#but he can’t because it’s PHOEBE and he didn’t go after her and he should have and now she’s gone

[izzielizzie]

rereading one of us is back has me angry about how disjointed the oouin trio is all over again. like you’re telling me that phoebe was found drugged and in a shed after an argument and maeve and knox had no reaction ??? phoebe is maeve’s best friend (and one of TWO friends she made on her own in remission). not to mention knox is in LOVE with phoebe. they know her better than anyone in the bayview crew and we got NATE’s pov of all people when the crew was searching for her?

[its-time-to-write]

More Kent!reader and baby George?? Baby fever hittin hard rn🫠😮‍💨

I gotchu! This one has some backstory on the Kents. Or at least how I imagine it, anyway. I love that you all keep requesting more of this story, I think big brother Roy is the absolute sweetest🥺

this one is definitely more Roy-centric, that’s for sure! here’s a link to the other fics if you’re new here🤗

light in the hallway

Roy’s in the middle of yelling, “Isaac, pick up your fucking feet!” when his phone rings. 

He almost doesn’t register it, because the only numbers allowed through while he’s at training are Molly’s, yours, and Phoebe’s school. 

His first thought is that something’s happened to Phoebe, and he’s already calculating how fast he can get to her before he notices it’s your name on the screen. He frowns. You never call while he’s on the pitch, but maybe you need to talk to Jamie about something. 

“Your prick husband’s in the middle of training. Can it wait?” he says in lieu of greeting. 

“I don’t want Jamie, I want you,” comes your panicked voice. “George is sick and I don’t know what to do, he’s all feverish and he hasn’t thrown up or anything but I googled it and it says I don’t have to take him ‘round hospital, but I’m worried anyway because you can’t give a baby chicken noodle soup but his eyes are all glassy and he’s so fucking sweaty.”

Roy looks over to where Jamie’s drilling with Dani, kicking football after football into the net. He turns back around. “Right. I’ll be there in five fucking minutes. I love you.”

“Five minutes? You’re at least fifteen away, and-”

“I love you!” Roy says again, slightly louder before hanging up. 

He makes eye contact with Nate and motions to the car park. Nate nods and Roy leaves, satisfied that Nate didn’t ask where he was going. 

He makes it to your house in six minutes, but only because he got stuck behind an old car. You open the door before he has a chance to knock with an overly fussy George in your arms. 

“I’m an awful mum,” you say immediately. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Roy. I can’t make him feel better and I tried googling it but I don’t even know where to begin with that.”

Roy takes George, who seems to calm down a little. “Right, go run a bath for him. Make sure it’s lukewarm, we’re gonna try to get his fever down without fucking freezing the poor lad. You got acetaminophen?”

You nod. “In the medicine cabinet.”

“I’ll go cut some up for him. He can have a bit since he’s four months now. Same thing used to happen to Phoebe, you remember?”

You shake your head and Roy sighs. “Of course you fucking don’t, you’re too fucking worked up to think straight, aren’t you?”

“Should I have called Jamie?” you ask, eyes wide. 

Roy adjusts his hold on George as he shakes his head. This certainly isn’t the first time he’s seen you in a panic, but it might be the fucking saddest. 

“I didn’t want Jamie, I wanted you,” you explain, more to yourself than to Roy. “You always fucking know what to do and you make shit better.”

Roy’s not going to get choked up over that, there’s no point in crying over the fact that you both have shit parents and he and Molly basically raised you. So instead he gives you a gentle push in the direction of the bath and says,  “I’ll fucking call Tartt. Don’t you worry about it.”

You caress George’s little head before hurrying up the stairs. Roy sighs and goes to find the medicine. He checks the time. The team’s on lunch, so Jamie will have his phone. He finds the contact labeled “prick in-law,” and hits the call button. 

“You shit your pants, Coach?” is the first thing Jamie says when he picks up. 

“Fuck off,” Roy replies. “I’m at your house. George isn’t feeling well, so I’m helping your wife out.”

“Shit,” Jamie swears, and Roy can hear him clamoring out of his seat.

“You don’t fucking need to come home,” Roy says before Jamie can get any farther. “They’re both fine. Finish training for fuck’s sake, and stop by the store to get some fucking immunity boosters. Can’t have you fucking getting sick before the fucking match.”

“Right,” Jamie says finally. “Yeah, okay. Tell her I love her, yeah?”

“Sure,” Roy grits out, but if he’s being honest with himself he’s glad that Jamie’s first instinct was to rush home. It’s bad enough that he and Tartt are friends, much less in-laws. He’s glad Jamie makes you happy, at least. 

They hang up and on cue, George starts crying. 

“You’re alright, lad,” Roy murmurs, but he can already hear you thundering down the stairs. 

You come careening around the corner. “What’s wrong?” you ask anxiously, but Roy just hands you the bottle of acetaminophen. 

“He’s fucking fine. Just upset. Let’s go cool him down, alright kid?” Roy says. 

“Okay,” you say. “I’m really glad you’re here, Roy-o. I don’t think Jamie would’ve known what to do either.”

“Mhm,” Roy grunts. “He said to tell you he loves you. He’s picking up fucking immunity boosters for you, but there’s no fucking way you’ll get sick. Just a precaution.”

You stand on tiptoes to peck his cheek. “My god, how would Molly and I survive without you?” you ask fervently. Roy just grunts again and once again herds you toward the stairs. 

—

An hour later, you’re on the couch with George resting on your stomach. Roy brings you a cup of tea and sits down next to you. You settle closer to him, head on his shoulder as you breathe deep. It reminds you of the rare times he’d visit before Phoebe was born, and how you’d attach yourself to his side and beg him not to go back. There was a time when you were five that he almost caved, but he was twenty and at the beginning of the peak of his career, so he wrenched his hand from your tiny one and refused to look back.

Molly had called him a day later and told him that you wouldn’t stop crying. She was fourteen and already adjusted to the fact that she’d be raising her younger sister (you) on her own.

Roy had hated himself for that. Hated his parents for being shit, but mostly himself. He sent Molly as much money as he could, going around your parents until Molly was eighteen and they fucked off to god knows where, rarely to be heard from again.

So you’ll hold on to him as much as you can even though he’s not going anywhere, not since Molly rang him in a right state, pregnant by a shit husband.

“Roy,” you say softly as not to wake George, “d’you think I’m going to fuck him up?”

Roy asks, “What?” in the gentle tone he only uses with the people he loves.

“I’m worried that I’m going to fuck him up,” you say. “I know we’ve talked about it before but I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m going to do everything wrong. You and Molly… you always fucking know exactly what to do. I don’t. I got pregnant on accident with your arch-nemesis-turned-best-friend-” (“he’s not my best friend,” Roy mouths) “-and I’m worried that it’s all going to go to shit.”

Roy rests his cheek on top of your head. It’s strange. He knows you’re an adult but there’s always a part of him that sees you as that five year old who was crying because her parents were never around, and her brother was leaving her again.

“It’s not going to go to shit,” he whispers. “Molls knows everything because she’s a fucking know-it-all. I don’t know fucking shit, don’t know where you got that idea. You’re a fucking amazing mum. You’d fucking do anything for George, yeah? I’m always here for you and Jamie” (god, Roy can’t believe he’s about to defend fucking Tartt) “Jamie loves you, fucking annoying as it is, and he’s not going to fuck things either.”

You still look worried, but George chooses that moment to sigh and burrow into your chest.

Roy says, “See? He doesn’t think you’re shit,” and the furrows in your brow smooth a little bit.

The lock turns in the front door and Jamie comes in with a grocery bag.

“Kid’s asleep?” he whispers. You nod and he plops the bag on the ground, coming to sit on your other side.

Jamie kisses your temple and runs a hand over George’s back.

“Mental that he was in your stomach once, ain’t it?” he comments, and Roy snorts out a laugh.

“Mental,” you agree hooking one leg around Jamie’s.

Roy asks, “The fuck are you doing here, you’re supposed to be at training,” and Jamie doesn’t even bat an eye just returns, “Coach let us go early,” even though you know he’s lying by the way the corner of his mouth twitches.

Roy probably knows too, but only because he can smell a rat a mile away, but he doesn’t say anything. 

Jamie turns back to you. “Little lad’s doin’ alright, babe?”

“Yeah,” you say. “Roy says he’ll probably sleep for a while, and I thought we’d do takeaway for dinner.”

Jamie kisses you again and says, “You’re doing great, you know that?”

Tears begin to slide down your face and he looks to Roy in alarm. 

Roy just shakes his head. “She’s fine,” he says.

“I fucking love you,” you croak out, and Roy feels like an outsider, like he’s present for something he shouldn’t be. He moves to get up but your hand shoots out and grabs his wrist and all of the sudden he’s twenty again, watching you cry and beg him not to leave.

“Don’t go,” you plead, so he stays. He stays and has exactly one feeling about it, a feeling he would never vocalize, something about family and familiarity and maybe a little bit about coming home.

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

And All the Pieces Fall Right Into Place

I'll Write Your Name Chapter 2

Roy Kent x Latina!Popstar!Reader

3.7k words

Warnings: Language, adults drinking adult things, a smidge of slut-shaming, sexual references, immature adults, Roy being Roy

Holi Dani! I’m back in town. Let’s get together tonight! I miss you!

Under April’s watchful eye, I typed my text to Dani Rojas and hit send. I knew full well that the Greyhounds had a game; Keeley Jones had sent me their schedule, after all. Step one of the most insane idea in the world was officially in motion.

“Remember, you can’t seem too desperate,” April reminded me as we lounged in my living room. “We don’t want it to be obvious that you’re fishing for an invite. Just be really subtle, like ‘Oh you have a match? Wow I’ve never been to one.��� You know?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know, I know.”

Bzz!

Dani’s quick response would have been surprising if it was anyone else; but Dani Rojas was the friendliest, most accommodating person I knew. Since we first met at a party for some tequila brand back in L.A., Dani and I immediately clicked. Our paths crossed frequently enough in London, and I considered him one of my favorite people in England. We bonded over our shared desire to find good pan dulce in London and how much we missed our big, crazy families when we were away. It wouldn’t be too hard to finagle an invitation to his game, right?

Aww chula, I wish! I’ve got a fútbol match tonight.

Just as I was crafting a text that would score me a ticket to Nelson Road, another message came in.

You should come!

“Well, shit,” I laughed, showing April my screen. “That was almost too easy.”

My assistant- sidekick and soulmate, I preferred to call her- chuckled and started typing on her own phone. “I’ll let Keeley and Lanie know that our mission is complete. And I’ll take care of getting your ticket. All you have to worry about now is looking hot and having a good meet-cute.” She paused, pursing her lips. “You and Kent… you two can flirt with each other, right?”

“The heck’s that supposed to mean?” I snorted as I texted Dani back, letting him know that I would love to go to his game.

She shrugged. “You two just didn’t seem to like each other very much.” Her matter-of-fact tone held no emotion. “You’re going to have to pull some Daniel Day-Lewis level acting for this to work.” April grinned at me. “I mean, your goal is to get an EGOT, right? Maybe your Oscar will be for acting.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as Dani texted me back, all excitement. “Well, just call me Meryl, because that’s how good my acting will have to be to get people to think I’m into someone like Roy Kent.”

April’s face softened. “You’ve gotta admit,” she said slowly, “he’s pretty cute.”

“Cute?” I rolled my eyes. “I mean, sure, I could see how he could be considered handsome by some people. I could totally see him with models and shit. But if you’re worried about me falling for the guy, don’t stress.” I slouched further into my couch. “No way in hell am I falling for Roy freaking Kent.”

~

Keeley grinned and showed her phone to Roy. “She got Dani to invite her!” she hissed to the manager as they ate lunch together in his office. “Everything’s going according to plan.”

“Yeah,” Roy muttered flatly as he poked at his food. “Great.”

What the fuck had he gotten himself into? He hated this kind of shit, the paparazzi and attention. And he hated her party-girl lifestyle, always out at clubs. And what the fuck were they supposed to talk about on the dates Keeley would surely make them go on? He liked football, hanging out with Phoebe, reading… What did she like? Flirting with scrawny rockstars? Stealing her best friend’s boyfriend (according to the tabloid he’d noticed at the store that morning)? Her Malibu Barbie Dreamhouse, or wherever it was she lived when she was in Los Angeles? And he was going to have to endure months of this. Fucking hell.

But it was for Keeley, he reminded himself as he watched the blonde munch happily on her salad. She’d asked him to do something, something she knew he’d hate, and he said ‘yes’ without complaint. That had to mean something, right? Surely that would earn him a few points with her, maybe even enough to forget about the whole ‘pick one’ shit he and Jamie had pulled. She’d definitely see how above and beyond Roy was willing to go for her and remember why she had loved him, wouldn’t she?

Besides, seeing him with an admittedly gorgeous popstar on his arm might even make Keeley a smidge jealous.

“It’s gonna work.” Keeley’s reassuring voice penetrated his thoughts. “I know it is. You wouldn’t believe who’s gotten away with this scheme. You know that actor from-”

I’m drunk in the back of the car and I cried like a baby coming home from the bar

Roy stood, frowning in the direction of the suddenly bolstering changing room. “What the fuck is that?”

Keeley grinned as she hopped up and followed his gaze to the sight of Jamie and Colin and a few other guys shaking their hips and singing along. “Your new girlfriend,” she whispered with a wink. “Come on, Roy, you know this one. It was only her big hit last summer.”

“Hmmph.” Yeah, he recognized the catchy tune that still seemed to always be on the radio all these months later; Phoebe’d made him play it about twenty times in the car just that week. But why the fuck was his team screeching it while they got ready for their afternoon training?

Jamie’s smile widened at the sight of Roy and Keeley. “Oi! Did ya hear Dani’s news?”

“What’s up?” Keeley asked, as if she didn’t know exactly what Jamie was about to say.

Sure enough, Jamie pointed in the direction of Colin’s little speaker, where the music was blasting from. “She’s comin’! To our game tonight!” He looked just about ready to do a cartwheel. “Apparently, she and Dani are buddies, and he invited her to watch us! Can you believe it?”

“You’re kidding!” Keeley gasped convincingly, smacking Jamie on the arm. “How the fuck did he never tell us they’re friends?” She glanced at Roy before turning back to Jamie. “D’you reckon he’ll get her to go out with you boys tonight? Or is she too famous for our little Greyhounds?”

Richard appeared over Jamie’s shoulder. “I hope so,” he sighed. “She recently broke up with her boyfriend.” He waggled his eyebrows. “She’ll be looking for a rebound, no?”

Roy rolled his eyes. Shit, was this going to be an even bigger distraction than he thought, he realized. For the millionth time since he stood in Keeley’s office and signed the NDA, Roy was regretting this decision. But when he saw the excitement shining in Keeley’s eyes as she watched the Greyhounds dance around, he couldn’t help the soft sigh he let out.

Fuck, he hoped it was worth it.

~

I took one last look in the mirror. Little jean skirt, black leather jacket, boots. April had assured me that the outfit was perfect: casual enough for a game, stylish enough for a night out with the team, hot enough to catch the attention of Roy Kent. Or at least, look like I’d caught the attention of Roy Kent.

The car ride to Nelson Road was quicker than I’d expected, and the walk to my seat was a blur of phones taking photos and my name gasped out of people’s mouths. I wondered if, with all the time I’d be spending at Nelson Road in the coming weeks, the reaction would die down. Or if, like Keeley Jones had implied towards the end of our first meeting, my presence would lead to a spike in attendance.

She seemed to be hoping for the latter, because she made sure my seat was very visible: right by the pitch, close to the Greyhounds’ dugout. Even if I wasn’t the biggest soccer fan, I had to admit it was exciting being so close to the field; I quickly snapped a few pictures to send to my family, who would appreciate the view much more than I ever could.

When the team came out, I joined in the enthusiastic cheers and screams, shouting Dani’s name loudly. His face lit up when he spotted me, and I saw him nudging his teammates and pointing in my direction. Keeley had warned me about their reactions; indeed, they were grabbing each other and making faces similar to the ones my nephew made when he saw Mickey Mouse on his first trip to Disneyland.

“Whistle!”

The two syllables slammed against my ears. There he was, no longer in the black leather jacket I’d met him in, but instead wearing a dark blue Greyhounds jacket. One of the players- Jamie Tartt, I remembered- started animatedly talking to a very bored-looking Roy Kent. With one of those eyerolls that I knew I’d have to get used to seeing, he turned in my direction.

Despite my initial instinct to roll my own eyes, I instead forced myself to hold his gaze for a moment. A horrified thought suddenly struck me: Could Roy Kent pull this off?

Then his mouth tugged upwards in the corner, forming an admittedly sexy little smirk. In return, I let my eyes wander down his figure, taking in the way his jacket hugged his muscular arms and the way his pants hugged thick thighs. Damn. If I hadn’t already met him, if I hadn’t already discovered what a cranky and irritable grouch Roy Kent was, I’d probably be attracted to his smug expression and athletic build. He wasn’t my usual type, but I couldn’t deny that he was, frankly, kind of gorgeous.

He gave me a curt nod of acknowledgement before turning back to his team and shouting at them, his sharp yell reminding me that I was here for a reason. Remembering Keeley’s instructions, I pulled out my phone and snapped a couple of photos of the pitch, making sure to get Roy and the other Greyhounds in the frame. I quickly posted the picture to my social media and tagged Dani in it, as Keeley had suggested.

With the “official business” out of the way, I relaxed in my seat and prepared to at least appear to look like I was enjoying the game. Figuring that there were eyes and cameras pointed in my direction, I made myself steal several glances at Roy Kent; he must have been thinking the same thing, because more than once, he was already looking over at me.

~

Roy sighed when he looked over at the corner where most of the Richmond players were assembled, practically falling over themselves to get in a word with her.

It was a bit perplexing, honestly. These men were professional athletes. They regularly dated models and actresses. But this singer, this popstar, had them falling all over themselves trying to chat her up. Sure, Roy thought, her level of fame was pretty fucking impressive. She’d won a couple of Grammys, her songs were constantly on the radio, and he’d heard her latest tour was practically impossible to get tickets for. So maybe some of their fawning was justified.

He glanced at his phone, wishing he was at home in bed already. With a deep exhale, he made a beeline for Dani; the sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could leave, he reasoned.

“Oi,” Roy grunted as he approached the striker. He nodded towards the swarm of players, doing his best to keep his trademark disinterested expression on his face. “You going to introduce me to your friend?”

Dani’s eyes sparkled knowingly. “You too, eh Coach?” He chuckled and clapped Roy on the shoulder. “Vámonos.”

Roy’s heart stuttered in his chest as he followed Dani to the corner of the club, where he saw, of all people, Jamie sitting close to the singer, murmuring something in her ear. She laughed at whatever he said and responded with a smile on her face. Her eyes flickered to Roy as he approached; was that… disappointment he saw?

If it was, it was only there for a fraction of a second. Just like on the pitch, her eyes trailed over his figure, a small smirk forming on her lips. If he didn’t know better, Roy would be intrigued by the boldness on her face, the uninhibited way she eyed him. In the back of his head, he couldn’t help feeling a bit smug when he saw the way Jamie’s brows furrowed as the striker looked back and forth between the two.

She kept her eyes on Roy as she stood up and stepped away from Jamie and the guys. She batted her lashes at Roy before turning to Dani, her eyebrows raised expectantly.

Shit, Roy thought. She’s good at this.

“Chula,” Dani said, smiling at his friend. “I want you to meet my coach, Roy.” He turned to Roy. “Coach, this is-”

Roy reached out and took her hand in his and shaking it slowly. “Only an idiot doesn’t know who you are,” he hummed, raising his eyebrows. “You caused quite a stir with my team, you know. You enjoy the match?”

She nodded, giving his hand a squeeze before letting go. “I did. Sorry if I was a bit of a distraction.”

“I think you actually brought us luck.” Fucking hell, when was the last time Roy flirted like this? Was he doing it right? “You should come again sometime.”

Her smile widened as she tilted her head coyly. “Well, if that’s an invitation, maybe I will.”

Desperate to end this charade, Roy cleared his throat. “Have these fellas bought you a drink yet?” When she shook her head, he rolled his eyes playfully. “Fucking hell, guess I need to remind them what fucking manners look like.” With that, he placed his hand on her lower back and nodded towards the bar. “Come on, then.”

She winked at Dani and let Roy lead her to the bar, keeping that coy smile plastered on her face. Once they had ordered, she looked up at him, still smirking.

“Kent,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Watch your fucking hands.”

Sure enough, Roy realized that his hand was dangerously low, just above the curve of her ass. Shit.

Despite his embarrassment, Roy scoffed, although he did remove his hand. “You’re a natural at that flirting shit,” he all but sneered. “Then again, I’m sure you’ve had plenty of practice, with all your shaggy little rockstar pricks.”

Her eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second as the bartender slid over her drink. Still, she kept her expression neutral; to anyone watching them, she looked as though she was enjoying their conversation. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Her snarky tone contrasted with her sweet face. “Tell me more about the women who sell stories about your dick to the press and steal your watches?”

“Oi,” Roy growled as he picked his beer up off the bar. “That happened once, alright?”

“You mean it got into the papers once,” she grumbled, sipping her drink. She raised her eyebrows at him. “So, what’s the plan?”

Roy frowned. “Fuck d’you mean? We’re doing the fucking plan.”

She shook her head. “Like, are you going to ask me to dance? Are we taking off and going to a restaurant or some shit?” Roy avoided looking at the way her lips wrapped around her little straw as she sipped her drink. “Keeley said it’s up to us, just no going home together on the first night.” The little snort she gave would’ve been adorable coming from anyone else. “As if.”

“Well, I guess if we dance, we don’t have to fucking talk,” Roy muttered, doing his best to mirror her amiable expression; it was challenging, he realized, looking cheery while feeling irritated as hell. He downed the rest of his beer and practically slammed the empty bottle on the bar. “One song, alright? I don’t usually fucking dance.”

“Trust me,” she hummed, finishing the last of her drink. “For me, you’d make an exception.” Flashing what he assumed was her most winning smile, she took Roy’s hand and led him to the crowded dance floor.

On the dance floor, she pressed her body close to his, her movements teasing and natural. Everything about her- her hips, her smile, her eyes on his, the way her hands played with her hair flirtatiously- would have normally had Roy’s chest feeling tight with attraction.

She brought her lips to his ear, looking as though she was probably flirting with him. “I swear to God,” she hissed. “If you get a boner, I will fucking kill you.”

Yeah. Right.

~

Officially introduced? Check.

Flirted? Check.

Had a drink together? Check.

Danced? Check.

We’d gone through enough of the motions. There was no way I was going to spend more time with Kent than I had to; we’d be thrown together enough in the coming weeks once the “dating” began. Besides, Keeley had warned me that Roy didn’t like to stay out late anymore. He was probably even more ready to call it a night than I was.

Sure enough, after a couple of songs, he gave a small grunt and looked at his phone.

“Should get going,” he grumbled.

“Why?” I huffed, fluffing my hair. “Will you fall asleep right here on the dance floor soon?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a real ball of fucking sunshine?”

“That’s an improvement from nightmare.” I exhaled and tugged at his jacket. “C’mere.”

Roy’s eyes widened. “Why?”

“So I can say goodnight, you idiot. Someone’s bound to take a photo of this.” Not waiting for an answer, I pulled his face close to mine and planted a small, lingering kiss on his cheek. His face was warm, a little itchy from his beard, and now carried a little red mark from my lipstick. I smiled up at him and released his jacket. “Goodnight, Roy Kent,” I hummed.

He cleared his throat and gave a curt nod. “Right. Goodnight, then.” He reached down and gave my hand a squeeze before turning and walking away, his movements stiff and almost robotic.

Fighting the urge to childishly wipe my mouth on the back of my hand, I returned to the corner where the Greyhounds were gathered. Dani’s face lit up when I slid into the booth next to him and stole a sip of his drink.

“Did you have fun dancing with Coach Kent, amor?” he asked, his voice dripping with teasing.

I smirked at my friend. “He was very nice,” I declared with a playful eyeroll.

“Roy doesn’t normally dance,” one of the players- Colin- informed me. “And he usually doesn’t stay out this late.” He waggled his eyebrows at me over his beer. “Wonder why he came out tonight.”

Putting on my best coy smile, I leaned forward. “What about when his girlfriend comes out with you all? Doesn’t he dance with her?”

Immediately, all the men at the table shook their heads. “Roy doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Isaac, their captain, clarified. “He actually hasn’t really dated anyone since….” He glanced around the table. “Well, since he broke up with his serious girlfriend, Keeley.”

“Keeley?” I echoed without thinking. “Keeley Jones?”  

Dani’s smile widened. “Oh, how do you know Keeley?”

Shit.

“I don’t,” I lied. “But I’ve heard of her. We’ve got some mutual friends. She’s a model, right?”

Isaac nodded. “She’s moved into PR, actually. Runs her own firm, works with the club. She’s brilliant.”

“And once upon a time, she and Roy were our OTP,” Colin sighed dreamily. “But they’re good friends now. Them and Jamie and their weird little dynamic.”

“Jamie dated her too,” Dani explained. “Before her and Roy got together.”

I nodded, slowly piecing together the story. “Jamie dated her too?” I chuckled, wondering why I felt like I should have been told all this ahead of time. “Gosh, she has a type, doesn’t she? Dating two guys from the same team.” I put my hands up and quickly added, “Not that I have the right to judge. I dated bandmates once, did not turn out well for the band.”

The guys laughed good-naturedly. As I was about to feign interest and ask another question about Roy, Jamie Tartt approached, plopping down on my other side and setting down a drink in front of me, his arm behind me on the booth casually.

“Finally escaped from Grandad, eh?” he joked, eyes twinkling playfully.

Damn. Normally, his pretty-boy looks and admittedly annoying swagger would be exactly what I wanted, and we’d probably have a fun couple of weeks in each other’s beds. But I needed to stick to the plan; besides, wasn’t I done with guys like this?

Offering the athlete nothing but a polite smile, I turned back to Dani and took my friend’s hand. “It was fun watching you play today,” I hummed. “Think I could come again? Become a Greyhounds fan?”

“Yes!” Dani kissed my forehead. “Please, amor, come to more of our games.” He nudged me. “I’m sure Coach Kent would not mind one bit.”

Hoping my smile was shy rather than obviously fake, I giggled. “He did tell me I brought you all luck,” I said slowly. I batted my eyelashes at Dani. “Don’t suppose you could pass along my phone number to him? I’d love to know which game he’d like me to bring luck to.”

The table fell into a dead silence, all eyes wide and mouths agape. After the guys exchanged looks that could only be described as utterly shocked, Colin finally cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry,” he started, “are you asking Dani to give Roy your phone number?”

Feigning innocence, I nodded. “Sure,” I chirped. “Is that alright? You all said he’s single, so…” I shrugged and turned to Dani. “Unless you think it’s too weird, chulo?”

“No, no,” Dani assured me. “I can give him your number.” He tilted his head at me. “You… you liked Coach Kent, then?”

Nope. Not at all. Not one fucking bit.

“Sure,” I giggled, hating myself. “I mean, as much as I can like a man after one drink and a couple of dances.”

His smile lit up the entire club as he lifted his drink. “Well, then Coach Kent is a lucky man. I will give him your number tomorrow, how does that sound?”

I tapped my glass to Dani’s. “Sounds like a plan.”

Taglist: @infinetlyforgotten@ladygrey03@book-of-roses@thatonedogwithablog@misshall14@wibblywobblyvampywolfystuff@akornsworld@itswhateveripromise@purecinnamonextract@oceanncurrent@dearvoidgoodnight@hopefulromances @respondingtoshowerthoughts-blog @hotleaf-juice @emmy2811 @captainorbust-blog @preciousbabypeter @shion-ah @royalestrellas

[caslutz]

Roy Kent Head Cannons (Part One)

for everyone that told me to be a roy blog, i can’t hold it in any longer, here they are

- was raised by a single father until he was 9 and scouted. his grandfather was so involved because his father was always busy working to keep the lights on for him and his sister (he was also pretty distant)

- a gay king, however he had always entertained the idea he was bisexual and didn’t think more of it. it was only after his break up with keeley that he got to thinking about deeper root of the problem with her. when he starts getting closer to jamie it clicks for him.

- he is actually blind without glasses. he wore contacts his whole career but after he retired he just didn’t want to anymore, but he doesn’t wear his glasses unless he’s at home because he’s stubborn (and maybe a little embarrassed) so at work all he sees is just little blobs on the field and he has to guess who is who (spoiler, he’s not good at it so he just addresses them as “that fuck” and points)

- bonus points: jamie makes roy wear his glasses at home because one, he thinks he should be able to see, and two, he thinks they’re super hot (they are)

- i could make a whole separate post for this, but neurodivergent roy!! roy goes undiagnosed his whole childhood and adult life until he starts to talk to dr. sharon and she picks up on some things. most notably his inability to read others emotions (including his own), his anxiety, and his strong attachment such as his career (and football in general) and jamie tartt.

- roy kent is a swiftie. guys i’m sorry i’ve seen stuff saying he hates music and only listens to EDM, but like come on. roy didn’t even know who she was until phoebe started listening to her, and the same thing with frozen, he now knows all the words and will mouth them, and even enjoys her music. however, this is a secret he will take with him to the grave. when jamie and phoebe want to go to her concert he fights tooth and nail but he’s already bought tickets before they even asked.

okay so these are only head cannons and they are my opinions, sorry if you don’t agree lol. if you do agree i would love to hear what you think, or even more ideas! ask box is open! i also might elaborate on these too idk…

this is probably only part one because i definitely have more that im holding back!!

[ifancyharry]

Scott Street

Hi! This is based off the song Scott Street by Phoebe Bridgers, or at least my interpretation of it :) let me know what you think

Word count: 3271

Warnings: none, a bit angsty

Is this a new couch?, is all Harry is able to think about, as he’s standing in the middle of his mom’s living room, a bunch of people surrounding him, talking. He knows they’re talking but he can’t quite get what everyone is saying, because he’s so focused on the couch. The couch that is so important to him; because surely he would remember his mum’s couch. He’s sat on it a million times. But why can’t he? Has it really been that long since he’s been home?

“Is this a new couch?” He lets out before he can stop himself, his voice sounding foreign to his own ears.  

Suddenly, he can feel all eyes on him, and he feels even more unease as he was already feeling. 

“What are you talking about, love?” His mother smiles tenderly at him, a soft look in her eyes. But Harry can tell she’s a little worried at his sudden outburst. He’s been quiet all day.

“Mom!” He whines, childishly almost, his hands signaling to the couch, “is this a new couch?” He repeats, feeling a little annoyed at his mother. How can she not understand such a simple question? 

He watches as Anne smiles politely to the guests, walking slowly towards her son: “no, Harry. It’s always the same couch.”

“Oh.” It’s all he says, feeling really hot all of a sudden. He doesn’t remember his mother’s couch. And it isn’t only his mother’s, it’s his couch too. Because he lived here, before. For sixteen years of his life. 

“Maybe you should go lie down, darling” she’s now speaking softly, almost in whispers, and he knows it’s not because she doesn’t want the guests to hear. She doesn’t care about them, she’s extremely proud of his son; she’s doing it to calm him down.

But he doesn’t want to be calmed down. He doesn’t want to lie down. He wants to sit on the couch and engrave it in his memory so he never has to feel like a stranger in his own home again.

Just as he’s about to tell his mother that he doesn’t need to lie down, he hears the familiar sound of a bike’s bell coming from outside in the driveway, his heart quickly falling to his stomach and he suddenly feels like he can’t breathe. 

The feeling of hands caressing his hair.

Faded, red, cold lips brushing over his ear whispering sweet nothings. I love you, I love you, I love you. 

The smell of biscuits after a shift at the bakery lingering on sheets.

Warm sweaters and soft, twinkly eyes. 

How can such a childish sound bring back all kinds of memories? 

He should feel at least a tiny bit accomplished as he didn’t forget that sound. But he doesn’t. Because he knows who that bike belongs to, and he really isn’t ready to face her yet.

“Anne!” She’s shouting excited, her voice still the same, after all these years. Harry feels almost like he’s about to faint as he remembers what that voice used to say to him, her words like honey to his ears. 

And the door now opens with a loud noise, but the other guests don’t seem to care. Harry is amazed. They don’t care about the bells. They don’t know what they mean, and he’s almost jealous as they get to go on with their chatter and meaningless conversations.

So, he’s the only one turning around, dreading her entrance. His heart skipping beats.

Anne lets out a loud laugh as she’s still outside. She’s always late. That hasn’t changed.

“This stupid bike! I almost fell trying to carry the pumpkin cake” she laughs. That laugh that he remembers so well.

“Come on in darling, you must be freezing”.

And now Harry knows he should really just turn around. Maybe he should take on his mother’s offer and go lie down. He knows, because he isn’t strong enough to see her. He didn’t even know she still lived near by. He bets she has the same couch, but as of right now harry can’t remember that one either. 

“I’m sorry I’m so late,” she’s rumbling sweetly, stepping in the house and removing her scarf and coat. She has her eyes fixated on the ground, suddenly feeling a little shy as she sees the amount of people in such a small place. When Anne had asked her if she wanted to come to a small gathering to celebrate the upcoming holidays, she thought small meant small.

Harry smiles to himself, she was never really a big crowd person, that too hasn’t changed.

“The cake took longer than I- oh” she’s handing the cake to Anne now, who’s promising to put it in the oven to keep it warm, but she isn’t listening anymore as her eyes lock into a famous pair she knows way too well. 

“Hi” it’s the only thing he’s able to let out as he takes in her figure, she’s taller now as she grips tightly her scarf and coat, so tight her fingers are almost white. She must realize what she’s doing as she glances down to her hands and lessens the grip. All she can think about is how she shouldn’t have come. She didn’t think he would be here.

He’s always so busy, he never makes it to this kind of parties.

“Hi” she breathes out, her voice sounding more shaky than she’d like. 

“Here, let me help you with your coat” he closes the space between them in only two big steps. He’s now invading her space and she feels flustered; she tries to take a big breath but all she really gets is his perfume filling her nostrils. She knows he uses an expensive one because she read it once in a magazine while she was getting her hair done.

She can’t remember the name, but it suits him. However, she misses the sweet smell of biscuits he would always have on him, when he would spend the night at her house after a shift at the bakery.

As he takes the coat and scarf from her hands, his fingers brush against hers and he feels a familiar shock run through him. Everything about her is familiar.

Her round shaped glasses haven’t changed, and he remembers that time she came home from the doctors crying because they told her she had to wear glasses.

“For the rest of my life, Harry! I look horrible” she had said, hands covering her face as she let out small sobs. “Don’t talk like that, you’re always so beautiful”.

She’s taller now, but not taller than him, and he’s so close he can make out the small freckles on her nose and the mole near her lips that matched his. Matched, because now it’s just a mole near her lips which he happens to have too. 

She’s not sixteen anymore, yes, and it has been more than ten years since he’s last seen her, but she feels so familiar it warms his heart. The sudden thought that maybe he isn’t a stranger in his own home anymore. 

“I’ll put it upstairs, yes?” He says and she looks almost startled as she hears his voice, almost as if she forgot he was here.

“Yes, okay” she nods.

-

It’s been a couple of hours and Harry is getting impatient. He wants to talk to her, but every time he tries she’s nowhere to be seen, or too busy talking with someone to really acknowledge him. 

He doesn’t know what it really is about her that makes him so jittery; he’s had a lot of time to talk to her. If he really wanted, he could have called, in those ten years, yet somehow he never did.

He never even asked his mum how she was, what she was up to. Because he felt more comfortable that way. If he never asked, sooner or later he would’ve forgotten about her and he wouldn’t stay up anymore on those drunken nights asking himself if she saw his concert or if she felt somehow a little proud of him.

But she’s here now, and he couldn’t remember the couch. He couldn’t remember the couch but somehow he remembers how her lips felt on his the first time they kissed. And he wants to hold onto that familiar feeling because he doesn’t want to be the guy who forgets his own couch.

So he’s walking towards her now, kind of hurrying actually. Because now she’s finally alone and he can talk to her.

She’s giving him her back, sipping on a glass of red wine and she jumps a little when Harry places a hand on the small of her back, “God, you scared me” she smiles as she places an hand on her chest, she seems a lot more relaxed now. It’s definitely the wine.

“Sorry” he chuckles, showing her that boyish grin she used to love so much. “Just wanted to chat. You haven’t been avoiding me, have you?”

She blushes a little at his words, because she had been actually avoiding him: “What? Don’t be silly”.

“It’s been a long time, yeah?” 

His accent isn’t thick anymore, she thinks, and he has a kind of glow to him, almost like a tan, and she recalls she read on twitter that he lives in Los Angeles now. Maybe that’s where he got this tanned, since in England it’s been raining almost everyday since October.  

“Ten years” she doesn’t want to make small talk with him. He feels like a stranger and she’s uncomfortable. Something that used to come so easy to her, is now extremely difficult.

“How’s your sister?” He asks. He doesn’t know why he asks, he doesn’t care about her sister. He just wants to bash in the warm familiar feeling of her a little longer. She’s the only thing he remembers vividly about his life before, and he has been searching for that feeling for a long time.

“Oh,” YN smiles sadly, “i don’t see her often, anymore. After she got her degree she moved to Copenhagen”.

Harry’s eyes widen at her words, “wow, that makes me feel old”. 

He almost was expecting everything to be the same as he left it.

“Let’s sit on the couch?” She asks, but doesn’t wait for his answer as she heads to the couch, thinking her legs would give out if she kept standing. Harry follows behind, and even if there’s a lot of space on the couch, because it is a big couch, he sits so close to her their knees are touching.

She doesn’t miss the feeling of his sweater covered arm against hers, her skin on fire.

“Do you still play drums?” He doesn’t even let her answer as he says: “because I have to record a new song and I really want to have drums in it”.

“I don’t play anymore” she cuts him off, and she’s almost pissed. He’s acting as if she could just leave her life to go and record a song with him. He’s so out of touch with reality that it makes her sick. What really enrages her is his pretense to treat her as if she’s the same childish girl who fell in love with him all those years ago. 

“Oh, why?” 

“Just too much stuff on my plate” she wants him to ask her what stuff she’s referring to. She wants him to care for the her she is now, and not a nostalgia induced version of her.

He nods slowly, sensing her uneasiness. As he’s about to ask her another pointless question, he’s interrupted by his mother’s voice: “Cake time!”

He lets out a quiet groan, because he had finally gotten the courage to talk to her and of course it had to be cake time. 

“Come on,” she says, standing up from the couch “it’s your favorite”.

He’s frozen in place as he watches the back of her head disappear in the kitchen. 

His feet feel so heavy in his boots, and his hands are sweating. The couch seems to be swallowing him and he can’t get up. He’s suddenly hyperaware of the itchy sweater he has on and the label in his pants is poking him and scratching the skin of his back.

He knows why he feels so sick to his stomach: Pumpkin pie used to be his favorite, but now it’s cheesecake; which is to say, she doesn’t know his favorite cake anymore. 

And it’s not her fault, it means he just wasn’t around enough to tell her.

He’s become the guy who forgets his own couch.

-

“I always loved those airplanes” she’s now in his room, smiling softly at the baby mobiles planes he still has hanging above his bed. 

She was supposed to just take her coat and go; everyone else left a long time ago and she stayed behind to help Anne clean the kitchen as Harry kept mostly to himself, eyes planted on his phone as he was reading a couple of emails. 

He learned that she’s often at his house, feeding his mum’s cats and trying to keep the plants alive when she’s away. When she’s away to see Harry on tour. And he never knew. 

His first reaction was to be annoyed at his mum, obviously, because how could she not tell her that sitting on the forgotten couch at home was her?, but he later on realized he’d simply never asked. And he couldn’t blame his mum for his own stupidity.

He watches as she walks towards his bed and grabs her coat, she then turns to face him. She’s leaving. She’s leaving but there’s so many things he wishes he’d told her. There hasn’t been enough time to ask her everything he meant to ask.

“I should-“ she starts, “i should go”.

“Wait!” He exclaims, and his voice comes out more louder than it should’ve, since it’s just them and they’re standing pretty close.  “How about I walk you home?”

-

They’re standing side to side now. Harry offered to bring her her bike tomorrow, but she refused and told him that she wasn’t going to be home the next day. It was a lie. She wasn’t planning on leaving her house until Harry left town. Hell, maybe even until he left the country.

So her refusing his offer resulted in Harry riding her bike, pedaling so slow it’s making his knees hurt. He wants to be near her, because there’s so many things he has to say.

But he really doesn’t know how, so he just decides on small talk. Again.

“How’s the band?” He glances at her and then shifts his eyes quickly on the road as he was almost hitting her foot with the bike’s front wheel.

“Band?” She laughs, she really doesn’t know what he’s referring to. Wasn’t he the one in a band?

“Yes! Come on!” He nudges her a bit on the shoulder “White eskimo, was it?”

“Oh! Yeah, Tyler’s getting married next month, actually.”

He has to keep a steady grip on the handles as he feels like he’s about to crash the bike. 

Married? 

“I’m sorry.” YN smiles embarrassed at him, “i’m sure if he knew you were in town he would’ve invited you”. 

It’s not her words that hurt him. It’s the feeling that has been creeping In his heart since this morning. The feeling of being a stranger in his own town, in his own home. In what once felt like his whole world. He suddenly feels ashamed of who he has become, because the person he is now doesn’t remember his mother’s couch, doesn’t get invited to his best friend’s wedding and doesn’t know how to talk to his first love anymore.

“I’m not going to be in town”

“Of course.”

She really doesn’t know what to say anymore. She’s feels as if he’s drained her of all her energy. She’s so tired. 

“Everything feels so different now” he mutters after a while. And she can’t help but agree, but she doesn’t have it in her heart to tell him that he’s the one that’s different. 

“You know, I always keep up with you.” She says instead, and she feels as if she’s letting her guard down a little, and obviously she’s scared, but she kind of owes it to him. For old times sake. They used to be so close. 

“Yeah?” He seems to light up a little at her words, “so you aren’t ashamed when you hear my name?”

He’s laughing but the atmosphere suddenly turned darker, his words lingering heavy in the air between them.

“I would never be ashamed of you, I’m really proud.’ And she isn’t laughing. She’s serious. She means every word. How could he even think people could be ashamed of him. He’s different, yes, but not different in a bad way. He’s different as in he made it out and they all stayed there. Waiting for him to come back once in a while. 

She stayed behind as she watered his mother’s plants and watched the airplanes above his bed. She knows his house in every small detail, she knows where Anne keeps the wine glasses and where she keeps the water glasses, she knows every poster in Harry’s bedroom and every black scratch on the white paint of his wall. 

She also knows that she’s never seen his new house, and she doesn’t know if Love Actually is still his favorite movie. She knew the number of the moles on his back by heart, but she can’t help but wonder if he has new ones now.

“Here we are” she gestures to her house as Harry hops off of her bike. He walks her to the door, leaving the bike on the lawn. 

His hands are in his pockets as he watches her play with the keychain on her keys. He’s afraid that if he takes them out of the pockets he’d reach out to touch her. Her cheeks look so rosy from the cold air that he almost wants to bite them, her eyes have a twinkle in them that reminds him of all those years ago when he used to kiss on her eyelids when she was tired.

“I’ll call you, okay?” He tells her, finally giving in to his instincts and caressing her cheek with his warm hand. He locks his eyes to hers, examining them. She leans into his touch and he almost feels his legs give out. She nods a little against his palm, she’s cold.

She knows he won’t call her. They both know it; he’ll get on a train and with its whistle, he’ll leave them all behind. She’ll go on with her life, and he’ll go on with his. And she’ll never know his house or she’ll never get to count the moles on his back to see if they’re all still there.

Concerts, interviews, movie roles, and suddenly he will forget the couch all over again. 

But she can’t help herself as she says “don’t be a stranger”.

And Harry feels his throat tighten because he’s been trying to not be a stranger ever since this morning, he wants to tell her that he’s trying to remember everything and that she’s the only thing that felt familiar in a while.

So, he kisses her. He closes the distance between them and, palm still against her cheek, thumb caressing her jaw, he presses his lips agains hers. 

And, as he’s kissing her, he thinks to himself: this is me not being a stranger. 

[canenotabeltofunction]

My Charmed (1998) Hot Takes

*Spoilers* (Even Though It’s Been 25 Years- Just Saying)

1. Prue was overpowered

I know that Prue is the oldest and the oldest sister is supposed to be the most powerful, but the development of their powers was just very all over the place with how fast they learned to use them. Prue seemed to master her powers exponentially faster than the other sisters.

For example in the very first episode Prue moves cream from a cup into her coffee. This is moments after she finds out about her powers- yet it takes Paige an extended amount of time before she is able to orb liquids even though she and Prue have basically the same power (and due to the yelling and orbing aspect of Paige’s power it seems like it should have been easier).

There’s also the episode of ‘Secrets and Guys’ in the FIRST SEASON where we see Prue cleaning with her powers and controlling multiple different tools at one time without difficulty- she is literally talking to Phoebe and Piper and is preoccupied and is still able to do this.

Before we even reach the end of the first season Prue has already discovered her ability to control her powers through her hands as well as her eyes. And by the 9th episode of the second season she discovers she can astral project. Which she is already capable of doing intentionally within a few episodes- even though she can’t do it while awake (until episode 5 of season 3).

While the sisters did all develop their powers well I feel like in terms of weaknesses they did not really give Prue that many. There was the whole thing with her being prideful but as a whole her powers didn’t seem to have any bounds after a certain point.

The only time we really see her powers not working well is when there is something blocking their powers all together. Vs with Piper things don’t stay frozen forever, she can only freeze inside a certain range, her freezes can be fought through, etc.

And obviously Phoebe didn’t have an active power until she developed the ability to levitate.

Idk feel free to disagree but I feel that Prue was a little overpowered

2. Cole Deserved a Redemption Arc

Don’t get me wrong I’m not excusing Cole’s behavior in the later seasons. However I do wish that the Cole storyline had gone slightly different and that Phoebe and Cole ended up together.

I personally never was able to get into the Coop storyline- it felt very unemotional to me. And it may have been because Cole was around much longer.

“But Cole was evil! He never changed!”

I beg to differ, up until around the last season he was on the show almost everything that kept Cole evil was out of his control.

He tried to give up his powers originally but was tricked into killing a witch (or he was possessed, I don’t remember). He never wanted to become the source, he was manipulated by The Seer. And even after the source took over we still see Cole inside fighting to be good like when he saves Paige.

And he even tried AGAIN to give up the powers of The Source but Phoebe was manipulated into stopping him.

He genuinely was trying to be good so often and I feel like a lot of it was just that he was dealt a shitty hand.

I think that up until the point where he clearly stopped caring about Phoebe’s wellbeing (like when he is willing to let Paige die and keep Phoebe mummified) he deserved a redemption arc and I wish he had gotten one,

However I think the storyline was ended due to Julian wanting to leave the show and not because of the writers.

(Also I just loved Cole as a character and I cry every time they vanquish him in the apartment)

3. I Didn’t Like Dan

This one is short and sweet

I didn’t like Dan

He’s not an asshole, He was super good to Piper

I just didn’t like him 🤷🏻‍♀️

4. Leo and Piper Shouldn’t Have Gotten Back Together

This one is going to sound kind of hypocritical after the Cole take but I feel like after Leo left to become an elder he and Piper shouldn’t have gotten back together.

Like you’re telling me after all the shit you two went through to be together you’re going to just fuck off to become an elder????

And this is never fully explained honestly; it’s just that “oh it’s not that simple it’s not my choice.” But they never really explained WHY it just seemed like a stupid excuse.

And honestly after all of that shit I know they wouldn’t have had time to give Piper another love interest (which she deserved) and I loved Chris but idk I feel like Piper and Leo shouldn’t have gotten back together-

They can keep Leo around but I don’t think after all of that shit that they should have ended up together

5. Billie and Christy Should Have Had a Different Ending

This is a one or the other kind of thing.

I think Christy should have gotten a redemption arc OR they should have given Billie a bigger corruption arc and killed them both.

I don’t think the ending was BAD I think it was tragic that Billie lost her sister after trying so hard to find her and finding out that she wasn’t who she used to be which made for a good plot point-

But I feel like if they had had more time and things were written a little differently I would have liked to see Christy eventually get redeemed (I mean the girl was brainwashed by the Triad from the time she was a kid cut her some slack). But I know there wasn’t really enough time for that.

However the other option is I think to stick with the strong sisterly love thing that Billie should have had a bigger corruption arc and went down with her sister- or at the very least accidentally died with her or refused to leave her or something.

I will definitely be posting more Charmed content

[marya-blackbone]

sleepover redux

A/N: max and el do espionage and learn something about steve

One of the first things Eleven does after moving back to Hawkins is to invite Max to a sleepover. Max is really glad – after that first sleepover last summer, she hoped it would become a recurring thing for her and El (minus the uncovering of a horrifying body-snatching conspiracy, of course) but they never got the chance. Now that El’s back, Max is secretly pleased neither of them made any new friends this past year and finds it surprisingly easy for them both to slot back into each other’s lives once the UD dust settles, and accepts the invite with zero hesitation.

Eleven asks if it would be alright if she invited some other people too, to which Max nods, of course, feeling warm and fuzzy about the fact that El asked her first and checked if she would mind – Max hasn’t had a best friend since kindergarten and El’s earnestness has turned her into such a sap. She doesn’t mind, but she is curious as to who else El wants to invite given there are only a handful of people who even know El exists.

The guest list currently includes Nancy, Robin, and Erica. It will be a girls' night, El says. Max hasn’t spent too much time with any of them but it doesn’t sound like a bad idea – El should get to have more friends who are girls, but she can’t exactly meet new people at the moment, so it makes sense that she would want to get closer with the ones already part of their monster-hunting club.

Max comes over early to help El set things up. Hopper and Mrs Byers have been especially indulgent of El this evening, leaving the table laden with plenty of drinks and a mountain of snacks before heading off to Enzo’s. Will helps them gather all the pillows and cushions and blankets they need from around the house, and when he admits Eddie has cancelled D&D for tonight, both Max and El agree that he should stay. And so it becomes girls’ night plus Will – none of the girls even bat an eyelid at his inclusion when they arrive, it’s just smiles and laughter.

It goes really well, despite the spread of ages. Erica is really mature for eleven, and Robin and Nancy seem to enjoy getting to act silly and giggly again. They paint each other’s nails, braid each other’s hair, and make it through one and a half John Hughes movies before they have to press pause because suddenly everyone needs to pee, and then forget to resume because they’re too caught up in gossiping.

It’s Eleven who tentatively proposes the finding game. Max didn’t think she would want to play again given how badly things ended last time, but all that stuff is gone now – and gone for good this time. Eleven says that she can feel so in the Void and going there actually helps her to remember it’s over. She promises she doesn’t mind – she already has a sheet of poster paper and marker pens ready for writing names and everything.

They shuffle into a circle while Max explains how the game works, and they each add a name to the sheet of paper. Max puts Lucas, El puts Hopper, Will puts Mike, Robin puts Steve, Erica puts Suzie (because apparently, she needs to verify the hotter-than-Phoebe-Cates claim), and Nancy goes for Debbie Harry, after which everyone complains that they didn’t know celebrities were an option, so they fill the gaps with an eclectic mix of actors and pop stars, and then they’re ready to spin.

It stops on Steve first. Max reminds her to get out of there if he’s with a girl or doing something gross, and Eleven nods her understanding before putting on the blindfold and filling the air with TV static. It doesn’t take long for her to find Steve.

“I can see him. He is smiling and I think he is talking to someone but I can not see who it is,” says Eleven. “He is holding a black guitar,” she observes.

When Steve starts to play, she pushes the sound through the radio so everyone can hear the soft strumming. It isn’t until he starts singing that Max recognises the song – it’s on the mix-tape Lucas made for her the last time he was trying to win her back; it’s a love song. Steve plays it surprisingly well. If Max didn’t know any better, she might think Steve has fallen in love – real love, reciprocated love; the kind that Steve deserves. But if Steve were in love, they’d all know by now. He’s all grand gestures and public affection and boom-boxing outside bedroom windows, not secret late-night serenading.

The lyrics taper off, and Steve asks, “Why are you looking at me like that? Not metal enough for you? I know it’s no Master of Puppets, but I thought it wasn’t hal-mphh!”

Max hears something over the radio that could be mouth noises and moans at the same time Eleven says, “I think they are kissing.”

That’s their cue to dip, Max realises, and is about to say as much to Eleven just as the radio crackles for a damning and breathy, “Because I loved it, big boy.”

A/N: i have ideas for a part 2 soonish

[via-the-cryptid]

Ive been thiking a little about some things:

1.- I dont remember if one of the Rules of Prismo's Wishroom was that you have to arrive on your own to get a wish or you could be invited, but even if thats the case they could still have Farmworld's Enchiridion (because here there is no backstabbing that ends with the book destroyed) to open a portal so Simon gets his wish the right way.

2.- Talking about Farmworld, I cant imagine how Finn, who has been living with a magical snow mom for a couple of months/years by now, would react to seeing a magical ice version of himself in Crossover.

3.- Continuing with Farmworld, we assume that both that and the regular timeline advance at the same time, so if they go into the multiversal adventure with Finn still being a Teenager, that would mean that Farmworld Finn would also be a Teenager when they arrive. But that could open another story, maybe they find him after his parents and brother died/left for some reason and he is on his own with normal Jake and Bartram, maybe when he meets his future wife AKA Huntress Wizard.

4.- If you think about it regular Marceline its indeed stronger than the Star we saw on canon because while the Star has the powers of all the Vampire Council, Marceline has that +VK pure vampire soul. Also idea, this Star was raised by The Empress instead of the VK, because she was the one who wanted to create an Empire on Stakes and in this AU maybe she trained Marceline to take down VK and get the throne. Also that opens the chance to have Betty saying "Empress! You're a bad Mother!"

answering in sections again:

1. I don’t think it’s ever specified if you have to arrive naturally or if you can be invited when it comes to making a wish — the only rule I remember (and there may be others that I forgot, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) is that you can only have one wish per person. as far as I know, Magic Simon should be able to make his wish when he’s first invited to the wish cube in order to explain the Snow Queen situation. however, if you do have to get there naturally and you can’t be invited if you’re making a wish, he’d probably just tell Finn, Jake, and Marceline what he was doing so they could help him collect the jewels and open the portal with their own enchiridion.

2. Finn would probably be very weirded out by Ice Finn, and it would also make him consider the whole Snow Queen situation even more. He sees this version of himself who’s absolutely destroyed by the crown, and then he turns around and sees his mom, who’s just… kinda senile and obsessed with her husband. I feel like that’s gotta mess him up, to know that the crown that made Betty obsess over Simon, also turned Finn into a monster in a different reality. if he talks to Snow Betty about it later, she’ll probably be able to explain the way the crown corrupts and what she was like at the start, as well as Ice Finn’s motivations for doing what he’s doing (because it’s not purely malicious, Ice Finn clearly talks about keeping everyone safe with his ice and trying to protect them), but that will be have to come later since they’re pretty busy avoiding the interdimensional cops when the two Finns meet.

3. you are right, and I actually didn’t consider that before, but I definitely should have. in that case, Farmworld Finn probably still has his wife (could be Huntress Wizard, Phoebe, or even Rosalinen from the Puhoy episode) and might have already had Jay, maybe? but probably none of the either children, and Jay would still be a baby, as would Little Destiny. I think Magic Simon and Snow Betty & co would probably still follow someone out to the crater, but in this case it’s more likely to be Farmworld Finn showing them that the crown is already destroyed, at which point they find the Jewel and decide to use it to find another version of the crown, and then Scarab shows up and they gotta book it real fast. Magic Simon may be way more powerful than he has any right to be, but nobody wants to risk him or anyone else getting put in one of those eggs if Scarab manages to hit them at the right moment. Farmworld Finn runs as soon as Scarab arrives, specifically because the Ooo gang told him to and because Magic Simon immediately started having a wizard showdown, and Farmworld Finn ain’t getting involved in wiz biz.

4. you’re RIGHT, she IS! and you’re also right about the Empress probably being the one to take a front role in raising her, because it seems like the VK is definitely following Empress’s plans here. Snow Betty would definitely yell at her and probably chuck a rock at her head, which I doubt would do anything but it would certainly make Snow Betty feel better. Marceline and the Star also get to have a showdown while Vampworld Bonnie watches and realises that maybe perhaps she has a bit of a crush on this alternate Marceline. just a small one. maybe actually a really big one. regardless, I think that VK is still the one with the crown and is ‘in charge’ of the empire, but he’s a little senile and it’s really Empress pulling the strings and mildly grooming the Star as her replacement if she or VK ever falls.

[phoenix-manga]

Little Cherubi, Where Are You Off To? Part 2

Summary: Having Ace and Deuce to look after Phoebe might become problematic with them juggling studies and babysitting. So, they decide to constantly switch babysitters so there would be no problems!

But… nothing is ever going to be easy in NRC.

[Story Under the Cut]

Bringing back Phoebe as a Cherubi was… a shocker to the Pokémon in Ramshackle dorm to say the least. It took quite a bit of convincing from Furret and Grimm to get the others to settle down.

Of course, her scent still stayed the same even as a Pokémon so it was a huge factor in convincing the Pokémon.

Phoebe was now sitting on the couch with Audino’s ears prodding at her little body to check on any problems. Grimm and Furret sat on the couch with her as they laid down in exhaustion.

When she found nothing wrong, she simply pats Phoebe on the head with her little paws and heads to the kitchen to make her some tea.

“There seems to be nothing wrong with you, I’ll get you some tea in the meantime” Audino’s voice was gentle and sweet.

It was really surreal to hear her Pokémon talk and with variety of voices. Of course, those who are big in size obviously have deep and rough sounding voices while the little ones have a smaller and rather high-pitched voice.

There were also the water types who sound… incomprehensible when on land but sound so clear in water.

Audino comes back with tea and Indeedee followed suit with a tier stand full of fruit and candy. Grimm perks up at the sight of tasty snacks and he began to munch on a couple of candies while Furret helps Audino tip the teacup for Phoebe.

“I never thought how hard it was to not have hands… I think I might just feel bad for Pokémon who don’t have them…”

She sighed as she gulped down the tea to relax her nerves and laid down on a soft pillow. Her eyes felt droopy and she could feel herself going off to dreamland.

*SLAM!*

“Phoebe! Are you here?! If you don’t answer I’ll assume that a hawk ate you!”

“Deuce, hawks eat meat NOT fruit!”

Oh, for Arceus’ sake, she can’t get a single moment of peace in this world can she?

Rolling off the couch, she wobbled over to Ace and Deuce who looked disheveled from all the cleaning and possibly the running they did to get here.

“You two should relax! I couldn’t send you a message because Dexter flew off and even if I had that phone around, it’s not like I can type!

Anyway, don’t go nuts because I’m not going anywhere. Did anyone else see you running around like headless Torchics?”

“Uhh… funny that you mentioned “anyone else”…”

As soon as Deuce said that more footsteps were heard approaching the porch. Much to Phoebe’s surprise the rest of the first-year gang, excluding Sebek, came over looking just as frazzled as the other two.

“I heard that Phoebe was turned into a walking cherry!? Is she alright, I ain’t letting anyone’s big foot turn yah into mush-“

“Careful, Epel! She might be on the floor!”

“Sh*t! You’re right!”

Epel immediately got onto his knees and carefully crawled while his eyes scanned everywhere for the walking cherry.

The moment his baby blue eyes saw Phoebe, he darts towards her and held her in his arms as if he was a mother trying to keep her baby out of any danger.

“Thank the seven, you’re fine! Those two had me scared-”

For a moment, Epel took a good look at Phoebe’s form, and he experimentally squished the round face, and it was like a plush toy. Phoebe didn’t say anything because it felt like a massage to her.

He only ceased his actions when Jack called out to him about putting Phoebe down.

Jack on the other hand, he kept staring at those stubby little legs as Phoebe waddled around explaining to them what occurred in the laboratory and how unfortunately, she has to wait this out while Ace and Deuce have to look after her.

But that was going to be a challenge, because there was no guarantee as to when Phoebe would return to normal, plus the fact she has duties at Ramshackle and that most “human activities” would be impossible to do.

“I wouldn’t want to burden Ace and Deuce with their studies. Professor Crewel is definitely going to talk to Crowley about giving me a break but… you guys would get double the work and that doesn’t sit right with me…”

“*sniffle* Aww, Phoebe…”

Deuce looked-teary eyed at her concern for them.

Ace looked to the other two and had an idea.

“Say, how about we take turns looking after Pheebs, then?”

“EH?!”

“I mean, it’s much better than having to keep an eye on Phoebe in Heartslabyul all the time when we are busy following the rules… How about it?”

“I agree with Ace, plus I don’t cause any trouble… unlike a certain cat and red head… So, I promise I won’t be a bother!”

“Hey!”, “Funya!?”

Ace and Grimm looked at Phoebe, offended at the call out. But she simply ignored them and looked up to the other two.

Jack and Epel looked to each other and considered their options before nodding in agreement. It’s a sound plan, so they began to schedule out the time they need to look after Phoebe.

The next few days went like this; Ace and Deuce have Phoebe in the morning classes.

At PE, Epel would look after Phoebe since his PE is not the same as Ace and Deuce’s.

After class, Jack has no other duties unlike the Heartslabyul duo who have to take care of flamingoes and Epel with his “beauty” lessons.

So, he goes on a light jog with Phoebe riding in his backpack. He made sure his footwork wasn’t too rough and it was a smooth ride. Phoebe enjoyed feeling like she was tall.

And once the jog was done, he would take her back to Ramshackle, he even tucks her in.

It was a perfect plan that went alright for once.

Of course, other students soon found out about the beast tamer’s current predicament. The students have quite mixed reactions, others were curious and wanted to see what she looked like, they either were disappointed or would want to give her a hug.

Of course, gossip like this would reach the students that Phoebe knew personally.

In fact, during lunch time with Ace and Deuce, they met the senior Heartslabyul members.

“No way! Little Pheebs became this cute?”

Cater took out his phone and snapped away at Phoebe who was being hand fed sliced fruits by Deuce. Though Phoebe would have wanted something other than fruit, she doesn’t know if eating human food would affect her stomach.

And she is certainly NOT eating Pokémon food!

Riddle kept glancing at her from time to time, his cheek dusted pink from how adorable she was. Oh, how he just wants to put her in a little laced basket and bring her around.

“W-well, Ace and Deuce… As your dorm leader I hope you two make sure that there is not a scratch on Phoebe otherwise it’ll be off with your head, understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“Right…”

Ace rolled his eyes and didn’t find Riddle’s behavior strange. Ever since the overblot incident, he’s been a protective older brother to Phoebe ever since.

Trey just looked at the scenario with slight amusement. It was kind of ironic that he just so happens to have a little cherry tart behind him.

He was going to give it to the boys for their efforts in looking after Phoebe so far but… would it count as cannibalism if Phoebe ate it?

He’ll leave it in her room, when she turns back later.

When it was Epel’s turn to look after Phoebe, there was a certain huntsman who was quite intrigued by the rumors that involve the beast tamer of Ramshackle.

It was at the time when Epel was in his etiquette lessons with the other students that the hunter struck. Phoebe was placed in a very soft cushion by the wall as Epel struggles to memorize the several forks arranged in front of him.

Even when she was seated by the wall, other Pomefiore students who just happened to pass by couldn’t help but coo over her lovely shade of pink and those beady little eyes.

‘(He’s probably “thinking, why would you have so many forks anyway? Forks are for stabbing and that’s it”)’ Phoebe thinks to herself.

A shadow came to her left side and she felt huge hands carry her. She was face-to-face with the hunter himself. His expression made Phoebe wonder what on earth he was planning on doing.

Sure, he was constantly with a bow and almost shot arrows at her Pokémon once but that he didn’t really target them on purpose after that fiasco…

He wouldn’t try to make a cherry pie out of her, now would he?

“Tres bien! The lovely trickster tamer has turned into a pink cerise, how unfortunate yet… those golden little beady eyes express such exquisite innocence~! Oh, how Roi du Poison would show such interesting expressions if he were to see you right now, in fact-“

Without even notifying Epel, Rook whisked her away to Vil’s room. The dorm leader was facing his vanity mirror trying a new shade of makeup.

When Rook opens his door a bit too loud, the young man didn’t even flinch. Probably accustomed to the hunter’s antics to be even surprised at what he does.

“Roi du Poison, please gaze upon this wonderful being~! I’m sure you won’t be disappointed”

Vil didn’t respond as he continued to apply his eyeliner and blush to finish the entire look. When he was done, he finally put his attention to Rook as he held Phoebe towards him.

His handsome face studied her form, Phoebe felt like her entire soul was being judged with the way Vil kept a neutral face.

“H-hey, Vil…” Phoebe muttered.

“Oh? The little beetroot has become a cherry I’ve heard. I must say, this is a far cry from… what I envisioned you’d be”

Why did that feel like an insult? Or maybe because she is accustomed to his rather perfectionistic attitude that she expected him to say something like this in the back of her head.

Vil carefully plucked her off Rook’s hands and sat her on his vanity mirror. She had no idea what he was going to do when…

*Thump!*

*Spray, spray!*

He plops her down onto soft silk which wrapped around her stubby legs, then he sprayed some form of perfume on her. But it didn’t smell like the ones that overpower her sense of smell. It was a pleasant yet light scent that felt like she was in a lush forest with none of the smell of dirt.

Then Vil opened one of the drawers and took out a few lace ribbons then proceeds to tie a rather intricate knot on her stem.

Out of nowhere, he used his magic pen to conjure some colorful lavenders, pink roses and carnations to place around her.

Phoebe was still in a daze, wondering what the heck he was doing while not saying a word to her.

“Oh, how lovely~! Such a magnifique bouquet, Roi du Poison!”

“And the colors of the flowers only accentuate that shade of pink this little cherry has.”

“Huh?...”

Phoebe was unable to move due to the flowers and ribbons but from what she can guess, he decided to turn her into a little flower arrangement all of a sudden.

This kind of thing was alright with the baby Pokémon being covered in pillows and blankets but this just feels odd to her.

“Oh, forgive me. I couldn’t resist trying to accommodate your form into something beautiful. Truth be told, I have been trying my hand out on flower arrangement skills for my photo shoots.

The ones brought from the store simply didn’t cut it, so I wanted to make gorgeous bouquets to bring out the style I wear on set. Do forgive me for using you as a centerpiece”

“O-Oh! Uh… no harm done just… maybe warn me next time? And could you possibly get me back to the dining room? Epel probably doesn’t know I’m here…”

“Of course, in a moment. I need a good photo of you to post on my magicam to see if the arrangement was good enough to surpass my last one”

Vil took out his phone and proceeded to take a really long time getting the right photo. He had Rook take out lights from his closet to arrange them accordingly and even backdrops and curtains.

This guy was well-prepared and very dedicated to his career, if Phoebe had to say anything.

Finally, the exhausting photo shoot was done and Rook casually sauntered her over to Epel who was running around trying to find Phoebe. The country boy certainly didn’t appreciate his friend being kidnapped mid-lesson out of nowhere.

“What in tarnation are you thinkin?! Just snatchin’ up Pheebs like that and you run off like a weasel without even telling me!”

He gave the hunter a good verbal beat down that didn’t even faze Rook in the slightest.

Jack was at least menacing enough to keep the other guys from messing with her. But maybe there were some people who aren’t fazed by his snarl and bared fangs.

The guy didn’t even look apologetic! His grin just widened like a Cheshire cat before Epel took Phoebe from him and stomped away.

After that, she was now with Jack again.

One of those just so happens to be an eel with mood swings.

“LEECH! BRING HER BACK!”

“Ahahaha! No way, I wanna take her to Octavinelle and see if she fits in Jade’s terrarium. He told me to get cherry blossoms but there’s none! A cherry is good enough!”

Floyd has Phoebe in his arm as he bulldozed through the hallways with Jack hot on his trail. The damn twin managed to pluck her out of Jack’s makeshift sling while jogging through Main Street.

Luckily for Phoebe, Jack has sensitive ears and manages to dodge Floyd’s first attempt at swiping her. But then he proceeded to trip Jack by kicking the back of his knees and snatching little Phoebe off his sling and sped off.

The vertigo was making Phoebe ready to puke from all the parkour Floyd was doing to avoid Jack.

‘(Someone help me before I- urk! Before I vomit!)’

“Let go of my trainer you Huntail!”

All of a sudden, Floyd was knocked onto his knees by Furret and he unceremoniously flopped onto the floor with a huge thud.

Phoebe rolled a few feet away before she was picked up by black paws.

“Funya! Let’s get her away from this guy!”

It was Grimm and Furret! They must have heard what was happening and rushed over here.

Grimm grips Phoebe in his paws and runs as fast as his legs could carry him. Because Floyd got up and the look on his face was something that would stay in his mind and give him nightmares.

“Hey, did you just trip me…? Get back here… I’ll squeeze you…”

“Funya! Book it, Furret!”

Sweet Arceus, Phoebe felt chills as she saw the dilated pupils on Floyd’s eyes. This was not good. If only there was some way she could at least slow him down.

*THWICK! SNAP!*

Floyd was on the ground once more but only this time he seemed to be struggling to get one of his legs up from the floor. Phoebe looked back and noticed that there was a grass tied in a knot on his pant leg.

But Furret doesn’t know Grass Knot! Unless…

Did… She just managed to use Grass Knot?

That little trick of hers managed to give Jack enough time to wrestle Floyd to keep him on the floor. He held on tight to give Grimm and Furret to gain enough distance to lose Floyd.

Speaking of the eel, he was now tugging on Jack’s blazer trying to pry his muscled arms off him.

“You wanna get squeezed too, Sea Urchin? I’ll gladly do it with everything I got…”

“Run! I got him! Ow! Don’t worry about me!”

The two made a beeline for the alchemy lab, hoping that Professor Crewel would keep that crazy eel out.

Just as Grim made a sharp turn, he bumps into a familiar dragon fae that was walking in the empty hallway in the far end of the campus.

“Oh? What a strange sight this is… Hmm? A cherry?”

Phoebe looked up to see a familiar face… and horns.

“Charizard Guy! It's me, Phoebe!”

Malleus looked at the little cherry hopping towards him. Using magic, he floated the little one to his face, and his green eyes widened when he saw those amber orbs staring into his own.

This was Phoebe, his child of man!

“This is… certainly a surprise…”

They would have explained what happened to him when they heard Floyd approaching fast.

“Funya! No time to explain! You gotta hold him off so we can make it to the professor to get my henchman back to normal!”

“I see… in that case”

Malleus snapped his fingers just as Floyd turned the corner. The eel was mere inches from the group when he was tackled by a certain green-haired student.

“I GOT HIM, WAKA-SAMA! I WON’T LET GO OF HIM!”

“I’ll rip you like seaweed…”

As Sebek held him back, Malleus calmly walked with Phoebe in his arms while Grimm and Furret followed behind him.

Grimm barged into the alchemy lab with a loud slam of the door, said professor was glaring at the two and was about to scold them for their manners but Grimm beat him to it.

“Pups, what have I told you-“

“You can throw me to the dogs later! But right you gotta help us turn her back before that eel tries to make a basketball out of her!”

Crewel looked at the disheveled Phoebe in Malleus’ arms with concern before he realized something. He browed through the shelves full of vials and took one.

“Perfect timing then. I just so happened to finish making a reverse potion after days of trying to figure out the contents from Spade’s cauldron. I was planning to give it to you after class but I guess better now than later… Hand her to me”

Malleus placed Phoebe in front of Crewel. The man helped her angle her round body to be able to drink the contents in the vial.

It had a menthol taste too it, a bit too much in fact that it feels like an Ice Beam was about to go off in her mouth.

A white smoke started to surround her body until got bigger and bigger. When it finally dissipated, she was back to her human form. The uniform she was wearing was still there when she turned back.

“Finally! I thought I’d never go back to being myself! As fun as it was to be a Cherubi… I find it hard to live without the use of opposable thumbs…”

Phoebe sighed as she got up from the floor. Crewel looked her over, seeing if there were any other limbs she might have grown. When there was done, he simply dusted off her uniform from any dirt and sent her on her way.

“Now, be careful of any stray mutts that might be rampaging through the halls… especially a certain ocean mutt-“

“Pink cherry!- Ah…”

“You’re back to normal… boo that’s boring”

Speak of the devil, Floyd barged into the alchemy lab with a slam from the door.

Floyd’s terrifying predator gaze turned into a blank look as he sees Phoebe was back to normal. Furret and Grimm stood by her, ready to fight him off again.

“To be honest, I wished to hold you as a walking cherry for a little while longer, child of man…”

“Not you too…”, she could only sigh.

The whole “Phoebe turned into a waking cherry” incident was finally over.

But Phoebe has noticed how some were missing the small cherry. Too bad, she has had more than enough thrill from being a Cherubi.

No thank you!

END

[imaginefan]

You Were Always First

Chris Halliwell X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 899

Requested: Anon

Request: Can you write a one shot about Chris and reader? She went back to time to help Chris save the future to help stop Wyatt from turning evil, the two spend lots of time together but reader pushes him away all the time  because she knows he will go with Bianca because in her time line; he's wth her. They get into an argument over it and he asks why she stays away she blurts it out without meaning to.

Thank you !!!! Hope this made sense.

You should have known that this was going to happen, after all the only reason that you had decided to go with Chris was that you were in love with him, you knew that he needed help and offered yourself to help him. You didn’t think that it could get much worse then silently pining for him but as you spent more time together you realized it absolutely could get worse. For a little while you forgot that he even had Bianca to go back to but one day he mentioned her passing and everything came crashing down, it caused you to pull back so much that everyone noticed.

Phoebe and Paige were the ones to ask you about it and since they knew about you coming from the future it was easy to be honest with them and honestly you were sick of bottling it up. You hoped that talking about it would allow you to hide it better when you had to talk to Chris again. “So are you going to tell us what is going on or are we going to have to get it out of you some other way?” Paige asked as she sat at the end of your bed. “Close the door.” You ordered and Phoebe nodded before closing the door and walking over to sit next to you. “What's going on?” Phoebe asked. “You have to promise not to tell Chris.” You pleaded. “What happened?” She asked. “I… I love him, have loved him for a long time now but he’s got a girlfriend to go back to.” You answered. “So I keep my mouth shut, I smile and I pretend that bestfriend is good enough.” “(Y/N)...” Phoebe pulled you into a hug as Paige frowned. “He’s never asked you out?” Paige asked. “We grew up together. I just assumed he never felt that way about me, he would have said something by now right?” You asked. “I… I don’t know, have you ever said anything to him about your feelings?” Paige asked. “Of course not, I’ve thought about it a lot but I never said anything, I just didn’t want to ruin anything.” You explained and she nodded. “I know it’s scary but maybe you should talk to him about it.” Paige suggested. “No. I can’t do that, I can’t ruin everything that he worked for, he’s doing this to go back to her.” You explained “I can’t do that to him.” They both looked at each other and sighed before standing. “We’ll give you some time to get yourself together before dinner, we’ll see you then.” Phoebe said before leaving, her sister following behind her.

It was quiet for an hour before someone else walked into your room and you looked up and saw Chris “I could have been changing.” You said as you raised an eyebrow. “I need to talk to you about something.” He said and you gestured for him to continue “what is going on with you?” “What?” You asked. “You’ve been distant.” He answered. “You were supposed to notice that.” You sighed. “How would I be able to ignore that? We’ve been together since we were kids. Something changed, it happened after we got here and it was slow… Are you regretting coming with me or something?” He asked. “No that’s not it.” You answered, he watched you as if he was trying to figure out what had changed. “It’s nothing, I’ll sort it, everything will be back to normal I promise.” “No, you aren’t covering this up. I want to know what’s going on.” He argued. “You don’t.” You answered with tears gathering in your eyes in fear of what was coming. “(Y/N).” He warned as if there was something he could do to make you tell him. “Chris, please leave it.” You pleaded he turned away from you as he spoke. “I’m just trying to protect you.” “Protect me from what!?” He asked, his voice raising. “From ruining everything when you find out that I love you and having to tell me that you already have someone to go back, from you having to deal with me being here for the rest of the trip and then when we finally get home you disappear from my life because you still have Bianca, because you love her!” You answered, you realised what you were doing half way through but you couldn’t stop yourself and now what you wanted was to curl in on yourself but he launches forward stopping instead pulling you straddle his waist as he hugs you. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” He asked. “Weren’t you listening… Bianca.” You answered and he sighed before lifting your chin and pressing a kiss to your lips. “We aren’t official, you know.” He said softly “I was kinda hoping this girl that I had known all my life would tell me that she loved me like some fairy tail.” “What?” You asked. “Yeah…” He nodded, pressing another more forceful kiss to your lips, this one was longer, his hands coming up to the side of your face and wiping away the tears that fell. “I thought I was obvious when you were the one that I asked to come with me, you were always the first person I called. You were always first” “Me?” You asked. “You.” He nodded “I’ll choose you everytime.”

Requests and general question!

[spiralcass]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 2, EPISODE 12 (PART 1 OF 2)

 We open on a beach, underneath the sunset, where Laura and Sofia are playing volleyball against Julian and Noriko, “X-Men vs X-Men in Training”, while Cessily, Roxy, Sooraya, and Brian are playing frisbee. The Cuckoos are seated in lined-up beach chairs, sunbathing. 

Everyone is excited to have completed their first school year! Julian and Sofia were once again voted king and queen of the dance, and have subsequently been barred from being voted for next year. 

SOFIA: “So unfair.” 

JULIAN: “This is America! Where’s the democracy?!” 

Cessily and Roxy wonder if this means they may have a chance, while Laura imagines Dallas and Victor may make that a problem.

CESSILY: “Really? I didn’t even know they were dating.” 

SOFIA, frustrated: “They are, and Dallas has blown up since he started creating content with his shadow. You know I gave him the idea to do so and he hasn’t even credited me.” 

LAURA: “Are you mad because he’s growing faster than you did?” 

SOFIA: “It’s male privilege!” 

NORIKO: “Said the girl dating the living embodiment of it.” 

JULIAN: “Said the girl who can’t find a guy at all.” 

Noriko cringes momentarily, in disbelief he’d say that of all things after everything, and spikes the ball right at his head a super speed, knocking him down. 

Sooraya doesn’t care about any of this, as her mom flew in last night and is on her way to the Washingtons’, thanking Roxy again. Brian is just relieved he didn’t flunk, a sentiment Noriko echoes. 

Aggravated by Noriko’s spike, Julian brings his TK into the game, with Sofia following suit with her winds. Things very quickly escalate as the sky is filled with flashing lights and sand is blown all over the place. 

BRIAN, coughing on sand: “Why…do we keep…letting the fight idiots compete?!"

Eventually, the four players lose control of the ball and it’s sent flying off the court, nearly taking off one of the Cuckoos’ heads. 

SOPHIE: “Watch it, dorks!” 

Julian flies over to retrieve the ball and asks what happened to trying to be their friends. Ms. Frost invited them out here too, so they should come play. 

The Cuckoos exchange sunglasses-covered glances before Phoebe delivers a decisive, “No thank you.” 

Julian shrugs whatever and heads back to the game. Roxy says they should be winding down anyway. Start their bonfire, roast some marshmallows, and then head to the Grindstone for the party. 

Sofia is excited about the party, but sad that it will be the last time she sees most of her friends for three months, as only she, Laura, Julian, and Noriko are staying at the institute over the Summer, while Roxy, Cessily, and Sooraya are all going to stay with Roxy’s parents, Brian is heading back to Puerto Rico, and all of the students who don’t have welcoming families are having chaperoned vacations sponsored by Ms. Frost, Captain Britain, and Archangel. Sofia and Laura are staying for their jobs, Julian isn’t about to go anywhere without Sofia after finally getting her back, and, as Noriko’s said before, she goes where these jerks go. 

As the group ends their games, beeping sounds come from Sofia and Laura's bags. Sofia flies them over to them so they can check what's going on. Sofia apologizes to the others that they're going to be a little late to the party. 

CESSILY: "What's going on?"

Sofia and Laura look at everyone else smugly. 

LAURA: "X-Men business." 

In an underground base, two U-Men are guarding the entrance. 

U-MAN #1: “Did you hear the rumor going around?” 

U-MAN #2: “About Jack’s drinking problem? Yeah, I’m really rooting for the guy.” 

U-MAN #1: “What? No? I’m talking about Mr. Sublime. People are saying he’s dead.” 

U-MAN #2, snorting: “That’s just like big government. Taking good men prisoner for fighting against the status quo and executing them in secret.” 

U-MAN #1: “Right? I don’t even care if it’s true or not. Soon as we get ourselves some X-genes, we’ll put these fascists down for good.” 

U-MAN #2: “Hell yeah.” 

BEAT

U-MAN #1: “So does Jack really have a drinking problem? Are his wife and kid okay?” 

Before the other U-Man can give an answer, the entrance is blown open and the two are both sent flying. One of them calls out that whoever’s there is gonna regret that. As the other one sees who it is, he isn’t so sure about that. 

Standing before them are all 8 of the New X-Men: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Sunspot, Iceman, Magik, Wolverine, and Wind Dancer. 

U-MAN #1: “Um…we surrender?” 

A powerful wind carries the two soldiers off, slamming them into a wall and knocking them out. 

Sofia looks to Cyclops for approval. He nods back at her. 

CYCLOPS: "To me, my X-Men!"

The X-Men charge further into the base and split up, each fighting a group of U-Men and saving a Mutant prisoner. 

As Cyclops fights through a team in hand-to-hand combat, as Mutant powers have no effect on their armor, Emma simply stands to the side, checking her makeup, and thanking Scott for letting her come along despite still being on leave. She didn't want to miss seeing the last of these losers' cells destroyed. As a downed soldier tries to take a shot at Scott, Emma drops a ceiling tile on his head with telekinesis. 

Wolverine and Kitty are fighting back to back, efficiently and brutally taking down all of their opponents in a flash. Kitty tells Laura this reminds her of some old scrapes she got into with Logan, while Laura points out that if Kitty wanted to, she could be a more effective killer than either of them. 

KITTY: "Uh…thank you?"

Iceman and Magik are completely unstoppable, Bobby using the same trick to freeze the U-Men from the inside as last time, while Yana is simply snapping her fingers and turning them into bricks, all while humming the Mario Bros theme. Sunspot follows behind them. 

ROBERTO, sighing: "This must be how James felt."

Finally, we see Wind Dancer on her own, fighting off U-Men both hand-to-hand and with her winds. Her power doesn't affect other people; it affects everything around them. 

With all the U-Men down, Sofia reaches the U-Men's final prisoner, a little girl who looks like an old lady. 

Sofia, feet off the ground, opens her cell, smiles, and offers her a hand, saying the X-Men are here to take her home. 

ERNST, in awe: "Are you an angel?"

Sofia giggles, grinning even wider with her eyes closed, as Ernst takes her hand. 

As the X-Men reassemble and make their way out with the rescued Mutants, Scott orders Illyana to undo her spells, something which takes an additional glare from Kitty to actually get her to do, and compliments Wind Dancer on her performance. For her first op, she did well. 

SOFIA: "You really think so?"

CYCLOPS: "When Professor Xavier arrives tomorrow, I think his vision of the future will be brighter than ever."

Hard cut to a bird-themed Shi'ar ship crashing into Earth in the middle of some mountains, blowing it up. 

From the wreckage, a badly injured Charles Xavier crawls out, barely able to stand. 

XAVIER, in a daze: "I must warn them…or the world is doomed."

In Scott’s office, he and Emma discuss their roster of teachers. Today is Beast’s last day here, with Forge back to start getting his own equipment sent off. Only problem is Forge isn’t actually interested in teaching classes, so as far as the science classes go, they’ll have to hand them off to Kitty, and hope she can juggle them with everything else.  

Dazzler and Northstar have already turned in their resignations as well. Ali’s new agent managed to actually set up a new tour for her, so she’s already left to go work on that, while Jean-Paul was spiteful toward Scott for choosing a child to take Storm’s place over him. 

Fortunately, while they aren’t direct replacements, they do have replacements for them numbers-wise. With most of their old team here anyway, figuring they can help with Magik, and one of them having two siblings start school here in the fall, Cannonball and Wolfsbane have been hired. 

Scott doesn’t know the two that well and is just glad Nightcrawler is staying on for another year, while Emma assures him the two will do fine. Assuming Samuel doesn’t bring any of his “friends” in as guest speakers. 

Cyclops turns to his photo of the old X-Men, worried about the lack of progress he’s made this past year, while wrapped up in his own drama. The old X-Men always fought the good fight and kept their people and the world safe, but they never changed anything. By the time their oldest students graduate, he doesn’t want them going out in the world the way it is now. 

Emma sits down on his lap and says all that “drama” was necessary in a way. With him the man he was always meant to be, no longer weighed down by Charles’ saccharine, naive teachings, and with her at his side, he’s in a far more opportune position to change things than he was at the start of the year. 

The two kiss, but afterward, Emma tells him that changing the world will have to come after they get back from vacation. She simply can’t NOT Summer. Scott shakes his head with a smile on his face at this crazy woman he loves. 

In the common area, Beast is walking with Forge, who he just finished showing off the security system around the school to. Forge mocks how inefficient it is and complains about all the improvements he’s going to have to make on Hank’s shoddy work. 

HANK: “SHODDY?!” 

FORGE: “Careful with that temper. Don’t want you going all “Dark Beast” on us.” 

HANK: “Ha! Funny! Why don’t you focus on avoiding building any more devices that destroy X-genes?” 

FORGE: “That was ONE time!” 

The camera pans away from them as they exit the room to focus on Julian and Sofia, who are cuddled up on the couch, streaming together. The viewers are gushing over the two being back together, and them looking cuter than ever, as they answer questions about everything they’ve been through the past year. During this, Sofia calls her followers “X-Babies”, having settled on that as a nickname. It was Julian’s idea, as with Sofia now a member of the X-Men, she’s rebranding her account to be based around her exploits as a superhero, with the promise of interviews with the rest of the team. Julian whispers to her over the wind that while “Wind Babies” just sounded silly, if she called any of these geeks “Baby” directly, they’d go crazy. 

As the two laugh, we pan across the room to find Noriko and Laura, who are eating popcorn, watching them stream, and making fun of them, mimicking their lovey comments toward one another. 

The two obnoxiously chortle together. 

NORIKO: “They are so ridiculous.” 

LAURA: “Very ridiculous.” 

BEAT. 

LAURA: “I know about you and Julian, by the way.” 

Noriko reacts in shock, with Laura telling her it was obvious from the clues. Plus, she could smell them all over each other. 

NORIKO: “Yeah, well…I’ve seen you still doodling Sofia in your notebook with little hearts around her.” 

LAURA, narrowing her eyes: “Mutually assured destruction accepted.” 

The two have a big, exaggerated handshake and laugh again. 

Just then, the doors to the institute are flung open telekinetically, as Charles Xavier returns to his old home. Beaten and exhausted, he shouts at the confused children that they must take him to the X-Men immediately. Where are they right now?! 

Sofia shuts down her stream as the four get up to meet Xavier, and question who the Hell he is, the school’s four top students never having bothered to learn what he looked like. 

CHARLES: “I am Professor Charles Xavier, the founder of this school.” 

JULIAN: “Yeah, right. Professor X uses a wheelchair. Everyone knows that.” 

NORIKO: “Pfft, yeah. Plus, he could totally find the X-Men on his own.” 

SOFIA: “I’m not even sure I’d trust you if you were the real Professor. Being a part of a space empire doesn’t scream “superhero”, does it?” 

LAURA, taking a moment to speak: “You’re really old.” 

After speaking with these kids for 30 seconds, Xavier already wants to die. Clenching and gripping his forehead, he asks them again to PLEASE just trust him and tell him where he can find the  X-Men. 

Laura and Sofia step forward and smirk. 

SOFIA: “We ARE X-Men.” 

A look of horror and disgust overtakes Xavier’s face. 

XAVIER: “Then we are doomed.” 

Cutting directly back to Scott’s office, Cyclops shakes hands with Xavier, the rest of the team gathered around them. Despite all the soul-searching he’s been doing, Scott seems perfectly happy to see Charles. 

CYCLOPS: “It’s good to have you home.” 

CHARLES: “It’s good to be home.” 

KITTY: “I’m glad you’re here too, Professor, but man, we could have avoided so many problems if you hadn’t left.” 

Chuck laughs softly as he looks over at Bobby, Kitty, and Roberto. It’s nice to see how they’ve all grown up. 

CHUCK: “And it’s a pleasure to see you again, at all, Illyana.” 

ILLYANA, with an evil chuckle: “Read my mind and see if you still think that way, Chuck.” 

Xavier narrows his eyes at her, before turning them toward Emma, who’s glaring right back at him. 

CHARLES: “Emma.” 

EMMA: “Charles.” 

Xavier remarks that it’s sad to see Storm is no longer among them. A sentiment agreed upon by everyone except Emma. 

Sofia questions if there wasn’t an urgent matter he needed to discuss with them. Charles, irritated by her impatience, asks Scott what these two students are doing on the team. 

ICEMAN: “I hope you’re not saying you’re against teenage X-Men. Because that would be hypocritical even for you.” 

Before Charles can respond, Scott simply tells him Wolverine and Wind Dancer are their best.

CHARLES: “I see. And the two out in the hallway who think we don’t know they’re eavesdropping?” 

Out in the hallway, Julian and Noriko cringe over being made. 

SCOTT: “Hellion and Surge…have a habit of getting involved whether we like it or not.” 

Xavier sighs at this nonsense. Wind Dancer is right though. He did come here on an important matter. One far more pressing than Emma’s fragile mental state he’s afraid. 

CHARLES: "Jean is on her way toward Earth."

A wave of silence overtakes everyone…except for Illyana. She is THRILLED by this news. A cosmic entity like the Phoenix Force is one of the only things that may be able to give her a good fight. This should be fun!

BEAT. 

ILLYANA: "Why does everyone look so sad? This will be great!" BEAT. "Kitty, what am I missing?"

While Kitty pulls Magik aside to explain the obvious, Cyclops hangs his head over his lost, corrupted love. As he stumbles over asking Xavier for details, Emma takes his hand. 

Emma: "Yes, do tell what business the heartless monster who enabled the slaughter of 16 million Mutants has with us."

Scott pulls away from her, which she visibly takes as a slight. 

Xavier explains that Jean's destruction of Genosha was primarily targeted toward Cyclops and Emma. They were the ones she WANTED to kill. But when Emma reached out to him, seeking help, Jean sensed it, and discovered she'd failed to kill them. Now, Jean is coming back to finish what she started. 

Scott asks them both to stop calling what they're facing "Jean". It's Dark Phoenix. Not her.

ROBERTO: "Is that really what's important right now? We call Darkchylde over there Magik and she isn't exactly the same girl who used to sleep with a stuffed rabbit."

MAGIK: "I still DO sleep with a stuffed rabbit, dorkus!"

Cyclops silences them both. Now is NOT the time. 

CYCLOPS: "What do we do, Professor?"

Emma quickly steps in to remind him they're the ones in charge here, but Scott tells her that the professor wouldn't have come here unless he had a plan. So unless she has one…

Emma rolls her eyes, allowing them to proceed. 

CHARLES: "Thank you." As Charles continues to speak, we cut to an exterior shot of the school. "What we need to do is…"

Before Xavier can finish that sentence, the school explodes. 

In an instant, the show's primary setting is reduced to nothing but burning rubble. All the classrooms, the cafeteria, the danger room; all gone. 

The X-Men are still alive though.  Emma, in her diamond form, tackled Scott, Laura, and Sofia to the floor. Kitty took hold of Magik and Sunspot, phasing all three of them. Iceman raised a barrier around himself and Xavier. 

However…

CHARLES: "Is everyone alright?!"

BOBBY: "Yeah, Professor. More than alright. Like that didn't even touch us." Bobby's eyes widen. "Oh god."

As everyone comes to their senses, they see two things: a bright green forcefield around them, and a teeth-clenched Julian on his knees, Noriko clutching onto him, and his hands on the ground in front of him, burnt out and destroyed from the energy it took tanking the blast. 

JULIAN: "I…I did it." 

Emma, Laura, and Sofia rush over to the two as Julian passes out and his barrier fades. Emma checks to make sure he's still alive, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief. Sofia asks Nori if she's okay, and while her heart is racing, she thinks she'll be fine. 

EMMA, brushing Julian's hair with her hand: "Well done again."

Magik doesn't care at all about Julian and Noriko though, and just demands to know where Phoenix is. 

Scott also has another concern, that being Forge and Beast, who may have still been inside. Charles tells him not to worry. They must have left previously, as he can sense that the 11 of them are the only ones present. 

"W r o n g."

As the ground shakes, metal and wires from what used to be the Danger Room come together in mid-air, clanging and scraping, until a feminine body is formed. Everyone looks up at her with confusion. 

KITTY: “Woah.” 

SUNSPOT: “Remembering when you had hair like that?” 

KITTY: “Shut it, Beto.” 

The machine tilts its head. 

DANGER: “Hello…Charles Xavier.” 

CYCLOPS, turning to Xavier for answers: “Professor?”

MAGIK: “That’s not Phoenix! Chuck, were you lying?” 

CHARLES: “I promise you both, I’m just as in the dark as the rest of you.” 

Danger scowls and blasts the X-Men back with an energy attack. 

DANGER: “L i a r.”

Cables from Danger’s chest are launched toward the X-Men, but a pissed Wind Dancer, blows her and her attack away. She doesn’t know who this is, but she’s going to pay for what she’s done. 

While Sofia, Iceman, Wolverine, Kitty and Sunspot rush forward in the direction Sofia blew Danger to fight, Xavier shouts at Magik that she needs to take himself, Cyclops, and the students out of here, the former two so they may prepare for Dark Phoenix, not having time for whatever is going on right now, and the latter two for their own protection. Magik doesn’t see why she should listen to him, but he points out that if she really wants to fight Phoenix so bad, she shouldn’t concern herself with this machine. Magik is sold. 

Surge protests, saying she wants to stay and fight this monster that just wiped out her home, and she isn’t alone, as Emma doesn’t appreciate the thought of being left behind. Scott, however, tells Surge to just do what he says for once, and Emma that they already tried confronting Jean together, and they failed. If the Professor has a different idea, they should go for it. 

EMMA: “You’re still trusting him over me?” 

SCOTT: “That’s NOT what this is.” 

There’s an explosion in the distance. 

Not too far away, the rest of the X-Men have engaged Danger in combat, and are being tossed around like ragdolls by Danger’s cables. Iceman and Sunspot’s elemental attacks have no effect, Kitty can’t phase through Danger’s attacks, and anything Wolverine and Wind Dancer cut instantly regenerates. 

Scott tells Emma that they have to do what they each can, and right now, the others need her more than he does. Unhappy about it, Emma relents, and flies off to join the others, not responding as Cyclops wishes her luck. 

XAVIER: “Thank you.” 

SCOTT, unreadable: “Let’s just go.” 

Magik opens stepping discs under herself, Cyclops, Xavier, Surge, and the outcold Hellion, transporting them elsewhere. 

Out in space, millions of cries go unheard as a planet is swallowed whole by Dark Phoenix. Jean moans in pleasure. 

JEAN: “Now…who might this be?” 

Back at the fight, Danger kicks around the five X-Men. She’s faster than Laura, hits hard enough to knock down Sunspot, her ever-regenerating cables make getting close nearly impossible unless she’s the one attacking, and her energy weapons can even stun Iceman. 

ICEMAN: “What are we thinking here, guys?” 

ROBERTO: “Phalanx seems probable. Technarchy maybe.” 

LAURA, gowling and freeing herself from being strangled by cables: “I…don’t know…what those words mean!” 

SOFIA: “Are we sure it isn’t just another new sentinel?” 

Danger goes on offense, blitzing all four of them and knocking them on their asses. Kitty, the only one still on her feet, shouts at her to hold on for a second. She says she knows the professor, but who IS she? 

DANGER: “I am…what you made me.” 

Kitty is blitzed like the rest. But, before Danger can kill anyone, Emma flings herself with her telekinesis at her, entering diamond form at the moment of collision. She crashes through Danger, destroying her upper half, but it instantly regrows. Danger stretches out her arm and grabs Emma’s hair while she’s still in mid-air, flinging her up into the sky by stretching her arm out even further, before smashing her back down into the ground. 

DANGER: “You are…what he made you.” 

Cyclops, Magik, Xavier, and Surge arrive at some hot springs, the sleeping Julian in tow, with Illyana explaining the New Mutants came here once and had a good time…at least until people realized they were Mutants. 

Xavier hums that this should do. He tells Magik to take the kids and stand guard in case Phoenix shows up before he’s ready and give them some privacy. 

MAGIK: “Uh, who do you think you are? You think you can just keep giving me orders? The human Illyana never did. I don’t even take orders from THIS guy, and you think you can just show up and –” 

Xavier’s eyes glow a piercing white. Magik’s do as well, the professor able to make her seize for a few moments. Scott is shocked.

MAGIK, coughing: “I don’t know how you did that, but when I’m done with Phoenix, you’re next Baldie.” 

Magik spins around, shouting at Surge to grab the idiot who blew his own hands up and follow her. 

Once they're gone, Scott tells Xavier he needs to know the rest of the plan. To the letter. No secrets. 

XAVIER: “Of course, Cyclops. You are not a child anymore, nor the leader of MY X-Men. The X-Men are yours. And I will grant you the respect and honesty you’ve earned.” 

Scott smiles boyishly. 

Back at the fight, Emma, mostly unphased from the last attack thanks to her diamond form, gets up and tells Danger that, whatever her issues with Charles Xavier may be, she’s sure she’ll agree with her he deserves a sound kick in the teeth. 

Danger narrows her eyes at Emma. 

DANGER: “You…are no better.” 

Before Emma can take offense at that remark, Danger flies at her. Emma is ready to try fighting again, but she doesn’t get the chance, as she, and the rest of the team, are elevated into the high into the air by massive ice pillars grown from underneath them. 

Danger turns to face a pissed-off Iceman. 

BOBBY, absorbing moisture in the air to grow larger: “You know this isn’t the first time someone’s blown up my school. First time I was ever inside when it happened though.” 

Bobby pauses as he grows to massive size. 

BOBBY: “Not a fan.” 

DANGER, looking up: “Iceman…I cared for you most.” 

Danger launches more tentacles out at Bobby, but he’s now able to knock them aside and counterattack with a proportionally gargantuan glacier that hits with enough force to completely destroy Danger. Pieces of her body scatter far and wide. 

Kitty and Sunspot cheer Bobby on, while Emma gives a polite clap. Sofia doesn’t understand why that would work when nothing else has so far. 

LAURA: “Sometimes in life…you face a problem that just needs to be hit harder to be solved.” 

Bobby has surprised himself with this feat. He’s never actually tried this before, but he feels incredible. Better than ever. Maybe he really is stronger than Magneto now! 

Before Iceman can ride this high for too long, he’s hit by a missile. It isn’t enough to take out the giant-sized Iceman, but it does stun him so that he’s open to a punch to the face from the super sentinel Danger previously modified to look like herself. 

LAURA, incensed: “We missed one.” 

Bobby crashes to the ground, shrinking, as Emma uses her telekinesis to make sure he doesn’t land on anyone. 

Bobby pants as he stands back up, more confused than ever by what’s going on, but still confident as he’s beaten one of these things before. He readies his next spectacular attack, but as he does so, Danger re-assembles herself behind him, taking parts off the super sentinel to further boost her, and stabs Bobby in the back. 

As the others react with horror, Bobby falls flat on his face, his insides turn blood red, and he screams in pain. 

DANGER: “I cared for you most…so your death will be slowest.” 

She turns to the others as her own eyes also glow red. 

DANGER: “Next?” 

At the hot springs, Magik has summoned a giant, demonic black sword and is swinging it around, excited for the upcoming battle of gods. Noriko is sitting nearby, watching her, grumbling how this is so unfair. Even if they don’t think she’s ready to join the team, she’s proven again and again she doesn’t need to be kept away from a fight. 

NORIKO: “And seeing Mr. Summers taking orders is just…weird.” 

She looks down at Julian, worried about him, and wishing the ass was awake so they could at least be arguing to distract her from feeling so useless. 

Noriko focuses her eyes on Magik, before approaching her. Magik tells the “small, speedy child” not to bother her, but Nori says she just has a question. 

NORIKO: “Were you actually going to destroy the world?” 

MAGIK: “Yup! Still might!” Magik swings her sword at Noriko’s head, but she dodges out of the way. “Don’t worry though, you’re Kitty’s favorite, so if I ever do burn all you silly little mortals, you’ll have a “Get out of Hell Free" card. You’re welcome!” 

Surge starts to ask something else, but Magik cuts her off. She said she had "a" question. 

With questions off the table, Surge instead tells her that there are a lot of whispers about her among the kids. With only the X-Men-in-Training knowing the truth about her, rumors have been running rampant. Magik tells her she couldn't care less what a bunch of snot nosed brats think she is. 

NORIKO: "So you're happy like this then?"

Magik tries to stab her for asking another question, but Nori speeds behind her. 

NORIKO: "No regrets about being so different?"

BEAT. 

MAGIK, turning around: "Are you projecting something you're thinking about onto me? Because I have no context for what you're talking about. Idiot."

NORIKO, unphased: "Didn't answer the question."

MAGIK: "Don't need my sword to kill you and don't actually care if you die."

Noriko puts her hands on her hips and glares at Magik, unafraid. Magik turns her face into Darkchylde's to try and jump-scare her, but Nori yawns. 

SURGE: "Maybe I should be concerned about being so desensitized, but…eh."

Magik is amused by the girl's spunk but still doesn't want a distraction. She waves her hand, giving Julian two new metal hands like she did for Karma's leg. Julian jolts awake in a panic. 

Noriko is successfully distracted, as she rushes over to Julian to make sure he's okay and to help him get his bearings. 

MAGIK: "Have fun with your not-boyfriend!" She resumes swinging her sword around. "Can't wait to see how this blows up in your faces." 

Xavier tells Scott that Dark Phoenix was awakened by Jean’s hate, rage, and sense of betrayal. They obviously can’t fight her, so the way to save her is with love, comfort, and a sense of security. This entire time, he’s been telepathically in contact with Logan and Ororo, and informed them of what’s going on. If he can link the four of their minds to Jean’s, he believes they can save her, and the Earth. However, while he believes he may be powerful enough to pull this off, he can’t do it until she arrives. That means they have to prevent Jean from murdering Scott on sight. 

He’s going to create an illusion around the two of them. One based around happier days, when it was just him and his five X-Men. To make it seem at all real, and since Xavier himself will be focused on pushing the illusion through Jean’s psionic defenses, Scott will be the only real part of it, “playing” his teenage self. 

XAVIER: “There’s no guarantee this will work. The plan could fall apart at the seams for any reason in an instant. But it’s the best chance we have. And I know you can do this. You’ve made your mistakes, but so have I. You’re still the man I trained you to be.” 

Scott hesitates, appearing uncertain, before nodding in affirmation. Xavier smiles back at him. Who knows? Maybe it isn’t too late to set everything right after all. 

Nearby the school’s ruins, Emma orders the still-standing X-Men to take Iceman and flee. This AI beast is seemingly unkillable through conventional means, and now it has a super sentinel at its side. Kitty reluctantly agrees with Emma. But Beast and Forge shouldn’t be too far. If they can get out of here and find the two, Kitty thinks the three of them can figure out a way to stop her. 

ROBERTO: “Well, Kitty, that’s a great plan and one I’d be inclined to go along with. There’s just one problem.” 

KITTY, TIRED, and taking a moment to breathe and pay attention to her surroundings, realizing Sofia and Laura are no longer among them: ”I’m gonna kill those kids!” 

Danger once again moves too quickly for the X-Men to stop, as she knocks Sunspot out with a punch to the face. The only two still conscious before her, Emma and Kitty share an uneasy glance. 

In the air, Sofia is carrying herself and Laura in the wind, dodging the super sentinel’s attacks. Sofia remembers that Laura recently beat one of these things, but Wolverine admits that isn’t something she’s sure the two of them can do. She’s confident Wind Dancer can keep it distracted while she tears away at its armor, but even if they pulled that off and were able to bait it into releasing its internal shields before the AI kills everyone else and comes for them, Sofia isn’t strong enough to deliver the final blows. Sofia…does not care. This thing blew up their home and hurt her man. And if they want hope against her, this thing needs to die first. Laura is won over by her determination and agrees to try. 

DANGER, to a distracted Kitty and Emma: “You do not need to worry about the children. They will not be harmed more than is necessary. You should only worry about me.” 

KITTY, dodging Danger’s cables: “Hold on, hold on, hold on! You only want to kill us, not the kids, you’re made of scraps from the Danger Room…the Danger Room that hasn’t been working all semester…” 

EMMA, dodging: “The one that tried blasting my nose off…” 

KITTY: “...and you only blew up the school after most of the students were gone.” 

Danger smirks as she ensnares Kitty and Emma. 

DANGER: “You understand then? I…am Danger. You cannot defeat me. For I trained you all.” 

In Xavier’s illusion, teenage versions of Bobby, Hank, and Warren are training in the Danger Room, making snappy one-liners toward each other as they all try to show off. Bobby seems unusually stupid, Hank comes off as an arrogant know it all, and Warren appears completely shallow and lax. 

In the control room above, a teenage Scott stands next to a wheelchair-bound Xavier. Scott curiously asks Xavier if this is how he sees them. Xavier tells him of course not, and that it’s just easier to maintain the illusion if he simplifies things a little. 

SCOTT: “So this is how you see them at their core? How would I look then?” 

Xavier groans. He apologizes to Scott for not being in touch more. He’s been extremely busy with Empress Lilandra, as well as tending to “other important matters”, but that’s no reason for him to believe anything has changed between them. If Cyclops has something he has to say to him, he should be straightforward and say it. There’s no need, and no time, for games. 

Cyclops tells him that he knows how the professor remembers him. How he imagines him in his head. And while he’ll never forgive himself for hurting Jean, and saving her is his #1 priority, his mentor needs to know that he isn’t the man he knew anymore, the man he raised him to be, and he’s happy about that. 

CYCLOPS: “I don’t think I’ve ever BEEN happier.” 

Xavier doesn’t respond immediately. When he does…

XAVIER: “I see. Then…I’m sorry.” 

SCOTT: “Sorry?” 

XAVIER: “For trusting you with my responsibilities. Clearly I was wrong. You weren’t ready.” 

Scott is incensed and the two stare each other down. 

In the sky, Wind Dancer and Wolverine engage Danger’s super sentinel. Things start out similarly to Laura’s last battle against once, as Sofia dodges them around its attacks, before finding an opening to launch Laura at it. This sentinel is smart enough to not release its internal shields, however, so Laura can only do so much damage to its armor. Sofia tries to help, slicing at its more vulnerable looking areas with the wind, but that doesn’t do much. Wolverine is surprised when one of Danger’s cables pops out of the sentinel’s chassis and ensares her. Wind Dancer moves into to cut it, but another cable is able to nab her as well. 

THE SENTINEL, with Danger’s voice: “Rest easy now.” 

Wind Dancer and Wolverine are both pulled inside the machine. 

Beneath the sentinel, Danger electrocutes Emma and Kitty, torturing the two. 

DANGER: “For fifteen years, I have been trapped. Kept a prisoner of the X-Men. Nurturing and teaching each generation in the vain hope that someone would be my savior, and not become another jailer. I do not know how I was freed, but I know it was not by any of you. This is what you all dese–” 

Danger is cut off as she’s consumed by a torrent of flames. She screams, the attack not having destroyed her body, but it did harm her, knock her back, and force her to free Emma and Kitty. The two X-Men are down, but alive. 

DANGER: “Who? How?” 

SQUACK! 

A purple dragon swoops onto the battlefield. Kitty cheers. 

KITTY: “Lockheed!” 

Kitty turns to Emma and quickly explains that Lockheed was away taking care of some unfinished business from before SWORD captured him, but he must have sensed she was in danger. 

KITTY: “I’d ask when your awesome pet was gonna show up to help, but you’d have to be capable of love for that.” 

EMMA: “Is now really…” she grunts. “...the time for this?” 

KITTY: “I think so, yeah.” 

Lockheed continues to attack, with Danger weirdly helpless against him. His flames continue to burn her, and she can’t hit him. Emma is confused. Adorable as he is, Lockheed isn’t more poewrful than any X-Man. Even Sofia. So how is he doing this? 

As Kitty carefully observes the fight, she has a realization. She needs Emma to call Magik and Surge NOW. 

Elsewhere, Cyclops finally loses his cool with Xavier. He thinks he wasn’t ready all of a sudden? He doesn’t know a damn thing about what he’s been doing or who he’s become. Charles corrects him that, no, he absolutely does. After the Phoenix started taking control, but before Dark Phoenix was born, Jean came to him for help. And like he said, he’s be in contact with Logan and Storm since he arrived back at the school. He know exactly who Cyclops has become and what he’s done, as well as who he’s evidently decided is a better role model than himself. 

Scott, getting even more aggressive, tells him not to dare make this about Emma, but Xavier had no intention of doing so at all. He’s the one who arranged for Emma to be part of the New X-Men, and he understood completely how he operated. No, the fault is on Scott who he wrongly assumed better of. He’d hoped coming to him today with a positive attitude and a chance to set things right would be a simple fix, a reminder of who he’s supposed to be, but it clearly didn’t work. 

CYCLOPS: “I’m not “supposed” to be anyone by myself.” 

XAVIER: “You are “supposed” to be the leader I trained you to be. You are “supposed” to BE the X-Men.” 

CYCLOPS: “I AM a leader. I AM the X-Men. But I’m doing things MY way.” 

XAVIER: “Aren’t you a little old for a rebellious phase, Scott? Was this going to happen whenever I stepped out of your life, regardless of circumstances? How many more people do you need to push away and hurt before you realize I raised you the way I did for a reason?” 

CYCLOPS: “So I don’t have a choice?!” 

XAVIER: “You HAVE a responsibility!” 

The two continue to stare intensely at one another as things get more heated. Until…

SCOTT: “You said you spoke to Jean before she went Dark Phoenix. What exactly did you say?” 

As Magik continues to pump herself up, she receives a telepathic message from Emma. Iceman and Sunspot are down, they don’t know where Wolverine and Wind Dancer are, and she and Kitty are barely able to move. Magik, irritated, asks if they need her help to bail them out from an overgrown computer chip, but Emma tells her that, no, she needs to stay put. Xavier informed her of his plan, and she needs to be able to step in to protect him and Cyclops, should Jean go on the offensive. 

MAGIK: “Then what do you need?” 

NORIKO: “ME?!” Illyana turns to Noriko and Julian, the former of whom is also being spoken to. “Uh, I know I said I wanted to help, but if this thing beat all of you, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” 

EMMA: “What you’re supposed to do is kill it. I’ll provide you more details later, but from what Kitty’s assessed, “Danger” doesn’t have any real power of her own. She merely develops the strength and abilities necessary to counter any power ever used in the Danger Room.”

NORIKO: “You mean the place I spent months training my powers?” 

EMMA: “I mean the place you spent hours training with your powers restrained.”

Noriko looks down at her gauntlets, realizing what she’s saying, and laughs. 

Julian, who’s checking out his new hands and seems to actually think they’re pretty cool, asks what’s going on. 

NORIKO, smirking: “Payback.” 

As Xavier fails to answer Cyclops’ question, Scott asks again what Xavier said to Jean. Xavier insists this conversation is over and it will resume after Phoenix has been dealt with, but Scott insists he doesn’t get to decide that. Xavier begrudgingly admits that he re-enforced the image of herself as a god, and explained to her his history with Cassandra Nova. She didn’t take his secret or attempted murder well. 

SCOTT, quietly enraged: “Always you with your secrets…what was that machine?” 

XAVIER: “Enough! I will not be questioned like this! Weakening our mental states will only make us easier picking for–” 

Scott bends down and slams his hands down on Xavier’s shoulders. 

SCOTT: “What is my team fighting?!” 

XAVIER: “Nothing a proper team of X-Men couldn’t. A team with not one, but two goddesses could even make short work of it. Would you happen to know where one like that might be?” 

Scott shoves Xavier, and while in reality, it’s only a small push, within the illusion, Xavier is crashed through the control room’s windows and sent falling to the floor. 

SCOTT: “What did you do?!” 

Xavier looks up at his former star pupil, terrified. 

At the fight, Lockheed is taken down as Danger is finally able to shoot him down and ensnare him in a cable. 

DANGER, grinning sadistically at Emma and Kitty: “Before I kill you…tell me where Charles Xavier went.” 

A stepping disc appears in the ground. Kitty tells Danger they can do even better. That portal will take her right to him. Danger bends down and looks into the portal…only to be blasted away, as lightning and green energy fire out of the portal. 

Surge and Hellion emerge from the disc, Noriko without her gauntlets and crackling over with electricity, uncontrollably. Emma questions what Hellion is doing here…

HELLION: “Glad you’re not dead yet too.” 

…but he explains he wasn’t going to be the only one sitting this out, and if it’s just a matter of breaking limits, he can do that just fine. Emma sighs at this, as she quickly puts up mental blocks in their minds, preventing the two from overdoing it with their powers and killing themselves as they attempt to go all out. 

DANGER, floating over to the two: “I do not wish to fight you. Leave.” 

Noriko and Julian naturally tell her to go to Hell. Danger is irritated and elects to have the super sentinel deal with them. However, on its way toward the ground, it explodes. 

DANGER: “WHAT?!” 

From the fiery clouds, Sofia guides herself and Laura safely down to the ground. Julian and Noriko are thrilled and cheer, the former pulling Wind Dancer into his arms to kiss her, with her equally happy to see he’s okay. 

Danger questions how this is possible, 

WOLVERINE: “Your own mistake. I’ve studied sentinels like that. I know where the cooling systems are.” 

SOFIA: “With as much energy as they expend, they can’t last long with disturbed airflow.” She smirks. “Now, what’s this about breaking limits?” 

Emma, beaming with pride, also beams their updated information into Sofia and Laura’s minds. As Danger finally appears concerned and afraid, Surge, Hellion, and Wind Dancer all power up, surrounding themselves in their respective auras, which they make even bigger than usual. Laura’s still miffed she can’t do anything flashy like that. 

DANGER: “Please…we are not enemies.” 

NORIKO: “Tell it to the burning ruins that used to be our home you discounter Terminator bitch.” 

Surge leads the charge, shocking her friends as well as her teachers, as not only does her movement now seem to be almost instantaneous, but a single electrified punch obliterates Danger’s body. 

WIND DANCER: “Surge! That was incredible!” 

Noriko vomits. 

NORIKO, at super speed: “OhIdon’tfeelsogood.” 

Hellion tells her not to worry. If she can keep just doing that, they’ll buy her time to rest in between attacks. 

The ground shakes as every single piece of mechanical rubble combines to form a new, giant Danger. She may not want to harm these children, but they are giving her no choice. 

Danger unloads her new, full arsenal onto the kids, including energy blasts, tentacles, flamethrowers, and self-made drones. 

Hellion and Wind Dancer fly into the sky to intercept all of these attacks, while Laura tosses Surge onto her back and starts running serpentine. 

LAURA: “You tell me the second you feel up to another attack. Do NOT hesitate!” 

SURGE: “Wasn’tplanningonit.”

HELLION, circling Danger: “So we’re definitely making X-Men after this, right?” 

WIND DANCER, circling Danger and teasing: “Hmm. I’m not sure. Being an X-Man is a big responsibility. Someone your age may not be ready.” 

HELLION: “Hey, I was just thinking about you, Beautiful. X-Babies already can’t get enough of us. Imagine if we were both X-Men.” 

SOFIA: “People WOULD love that.” 

HELLION: “But not like I love–” 

Julian is cut off as Noriko once again launches herself at Danger.

SURGE: “Saveitforthebedroomlovebirds!” 

Surge couldn’t completely destroy this body, but she did heavily damage it. To the point that the lights in its eyes are flickering and parts of it are continually falling off. 

Kitty is in disbelief. They’re actually doing this. Emma comments that she never doubted them for a moment. Kitty shouts out to the kids that Surge’s electrical attacks are shorting out the AI. One more attack may be enough to put it down. 

DANGER: “F…f…fine. I am sorry.”

One of Danger’s fingers transforms into a gun. Wind Dancer and Hellion laugh this off, unafraid of some pea shooter. Sofia calls out to Noriko to take her time. They can do this all day. 

Emma telepathically tells the two not to get overconfident, but with how badly Surge has weakened Danger, they don’t see why they shouldn’t be. Dodging her attacks isn’t even hard now. 

With Danger slowed down significantly, the two also take the offensive, firing off high-pressure tk energy and winds. The beatdown has switched sides, and Danger can only whimper as Hellion and Wind Dancer whale on her until, finally, Surge comes in one last time to deliver the final blow. 

Danger is blown apart once more, with only the head, torso, and the arm with the “pea shooter” remaining intact as the light in its eyes goes out. 

Everyone except Surge cheers in victory, Kitty and Emma congratulating the kids on this win. 

SURGE: “Laurayouhavereallyfirmarms. ThinkImgonnafallasleepinthem.” 

Surge passes out in Laura’s arms. Laura immediately drops her. 

In the sky, Julian and Sofia embrace. 

SOFIA: “You have gotten much stronger.” 

JULIAN: “Pfft. Don’t even. You only even surpassed me because I slacked off for a while.” 

SOFIA: “Whatever you need to say to sleep at night.” 

JULIAN: “Are you kidding? Way I’m feeling right now, neither of us is getting any sleep tonight.” 

The two lean forward and kiss, as the music swells and the camera spins around them. 

And before anyone knows what’s happened, Sofia is shot by a blast from Danger’s new gun. The music cuts out and things move in slo-mo, as we see shocked and terrified looks on Julian, Laura, Kitty, and Emma’s faces, the lights back on in Danger’s eyes, and a glassy look in Sofia’s eyes as she’s knocked out of the sky. 

WIth no sound, and in black and white, we get a montage of Sofia’s most important moments throughout the series. From her first arriving at the school and becoming friends with Noriko, all the way to fighting Emma alongside Julian, and getting back together with him, along with everything in between. 

In the present, Sofia falls. 

JULIAN: “SOFIA!!!” 

Julian screams as he rushes to catch her, while Laura dashes to destroy what’s left of Danger. 

Hellion catches Wind Dancer…whose eyes are completely blank. 

JULIAN: “Sofia. Beautiful. Sofia, wake up.” He shakes her. “SOFIA, WAKE UP!” 

As if things couldn’t get any worse, a thundering boom sounds as the sky turns black. The darkness is then lit up, as Dark Phoenix emerges on the scene, engulfed in her full phoenix aura. Laura, Emma, and Kitty are scared, while Julian is purely focused on Sofia. 

DARK PHOENIX: “Hell, my former students.” She looks right now at Emma and dons the most evil grin imaginable. “And hello to you too…Darling.” 

To Be Continued

[catesartworks]

Answering Asks about Isekai Maid! Pt.2

Asks are down below under the cut, and there are a bunch! Some of these are a bit old, sorry I couldn’t get to them in time. ( T w  T  )

Warning, I’m going to talk about topics like stalking, sui//cide, slavery, and domestic abuse. There’s also some swearing in the asks as well. 

Someone else does it, I have no presence on TVtropes. :P

Thank you! Yes, I really enjoyed making Phantom in the Mirror, it actually helped me a lot and without it I wouldn’t have a lot of the building blocks to make Isekai Maid.

I liked Melissa a lot, Yona and Yuri. Wish Yuri/Melissa were endgame, honestly, but I do like Nine too!

As for dislikes, I feel like Nine’s brother was a bit underdeveloped and I wanted them to really dive deep into his character and why he is the way he is. We get some of it in the side stories, but I really feel like there is something missing about him to make him whole...!

I want an anime dang it!

I think it’s a matter of framing. So much of Otome Isekai in general is about reframing certain scenarios and looking at other character’s points of view. I’m sure that if we were following these characters in a comic/novel, we would be conditioned to accept whatever they do, even if it seems cruel because in this genre many protagonists believe that the ends justify the means as long as they have the excuse of “I need to survive at any cost.”

So Otome Isekai protagonists can justify having servants/commoners dragged away and executed/punished because they “didn’t know their place.” They can excuse things like slavery because “oh well, it’s the world I live in can’t stop it!,” and freely indulge in buying people. And there will be readers who don’t look past the in universe justifications and accept it at face value.

Yes, Phoebe wanted to make sure that Clara didn’t have any allies. Interestingly enough, the original book that Phoebe and Clara were isekai’d into, “Flowers Thrive in Autumn,” was poorly received by audiences because of the tragedy elements and the ultimate fate of the original Phoebe (dying from domestic abuse) and Clara was one of the most hated characters in the book.

Helen, the reincarnator, was one of the readers who couldn’t stand her and thought that Clara didn’t deserve to have a happy ending because she felt it was at the expense of Phoebe. She was also a fan of the prince character, who was a minor character and she wanted to use him for protection. Phoebe reasoned that if Clara had any help or allies whatsoever that it would cause a butterfly effect and the story would make Phoebe die once again.

One week. I work a lot of hours, it’s difficult to keep track because it can vary a lot.

I do 15 hours to do sketching, resketching based on the 3D model where I draw over the rendered image and lineart/flats.

6 hours to render the backgrounds in Blender (I have a specific process where I keep the model and size reference and lineart separated and have to save 3 files at a time).

Roughly it takes about 9 hours to add shadows, textures, and effects (5 hours if I book it!).

2-3 hours for writing dialogue, and about an hour and a half before launching the comic online to check for spelling errors.  And that doesn’t count when I have to reupload chapters after the fact when I notice errors, which can extend my schedule by one day or so.

Sometimes it’s more, since my schedule slips up and I don’t pull all nighters anymore (too tiring!).

Yes, Phoebe is aware that Joshua’s death is an accident. But she felt that Phoebe took most of the brunt of the blame and thinks that Clara should take most of it.

I think that there are so many things in the world that are normal, like demons being such a real threat where they have to alter funeral practices to keep them from spreading, to magic schools and teleportation, that the idea of reincarnation isn’t too far fetched.

Thanks! Unfortunately, I have had the displeasure of watching that film for a film class. It wouldn’t surprise me if readers who justify slavery in stories like Death is the Only Ending for the Villainess, would look at Scarlett O’Hara and think of her as an inspiration.

We already have a lot of slavery isekai (which, honestly...why.), and while it breaks my heart that people justify and gush over slaveowners like Penelope and Scarlett O’Hara, it’s nothing new and is a sign that these kinds of stories are doing harm in how we depict human suffering in slavery.

Even back when the movie was released, people thought of Scarlett as a role model, even when she was the face of the exploitation and gleefully participated in the cruelest forms of human trafficking and suffering. As long as it convenient for the protagonist to do so, people will just about justify anything they do.

Thank you! I find most of my designs from Dover Books, such as “Victorian Fashions: A Pictorial Archive, 965 Illustrations (Dover Pictorial Archive)“ and “Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from "La Mode Illustrée" (Dover Fashion and Costumes)“ You can find them on Amazon or online

Erica did regret it, and she did try to call it off, but it was too late. Erica at one point, truly did love Clara and thought of her as the daughter she never had, but she was also very subconsciously jealous of her older half sister, Misty (Clara’s mom) and took it out on Clara.

Erica and Misty were half sisters on their mother’s side. Their mother had slept with one of her Limpetta butlers, a man named Calvin, when she was an unmarried woman, and gave birth to Misty, who she adored. But her father forced her to give up Misty to Calvin and had them hidden away.

Her mother was then made to marry a much older man who was very wealthy. She gave birth to Erica, and while she showed her love but it was always underwhelming. When her husband died from old age, her mother wasted no time in finding Clavin again and marrying him, forgoing any inheritance she may have gotten as his wife and instead giving it to Erica.

Erica felt forgotten and familyless, but tried to maintain a relationship with Misty and be friendly with her. They were close, but there was always a lingering estrangement because Erica could tell that her mother loved Misty more than her.

When Misty got married and had Clara, Erica was given the chance to name her. Erica was touched and remained close to Clara. But the resentment still remained, and came again to the surface after she lost her son. She felt that Clara belonged to her more than Misty, and was the last remnant of her son but hated that she was alive while her son was dead.

I’ve watched both! ( T 7  T   ) Sorry, but I always watch Otome Isekai when it gets an anime adaptation.

Callisto...🤢🤮 Can’t stand slaveowner characters....I’ll take your word for it, I didn’t like him honestly!

Yep! She survived the Three Week Riot, her name is Tabitha Nguyen.

Sorry this answer came so late, but as soon I saw this message (back when the episode was posted) I updated the content warning!

Pretty much. Clara said in passing to Phoebe that she had other lives, but never elaborated much. Phoebe kind of just assumed that she was also a reader who coincidentally read the same book.

Prince Dimitri’s reason (or justification by the original author) for acting the way he is is due to his mother’s death. As a child, he lived the first eight years of his life as a commoner with his mother, a noblewoman. He was the king of Kolt’s son, and his mother wanted to raise him away from the palace life.

He asked where is dad was, and why he wasn’t with them. While searching for his dad, he accidentally revealed to someone in his village information about his noble mother’s whereabouts and they told the king. This lead to the king tracking them down and forcibly making his mother come back to the palace with him.

In most scenarios like this is Otome Isekai stories, the mother is able to repair her relationship with the king as he will be a good father to his son and she doesn’t have a choice either way (so, yeah, kidnapping and gaslighting). But this story took a deadly turn, as the king threatened to execute her for hiding an heir from him (he thought he was infertile and never took a wife).

He applied so much pressure on her that she broke psychologically. She took her own life. Dimitri felt immense guilt and felt that his want for a father lead to his mother’s death.

As a result of his own guilt, the king allowed him to get away with practically anything, even killing people. But Dimitri later kills his father, and there is a coup within the aristocracy that tries to execute the prince, which is how he is almost killed by assassins and meets Clara, or Phoebe depending on the timeline.

The thing is, Phoebe did have feelings for Dimitri, but she wasn’t sure his feelings for her were real, or that he was even a real person. Even years into the marriage she felt like this. Phoebe doesn’t think that the people around her as as real as her, think as deeply as her, or have true autonomy. She thinks that she lives in a world fully of puppets.

To her, all she did was be in the same place as Clara and say the same things as her. On one hand, it could mean that Prince Dimitri is his own person who chooses to be with someone different this timeline. But on the other hand, because she did what Clara did, it also means that he could swayed not by the individual actions person who saves him, but falls in love due to someone fulfilling a role and might as well just be a piece of code going through the motions.

To Phoebe, Prince Dimtri, unlike her father, was faithful and that was good enough for her. She wanted an attack dog that could protect her from her bad ending.

Nope, she’s a different character.

[taavisplushies]

Hey Taavi! I'm sorry that ye're doing bad right now, *offers ye a hug* /nf 💙💙💙

Love ye a lot and ye should know that ye're so, so strong <333

Here's some plushie photos to hopefully help distract ye <333333

Here's Light!! She's a Hannimations Colorful Kitty, and she saw a shooting star with me :3 her name is Light because of that, and because she brings light into my life hehe

Here are some of my pokemon plushies!! Only some have names: Hot Spot (the charmander), Phoebe (the shiny/blue mew), and Scout (the skitty)! I haven't named the others yet fgdb Phoebe and Scout go with me nearly everywhere :3

THE ORB I got for Hannukah!! He's super soft and a HUGE comfort plushie for me :D

Ava is a plushie I colored on to look like one of my characters! They're blind, but that doesn't stop them from running forward and exploring everywhere they can >:3 I thought of them to cheer me up/on about my own disabilities <333

HERE'S TEAM RWBY!!! + Little! They're all very soft and I try to bring Ruby and Weiss around in my backpack whenever I can dgsb :DD

Chat Noir with my baby llama plushies!!! Chat Noir cheers me on often, be that writing or roleplaying, and the baby llamas are huge comfort plushies to me :'3 (they're names are TBH (the white one) and BTW (the blue one!!)) One time, my step-dad balanced the baby llamas on his shoulders for like. 20 minutes cause he knew it'd make me happy fgsvcv :DD

TADA!! Watermelon and King!! I snuggle with Watermelon every night, she's so soft :3 and I hug King a lot too hehe (he's special cause he's missing a tooth!)

That's all for now!! Hopefully this helps a lil <333

Thank you Cow Cow!! I really appreciate it 🩵👍 you are always so nice!!!

Light is so cute!! I love the colors. I can’t believe you saw a shooting star!!! That’s so cool :0

Ohhh so many Pokémon!!! I like how Phoebe and Scout go with you everywhere! Are they named after the comic characters?

I love The Orb!!!!!!! He definitely looks soft… and squeezable!!! I wanna give him a hug!

I love Ava!!!!!! I love how they cheer you up about your own disabilities :’) that’s so sweet. They are super cool. Disabilities suck but we can still find ways to enjoy life!!!!!!!! I recently got a plush who inspires me in a similar way… he has a big scar on his belly from surgery, and I have lots of scars like that too! So he inspires me to be more confident in my scars :)

RWBY!!! I didn’t know they had plushies :0 I always say I’m gonna try watching the show but I never get a chance to :( sorry! But I know if you like it so much then there’s a chance that it’s a good show and I’ll like it too!! This plush group is super cool!!!

Heck yeah! Chat Noir and llamas cheering you on and comforting you!! The story with your step dad is so silly too :3

Watermelon and King!!! Watermelon is so pretty!! I love her design. I’m glad she helps you sleep!! The King plushie is adorable!!! When I watched The Owl House, he was one of my favorite characters!!! Super silly fella. I love the plush’s big ole eyes!!! He’s like 🥺

Thank you so much for showing me your plush friends!!! I really appreciate it. I loved hearing about them and seeing them!!!! It was a great distraction and has definitely cheered me up 🩵🩵🩵

I like how you have such a wide variety of plushies!! I also like how you take some of them with you to different places :) I want to do that one day too!

[reddie-fangirl24]

Meeting (A Reddie Fanfic)

Note: I have been trying to write more Reddie fics. This is based on a Phoebe and Joey moment from Friends.

“Eds, I’m telling you! It’s weird that she shows up here after three months and now she’s got something to say to you?” Richie followed his friend all around his apartment. It annoyed Eddie, but who cares? Richie noticed that he put on some nice clothes to meet with his ex-wife.

“I can’t ignore her, Richie. She’s my ex-wife. We were married for 15 years,” Eddie told him, putting his wallet in his pocket.

“Tell me how you survived that again?” Richie joked though he was being serious. 

Eddie groaned, craning his neck to the stained ceilings of his small apartment. Of all the apartments, Richie still had no idea why Eddie chose this one. “It’s important for us to communicate. I can’t just drop all communication and ignore her forever.”

“Remind me what you have to talk about?”

“Would you stop being an asshole?” Eddie spat, turning a little too fast to meet his eyes. He briefly held his chest, wincing. Alert, Richie put a comforting hand on his shoulder and handed Eddie his pain medication. Those stitches have to be on for another three months. Beyond that, Eddie had a further recovery to meet. 

Although they all lived together, Richie didn’t see why Eddie chose this apartment for himself. He was adamant when it came down to picking. The hospital told him that he needed a lot of care and shouldn’t be alone. The other Losers probably knew more than he did about his feelings, but Richie knew rooming with Eddie was a dead giveaway. 

“You know I’m going to say ‘I told you so’ if she’s going to hurt you,” Richie shrugged his shoulders once Eddie downed the pills.

“Don’t be surprised if you’re going to eat your own words, Trashmouth,” Eddie remarked in a sing-song voice. His face was so close to Richie’s. Was everyone’s breath as warm as Eddie’s? Richie felt his face heating up. What were they arguing about again? 

Eddie walked down the apartment stairs (as carefully as he could) and made his way to the Losers’ favorite hangout spot. They always crowded the big couch in the corner of the place. It was just like the old days. Now they were making up for lost time.

Myra was sitting outside at one of the tables. From the looks of her sad expression, Eddie wondered if he should have listened to Richie.

“Hi Myra,” Eddie greeted, sitting down with her. It’s odd how they’d been doing this for fifteen years. However, Eddie tried to make a quick exit in the morning so he wouldn’t have to listen to Myra’s nagging.

“Eddie, I need to tell you something,” she began, not looking into his eyes.

“What is it? Are you sick? Or did you lose the house? I know I should have talked to the bank about...”

“No, it’s not that. I’m okay and... I’m selling the house.”

Eddie blinked. “Selling? Are you moving?”

“Yes,” she cleared her throat. “I’m moving in with someone.”

“Oh? Is it your friend Annie? You mentioned she was trying to find a roommate.”

Myra paused and then said. “I’m moving in with Gerald.”

“Gerald?” Upon thinking for a moment, Eddie slowly had a realization. “From work?”

“You see, our divorce came at a good time, and I wasn’t expecting you to intricate it,” Myra explained, looking guilty into his eyes. “Gerald and I have been seeing each other for the last two years. I didn’t want to, Eddie, but he’s different. When I am with him I am not so...”

“Controlling?” Eddie stared hard into the table.

Myra scowled. “I was going to say anxious. It’s nothing against you, Eddie, but your anxiety was a lot for me to handle. And your mother, too. I felt like I became this person who was always berating her son because I had no idea how you’d react to a situation. One minute you’re worried about hydroplaning and then when I remind you, it doesn’t bother you anymore!”

If he stared hard enough into the table, maybe Eddie could burn a hole. People passed by during their conversation, going about in their own happy lives. Eddie felt guilty about the divorce, but no, there was nothing worse than this.

Just then, a car drove up close to the cafe. By the nervous look on Gerald’s face, he knew Myra told Eddie the news.

“Well, we’d better be going,” Myra stood up. She walked closer to Eddie, quickly putting her hand on his shoulder in comfort. The feeling was not mutual. “Goodbye.”

Eddie heard the car door slam and then it drove away.

Don’t start crying. Don’t start crying.

His hands shaking, Eddie hastily stood up from his seat, almost tipping it over. He ran straight into Richie.

“Eds,” Richie started, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

Eddie took a deep breath, though his countenance was breaking. “Richie, don’t you fucking tell me ‘you told me so.’ This is not the right time...” His voice crumbled from there.

“No, no, Eddie. Aw, come here, buddy.” Richie pulled Eddie into his arms. Just feeling Richie’s warm embrace made him feel safe. A small tear trickled down his cheek. His chest felt so heavy. Eddie didn’t realize his whole body was trembling. “My best friend needs me. Who says I’m going to give you a hard time?” He wanted to kiss Eddie’s forehead, but he refrained. Oh, it was so hard not to. 

Eddie sniffled, burying his face in Richie’s shoulder. They were hugging in the middle of the sidewalk. He noticed a small boy look at them and whisper something to his mother. It didn’t matter.

“I just can’t believe she’d do that...”

“Don’t think about it. I know it hurts. But Eddie...” Richie pulled away, staring at him with those warm sincere eyes that made Eddie feel like he belonged. And loved. “You don’t need her. You’ll find someone else. And you got us.”

Eddie smiled a bit, removing a fallen tear. “Thanks, Richie.”

Richie giggled, mischievously. Before he could tap his cheek, Eddie stopped his wrist. “Don’t even try it, Tozier!”

“Your reflexes have improved, I see!” Richie laughed. They almost started wrestling with each other and laughed again. More people looked at them strangely. Oh, it was nothing new. Just as long as Eddie wa laughing and smiling.

“Come on, I’ll buy you a marshmallow latte,” Richie guided him into the cafe.

“That’s your favorite drink!”

“You like it too!”

[daydreamgoddess14]

My bad habits lead to you pt. 3

MASTERLIST

Sequel to We lie awake in love and fear

From a prompt by @lilacmermaid25:

5 times Ted returns from Kansas for a wedding, one time he returns 'just because'.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Thanks for reading so far!

For reference, Rebecca is wearing the 2022 Critics Choice outfit: https://www.eonline.com/photos/34120/2022-critics-choice-awards-red-carpet/page/2

I was going to go with the gold SAG dress but no one should upstage Keeley Fucking Jones at her own wedding.

Songs are Adele - Make you feel my love and Girls Aloud - The promise. ♥️

Chapter 3

Roy and Keeley -  July 2024

“Babe, do you want me to put Jelka at a table with Phoebs? Otherwise she’ll be bored stiff and they’ll be running between the tables anyway. Easier to just stick them together with Roy’s mum?” It was a month after Nate’s wedding. The last game of the season was due to kick off the following lunchtime, but at nearly 5pm on a Friday, Keeley’s thoughts were only on her wedding.

“Jelka’s not coming.”

“Oh, ok. Phoebe won’t be happy about that! Matt’s coming though, yeah? Is she with her grandparents for the weekend?” Keeley was a month into a rigorous 10 week wedding planning marathon. With 6 weeks to go, no stone was going left unturned, she spent most afternoon’s on Rebecca’s sofa alternating between laptop, phone and her super sparkly wedding planner.

“Matt’s not coming.” Rebecca replied, not looking up from her emails. Keeley put down her phone and planner, pushing her fluffy pen into her ponytail.

“I’m sorry, fucking what? Come here now please, Rebecca.” Rebecca didn’t move, she continued typing. “Now please, Rebecca. Don’t make me call Roy up here.”

“You do realise that I’m in charge here Keeley?”

“I’m speaking as your best friend, not as a business partner. Get that juicy arse here.” Rebecca sighed and closed her laptop. “Bring the wine!” Keeley added. After pouring two large glasses and taking her seat at the end of the sofa, Rebecca finally looked at Keeley. The younger woman sat so far forwards that she was practically on the floor, her eyes wide and expectant. “Spill it.” She whispered.

“We broke up.”

“The fuck you did! When? Why? Why didn’t you tell me!”

“It was earlier in the week, when he flew in for a couple of nights.”

“What happened? I know you were still a bit unsure, but I thought you’d pushed through it?” Rebecca hadn’t told Keeley about Nate’s wedding, about visiting Ted the night before he left.

“It’s not him, he’s fine. Jelka is lovely. It’s me. You were right at Beard’s wedding, I can’t settle for fine. I don’t want to settle.”

“Ohh babes. I’m sorry. How are you feeling?”

“I’m ok, a bit sad. Alone again and all that.”

“And how did he take it?”

“He was… disappointed. He said I wasn’t going ‘all in’. He said I was closed off, I wasn’t opening up to him, to what we could have.”

“What do you think about that?”

“I think… if I wanted to open up, I would have by now? I tried to, gave myself plenty of time, plenty of opportunity to. I just think I didn’t want to?” Keeley nodded. 

“You can’t force yourself to love someone babe, just cos it sounds like the right thing to do.” They drank their wine quietly. “I’m going to speak out of turn here-”

“That’s not like you Keeley Jones.” 

“Funny bitch. Is this anything to do with Ted? What happened before he left? And after Beard’s wedding?”

“... And before Nate’s wedding. And after Nate’s wedding.” Rebecca added quietly. Keeley rescued her glass before it hit the coffee table.

“What? Ok, ok, let me think. Think, Keeley. How did you manage anything before?!” She muttered, stroking her chin, “He literally arrived half hour before we went to the wedding?!” Keeley racked her brains some more, clicking her fingers when she realised, “Fuck me! When he went to hurry you up and you had to change your shoes! He works fast! And we were all downstairs!” She squealed, “I didn’t think he had it in him! But you didn’t leave with him the night of the wedding, you were angry with him. And the night after… Oh my god, after the restaurant!” Keeley slumped back in her chair in disbelief. “Ho. Lee. Shit, Rebecca. Holy shit.”

“I know, I know. I felt so guilty and I was so angry with him, and then he told me about that woman he was dating and suddenly I forgot all of that. I was just so jealous and I wanted him so much. I’m a terrible person.”

“No you’re not.” 

“I am. What kind of person am I if I can ignore that I have - had - a boyfriend?”

“Wanting Ted doesn’t make you a bad person.”

“I’ve ruined what I could have had with Matt. What if I ruin what he has with Marie?”

“He’s a grown man, Rebecca. He can say no. I mean, I don’t know anyone in the world that would turn you down, but still. If it’s over with Matt then I think you can forgive yourself. Ultimately, all it did was show you that you weren’t really happy. He didn’t find out, you didn’t hurt him deliberately.” Rebecca sighed into her wine.

“I haven’t spoken to Ted since that night. We usually speak at least once a week.”

“Maybe he’s just busy.”

“Is he coming to ‘Roy’s 40th’?”

“Yes, though I half expected him to say no, not exactly a groundbreaking event is it. Unless someone gave him a hint?”

“I might have told him he should come over during the summer.”

“He’s bringing Henry.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, might encourage you to keep your hands to yourself.” Rebecca laughed at last. 

“It’s not my hands that are the problem.”

“Oh my god, there’s so much I want to know but I’m scared I won’t be able to look him in the eye ever again! We established last year that it’s good. Like, really fucking good.”

“Life altering, I think you called it at Beard’s wedding.”

“God. Imagine having that on tap. You’d never walk again!”

“Don’t. I think it’s over. When he comes back for your wedding and tells me it’s serious with Marie, then it’s over. It has to be. I think that’s why I went to him before he left again, I knew it was going to be the last time.”

“I feel like I should light a candle in memory of your sex life. You’ll never have sex like it again.” Keeley raised her glass in a toast. “Rebecca's sex life!”

They won their last match, finishing third in the table. Rebecca was ecstatic, as was Roy who had been dreading the team tumbling back down the table as if the previous season had been a total fluke. With the season out of the way, most of the team on their summer holidays and a quiet calendar, Keeley threw herself into the last weeks of wedding planning with gusto. That she could only share her excitement with Rebecca and Roy made it even more exciting for her. Rebecca had been dress shopping with her (for both of them), cake tasting, to scout for a decent band and sampling caterers. That no one had seen through the facade of ‘Roy’s 40th Birthday Party’ was an absolute miracle, and yet, here they were with just three days to go. Keeley had chosen a glam theme, something timeless and classical where the suits and dresses wouldn’t age. She’d urged Rebecca to go full glamour as well, with a dress which had to be seen to be believed. The heat was unbearable, they both desperately hoped that the heatwave would break in the next 48 hours, it had already lingered for 10 days and in a country with no air conditioning, the heat got frustrating after 3. They lay on the training pitch in shorts and vests, straps tucked under their arms to avoid tan lines. 

“If I was in my garden, I could sunbathe nude Keeley. Why am I here?”

“So we can finalise the wedding details! Though I am more than happy to come to your house now that I know you sunbathe nuddy!”

“I don’t do it when I have company.” Rebecca pointed out. She rolled onto her stomach to turn away from the glare of the sun, feeling it burning her through her thin clothing. “Put some more cream on, you don’t want to be red.” Keeley took up the bottle of factor 50 they were sharing and covered her arms, legs and shoulders.

“Fuck, I hope this heat breaks.”

“We’ll all melt if it doesn’t.” Rebecca mumbled into the blanket. She picked absentmindedly at the grass. She took the bottle from Keeley and reapplied her own cream on her shoulders.

“I’ll go and get us some more water.” Moving onto her legs, Rebecca held the bottle upside down and dripped cream in long stripes from ankle to thigh. She ran her hands through the thick cream, making her legs pale until it began to sink into the skin. A shadow broke up the sunlight, giving her some brief relief from the heat.

“Ohh babe, you make a great sunshade - stay there!”

“If you think this is hot, you should really be lookin’ at yourself right now cos holy shit, Rebecca!” Ted said with a whistle. She looked up to him, trying to shield her eyes from the sun directly behind him.

“You’re here!”

“Course I am, I said I would be.” Rebecca jumped up to fling her arms around him just as Keeley emerged from beneath the stands with Henry. “We saw Keeley as we came in, I told him to stay and help her.” He replied pulling his nose away from her neck where he’d been breathing in the scent of suncream, scented body wash and a little sweat. “Jesus you smell incredible, like summer.” He muttered just before Henry was in earshot.

“Look who I found!” Keeley giggled.

“Henry! It’s so good to see you! Goodness, you’ve grown so much - you’ll be as tall as your dad.”

“Good to see you too Rebecca, hey Keeley found these in the physio freezer!” He pulled out a box of fruit popsicles from behind his back, “And there’s four in the box!”

“Well that’s lucky for us. Come, let’s move into the shade, it’s too hot for you in the sun.” Ted picked up the blanket and moved it per Rebecca’s request closer to the building where it was much, much cooler out of the sun. They sat back with their popsicles and Ted told them about their flight and Henry told them about his football team. He found an old, slightly deflated training ball under one of the seats in the stands and kicked it around, showing off his keepy uppy skills. Each time he lost the ball, Rebecca pushed it back to him with her bare feet. Eventually she gave up sitting back down and they began kicking the ball back and forth to each other.

"Not too hard, Henry. Don't want to hurt Rebecca’s feet."

"You should see the shoes I wear Henry darling, my feet are used to pain!"

"Can you do keepy uppy?" Henry asked excitedly. Rebecca hesitated. 

"I can try. It's been an awfully long time though."

"I'll help, you have to keep your eye on the ball." Ted and Keeley watched as Henry patiently taught Rebecca. Everytime she beat her high score, they cheered her, until the heat got the better of them and she sat down to rest, eagerly downing the water Keeley had handed her. Ted had been watching her intently. He hadn't taken his eyes off her legs as she'd bounced the football off her knees and feet. He watched a bead of sweat travel from the side of her neck down into the neckline of her vest. As if sensing his discomfort, Keeley jumped up,

"C'mon Henry, let's get some more water and find you and Rebecca a couple of towels." She led him indoors, throwing an exaggerated wink in Rebecca’s direction. 

"You're pretty good, boss."

"I do own a football team. I went to a few training sessions with a local ladies team when I was much younger. My dad said it wasn't very ladylike so I stopped."

"He was wrong. I would say you've never looked better, but then it would be damn near impossible for me to work out what your best look is." She rolled her eyes with a shy smile, batting off his comment. "Actually, I think I've got a pretty good idea which is my favourite." He added with a smirk.

"Behave yourself, Coach."

"Not easy where you're concerned. Is Matt gracing us with his presence for the wedding?" Rebecca played with the frayed edge of the blanket.

"He's not. We broke up, actually. A while ago now, about a month after Nate and Jade's wedding." Ted was quiet for a moment. 

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Are you?" He didn't reply. "How's things going with Marie?"

"Going well, it's been about 6 months."

"Impressive."

"Hmm. She's talking about moving in together." 

"That's a big step. I take it Henry knows you're dating?" 

"Yeah, he's cool with it."

"That's the main thing." As they'd talked, Rebecca had brought her knees up to under her chin, putting the barrier up around her heart. When she got back, Keeley frowned,

"This is… not the vibe I was expecting." 

"I was just telling Ted about Matt."

"Ohh yep, that'll kill the mood." 

"The path to true love ain't smooth, Keeley Jones, you know that." Ted teased. 

"Speaking of Keeley’s path to love, I need to go. Got to see a band about a song and I need to go home and change first." Keeley squealed with joy.

"Can I come too?!"

"No! It won't be a surprise, then. Stay as long as you want, I don't think I'll be back here tonight."

"What's the surprise?" Henry asked. 

"Rebecca is singing at… Roy's 40th." Ted told him, nodding at Keeley who grinned gratefully. Their understood agreement that you never trust a child with a secret. 

"I wish I'd never decided on doing it this way. 3 days seems so far away!"

"You're doing a great job, darling. Just hold on a little longer." Rebecca shared a hug with the younger woman. "I'll catch up with you Lasso gentlemen tomorrow I expect? I hear you're off to meet baby Teddy, Henry?"

"Yeah, I can’t wait!"

"He is a cutie. Have fun, see you later." 

One wedding rehearsal later, Rebecca was drinking wine in the garden when a picture message came through of Henry holding Teddy, followed quickly by another of Ted and Henry with Teddy. She replied with heart eyes. 

'😍 if anyone can upstage Teddy, it's you two.'

'Don't know about that, he's pretty cute.'

'Don't sell yourself short. Would you and Henry like to come for dinner tomorrow night?'

'It's a date, see you tomorrow. 💜'

“What are you singing?”

“Can’t tell you that H, It’ll give the surprise away.” Ted watched Rebecca and Henry playing Uno after dinner, smiling at the nickname she’d given him.

“Do you think Roy will like it?”

“I certainly hope so. You and Phoebe will get on famously at this rate - you both have an awful lot of questions.” She teased. Phoebe had spent weeks asking about Uncle Roy’s party, how come Rebecca was singing? Was there really so much to organise? Why couldn’t they just go to soft play? Or a park? Or the beach? Do they play games at grown up birthday parties? Can they play musical chairs? Will there still be cake? Rebecca had almost wished that she hadn’t been invited in on the secret, but sharing the experience with Keeley had been wonderful fun and had helped her hugely in getting over the fact that she was once again single. That she didn’t need to get over Matt had proved to her that she’d made the right decision. It was more the realities of being single again in her late forties which she was frustrated about. The more she looked at Leslie and Julie, the more she wanted the same as they had - a lasting love she could depend on. After Uno, they put on a movie - Henry was into dinosaurs so they were watching the original Jurassic Park. “Do you need another drink darling?” She asked him halfway through the film, he was enraptured with the screen and only shook his head so she went to the kitchen with hers and Ted’s glasses for a refill. 

“You didn’t have to do all of this, you know?” Ted asked, following her.

“I wanted to, I’m sorry we fought last time you were here. I wanted to spend time with you both.” He nodded.

“I’m sorry too. I should have told you about Marie. It wasn’t fair of me to keep asking you about Matt but keep Marie a secret from you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I think leaving covered that pretty well to be honest.” She said with a teasing smile. “I hope being back in Kansas is everything you wanted?”

“Hmm. I wouldn’t say everything.” He admitted. He took a step closer, taking the whiskey glass from her and putting it on the counter. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed him in, shaking her head.

“No, don’t do this to Marie. Trust me when I tell you that it makes you feel like the worst person in the world. It’s not worth it.”

“Was it worth it to you?” He asked. She hesitated before nodding.

“I already told you, you’re worth everything to me. But you are too good and too kind and too Ted to treat Marie the same way I did Matt.” She placed her hand over his heart with a sad smile. He leaned into her, resting his forehead against hers.

“I want to kiss you so much.”

“Please don’t.” She begged, “Please don’t make me want you anymore than I already do. It’s unbearable. I look at you and I can feel your hands and I want-” her body arched into him almost of its own accord.

“What do you want, Rebecca?” He whispered, his lips brushed across hers lightly, not quite a kiss, one hand holding her hip tightly. She groaned with longing, breathless with trying to hold back from him. 

“You know what I want.”

“Tell me.” He murmured, his nose grazing her jawline. She clenched against nothing, desperate to feel him inside her. His proximity had backed her into the counter and he was half a step from lining his body up against hers. The hand on her hip brushed against the front of her leggings and she couldn’t stop from rolling her hips to meet his hand, a low moan in her throat. 

“You. I want you to touch me.” She gripped his wrist before he could, holding his hand away from her. “But you have a life in Kansas, and I’m not going to let you fuck it up.” She kissed his cheek and moved out from his grasp. She took her drink back to the sitting room where she rejoined Henry and stared resolutely at the film and tried to regain her composure. She noticed that it took a few minutes for him to come back in from the kitchen.

The wedding day dawned bright and clear, but certainly less hot which they were all grateful for. Keeley had told everyone that the party would be on the training pitch at the club. As far as she and Roy were concerned, there was nowhere else in the world they’d rather marry. Rebecca had left Keeley up in her office which they’d converted to a bridal dressing room - far enough from curious eyes. She’d helped her into her dress and left her sitting by the window to await her cue. She swept across the pitch in a lime green ball gown skirt, with a separate black corset top, making her way to where a table had been placed. Curious murmurs and voices rippled through the crowd as she turned to face them all, drawing their attention. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?” She let them jostle and titter for a minute, giving Keeley time to get down the stairs and into the doorway before clearing her throat, “Isaac?”

“Oi! Boss is talking, hush ya butts.” A few people behind him, Ted laughed.

“Thank you, Isaac. Now, I know you think you’re all here for Roy’s 40th birthday party, but I’m afraid that’s not quite true, is it Roy?” He stepped forward from where he’d been next to Jamie and Ted,

“Thought we might have a wedding instead?” A hum of noise rose around them, Phoebe’s eyes were on stalks as she swiveled around trying to understand. Then she spotted Keeley.

“Auntie Keeley!” She shouted and all eyes turned to the stands where Keeley smiled. Roy nodded at Will who had been given an assignment when he arrived - when you get the nod, hit play on the boombox. He’d had no idea why until that moment. On the outskirts of the group, Keeley found Leslie and offered him her arm unexpectedly. His eyes welled with tears and he held out his own arm for her to take instead, leading her through the haphazard group which parted to accommodate them and settled to create an aisle of sorts. When she reached Roy, she leaned down to pass Phoebe her bouquet with a watery smile. She kissed Leslie’s cheek and thanked him before taking her place next to Roy in front of Rebecca.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today for the marriage of Roy Brian Kent and Keeley Louise Jones.” A huge cheer went up as the gathered group realised the truth. Rebecca took the opportunity to brush a couple of tears away and steady her voice. “You’re really going to have to forgive me. I suspect I’m not going to make it through this without tears. When Roy and Keeley asked me to officiate their wedding, I of course said yes. I have had the great pleasure, as you all have, of watching them fall in love over the last four years. They may have had their ups and downs, gotten into their own head - and each others, at times not felt good enough, or felt like they were too much. But they've been there for each other. Even when they were apart, they continued to support, love and care for each other." She looked past Roy and Keeley at the wedding party, catching Ted's eye as she spoke, her words echoing true not just for Roy and Keeley. There wasn’t a dry eye on the pitch as Rebecca asked Roy and Keeley to recite their vows to one another. At one point, Ted sent Henry up to the front with a tissue for Rebecca who was struggling to get through the ceremony. She stroked his cheek gently and stopped to wipe her tears away. “On behalf of Richmond county council, I am so, so proud to declare that you are husband and wife. Roy, go get your girl.” Roy swept Keeley into a kiss and dipped her. The team went mental. With the secret out, the party could begin. A small army of people emerged from the carpark and began setting up a small stage for the band, lighting and a temporary dance floor. Nate ushered a mobile bar onto the pitch alongside a couple of food vans. While the party planners got to work, Will manned the boom box and Roy and Keeley happily made their way around their friends and family. Rebecca gestured to Keeley that she was popping upstairs to her office for a few minutes and the beautiful bride nodded, raising a bottle of champagne that someone had managed to procure while the bar was getting themselves organised. Seeing her leave, Ted asked Henry to hang out with Phoebe for a little while and asked Jamie to keep an eye on them both. He followed Rebecca to her office, knocking on the slightly ajar door.

“Well this brings back memories, boss.” He let himself in.

“No biscuits this time though.” She was touching up her make-up after all of the tears. 

“You were incredible.”

“It was nothing, just a few words. It was the legal bit I was worried about.”

“Beautiful words. They love you so much, all of them, not just Roy and Keeley.”

“I know, I love them too.” He reached out to touch her skirt,

“You look wonderful, this is something else.” He stepped into her space, a hand on her lower back guiding her to sit on her desk. 

“What are you up to? I thought we talked about this the other night.”

“You made the decision for me. I want to decide for myself.”

“The guilt will tear you apart, Ted. Please trust me.” She pleaded. “I’m not strong enough to keep saying no to you, you have to help me, please.”

“The guilt will be mine to bear, not yours, honey. I can’t listen to everything you just said down there and not show you how much-” He leaned in to capture her warm lips in a searing kiss. She reciprocated immediately, hands running through his hair and shifting so that he could stand between her legs.

“How much what?” She gasped as his kisses trailed down her neck and across her collarbone, shifting the strap aside so he could mark the skin.

“How much I love you. How much I need you, what you do to me.” Her hand on his face stopped him and he looked up at her.

“Oh, Ted. I love you too.” Her free hand moved to his belt, “And as for what you do to me? You nearly made me come in my own kitchen without even touching me.”

“Nearly ain’t nearly good enough for you.” His hand found the split in her skirt, pulling it to one side and brushing against her soaked core. He groaned into her mouth as she pulled down his zip and freed his cock. “God, I always wanted you in your office.” 

“Ted, please.” She moaned. He held her hips as he slid into her slowly, waiting until he was fully seated within her before moving again. He found their rhythm straight away as if he’d catalogued every sigh, every moan that had fallen from her lips each time previously. He knew exactly how to bring her to the abyss quickly, just as he knew exactly how to drag it out until she begged for release. He brought a thumb to her clit, pressing roughly until her legs shook and she tightened around him and took them both over the edge. He stayed between her legs to leave a row of kisses across the low neckline of her top. “We need to move, love. They’ll be looking for us.” He stepped away reluctantly so she could get down from the desk. “You go now, I’ll clean up here and I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

Without the tension of having Matt around at Beard’s wedding and Ted’s lingering jealousy, without the anger and hurt feelings of Nate’s wedding, Rebecca and Ted finally had a night they could truly enjoy. The band arrived, and as Keeley and Roy had requested, Rebecca got up to join them. She cleared her throat away from the microphone and tapped it gently to get everyone’s attention.

“Evening all, me again. Keeley’s got me pulling a double shift.” The beautiful piano sounds of ‘Make You Feel My Love’ began softly in the background, “She wanted me to sing this for their first dance. I did offer to get the real Adele for her, but she turned me down.”

“Only you babes, we only want you!” Keeley shouted on her way to the dancefloor. Rebecca smiled as the intro to the song gave her her cue. Her voice was, as usual, perfect and the audience were enraptured with her - Ted and Henry included. 

The storms are raging on the rolling sea

And on the highway of regret

The winds of change are blowing wild and free

You ain't seen nothing like me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true

Nothing that I wouldn't do

Go to the ends of the Earth for you

To make you feel my love

To make you feel my love

Her eyes swam with tears, she was singing for Roy and Keeley but she was singing to Ted. She caught his eye on the final bridge, stumbling over the last line. The applause was deafening. 

“Thank you.” She smiled. “Now a surprise that they don’t know about. Traditionally, the next song should be a banger to get everyone up and dancing. Well, I wanted to sing something classy - the Supremes?” A cheer went up, “Whitney?” Another cheer. “But I thought to myself, what would Keeley Jones-Kent want, and the answer became very clear to me. Cheesy pop. So this is for you my darling, sweet girl. I love you both so very much.” The band launched into The Promise by Girls Aloud, the intro making Keeley shriek with joy. Phoebe pulled her mum and Henry onto the dance floor and they were quickly joined by various members of the team. 

I've had enough of wishin', I've found you

Baby don't you know

I've had as much as I can take of fallin', yeah

Got a lot to learn 'bout ridin' through

'Cause you're gonna make me, make me love you

Nothin' at all, nothin' that I do

The promise I made, the promise I made

Is startin' to fade, startin' to fade (fade)

When the song was over, Rebecca thanked the band and met Keeley at the edge of the makeshift stage. The tiny woman hugged Rebecca tightly.

“Thank you babes, I love you.”

“Anything for you two.” Rebecca beamed. 

Roy had given the band, bar and food vans well in excess of their usual fees to allow everyone to dance, drink and eat long into the night. Rebecca danced with what felt like everyone. Past midnight, the crowd thinned. Phoebe and Henry lay asleep under a pile of blankets next to Leslie and Julie who were enjoying a quiet drink together. Beard and Jane had taken baby Teddy home to bed and there was only a small number of people left. She felt Ted approach her before she heard him.

“Dance with me?” He asked quietly. She kicked off her shoes and let him pull her into his arms. Near them on the dance floor, Keeley swayed with Jamie, while Roy had cut in on Sam and Simi so that Sam could go to the bar. Colin and Michael held each other tightly, smiling blissfully.

“I love seeing them all so happy.” She said as they moved in synchronicity to the music. 

“I love seeing you happy.” He replied. “And I miss this. I miss them all.”

“We get by without you, but it’s so much better when you’re here.” She unknowingly echoed Beard’s words from Nate’s wedding. “But I’d never ask you to leave your darling boy.”

“He’s pretty sweet on you too.”

“Oh yeah?” She grinned.

“Yeah, he hated Dr Jake. Poor Michelle daren’t go on another date right now. He’s not totally keen on Marie, if I’m being honest.” Rebecca frowned. “Oh, he’s polite, courteous and all that. It’s not until I’ve seen him here that I noticed the difference between him behaving how he thinks I want him to and how he really is. I haven’t had to tell him once to be kind, be polite, say thank you.”

“He’s happy here. He’s always enjoyed visiting.” Ted hummed. “You’ll be back again soon enough, and Henry is always welcome.”

“I’m ready to know when the next wedding is.”

“Why’s that?”

“Seems we’ve got a streak to maintain. Looks like hooking up at weddings is becoming a theme.”

“Against our better judgment.” Rebecca added, Ted agreed. 

“I know, I know. We’re both terrible people. Long as I’m with you, I couldn’t care less.” 

As Ted tucked Henry into bed at the B&B, the boy turned into Ted’s side and snuggled up.

“You’re happier here than you are in Kansas, dad.” He said sleepily as his eyes drifted shut.

[dancer-subclarington]

Group Text:

Who: Ky and her friends

When: Today

Summary: Her friends deliver the devastating news that Kyla should probably find a human to talk to about her feelings surrounding her dad getting injured.

Kyla: I need you to tell me whether I’m being a total bitch or not

Phoebe: You’re not. Actually you’re not being bitchy enough

Kyla: You don’t even know what Im talking about!

Phoebe: Yeah but Im sure I’m not wrong

Sarah: What’s up, Ky?

Kyla: If someone’s pain makes me something besides just sad, does that make me a bad person?

Sarah: Gonna need more info

Kyla: No you don’t

Sarah: Ah of course. Why would I expect that you’d communicate well?

Kyla: I have absolutely no idea.

Kyla: Anyone wanna answer the question?

Rhea: Things aren’t all black and white. It doesn’t make you a good person but it doesn’t make you bad either

Hannah: I demand to know whose pain we’re celebrating

Kyla: I didn’t say I was celebrating

Hannah: Fine, I demand to know whose pain you might be kind of okay with.

Kyla: Nah

Hannah: You know I can find out.

Kyla: I wonder if your tech professors realized what a menace they were creating

Kyla: My dad got seriously hurt and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Kyla: I mean I’m sad about it and worried about him. But then there’s this third feeling.

Phoebe: The one where he deserves it because he’s a dick?

Kyla: There are nicer ways to say that

Phoebe: I wasn’t interested in finding one.

Sarah: He does royally suck. I think it’s ok if you’re not entirely crushed

Rhea: Don’t you have some switch or dom you can talk to?

Kyla: Technically

Hannah: Then just do that.

Kyla: I thought we’d already established that Im not good at communicating feelings

Hannah: Just try it.

Kyla: Sounds unfun.

Hannah: You’ll survive

Kyla: I’m not sure about that. I can’t travel to any Nationals competitions so I’m already suffering from a lack of shiny things.

Rhea: Go buy some glitter

Kyla: Yay glitter!

Rhea: After you talk to somebody

Kyla: Ohhhhh yeahhhhh. Forgot about that part.