The views were spectacular, and the weather was perfect.

 “It’s gorgeous,” he agreed, but he wasn’t looking at the view. He tried to shift his gaze when she turned to look at him, but he was frozen, unable to tear his eyes from hers.

 He could tell when she figured it out. Awareness dawned on her face, and he held his breath. Terrified, he shifted back and forth and tried to wave it away, but she stepped toward him and grabbed his wrist.

 “Peeta?”

 “I’m s-sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean— I, uh— See, I wasn’t—”

 She waited quietly when he ground to a halt, but his stomach and heart were both ripped open wide. She didn’t feel the same way. He’d always known that, but now she was going to say it, and he wasn’t prepared.

 “Can I try something?” He was too dismayed to answer, so he nodded and held still. “I just want to see.”

 A soft breeze ruffled his hair as she stepped toward him and tugged him down by his shirt. His face was an inch from hers, and she studied him carefully before closing the gap and kissing him softly. He breathed through his nose and allowed her to lead, but she pulled away before it deepened. Disappointed, he couldn’t help comparing it to the one back in Paducah in the overcrowded brewery with Glimmer as a witness.

 “It’s really beautiful here, but I’d like to be back to the car before sunset. Can we go? Don’t want to get caught in the park by mistake,” she asked, her voice cool and detached.

 “Sure,” he agreed. He followed her as she started down the mountain, trailing far enough behind that he could shield his regret. He’d always held out a little bit of a hope that she’d return his feelings someday, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards. She was as unaffected by their kiss as he was destroyed by it.

 Making sure she didn’t hear, he hissed, “I’m so screwed,” at least five times through the ache in his chest.

 By the time they got to his car, he was barely holding it together. He started the vehicle, backed out of the parking spot, and headed to their hotel. The thought of sleeping next to her that night was almost more than he could bear, but he didn’t have much of a choice. Sighing, he turned up the volume on the radio and concentrated on driving since the steep, winding roads necessitated more attention than usual.

 A few miles from their hotel, the radio faded into static, and he reached to change the station before resting his hand on the gear shift between the seats. When they pulled into the hotel lot, and he shifted into park, he was shocked when she covered his hand with hers. Twisting his palm, she tangled her fingers with his and stared at them for long, tense moments.

 “Katniss?” he croaked. She didn’t respond at first, but then she squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

 “Let’s go in,” she said softly.

 He swallowed hard and studied her face. “Are you sure?”

 She nodded and unfolded herself from the car. She was already to the door of their room before he could move. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she slipped inside. A second later, the curtains closed and the door cracked open again. Peeta watched as her hand emerged and hooked the Do Not Disturb sign on the handle.

 “Oh, God,” he breathed and scrambled from the car. “I am so screwed!”

[threeeyesslitthroat]

So I watched Chaos Walking(2021)

Yeah, lucky for me, my local theater was open and showing(side note, I love my local theater so much. Like, not to brag but seven dollars for a movie and a snack is so great)

Anyhow, I watched Chaos walking. This is sort of my review. 

First off, I read The Knife of Never Letting Go and one third of The Ask and Answer, almost two years ago. When they finally dropped the release date and the trailer, i made the choice not to go reread the first book because i wanted to give the movie a chance and make an exercise of managing my expectations(in preparation for Disney’s Percy Jackson adaptation). Which means not only do I not have a complete understanding of the source material, but I also have a shit memory, so I don’t have a great shot at analyzing this films in adaptation terms, but i’m gonna try anyhow.

So first off, The Noise.

I found it a bit sketchy that they decided to make the make Noise have visual elements alongside audio but I decided it was fine, since it be pretty hard to bring this to life with only just audio and not make general audiences confused.

But they did try and do a solid job. Minus not letting us hear the Noise of animals, which sucks. we do see the Noise of a Spackle, but briefly.

The part that really pisses me off is the final confrontation, when the Noise is treated like a Super Power. we see this when Todd scares Davy’s horse by conjuring up an image of big snake, when Mayor Prentiss tricks Viola into a false trap, when  Ben tricks everyone by pretending to give Viola up when in fact he’s buying Todd and the real Viola time to get away, and in the final, Todd distracts Prentiss by conjuring up the image of his mother(complete with bloody wounds) and the various women that died when he was a baby, which caused Prentiss to fall to his death.

I don’t know how the Noise is depicted in the later books, if it was anywhere remotely like this, but i know for sure it doesn’t happen in the first book, which the film is based on.

(Also, how the fuck does Todd know what his mum looks like, or any of the other women and how is he able to bring up their images so perfectly how is ANYONE ABLE REMEMBER SOMEONE WITH THAT MUCH DETAIL That goes beyond photographic memory)

Second bit, the Spackle.

 The design is boring. Its clearly an alien, buts its dark grey, tall, holds its own when Todd attacks it in the film, has zero impact on the film as a whole and pretty boring. I do recall reading the book and imagining them to have faces similar to real world lemurs or Sloths, with big expressive eyes and such, but the CGI monster doesn’t emote for shit in this film. Todd comes at with a knife with every intention of killing it and it shrugs him off and walks away like it wasn’t fucking attacked my gods.

But in short, they only brought up the Spackle because they’re a thing in the world and it teased the bigger concepts of the next books with like, one measly exchange between Todd and Viola. (it went something like this)

Viola:We’re the aliens, though. They’re the natives.

Todd: huh.

Third bit, New World itself. Not a big deal, It looked like how i originally imagined it, no mention of swamp apples, though we see Todd Hewitt use a knife to stab a big ass bug thing for food. i hear some critics consider it lame that the planet isn’t actually alien but eh, whatever, Didn’t really feel an alien vibe reading the book so it doesn’t matter. 

Now there’s one bit i have to acknowledge in passing. At one point Todd decides to go get lunch by going into the water with his knife and wrestles with some big ass thing with tentacles. Which is fine, just have a couple of questions.

A: is this in reference to the books? Where there big ass tentacle creatures in the novel that are hunted for lunch?

B:if not, was this the film makers deciding to remind the viewers that yes, they are not on planet earth and to make Todd look cooler and justify why he’s useful for the quest and show how much Viola doesn’t know?

I kinda have to acknowledge the thing.  In that scene, Todd and Viola take a break, and Todd removes his clothes (all of them) and decides to go hunting in the water naked as the day he was born. You may have noticed that the Tom Holland stans are all over this scene because One) the camera focuses on Tom Hollands muscles when he takes his top off and Two) one can see his bare ass in the distance. 

Not a big fan off this, just find it interesting because its the most recent example of a Male being objectified by the camera when this never happens once to any of the female characters in the film, including Viola. Also, a touch of weird character detailing because haha, get it? Boy’s never seen a girl before in his life and doesn’t know what modesty means.

Also, very weird because Todd Hewitt in the book was so fucking self conscious that he would never have done that. 

Now I gotta talk about the characters.

( i understand why they aged them up, i truly do, better to get established actors instead of child actors that could more easily break to movie than sell it. its easier to make movies with legal adults instead of working with child labor laws. but damn it you lose so much of the fucking nuance of the novel when you age them up. There’s so much shit that makes an impact because of how young they are. Around the ages of eleven and twelve is when ones understanding of good and evil has its foundation, to me it was like the story was grappling with Todd Hewitt’s very soul and you lose so much of that when you change it to them being older because instead of being just kids in fucked up situations its younger adults in messed up situations. Like ugh. and aging them up leads to even more problems but we’ll fucking get to that)

Tom Holland’s Todd Hewitt is not the Todd Hewitt of the novel. He just ain’t. There is nothing there that reminds of the boy. The acting is solid, don’t get me wrong, but it just ain’t the Todd Hewitt i remember. Neither is Daisy Ridley’s Viola Eade.

(excuse me while i get Percy Jackson flashbacks)

Now, I have to acknowledge the fact that neither actor(actually none of the actors in this film) slouch on the job. They bring solid and at times very good acting.(If Tom Holland is in the film, its not going to be complete waste of time. He brings quality.)

Honestly, respect to Mr Holland because he was basically the main character, not only acting but also doing voice  and various stunts(also huge credit to the stunt coordinators and stuntmen) and I heard that filming wasn’t that great and bloody broke his nose how many times like damn boy, hats off to you.

But here’s the thing. I don’t want to say that Holland was playing himself or just a version of peter Parker, because i really don’t think he wasn’t but it just. Didn’t feel like a legit character? Especially when compared to the novel. Like Todd Hewitt in the novel is such a raw force of emotion and such a smartass and i was so looking forward for Holland to own this role but in the movie he just? Awkward dude going through some stuff?

but yeah, Holland works his ass off and there are some scenes and moments in the movie that work just because this fellow is just that charming, so (shrug emoji) like i said, He doesn’t waste your time at least.

Ridley....sigh. i know this woman can act. But next to the character who’s thoughts are heard constantly she’s very boring. And it hurts so much because Viola has an actual personality in the novel like; I’m ninety percent sure that Viola hits Todd with a big stick and I do remember that there were multiple moments where she lets Todd know when he’s being a dumbass.(seriously, i may have a shit memory of the book, but i do remember that they play off each other well and hugely entertaining seeing two twelve-year-olds handle the shit getting thrown at them)

Like, Viola in the film doesn’t really have much going on. We see the crash, we hear about the graves she dug herself, we see her be sad, we see her look at Todd like weirdo, we see her look horrified or shocked. (its so sad that I only remember the facial expressions more clearly than the actual dialogue) We really have no idea what the hell is going on with Viola Eade. I don’t think we can blame Ridley, only the film makers, because how can you see Viola Eade in the novel and then turn her into that????

i do have to talk about the relationship between Tom Holland’s Todd Hewitt and Daisy Ridley’s Viola Eade, even though its painful. In the novel, them is just two kids on a really tough adventure.  Because they aged them up, its not two kids old enough to run for the playground when recess starts. Its Teenagers. 

First question, HOW OLD ARE THEY??? Is Todd sixteen? Eighteen? Seventeen? He sure as hell ain’t Thirteen in this. What about Viola? I mean, big shout out to the hair and makeup team for making 28-year-old Daisy Ridley look so much younger but how. OLD. IS.SHE? Nineteen? Twenty? Twenty-one? Pretty sure she’s older than him in this? I ask because it MATTERS.

The way they play off each other has a vastly different energy to the novel because they are aged up. Its pretty obvious pretty fast that Todd’s feelings are basically a big crush, though not all of it is superficial as the film progresses. And Viola is clearly not receptive to that in the film. (honestly i cringed so hard at the “daydream kiss’ and whatever the hell that was in the Farbranch mayor’s house)

The relationship in the film just doesn’t have the nuance or the energy that the novel had in depicting their relationship which is depressing for all the Todd x Viola fans i’m sure. There’s some adorable bits though, like Viola seeing Todd’s dream of her playing with Manchee, and not so adorable canon bits like when Viola read the diary to Todd.

I’m just grateful that the film at least ended with them being friends instead of trying to force the romantic relationship. That right there is why I like the movie. It’s a crush, its used for a couple laughs, they’re friends, its fine. Even if you didn’t read the novel that’s really great for a movie in this day and age to not end with forcing two opposite sex characters into a relationship. To be honest, I like the idea that the film leaves us thinking that yeah, maybe these two could be real friends one day.

I just want to touch on Manchee real quick.

Manchee’s Noise is not seen or heard in the film. It is briefly acknowledged by Todd ins their first scene but other than that? Nada. Which is a low blow in comparison to the novel because Manchee was a character in his own right, which is why the death hit so hard. 

Todd?” he barks, confused and scared and watching me leave him behind. “Todd?” “Manchee!” I scream. Aaron brings his free hand towards my dog. “MANCHEE!” “Todd?” And Aaron wrenches his arms and there’s a CRACK and a scream and a cut-off yelp that tears my heart in two forever and forever. And the pain is too much it’s too much it’s too much and my hands are on my head and I’m rearing back and my mouth is open in a never-ending wordless wail of all the blackness that’s inside of me.”

in the film, it takes place in white rapids, So its chaotic, its awful, the veiwer’s all stressed out because Viola can’t swim, everyone's getting separated and Aaron’s there and he is seen drowning Manchee. 

Dude, its brief, but not pretty. Because you can see Manchee’s legs trashing above the water, struggling to get free. Aaron is drowning a dog, letting its lungs fill with water. For the folks that don’t like watching dogs die in graphic detail on screen, this isn’t great. 

Personally, I love this scene in the novel. Its the first time i had to put the book down and take a moment. It hit really close to home for me, because i watched my own dog die in real life. It was emotional and horrifying and had such a fucking impact because we could hear his thoughts. Todd had to make the choice to leave him behind to keep Viola safe. To be honest, i think the death is better in the novel, since Manchee basically dies instantly instead of drowning, which takes time(I’ve always assumed that his neck was snapped but I’ve heard others say it was the psine but whatever) it would have been easy and necessary for them to not show that on screen. I personally just think that in terms of depicting a violent death, the novel did a lot better.

Anyway, on to the other characters

(I had to choose the one with the big orange fluffy coat, and i couldn’t find a good pic og Ben and Cillian on google images.)

As for Mayor Prentiss, he’s played by Mads Mikkelsen, and he delivers. But for the most part, we don’t really know why he’s the bad guy, he just wants to get Viola because “she’s the key” which isn’t really explained, and at the end he tries his hardest to kill Todd. 

Because i only read the first book, I don’t know what exactly his character arc is. And since its been a really long while, I don’t remember what he’s like in the novel regardless, other than the cliffhanger ending.

I did take a quick crashcourse  through the wiki and it turns out that Todd and Prentiss have a relationship in the later books, which the film sort of touches on, because Todd looks up to Prentiss in the film from the get go. 

To be honest, I knew that the trilogy was a lot more complex, and even though I didn’t read the whole thing I knew it would be really disappointing for the fans to see the mayor be hollowed out to almost unrecognizable and not getting to see the whole picture on screen.

As for Davy Prentiss Jr., he was an asshole and stayed an asshole. I know he improves and gets killed off in the novels, so yeah, exhibit B of character foundations not being laid down because there isn’t gonna be a movie after this. Also, why is he played by Nick Jonas? Did they actually have more in mind for him when they decided to go with a Jonas brother or was it just star power? 

As for Aaron...don’t have much to say about him, other than just being pretty weird fit to the film. I think he’s after Viola because he’s just that full of delusions but other than that, his character is just flat and useless. (I wish to the gods that writers would actually think instead of going with “religious delusion” to explain insanity) He only brought tension in a few scenes for the most part. I’m pretty sure that in the novel Todd and Aaron have a confrontation, like the final fight of the novel, and I’m 90% sure that its where the Novel gets the Knife of never Letting Go as its title, because the knife is big deal at that point. But I guess they wanted Viola to have a quick boss battle for the ending and set him on fire. 

Ben and Cillian were fine. They did a good job, the actors were pretty great, I liked Cillian, and i like how they acknowledged that these dudes were family(i know that they’re gay and a couple but the film doesn’t say it outloud beyond letting them sleep in the same bed, be Todd’s parents, and having Ben hold Cillian in his arms) I get a kick out of the fact that the official reviews by Movie Critics are openly curious about why the film doesn’t make it more obvious that they’re gay, but whatever.

As for the overall plot, this is a fine example of mashing three books into one film and not having good results. Instead of going to Haven, the movie decided to shortcut the ending and go to the original ship that somehow has working tech but whatever, Viola needs to communicate to her ship. So not only do we not get the great relationship between Todd and Viola, not only do we not get the Spackle, Not only do we not get to see the noise of Manchee, not only do we have poor character adaptation, we also don’t get to have a plot that matches THE ONE BOOK THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO ADAPT. THEY HAD ONE FUCKING JOB AND THEY COULDN'T ADAPT THE ONE BOOK-

Its only so sad that they decided that this was going to be a one-shot deal because they didn’t have faith in the film and chose to have all the threads tied up. I mean, its so sad for the fans because the movie makes it very clear that we are not going to have anymore movies. sigh. 

slight respect towards the film makers for tying up all the story threads instead of leaving them hanging. they did a neat job, even if it wasn’t a great one.

Anyway, maybe later on when google images has more than the promotional material I’ll do a review of only the good stuff this movie did, even if its a sad pathetic failure of an adaptation. Anyway this review is a bit of a mess and already so long so i’ll stop now. 

May the gods give us strength against all the Tom Holland stans that will inevitably clog up the Chaos Walking tag with their Todd Hewitt x reader fanfics.

[thotsforvillainrights]

with everything going on in life, how about some positivity? how about the guys comforting the reader after a rough day/through a depressive patch? AfO, Compress, and 2 of your choice?

~Some soft AFO/Sako/Hawks/Jin~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

~All For One~

-You can mope around all you want and think he doesn’t see but I promise you that he does. He just plays it off for a while to see how much you can endure. That depressive patch was a very rough one but you seemed to make it through it. You now seemed to be emotionally (and maybe physically) exhausted. You were coming down, and definitely exhibiting some weakness as it was. For a bit you thought maybe he just doesn’t care about you like he says he does? Then you began to wonder maybe he just didn’t notice the change in your mood? Maybe he was too busy with work or something? You sighed as you unlaced your shoes after the walk around the outside of the mansion, and through the massive garden in the back. You put on your soft slippers and shuffled slowly towards the end of the hallway, passing the office where your lover (or husband if you want) resided. Suddenly you heard his smooth voice speak through the crack in the door. “Dearest, would you come in here for a moment?” You sighed and slowly opened the door. “Yeah?” You entered the room and watched him pat his lap, indicating for you to come sit on it. Once you were comfortably seated, he wrapped his arms around you. He smelt strongly of that cologne you really love, and his suit for today was much smoother than his others. Most of all, he was warm, and felt like home to you. “I’m fully aware of what you’ve been going through for the past few days my love. I wanted you to know this of all things...No matter how you feel, the day will always come where you don’t feel bad like you did before. And just like that day that’ll come, I shall also be around to remind you of how loved you are.” With that tiny statement, you already felt the warmth of his love recharging you slowly. “Thank you darling.”

~Mr. Compress~

-He probably notices right away when your depressive patch starts unless you’re really good at hiding it. Let’s say for the sake of the headcanon that you are good at hiding it. So how does he comfort you afterwards? You sigh as you stare up at the ceiling and watch the fan slowly turn above you. The air was just cool enough to bring you some sort of relief after the past few days of your funk. Suddenly you catch the scent of fresh flowers near your head. You turn to look to your side and jolt up at the sight of Sako peeking at you from his seat on the floor. “What...When did you get in here???” You laugh a little bit as he tilts his head and removes his mask to reveal his soft smile (and those beautiful eye ugh). “I was in here for at least 20 minutes watching you staring at the ceiling my love.” He smiled with a bit of worry. You shrugged nervously and looked away so he couldn’t see your expression. Suddenly you felt something tickle your knee and you looked down to see a bouquet of flowers. “Where did these come from!?” You start to laugh a little more while he snaps his fingers and a few more bouquets appeared. “Sako cut it out! What am I supposed to do with all these flowers!?” You laughed more vigorously now and he smiled wider. “Well you keep them for as long as they can last. I want you to look at them or think of them when you feel sad again my love.” 

“You knew the whole time?”

“Could you really hide it from me my love?” He reached up and flicked your nose playfully. 

~Hawks~

-”GET UP CHICKADEE!!!” Hawks voiced suddenly boomed through the doorway and scared the shit out of you. He didn’t even give you a chance to adjust before he rushed to the bedroom window and pushed the curtains aside, effectively letting all the daylight into the room and burning your eyes. “Damn it Keigo! I’m trying to sleep!” You rubbed your eyes and he scoffed. “Y/N...it’s literally 2 in the evening. Get up and put on some clothes and shoes. We’re going out!” You glared at him after getting your eyes adjusted. “No, let me rest. Just leave me alone for 20 minutes.” You grumbled before laying down and pulling the blanket over your head. Suddenly you felt his feathers work to snatch the blanket and hold it over the bed where you couldn’t reach it. “Pleeeease baby bird? I promise it’s somewhere private.” He hit you with the baby eyes and of course you couldn’t say no. You sighed and rolled your eyes. “Alright fine...” After getting ready to go out, you got into the car and let him drive you to wherever. Keigo took you out to a huge pond/campground. It wasn’t as populated (thankfully) and his little private area was perfect. When you arrived there was an entire camp setup in a little private corner. He even strung up some batter operated lights. There were snacks, a cooler, a tent with a little portable DVD player, blankets, 2 hammocks, and a fire running. “Hey baby bird?” He turned the car off and twisted slightly to look at you. “I just wanted to say that I don’t know what you’ve been going through and we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I just wanted you to know that I’m here for you and I love you. Also...hope you don’t have work/school tomorrow because this little getaway was loooong overdue.” You smiled widely and pulled him into a tight hug. How lucky were you to land a sweetheart like this!

~Twice~

-Lucky for you, he was away on a mission while you were going through the funk. You felt relief because you were glad he didn’t have to see you like this. He already had problems of his own so you didn’t want to feel as though you were dragging him down or anything. It was a little tough finding the energy to text him while he was away. It was hard to send those little laughing and heart emojis as if everything was okay. It was even harder when he would call every night before bed just to hear your voice. He was finally coming home today and luckily you were just coming down from you depressive episode. “Hey baby!!! I missed you so much! No I didn’t!” He burst through the doors and dropped his bags before rushing over to you and leaping onto the couch. He had so much energy after not seeing you for so long. “Bubaigawara, stop jumping on the couch!” You laughed honestly for the first time in days. He stopped immediately and flopped to a seat beside you before proceeding to stare at you in silence. “Uhhhh...Bubaigawara.exe has stopped working?” You tried to joke with him but he still just sat there and kept staring. Finally he spoke up. “Baby, what’s wrong?” You raised your brows in confusion. “What do you mean?” Did you look sad or something? How could he tell you were sad? “Y/N you been crying or somethin? Your eyes are puffy.”

Shit...jig is up...

“Uh well...”

“Stop! Don’t wanna hear it! C’mere!!!” He grabbed your hand and rushed you to the bedroom. He literally almost body slammed you to the bed and proceeded to hold you so tightly that you almost died. Finally he let go just a little bit to smother you in ticklish kisses, making you laugh until you were nearly breathless. Then he laid the big final kiss upon your lips, filled with plenty of passion. “I don’t know why you cried, or why you were sad big baby! For whatever reason, you are my everything and I wanna let cha know that I’ve always got your back babe. No I don’t, piss off!” You laughed and cuddled your head into his chest. “I love you so much Jin.”

»—————————–———————————————————–✄

Instagram: @pastelbattydraws & @pastelbattystore

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRNMJH7vHL7APNobUykhK4w?view_as=subscriber

[itsmelaurel]

Begin Again

Summary: When your best friends move away for college, you think life is officially over. However, you find yourself making new friends including the blonde surfer from the other side of the island.

—————————————————

three.

The first time you physically see the boys again is a whole month after they move.  It was prospect weekend at their university which meant all high school seniors who were interested in the school were invited to tour the campus and attend a football game.  For most high school seniors it was their first taste of what college would be like next year.  

For you, it was just another weekend at your parents alumni college. It was where they met and fell in love. They had been bringing you to sporting events here every year and basically assumed you would follow in their footsteps.

When you got to campus, they boys met you outside their dorm. Each took a few extra seconds to hug you with Topper actually spinning you around. It felt good to see them, to hug them. This was the longest any of you had gone without seeing each other.

You were currently sitting at the tailgate they dragged you and Sarah to. Ward and your dad had left you both there to visit the alumni tailgate, which was probably a bad idea since Kelce immediately poured you a shot as soon as they left.

All of them had promised not to leave your side, professing that they wanted to spend as much time with you as possible while you were here. That didn’t last long though as they were quickly swept up into a game of beer pong with their fraternity brothers.

Since they were preoccupied, you and Sarah had been people watching from the side of the tent. Several people who graduated from Kildare Prep also went to school here. It was the most popular college choice for Kildare's finest.

“Is it just me or does this feel like a KP reunion?” Sarah asked looking around the tent.

“Definitely feels like a reunion.” You agreed with a grimace.

It’s quiet for a moment as you watch people taking shots, shotgunning beers and quickly becoming blacked out drunk.

“I don’t think I want to go here.” Sarah rushes out quickly and you whip your head around to look at her with wide eyes.

“I- I don’t think I do either.” You stutter. It’s the first time you’ve ever admitted it out loud to anyone. It had been a small thought in the back of your mind for a few weeks now, but you kept ignoring it.

Your parents had been planning on you attending this school since you were a baby. The boys didn’t even think there was another option for you because wouldn’t you want to be where your best friends were?

It was where you always thought you would end up, but it didn’t feel right all the sudden. It didn’t feel like home.

“I haven’t told anyone- well, except John B.”

“Me either minus the part about John B.”

Both of you just stare at each other for a moment, letting the reality of your words sink in.

“Y/n! Sarah!” Kelce was shouting your names as he made his way over to you. Your eyes quickly glance back to Sarah’s, a silent understanding passing between y'all. “Come on, I called next for y'all at pong. You're up against Top and Rafe.”

After winning two games of beer pong, both you and Sarah let another team take over your spot. You were a little tipsy even after switching to water during the second game. All of the guys around the table were in awe of you and Sarah sinking almost every shot.

“That’s my girl!” Rafe shouts when you made the shot to win the first game, even though he and Topper lost because of it.

You and Sarah head towards the coolers to get more water, bending down to open the cooler when a heeled bootie slams the lid shut.

“What tha-” your eyebrows wrinkle in confusion as you look up to see three girls standing on the other side of the cooler.

“Um, can we help you?” Sarah asks as you stand up straight next to her.

“The prospect tailgate is on the other side of the quad.” The blonde in the middle says, her nasally voice like nails on a chalkboard.

“We’re here with friends.” You say, eyes scanning the area for Rafe, Topper or Kelce. Of course they are nowhere to be found.

“Oh really? Who?” The brunette on the left asks, trying to catch us in a lie.

“Topper Thornton, Rafe Cameron and Kelce-” you don’t even get to finish before all three girls are cackling. You and Sarah share an annoyed look.

“No way you're friends with them.” The other blonde on the right says.

“Actually, I’m Rafe’s sister and this is their best friend, y/n.” Sarah says. All of their smiles falter for half a second before they turn their gaze solely to me.

“They’ve never mentioned a girl best friend-”

“Maybe you don’t know them that well.” You taunt. It causes all of them to chuckle again.

“Honey, we’re with those boys literally every single day. They’ve never mentioned you.” The one in the middle brags.

“They call themselves the three amigos. I’ve never heard them utter anything about anyone else.” The brunette chirps.

“And you aren’t on their instagrams anywhere. I would totally remember if you were.” The other blonde adds, all three girls now wearing similar smirks.

A frown settles on your face. You know for a fact you are all over their instagrams. From prom pictures to spending the day on the water, you know you're on all of their pages hundreds of times. Your whole lives have pretty much been documented on their social media accounts.

Thankfully, Sarah has the complete opposite reaction of you. She laughs out loud, hand on her stomach as she leans back slightly - intentionally mocking the girls. People are starting to look at the scene near the edge of the tent.

“Can you imagine trying to intimidate two high school girls because of who they're friends with?” Sarah says loudly so everyone on this side hears. The girls' faces fall at her words.

“Because bitch, we can’t relate.” Sarah throws her hand up in the middle girl's face, a clear dismissal of their childish behavior. She grabs your hand and drags you behind her, away from the tent and the three wicked bitches from hell. She doesn’t stop until a small clearing opens up next to the brick stadium entrance and you're all alone.

Once stopped, the first thing you do is pull your phone out. Opening up Instagram you check all three of the boys Instagram pages hoping that bitch was lying. Your heart sinks when you realize she wasn’t.

There isn’t a trace of you on any of their pages. Tears well up in your eyes and you clench your eyes shut to prevent them from falling.

“Don’t cry, you are way too pretty to cry over those assholes.” Sarah says gently, pulling you into a hug.

“How could they erase every single picture of me? Like I haven’t been there for every moment of their lives.” Your voice cracks a little as you try to keep the emotion from spilling out.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to beat their asses. Then I’m going to roundhouse kick Peggy, Susie and Betty in their faces for messing up our day.” Sarah pulls back slightly to look at you, the determined look on her face makes you giggle.

“Hey! There you are. We were just headed to the boys tailgate to get you so we can head into the game.” Ward says as he and your dad walk up to you.

“Everything okay?” Your dad asks, head tilting as he notices your watery eyes.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” You lie, pushing down every single emotion your feeling as the four of you make your way into the game.

When you find your seats, Sarah asks her dad to take your picture. He takes a few then she holds her phone up for some selfies.

Your phone is blowing up, so you take it out to see who it is. There’s at least ten texts in the group chat asking where you went.

Then there’s two texts from a certain blonde haired, blue eyed surfer. The first one asks if you made it and the second one is a picture of the pogues all with sad faces at your and Sarah’s absence.

You send him a picture of the field to let him know you made it, then you make Sarah take a picture just like theirs and send it with a red heart emoji. You immediately regret sending a red heart, but he sends one right back.

Sarah is staring at you as you stare at those little red hearts, her eyebrows raised as she watches you smile.

“What?”

“Just wondering if I look like that every time I text John B.” She shrugs before looking back out to the field. A blush graces your cheeks as you roll your eyes, both of you giggling which catches your dads attention.

“Hey, there’s no giggling in football.” Ward says, snapping his fingers to get both of you to stop. It only fuels your laughter on more.

—

After the game, the original plan was to meet the boys back at their tailgate before getting on the road. All four of you are headed that way, talking about the big win when you look up towards the tailgate. Through the crowd of people, you can see those three girls from earlier talking to Kelce, Topper and Rafe. The site makes you falter your steps until you are completely stopped.

As much as you want to go over there and prove that your friends with the boys, you can’t and it’s not because of those girls. You can’t face the boys right now. All of the emotions you pushed down earlier start to bubble up and you refuse to let them see you cry.

“Um, actually, can we go get the truck?” You ask nervously, eyes trained only on your dad as he stops a few steps ahead of you. He squints his eyes at you, confused at your behavior.

“We need to say bye to Rafe.” Ward comments as he looks back to the tent. Sarah also looks towards the tent, noticing the scene before looking back at you and your glossy eyes.

“We'll go say bye to the boys, y’all go get the truck and pick us up on the corner. It will probably save us all some time.” Sarah makes a plan before y’all go your separate ways.

It’s quiet as you and your dad walk side by side towards his truck, the only noise between the two of you is a faint sniffle as you try to keep yourself from crying.

“So, you want to tell me what’s wrong?” He asks softly. He stops walking, turning his whole body to look at you. His face is full of concern and you can’t hold it in anymore.

You tell him about those bitches at the tailgate, the fact your best friends practically erased every memory y’all had together and then you accidently let it slip that you don’t want to go to school here anymore. He pulls you into a hug, repeatedly telling you that it’s all going to be okay as he rocks you back and forth.

Both of you stay like that for a few minutes until your crying slowly fades into a few tears and hiccups. He sweetly dabs the tear stains with the sleeve of his shirt.

“I promise it’s all going to be okay, sweetpea.” He whispers reassuringly before he pulls you into his side and continues on to the vehicle. His words are comforting, but it does help the ache you feel in your chest.

When you pick up Ward and Sarah, she is practically glowing when she climbs in the back seat with you.

“You should have seen those bitches-” she begins but Ward shoots her a look at her word choice. She rolls her eyes but continues on “they looked like they were going to throw up when we walked up. When the boys kept asking where you were, their faces paled.” She laughs and even Ward chuckles from the front seat.

“Did they say anything?”

“Oh yeah, they said they were just joking around with us. So I told the boys everything they said. I honestly thought Rafe was going to punch their little blonde leader. When the girls left, Topper said they’ve only seen those girls twice at swap parties.”

“You should have seen them leave, total embarrassment as this one actually laughed.” Ward says from the front seat pointing back at Sarah. That little bit of information makes you feel a little better.

“Did the boys say anything about Instagram?” You ask, unsure if you really want to know. She shakes her head no.

“They were too hyped up on shutting those girls down. I’m sure they are blowing up your phone right now though.” She points to your purse. You can feel it vibrating repeatedly from the inside.

When you pull it out, the amount of texts and calls popping up is causing your phone to go slow. You decide to put it on Do Not Disturb, not ready to talk to them yet. Plus, they’re probably still drunk. The conversation that needs to be had would be best sober.

When you get home, you quickly shower to wash the tailgate and stadium funk off. You just finish putting on pajamas when there’s a light knock on your window.

You slowly approach the window, peaking through the blinds to see who it could possibly be. The only boys who have ever snuck through your window don’t live in the banks anymore.

“JJ?” You're completely confused, but you pull the blinds up and open up the window anyways.

“Hey” he whispers as he stands on the roof landing outside your window. His eyes rake over your face before taking in your light pink silk pajamas.

“What are you doing here?”

“John B had to drop something off at Sarah’s, so I thought I would come see you.”

“Well, come in.” You whisper stepping back so he can move inside. He doesn’t, but he grabs your hand pulling you back to the window.

“I can’t stay long. He told me to meet him back at the van in a few minutes.” He explains, his thumb running across the back of your hand.

You don’t even realize your pouting at the fact he has to leave so soon until his other thumb brushes across your bottom lip before moving up your jaw. He drops that hand quickly as if he's been burned and lets out a shaky breath.

“Did you have fun today?” He asks quietly, frowning when you only shrug in response. Before he can question further, his phone beeps.

“That’s John B letting me know my times up.”

“Thanks for stopping by.” you reply softly.

“Anytime, sweets.” He says making you giggle. He backs away from the window before turning around to climb off the roof making you close the window then the blinds.

You haven’t even moved from the spot when another knock makes you jump. You reopen everything to see JJ standing there again.

“I forgot something.” He whispers as he gets closer to the window.

“Wha-” you don’t even get to finish the word when his lips land on yours and his hand comes up to cup your jaw. The kiss is soft, almost tender as your lips move against his sparking electricity between the two of you.

It only lasts for a few seconds before his phone goes off again. He reluctantly pulls away, leaving you both wanting more.

“I’ve got to go.” He says against your lips and you nod in understanding.

“Goodnight J” you whisper as he backs away for the second time.

“Sweet dreams baby” He says with a wink before climbing off the roof.

The kiss is the only thing you can think of as you slowly drift off to sleep, completely exhausted from the long day. Not mean bitches, shitty best friends or anxiety of your future.

Only JJ Maybank’s lips on yours.

taglist: @dreamsndior @rafej-cambanks @prejudic3 @katiaw2 @sometimesicryintheshower @bibliophilewednesday  @edgymuffin @stargazingandmoon @rae131415 @httpstarkey @k-k0129 @sunshineitsfine44

[alloftheimaginess]

Questions

Just a sucky imagine that I’ve had saved for months. It mentions a bunch of my favorite people

Hi I'm (Y/n) Holland and I play Jules Vaughn" I say.

"Hi I'm- (y/n) you are not Jules" Hunter says and I start laughing.

"I didn't think you would catch it" I say laughing harder.

"Come on be professional" she says whining as she leans her head on my shoulder.

"Hi I'm (Y/n) Holland and I play Nessa on Zendaya's new HBO show, euphoria" I say and she starts laughing, wheezing as she does.

"I hate you so much" she says leaning on me as she laughs.

"Hi I'm (Y/n) Holland and I play Nessa on HBO's new show called euphoria" I say.

"That's Tom Holland to you" hunter screams jumping up from behind me and I laugh squinting at her.

"And take 14"

"Hi I'm (Y/n) Holland and I play Nessa on HBO's new show Euphoria" I say.

"Hi and I'm Hunter Schafer and I play Jules Vaughn" she says wiggling her eyebrows before she jumps on me.

"One crazy story from filming Euphoria. Go" she says pointing to me and I think.

"Quickly! Quickly! Quickly!" She shouts rushing me and I just say the first thing.

"When we first started filming euphoria I was on live on set and I made a joke about Zendaya only being my friend because of who my brother is and all of her fans sent me hate saying that's the only reason why anyone likes me" I say laughing and Hunter starts cracking up.

"Well they aren't lying."

"What's your favorite thing about me?" I ask. "Everything" she says laughing.

"But if I had to pick just one, it would be how giving you are because you will give your all wanting nothing in return and that's so amazing" she says kissing my cheek and I squeeze both of her cheeks.

“I love you so much for that” I say and she kisses my head.

“I love you too baby girl” she says wrapping her arm around my shoulder.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were trying to get into my pants” I say giggling and she shrugs.

“I’ll let you know by tonight” she says grabbing a question.

"Euphoria is so different from any of your previous work. How hard was it to make that transition?" She asks smiling at me.

"When I first went into acting I promised myself that I wouldn't do any work that I wouldn't feel comfortable watching with my parents are younger brothers but then Euphoria jumped out at me and I knew I had to do it. The switch wasn't that hard at all. I just feel like it matured me in a lot of different areas if I'm being completely honest" I say and she smiles at me.

"What personality trait do you and Jules share?" I ask throwing the piece of paper to the side of us and she kicks it before it hits the ground, sending it even further.

"Probably the free spirit, I'm not nearly as cool as Jules so I only have half of the free spirit she has" she says and I shake my head quickly.

"I completely disagree. I feel like you, Hunter are way cooler than Jules. You walk around with this carefree attitude and you are so kick ass that even though this is your acting debut I look up to you so much, a lot of us do because you came out and ruled it" I say and she awe’s squishing my face.

"How does that one song go?" She asks looking at me.

"Stranger. Still don't know my name" I sing and she nods laughing.

"You still don't know my name and I would die your slave" she sings and I dance to it cheering her on and she starts laughing.

"You're so stupid" she says laughing and I smile at her.

"I forgot we were in the middle of an interview, hunter pay attention" I say grabbing another question out the bucket.

"Joe Keery" she says laughing and I laugh with her.

"Is that all it says?" I ask and she nods.

"Joe keery is my baby" I say and she starts giggling.

"Joe is my fiancé, he also plays Steve Harrington on Netflix’s hit show stranger things" I say but Hunter cuts me off.

"And if we let her, she'll talk about him all day" she says covering my mouth and I laugh.

"My dear Hunter. My honey bunches of oats, my little love, princess, baby doll" I say and she shakes her head.

"What?" She asks pretending to be annoyed.

"What's the reaction you want the fans to have after watching every episode?" I ask and she looks deep in thought.

"I want them to be as shook as possible. I want them to want the next episode the second they finish the one they are on because then that's how you know you have a good show. Actually scratch that, I want them to want the next episode in the middle of the one they are on" she says.

"One can dream of a show that good" I say.

"There is one" she says.

"Euphoria" she says at the same time I say "stranger things" and they crew starts laughing as we stare each other down.

"Future Mrs. Schafer?" she asks.

"Yes honey?" I ask and we both start laughing. "Another Joe Keery one" she says reading it to herself.

"What's it like being with Joe and does he love your friends as much as you?" She asks raising one of her eyebrows and I laugh.

"Being with him is amazing" I start and she groans pretending to vomit and I shove her.

"He's great and I'm glad that I get to soon spend the rest of my life with someone so loving, caring, selfless and beautiful" I say laughing.

"He really is beautiful, especially his hair" Hunter says smirking at the camera.

"And to answer the second part of that question he sure does, I think he loves them a little more if I'm being honest."

"What's your favorite memory with the cast?" I ask bawling up the paper and throwing it at her and she karate chops it.

"Easy. The one time me, you, Barbie, Ze and Storm were all in your car making the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco and it was just filled with laughter, music and some good food" she says and I smile thinking back to that day.

"Favorite song that's been on euphoria?" She asks.

"There's so many great ones, but I'm going to have to go with that unreleased Labrinth song. The one that goes oh oh oh oh" I say doing it and she starts cracking up.

"You know, that one" I say smiling at the camera.

"I have to admit all the music he wrote for the show is amazing" she says.

"Yeah, it really captures the vibe of drugs" I say laughing and she shakes her head giving a look to the camera.

“Last message your sent to me and last message you sent in general” she reads tossing the paper away.

“To you” I say pulling out my phone and I go to my messages scrolling to her name and I start laughing.

“I said I’m showered and fed now it’s time for some head” I say and we both start laughing super hard.

“To which I responded go get it girl with a bunch of hand clapping emoji’s” she says reading off of my phone.

“That was two weeks ago” I say.

“(Y/n) and I don’t really text, we FaceTime more than anything so if you want to hear those conversations” she says laughing and I go to my last sent message.

“My last sent message is to my sibling groupchat and my baby brother paddy asked when we’d all be home next and Harry said he doesn’t know where home is and I told him good because we didn’t want him there anyway with two devils” I say and hunter laughs shaking her head.

“My last text was to my sister Hannah and she told me to tell (y/n) to follow her and I responded with I guess that’s all I’m good for now. Not even a hello” she says and I laugh.

“Now I have to follow her” I say going on Instagram and finding her so I can follow her.

“And done” I say and she shakes her head laughing.

"It's been fun guys" I say wrapping my arm around Hunter's shoulder "this was (Y/n) and Hunter answering random questions thrown into a bowl" Hunter says bowing and I turn to her and she turns to me "I love you" acting like I don't know the camera is still rolling and she grabs my face making it look like we started making out.

"I just want to apologize in advance because I know this editing process is going to be hell" I say going to grab my coat.

"They knew when they sent us" Hunter says laughing as she puts her coat on.

"See you later babe" she says grabbing and squeezing my hand before walking out so she can head to her next interview.

[azozzoni]

I think @peaceoutofthepieces and @dreamy-slytherin are to blame for this. Sorry if someone else was writing this. Don’t mean to step on any toes.

*

It starts small. So small Jens doesn’t even notice it, not until Moyo, of all people, says one day, “Hey, isn’t that Jens’ shirt?”

Jens opens his mouth to say of course it’s his shirt, he’s wearing it, but then he realizes Moyo isn’t talking to him but to Lucas instead.

Lucas glances down at the shirt he’s wearing—nothing particularly special or noticeable about the red tee shirt Lucas has on except that Lucas has never worn a red shirt before and that is definitely the one Jens had been wearing the other day when Lucas had come over to “study.” The fact that they hadn’t gotten much studying done was irrelevant.

Lucas just shrugs in response, and Jens wonders when Lucas even took it.

“Jesus, you two are almost as bad as Robbe and Sander,” Moyo complains, but Jens would argue that fact. He and Lucas don’t spend every minute they’re together glued together. They don’t text late into the night about how much they miss each other, send sappy emojis back and forth until one of them falls asleep. Jens and Lucas are far cooler than that.

Lucas doesn’t even react to Moyo realizing he’s wearing Jens’ shirt, doesn’t even glance Jens’ way as if wondering what his reaction might be.

“Stealing my clothes now?” Jens asks once Moyo is distracted by Aaron arriving and he can murmur the question in Lucas’ ear.

Lucas blinks, as though surprised Jens said anything. “Does it bother you?”

“No,” Jens says easily, tugging at the hem of the shirt, a little too big on Lucas’ thinner frame. “I kinda like it.”

Lucas catches his eye and laughs, shoving Jens away from him, a tease that always brings Jens back closer. “Of course you do.”

Yeah, Jens thinks. He definitely likes it.

*

“My mom and sister are home,” Jens reminds Lucas as they sit on the couch, Jens’ arm casually resting behind Lucas’ head, as if the few inches of space between his fingers and Lucas’ hair will stop anything.

“So no handjobs under the blanket?” Lucas asks, snorting with laughter, as though he hasn’t done that exact thing before. He has, and Jens thought he was going to die trying to stop himself from making any noises with his mom in the next room. He could have killed Lucas then, but he’d just dragged him to his room a few minutes later and made Lucas come just as hard with his music turned up loud.

“Exactly,” Jens warns, but his hand falls to the back of Lucas’ neck instead, brushing over the skin, and he feels Lucas shiver at the light touch.

“Whatever you say,” Lucas agrees, a smirk at the edge of his lips, but he doesn’t pull the blanket over them, instead slipping off his shoes and curling up beside Jens instead. Maybe they will get through this movie.

As Jens takes a minute to watch Lucas instead of the movie, he smiles to himself at the way Lucas leans against his shoulder, knees tucked underneath him, feet peeking out. It’s warm and comfortable, the way it’s always seemed to be with Lucas.

Wait, he thinks as something clicks in his mind. Those are his socks on Lucas’ feet. He recognizes the pattern—it’s a pair his mom had given him for some holiday, a pair he hardly ever wears. But Lucas is wearing them, like maybe he just found them somewhere and slipped them on without thinking.

He opens his mouth to say something, but in the end, he doesn’t, drawing Lucas in closer so he can press his face to his hair and breath in the sweet scent of his conditioner.

“You okay?” Lucas asks when Jens catches himself sighing.

“Just watch the movie,” he says instead of answering, and he knows Lucas is smiling when he doesn’t reply and snakes an arm around Jens’ waist instead.

*

Things are easy with Lucas, always have been. There was no gay panic for Jens, no very confusing struggle with his feelings for the kid who moved to Antwerp in the middle of the year, the guy who took months to open up completely to Jens, to get past his thoughts on video games and to tell Jens the real reason he moved there. Jens had known he’d liked Lucas right away, knew it was something more than friendship at that party where Lucas had smiled at him over his beer and his heart skipped a beat.

Sometimes Jens wonders if it’s too easy. If something else is coming that’s going to suddenly make it hard or ruin it. But then he thinks that he’s just thinking too much and decides not to bother at all. Lucas is the one that thinks like that, not Jens.

“We’re gonna be late to meet the guys,” Jens says, as though he cares about being late—he doesn’t, not when Lucas’ lips slide up his throat, a soft kiss pressed here and there, a hot rush of breath against his skin that makes Jens stop caring about anything.

“Uh huh,” Lucas replies, barely a murmur as he bites at Jens’ jaw instead, light, a graze of teeth that makes Jens’ stomach bottom out. They can’t start this now, though, not when his phone will start pinging with texts any minute now from the guys, asking where the hell they are.

Tugging Lucas up on the bed, Jens rolls him over, catching the spark in Lucas’ eyes, the way he bites his lip as though this is all he wants. Fuck.

“You’re the one who volunteered to do this video with the guys,” Jens reminds him as Lucas’ hands slide up his back, pressing down on his shoulder blades, as if that will bring Jens closer.

“We can be late,” Lucas says easily, licking his lips, and Jens has to swallow down the heat rising on his skin.

“Not that late,” he says, although all he wants to do right now is say screw the guys and the vlog and just kiss Lucas until his lips are puffy and red, until Lucas is completely wrapped up in him, bodies hot and throbbing.

He shakes the thought from his mind as he forces himself to climb off Lucas, tries to ignore Lucas’ disappointed groan behind him.

“Fine,” Lucas says at length, crawling off the bed after Jens, pressing a kiss to his neck instead, right on the spot that send a shiver down Jens’ spine. He’s doing it on purpose.

As Jens turns, he watches Lucas grab his red hoodie off the floor and pull it on.

“What are you doing?” he asks, and Lucas glances up at him as he gets the sweatshirt over his head, sleeves falling past his fingers.

“It’s cold out,” he says, as though there’s no other explanation, and Jens can’t say anything as he watches Lucas roll up the sleeves, the rest of him swimming in the dark fabric. “What?” he asks when Jens just stares.

Jens can’t help it. The hoodie is way too big for Lucas, falling over his hips, and Lucas’ hands can barely reach the pocket on the front. It makes him look smaller somehow, the gaping neck exposing his collar bone, but it isn’t sex that Jens is thinking of as his eyes graze down Lucas’ chest.

Lucas looks soft and cozy and warm, all wrapped up in Jens’ hoodie, like an animal burrowing into a blanket, and it makes Jens think of things like hot cocoa and patterned socks and Lucas curled up in his lap, Jens’ fingers combing through his hair. And he thinks he’d be content with that.

It’s a thought he’s never had before and it catches him off-guard as Lucas frowns at him now, the way he’s not responding.

“Jens?” he asks, taking a step closer, brow furrowed, and the sleeve falls back down as Lucas touches his arm gently. “I thought you didn’t mind.”

“Why do you do it?” Jens hears himself say, watching Lucas shove the sleeve back up.

Lucas hesitates a second, and Jens wonders if he’s going to get the truth. Not that Lucas lies to him but sometimes he gets the real answer in bits and pieces instead of all at once. It took a long time for Lucas to open up, to stop keeping his thoughts to himself, to stop considering everything he said first.

Finally, Lucas shrugs, not quite meeting Jens’ gaze. “It just reminds me of you.”

“But I’m right here,” Jens says, and Lucas makes a little face that Jens doesn’t understand.

“I don’t know,” he admits, stuffing his hands in the pockets, and Jens feels his heart do a stupid little flop in his chest, as though Lucas can’t get any cuter. “It smells like you, and it’s big and warm and soft. Like you.”

Warmth floods Jens as he grins, pulling Lucas to him by the swaths of fabric at his sides. “You think I’m soft?”

“Not like that, you dirty-minded freak,” Lucas says, but he’s teasing, Jens can tell by the way he bites down his smile. “I think you’re chill and you make me feel like things are okay even when they’re not.”

Pulling Lucas into his arms, Jens hugs him instead of replying, pressing a kiss to his temple because he doesn’t know what to say. He never knows what to say when Lucas drops lines like these on him, words that make him feel like his whole chest is expanding with an unnamed emotion, like for a second, he can feel what Lucas does, as if his heart can’t swell anymore, might just burst from the happiness inside.

“You really don’t mind?” Lucas asks after a second, voice muffled in Jens’ shoulder, hands around Jens’ waist, holding on tightly.

Smiling, Jens steps back, hands sliding to Lucas’ cheeks as he leans in to kiss him.

“I think you should always wear my clothes,” he says, completely serious, even as Lucas laughs, looking relieved, as though maybe he expected a different answer. “You look hot.”

“Come on,” Lucas says, twining his fingers with Jens’ but leaning in for one more kiss, soft and lingering. “We’re already late.”

“We can be a little later,” Jens says easily, but Lucas smiles this time, pulling away from Jens’ mouth and smirking over his shoulder as he heads for the door.

“Hold that thought for later,” Lucas just says, and Jens thinks he definitely will. But for now, he follows Lucas, a hand anchored in the loose fabric of his hoodie as they head for the park and what will surely now be a very long afternoon.

[fuckinuchihas]

💌: yahallo it's your lovely chaotic gamer child with the very cute love letter emoji requesting sugawara koushi & blueberry blast

You have the cutest icon, and the cutest face. I <3 you so much and I cannot thank you enough for all your love and support. You’re my favorite, don’t tell the others. 

Okay you wanted Night Time Activities with Sugawara Koshi! 

So I took you BOWLING! 

Being the competitive duo you are, I imagine this is right up your alley (HEH, and yes...I think I’m hilarious <3) 

Suga comes in just before he usually goes to bed and he’s fully dressed. You’re confused and internally start racking your brain to remember if there’s some sort of important date you’ve forgotten or a reminder you missed on your phone. 

Nothing comes to mind so you squint and look up at him questioningly. 

“Where are you goin?”  

“We are going out.” 

“No we’re not,” you say, shaking your head and clutching your phone as if he’s about to snatch it away. 

“Yes we are, we’ve not been out together in a long time and I want to go do something, so we’re going.” 

You sigh. “Do we have to? I just got comfortable.” 

“You’ve not moved at all in like three hours…” 

“Yeah..’swhat I said, I’m comfortable.” 

He smiles but shakes his head at you. “C’mon, up. Go take a shower and get dressed. We’re gonna be late.” 

You grumble a bit but if it wasn’t important to him he’d have already given up so you let it go and reluctantly go get ready. 

You hope whatever he has planned isn’t crowded or loud...or lame. 

“This is so laaame,” you say, when you see the neon sign. 

“Stop being a brat and come inside with me,” he says, huffing at you and holding out his hand. You have to tug your hoodie sleeve up a bit to grab onto him but it’s worth it. His skin is cool against your palm and his grip is firm, reassuring and comforting at the same time. 

Not that you’d ever say it, but still. 

When you get inside it’s empty and you look around in surprise. There’s no one there and most of the lights are off. One lane is lit up, and a small light over the booth beside it is flipped on.

“Koshi-” 

“Shh, c’mon let’s get our shoes and pick out a ball to play with,” he says, and tugs you a bit more firmly toward the lit up space. 

There’s a whole table filled with your favorite snacks and a pitcher of ice cold water in the center. When you curl your nose up in disgust, Sugawara reluctantly points to a small cooler of your favorite soft drink but not a single one of them are energy drinks for a reason. 

“This is cool, sorry I said it was lame,” you say, which is practically a full on apology with bowing and begging and everything in between as far as Suga is concerned but he quickly waves you off. 

“It’s fine. I just wanted to do something fun with you and I know the owner,” he says, with a shrug. 

“Still..you got all this stuff, right?” you ask, when he looks at you in surprise and nods. You give him a very small smile and say, “Thanks Koshi.” 

“You’re welcome.” he says, the smile on his face growing wider with every passing second until you start feeling concerned over his mental stability. 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” you add on. 

“You loooove it.” 

“No.”

“You do, you love it so much. You want to come bowling all the time now.” 

“I do not. It’s lame, bowling is lame,” you say, but there’s no heat in the words. 

Suga doesn’t even feel an ounce of shame as he uses your flusteredness to indulge himself with a soft kiss to your lips. “It’s okay to like things, especially if I’m with you,” he says, kissing you again briefly before pulling away. 

“Well it’s not the worst date,” you say, ignoring the way your neck and cheeks heat up.

“Good, now if you win I’ll see if we can come back again next week…” Sugawara says, smiling up at you. 

“And if you win?” you ask, because you’re kinda curious. 

“If I win, well...I win, I can do what I want.” 

“Like you don’t already,” you mumble under your breath but not quietly enough because he hears part of it. 

“What was that?” 

“I said you’re dumb and I’m going to win. I always win.”

[angrylizardjacket]

the band with no name {Douglas Booth} 2

A/N: 1654 words. A bit shorter, but we’re getting into things now. idk how i feel about it, please give me feedback.

[PART 1]

Flop of The Month, your band, has an instagram account with exactly two posts on it, and Douglas feels like both and idiot, and a creepy stalker, for the amount of time he spends flicking through the two photos without actually liking them, for fear of you realising who he was.

Colson, however, seemed to have no such reservations.

“Look, I’m on their story,” Colson’s grinning from ear to ear as the cast and crew break for lunch the Monday after they’d seen your band play, showing Douglas his phone, and your band’s instagram story. It showed their notifications, highlighting how Colson had liked both photos and followed them, and had the caption ‘how’d the rap devil find us?’ and ‘not complaining tho’. 

“Bloody hell,” is all Douglas can bring himself to say, wearing a half-smile as they made their way to the costume department to get changed before lunch. It had been a low effort day, just jeans and t-shirts, but it was always safer to not eat in costume. Hair and makeup could stay and be touched up however.

Your band’s page had begun the day with 217 followers, and ended it with over a thousand. There wasn’t a link to your personal page, and so all he can do is scroll through your Facebook while waiting for Colson to be ready to go.

Y/N: weird question Y/N: also, hi Y/N: but yeh, weird question Y/N: was your friend last night mgk?

Douglas takes a moment to compose his thoughts before typing out his response.

Douglas: hi back Douglas: and yes.

There’s a few minutes of silence, and Douglas can feel his scalp itching beneath his wig, just a little, but he tries to ignore it.

Y/N: cool. Y/N: well it was nice meeting you guys!! Y/N: looking forward to seeing if ur band is real btw Douglas: probably wont be for a while Y/N: im happy to wait Y/N: if u want me there that is Douglas: if we ever actually play a gig, you’ll be the first to know

You send a blushing smiling emoji back, and Douglas finds himself strangely pleased.

“Is that her?” Colson asks, eyes shining as he pulled on his leather jacket; with his wig and makeup, he still absolutely looked the part. Douglas quickly slipped his phone in his pocket, knowing that a faint blush dusted his cheeks despite his best efforts. As he waffled his way through an affirmation, Colson’s smile just grew wider.

“I still don’t understand why you were being so vague; she probably would have jumped you there and then if she knew you were part of the Motley Crue movie, man.”

“Yeah,” Douglas said, his discomfort mounting at the insinuation, “that’s the problem, dude; first of all, I don’t know if she like the band themselves, or just the music, and if she does like the band,” he paused, shrugging a little, quietly embarrassed, “what if she likes them better than me?”

“They’re all married,” Colson says, like it immediately solves everything.

“Man, you know that’s not the issue,” Douglas sighed, but it’s clear he wasn’t done, and Colson just waited, eyebrows raised, “you know, girls who are like... like... how did you say it the other week? When that girl from Instagram was in your DMs every other minute?”

“Clout chasing,” Colson nodded sagely, suddenly understanding all too clearly his co-star’s apparent fears, “well she doesn’t know who you are yet.”

“Exactly,” Douglas exclaimed, glad the craft services tent was finally in view, feeling himself grow hungrier by the moment, “and I think I wanna keep it that way, just for now.”

“Better pray she doesn’t watch Jupiter Ascending,” Colson snorts, just as Douglas punches him in the arm. 

The next day, he messages you first, sends a photo of himself and the rest of the band out of costume, but holding their instruments, all wearing heels to help make it easier to wear them around set. 

Douglas: the band says hi Y/N: shit, you guys have instruments and everything Y/N: getting less sketchy by the minute

You follow it up with a winking emoji, and a photo of yourself, out in the sunshine, dressed impeccably, makeup dark and sharp, holding a stack of posters beside your head, advertising your band’s next gig; this Saturday.

Douglas: are you inviting me? Y/N: only if you’re saying yes

Your confident coyness amuses him, despite the way the shoes are pinching his toes, and he tells you he’ll be there.

The next day, you send a link to a band name generator, but more interestingly, you send it right around the time he’s getting his makeup done, early in the morning.

Douglas: early start? Y/N: my shop won’t open itself Douglas: your shop? Y/N: mini mall tattoo parlor hahaha

“She owns a tattoo parlor?” Daniel asks, reading over Douglas’s shoulder between takes, “you’d better make your move or Colson’s gonna go for her.” 

“Go for who?” Colson himself calls across set where his makeup’s being touched up.

“You weren’t meant to hear that!” Daniel shouts back, though he’s grinning, and adds, “Y/N. She owns a tattoo parlor.”

“Really, shit man, Doug she’s cool as hell,” Colson muses, before snorting, addressing Daniel, “gimme some credit, I’m letting the man shoot his shot; he’s my bro, not my competition.”

“Thanks man,” with the slightest smile, Douglas puts his phone away as the scene is reset around them, and Colson joins him in the middle of the living room set.

“I expect free tattoos, however,” he says with a faux seriousness, “because if you like her, like really like her, I’m gonna wingman the shit out of you.”

“Seriously?”

“Absolutely, man,” he claps Douglas on the shoulder with a surprisingly sincere expression.

It’s Colson who suggests, the following day, sending a video of Douglas playing the bass, asking if you had any pointers. They’re at band rehearsals again, blasting through their repertoire, when they get to Take Me To The Top, and as the song dies down, Colson makes the suggestion.

“Why are you filming it?” Iwan asks, and Colson’s smile is all teeth where he’s holding Douglas’s phone, answering before Douglas has the opportunity.

“Tryna help impress that punk chick from the band last weekend.”

“You’re actually talking to her?” Iwan asks with a bright, almost incredulous smile, “after everything that happened? She must really like you.” He muses, and Douglas feels his soul leaving this mortal plane.

“Smart move; asking for advice from her, lets her know you think she’s talented, and, well, you know,” Daniel shrugs, wiggling his fingers with a casual air. Douglas frowns, but Colson’s nodding.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” he agrees, and finally Douglas clues in. Dexterous fingers.

“Don’t be gross, guys,” he sighs, already regretting letting Colson help at all, “just take the damn video.”

It only takes thirty seconds for you to respond in All Caps.

Y/N: ARE YOU IN A MOTLEY CRUE COVER BAND

“I’m fucked,” Douglas mutters under his breath, staring wide-eyed at the message.

Y/N: you play so well dude just relax your stance and shoulders Y/N: fkn love take me to the top Y/N: seriously a motley cover band??? Y/N: you just instantly got 100x cooler

“Okay, maybe I’m not fucked,” he concedes after a moment, quietly breathing a sigh of relief.

Y/N: now i have to see u guys play!! Y/N: if that’s alright of course

“Nah, you’re definitely a little bit fucked,” Daniel offers over his shoulder, and Douglas pushes his face away.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Douglas grumbles, and Daniel shrugs bemusedly. 

“At least she thinks you play well,” but Douglas isn’t listening to him, he’s frantically tapping away on his phones, scowling, “what ‘re you doing?”

“Trying to come up with a name for our band -”

“Our fake band?” Iwan asks, arms crossed over his chest wearing an amused little smile, “do we have to play along with this too?”

“Not if you don’t want, just don’t... don’t tell her it’s fake is all.” Douglas offers, and the rest of the band nods.

“So how long are you going to play along with this bit?” Daniel ask, and Douglas heaves a sigh.

“Not sure; until I can trust that she’s not just in it to meet the actual band -”

“Which she doesn’t know you know,” Iwan interjected again, and Douglas nodded a little. After a beat, the rest of the band looked to each other, and seemed to share some sort of silent communication, before turning back to him.

“Okay,” Colson agrees easily, “if you’re serious about this chick you’ve known for five days,” he emphasizes, though Douglas doesn’t seem phased, “if we ever run into her, we’ll pretend we’re in a Motley Crue cover band.” He agrees, while Iwan and Daniel silently agree, though they look rather amused at the whole situation.

“There’s just something about her,” Douglas muses quietly.

“It’s the fact that she’s the coolest chick you’ve ever met,” Colson tells him with far too much authority, “and your little posh, school-boy brain wants to try something new.”

“Hey -” Douglas scoffed, though he was quickly talked over.

“She looks like she’d punch me in the face but I’d be okay with it,” Iwan adds, which, strangely enough, the rest of them agree to with various mischievous smiles. Douglas doesn’t exactly deny that he feels the same way.

“What’s our band name gonna be?” Daniel asks finally.

“The Fourskins,” Colson answers back immediately, grinning wide and proud of himself.

“Absolutely no-”

“That’s kind of genius,” Daniel snorts over Douglas’ protest, and so, on a three-to-one vote, their fake Motley Crue cover band is named The Fourskins, and Douglas kind of thinks he’d rather come clean there and then to you, rather than suffer through ever typing or saying that name to you. But he doesn’t. 

He really hopes you’re worth it.