#but i sure would have thought about it a little more if i knew Ashton singing (whilst! drumming! WHILST!) the eagles was in play 😭😭😭😭

[kindahoping4forever]

Ashton performing with Eternity Speedway @ Desert 5 Spot LA - 11 April 2024

[alisonsfics]

roommate’s best friend part two

pairing: calum hood x ashton’sroommate!reader

summary: after your make out session with calum was interrupted by ashton, you were both very excited to spend more time together at a 5sos gig. (part one)

word count: 2.7k

warnings: unprotected sex, public-ish sex (it’s backstage), tiny praise kink, minors DNI

You were planning to see Calum tonight for the first time after your little make out that was interrupted by Ashton.

You both had planned to have a little date night at Calum’s apartment, where you couldn’t be interrupted by Ashton. Before you could leave, you and Ashton had a plumbing emergency that kept you both at your apartment.

When you called to tell Calum that you couldn’t make it, he practically begged you to let him sneak over just to be with you for a little bit. You knew it would just end with Ashton accidentally seeing something he shouldn’t, and you couldn’t handle that embarrassment again.

Calum and Ashton had both invited you to a gig that the band was having tonight, so you would finally get to see Calum.

You were in the middle of picking out your outfit, obviously wanting to look nice to impress Calum.

“Oh, is somebody getting ready to see her boyfriend tonight?” Ashton teased you from your open doorway. You turned to face him and saw the smirk on his face. “C’mon, Ash, we can’t just be adults?” You pleaded. He chuckled and shook his head. “I caught you hooking up with my best friend. It’s a perfect opportunity for teasing, I can’t waste it.” He told you.

Ashton stepped towards you and held out a lanyard. “Wear this and security will let you in tonight. I’m about to head out, I’ll see you later.” He told you. You took the lanyard from him and said goodbye to him.

A few hours later, you were on your way to the concert, and you had butterflies in your stomach as you thought about seeing Calum.

You had picked out some leather pants and a red lace top that you were hoping Calum would like.

You got to the venue and security let you in quickly after seeing your badge. A security guard led you back to where the guys were hanging out. “They were in the lounge last time I checked, but if they’re not there, I’ll bring you to their dressing rooms.” The security guard told you.

You approached the room and saw a few couches sprawled around the room and a minibar against the wall.

You saw someone sitting on the couch on their phone. You recognized him as Luke from Ashton’s Instagram posts. “Here you go,” the security guard said, gesturing towards the room and then leaving.

“Hi, I’m Luke,” he said, jumping up to greet you. You quickly shook his hand and introduced yourself to him.

“Ashton just ran to the bathroom, he’ll be back soon.” Luke informed you. You nodded your head. “I’m really excited to see the show tonight. I got to go to one of your shows before, and I had a great time.” You told him.

“Oh thank you, yeah tonight should be good.” He agreed. You both heard footsteps and turned to see Calum walk into the room.

His eyes scanned over your outfit slowly, taking it all in. “Hi, there,” he said, softly. You gave him a smile as he walked over to you. “C’mon, Cal, give her a hug.” Luke said, teasing Calum for how stunned and speechless he was.

You giggled at Calum’s flustered expression. “Wait, but how do you—” Calum started to ask Luke.

“You really think Ashton was able to keep you guys and your thing a secret?” Luke said, chuckling.

Luke made sure not to stare so he wouldn’t make you both uncomfortable. “Hi,” you said, softly. He stepped closer to you and wrapped his arms around your waist. “You look beautiful.” He whispered as he pressed a kiss to your temple.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly. The scent of his cologne filled your lungs. You both pulled away, not knowing what to say to each other with Luke in the room.

“So, you two met already?” Calum asked, gesturing towards you and Luke. You both nodded. Then, Ashton and Michael walked in the room.

“Hey,” Ashton said, smiling once he saw you. He walked over and gave you a hug. He turned around to gesture towards Michael and introduced the two of you.

You noticed Ashton walking over to Calum, probably to tease him in some way, so you started talking to Luke and Michael. You were telling them about the first show of theirs you had gone to.

You were trying your best to make a good first impression, considering you’d probably be spending a lot more time with them.

You felt Calum’s hand slip around your waist, and he brought his lips to your ear. “Can I get you a drink?” He whispered in your ear, keeping his tight grip on your hip. You nodded your head, “yes please,” you said.

He walked away to get you a drink. Ashton joined your group and was smirking at you. “Don’t you even,” you said, stopping him before he could make a comment.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Ashton lied through his teeth. Luke and Michael chuckled at his horrible poker face. “I’m trying to make a nice first impression with your friends, and you just can’t stop yourself.” You said.

“You made a pretty good first impression with Calum,” Michael muttered under his breath, trying not to laugh. You were too stunned to speak. You sat there with your mouth open as the three of them started cracking up. “All three of you now?” You asked.

Calum appeared at your side with two drinks, handing one to you. “Yeah, she did make a pretty good impression, y’know until Ashton ruined it.” Calum said, winking at you.

You slipped your arm around Calum’s back and leaned into him. “You both are pretty cute together actually” Ashton said, making your cheeks heat up.

“Hey guys, you got like five minutes til you need to be on stage.” Someone said, as they walked in the room. You looked over your shoulder and saw someone who looked like their manager.

“C’mon,” Calum said, interlacing your fingers and pulling you behind him. You followed him to the side of the stage. You both set down your drinks and one of the crew members handed Calum his bass.

You gave Calum a kiss on the cheek. “Have a good show,” you told him. He thanked you and gave your hand a quick squeeze. The other three guys started to walk on stage, but Calum stopped.

He held up two fingers and beckoned you closer to him. He quickly cupped your face and kissed you. You were surprised by the kiss, but kissed him back.

“Gotta get my good luck kiss,” he said, before running out on stage.

You got to watch the whole show from the side of stage and had the best time. Calum even looked over at you a few times and winked at you once.

As the show ended, you cheered for the guys, and they took their bow. The guys filed off the stage past you, giving you high-fives as they went by.

Calum came off the stage last with a giant smile on his face. He handed off his bass and then grabbed your hand. He started pulling you down the hallway.

“Calum, where are we going?” You asked him. He didn’t answer your question, but continued pulling you behind him. You both got to his dressing room door and he pushed the door open.

Before you knew it, he had pulled you both inside and closed the door. He pinned you to the back of the door. “You remember when we talked about you fucking that bassist in his dressing room?” He asked you, his mouth almost pressed up to your ear.

You nodded your head. “Yeah, I remember,” you said, breathlessly. Calum’s entire chest was pressed up against you, and you were finding it hard to focus.

“Well that bassist really likes your outfit and got really turned on seeing you on the side of the stage, so if you were still okay with that plan,” he said, practically growling.

“Yes, yes, just touch me, Cal,” you begged him. As soon as the words left your mouth, Calum’s lips were on yours. His lips moved quickly against yours.

He grabbed at the back of your thighs and picked you up against the door. “No one to interrupt us this time,” he said, smirking against your lips.

You raked your fingers through his hair, causing him to groan. He planted his lips on the side of your neck and started slowly sucking on your skin.

You tried to silence the moan that fell from your lips. “Don’t hold back, let me hear you.” He coached you.

He pulled you away from the door and laid you down on the couch. “You look so gorgeous,” he said, in awe as he looked at you.

You pulled him towards you and tugged at the bottom of his shirt. He quickly pulled it over his head and threw it to the side. “C’mere, rockstar, can’t wait,” you said, pulling Calum on top of you. Hearing you call him “rockstar” turned Calum on more than he would ever admit.

His hands slipped under your shirt and traced your sides, caressing your skin. “Help me take it off,” you said, putting your hands up and allowing Calum to pull your shirt up over your head.

“So gorgeous,” he mumbled as he quickly got rid of both of your pants. He grabbed your legs and wrapped them around his waist. You cupped his face and kissed him hard.

Having Calum’s hands on you made you feel like your skin was on fire in the best way. A moan slipped out of you as Calum rocked his hips against yours. “Please, Cal,” you begged.

“Please what, sweetheart?” He asked, placing kisses along your jaw. You groaned, twisting his hair around your fingers.

“Please, fuck me,” you told him.

He pulled down your panties and carelessly threw them to the side. “You know that when Ashton showed us a picture of his roommate, I think I fell in love with you right then, most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen.” He told you, placing a kiss to your forehead.

“You look so hot on top of me, like this.” You said, as he slipped out of his boxers.

He grabbed your hips with his large hands to steady himself. “You ready?” He asked, meeting your gaze. You nodded your head quickly.

He slowly pushed his length into you. You clawed at his back as you adjusted to his size. He stayed still, buried inside you, for a while. He peppered soft kisses on your shoulder as he waited for you.

“Keep going, I’m okay,” you assured him. With one final kiss on your lips, he pulled himself out and started thrusting into you.

Calum’s eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as his hips hit against yours. You let your eyes roll back as you grabbed at the couch, desperate to find something to hold on to.

“Here,” Calum said, grabbing both your hands and pinning them above your head. You let out a whimper as you felt the strong grip of his hand on your wrists.

“Let me do all the work, just focus on feeling good,” he instructed you. He placed sloppy, wet kisses down your chest, using his free hand to caress your breast.

“So good, Cal. Just like I imagined,” you mumbled, your eyes still shut. You noticed a break in Calum’s rhythm. You opened your eyes and noticed he was just looking at you as he continued to push his hips into yours.

“You were imagining this, baby?” He asked you, curiously. You felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment, both from the pet name he’d just used and what you had just admitted.

“Don’t be embarrassed, what were you thinking about?” He asked, turned on by the possibility of your fantasies. You hid your face in the crook of his neck. He peppered kisses all around your face, hoping to get you to open up.

It was ironic. His cock was deep inside you, but you could barely bring yourself to meet his gaze.

“I saw pictures you posted from tour, and I thought about what it’d be like to go on tour with you. We’d travel around together, and I’d know all the fans you met were imagining you the way that only I would get to see you. And I thought about what it’d be like to ride you.” You confessed.

A groan fell from Calum’s lips after hearing the words leave your mouth. “That’s really hot, gorgeous.” He told you, moving his grip to your hips.

He reached deeper inside of you and hit your g-spot. “Oh, fuck, Calum,” you moaned.

“Y’know, we could make those fantasies happen if you want. We could at least do that last one tonight.” He told you, making your cheeks heat up even more.

“C’mere, honey,” he said, holding onto you and sitting up so you were straddling him.

He kissed you to make you more comfortable. “I’ll help you,” he mumbled against your lips. He grabbed your hips and lifted you up. You started rolling your hips against his.

“Oh, fuck, baby. You look so good on top of me.” He moaned, throwing his head back. He pushed his hips forward, meeting yours halfway.

Your thrusts started to become more rushed as you got closer to your high. “I’m almost there, Cal,” you mumbled, grabbing his shoulders to steady yourself.

“Me too, baby,” he told you. You both quickened your pace. You arched your back as you started to feel it approaching. You both were breathing heavily.

You were mesmerized watching how quickly Calum’s chest was rising and falling.

“Oh, fuck, Calum,” you called out, as your orgasm hit you. He wasn’t far behind you. “Oh, shit,” he mumbled, his thrusts beginning to falter.

He slowed down his pace, slowly thrusting up into you to help you both come down from your highs.

You collapsed against his chest, resting your head on his shoulder. “That was amazing,” you mumbled against his skin. He chuckled at your exhaustion. “You did amazing, baby,” he said, kissing the side of your neck.

He ran his fingers up and down your back as you caught your breath.

Once you finally got up, you both got dressed again and headed to Ashton’s dressing room, where Calum was told the guys were hanging out.

“Look who finally decided to join us,” Michael said, smirking at Calum as you both entered the room. All three guys were in the room, along with their significant others. Luke handed both you and Calum a drink.

“You both finally sort out that sexual tension?” Ashton asked, causing you to choke on your drink. Your eyes darted to Calum for help.

He leaned in to whisper in your ear, “I may have left you a little present on accident,” referencing the hickey on your neck.

“Calum,” you whined, dragging out his name and trying to cover your neck with your hand. This earned a chuckle from the group.

“C’mere,” he said, pulling you into his chest and wrapping his arms around your shoulders.

“I’m going to have so much fun teasing the two of you,” Ashton said, chuckling to himself.

“Don’t worry, we won’t all be teasing you. Not yet, at least” Luke promised you both. You let out a small giggle. “That felt a lot less comforting than I think it was intended to be.” You replied, earning a laugh from Calum.

He slipped his hand in the back pocket of your pants, keeping you next to him.

“So, Ashton mentioned that you guys were planning to set us up anyway. How was that going to go down?” You asked, curiously.

“Well the girls had to talk down Ashton because he was ready to steal Calum’s phone and send you some raunchy messages, and Calum would have killed him. Michael and I suggested a blind date, but Ashton wasn’t going to settle for that. He suggested that we lock you both in a room together and just wait it out.” Luke explained to you.

“Your great matchmaking plan was to hold us hostage?” Calum asked Ashton, exasperated.

“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me it wouldn’t work, neither of you can keep your hands off each other.” Ashton argued.

“That’s true.” Calum said, smiling down at you.

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[calumsargwife]

"You Are In Love"

calum hood x fem!reader

summary: the journey of how you and Calum found out you are in love.

warnings: use of cigarettes and mentions of alcohol, a little bit of bad language (if i let something out let me know!)

word count: 4.7k (damn)

note: well this one is completely based on the song from You Are In Love by Taylor Swift. i know it took a while but here it is, it's the longest i've ever written. i don't know if someone's gonna read this since it's so long but since you guys seemed to like the first one i wrote i decided to post this one. i never wrote something like this, so i hope you like it!! (English is not my first language so there may be some grammatical errors, sorry!)

One look, dark room. Meant just for you. Time moved too fast. You play it back. Light-hearted joke. No proof, not much. But you saw enough.

It was one of the many parties that took place at Ashton's house, people gathering for some reason to celebrate. The man honestly loved being the host, always making sure all of his guests were having a good time. The house was in a homely atmosphere (something Ashton always made sure was there), there was a little alcohol involved but nothing too crazy, the music was just the right volume and it was something everyone could dance to. There was good food and probably some fun board game that would make everyone a little more drunk.

It had all started about an hour ago when Calum decided to show up. It was cold, a November night where despite the weeks in advance, you could already feel the Christmas spirit.

Calum would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He was going to see you after the last date you two had. Before knocking on the door of the house, he briefly remembered the last outing that you shared, it was incredible.

After so long Calum had finally dared to confess his feelings for you, one of his best friends in the whole world. And you, who was completely surrendered at the boy's feet, said that you felt the same. You two met five years ago and connected instantly, not knowing how or why but it happened and both of you were so happy, you felt that the time you had with each other was never enough to stop being surprised. Being friends first had given the two of them a kind of comfort like no other.

And that's how it was, in the last few weeks you shared several dates and everything was going great, you already knew each other but with all this that was happening, you learned even more things. Everything was getting more serious and Calum was scared, but he liked it.

Once inside the house, Calum took off his coat and scanned the room looking to meet your eyes, and the moment that happened, he gave you a look that was meant only for you. A look that Calum only saved for when he looked at you. A look that made you blush in the best way.

However, Calum quickly found himself being greeted by his friends. You sighed but didn't complain, you repeated in your mind the moment in which your eyes connected and you couldn't help but feel how your breathing stopped slightly because of those eyes that you had learned to love so much in this last few years.

It all ended up being just a quick glance. The night continued and after a while, you ran into Calum (well, he ran into you). He was wearing a black shirt that accentuated his figure perfectly, you would have loved to take him in your arms at that very moment. He knew that, he had worn this shirt because he knew you would like it.

You met about an hour after Calum had arrived, he was having a good time with his friends but at some point he felt that they were holding him back too much from being able to have a chat with you. 'Who am I kidding?' That was the first thing he thought when he saw you again, Calum had been wanting to talk to you all night. You were turning your back on him while looking at the big city from the balcony of the apartment. You had on a beautiful black silk dress, it left your back bare, something that drove Calum crazy.

"Missing me already?" Calum joked after he finally found you alone "I bet you're getting bored without me." He assured in a teasing tone. He approached you and analyzed you, you were wearing a gold necklace and your nails were painted red, you held a glass with some alcohol. His hand gently brushed your arm and you could feel an electrifying touch that woke up every fiber inside you. You love how he makes you feel.

You rolled your eyes playfully at his very confident statement. "I was getting along pretty well without you, actually." You smiled and looked sincerely into his eyes this time. "I missed you." You could see how his eyes were filled with intrigue at what you had said, waiting for a reconfirmation. "I really did."

Calum smiled sweetly and couldn't help but look away from your beautiful eyes for a second to calm down. He really didn't want to blush right now. "Well, I'm glad. I've been thinking about you all night."

It might seem like a simple thing but it really makes you happy to hear that he thought of you the same way you thought of him. You liked knowing you were on his mind.

Small talk, he drives. Coffee at midnight. The light reflects. The chain on your neck. He says, "Look up". And your shoulders brush. No proof, one touch. But you felt enough.

Of course your night didn't end there. Calum proposed that you spend the night at his house and you immediately said yes. The truth is that the time you had spent at the party had not been enough for you two.

You felt a kind of excitement as Calum drove home. You guys weren't talking much in the car, the background music set the mood perfectly and you didn't need anything to talk about either. Small talk was enough to keep you entertained along the way.

Once at Calum's house, you guys set about relaxing. Still formally dressed, you were sitting in the chair that Calum had located on the terrace of his apartment. A perfect place to look at the stars.

Two cups of coffee at midnight, one for you and one for Calum. Drinking coffee gives you the little hope that you could stay up longer just to spend more time together, because it wasn't enough, it was never enough. You two loved to talk, you always had something to talk about and it never got boring. Maybe at some point you didn't have a topic of conversation, but you guys invented something so you could have an excuse to be together. Because it wasn't enough. Calum didn't know how to explain this insatiable feeling of wanting to always be chatting with you, something that really surprised him since he was normally a person who enjoyed silence.

You smiled sweetly at something Calum had said and looked away from him so you could look at your phone for a few seconds to see the time. It was half past twelve at night, already entering the early morning. You smiled to yourself at the feeling of being calm with the boy you liked.

You were wearing a gold chain with a 'C' charm on it, a cheesy and stupid gift Calum had given you for your birthday a couple of years ago. He could appreciate how it shone in the moonlight.

Speaking of the moon, Calum realized that it was at its highest point. He looked at you and spoke to you softly, since you were still looking at your cell phone. He said "Look up" and you immediately looked up from your device. You settled into the chair with the cup of coffee in your hand and you felt how his shoulder lightly brushed against yours.

And that was it. That was enough to know what you felt.

You can hear it in the silence, silence, you.

Calum was fully focused on the moon, leaving you a perfect view of his profile. The place was silent and you could still clearly hear the feeling that you now knew you had. You were afraid of being stunned by this, but actually, the opposite happened, it was all you wanted to hear.

It was so clear, so loud and so strong. You felt a pressure in your chest, that pressure was just letting you know that what you were feeling was actually true. Your insides were full of heartwarming thoughts in just a second, but you loved every single second of it.

The fact that the place was completely silent and that Calum had no idea what you were thinking about added a bit of fun to all this, if only he knew.

You were completely immersed in this new sensation, which was leaving you completely cut off from all the other things that might be going on around you.

You can feel it on the way home, way home, you

You returned home only the next day in the afternoon, the sky was beginning to darken. After a little argument about Calum wanting to take you home and you saying it wasn't necessary, you were finally making your way home on your own. You wanted to get some air and think about what had been revealed to you last night.

As you walked home you could feel the refreshing air in your hair and in your arms. You clung a little more to Calum's sweatshirt.

And that pressure in your chest came back. You've never liked a sensation so much. You couldn't help but smile in love as you looked at the scenery around you. The night was beginning for some.

You loved him. You loved Calum. You love him.

You just couldn't believe it. The idea of falling in love for you was something that was long gone and not something you expected to find again. You especially didn't expect to fall in love with Calum.

But at the same time you were not surprised. Loving Calum was so easy, he was just perfect. You couldn't not love him. He made it look so easy. And you loved loving him, it was something that just filled you up inside and you were so happy that the person you love is Calum.

You continued walking down what would soon be a dark street. Focusing on the sound of your shoes or how the things you found on the way home reminded you of him. Everything reminded you of him.

You can see it with the lights out, lights out. You are in love, true love. You are in love.

Once you got home you closed the front door and leaned your back against it. You sighed while smiling. The whole room was dark, the lights still not on.

In one of the furniture where you had photos with your friends you came to distinguish your favorite photo of the whole house. It was a photo of you and Calum hugging in front of the stage where he and the boys were going to give their show later. There were hours left for the concert and you took advantage of the moment to take pictures. You smiled to yourself remembering.

God, you are in love.

Morning, his place. Burnt toast, Sunday. You keep his shirt. He keeps his word.

It was a Sunday morning at Calum's house. The night before for the two of you had been magical. The two of you hadn't felt this connection with someone in a long time and you knew it.

You were lying on the bed, giving each other lazy kisses on the lips, on the neck, on the cheeks, on the arms, everywhere. Calum wanted to kiss every inch of you.

Calum sighed and moved slightly away from you. "I'm gonna make us breakfast, okay?" He said to then give you one last kiss on the cheek while inhaling your sweet perfume.

"Okay" You replied with a goofy smile as you watched him go to the kitchen.

A little later you stretched one last time and got out of bed too, looking for something to wear. You looked at one of the shirts Calum wears to train, you decided on a navy blue one.

As you walked to the kitchen you remembered what Calum had told you before you guys fell asleep. "I'll be here in the morning." And he kept his word, he was there. You looked at him before entering the kitchen, he was making coffee and toast for the two of you.

"The coffee smells good." You said as you walk into the kitchen. Brushing his arm with your hand when you passed by.

"I hope it tastes just as good as it smells." He answered with a smile without turning to look at you yet, taking another slice of bread to toast.

You chuckled softly, remembering the times Calum had been disappointed in how his own coffee turned out.

At the sound of your laughter Calum turned and looked at you. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of you in his shirt, admiring how well it looked on you. He would be lying if he said he doesn't want that to be his sight every morning. He loved having you in all his everyday things.

"That color suits you." He said admiring you while he wrapped his arms around your waist and left you a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you." You answered while looking away so that your blush is not so obvious.

Calum chuckled very softly, keeping the smile on his face. He tucked one of the hairs that was on your face behind your ear and that made you turn your head to look at him.

Calum couldn't help but get completely lost in your eyes, it was something that completely mesmerized him and he knew it, he always knew it. From the moment he met you, your eyes were what he liked the most about you.

You were also completely lost by him, admiring the details of his face, seeing how there was a slight beard on his jaw, something that you knew he was going to shave later. You analyzed the small freckles around his nose, they had appeared after spending a day in the sun at the beach with his friends.

Then you raised your eyes to his and they stayed that way, looking at each other. Calum absolutely watching every move you made, admiring everything.

You don't know how long you stayed like that until you could smell the burnt smell of toast and Calum's scared face, who broke away from you in a second and immediately went to see the toaster.

A moment later he turned around and looked at you with a pout. "They burned."

Let out a laugh and you approached to give him a kiss on his pout. "We can make pancakes." You proposed with a sweet smile.

Calum smiled, completely melting at your smile. "We can, but none of those cute little eyes of yours when I'm cooking. I don't want burnt pancakes."

And for once, you let go. Of your fears and your ghosts. One step, not much. But it said enough.

Today was the day. 5 Seconds of Summer would release a new song. One that Calum personally wrote. And to say that the boy was nervous was an understatement.

He was feeling very scared for some reason. He didn't understand why. This song was beautiful and he was very proud of it, it was also an extremely vulnerable song that had taken him months to write, he was afraid of looking too fragile in the public eye and that people might not like it.

To be honest, it's a song he wrote for you, although he doesn't know if you were aware of this. The song talked about what it was like to let someone into your heart again and how scared he was to suffer again and to let go of all those ghosts from the past that haunt him.

God, he was nervous.

The boys had proposed to meet up for the launch, but Calum declined, declaring that this time he'd rather stay at his house with you by his side.

You two were sitting on the terrace of Calum's house. He was smoking a cigarette for the nerves and you were having some vanilla tea (it was your favorite and Calum had bought it especially for you). His leg was bobbing up and down as a sign of his current anxiety. You put your hand on his thigh wanting him to stop and you looked at him with a little tenderness.

"Cal, what's going on? You've been very nervous for the last few hours." My God, Calum hated how well you could read him.

He never talks about this, with anyone. Talking about his feelings is something he struggles with a lot, always in the end transforming what happens to him into songs. But Calum knew that talking about this with you was the right thing to do, knowing that if he wants to be with you then he has to start trusting you with these kinds of things.

"It's just... It's been a while since I wrote something like that, y'know... I know I always write about past experiences but this song is about the two of us and I don't know..." Calum sighed trying to collect his thoughts. "I guess I'm afraid of looking weak in front of everyone, I guess, I don't know..." It made him angry that he couldn't tell you exactly what he was thinking, he didn't know what he was feeling at that moment.

"Calum, the song you wrote is great, it's vulnerable, yes, but that makes it even more meaningful. I think that's going to make people like it more, you know?" You caressed his leg in search of being able to give him comfort.

"I know, I know..." Calum prepared himself for what he was going to say, it seemed to him something very stupid and meaningless but he knew it was necessary. He took another drag on his cigarette and turned so he could look you in the eye. "I think it scares me that once you know how I really feel you're going to run from me." He explained with a slightly shaky voice.

You couldn't help feeling how your heart softened for him. You brought your hand to his cheek and he leaned into it. You felt him visibly relax at your touch. "That's not gonna happen and you know it, right?"

He nodded as he studied your face with those sweet brown eyes of his. Calum didn't tell you but he really felt a weight less on his shoulders. He could feel how he was getting closer and closer to a certain feeling that he had been avoiding for a long time.

"I don't want to write a heartbroken song about you."

You kiss on sidewalks. You fight and you talk.

Calum loved walking with you down the street. Unlike his past relationships, this time he was not afraid to go out with you and show how much he liked you, he is not ashamed and wants to show the world who he's with.

But at the same time he wants to protect you, he doesn't like how public his life can be sometimes. He liked the feeling of his hands rubbing against yours when you are walking down a street with a lot of people, he liked having something just for him and that no one else can take it away from him.

His favorite part is when you're finally on some empty sidewalk and he can finally kiss you freely, he's dying to kiss you anywhere, but he knows that if he wants everything to remain as private as it is now, then he has to take certain precautions.

However, this has brought several discussions in the relationship.

"Why are you so angry?" Calum asked once he closed the door to his apartment, you glared at him a few feet from him.

"It annoys me that every time we walk into a room with the least amount of people, you immediately let go of my hand as if I were some kind of plague!" You knew why Calum was doing it but at the same time you couldn't help but get frustrated. Sometimes you wish Calum wasn't a public figure.

"I don't treat you like you're a plague! I just want to keep things between us!" Calum was frowning and breathing heavily.

"I understand that you want to have your private life but sometimes I feel that you exceed yourself! You don't want anyone to see us at all and it's tiring me!" You felt like a fool wanting to cry about this, but you couldn't help but make your eyes go glassy with anguish.

Calum sighed before answering, thinking about what he was going to tell you. The other day you guys had a fight over the exact same issue before going into a party. "If you know why I do it then why are you angry?!" He yelled at you, feeling how anger began to enter his body.

"Because sometimes it seems like you're ashamed of me!" You angrily yelled at him all your frustrations, trying to make him understand.

"You know that's not how I feel." He stated with a rather serious tone, you've never heard him talk like that.

"I would know how you feel if you would just tell me!" You are not going to deny that you felt a weight less after saying that. Calum always had trouble expressing his feelings but with such crucial things it was important that he tell you.

He clenched his jaw. "Are you always going to reproach me for the same thing? You know it's something I'm working on! It's not easy and yet you keep insisting!" Calum ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Of course I'm going to keep insisting if I don't see any change! It's always the same, I have to pressure you to tell me what's wrong with you and I don't want it to be like that anymore." You ran your hand under your eyeliner to wipe away a stubborn tear that had escaped. "I feel that you don't trust me to tell me your things and I don't know what I have to do anymore..." Now your face was covered by tears in a matter of seconds.

Calum completely collapsed seeing you cry. He quickly approached you and took your head in his hands to kiss your hair and then snuggle you against his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, you're right, sorry." He gave you small kisses on the temple in search of giving you comfort. "I'm sorry, you're right."

One night he wakes. Strange look on his face. Pauses, then says. 'You're my best friend'. And you knew what it was. He is in love.

It was another one of the nights where Calum stayed the night at your house. You two were asleep in your bed, snuggled up to each other, him being that natural warmer that he is.

Calum was lying on your chest, you were cuddling lying on your bed. About an hour ago he had fallen asleep after a tiring day in the studio with the boys. You, on the other hand, weren't sleepy, so you stayed on your phone, fooling around on social media.

Suddenly, you felt how he moved over you and how he began to wake up.

Calum moved off of you to lie next to you, he had a weird look on his face, you were trying to figure out what he was thinking.

Then he looked at you. "You're my best friend."

And you knew, you knew what was happening to him. He was in love. In love with you.

"You're my best friend too, Cal." You smiled sweetly at him and he could feel how he melted, your smiles always killed him in the best way. You put your hand on his jaw and brought him in for a sweet, passionate kiss, making sure it was one that would take his breath away.

"You're going to kill me one day." Calum hid his smile against your arm and blushed. You laughed and stroked his curls tenderly.

You can hear it in the silence, silence, you. You can feel it on the way home, way home, you. You can see it with the lights out, lights out. You are in love, true love.

It was days later where Calum was returning from the studio to his house, he was driving and found himself stuck in traffic. Too distracted thinking about you to be bothered by the number of cars.

You guys hadn't seen each other all week due to your respective jobs and he couldn't miss you more. It was night and not having the lights on inside the car made everything dark, his mind was too busy to put on music, so he enjoyed the silence there was.

Not getting you out of his head, he started humming your favorite song. Giving little taps on the steering wheel to the beat of the music.

And that's when it hit him.

"Oh, shit." Calum stopped everything he was doing to focus on what he was thinking.

He couldn't help but think a 'really?'. Hell, he hadn't felt this in a long time.

Unconsciously his heart began to race. His head was going a thousand an hour and the only thing that appeared in his mind was your name.

He couldn't believe what he was feeling. A kind of pressure settled in his chest and he loved it. Calum couldn't help but smile as he ran his hands over his face and tried to hide the smile he had, even though no one was there to see it.

"I love her. I fucking love her." Calum declared as he looked out the window, the car in silence after his confession. He felt himself blushing even though no one had told him anything and how he had an incredible desire to see you.

And for the first time in his entire life, after so many broken hearts and failed relationships, Calum wasn't afraid to love. He didn't feel that irreparable fear that something was going to go wrong, he felt love, true love.

He used to be scared, so, so scared. Fear that leaving another relationship will leave him completely destroyed and without any hope of ever being loved again. Calum always had that feeling that perhaps he was destined to be alone, believing that this had been proven after so many situations in his past.

But everything changed when you arrived. From the first moment your eyes met, he knew that you had come to change his life. You became the light of his life in just a second and that scared him at first. But he didn't care, he thought if he had to have his heart broken for you then so be it. However, now he knew that it would not be like that, you were not going to leave and he knew that you were going to take care of his heart perfectly like no one had ever done before.

Calum was sure you were meant to be together.

Because he was in love.

And he wanted to believe in love for once.

[tswhiisftteedr]

Can you do a smut of Ashton Vargas x reader? Please?

Personal ‘Training’ ☆ One Shot

☆Mean!PE Proffesor!Ashton Vargas x Senior!Fem!Reader:

After seeing you excel in his class, Coach Vargas interest had peeked. It’s not like you were as athletic as the beastmen students, actually muscle wise, you were quite the scrawny one. But it was your determination in completing an exercise that he set out, that he found admirable. One day after PE you had forgotten your gym uniform jacket behind, and being the great teacher that Ashton Vargas is, he ought to give back to you. After looking around for a bit, then spotting in the courtyard talking with your friends, he happens to overhear about your secret thoughts on him…

Warning: Mature content, Dub-Con, Stuffing Panty In Pocket, Spanking, Fingering, Mean Dom Vargas, A little Degradation, Unprotected Sex, Humiliation, Degenerate Fantasies, mentions of; blackmail. READER IS 18 AND VARGAS IS CANONICALLY 30, KEEP THIS IN MIND BEFORE READING. Not proofread.

Note: The ask was pretty vague, so I kind of went with my gut. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but I hope you do!

☆ More under the cut. ☆

Ever since starting classes at NCR Wonderland, you felt off about begin your academic journey as a senior. Sure you were the right age for it, but wasn’t it a bit to much of an ask to start with senior courses, especially with most of the mediums being different from your world? But at last you had no choice but sucking it up, working harder than any other student in your year to keep up. Though you did enjoy some of the classes, just because they had familiar concept. Alchemy was like chemistry, you also had music which was the same as back home, and of course there was PE…

You relished when one of your periods was physical education, despite any thoughts of the course back in your world. That was for 2 reasons, #1 it was one of the only classes you didn’t nee prior knowledge or magic to participate in. And #2… The professor teaching it made you feel wild and crazed, just a look at his body, strong grip, flexing muscles, would bring a rush to your brain ending with you being flustered whenever he would address you.

You could swear on your life that ‘it’ was big, like it had to be, this huge man must have a huge c- Uhm, where were you again? Ah, right, PE had just ended and it was time for lunch.

Upon realizing the class was over and you had been staring at your sexy teacher, you quickly rushed back to your dorm for a shower, grabbing your bag but forgotten your gym uniform jacket on the ground.

After cooling off and dressing back into your school uniform, you had joined your friends Vil and Rook in the courtyard for an outdoor lunch. And of course your daily rant about your professor!

Meanwhile Aston noticed your jacket laying on the field, he knew it was yours just by the fact that it didn’t display any of the 7 dorms colours.

As some sort of reflex, he had brought the article of clothing, to his nose, smelling it. The scent was a mix of salty caramel and vanilla. ‘One of your little Pomefiore friends must have given you a nice expensive perfume for it to smell so fragrant, but yet sophisticated.’ He though to himself, and after being in his head he had realized that he still had the jacket close to his face.

He knew it was a bit weird for him to smell someone’s clothes like that, especially yours, his student’s. But the fact that it was your scent lingering on the clothes, and that your body would surely smelled the same, drove him wild.

I mean ‘he was a man after all’, and seeing such a pretty little thing working their bests, toughing it out to achieve greatness in such a new different environment, especially in his class. He had to admit it, it did something to him.

Plus the fact he felt your gaze on him constantly during his lessons didn’t help to keep him ‘non-riled up’. He did convinced himself that you were staring for purely innocent reasons, but the state you always were whenever he talk to you made him doubt that fact. You just acted so flustered, even when he just glanced at you. ‘And I mean, you were of age, so was it so bad? Yes, yes it was,’ the man face palmed himself.

But no matter, it wasn’t like anything would actually happen. Plus he had to get your jacket back to you, no time for naughty thoughts >:(

But that all changed when he finally found you, sitting with your two friends, enjoying the fresh air and talking about how bad you wanted him, — wait what?

A little earlier,

You had rapidly rush back to the school building after Vil had texted you that him and rook were eating lunch in the courtyard today. And of course you had a skip in your steps, you were so excited to thirst over your hunk of teacher to your two friends, one of them less entertained about the idea from the other.

In about 10 minutes,

You had arrived to the courtyard, sitting between Vil and Rook, chatting while eating lunch.

“I can’t get over the fact of how fine that man is, like, god really has favourites.” You tell the two,

“And I can’t get over the fact that your thirsting on one of our professors.” Vil said snarky.

“Thirsting, how dare you. I am but a pure maiden showing my admiration towards an amazing role model of physical health!” You replied all dramatically, this made Rook laugh.

“But seriously, he’s really, really hot.” you continue,

“Uh-huh” Vil says not looking up from his phone.

“Like I really need that man to bend me over the nearest sur-“ you begin but your friend cuts you off. “Yeah I’m done for today, it’s never innocent with you.” Vil says standing up, and starts walking away.

“Wait Vil I’m not done telling you about the 15 other positions I want him to put me in and how big I think his dick is!” You semi-shout, giggling.

“Yes, come back my Reine, our dear trickster is only showing son amour in a different way. After all one’s désire d’autrui is part off of the thing we call love, elle est just en grande romantique when you think about it!” Rook follows your lead, encouraging your little delusions for the heck of it.

“You say that every time, but it’s been over a month.” He finally says, disappearing out of sight.

The two of you knew that despite him leaving compl , Vil would return in a matter of minutes, he just left to state a point.

Unbeknownst to you and your hunter friend, the very man you were lusting for happened to overhear your conversation.

Slowly lurking out from the corner, Ashton approach the two of you. “Uh-hum, excuse me. Y/n, you forgot your jacket back in the field. So I brought it for you.” He says, his husky voice making you and Rook turn around to face the man.

“O-oh th-thank Coach Vargas!” You croak out, your face heating up, scared he might have heard what you said about him. Meanwhile Rook could help but snicker at your change in demeanour. A second ago you were talking about how much you wanted that man to fuck you, but when actually met with him, you became as quite as a mouse and could form a proper sentence without stuttering.

“Um, I also need to talk to you about something, would you mind following me back to my office.” He told you, and your heart dropped. ‘He definitely heard what you had said, and now he was going to lecture you about it, maybe even get the other teachers involved!’

You were so nervous on the walk to his office and he could sense it.

As you enter the room, he locks it behind and perform some sort of spell.

He pointed to the wooden chair sitting on one side of a desk, motion for you to take a seat. And to avoid anymore confrontation, you do so quietly.

You had expected him to seat on the opposite side of the desk, on the velvet office chair. But instead he just stood in front of you, hands resting on the desk for support. Despite the situation, you couldn’t help but notice the fact that your face was at crotch level with him standing up like this. But before you keep staring at his clothed front, he broke you out of your trance.

“So,” he says and you look up. “You might have an idea of why your in here, after all you are doing excellent in my class so no reason to call you to discuss about it… This about what you said to your little friends a couple of minutes ago.” he states and your suspicions were confirmed.

You look down at your feet, and you choke out. “I’m really sorry Coach Vargas it will never happen again. I apologize for making you uncomfortable.”

Now he was about to correct, explaining that he wasn’t feeling uncomfy at your comments, on the contrary he was flattered and glad you felt the same. But seeing you in trembling state, tears beginning to form in your eyes. It was too much, he had to play with you, at least for a bit.

“Mmh is that so.. well I don’t believe you.” He says, pretending to be hurt but just a look at the grin on his face would tell you other wise.

“W-what?!” You ask confused, tears starting to roll down your face. He grin even harder at the sight.

“Well like I said, I don’t believe you. It’s simple really, after all Mr. Schoenheit mentioned you had been having those lustrous talks at my expense, for over a month. Plus you didn’t seem to have any shame or care in the world when you were chopping it up with your chatting buddies. What’s to tell me, you won’t just go back to your friends after this meeting, and continue your lewd rants,”

He pauses, bending down forward to get close to your ear. “I could even bet that you’re getting off on this very situation.” he says than pulls back to get a good look at the expression on your face.

“N-No, that’s not true!” You deny, though even if your professor said to tease, in reality you were getting off on his action.

In your mind, you knew you shouldn’t. Being caught saying such scandalous things by the same person you were discussing, was but an ideal situation. Yet, you couldn’t help but agree mentally that you had fantasize about a moment like this one. In your head things would go like this;

Coach Vargas would stumble on you talking about your deep desire for him, bring you to his office.

But instead of reprimanding you, he would bend you over his desk and teach you about not being such a ‘lewd minded brat’, fucking you so good as you would babble apologies he didn’t care for.

In all honesty he just wanted to fuck you and he now had the perfect excuse. This fantasy would continue with him taking you almost everyday, with the pretext you still were thinking like a pervert, and as an educator he couldn’t have you distracted from your studies.

So he would take it upon on himself to satisfy your lust, so you could ficus’s on your classes.

Knowing damn well it did the opposite, and that after each session you could only think about him more.

But at last that was just a fantasy, this fact was reinforced when he spoke his next words. “I guess I’ll have to inform the headmaster about this.”

Obviously you panicked, and he loved you in that state. “Please sir, don’t tell Crowley about this, I’ll do anything, I can clean your office for free, I can help with you with paperwork, I can-“ As you begin listing off things you could do to compensate the man for your behaviour, he motioned for you to stop with his hand.

And you did so right away, become quiet as soon as his order came by. This made him feel extremely good, not only did have you at his beck and call in this moment, but if he played his cards right he could make it last way longer.

He grabbed you chin to make you look right into his eyes, “There is something you can do, though you might not be as ready as you think you are to do it.. Do you still want to try though?” At that you only nod, not sure your words could carry what was needed to be said.

He smiled at the obedient response, “Okay then, stand up and bend over my desk for me.”

“W-what??” You look at him very much so confused, he only chuckles at that.

“You did say you were ready, sweetheart. Well I guess I could just inform Crowley instead and leave you in his care, it’s still a viable option if you’d prefer it.” He tells you smugly, knowing you would pick anything he asked of you instead of telling Crowley.

“No, that’s alright, I’ll do it...” And so you did, bending over the wooden desk, feeling your skirt hike up.

You were so anxious but at the same time exited about what would proceed. Would he spank you? Would he touch you? Finger you? Fuck you just like your dreamed about? Or would he just laugh at you, only wanting to see you bend over his desk so he could mock you then just send you on your merry way out, never to speak of this again?

Before you could continue your internal ramble, you felt his big rough and warm hand pushing your skirt, your ass was now in plain view.

“You know, I had myself convinced that your little staring habits was something unadulterated, but turns out the part of my conscious that told me otherwise, was right. You’re really a slutty little girl that has been making eyes at me since the beginning of the semester.” He accentuate his last sentence with a harsh spank to your bottom, making you whimper in pain.

He spanked you again, and wailed with new tears forming in your eyes. “Yeah, that’s right. That’s what a naughty little thing like you deserves, talking to your friends on the daily about how much you want my cock.” Another spank came by, “Be a good girl and maybe I’ll give it to you.”

You winced from the impact of his hand on your sensitive behind, and let out a small whimper. "Y-yes sir," you managed to choke out between sobs. You knew what he wanted now—to hear you beg for more punishment and eventually, release.

Your heart raced faster as anticipation built up inside of you.

"That's better sweetcakes," he praised, reaching down to grab hold of your hair again, yanking hard enough to lift your head up forcefully. His cool gaze bore into yours, searching for any trace of defiance or resistance. But all he saw was submission mixed with fear and desire radiating strongly from those green eyes. "Tell me you want me to claim you right here, right now."

Your voice quivered as you spoke, "I-I... want you to claim me. Please sir..." Your words came out in between sobs and gasps for air, body still trembling from the previous spankings.

You couldn't help but squirm slightly against his hold on your hair, wanting more of his rough treatment.

He released your hair suddenly, causing your head to whip forward violently before he grasped onto both of your wrists tightly behind your back. Pulling them roughly upward to avoid you slamming your face on the desk, keeping your breasts pushed forward prominently. "Good girl," he praised again, running his hand over your chest unbuttoning your shirt, now exposing your whole top area. "Now let's see how much you truly enjoy being owned by your professor." With that, he spun you around forcefully, pushing you against the desk hard enough to leave a mark on your back. His lips crashed hungrily against yours, demanding entry into your mouth as one hand cupped your breasts through the thin layers of fabric separating them.

You groaned into the kiss, unable to resist his aggressive advance, he quickly made way of your bra. Your body arched into him eagerly as he groped and fondled your bust roughly, pinching your nipples cruelly between his calloused fingers. You moaned softly against his lips, letting out a deep-throated moan when his tongue forced its way past your teeth and into your mouth. Your tongues tangled together in a messy dance of desire and submission.

You felt your panties being yanked down forcefully, leaving your bare pussy exposed for him to claim as desired. "Please..." you whimpered again, your voice hoarse from their passionate exchange.

He pulled away from your kiss slowly, his eyes blazing with lust as he looked down at your naked front.

He chuckled darkly, reaching between your spread legs to slide his hand underneath your skirt. His rough fingers explored your wetness greedily, rubbing circles around your entrance before slipping inside of your tight hole.

Your body jolted at the sudden intrusion, your hips pressing back against his touch hungrily. Your moans turned into high-pitched whimpers as he finger fucked you hard and fast, hitting spots that made your knees weak.

"You like that don't you? Being so dirty in public?" He asked, thrusting deeper into your tight channel, stretching your opening wider. "Telling everyone you belong to me now."

Your mind was lost in the sensations he created; every thrust of his finger inside of you, pushing against sensitive spots that sent waves of pleasure coursing through your body. Your moans grew louder and more desperate as he continued to abuse your exposed flesh.

"Yes! Please... Sir..." you panted between heavy breaths, feeling your climax building rapidly within reach. Your squirmed under his hold, begging for release but knowing he wasn't done with you yet.

"That’s my girl," he praised, withdrawing his hand from your dripping wet pussy. Turning around once more, he positioned himself between your spread legs, his member already fully erect and throbbing with desire.

Without warning, he pushed hard, splitting your tight entrance on a single thrust.

You cried out in mixture of pain and pleasure as he began to pound into you, claiming your body brutally yet expertly.

His hips moved in a rhythmic motion, driving deeper than you thought possible, hitting all the right spots inside your core. Each powerful thrust caused you breasts to bounce wildly against his chest, nipples standing erect and begging for attention. Sweat trickled down your bodies, mixing together under the harsh florescent lights above them.

"You like that don't you? Taking my cock right here in my office, where anyone one on the others side of the door could hear your moans?" He growled, while continuing his relentless assault on your tight hole.

Your moans turned into incoherent sounds of pure ecstasy as he continued to ravage your body. Your nails scratched at his back through his shirt’s fabric, leaving shallow marks that only fuelled him further. "Yes! More... Sir..." you begged between heavy breaths, struggling against the hold on your wrists but unable to break free from his vice-like grip.

The combination of pain and pleasure was becoming too much for your fragile mind to handle, and soon enough, you felt the intense orgasm building up inside of your like a volcano about to erupt.

Just when you thought you couldn't take anymore, he slowed down momentarily, teasing your sensitive spots mercilessly before picking up speed again.

"Cum for me, you filthy little thing," he commanded, his voice low and husky with desire. And with those words, you lost control completely, your body convulsing violently around him as waves of pure bliss washed over you. You screamed his name, your climax crashing upon your like a wave crashing onto rocks.

Your entire body shook in the aftermath of your intense orgasm, your legs weakened by the forceful thrusting. Your pussy clamped tightly around his member, milking him dry as he continued to pump into your until finally, he groaned out his own release. Pulling out slowly, a thick stream of hot cum spilled onto your stomach, painting you with his seed.

Panting heavily, he finally released your wrists, allowing them to fall limply beside you. "That was amazing," he complimented, reaching out to stroke your hair affectionately.

He stepped back, admiring his work on your flushed face and disheveled appearance.

Reaching down, he grabbed your discarded panties from the floor and stuffing them nonchalantly into his pocket "Now go clean yourself up in the staff bathroom, before anyone sees you like this."

You nodded weakly, still feeling lightheaded from your intense encounter. Slowly, you wobbled forward, your legs shaking beneath your skirt, and made your way towards the restroom.

By the way, remember the spell he used before anything began, yeah? Actually it was 2, on that block out noise from escaping a finite space aka his office, and the other is one that recorded the events that took place in a selected area.

Was he going to blackmail you with that recording? No. But he might threaten you with it once in while to tease you.

Thanks @hipsterteller for requesting!

©tswhiisfttedr. dn translate, or plagiarize.

Tip Me (Ko-Fi) & And support my art account @maviscarlettie

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[smilingformoney]

Icebreaker | Alexander Dane/Reader

II. A Dream Come True

Summary: You're supposed to be at GalaxyCon, so why does it look like you're on set? And why is Alexander Dane acting so nice?

Read now on Ao3 or below the cut:

You came to in an unfamiliar bed. You thought first that you might be in a hospital, but when you blearily sat up and looked around, it wasn’t like any hospital room you’d ever seen.

You swung your feet off the bed, only for the soles of your feet to be met with something moist and squelchy - and when you looked down to see what it was, you saw that the floor of the room appeared to be a mixture of water and sand, like the wet sand at the edge of a beach.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

Your head shot up and, sure enough, Alexander Dane was standing in the doorway, still in his costume.

“Where am I?” you asked immediately.

Alexander glanced around the room.

“I’m surprised you don’t recognise it. I thought you were a fan of the show?”

“The show? What do you —”

You glanced around the room. You spotted the window, and then you remembered a scene from Galaxy Quest involving Lazarus looking out the window from his quarters.

“Wait, why are we on set?”

“We’re… not exactly on set,” Alexander said vaguely.

Not on set, but in Lazarus’ room? What was he talking about?

Alexander sighed and sat next to you on the edge of the bed. How many fanfiction scenes had you written involving ‘you’ and Lazarus sitting here, exactly like this? The only difference being that your stories always involved some kind of sexual tension, but the only attraction here was completely one-sided from you - right?

“We are in an exact replica of the Protector,” Alexander said carefully, as if he had to be cautious about what he said to you. “The rooms, hallways, all of it - a perfect replica.”

You snorted. “What, some fan got more time and money than sense? The ship is meant to be huge, where on earth would someone keep it? And I’m still not sure how I got here.”

Alexander hesitated, trying to decide how to explain the situation to you without sounding completely insane.

“Well… it’s also a functioning replica.”

“So… it flies? Are we in the air right now?”

“Yes, it flies. But no, we’re not in the air. We’re… in the vacuum of space.”

You stared at him blankly.

Was he joking? He was completely straight faced, his brow furrowed with that adorable little crease between his eyebrows. And when had Alexander Dane ever told a joke?

“I’m surprised you’d be in on a practical joke, Alex. Did someone pay you? Is Ashton Kutcher about to show up?”

“It’s not a joke, [Y/n], I’m serious. We’re in space.”

You studied his face carefully, looking for any sign that he was joking, but there was none. You knew he was a good actor, but this was something else. This felt real, as if he really believed you were in space.

“Alex, we can’t be in space. People don’t just go to space - especially not without knowing. Do you really expect me to believe that I got here from the hotel corridor without realising?”

“You remember Jane approaching us, right? She teleported us to the ship.”

You scoffed.

“It’s true! We teleported, but you fainted. They said it happens sometimes when people teleport long range and they insisted you recover here, in the Mak’Tar terrain.” Alexander sighed. “God, I know it sounds insane. But you have to believe me, [Y/n].”

“Prove it, then.”

“Alright.”

Alexander stood and offered his hand to you. You let him help you up, and together you squelched across the wet sand to the window, which appeared to look out across the vast cosmos of space.

“You see?”

“Well, it’s beautiful, Alex, but that could easily be fake.”

You looked up and down, left and right, as far as you could. It certainly seemed to stretch in all directions, and your stomach did a nervous flip, as if it believed you were in space. And if you were to be in space, this was exactly what you’d expect to see. You saw the sides of the ship, and you could certainly believe you were in a replica of the Protector, because building such a thing is exactly the kind of insane thing fans would do, but asking you to believe that it was also a fully functioning spaceship was a step too far.

You looked up at Alexander, who glanced away suddenly, as if you’d caught him staring. But that was ridiculous, why would he be staring at you?

“Alex, come on. We’re obviously in some kind of simulator. It’s a really good one, granted, but —”

You were interrupted by the sound of an alarm blaring. You winced at the sudden sound, and a voice over a tannoy announced:

WARNING. UNAUTHORISED PRESENCE APPROACHING. PROTECTOR CREW TO BRIDGE.

“See?” you said. “Simulator.”

Alexander sighed. Clearly, he had to do something to convince you that what was happening was real, but that would have to wait for now.

“Come on, let’s go.”

He hurried you out of the room, and you had to hurry to keep up with his long strides as you made your way down the corridor.

“What would convince you you were really in space?” Alexander asked you.

You thought for a moment. What really couldn’t be faked?

“Something impossible.”

“Would a shape-shifting alien do?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Excellent. We’ve got a lot of those.”

You entered the bridge to find the rest of the crew, also in their costumes, hurrying to their stations. Alexander pulled Jane Doe aside.

“Laliari, I need you to change form.”

“What? Why?” asked Fred, who was glued to her side as he always was. “Is this really the time? We got a bit of a crisis going on here.”

“I know, and [Y/n] needs to take it seriously, but she doesn’t believe me.”

“Okay!” Jane agreed with her ever present strange smile, and you let out a small scream of surprise when, before your very eyes, she transformed from an odd-looking human to… some kind of tentacle alien thing.

You reached out and prodded the tentacle alien thing. It felt real enough, and when you prodded it it made a sound that was almost like a giggle.

“You are tickling me!” Jane said from wherever her mouth was. “May I take human form again?”

“Yes, yes,” said Alexander hurriedly.

You watched, mouth agape, as Jane transformed back into a human. Even her clothes re-appeared.

“Do you believe me now?” Alexander asked.

You were still staring at Jane.

“…Uh-huh,” you mumbled.

“Alright, good. Come on, let’s go.”

Jane turned around to attend to her station, and Alexander grabbed you by the arm to drag you to his.

“Go where? I don’t have anywhere - I’m not part of the crew. I mean, Bethany’s not part of the crew. Or are you going to tell me I’m really Bethany and [Y/n] was the character all along?”

“What? No, that’s absurd. I’ll explain everything later. Just - stay with me.”

Alexander - Lazarus? - sat down at his station, but it only had one seat, so you stood behind him, one had on the back of his seat to steady yourself.

It certainly felt like you were in the middle of a real scene from the show… except the characters were a little off. It was as if they’d forgotten how to act. Taggart wasn’t as smart as Taggart; he seemed to be winging it as much as Jason Nesmith. And Laredo wasn’t piloting with his usual confidence; Tommy Webber’s insecurity seemed obvious. And the man you stood next to was definitely Alexander Dane, not Dr Lazarus.

What was happening?

Jason opened a link to talk to the other ship, but he was met with no response. Instead, the ship simply opened fire, and suddenly you were thrown across the room as Tommy tried to navigate and Guy returned fire.

Suddenly, it all felt very real. If Jane transforming hadn’t convinced you, this certainly did. You’d experienced a fake attack on the ship during filming, and not only did it feel very, very different, but it also felt much, much safer. You were being tossed about quite dangerously, and when Tommy suddenly turned the ship on its side to avoid a blast, while everyone else stayed strapped into their seats, you with your lack of seat found yourself sliding across the floor, stopped from smashing your head against something only by grabbing onto a railing and dangling in the air as the ship turned completely 90 degrees.

“Tommy, straighten up, I can’t aim like this!” Guy yelled.

“Dude, I’m trying! This thing’s clunky as hell!”

“I agree with Guy!” you wailed from your precarious position dangling from the rail. “I’d really like to not fall right now!”

Alexander turned in his seat when he heard your voice, and he swore loudly when he saw you.

He turned his chair to face you, and though he remained strapped firmly in place, he did his best to reach his arm out towards you.

“[Y/n], here!”

You stretched your arm out towards him as far as you could, but the best you could manage was a vague brushing of your fingertips.

“I can’t reach!”

”I got it!” Tommy called from the other side of the room.

You waited for the ship to right itself, but instead it turned further, threatening to turn upside down.

“I don’t got it!” Tommy corrected himself.

An idea came to you very suddenly.

“Turn the gravity off!” you shouted. “You’re all strapped down but I’ll float!”

“[Y/n] —” Alexander began to protest, but you cut across him.

“You wanna prove we’re in space? Turn off the gravity!”

Alexander looked reluctant, but he seemed to realise you were right. Right now, you were ready to fall because the gravity was moving in the wrong direction. It wasn’t right itself, so — it had to be eliminated.

“Gwen, turn the gravity off!”

“Computer, turn the gravity off!” Gwen told the computer.

“ urning gravity off,” the computer replied.

You had never felt anything like it. You hadn’t spent that much of your life contemplating what no gravity felt like, but it certainly wasn’t this. You had spent every second of your existence subject to gravity, and so the moment it was taken away, your brain had no idea what to do. It had suddenly lost all sense of up and down, left and right - reality itself seemed warped. The closest sensation you could possibly liken it to was the in-between state of your brain being pulled from a deep sleep, confused between the lines of dream and reality.

“[Y/n]!” Alexander called, pulling you out of your stupor.

You pushed against the railing as you let go of it, and although you gave yourself the smallest push, you barrelled into Alexander with some considerable force.

He caught you in his arms, and the feeling of his grip fighting against no other force was strange but comforting. In the absence of gravity, the one constant force that had always pinned you to reality, all you had to stop yourself from floating away was Alexander Dane’s arms.

“Gwen, turn the gravity back on!” Alexander shouted.

“Computer, turn the gravity back on!”

“Turning gravity on.”

You felt the entire weight of your body returning, and you landed inelegantly on Alexander’s lap, splayed across his knees as if he was about to give you ten smacks for talking back.

You were too preoccupied with the churning in your stomach, though, to worry about the precocious position you’d landed in. Alexander picked you up with surprising strength and sat you on his lap as he turned back towards the window.

“Just hold tight to me,” he said firmly, and you obeyed immediately, wrapping your arms around his neck to anchor yourself.

“I think I’m gonna throw up,” you complained.

“Just aim it at Jason, not me.”

Guy let out a whoop as he hit a sweet spot on the other ship, causing its engine to blow up.

“Yeah, take that, you bastards!” he hollered. “Did you guys see that hit? Talk about bullseye!”

“Yes, got it on your fiftieth try!” Alexander replied dryly.

“Tommy, get us out of here,” Jason said as he sat back in his seat with relief. “I need a drink.”

The turbulence finally over, you breathed a sigh of relief. You didn’t even realise you were still clutching onto Alexander until he went to remove the belt that strapped him into his seat, and you let him go, glad to finally stand up on your own two feet.

You immediately left the bridge, desperate to find somewhere to sit down and process everything. You were in space, actual space, on a fully functioning replica of the Protector, with the cast of Galaxy Quest who were definitely still actors but in their costumes and filling the same roles as their characters. The ship was inhabited by aliens who looked like tentacle monsters but could change shape to appear human, and Jane Doe was one of them. If you hadn’t seen him without his cap, you might have wondered if Alexander was really an alien too.

You instinctively returned to Lazarus’ room, as if returning to your start point could send you back home, but when you sat down on the bed, nothing happened. You buried your head in your hands, trying your best to block everything out to give your mind and body a chance to catch up.

A few moments later, Alexander entered the room. You looked up at him.

“Alex… what the fuck is going on?”

He explained everything to you: the alien race that had seen Galaxy Quest and thought it real, who had based so much of their society from what they thought was a documentary, even going so far as to create a replica of the Protector. Finding themselves in a predicament that would be perfectly placed in the show, they went looking for the crew on Earth, and the actors had found themselves very suddenly playing their TV roles.

“I’m sorry, I should have explained it to you as soon as you woke up,” Alexander said.

You shook your head. You ran your palm over your face, then leant backwards to lie flat against the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“I’d never have believed you. I needed to experience it for myself. God - this is insane. How many other TV shows are real? Is there a coven of witches in San Francisco? Is there really a portal to Hell in Southern California? Is Alan Partridge real and Steve Coogan the character?”

You heard Alexander chuckle. He leant back to lie side-by-side with you, also craving the simple sight of the ceiling.

“I know Steve Coogan’s real, I’ve met him enough times. And I’m pretty sure witches aren’t real. As for a portal to Hell in California - that I can’t be too sure of, because it certainly feels that way during the height of summer.”

You both laughed, and for a few moments you almost forgot about the bizarre situation you were in. You settled into a comfortable silence together, both laying side-by-side, trying to absorb the strange day you were having.

“Alex?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I, um - can I hold your hand? I just really need some real, physical, human contact right now. Remind myself I’m not losing my marbles, y’know?”

“Of course.”

You felt his fingers reaching out for yours, and you slipped your hand into his. You closed your eyes, focusing on feeling gravity again, and feeling grounded by Alexander’s touch.

“Alex, do you moisturise?”

“…What?”

“Your hands are always really soft. I noticed it before during filming.”

You heard him chuckle. “Yes, I do. Is there something wrong with that?”

“Course not. It’s nice. Feels… nice.”

“I’m glad my hands are to your satisfaction.”

You giggled, then turned your head to look at him, only to find he was already looking at you. There was something intense yet almost uncertain about the way his eyes were boring into you, making you feel completely exposed.

“I’m afraid I don’t moisturise my lips so much,” he added.

“Oh, er… that’s alright, I guess. They don’t look dry.”

“I just thought I’d warn you, in case you expect my lips to be as soft as my hands. So you won’t be surprised at how dry they are when I kiss you.”

You blushed.

“You’re - you’re going to kiss me?”

“Yes.”

“When?” you asked, wondering if you were to be invited back to the show and your characters were to kiss.

“In a few seconds’ time, if that’s alright with you.”

Your stomach suddenly felt as if it were weightless again.

“Y - yes, that would be fine with me,” you managed to stammer out.

Alexander smiled, and the cupid’s bow you’d always thought looked so kissable looked even more kissable in person.

Well, it turned out, his lips were soft enough as they were. He kissed you with surprising uncertainty, then when you parted your lips slightly, it seemed to encourage him because he began kissing you with more fervour, the hand that wasn’t in yours reaching over to cup your cheek.

You reached up to run your fingers through his hair, then stopped when you were met with the fake gills of his cap, and your lips separated as you both laughed.

“I forgot we had these stupid things on,” you giggled. “I don’t suppose we can take them off?”

“Not if Lena’s glue has anything to say about it. Why, don’t you like it? I thought you’d enjoy kissing Dr Lazarus.”

Alexander smirked, and you batted his chest playfully.

“Shush. I’d prefer to kiss Alex Dane, if that’s alright.”

“Until we get back to Earth and find Lena, there’s nothing we can do, so you’ll have to settle for Alex Dane in costume.”

“I think I can accept that.”

“Good, because there’s an adorable little freckle on your earlobe I’ve been dying to kiss.”

He lowered his head to peck a kiss against your ear, and you giggled as his breath tickled your inner ear.

“If we’re kissing cute freckles, can I kiss the one on your neck?”

Alexander raised his head to look at you with a frown. “How do you know about that one? It’s always hidden under collars.”

“You got your kit off in Storm’s Retreat, remember?”

“…I did, yes. Bloody hell, I forgot about that one. Go on, then, I won’t say no to a neck kiss.”

Eagerly, you pulled down the zip of his costume, letting the collar fall away to reveal the neckline of the vest he wore underneath and… the little freckle at the base of his neck. You lifted your head to kiss it, and when you heard Alexander hum with approval, you nibbled at it slightly too.

“Oh, you’re a biter, are you?” he said with amusement. “I should have known. Well, two can play at that game.”

Alexander grazed his teeth against your ear, and you found yourselves playfighting, both trying to nibble the other’s skin first. He grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head as he pushed you onto your back and climbed on top of you, grinning with victory.

“God, you look good like this. I wonder if there are any handcuffs on this ship…?”

“Don’t you dare!” you protested.

“Oh, I’ll dare. I want to see what you look like at my mercy.”

His eyes flashed dangerously, and you felt it between your legs.

“Alex…”

“Hm?” Alexander responded, his hands gently tracing your skin as he admired the view of you at his mercy underneath him.

“Not that this isn’t my every dream come true, but… you’ve been nothing but a jackass to me since we met. Why are you suddenly pinning me to the bed and kissing me? Again, really not complaining. Just… confused.”

The danger in Alexander’s eyes dimmed slightly, and he almost looked abashed.

“[Y/n]… I’ve fancied you since we met. But I have a strict rule about fans, so I tried to push you away. I suppose I was overcompensating.”

“What changed?”

“Being in real danger makes you realise things. Things like, I actually quite like that woman and I’d prefer it if she didn’t fall and die before I get a chance to kiss her.”

The hand that was exploring your body paused, and Alexander looked as if he were a young boy who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“[Y/n], before we… do whatever we might do next… I have to tell you something. That first night, when we went to karaoke. Do you really not remember anything about coming to my house?”

“No, just the bar, then waking up. Why, do you remember something?”

“No, but… I checked my security cameras after you left. We came back wasted and I stuck my hand down your trousers.”

“No!” you gasped, a hand flying to your mouth. “Surely I’d remember that!”

“Well, you were very drunk, because you passed out about thirty seconds later. I carried you to my bed then passed out on the sofa myself. Then… about an hour later, we both woke up, and started snogging. That was how your bra ended up on the sofa. We apparently decided not to do anything else, because you went back to bed and I went back to the sofa.”

“Oh, that’s how my bra got there! That’s been haunting me for months. So that’s why you started being a jackass, because you thought if you were nice I’d try to snog you again?”

“More like I was worried I’d try to snog you. That is why I didn’t tell you, though, because I didn’t want either of us to try it again. But now I would very much like to try it again, so… may I kiss you again?”

“Alex, you have a free pass to kiss me absolutely any time you like.”

“Don’t make promises you don’t mean,” Alexander said in a low voice, his eyes electric again, looking you up and down hungrily. “I’d like to kiss every inch of your body. But your lips - your lips are especially enticing.”

You knew you should be revelling in the fact that literally all your fangirl dreams were coming true, but you were far more interested in being with Alex at all - you realised you didn’t care that you were both in costume, in a perfect replica of Lazarus’ quarters. You didn’t even care that you were literally in space.

You just wanted the man behind the costume.

He, apparently, was thinking something similar.

“Get this bloody thing off,” Alexander growled, tugging at the zip to your costume. “If we have to keep the caps on, we can at least get rid of the uniform.”

“I think you just want an excuse to get me naked,” you teased as you pulled the zip down, and to Alexander’s disappointment, you had a vest on underneath.

“Do I need an excuse? Or would you do it if I asked nicely?”

“I’d do it if you asked unnicely.”

Alexander stood up to give you room to get out of your costume, and you watched with hungry eyes as he unzipped his costume too, laughing at your choice of words.

“Unnicely? I’m quite sure that’s not a word.”

“I’m an actor, not a writer! Anyway, Shakespeare made up words all the time, so maybe I’m onto something.”

“Yes, and one of those words was undress, so maybe you’d better hurry up and do as the Bard says.”

“I’m trying!” you protested, struggling to pull off your boots. Matters weren’t made any easier when Alexander kicked his own off with ease to allow himself to pull his jumpsuit off completely, leaving you with a direct close-up view of his boxers, and the prominent bulge beneath them.

Alexander scoffed at you, then yanked your boots off your feet, followed by your jumpsuit, leaving each of you in nothing but underwear and a vest.

God, he was magnificent. He had a slight belly, the remnants of one too many beers of an evening, and beneath his boxers you could see his already large bulge was getting larger.

“Your boxers are getting a bit tight,” you said teasingly. “Maybe you should take them off.”

Alexander’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Oh, hoping for the full experience, are we?”

You blushed. “Oh, well… I mean, if you want. If you just want to make out, that’s fine…”

Alexander grinned.

“Oh, trust me. I most certainly do want .”

He reached back and pulled his vest off, standing before you in almost his full glory. You quickly followed suit, discarding your vest somewhere on the floor, and with a hungry groan, Alexander crawled back on top of you, kissing whichever part of your skin he could get at as he moved. He paused when he reached your breasts, which were embarrassingly in your least sexy bra, because you’d dressed for attending a convention, not for getting laid, but Alexander didn’t seem to mind. He pressed his face against the skin that poked out from the edge of the bra, sighing with pleasure as if the touch of your breast was the most exquisite feeling in the world.

You felt his hand reaching for your back, so you curved your spine to allow him access to your bra strap, and with a few expert movements Alexander tugged your bra off and discarded it with the rest of your clothes.

“Did you know Shakespeare also invented the word majestic?” Alexander said breathily as he took your breasts in his hands, massaging them, pinching your nipples between his fingers. “A word made for these, I’m sure.”

You giggled. “Are you going to start reciting Shakespeare at my boobs, Alex?”

He looked up at you and grinned mischievously, then drew his attention back to your chest.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate,” he whispered against your skin, his attention fully on your breasts and not on you.

You laughed, although a tingle of desire flushed through you at hearing his voice so perfectly made for Shakespeare.

Alexander kissed his way up to your collarbone, then murmured against your neck, “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”

He sucked on the flesh of your neck, seemingly determined to leave a mark. You whined, and you heard him chuckle against your skin on hearing your reaction. He sucked the same spot again, then traced kisses down your jaw until his lips were pressed against your ear.

“Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines and often is his gold complexion dimm’d… and every fair from fair sometime declines, by chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d.”

You whined again, the sound of his soft whispers against your ear driving you wild, and you felt an ache between your legs begging to be filled by him.

Alexander fumbled with his boxers, pushing them down his legs to shake them off his ankle, not wanting to move away from you for a second.

“But thy eternal summer shall not fade, nor lose possession of that fair thou owest…”

His fingers slid between your legs, and he smirked when he found you soaking wet, the fabric of your panties moving aside for him almost too easily. He slipped his length up and down your folds, soaking himself in your arousal, and you had to resist taking hold of him and impaling yourself on him.

“Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade, when in eternal lines to time thou growest…”

Alexander kissed you, and as your lips parted for him, so did your entrance, and you felt him slip inside, pushing your walls apart easily as he settled inside you.

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see… so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

He finished with a firm thrust, hitting himself inside you completely. He closed his eyes as he did so and let out a groan, savouring the feeling of being buried inside you.

“Sonnet… eighteen…” he panted, as if you didn’t know it.

You almost wanted to cry. It was so perfect, so sweet and loving… so unlike what you might expect from Alexander Dane, but you suspected you were seeing a side to him he shared with no one.

“Alex…”

His eyes fluttered open, and he looked down at you, his eyes heavy with desire.

“I need you.”

He smiled, withdrew almost completely, then thrust inside you with a surprising fierceness, contrasting with the gentle way in which he’d penetrated you.

“Do you want to know another word Shakespeare invented?” Alexander purred. “Hot-blooded.”

You cried out in surprise as he began thrusting into you, his movements hard and desperate, any pretence at being gentle thrown aside with your clothes. He dove back into the crook of your neck, determined to create more marks with each thrust. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and held him close, your fingernails digging into his back. He seemed to like that, because he bit down harder on your neck, and when you moved your hand to grab onto the back of his neck, he took your earlobe between his teeth and tugged.

“Mhm , you feel so fucking good,” he grunted, his deep growls by your ear making you want him more and more. You wrapped your legs around his waist, holding him in tighter, and he responded by speeding up his thrusts.

Over his shoulder, you could see his arse moving with each thrust, and you thought of a Shakespeare quote of your own.

“Your bum is the greatest thing about you.”

Alexander faltered in his movements as he laughed.

“Measure for Measure. Very clever. Thou art wise as thou art beautiful.”

“Give me my sin again, Alex.”

“Oh, most certainly.”

He began thrusting again, more passionately this time, less desperate; as if he wanted to revel in the feeling of you, more than just put his dick somewhere.

But you were thirsty, and you wanted more.

“Harder, Alex…”

“I don’t want to cum too soon,” he panted in reply. “It’s… been a while. I don’t - don’t think I can trust myself to hold on. Not when - not when you’re so - fucking - gorgeous.”

You groaned in frustration, then with surprising strength, rolled him onto his back. Alexander grunted in surprise, hardly having time to register what had just happened before you were sliding back onto him to ride him at your own pace.

“Fucking hell, [Y/n],” Alexander hissed.

You smirked.

“What? No clever Shakespeare quote?”

“Keep bouncing like that and - mhm - you’ll fuck it all out of me. God, you look amazing like this. Use me, [Y/n], take all the pleasure you can… touch yourself, I want to see you cum like this…”

You gladly obeyed, pressing your fingers against your clit in the way you knew you liked, and Alexander groaned hungrily as he watched you, the pleasure building inside both of you with each movement, any clever words you might have had gone and replaced only with your desperate cries.

You took one of Alexander’s hands and guided it to your breast. He squeezed, and with a cry of your name, you felt his body shuddering beneath you as he came, the feel and sight and sound of you on top of him too much for him to hold back anymore.

You slowed down your movements, and after a few breaths of recovery, Alexander rolled you onto your back, pulled out of you and retreated down your body to bury his face between your legs.

His fingers slid inside you, pumping furiously while his tongue lapped at your sweet spot, and now you understood what he meant about wanting to savour the sensation before losing control, because you hardly had a chance to appreciate his skill before you were cumming on his face, and he lapped up your juices gladly, continuing to work his fingers and tongue on you until the aftershocks of your orgasm had subsided, and only when he was satisfied you were finished did his unstick himself from you, his lips glistening with your juices as he did so.

“Where the pleasant fountains lie, indeed,” he said, wiping his face on the back of his hand. “You could have told me you were a squirter before I put my face down there.”

“And ruin the fun?” you teased.

Alexander chuckled, kissed your inner thigh, then sat up and looked around with a frown.

“Is there no bathroom here? Surely Lazarus would have an en-suite.”

You pushed yourself onto your elbows, looked around and laughed.

“Maybe he ought to take it up with the captain.”

“I’ll certainly be taking it up with the set designers.” Alexander climbed off the bed and offered his hand to you to help you up. “Come on - let’s find a bathroom in this place. If we go to Leilani’s party smelling like sex, I guarantee I won’t hear the end of it.”

You tried your best to act natural around Alexander during the strangest birthday party you’d ever been to, but it was difficult when every time you glanced at him, he was staring right at you. Your eyes would catch, he would smirk, and you’d look away with a blush.

You managed to survive the trip back to Earth without fainting this time, and the cast dispersed to their respective rooms. You tried to get your key in the door, but you’d discovered something very strong and very delicious on the ship, and your vision wasn’t exactly at its peak.

Alexander suddenly appeared at your side, opened your door for you, then followed you inside with a hungry grin, scooping you up in his arms the moment the door was closed.

“Oof! Alex, don’t, I’ll be sick!” you protested.

“Don’t worry, I’m just taking you to bed.”

He carried you across the room and plopped you on the bed, his hands immediately exploring your body the moment they were free.

“I’ve been wanting to get my hands on you again all night. We should never have gone to the party.”

He kissed you sloppily, and his breath smelled like the sweet drinks you’d been drinking all night.

“Alex… m’drunk,” you mumbled as his wet kisses moved to your neck. “An’ you’re drunk too.”

“I am… absolutely wasted,” Alexander admitted. He paused his movements, then rolled himself onto his back with a grunt. He closed his eyes to stop the world from spinning around him.

“Oh my god, we’re gonna have to sleep with these stupid things on,” you realised when you noticed he was still wearing his cap. “Lena’s gonna kill us if we mess them up.”

Alexander snorted derisively. “If hyperspeed travel through space doesn’t mess it up, I doubt sleep will.” His eyes still closed, he put his arm out to her. “C’mon, let’s sleep.”

“M’not sleeping in this,” you said, gesturing to your uniform. You unzipped it and stood to take it off, and let out a yelp of surprise when Alexander’s hand slapped your now exposed arse.

“Gimme that booty,” he said, and you laughed. He was significantly less loquacious, apparently, when he was drunk.

“Only if you gimme yours,” you replied, looking over your shoulder to see he was still fully dressed. He grinned.

“Deal.”

Even though you were drunker than you’d been in a long time, you just about managed to stumble to the minifridge to down a bottle of water. You brought one back for Alexander, but he was already fast asleep, snoring loudly. You left the bottle of water on the bedside table for him, then climbed in next to him and promptly fell asleep.

When you woke up the next morning, thanks to your water trick, your hangover wasn’t as bad as it could have been. You rolled over, hoping to find Alexander next to you, only to find the rest of the bed empty.

You opened your eyes groggily, wincing against the sunlight seeping past the curtains, praying last night hadn’t been a dream.

You slowly sat up, trying not to disturb your churning stomach — and then you heard the distinct sound of vomiting from within the en-suite bathroom.

“Alex?” you called out, your voice hoarse.

He responded with a groan.

You plodded over to the minifridge for another water.

So it had been real. You really had been whisked off to space, you’d really slept with Alexander Dane before getting drunk at an alien’s birthday party - and you’d really slept with Alexander on your return to Earth.

Now he was throwing up in your hotel room’s en-suite.

You glanced at the clock and your heart skipped a beat.

“Alex, the first panel’s in ten minutes!”

“Fuhhem,” Alexander replied.

You poked your head around the bathroom door to find him stood at the sink, one hand holding himself steady while the other washed vomit from his face. He was still in his vest and boxers — and he was still wearing his head cap.

He looked at you through the mirror, and one glance was all you needed to know he wasn’t going to be in any shape to sit at a panel.

“Ruin that cap and Lena’ll kill you.”

Alexander scoffed. “It’s been through worse.”

He didn’t just look rough, but he sounded it too. His voice was hoarse and sounded as if he were trying to sound like sandpaper if it could speak.

“You want me to tell them you’re not coming?”

Alexander nodded groggily.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, his eyes already drooping sleepily. “Not the sexiest look right now.”

You rolled your eyes, then went to find your discarded costume. You definitely felt rough yourself, but you were in much better shape than him, and you knew a black coffee and a bacon sandwich was exactly what you needed to feel right as rain again.

“You can stay here if you want,” you said to him as you got dressed. “So long as you don’t raid the minibar, the agency’ll kill me.”

“Don’t say the word bar to me ever again,” Alexander grumbled as he plodded out of the bathroom and fished his costume from the floor to clumsily put it back on. “I’m going back to my room for a nice long nap, then I’m going home. I’m never doing this again.”

“I’ve sworn I’ll never drink again a million times, I always end up doing it.”

“No, not drinking, of course I’ll drink again. I mean this .” He gestured around the room. “That’s two conventions in a row now that have led to being abducted by aliens. I’m too old for this shit.”

His uniform was only half-zipped up when the zip caught. He tried to tug it, but it resisted, so he sighed and gave up. He was only going to take it off again in a minute anyway.

He looked up at you, looking put-together and just about ready to walk on set, and not at all as if you’d drunk just as much as he had.

“You don’t have to go down there either, you know,” he said suggestively, looking you up and down as he snuck an arm around your waist. “We could stay here and fuck all day.”

You blushed.

“I would like that… but this is my first con. You’re a grumpy old actor, you can get away with it. I can’t. Besides, I don’t think you’re in any condition to fuck right now, do you?”

“Hmm, I suppose not,” Alexander conceded. “But I still want to see you again. Would you give me your number?”

Even after everything, you were still a little starstruck, and the fangirl inside you was ready to explode with excitement that Alexander Dane was asking for your number.

You put your acting skills to good use, and played it cool as you used the hotel stationary to write your mobile number down for him.

He gave your arse a quick squeeze then left with a flirtatious grin.

You took a moment to let yourself silently scream with excitement, then put on your game face and made your way downstairs for your fashionably late entrance to the morning panel. Throughout the day, although you engaged with the fans, one corner of your mind was always thinking about the night you’d spent in space with Alexander Dane.

By the time you finished for the day, Alexander was nowhere to be found, and Gwen discovered from the hotel receptionist that he’d checked out in the morning. You checked your phone, but he hadn’t text you to say goodbye.

You spent the next week checking your phone constantly, but still nothing. You knew he was alive, because you saw him on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, promoting the season finale of the show along with Gwen and Jason. He had to sit there, smiling politely, while Jason made the whole conversation about him and, occasionally, his relationship with Gwen.

“Well, how about that, folks? Love onscreen and off!” Jimmy said, and the audience cheered. Gwen and Jason looked at each other adoringly, in a way you’d never seen them look at each other in person, and Alexander rolled his eyes in a way you definitely had seen in person.

“And talking of onscreen romances,” Jimmy continued, “when are Lazarus and Bethany getting their happily ever after?! We need them together!”

The audience cheered - louder, this time.

“Well, I can’t comment on what the writers have planned,” Alexander replied. “But if they want her back, it’s [Y/n] [L/n] they’ll have to convince, not me. I don’t think she’d want to come back.”

“Yes, you do!” you protested, as if he could hear you. “You know I want to come back, you prat!”

“Well, we sure want her back, don’t we, everyone?” Jimmy said, and the audience cheered in encouragement.

The topic moved on to Peter Taggart’s character arc, and you turned the TV off in frustration. What on earth was Alexander doing, making it out as if you were hesitant to come back? He’d heard you say enough times over the weekend, onstage and off, that you’d love to come back. You wouldn’t have spent two days with that stupid cap on if you didn’t!

You glanced at your phone. He still hadn’t text you.

Well, whatever. Fuck him. You had better things to do than to mope over some guy. He might be your biggest celebrity crush and your theatrical icon, but he was still just some guy, and clearly not above making fake promises about seeing you again once he’d got his dick in you.

You didn’t need him.

But damn, you wanted him.

---

You saw Alexander Dane again a year later.

In that time, you’d been promoted from understudy to taking on the role of Johanna every night, and you were far too focused on nailing the high notes eight times a week to think about stupid actors who ask for your number with no intention of using it.

You had to stop visiting Galaxy Quest forums. It was too weird when you came up in discussions, especially when the fans you were talking to didn’t know you were you. It was especially weird when they talked about how hot you were. The final straw was when you came across fanfiction involving, not Lazarus and Bethany, but you and Alexander.

You deleted your account then.

Then one day, you got a call from your agent: would you like to come back for a short one-scene appearance on Galaxy Quest?

You considered saying no, but you didn’t want Alexander’s jackassery to affect your career, or the show, and if the writers thought Bethany needed to show up for a scene then you’d let it happen - despite what Alexander claimed. 

So you showed up at the studios and chatted amicably with Lena while she fitted the cap on your head. Fortunately, Alexander had been filming for hours, so you didn’t have to sit next to him awkwardly.

You went over your lines again. While the glue set, Lena took your script in her hands and read Alexander’s lines to test your memory of your own, but you spent more time giggling at her impression of his deep, baritone voice than actually reciting your lines.

You were called to set, and just like before, you had little time to prepare before you were thrown into the scene. The director ran you through your blocking a couple of times while you waited for Alexander to appear, and then… there he was.

You avoided looking at him until action was called.

Inside and around a wet cave on the shore of the land of a planet Lazarus had never heard of, several dozen Mak’Tar were bustling about, getting ready for the day. He stared about, aghast, marvelling at the sight of so many of his own kind, the kind he’d thought dead long ago.

“Excuse me,” he said to a passing man, “I’ve just arrived here. I was told to see your leader.”

The man smiled gladly. “Another survivor? Welcome, friend! Here, I’ll take you to her.”

The man led him to a woman who was by the shoreline, teaching a young child how to fish with his hands.

“Bethany! We have another survivor.”

Lazarus’ eyes widened in surprise at the sound of the familiar name, and sure enough, the woman he’d rescued from the alien zoo turned around.

She smiled.

“Hello, Lazarus. I hoped you’d find your way here some day.”

“I… got a little lost,” he admitted.

“We all did.”

Bethany stepped down from the rock she was standing on and took Lazarus’ hands in hers.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

There was a moment’s hesitation.

“Cut!”

You dropped Alexander’s hands, looking back at the director in surprise.

“Where the hell is the chemistry?” he demanded. “Last time you were here, the chemistry between you was off the charts. So much so the fans sent us a petition to bring you back, [Y/n]! But this, whatever it is, it’s not chemistry.”

“Right, sorry,” you said, a little embarrassed. “Where shall we start from?”

“Go back to the beginning. The whole thing needs to flow. [Y/n], at least try to pretend like you’re happy to see him, okay?”

You tried the scene six more times, but still the director wasn’t happy.

“I’m sorry, can we take a break, please?” you asked, the frustration in your chest only getting worse with each take. “Maybe I just need some air.”

The director sighed.

“Alright, fine. Ten minutes.”

You took a proffered coat from a PA and, after a quick trip to the loo, stepped outside - and sighed when you saw that Alexander was already there with a cigarette in his hand.

You hesitated, about to turn back inside, when he silently held the box out to you.

“…Thanks.”

You took a cigarette from the box, borrowed his lighter to light it, and leaned against the wall with a sigh.

“Is acting with me really that difficult?” Alexander said after a long puff.

“Apparently.”

“About as difficult as talking to me, I suppose.”

“Mmm.”

Alexander sighed in frustration.

“Can you at least try to be professional?”

“Dunno. Can you at least try to be a decent person?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You threw your cigarette on the ground and stomped it out in frustration.

“It means , Alexander, if you were just going to use and discard me, you could have been fucking honest. Asking for my number and not bothering to text me, not even to say you’re not interested? That is a major dick move, even for you.”

Alexander frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean, what am I talking about? I’m talking about you fucking me in fucking space, taking my number and talking about wanting to see me again, then completely blanking me!”

Alexander stubbed out his cigarette, reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out his phone. A few beeps later, he showed you the screen.

Text message To: [Y/n] [L/n] Hello its Alex

He showed you another.

Are you ok? Not heard from you.

And another.

Will wait for you to reply.

You stared, gaping.

“I thought you’d changed your mind, so I stopped,” Alexander said. “Are you saying you didn’t get any of my messages?”

“No! I thought you just never texted me!”

Alex sighed. “I knew I should have called. I was going to, but Guy kept telling me young people didn’t actually call each other anymore, it’s all text messages these days.”

“You probably put my number in wrong! It’s 555-1946.”

Alex tapped through his contacts to find you.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’ve got 555-7946. It’s your bloody handwriting!”

“Hey, don’t blame me! Who have you been texting then?”

“I don’t bloody know, do I? Whichever poor sod got these never replied. Again — I should have called. Then I’d have known - oh, for God’s sake. I’ve spent the last year pissed at you for ignoring me.”

“And I’ve spent the last year pissed at you!” you groaned in exasperation. “So are you - I mean, are you, you know - still interested? I mean, I’ve been dating, it’s not like I’ve been pining over you” - a lie - “but I’m single now. If… you are.”

Alexander snorted. “[Y/n], you are awful at flirting.”

“…Yeah.”

“Well, so am I. Can we agree to skip that part and go straight to snogging?”

“God, yes.”

Your lips collided as the two of you fell into an embrace - as best you could with the bulky coats you were wearing. Alexander grabbed you by the waist and spun you around to pin you against the wall, hands sliding underneath your coat to grab at your curves. While one hand caressed your body, the other snuck up to your neck to hold your head firmly against his, only for the two of you to break the kiss and burst into laughter when you realised that, once again, you had the stupid caps on.

“Christ, I can’t wait to be rid of this thing,” Alexander muttered. “Two more days, then I’m free of it.”

“What do you mean?”

He hesitated, then said, “It’s my last day on Friday. I’m quitting the show.”

“What?!”

“Shh, keep your voice down!” Alexander said, glancing around as if there might be someone spying on you in the empty backlot. “They’re announcing it on Saturday, once I’m done with filming. Are you that surprised? Have you read the scene or are you just reciting lines mindlessly?”

You batted him on the chest. “You bastard! I thought it was a plot about the Mak’Tar surviving! So, what, Lazarus leaves the ship and lives happily ever after with Bethany on Tev’Meck II?”

“Something like that. They were going to kill me off, but I thought it’d be much better for him to find some purpose… and love.”

You grinned cheekily. “You just wanted an excuse to have me back, didn’t you?”

“What, when I thought you’d ignored me? No, as much as this show pisses me off sometimes —”

“Only some?”

“— I wanted Lazarus to have a fitting ending.”

“And this way we can get a spinoff.”

Alexander threw his hands up. “No! Absolutely not. They couldn’t offer me enough money.”

“What, to lead your own show? With me as your co-star?”

“Both of those things sound wonderful, but not as Lazarus. I’m done with him. I want to go back to the theatre.”

“Ooh, the guy who plays Turpin is leaving, we’re holding auditions soon! Maybe you could be the Turpin to my Johanna.”

“It’d certainly be a test of your acting skills pretending you’re not incredibly attracted to me,” Alexander said with a grin. “Pretend to hate me on stage then run off for a quickie in intermission.”

“You wish. I’m far too professional for that.”

“After bows, then?”

“Definitely. Come on, let’s go back. Now I’m not pissed at you, I might actually be able to get this stupid scene done.”

It only took two more takes to get the scene right. Your chemistry was back, and when your cue came to kiss, you and Alexander went on for perhaps a bit longer than necessary - but nobody asked you to stop.

The scene finally finished, the two of you went to Lena to get your caps removed, and after a trip to wardrobe to get back into your own clothes, you met Alexander out back, both of you wearing normal, human clothes with your heads freed from the confines of those stupid caps.

He smiled when he saw you and held his hand out to you. You took it, then he pulled you close to him, and kissed you deeply. He grabbed the back of your head, his fingers finally threading through your hair, and when your lips parted, he was looking a little flustered.

“Got any plans tonight?”

“Well, there’s this guy I was gonna ask out, but…”

Alexander raised an eyebrow. “But?”

“But I think he’s about to ask me out.”

He grinned.

“What d’you say to dinner at mine? I don’t want to be batting off fans and paparazzi when I should be paying attention to you.”

“Home cooked dinner? I’d be an idiot to say no.”

“Good thing you’re a clever girl, then.”

He kissed you again, gave your arse a squeeze, then wrapped an arm around your shoulder to escort you to his car.

Your every dream was coming true - and it was only the beginning.

[irwinsblender]

hi hiii could i request an ashton or luke x reader fic based on the song constellations by jade lemac?? thank youuu <33

thank you for this request!! i hadn’t heard this song before and i tried to interpret it in my own way. i’m sorry if this fic seems a little rushed, i finished it while still in a kind of writers block mode, but i hope you like it <3

—

constellations

based on the song constellations by jade lemac

pairing: ashton x reader

summary: you always find it hard when ashton has to leave for tour, but you’ve found your own way to stay connected to him

warnings: none

word count: 2.3k

✩ ✩ ✩

as a teenager, you were always going to concerts. music was your life, it got you through more than your friends or family ever could. seeing your favourite musicians in person was everything.

never did you expect a few years later you’d be dating one.

ashton irwin. the drummer from 5 seconds of summer. of course you’d heard their music occasionally before you started dating, however, you wouldn’t call yourself a hardcore fan.

you’d been dating for a few years now, and every second of that time had been absolutely wonderful. well, mostly.

you got to travel the world, see places you’d never thought you’d ever see in your lifetime, all because of him. most of all, seeing him up on that stage, performing, was a big highlight for you. it was incredible.

the downside was when you couldn’t be there for certain shows. having to go home in the middle of a big tour, or not even getting to go with him at the beginning. you’d never forget the times that schedules had changed suddenly, stripping you and ashton of any sort of goodbye.

you’d been with ashton on tour for the past month, and now their tour would be heading to europe. this was your time to unfortunately say goodbye.

you, along with the band, were at a hotel at the airport last night. you would be taking a flight back home while they take a flight over seas to a whole different country.

you and ashton had experienced this before, you both knew you could deal with the distance. but it never got easier. especially with the time difference always making things difficult.

waking up today, the last morning you’d be together, you wanted to make sure to enjoy the last few moments you’ll get together.

last night was wonderful. after getting to the hotel, you ordered room service, eating on the comfort of the bed while talking about a few tour related things as well as discussing what you’d be doing at home while he’s continuing to tour the world.

you both got ready for bed, quite early at that, putting on a movie while you laid in bed together. not long after the movie started, it got forgotten about. wanting to take in this last night to make the most of each others company before you’d be apart for some time.

now, you were still in bed, snuggled up together. ashton had ended up being the little spoon, that didn’t always happen, but when it did, you loved wrapping your arms around him, hugging him close, it was comforting.

you glanced over at the clock on the desk, seeing it wasn’t long before you would have to be getting up. sighing, you tried to focus on being this close to ashton before you’d have to leave each other.

ashton laying shirtless in bed, you pressed a couple of soft kisses to the top of his back. you held him as close as you could, cheek resting against his back. today was going to be hard. you didn’t want to say goodbye. you’d both be okay, but the thought of not being together for a while was a feeling you were still taking time to get used to.

ashton woke up shortly after you, yawning as he leaned to see if you were awake. just about seeing that you were, smiling at you as you smiled back.

“morning, baby,” he took your hands in his that were resting on his stomach. “how’re you feeling?”

“same as always,” you sighed. “don’t want you to leave.”

“i don’t want to either,” ashton pulled at one of your hands, kissing the back of it softly. “wish you could come with me.”

he felt you nod, then feeling something different. you started tracing your index finger around his back, between his shoulders. he hummed quietly, liking the feeling.

you traced around his freckles, connecting the dots that were scattered across his body. they were like constellations, just like the stars were in the sky. something you both use to feel close to each other when you were actually miles apart.

he moved a while after you started, rolling onto his side to get a good look at you before you’d have to start getting ready for your departing flights.

“how long is your flight?” you asked him.

“eight hours.” he frowned. a long time for you to go without speaking. “yours is five?”

you nodded, going quiet again. ashton shuffled over to you, pulling you closer to make the most of cuddling before you couldn’t for a while.

“you’re gonna update me every day right?” you asked, as if it wasn’t the same every tour. “and call me whenever you can.”

“every day,” he promised. “i’ll figure out timezones, find a good time i can call you.”

you nodded again, looking up at him, “i’m gonna miss you.” you reached up to run a hand through his hair.

ashton went to say something, when his alarm started going off on his phone. not a wake up alarm, more a time limit alarm. meaning you’d spent as much time as you could staying in bed. neither of you moved.

“i love you.” ashton leaned down, pressing a kiss to your lips. moving to leave the bed right after.

“i love you too, ash.”

it was a rush after that. you took until the last minute to be ready. avoiding a lot of calls and texts from the guys, telling you they’d leave without you if you didn’t get out of the hotel room soon.

once ready, you were quick to make your way towards security where a few checks would be done, as well as checking a few boards to make sure both of your flights would be on time.

although a delay might have been nice.

you’d already agreed that you’d wait at the same gate as ashton, for his flight. his flight was scheduled slightly earlier than yours, so you could be with him until the second he left.

you sat next to each other in the waiting area, fingers linked together, the guys sat opposite. you didn’t speak a whole lot, this time was enough without needing to say anything.

it was only when an announcement was made that boarding would begin soon that you knew the goodbyes would be coming soon.

“can i change my mind and come with you?” you half joked. knowing you couldn’t do that.

“i wish you could, love,” ashton leaned over to you, kissing your temple. “but work just can’t cope without your expertise.”

you laughed, he was right, your job always seemed to mess things up when you were on tour with ashton instead.

and then boarding started, people standing to make their way over to the gate, tickets started being scanned before going down to the doors.

you said your goodbyes to the guys first, letting them get sorted and go ahead to get onto the plane. you and ashton always needed that extra time to make sure you’d said everything you wanted before you’d be apart.

“why does this never get easier,” you asked. trying to keep your emotions at bay. “we do this every tour and i still hate it.”

“i know, baby, i know,” ashton pulled you into his embrace, rubbing his hands up and down your back for comfort. “we’re gonna text and call all the time though, i promise.”

“gonna miss you, ash.” you looked up at him.

he cupped your cheeks, caressing his thumbs back and fourth as he leaned down to press a few love filled kisses to your lips.

“i’ll miss you more.” he smiled softly.

“don’t start,” you laughed. glancing over to the gate after the next section of the plane had been called to board. “i guess you’ll have to go now.”

he pulled his backpack onto his back, your hand in his as he pulled you towards the check in desk. the line wasn’t too long, letting him take his time. the person there scanned his ticket and checked his passport, giving him the all clear to board the plane.

“i’ll see you soon, baby.” ashton pulled you in for a final hug, holding onto each other as tight as you could. “i love you, so much.”

“i love you,” you replied, pulling back slowly before letting him go. “text me as soon as you can.”

he walked through the first gate, you followed where he was going, sticking to where the seating area is. the railings stopping you from going any further.

“i will,” he called over. “i’ll call you tomorrow.”

“please do!” you called back.

ashton gave you one final wave, disappearing around the last corner that leads to the plane, gone in the blink of an eye. like normal, you sat there, waiting until his plane left. it took you time to move after, everything felt weird once he’d gone.

it was always hard for you, boarding your plane on your own, sitting next to a stranger, knowing ashton was heading in one direction and you in another.

you’d had conversations about quitting your job so you could be with him all the time on tour. but it never got any further than light talk. going by how hard you still found it, it might be time to bring it up again.

when you got back home, it was strange. too quiet. you were alone in your house to unpack, to get back to work, to cook meals for yourself. you didn’t like it at all.

it took you at least a week to settle back in. you would text back and fourth with ashton for a little while, but it was never long. it was hard with the time difference and him having to go to rehearsals, soundchecks and the shows.

you hadn’t talked over the phone as much as you’d promised each other. you endlessly wanted to call him, but the lack of texts from him told you that he was too busy with tour. which you always understood.

it was a few weeks in when you started leaving voicemails in the early hours. late for you, the middle of the night in europe. which is because you knew he wouldn’t answer, so you could say what you wanted for him to hear when he woke up.

one day in particular, you’d missed ashton a lot. things had gone wrong at work and it had tired you out. he’d normally be here to help you through the stress, but he was on the opposite side of the world.

you thought about getting an early night, skipping dinner, and to no surprise you couldn’t sleep. when ashton was here, you’d sit outside on your back porch to feel the fresh air of the night, it always used to help. just being surrounded by peace and the stars above.

you sat there, on your swing seat. clicking on ashton’s name to call him. it was almost nine at night for you, ashton wouldn’t be up for another few hours where he is, so you hadn’t expected him to answer.

you waited for his answerphone message to start playing, instead, you were met with ashton’s tired voice.

“hey,” he answered. you were silent for a moment. “you there, love?”

“yea, sorry, i thought you’d be sleeping.” you replied.

“only slept an hour,” you could hear him sigh. “couldn’t sleep after that.”

you tucked your legs up beside you, wishing ashton was here with you, “what city are you in?” you asked. “one that i’d like?”

“paris,” he smiled. “i know you love it here, can’t stop thinking about you.”

“is it still dark there?” you questioned. “are the stars out?”

you heard shuffling on the line, followed by silence, and then what sounded like a door opening and closing. ashton let out a long breath as stepped onto his balcony, he looked up at the sky above him, it would be getting light soon, but the stars were definitely still bright.

“yea, they’re out.” he sat down on the singular chair perched to the side.

“and now we’re together,” you smiled to yourself. “for a little while at least.”

“you’re stargazing?” he sounded surprised. “wish i could stargaze with you.”

“but you are, ash,” you rubbed your eyes tiredly. “no matter where we are, the stars can bring us together.”

you were both quiet, looking up at the sky. the beautiful night sky. the stars reminded you of him, the way you both loved stargazing, loved spotting the constellations.

“i can see it,” ashton had a smile to his voice. “orien’s belt. it’s there.”

those stars stood out the most, “we’re looking at the same stars.” you smiled. “i see it too.”

orien’s belt was one of the things you always pointed out to ashton, that felt like the closest you’d get to him now, the only thing connecting you both while you sat under the stars in two different places.

you’d make shapes out of the different constellations. much like you’d trace the constellations on ashton’s body. his freckles that you love. it’s a part of him you’d always remember, even when he’s miles away. just like right now.

“baby?” ashton said quietly.

“hm.” you responded, letting him know you were still there.

“i love you.” he almost whispered. wishing he could be there with you, hands on your waist to hold you.

“i love you too, ash.” you replied in the same quietness. happy that you had this time to talk a little. “call me later?”

he didn’t answer for a moment, taking one last good look up at the stars to make him feel like he was with you before the light took over once again.

he smiled, this short conversation making him feel much better than before, “i’ll call you later.”

✩ ✩ ✩

taglist: @hexsdexs @conspiracy-ash @oliviah-25 @blogcarlyn | if you would like to join my taglist, please comment here or see this post

[sinning5sos]

one of the boys (you can choose which one!!) having corruption kink and teaching y/n some stuff? I think it would be so hot him teaching her how to touch herself cause she’s never done it before and in the end just being “good but not as great as you make it feel”.

so basically innocent!yn + corruption kink if you could and isn’t weird for u to write.

Corruption

Requested: Yes you little freak, I love it

Word Count: ~2,100

Smut:  praise kink!!!!!!! Corruption, masturbation, teaching? Etc. DIRTY!

We all know Ashton has to be the kinkiest one out of the group

“Truth or dare, what are we back in high school?” Luke said, laughing off Michael’s suggestion. Michael rolled his eyes but leaned back against the couch. You were sitting next to him, Calum, Luke and their significant others on the opposite side of the coffee table. Ashton was off in the kitchen, gathering snacks for the group. It was a weekly occurrence that you all got together, something beneficial for all of you involved.

“We all know everything about one another anyway.” Calum said, and Luke chuckled.

“Well, nearly everything. We still don’t fully know you,” Calum’s fiance pointed out, her gaze on yours and everyone else followed.

“You guys know a lot about me,” You said, laughing a bit awkwardly but Michael shook his head.

“Mmm, not all of it. We don’t know the juicy details of yours and Ashton’s sexual encounters.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows. The girls around the table scoffed, but the boys laughed slightly.

“Who’s in charge in the bedroom? Is it you?” Luke’s wife asked, and you laughed again as you shook your head. You weren’t really sure how to answer that. You’ve had a lot of fun with Ashton, but you’ve always felt as if there could have been something else, if there could have been more.

“It’s equal in the bedroom,” You said, taking a sip of your drink to give you time to think of an answer, “But of course, it’s more so Ashton.”

“Well obviously, we all know that Ashton is super fucking kinky, it’s only a matter of time before he truly corrupts you,” Calum said, lifting his beer up in a cheers motion and you felt the blush creep onto your cheeks.

“He’s probably already done it, hasn’t he?” Michael prodded, nudging his knee with yours and you laughed, hoping your embarrassment wasn’t showing itself.

“What are you going on about me corrupting my girlfriend?” Ashton asked, bringing a tray of food into the living room. He had a smile on his face but a pointed look in his eyes. 

You smiled up at him, taking his hand as he sat on the other side of you, “Michael, you’re not being a dick again are you?”

Michael chuckled as he shook his head, and Ashton leaned his head down against yours. He turned slightly and kissed your hair, and you smiled as the topic drifted off to a different conversation.

“Tell me about it later,” Ashton murmured into your hair and you nodded. You knew all the jokes of Ashton being the kinkiest one, but he hadn’t shown that side to you. You weren’t a virgin, but you also weren’t as experienced as he was, and now that thought was a slight insecurity. You felt yourself becoming distant from the conversation, which Ashton so graciously covered for you as you thought more about what the boys had said.

Ashton hadn’t corrupted you at all, nor has he let you feel any shame in it whatsoever. But you wanted more from him, you just weren’t sure how to get it.

* * *

“Baby girl, why are you acting like this? Is it because of the conversation that I walked in on earlier?” Ashton asked, moving to join you on the bed as he knelt beside you.

“I'm not acting like anything.” You insisted, but you knew that was a lie. The conversation had been replaying over in your head, again and again, until the two of you had gotten to this moment. You weren't sure why the conversation was impacting you so much. I'm at the boys a joke around about summer things in the past, but there was a part of your deep down that wondered if Ashton had been holding out on you.

“Okay fine, I am. I’m sorry,” You said, laughing slightly as he looked at you.

“Don’t be sorry, just talk to me about what you’re feeling.” He said, an authentic smile on his face as he leaned down closer to you. He pressed his lips against yours, a nice gentle kiss but pulled back. 

You leaned in again for a kiss, deepening it and racking your brain on how to be more…aggressive. You bit down on his lip but winced as you pulled away.

“Princess, what was that?”

“The boys are talking earlier at Luke's that you're obviously the very kinky one and that I am not as experienced by your means. I don't know, it's just been kind of stuck in my head since we left.”

“Can you explain a little bit more?” He asked, nodding as he cupped your cheek, his thumb grazing the skin.

“I want you to corrupt me.”

He chuckled as he dropped his hand but stopped when he realized you were serious.

“Baby, what do you mean?” He asked and you sighed as you thought more about it. 

“I don't know, I just want you to teach me more. I'm not saying that I am completely innocent, but I know there's more that you wanna explore but you’ve been holding back on me?” You suggested.

“Is this coming only from the conversation or is this something you’ve been thinking about for a while?”

“I guess I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” You said sheepishly. His brow furrowed at your response, and he pushed off the bed, “Baby wait, I’m not -”

He cut you off with his hand raised and you quickly shut your mouth.

“I’m not mad. But we’re going to have some fun now, since you want to learn so badly. You want to be my little slut, is that what you want?” He asked, his voice hard but his eyes still soft.

You felt the blush creep back into your cheeks but nodded.

“Good girl. Now I want you to get up, strip, and then sit with your back up against the headboard.” He commanded. You were quick to follow his words, pushing off the bed yourself and climbing out of your pajamas. You shivered slightly as the air, chilled by the AC unit, now was blowing against your skin. You followed his instructions and climbed back onto the bed, your back now against the headboard.

He stripped out of his boxers and sat on the edge of the bed, by your feet and gripped his own cock. You licked your lips in anticipation, now so excited to hear his next words.

“Spread your legs Princess,” He murmured, his voice low and his eyes dark. You slowly spread your legs, feeling self conscious but also empowered and how hungry he now looked.

“I’m going to tell you what to do, and I want you to do exactly what I say. My mouth is about to be very vulgar, can you handle that?”

You nodded, but his gaze caught your attention.

“Verbal confirmation. Everything will revolve around your ability to answer me, is that understood?”

“Yes Ashton,” You whispered, and he nodded. 

“Good girl,” He praised, and you bit down on your lip again at the praise. Did you have a praise kink? “Now, I want you to take your right hand and bring it down to that sweet pussy of yours.” 

You followed his instructions, your hand grazing down your front to your core and looked up at him, waiting for the next cue.

“I want your fingers to tease your slit, but no penetration yet. Up and down, collect some of those juices I see running already.” He said. You followed his instructions, your two fingers grazing your lips. Your body jolted at the contact, but you kept your gaze on Ashton. His hand was moving ever so slightly, teasing himself and you at the same time.

“The same rhythm I’m stroking my cock, I want you to start fucking yourself with your fingers.” He muttered.

“Yes Ashton,” You breathed out. Your fingers, already slick from stroking yourself, pushed inside of you. You let out a slight gasp at the feeling, craving it to be his cock instead but you didn’t voice that - not yet.

“Good girl. Tell me how that’s making you feel?” He murmured. He started to stroke his cock just a bit quicker now and you matched his pace.

“It feels so fucking good Ash,” You moaned out. He chuckled as he nodded, licking his lips as he watched your fingers move.

“God, already so fucking wet and you’re only fucking yourself. You’re a fucking vision right now,” He breathed out, his eyes closing for a second as he increased his pace once again, “Insert another finger inside of you and start rubbing your clit with your other hand. Fast too, don’t hold back on it.”

You followed his instructions once again, adding in your ring finger inside of you as you brought your left hand to your clit. You moaned as you made contact with yourself, your clit being a sensitive spot for you. You started out rubbing slow circles, but as you heard him tsk, you sped up.

“Tell me again how you're feeling right now, baby girl.” He said, but you barely heard him over the sound of your own moans. You couldn't help it, the way that they fell from your lips at the situation. Ashton looked so hot sitting at the edge of the bed and stroking himself while fucking yourself with your fingers. 

“I feel so fucking good Ashton. I think I’m going to cum soon.”

“Good. Keep going, but don’t you dare cum without my permission.” He said, and you nodded.

“Ah, words Princess, or I’ll have to punish you.” He snapped.

“Yes Ashton, I won’t cum unless you tell me to,” You breathed out, your eyes peeking up at his and seeing him satisfied. He had a smug look on his face, his hand still stroking at a steady rhythm and you were starting to struggle to keep up. You felt your thighs begin to shake, but you kept your gaze on Ashton as you continued fucking yourself.

“Ash,” Your voice was desperate, but he chuckled. You positioned yourself sitting up more, your fingers still fucking yourself as your other hand was on your clit, and you moaned out as your body began to shake.

“Ash, please,” You begged. He stopped stroking and moved closer, giving you a singular nod.

“Cum for me princess,” He said, and your abs and thighs started to burn with how much you were restraining yourself. You let everything go, your orgasm crashing into you as you came on your own fingers. You stilled, your body now exhausted and Ashton went back to stroking himself.

“Let me taste you,” He murmured, and you brought your hand up to his lips. He sucked and moaned with your three fingers in his mouth, before releasing them as he was about to cum himself. He stilled, his cock twitching as he came and you enjoyed watching him become undone.

“I’m going to clean up real quick, then we’ll chat.” He murmured, pressing a kiss on your lips and you hummed quietly. He walked into the bathroom, and you pushed up on your elbows as you watched him grab a washcloth and run it under warm water before returning to you. You moaned as his fingers brushed against your core, feeling extremely sensitive from what had just happened.

“Tell me baby girl, what do you think?” He murmured, pressing a kiss against your neck and trailed them down your throat.

“I definitely enjoyed that,” You whispered. He chuckled as he nodded.

“You definitely did. Did you like fucking yourself while I watched?” He asked, sliding down slightly to drop the rag in the laundry basket before he turned back to face you. This was your favorite version of Ashton, his cheeks flushed and his face glowing in the post orgasm haze.

“I’d much rather have you inside of me instead,” You breathed out and he chuckled as he crawled up the bed, closer to you. He met your lips with his, pushing far more forcefully than earlier and you smiled into the kiss. He pulled back, his hand gripping the side of your hip as he lifted himself up.

“You’re going to regret those words Princess,”

[3hobbitsinatrenchcoat]

I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the very heart of me

Dorym Week, Day Two! (we aren't talking about these early EST upload times >.>) Today's work was inspired by the song prompt: "My life was a storm since I was born, how could I fear any hurricane?" ~ Francesca - Hozier

Title is from Aragorn's speech before the black gates because I couldn't help myself XD

I’ll post all my drabbles to AO3 later, but for now enjoy them here on tumblr.

(Beware minor spoilers for Episode 95)

-----

The first thing Orym noticed as he felt the snap of teleportation magic release was the bitter, biting cold. 

He thought he was used to the cold; Zephrah’s place above the clouds meant that even the longest summer days were cool and the winters could be brutal. But Zephrah had nothing on the endless expanse of blinding white he saw when he opened his eyes, the air so cold he could feel his breath become brittle before it ever left his mouth.

Suddenly glad for the layers he had bought before leaving Zadash, Orym wrapped his arms tightly across his chest and squinted across the barren landscape. In some deeply unsettling way it reminded him of the desert surface of Ruidus, only cold and pale instead of vibrant bloody red. 

Behind him he could hear the murmurs of the rest of the Hells getting their bearings. Well… some were murmuring.

“Fuck! That’s frigid!” Ashton’s voice rose above everyone else for a moment and Orym bit back a laugh. 

“I’m not sure what you expected from a snowy wasteland,” drawled Dorian, a familiar lilt to his tone that told Orym he was also holding back humor. 

“I mean. Snow. Obviously.” snapped Ashton, though there was little bite to their words. “Shit, godsdamn it… I’m sinking. Fearne can you…”

“Well, if you wanted to climb me like a tree all you had to do was…”

Orym tuned out whatever Fearne said next as a gloved hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. He looked up into Dorian’s face and felt his heart skip at the small smile he found there. Reaching up, he patted his own mittened hand against Dorian’s. The genasi’s smile widened a fraction before his gaze flicked away to take in the desolate view. Orym watched uneasily as the smile fell into a grim stoicism that was becoming more and more common with his friend.

“When Lady Keyleth said we would be heading to the ruins of Aeor I honestly expected a more visible city,” he said after a moment.

“That is because most of the city is buried,” Essek said, gliding past them to peer into the distance. He turned his head slightly to glance over his shoulder with a small twitch of his lips. “And to avoid scattering our remains across several miles of tundra wasteland I had to teleport us well outside of the crash site. As my dear partner would say: Magic does some… funny things closer to the ruins. ”

“Well that’s good to know,” muttered Dorian under his breath, quietly enough that Orym knew no one else could hear. “It’s not like every single one of us relies on magic to survive or anything.”

Orym squeezed his hand tighter. “It’s alright, Dor. We have each other’s backs if things go wrong.”

“I know. I just…” Dorian let out an explosive sigh, breath a cloud of fog in the frigid air. “It’s strange, I think. To be venturing into the ancient ruins of a city so much like my own childhood home and yet so very alien.”

“It’s alright to be worried,” Orym said. “I think we all are, especially after the last few days.”

Dorian turned to face him fully, pulling his hand away only to kneel in the snow in front of Orym, bringing their eyes level. “I’m not afraid,” he said, taking Orym’s hands in his own. “How could I fear Aeor… how could I fear anything with you by my side?”

Orym ducked his head, breaking the eye contact that made his heart flutter in his throat. “Quite easily, I’d imagine.”

“Maybe,” Dorian’s hand cupped the side of Orym’s cheek, warm through the leather of his glove. “But it won’t be so bad if we face it together.”

“Maybe not,” Orym agreed quietly, letting Dorian lift his face back into eye contact. “We’ve weathered other storms before, how is this any different?”

Eiselcross’s chill might be biting and bitter, but Dorian’s gentle smile warms Orym all the way to his toes. “Because this time I’m not leaving your side.”

[sunthyme]

Ah... welcome to another instalment of my headcanons. I lowkey lied again but I think my prefect will be the last of the headcanons to come out. Tyty for all the love, as always, and now...

🪶The NRC Staff🪶

Trying to find characters I hadn't already twisted for my student ocs to make my staff ones was such a pain 😭😭😭 but here they are!!

🐦‍⬛Dire Crowley🐦‍⬛

(he/it) - Bisexual

The most USELESS HEADMASTER EVER!!! God, I know his SSR card looks great but I won't pull for it istg this bitch. We could have had Sam or Crewel but nooooo...

- I wanted him to look a bit older but since we don't know his age, I didn't push it too much. No spoilers for book 7 but I assume he's probably fae or smth idk.

- You'll notice I honestly didn't change much about the staff in general but I do like most of their design already. Kept his sclera dark cause it looked cool and made the gold eyes pop.

- He talks in a weird mix of old language that literally no one uses, like hella old-fashioned, and poorly used teen lingo. He's trying... A for effort, ig.

- His house and office are super cluttered with a ton of stuff he's found throughout the years but knows exactly where things are. His memory's actually incredibly good, he's just lazy. He likes to collect teaspoons.

- Later in the story, when he starts kinda view the prefect as his kid of sorts, it starts dropping off little trinkets at Ramshackle. Various things from old photos to books with old annotations to pretty rocks. He just wants the prefect to make the dorm 'more homey'.

- I'll get into this more with my prefect design but when Crowley attended NRC (in my headcanon idk if he actually did), he was a Ramshackle student. As such, my MC is using his old uniform as he didn't have any extra ones.

- He really likes cats but they just fcuking hate him. Lucius hisses everything he see Crowley. This is why he cries himself to sleep.

Enough of my dead-beat dad, onto the good dad!

🐕Divus Crewel🐕

(he/they) Transmasc - Panasexual

The good father-figure!! I love Crewel. Also, ignore me misspelling his name in the big one, I thought it had two 'l's...

- He is my Mexican father. Idk they give like simultaneously abuelita and Mexican mom vibes and I am so here for it. (Apparently also Jewish grandma vibes according to @thearchiveofalexandria but I wouldn't know lol).

- I also think he'd be older, like late 40s/early 50s but because of those anti-ageing Mexican genes, they look like 30. (Literally, my mom gets mistaken for being that young, she's in her 50s) Gave him some gray hair at the back but don't be fooled, that's just from putting up with Crowley's bullshit. The shit that goes down in-game for sure results in a couple grey hairs for poor Crewel.

- Is the father figure I never knew I needed, well, my prefect anyway. I know my MC would go to him for anything ranging from 'Crowley's threatening to cut off my water supply!' to 'Can you help me make a Halloween costume?' and his ass always helps. Stan Papa Crewel.

Oh god, this next one was HELL ON EARTH I hate drawing masculine men...

🏈Ashton Vargas🏈

(he/him) - Heterosexual

God, I hate Vargas' og design. The worst part is it does it's job, I couldn't find much to change. Also, didn't even know he had a first name lmaooo.

- I gave him more of a beard because it looked so fcuking bad without it ong 😭😭😭 I hated this... that's pretty much all I did.

- That being said, I do think Vargas wants the best for his students. Wait. Dad-bod Vargas. Guys, I just had an epiphany.

- He's got a wife, kids in like elementary school, and like two dogs idk. I feel like he's older thirties. He's giving total family man and likes to cheer on his students like they're his kids too.

- I feel like he's got mad ADHD and it's one of the reasons he became a gym teacher, just to be constantly moving and doing stuff.

My opinion of Vargas has increased while writing this. Onto my funky uncle...

🏷️Sam Cecil🏷️

(he/they/it) Genderqueer - Asexual Aromantic

I LOVE SAM!!📢📢

- They're like mid-twenties, I don't know if they went to college but if they did, they were a business major. I gave him a last name too, idk the fact that he didn't have one made me mad. Cecil cause Dr. Facilier had a daughter named Cecilia apparently.

- I tossed in a couple more piercings and I love the idea that he has tattoos too.

- He's like the fun uncle that occasionally sponsor your weird ideas. Wanna make cookies at 3am? His store's still open. Need some Nerf guns? He's got 'em. If he says it's in stock, he will literally have anything. Don't ask, he won't answer you anyway.

- Also has crazy good like and low-key knows the future but typically drops hints in a joking manner. He's also very good at communing with the dead, sales for sessions are discounted in October.

- Incredibly rich. Probably canon given his store branches and the crazy shit he has in his shop but I felt the need to reaffirm it.

- Also supplies Ramshackle with snacks and groceries. My MC works at its shop part time in return but I firmly believe that it'd refuse to let the MC starve.

Now for the gramps,

📚Mozus Trein📚

(he/him) Transmasc - Heterosexual

- Trans old man, idk. He is to me. Also, he's both the history and literature teacher.

- Also changed pretty much nothing lol, he's just an old trans man whose sick of Crowley's bullshit (you'll notice a running theme).

- All the grandpa memes and stereotypes are so true for him. His drinks tea every afternoon, plays chess with Crewel (that's canon btw), and squints whenever you try to show him something, especially on a phone.

- He uses a flip phone mobile-y but his house has a rotary one. His daughters keep telling him to replace it but he refuses, saying modern one are too complicated. His daughters also went to Royal Blade as he originally worked there before recently transferring to NRC.

- Hates pumpkin-flavoured anything so doesn't care much for fall. Winter is his favourite season though as he loves sitting with Lucius by the window on snowy days and reading. Very academiacore, gramps.

- He totally advocated for NRC to allow students to use preferred names.

Onto the ocs!!

🪐Mèng yáo Yuan🪐

(she/they/it) Agender - Biromantic Demisexual

- First up is Mèng yáo, twisted from the Horned King from The Black Cauldron. Never seen it personally but @thearchiveofalexandria has and recommended I use its villain.

- She's Chinese and a fae of sorts so she's likely quite old, though she looks in her twenties.

- She's the astrology and philosophy teacher because I thought it would make for a good course since it's mentioned in passing in Book 4.

- She's also skilled in potionology and she and Crewel test out potions for Crewel to teach in class. She is intrigued by the concept of immortality but it's more of a passive study for her.

- She's really bad at getting jokes, though she tries. She's generally not too familiar with modern human concepts but does her best to learn.

Finally,

💎Kore Gorgon💎

(she/her) - Sapphic

- Kore is based on Madame Medusa from The Rescuers, which, fair warning, I ALSO haven't seen. I really needed villains though lol. I read the wiki page and prayed tbh.

- She's around her mid-fifties and is the Math and Physics teacher. She works to integrate known magical physics with standard math and physics and teaches such.

- Her wife is named Crystal (based on an inspo character for Madame Medusa) and they're Kyra's adoptive parents. This is a small nod to Madame Medusa having two pet crocodiles. Kyra kept her parent's names as a sort of way to remember them but likes her adoptive moms a lot too.

- Kore's name is a reference to another name for Persephone and is associated with not only 'the maiden' with the underworld as well.

- She loves shiny things and adores being dressed to the nines all the time. She has a small collect of pretty rocks and tends to decorate her classroom with various trinkets.

- She and Crewel get along super well as their personalities are rather similar. (Fun fact: Madame Medusa not only was heavily inspired by Cruella De Vil, but also served as an origin for Ursula's design.)

- She has bipolar disorder and does her best to work around it, sometimes having pre-recorded lectures if she's not able to be in person.

I'll be sharing my designs for some side and family characters tomorrow so stay tuned! Love y'all!🩷🩷🩷

[awaytobeunshaken]

Orym is high enough in the tree to make Ashton a little dizzy as he steps onto the platform. They’re sure Orym has heard them, or maybe he hasn’t. He’s been pretty out of it. Which is kind of why Ashton has bothered to come up here in the first place.

“You okay?” Ashton’s voice seems to echo strangely and they’re not sure if it’s the height or the surrounding terrain or just the fey realm itself. “You’ve been pretty quiet since… everything.” Orym’s response is not so much a sigh as a shaky breath; maybe he doesn’t want them around any more than anyone else does. “Sorry. I can leave if—”

“Don’t” Orym’s voice is barely above a whisper.

Ashton takes a deep breath and moves closer, leaning against the rail Orym is perched on (gods, they wish he wouldn’t do that), but keeping a respectable distance. “I just want to tell you…”

“You don’t need to apologize to me.” He lets the statement hang between them, and Ashton’s not quite sure how to respond. “I know you’ve been making the rounds,” Orym continues. “And I get what you were trying to do, you thought if you went through with that then you’d be able to keep everyone safe. So yeah, I fucking get it.”

Yeah. Orym would.

“I know you do. But I want to apologize anyway; I—”

“I said I don’t want it. Not like this, not when you don’t even know what you’re apologizing for.”

“What.” He’d lied to them, he’d nearly gotten them killed, he’d tried to become stronger and only made himself less able to protect them: not quite a liability but certainly not as useful as he had been.

Orym’s knuckles go white against the railing and his breathing turns heavy. “We watched you die, Ash. I had to watch you die in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it and nothing we could have done to bring you back. I hoped I would never have to go through that again. Why, Ash? Why don’t you think you’re enough?”

There’s no real weight behind it, but Ashton’s nerves still flare at the unexpected pressure of a fist in their thigh. “I think maybe for a lot of the same reasons you do. We’ve lost people we love and we don’t want it to happen again. You might be a little luckier though; you knew yours loved you back.”

“Can I hug you? I think you could use it.”

They barely have time to nod before arms encircle Ashton’s waist and they wince for a moment before settling into it.

“You do have people who love you, Ash. I promise. And I think maybe the best apology you can make is to try to let yourself believe that.”

[malina-33]

Femme Like You - Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Summary: You are the new tour manager for Arctic Monkeys during The Car era. You are practically the only girl in the team, also younger than the rest (27 y.o.), so your skills are immediately called into question. In particular, by the frontman who is not used to being led by a woman.

Word count: 10,2k

Warnings: swearing, emotional swing (is it even a warning?), kind of voyeurism (slight), age gap

A/N: Dear friends, hi!! I know, I know that I've promised you to update the fic every 3 weeks, and the disappeared for 1.5 months, but I spontaneously found a job, so there was very little time. But the chapter is much longer and with some interesting collaborations ;) I'll hope you enjoy them!

And write down what do you think if I make a description of not only the whole work, but also the chapter before each new part? Or is it better to keep the intrigue till the end?

In any case, I look forward to your feedback, it's soooo much important for me. I won't promise to return before the end of September, but I'll do my best not to delay. I already have an interesting plot for the next chapters, you should like it💔

*guys, English isn't my first language so if I have (and I know I have lol) any grammar/logic mistakes don't hesitate to tell me :)

The first week after meeting with the group flew by unnoticed. You dealt with the documentation, understanding how necessary it is, no matter how much you hated it, phoned the representatives of Ashton Gate stadium, made sure that everything was okay and confirmed the presence of the group and even tried to check the weather since the gig would be held outside. However, it turned out to be a little more difficult with the transport company. Apparently, James forgot to warn them about the temporary removal of his duties, so you had to spend time clarifying the situation and explaining who you are. It seemed that your hands-on approach was excessive, because you were trying to control everything in one time, but only due to the feeling of extra responsibility.

Steven, as promised, sent the contacts of the guys and important people from the technical crew, so now your phone had the names of Jamie Cook, Nick O'Malley, Matthew Helders and Alex "dickhead" Turner among others. 19 years old you would definitely envy yourself. So when you got a message while cooking pasta for dinner on Saturday night, you already knew it was from the drummer and not from an anonymous online scammer.

Matthew Helders: "good evening, Miss Y/S! I hope you aren't busy. We'll wait you on the soundcheck on Monday at 2 pm in Domino, need your advice :)"

You almost overcooked Carbonara bacon rereading the message. "Do they really need my advice?" you whispered, furrowing your brows "About what?". But the only answer was:

You: "Sure! Do I need to take some 12% cider?"

Matthew Helders: "you better not show up without a package lol"

Immediately followed by:

Matthew Helders: "just kidding! We are waiting only for you, but in the company of cider it will be even better)"

You chuckled, surprised at how quickly Matt went from formal Miss at the beginning of the conversation to smiles and lols at the end. To tell the truth, you still didn't fully understand how to behave with them. On the one hand, you are their manager and have a certain influence, as well as subordination. Steven and James don't have it, although they are "higher" in position, but they've been friends for half of a life, and you are a completely new person. On the other hand, in this area there is no place for strict formalities, especially since the guys don't look like those who would comply with them. After all they were big kids no matter how mature and pretentious they could look on stage, and you clearly felt it. Maybe your company will help them to relax even more, so there won't be any awkwardness and you will naturally find an edge where all of you will feel comfortable and which no one will cross.

With those thoughts, Carbonara and Rosé you spent your Saturday night watching your favorite series "La Piovra". You got used to such calm and quiet evenings. The era of parties until the morning has passed in the university years, and it’s not that you don’t go to clubs now, it’s just that the older you become the better you began to appreciate moments of silence. Not to be bored alone with yourself is the most valuable skill that you have acquired in your life. Having lived first with your parents for a long time, then getting married early at the age of 20 and having lived with your husband for 3 years, you were essentially not left alone with yourself. Having discovered over time that you feel absolutely nothing for the person whom you said "yes" to in the registry office, you were horrified and frightened to say at least. You thought that you get married once for a lifetime, but it turned out that happy endings exist only in fairy tales. That period of despondency, depression and eventual deepening into work gave its results. Major labels began to notice you, inviting you to musical projects with famous bands such as Maneskin. You worked with them for 1.5 years, leaving after their heyday at the Eurovision, realizing that you can’t give them more. That was your second decision to leave, but unlike the divorce, it didn't bring you much suffering. You understood that you and the group gave each other a lot, and although the parting was bitter, everyone understood that it was necessary. You still remained friends with the guys and periodically wrote off to meet. You planned to go to their concert, but couldn't find the time. And after your assignment to the Monkeys it became even more harder to shedule.

After the divorce you didn't have a serious relationship, instead you had a dream job, money, a car, a country house and even a corgi Grapes. You weren't afraid of the future, loved the time in seclusion and found inner peace by meditating on the production of cider, which was your unusual but very tasty hobby. Were you fully happy, though? Wouldn't you like to cross the threshold of the house and be met not by a dog's barking, but by a warm kiss on the forehead and a quiet "how was your day"? You probably wanted to, but it was hard to admit, especially considering that the fear of intimacy sat somewhere deep inside, not letting you forget the disappointment that you experienced when you removed the engagement ring from your finger. Although you remained friends who didn't hold evil against each other, the bitterness of your marriage was almost impossible to remove from the memories.

But for now, your head has been occupied by the sudden question of where to put Grapes for the duration of the tour...

Monday morning was sunny and peaceful, you woke up in a surprisingly good mood, put on your make-up, put on your favorite lime flared jeans, loaded a case of apple drink from the basemеnt into the car, patted Grapes and drove off to the studio. The road took about an hour, so during this time you managed to phone your father. You haven't talked much lately due to your workload, and now was almost the only time of the day when you were relatively free. You put the speaker phone mode, listening to the slightly hoarse voice of the man, without being distracted from the road.

"Hello my dear! How are you?"

"Hi daddy, I'm fine, going to work right now"

"My busy bee, James has already told me about your progress" you could hear him chuckle, coughing a little. You could only guess what Ford said to your father, because you spoke to him only once in these 2 weeks, when you recalled him after meeting with the group. And not that your story was very colorful. Therefore, the guys or Steven contacted him, and from this point of view, you couldn't imagine what they possibly come up with towards you.

"He assured me the boys liked you"

"Oh, really?" you said on the exhale, squeezing your hands on the steering wheel tightly.

"Yes, James is pleased with you. Well done, babe!" you melted under his words. It felt like you were a little girl again who drew a family picture that was hung on the refrigerator, even though mom and dad looked like monsters.

"Thank you daddy, I'm very happy to be with them actually"

"Of course, in such a company of men. Should I be jealous? 'Cause I looked through their photos on the Internet" dad said proudly, to which you burst out laughing, stopping at a traffic light.

"Dad, c'mon, no! They're too old for me" you laughed.

"10 years are not a big deal. Anyway, your choice. Just don't forget to eat please, I know how tough you work now. Otherwise you'll get drunk on your cider. God, how did you even manage to get into this alcohol sphere..." the man groaned in prostration. You rolled your eyes, but still smiled without answering. You got used to your father's fast flow of different thoughts.

"And don't roll your eyes, little naughty one! I care about you. So if they hurt you, you know who to call, right?"

"Oi, who will offend whom first" you retorted defiantly.

"Okay okay, I won't interrupt anymore. Kiss Grapes for me. I love you"

"And I love you very much, hello mom"

"I'll pass it on, bye!"

You turned off the call, fully focusing on the road. After talking with your parents, you always felt warm in your soul, so up to the studio you didn't leave a smile when you sang songs from the radio under your breath.

You arrived exactly at 2 o'clock, as agreed with Matt, but when you saw a few more cars in the parking lot in addition to the familiar Cadillac, you realized that the guys had been here for a long time. You must have looked a little ridiculous in a business suit and heels and a wooden box under your arm, but you didn't have other choice. Holding the car key in your mouth and trying to press the button at the same time, you clumsily closed the trunk with your leg. A purse was still dangling somewhere on your shoulder, and sunglasses had slipped from head to the bridge of your nose. "Must be an amazing picture to observe" you thought tiredly "Oh, if only Matt were here".

But before you had time to think about it, you heard a soft laugh behind you. You turned around sharply, noticing the frontman smoking alone near the entrance. You spat the key into the box, finally pressing the right button, and shouted

"And how long do you look?"

"I came exactly at the most interesting moment" man smiled, taking a puff.

You heavily crossed the entire parking lot, approaching him. Turner, having finished smoking a cigarette and throwing it into a nearby trash can, silently took the box from your hands.

"Hi, Y/N" he greeted you wheezing nicotine in the lungs.

"Hi," you frowened a little, but slowly added "Alex".

Calling him by his first name was... Unusual. A week ago the appeal to him was exclusively Mr. Turner, but today he was the first to break this line. "Well, apparently, we will both have problems with the boundaries of what is acceptable" bitterly flashed through your thoughts.

You both entered the building - Alex with a box in front, you behind holding the door. The way was silent. You wanted to say something to break this crystal quietness of his, but by the time you mustered up the courage, you stopped at the door 13A. The vocalist pushed it with his left shoulder, squeezing the alcohol forward, and you trotted along.

As soon as you and Alex entered the sound studio, you were immediately greeted with whistling and loud hooting.

"Look who's here, Miss Y/N"

"Hi, guys! I'm here with gifts as promised" you smiled broadly.

Alex at this time put the box on the table and immediately took one bottle for himself.

You noticed that there were Tyler and Tom in the studio as well, so you mentally praised yourself for taking bottles with a margin. You didn't know them personally yet, but was willing to change it. Turner introduced you to the men, and surprisingly you didn't hear his usual sneer in the voice.

"So, welcome Y/N Y/S, she's our manager for the summer before America starts and James gets back"

"Happy to finally meet you!" you were the first to extend your hand to Tyler, which he shook gently, smiling affably, and then to Tom. But he intercepted your hand, kissing your knuckles and making you laugh.

"Mutually, Miss" Rowley said enchanted.

"And she makes her own awesome cider, get one" Matt ordered businesslike, raising his voice from behind the drum kit.

"Yeah, there is enough for everyone, don't hesitate to take"

Evidently you arrived during the break, and before that they had already rehearsed a bit. You were wondering what kind of advice they need from you. The thought that they just needed cider you pushed back with a grin. But Alex, as if reading your thoughts, leisurely started speaking leaning on the table and holding a drink.

"Well, thanks for the cider, but that's not what we called you for. Since you're such a big fan of My Propeller, we discussed it here and decided that it's possible to put one on the set list for a couple of times. So listen to how it sounds, maybe have some ideas or whatevah" he was trying to sound casual, not attaching importance to his words for you.

"I'll do my best!" you almost jumped from such news.

Jamie chuckled audibly, running his fingers over the guitar. You sat down on the couch as Matt tapped the rhythm with his sticks and the melody began.

Seductive. The first association that came to your mind when you heard the intro of this song. It was your favorite from Humbug for sure and one of the band's all time favorites. Alex never told in any interview what was the secret of the lyrics, and probably that was the reason it attracted you even more. The guys played it selflessly, as if there hadn't been those decades that they hadn't performed it. You liked how they gave themselves to the process, even if it was just a rehearsal. They were in simple t-shirts and Matt was proudly wearing pineapple shorts, but you could swear, a real concert was unfolding right in front of you.

When Alex started singing you tried to hide the goosebumps as best as you could, but it hardly worked out well. His voice flowed melodically, not betraying a hint of wheezing or breaking, which could arise due to the age. He closed his eyes, tightly gripping the microphone stand, and moved his feet to the beat, slightly ridiculous, but at the same time gracefully. Throughout the song, you didn’t take your eyes off the group for a minute, sometimes singing along to the words, pulling the last syllable of

 Coax me out my law

And have a spin of my propeller

When the song ended, you clapped and Nick even made a mock bow.

“I don’t know how objective my assessment will be, because apart from the words of delight I have nothing to add” you honestly admitted. It seemed to you that you heard Alex's quiet "As I said", but Matt was quick to interrupt him asking you "Actually, we have already decided to play it in Bristol, but the question is where to chip in. We'll definitely not start with this one, and the outro is already completed, so..."

You thought a little, trying to understand what motives My Propeller reminds you of, and then the penny dropped.

"Pretty Visitors!" you exclaimed louder than you should have because your words echoed through the silent studio.

"Smooth interlude from Pretty Visitors, yeah, not bad actually" Alex quickly developed your idea, turning to Matt, as if asking "Do you mind?", but the drummer only closed his eyes approvingly. It seemed that they didn't need any words at all, they could understand each other with guitar riffs and drum brakes. Their connection, it was amazing, honed to automatism for past 20 years. They were like scientists in a chemistry lab mixing potions together in an attempt to make a new elixir. It was magic to come true and watching this process was so intimate that you involuntarily felt the heat on your cheeks, as if you were engaged in voyeurism.

***

The hours in the studio flew by. Fortunately for you, the guys decided to surprise fans with the return of Mardy Bum which will be the opener. The exact setlist for Bristol was confirmed at the end of the rehearsal, bringing back Teddy Picker and The View From The Afternoon as well. So looking at the perfect 21 songs, you could only imagine what they would save for London. Originally you were going to visit their concert in your hometown, you bought tickets as soon as sales were announced, but after James's call you easily gave the ticket to a friend, saying that you had won a jackpot.

Tom and Tyler have already left and the five of you are left. You were sitting on a soft chair, moved from the corner of the room, and the guys opposite on the sofas. The boys had laid down their guitars and you were leding a peaceful conversation about life, since the studio rental time ended only in an hour. You told them about your career in the industry, Maneskin and the part time projects you've been working on lately, omitting the details of your divorce because you thought it was too early for them to immerse themselves in such personal aspects of your life.

"By the way, Vic is your big fan and Alex in particular" you giggled, remembering the way drunk Maneskin bassist told you that she would like to sleep with Turner. Those were the carefree times of your youth you warmly remembered.

"Really?" Matt raised his eyebrows as he sipped his seemingly endless bottle of cider "You still have their contacts, right?"

"Yeah, sure, we even text each other occasionally" you quipped.

"And you didn't say you were working with us?" Heldres was surprised.

"Actually, somehow it didn't seem possible" you lowered your gaze, "I mean what would it look like? "Hey guys, look who's here, I now manage the Monkeys btw?" - so what?"

You could tell by the Cheshire smile on Matt's bristly face that this was exactly how he thought.

"Oh no, Matthew, don't you-"

"Oh yes, darling, dial FaceTime, you'll show them our doll" the man neighed, turning to Alex, who had been sitting quietly on the couch until this moment, and fidgeted in place after the suggestion.

"For God's sake, Matt, what a kindergarten behavior" the vocalist howled irritably, rolling his eyes, "I don't even remember their names".

The idea of making fun of Turner a little for the morning case with the box and taking revenge seemed to you unexpectedly delightful. Your hand automatically sank into your pants pocket, deftly pulling it out into the light and finding the right WhatsApp chat.

"Don't worry, you just have to say hi to Vic, I'm sure you'll be fine" you sang sweetly, glancing slyly at Matt, who chuckled approvingly, glad that you supported his idea.

Alex only cursed at this and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it. Either from nerves, or putting his hair in order before the call.

You moved from your seat to the couch between Alex and Matt, gesturing for Nick and Jamie to join. You put your hand in front of you so only your face was visible in the camera frame, waiting for one of the guys to take the call. It might have been a little ill-advised to call like this without warning on a workday evening, but anyway it was already too late, as the beeps trailed in a string of sounds. You hoped that they didn't have a concert today, in any other case, one of them would definitely pick up the phone from you. And by a happy coincidence, it was Vic who ended up on your screen.

"What the hell, Miss Boogie, are you really occasionally calling after all this time of silence?" despite Victoria de Angelis's accusatory words, she sounded playful. She was a little disheveled and with a bright blush on her face. People were walking randomly with the string interruptions in the background. Apparently, the guys were at the soundcheck at one of the venues, and Vic recently finished playing.

Four pairs of eyes openly stared at you with undisguised interest after hearing the nickname, demanding an answer, but you just mouthed "later".

"Awww, sweetheart, and I'm happy to hear you again too!" you said with an ironic smile.

 "I have a lot of news for you, and I will definitely call you in private soon"

"Are you not alone? Who's with you?" the girl even moved closer to the camera in an attempt to see something.

"Well, I have a little surprise for you. Actually four surprises, but one of them you'll find really special" you said conspiratorially, looking around at the guys who were still out of the picture. Alex sat to your right, trying to portray the most distant look, as if everything that was happening was nothing more than baby talk for him.

"Darling, if you have a group orgy without me, then I will be offended and drop the call" the bassist said threateningly, wiping her forehead with a towel that was hung on her shoulder.

You just burst out laughing "Ok ok, I'm not languishing you anymore. I hope you're ready. Boys, say hi to Vics" and you finally moved the camera further so that Matt, Nick and Jamie, who were sitting to your left, got into the camera frame, Alex's appearance you saved for a dessert.

The musician's reaction exceeded all your expectations. At first she narrowed her eyes, bringing the phone even closer to face, and then she widened them with a loud squeal, jumping up from her seat.

"What the hell, Y/N! What the actual fuck, you're a shitty mutherfucker!!!" she covered her mouth with her hand, chaotically moving the phone in different directions. Apparently, other members of the group came running to her scream, as you heard the voice of Damiano asking what happened.

"What happened?" she repeated "The fucking Arctic Monkeys are sitting next to Y/N!" answering a question off-camera and stabilizing the phone. Now you could clearly see the vocalist leaning over her shoulder, Thomas to the side and Ethan slightly behind.

Finally, the men next to you decided to introduce themselves "Hey, guys, what's new?" Matt said smiling to the camera, Jamie and Nick just waved their hands in a friendly manner.

"Oh my God, what's going on" Vic, still dumbfounded, spoke with a face of complete amazement. Damiano, who quickly figured out the whole situation and realized that Vic was unlikely to be able to communicate normally now, carefully took the phone from her hands.

"Hi, Y/N, long time no see! Hi, boys, how fresh you are" the frontman winked. The words "for your age" were suggested mutely, but David left them behind the scenes. The men next to you just laughed quietly at this remark and saluted the Italian boy.

"Vic, that's not all yet, look who's next to me" wanting to finally finish off your friend, you moved the camera to the side, revealing Alex's presence, who was already sitting with a polite smile on his face, leaning on the sofa armrest.

"Hi, love" Turner murmured hoarsely, turning on his usual charisma. You were surprised how quickly he went from "fuck off everyone" to his stage persona. Indeed, a skill acquired over the years.

De Angelis, after looking at the camera for just a second, squealed even harder than the first time, which you even grimaced a little, because in a quiet studio it sounded deafening.

The camera was still held by Damiano, but the girl in the frame could be seen doubled over, holding back cries of happiness. Her guys just laughed out loud at this, knowing full well what a strong fan of Alex she was.

"Y/N, I'm going to fucking kill you, I'll strap your ass so you can't sit still for another week, what are you doing to me?" Vic didn't let go of expressions, which made the men next to you shamelessly laugh, even Turner smiled predatoryly.

"Holy shit, you're real" the girl muttered in one breath.

Her adoration entertained Alex. Celebrities fangirling celebrities wasn't an unknown story for Alex, so the way Vic behaved didn't annoy him, but brought a feeling of sincere pleasure from what was happening.

"It would be strange if I wasn't, mhm?" the man grunted, changing the position - now he rested elbows on his knees, bringing the face closer to your phone. You could smell his light apple scent from the cider you both drank and the cigarette halo that soaked into all of the frontman's clothes.

Damiano finally decided to take control over the situation by turning the camera completely on himself.

"So, Y/N, if you wanted to surprise Vic, then you succeeded 100%! But we are now at soundcheck, and we don't have much time, and she" nodding towards the bassist "still needs to be brought to her senses. We were extremely happy to hear from you, babe. Call us when you are free and tell us everything in detail. Miss you very much!"

"Guys, me too! Love ya, see you at Glasto!"

"Wait! Take a screenshot!" Vic's desperate exclamation came from Damiano's left side.

He made a focused face, looking for the right buttons, while you and the men simultaneously smiled at the camera.

"Send it to the chat" you asked, ending the call and blowing a virtual kiss. You obviously cut off Vic's "I love you" without being entirely sure it was addressed to you.

The studio immediately froze in deafening silence. You put your phone down on the coffee table, still smiling.

"That was a real buzz, they're cute" Matt said leaning back on the couch. The mood of the guys clearly improved by this little conversation. You were glad that you could somehow diversify their evening after a productive and exhausting day. Even Alex stopped keeping his always compressed lips and frowning eyebrows.

"So, Miss Boogie, right?" Jamie began slyly, reminding you of your infamous nickname.

An approving "ooooo" reverberated around the room, from which you hid behind your palms.

"Damn, I was hoping you'd forget" you muttered from your hiding place.

"C'mon, we're intrigued already" Nick reached out to you through Matt, gently taking your hands away from your face.

Jamie suddenly started chanting your name, encouraging you to reveal this terrible secret, and Matt whistled as if Sheffield FC had just scored a goal.

"God, okay, just shut up please" you gave up.

The four men took more comfortable positions in anticipation of your story.

"In fact, there is nothing special in this story, it's just stupid. When Maneskin was approved for Eurovision, we went to celebrate, how can we not. It was in Milan. We got very drunk in a bar and went for a walk around the city. It was about 3 in the morning, and to entertain ourselves we played Truth or Dare. The most banal thing that could be, but nothing better came to mind. And I chose Dare, 'cause everyone else only cowardly told their secrets. So Vic asked me to dance for a minute on the street to any song that a passerby would name. Well, since at such time you are unlikely to meet any adequate passerby, we only found a beggar in the square. I don’t know how old he was, but the first song that he remembered was Boogie Wonderland" at this point you made a dramatic pause, "so yes, I had to dance to this song at night in front of other poor people who came up to us. Since then they call me Miss Boogie. Everyone is satisfied now, having fun, huh?"

You intentionally crossed your arms in insult, surreptitiously watching the laughing band.

"I bet there's a video" Matt said cheekily.

"Yes, there is, but you'll never see it!" you retorted quickly, glaring at the drummer.

"Your hot cheeks make me want to see this video even more" Nick teased tapping Matt on the shoulder.

"You know what," Alex suddenly announced, "choose any song you want. We play it, and you show the video"

You could swear your jaw was somewhere on the floor.

"Woah, did you decide to go all-in?" Matt asked, also not expecting such a generous offer "Be careful, otherwise you will have to play a Taylor Swift song"

"Ouch, why do you think I like her?"

"Who doesn't like her?"

"Your truth" you nodded approvingly.

"I meant our song. We'll perform it at the concert" Turner interrupted your dialogue, looking at you testily from under his eyelashes.

There was a slight silence, which you broke with a heavy sigh.

"Wow, okay, this is getting interesting" you muttered, leaning back on the couch like Helders had done earlier. The three men to your left looked at each other in surprise, waiting for an answer, while you've been thinking, looking at the frontman.

"Certain Romance," you easily stated, "I want this one"

"Your wish is my command, Miss Boogie," he joked without any hint of smile, standing up "you guys remember how to play it, don't you?"

The guys looked at each other dumbfounded, unable to find words for such a drastic change in the behavior of the vocalist, but after a discordant series of affirmative nods, they received a condescending smile from him.

"Well, that's great, there's still time to rehearse. I propose Sheffield!" Alex said solemnly, thrusting his hands into the pockets.

"Al, ru ok?" Matt raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"All right, man" Turner said artificially.

"This house is a circus indeed" swirled through your head. Alex's behavior was defiant. Emerging into conflict. Literally a minute ago everything was peace and quiet, and now he, like a proud peacock, was arranging a show for you at the level of a cheap soap opera.

"No, but seriously, let's even organize a lottery, since Y/N has such an influence on the setlist" Alex didn't let up.

"Come on, pipe down, you suggested it yourself" Nick intervened carefully, not wanting to stir up the smoldering coals of the conflict.

"And I think all of you are into this idea, aren't you?" Turner didn't raise his low, heavily accented baritone, but the underlying toxicity in his tone was evident, "oh, even better, let's ask our Italian friends for advice! Let's get their opinion and her video as well".

"Alexander, smoke?" you stood up decisively from the couch, grabbing your purse and phlegmatically glancing at the wooden cider box you'd probably have to leave in the studio. But you couldn’t leave the guys in such an atmosphere, so out of courtesy you promised to return again.

"Y/N, no problem, see you before Bristol! Send the screen to our group, 'cause I'm getting jealous for these Italians" Matt gave you an encouraging wink in the end, and you certainly promised to do it tonight.

"They'll kill each other"

"He doesn't stand a chance"

Jamie and Matt said at the same time as the door closed behind you.

Alex imposingly walked ahead, not hurrying anywhere. He politely said goodbye to the security guard, noting that the rental period had already come to an end. Almost bowing, he opened the door to the street for you, artificially gallantly holding it with his hand, still making a show from every gesture, which for some reason made you feel disgusted. You were counting on working with middle-aged men, accomplished musicians, but it feels like you are talking to teenagers.

Damp cold air from the river hit your red cheeks, which made you wrap yourself in a jacket more tightly. Alex took out a pack of Marlboro, offering you one, but nodding to himself, removed it, remembering your words a week ago practically at the same place.

"Well?" he said with a cigarette in his mouth, lighting the filter.

The sky was overcast with a milky haze of fog, which wasn't uncommon for these places, a weak wind was blowing, but not a single sound from the road was heard, which made you hear sparks from ignited tobacco hiss like champagne bubbles, falling on the asphalt.

Alex exhaled noisily, squinting at you with his eyes. His face was faintly lit by the flame of a cigarette, but even in such low light, it was noticeable that his gaze was completely blank. "Amazingly indifferent and deep eyes at the same time. It's impossible to tell anything from them" you thought. Or maybe he was like this only with unpleasant people to him, who you apparently were. You can’t even imagine the way these eyes changed on stage "Where are you real, Alexander?". But instead of asking this, you just threw your head back, tiredly closing your eyelids, showing with your whole appearance how absurd the situation is.

"Alex," there wasn't any visible point to call him Mr. Turner even though you were annoyed "I thought we made a deal, didn't we?"

"Really? When?" his voice sounded even more affected than in the studio, despite the fact that now the man spoke rather quietly and slowly. Or maybe even a whisper would be loud in this ringing silence.

"I just don't understand what the problem is" you continued, as if you didn't hear his words.

"I don't see it either, Miss Y/S"

You raised your eyebrows high as you asked a silent question, which made Alex smirk slightly. Taking a puff, he began to explain to you with the intonation of a parent teaching a child not to put his fingers in the socket.

"Listen, I won't hide it, you brought some chaos to our tour. This is different from your direct duties though - to solve all the problems on our way. But you're a stranger who stirred up our peace and foundation. I was initially against this idea, but James left me no choice. You are undoubtedly an educated young lady, and probably from a moral point of view, I sound like a scoundrel now-"

"You sound unprofessional, Alex. You only make me feel contempt, and I don't care about any moral side"

The frontman looked at you from under his brows, taking out a second cigarette in a row from the pack, waiting for a further reaction, but inside you was a frozen magma that didn't want to break out, muffled by self-esteem. For now.

His words contradicted his behavior. In the morning he carries your boxes and asks for a song advice, and in the evening he gives out this shit. If women's logic is ridiculed by society, then men do not have it at all.

“You know what, when James offered me this job, I was damn excited and proud that I would be working with a team like yours. I was on a cloud nine. But you, Alex, you're just a spoiled boy in the body of a 37-year-old man who hasn't overplayed his ambitions and thinks that his subtle nature is so fragile to understand that you need to hide behind the facade of an asshole so that normal people with good intentions don't crawl into your soul. You are cowardly and arrogant!"

You were breathing heavily, and the words "fool fool fool" stretched on repeat in a red line behind your eyes.

You didn't even understand how they escaped from your lips, absolutely thoughtlessly. You even instinctively wanted to raise a hand to cover your mouth, but pulled yourself back in time, deciding to play to the end. Show after show.

Alex hadn't raised a cigarette to his face during your tirade, so that the wick was almost dead in his fingers. You intensively looked at each other without stopping, and at some point it seemed to you that fear flashed in his pupils. Fear of the revealed truth. However, they were covered with a thick veil of indifference to what was happening in a second, and he finally took the last puff, throwing the butt right on the road.

"Miss Y/S, it seems that you have to go" the musician said unemotionally.

You took one last burning look at his features and, without saying a word, turned around towards your car. How ironic, a week ago you left each other in roughly the same sequence of activities - studio, cider, parking lot, but under completely different circumstances.

Slamming the door shut, you sharply revved, not bothering to warm up the engine, and drove out of the parking lot with a clang of tires. Burning tears of resentment gushed from your eyes, covering the already foggy road in front, but you didn't pay attention.

Your cooperation has just begun, and you have already swept on an emotional swing. Only in the morning you were driving in a car towards the sun and rejoicing at the warm words of your dad, and in the evening you return home, wiping the salty paths with the back of your hand from your face.

You were never embarrassed by tears, you cried out almost all of them during a divorce, but if they dripped from your eyes today, then there was a reason for that. Your parents taught you that after rain there is always a rainbow, after tears there is always peace of mind, you need to be able to live through any emotions in order to turn them into your power later.

***

You haven't seen the boys since that evening until today's early departure for Bristol. Of course, you communicated on all sorts of organizational issues during this time and there was no visible tension, especially since they didn't hear about your quarrel with Alex. You were more than sure that he would not tell his friends about that incident. This is what infringes on him, and therefore makes him weaker, which he couldn't allow.

All these days you have wondered what was the reason for such a sharp behavior, however you couldn't really delve into yourself. Why exactly you were crying - from resentment, overstrain or just an emotional outburst, it was also difficult to understand. Perhaps all together. Over the past month, from your first conversation with Ford to recent events, your life has changed 180 degrees, so it's no surprise that your psyche gave a little glitch.

You've comforted yourself with routines though — setting Grapes up with a friend until your next visit to London, inviting your parents over for dinner to tell you all the details, packing your suitcase for the tour, checking out all the technical stuff, and almost forgetting what kind of adventure you're packing for.

And now, without any idea of the nearest future, you were sitting in a black Mercedes Sprinter between Marcus and James Kerr, Ben was in the passenger seat in front, Steven was riding with the group in the bus. It was only 8 am, you were sleepy, only at the last moment you didn’t forget to remove eye patches before going out, you didn’t even put on makeup, so you sat in the wide sunglasses, even though the sun wasn't visible through the tinted windows of the car.

It seemed that everyone was relaxed, easily communicated with each other and knew exactly what each would do upon arrival at the venue. Unlike you. The schedule was pretty clear - check-in at the hotel, lunch, departure for the soundcheck and then free time for the management and the band, but very busy time for the technicians. Of all this, the most sensible thing was to drink plenty of wine at dinner and walk around the rest of the day in a relaxed state of mind, but those were only pitiful thoughts of creeping fear. Deep inside you were sure that everything would be fine, it couldn’t be otherwise, because even if you didn’t know how to do this or that task, the guys knew their duties, and they physically couldn’t play the concert badly.

"Hey, Y/N, you kinda took working with us too seriously" Marcus snapped you out of your thoughts with his mocking tone.

"I'm sorry, what?" you asked, turning to him.

He touched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and chuckled. It took you another couple of seconds to figure out what he meant, so he took advantage of your confusion to explain "you now going to wear glasses in the dark as well?"

The reference to Alex was read transparently, so you imperceptibly flinched and pointedly removed them, as if not wanting to be associated with him at all.

"No, no, I just didn't have time to do my make up" you honestly admitted, shrugging your shoulders ingenuously.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we-" the guy looked around at all the passengers, "we don't understand this here"

You laughed slightly, at the same time relaxing, and asked him a question that had been of interest to you for a long time.

"Why don't you have women in the team? I mean at all"

Instead of Marcus, Ben decided to answer from the front seat, apparently as the eldest among you.

“It didn’t happen on purpose, but later it became kind of unspoken rule. We are here like on the fishing, you know? We leave our wives, spend time within our male company, it’s like an alternative branch of your life, you do quality work here, you feel needed, while no one owe you nothing and you feel absolutely free in your actions, understanding thoroughly those who are around you"

"Are you aware that this is how a normal team should work, regardless of gender? It sounds somehow sexist. Am I really embarrassing you in actions?" you smiled slyly, anticipating the denouement.

"Actually, besides you, we have 3 other women in the team.." Marcus embarrassingly chipped in.

"Guys, don't bother yourself with excuses, I knew who I was messing with" you laughed, crossing your legs. Marcus looked at you dumbfounded, but said nothing, and James just chuckled softly at the window.

"Well, if you knew that, then you also should know about our tradition, right, guys?" Ben began in a conspiratorial tone, exchanging glances with the guys.

"Um, about what?" you arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"The newbie is signed up for the after-party. Tonight is your first concert, and after that we go to the bar, the drinks are off you! We're equal here" Ben imperturbably continued to scan your reaction with a fox-eye, waiting for an answer. It's not that you're greedy or unable to pay, but to buy drinks for the whole team...

And as if ahead of your question, the man added "enough management and the band".

As if it changed the essence. But you couldn't refuse, so you mumbled something affirmative, getting a roar of male hoarse laughter in response, and starting to laugh at yourself. You appreciated in people, especially males, this ability - to make a woman laugh. In a time of constant change and stress, finding someone who will make you forget about it was very important.

The rest of the road was spent in the same good mood, and these conversations did help you to forget about your anxiety due to upcoming events. Upon arrival, all the management team and the band settled in the hotel. As James promise, you've been given a private suite overlooking the most beautiful park in the city center. But due to an unknown coincidence, you lived not on the same floor with the attendants, but through the door from the group.

Matt carried your things to your room and you agreed to meet for lunch in 20 minutes.

Since you were able to miraculously did a make up even in the car, thanks to the sensitive driving, now you decided to change into more presentable clothes in which you will be at the concert.

Without changing the habit of choosing clothes carefully and for a long time, you took off your hot sweatshirt, remaining in only sweatpants and starting to go through the whole suitcase in search of those things that would match your mood. You had a couple of looks planned, but today's unexpectedly warm weather changed your plans a little, so you confidently took out a black leather skirt and a white blouse.

A piece of matter fit all your forms perfectly, so you were satisfied with the choice, spinning in front of the mirror by the bed. The black bodice harmonized perfectly with the skirt, and the crazy idea of ​​staying only in it, without putting on anything, flashed through your head like a bullet, but flew out just as quickly as soon as you heard the muffled thud of heels on the carpet outside the door and a muttered "Jamie?" at your door followed by a knock. You hysterically shouted "No!" exactly at the moment when the door opened without a click.

"Shit, Y/N!" Alex, not having time to properly enter your room, but having clearly noticed you in a compromising way, abruptly recoiled, remaining in the corridor, but not completely closing the door so that he could hear you, but not see.

"God! What a mess" you pleaded, rushing to the door. You stuck out only your head, meeting the eyes of the musician, who was discomposedly staring at you point-blank.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Why are you naked?"

You asked at the same time, shouting over each other.

"This is my room! And I'm not naked!"

"Where's Jamie? I thought he was at 312" Turner asked, a little bewildered, clearly embarrassed.

"I have no idea where Jamie is. How did you even get in?" you were still half-dressed, hiding most of your body behind a wooden door.

"I knocked, but it turned out that it was not slammed at all"

"What the fuck? Maybe Matt didn't close when he left," you muttered more to yourself. You clearly saw the question “What did Matt do here?” that arose in Alex’s head, but which he never voiced. Clearly realizing that the dialogue could not be continued in this form, you abruptly switched the subject, trying to tear his eyes from your neck.

 "I was changing for dinner anyway, so see you there" you sharply slammed the door in front of him, not wanting to go into details, and tiredly leaned your head against the wooden surface from the inside.

"Crazy" you heard quiet along with receding soft steps.

It was your only meaningful conversation with the singer, since that evening. You understood that it couldn’t go on like this for a long time, but at the moment you didn’t have any ideas how to fix the situation. So you just finally put on the look you chose, after checking that the door was locked, then decided to add a black headband, and being satisfied with your appearance, went downstairs.

After lunch, the whole team went to the stadium, where the technicians had already set up half of the equipment. The guys immediately went to the sound check, and you and Steven went to meet Ashton Gate management. It seemed like there was still plenty of time before the concert, and you thought you would have a few more chances to double-check everything, but in the turmoil that was going on behind the scenes, this turned out to be impossible.

To be honest, you were overwhelmed by what was happening. The soft music, people around, the sun rays moving towards the sunset - this whole scene that was unfolding before you as you unexpectedly stepped onto the empty stage a few minutes before the crowd was let into the stadium looked surreal and incredibly familiar, as if you had been here many times before. The noise and chaos behind you contrasted with the tranquility in front of your eyes. The empty space that was about to be filled with a crowd in just a few minutes brought both excitement and serenity. These were the moments that seemed unreal, but made life worth living.

***

The show was about to start, and you stood next to the dark staircase, where the guys from the dressing room were soon to come up. Leaning on the railing, you nervously twirled a lock of hair around your finger. You went through all the items on the checklist in your head, checking off each one mentally, but something still bothered you.

Alex.

Your unfinished conversations and evasive behavior were weighing on you. You felt guilty, knowing that as his manager, you had behaved tactlessly, driven by emotions. It ate at you from the inside. You decided that you would talk to him today, apologize and put this issue to rest once and for all.

Suddenly you noticed a flickering light from the security, which meant that the group is entering the stage, and you turned sharply, both wanting and fearing to see them. As always, looking luxurious, these four men made their way up to the platform, remaining unnoticed by the audience.

"Good luck, guys! I'm buzzing as hell honestly" you tried to sound confident, but your voice trembled on the last word.

"Miss Y/S, is it just me or are you worried about us?" Nick lightly touched your shoulder in a reassuring gesture.

"Well, it's my first time with you" realizing how ambiguous that sounded, you interrupted yourself with a laugh.

"Oh, you'll love it, babe" Matt mimicked a voice from a cheap adult movie, tossing a stick in the air. It seemed like he could find the right words in any situation, and in the future, you would highly appreciate this skill.

All this time, you were glancing at Alex out of the corner of your eye, trying to read his emotions, but he calmly adjusted the folds on his unchanging dark blue jacket and stretched his neck with turns left and right. Seeing that the guys had moved a little away from you, you looked at your watch, estimating that you had 5 minutes maximum, and whispered to yourself "now or never".

"Alex!" you called him out loudly, trying to outshout the crowd "I wanted to talk, I know it's not the most appropriate time, but-"

"Y/N, forgive me, okay," the man unexpectedly began, barely approaching you. For the first time, you saw genuine excitement in his eyes, here, in the darkness of the backstage area of a 30,000-seat stadium. For some reason, only now you clearly feel the difference in height between you two. He looked down at you patronizingly. Maybe it was because of his heels or the knot of nerves in your stomach that made you feel so small in your attempt to hide from his penetrating gaze.

"I've been a complete jerk and acted childish from the very beginning. You didn't do anything to deserve such treatment. I don't want our tension to affect the group and our work in any way, so I admit my guilt"

You stood in shock, slightly opening your mouth. You absolutely did not expect such a turn of events, so your entire improvised speech evaporated from your mind instantly. He suddenly smiled softly, raising an eyebrow, as if asking 'well, what now?' Still not believing what you heard, you nodded your head almost automatically.

"Y-yes, you were a jerk indeed. But I also didn't behave entirely correctly, my first impression wasn't great either," you sighed in frustration, recalling your memories, "I suggest we start over, huh? Hi, my name is Y/N, I'm your new tour manager, nice to meet you" and to confirm your words, you gracefully extended your hand to him.

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Alex Turner, sort of singing here," he shook your hand with an energetic movement. His palm was dry and steady, causing a pleasant warmth throughout your body, "just business then?"

"Just business indeed. And a little bit of music" you said, more relaxed, smiling with all 32 teeth, still holding onto his hand.

"Deal, Miss Y/S"

For a moment, the roar of fans faded away for you, and you only saw the outlines of his pupils in the semi-darkness and his fingers firmly holding yours. However, your fragile moment was promptly ruined by-

"Al, c'mon!" Jamie impatiently called, and your hand felt the gusts of wind instead of calloused skin of the frontman. You watched him walk away in his waddle manner, as he suddenly turned and shouted, winking "By the way, nice lace".

 It took you a couple of seconds to understand what was said, and when the meaning of his words reached you, you exclaimed in indignation "You, motherfucker!" almost stomping your foot, but your cry was lost in the wild roar of the crowd, as the guys were already on stage.

It was a miraculous sight. Four men made people go into ecstasy just with their appearance - this is the phenomenon of the Beatles, and they were proof that rock and roll is alive. As long as they are alive. Every strum on the guitar strings, every touch of the lips to the microphone, every drumstick strike, every hair flip was special in their performance, they themselves were special.

You were fascinated, to say the least. When the performance came to the last song before the encore, Body Paint, one of your favorite songs from the album, that was definitely made to be played live, you were out of words. The whole song built you up to the climax, to the outro that every time was a pure jamming and improvisation. And you literally exploded in ecstasy when Alex started walking around the stage, unable to stand still from the knocking down energy. He closed his eyes in languor, biting his lips, screaming, throwing out his arms, and you couldn't take your eyes off. You weren't dancing or jumping, you were inseparably watching his every movement, arms folded across your chest. Your mouth was agape against your will, and your eyes eagerly punched a hole in the frontman. This is a unique performance, it's something that is hard to explain without feeling it for yourself. You were made up of his music, you literally felt these waves inside your veins, your brain wasn't able to comprehend what was happening, it was like a catharsis for all of you. And you definitely didn't want to be saved.

Suddenly Alex turned his head to your side, continuing to play some divine riff outlining the Van Gogh fields on the guitar strings. His hair was tousled, shirt unbuttoned, but his jacket fitted perfectly. He rested his eyes on your figure, smiling with one corner of his lips, and you looked at each other for good seven seconds which felt like eternity. You were sure that everything was clear in your eyes, and even if he stood next to you and heard you, you wouldn't be able to utter a word.

What you definitely didn't expect when your eye contact was broken and Alex walked to another side of the stage, that tears would involuntarily flow from your eyes. "What the hell..." you wondered aloud, quickly removing the salty tracks from your cheeks. In fact, you perfectly understood why you were crying. From a sense of greatness. The greatness of music, human synergy and the power of unity. It was too much for you, too strong emotions to bear. It was excellent, it was the taste of life, thanks to which you still were here. "God, if you exist, bless this band, they are saints" although it sounded ridiculous and naive, you seriously were ready to pray for the talent of these guys, for the ability to make other people feel alive. You were in your place, you did everything right, you were cruising the victory. Today he convinced you.

As soon as the last chords of "RU Mine?" were played and the bows to the fans were taken, the men disappeared from the deafening roar behind the dark curtains of backstage. Their hair stuck to their sweat faces, and a distinct masculine smell was coming from their shirts. The guys passed by you with exhausted smiles, unable to utter a word from fatigue, and disappeared into the darkness of the corridors.

You didn't know what to do right now. According to your understanding, your job didn't end with pre-concert organization, there were also post-concert tasks to be done. But you were so lost in emotions that you felt like you were drifting away from an anaphylactic shock.

Unexpectedly, Tyler came to you as he was the last one to come off the stage. He fraternally put a hand on your shoulder, tousling your hair with his heavy palm.

"Well, with the initiation into our hell, sweetheart. How're you?"

"Thrilled, and I want more!" you declared confidently, matching his quick pace that was pulling you further away from the frenzy of the crowd.

"Well, don't doubt that, it's just the beginning" he charmingly smiled, and you couldn't help but mirror his expression.

"Now we're going to celebrate, and you're coming with us" it sounded so authoritative that even if you wanted to object, you immediately closed your mouth, nodding in agreement. "Besides, seems like you need to unwind" you remembered.

You left the stadium only an hour later, apparently, it was a normal time for the guys to "recover". You'd made several jokes about one woman waiting for seven men and received offended and teasing looks in return. You got into the same Mercedes you arrived in that morning, and the driver took you to one of Bristol's typical English pubs that the guys loved so much.

You didn't understand their fondness for these quaint places where the sofa upholstery hadn't changed along with the owner. There were so many modern bars in the city, any of which the band could afford to rent entirely, but they paid tribute to traditions, obviously cherishing memories of their lively youth when they started playing their first concerts in similar places. Such a return to their roots after the thousands-capacity stadiums grounded them well. And the warm nostalgia, slipping across the Guinness glasses every time, was a corner of genuine joy for the guys, the only true luxury they possessed.

And overall, you didn't care where to spend money or on what. After all today's events, which felt like a whole month, you didn't mind anymore. In the morning, you looked at your apple orchard in the early mist of suburban London, then stood half-naked in a five-star hotel room in front of a world-renowned music star, and now, in the evening, you huddled next to him on an old leather couch under a red velvet chandelier, drinking a B-52.

Glasses, shots and colorful bottles flashed in front of your eyes like a kaleidoscope. Your head was spinning from the amount of alcohol, and your cheeks hurt from laughter.

"My dear mates, I propose a toast to Miss Y/S and her first concert with us! I don't know if she understands where she has ended up, but we'll make sure she has a great time with us, right, guys? To Y/N!" Matt solemnly proclaimed, rising from the table, and 8 hands, pouring drinks onto each other, reached towards the center of the table to clink glasses.

"Guys, thank you for this opportunity, thanks to James for his unplanned vacation, thanks to Steven and Marcus-" although the latter wasn't here, you decided to thank him as he had been providing you with all kinds of help during these weeks, "for their support and adaptation, and of course, to you Monkeys, for accepting me. I do like your crazy Monkey house" you joked, but it didn't negate the truth. Despite all the past disagreements with the lead singer, you felt that you were still doing everything right. And even if you hadn't gone on this adventure today, you would still feel grateful to fate for such an opportunity to be at the center of life.

"Glad to hear that," Jamie chuckled ironically, "as they say, welcome aboard"

And with these words, you all whistled, and Tom even shouted like a saloon girl from the Wild West. Your evening, or rather the night, continued until 3 am, fortunately there was no concert the next day, so you could at least sleep in a bit. You looked in horror at the amount you had drunk, trying to estimate how long it would take to recover the contents of your wallet. But you had consumed so much gin and tonic that the only thing that really worried you was how to walk straight for at least 2 meters to the bar to pay for it all.

"Drinks on me!" you declared with a mischievous smile to the group as you headed towards the bar counter.

"What, for everyone?" Matt playfully refined.

"Well, yeah," you didn't have the energy to realize his surprise, but he also didn't have the energy to argue with you, "that's no problem".

And thus, the following events spun in your head like a foggy whirlpool. Here you were finally breathing in the fresh air of the street, tilting your head towards the purple sky, then you were half-lying on someone's shoulder in the black minivan, and finally for no reason you were walking barefoot on a soft hotel carpet, but there were no shoes in your hands as well.

You didn't have any memories of walking into your room either. But in the moment, the feeling of soft snow-white hotel sheets flooded your body with long-awaited bliss. You instantly fell into the arms of Morpheus, only on the verge of consciousness noticing that someone took off the headband from your hair, which had been squeezing your head tightly, and silently closed the door.

You may be too drunk to remember each of your actions clearly, but you definitely wouldn't mistake the familiar scent of cigarettes in the room.

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

A/N: Oh, so much has happened in one chapter, and this is just the beginning of the tour... I decided to tell the background of Y/N for a better understanding of her actions. What do you think, maybe you want more of "Italian friends" in the work? Whose line do you want to read in more detail? Share your emotions, it is incredibly valuable to me that someone reads this work actually!

xo🤍

Taglist: @missbabyjay @rentskenobi @findmeincorneliastreet @indierockgirrl here it is!

*if you want to be removed or added to the taglist, feel free to ask me!

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

@dragonprincedrabbles

Gren + Pip, Clear

Gren has an epiphany sitting in the dungeon with Pip, and maybe even a plan for a coup (that is not really a coup because Lord Viren is an illegitimate ruler, but he digresses).

An important fact about Commander Gren is that he was a teacher’s pet.

So of course he would raise his hand as best he could to be called on before speaking, chained up in a dungeon with the elf that had killed his king in a side chamber nearby, and said king’s bird stuck in his cage hanging from the wall.

Their imprisoner strode in, hands neatly folded on top of his staff, eyes shadowed and hanging heavily, bloodshot.

���No hot brown morning potion?” Gren asked, letting his wrists fall as limp as he could. It was hard to sleep standing up.

“No,” Lord Viren sighed, pinching his nose.

He kept on talking. “I have another-”

“Complaint? I’ll send a piece of paper. It will be promptly burned.”

Gren waggled a finger, grinning. “No! Not complaint- constructive criticism! We can all stand to do a little better, dontcha think?”

“If I humor you, will you silence?” Viren groaned, exasperated.

Gren was fairly certain the only reason he hadn’t done worse than chain him up here was because even the strongest mage would be helpless against General Amaya when she got wind of the predicament.

Still, he shrugged. He wasn’t the best at cards, but even he knew when to play an ace. He wasn’t commander to the revered general for nothing. “Sure!”

Viren mustered the most pleasant expression possible for him, one that was still the exact opposite of comforting, and smiled, though it came out a grimace. “Please do share your concerns, Commander.”

“Cool! I think…” He pondered for a moment. “I think it’s a little counterproductive- no, that’s not right. I think, yeah, I think it doesn’t make sense to keep the late king’s, may he rest in peace, bird in the dungeon.”

“And what would you rather I do with him?”

He pursed his lips. Gren hadn’t thought he’d get this far. “I dunno. Let me get back to you?”

“Yes, you ponder on that. Good tidings.”

Viren strode into the elf’s private cell, slamming the door behind him.

Gren leaned back against the hard, damp stone and released a long breath, looking to an oddly silent Pip in his cage hanging from the stairwell. “So. How are you?”

The bird squawked and ruffled his wings.

“Me, too, buddy. Hope you can get out of here, at least. No one’s built for this life.”

Pip tilted his head and picked at something under his wing.

“How long do you think we’ll be here?”

The bird moved his head in a little circle, and Gren chuckled.

“Hope it’s not long. If he cares this much about keeping me off the rescue mission, we could’ve compromised,” he mused. Gren had never been one for complete leadership, instead preferring to follow guidance and lead based on that. He would’ve been more than happy to co-lead the mission with Claudia and Soren, odd as they were. Just more opportunities to get to know them better, because one could never have too many friends.

Pip hopped forward on his perch, leaning his head so close to Gren that his beak poked through the bars. “Harrow,” he squawked.

Gren nodded. “I miss him, too.”

Pip shook his head, vibrant green plumage drooping and dirty. “Viren. Power.”

“I know he wants power,” Gren sighed in frustration, which was very counterproductive–and that was the right word this time–to what he’d worked on in therapy, channeling frustration and anger into productivity and paying things forward. But being productive in his current situation was very difficult, in his defense. No excuses, only doing, Ashton’s voice echoed.

 He gestured loosely to the door, taking a breath. “I don’t use the word lightly, but he’s cra-” He paused, the message the songbird was trying to relay growing more clear by the second.

“Are you telling me that Lord Viren let King Harrow die because he saw an opportunity to take power? And that’s why he’s keeping us here, so we can’t interfere?” He leaned towards the bird, struggling to keep his pitching voice from raising too high in excitement as the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Satisfied, the late king’s pet nodded. “Power-hungry fuckface.”

Gren burst out laughing. He had no doubt Queen Sarai had taught the bird that language that was quite accurate in describing the usurper.

“You’re not wrong, buddy. Hey”–he shot the bird appreciative finger guns–“you’re a good friend, Pip. Opened my eyes. But now I have to do something about it.”

Kick him where the sun doesn’t shine and chain him up in your place, Amaya would have said, but Gren didn’t possess her disregard for authority, nor her strength. No, Gren had to be more cunning about it. But how to outsmart a snake?

He thought back to the few words Pip had said, how Amaya had always complained, disgruntled, about the High Mage after every interaction with him.

“He’s manipulating Harrow,” she’d told him once in confidence after a few rounds of drinks, and Gren hadn’t breathed a word of it because not only would that have been treason, but betraying his best friend. “He’s selfish and you could swim in his sea of pride. I keep telling Sarai to work her way to getting him out by getting close to him, but she doesn’t listen. Tries to coexist.”

Pride. That was it.

Lord Viren couldn’t crack the Moonshadow elf who’d killed their king–who Viren might have let kill their king–and it was grating on him, breaking him down bit by bit until he’d do something less than humane- as if he hadn’t already.

Pride. He just had to play to his pride.

Gren had no more aces left. A king would have to do.

A voice echoed from the chamber, angry and piercing. “Would you stop talking to that blasted bird?!”

[calumsargwife]

'i told them about you.'

calum hood x fem!reader

summary: for the first time in a while, Calum tells his friends about you

warnings: bad language maybe, mentions of drinking or smoking. (English is not my first language so there may be some grammatical errors, sorry!)

word count: 1.9k

note: hey! i know this took a while but here it is! i hope you guys like it. question: do you think i should also write for other people? maybe characters from movies or smth. tell me your thoughts!

"So, how's this new girl going?" Luke asked with his second drink of the night in hand.

As they normally do, the boys had gotten together today to hang out, to see each other in another context other than work (as if they didn't see each other every day already).

They had dinner and were now having some drinks prepared by Ashton, who had 'accidentally' made the drinks a little stronger than normal.

"Yeah, you haven't told us anything about her." Michael added as he sat in one of the single chairs.

Calum sighed as he took a drag on his cigarette and sat down in the large armchair in the living room, trying to hold back a smile as he exhaled the smoke from his mouth.

"What's that smile for, uh?" Ashton teased and pinched Calum's arm, also with one drink on the other hand.

"Don't know..." Calum modestly answered.

"Aw, c'mon. Just tell us something!" Michael insisted.

"How long have you been dating already?" Luke questioned as he smiled mischievously at the other two boys.

Ok, the truth is, you two weren't dating, you were still just getting to know each other and the boys knew it, they just liked watching Calum get all red.

"Two months." Calum answered shortly as he diverted his gaze towards the large window, which gave the view of of the tall illuminated buildings; the suppressed smile on his lips made his cheeks hurt. He remembered that surely you would love to have one of these windows, you liked to have a great view of the entire city.

"And...?" Ashton pressed.

Calum took another drag of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke and sighed to give the long-awaited response to his friends. "Wrote a song about her."

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed what was said until Ashton spoke again. "There's no fucking way." He spoke in disbelief while he leaned his back on the chair in surprise.

"A song?" Michael asked you. "About this girl?" The boy turned his head to look at his friends with wide eyes. "You've never done anything like this so quickly."

They weren't wrong. Calum was normally one to have casual relationships, he said he was in a moment in which he couldn't focus on a completely exclusive relationship with so much commitment. I mean, he and the guys were at the peak of their career now, they were recording an album, doing a lot of interviews, maybe they were going on tour and... well, he just didn't have the time.

So it's obvious that his friends are confused. Calum was quite strict about the rule of not dating for a long time.

"What changed?" Luke asked, who was now analyzing his friend a little more.

"Her." Calum responded immediately without taking his eyes off the window. "She changed everything." He said now taking his eyes off the window and looking directly at the group. "She broke every rule that I could have ever set for myself."

Calum finished his cigarette and placed it in the ashtray on the living room table. "So, I wrote her a song."

"Damn."

"I know." Calum sentenced with a smile while he rubbed his hands and played with one of his rings, the one you gave him for his recent birthday. A birthday that the boys assumed had ended early because of you. "I just really like her, you know?" Calum raised his head to look at his friends. "I know it sounds crazy but..." he tried to explain himself.

"No, it's alright... I get it, really." Luke interrupted him. Calum quickly turned his eyes to him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, man." Luke answered with a smile and looked at his friend tenderly. "Maybe you're falling in love, who knows." He teased.

The boys laughed at the joke. Calum laughed lightly and looked out the window again, instantly thinking of you. Luke's joke resonated in his head, maybe it wasn't that crazy.

That night While Calum was telling the boys about you, that same night, they spent the night over together at Michael's and Calum was the first to wake up and leave. He didn't say anything but he was walking frantically around the house while he picked up his things and had breakfast with his friends, who were very relaxed sitting in their chairs while looking at Calum with an amused expression.

Once in his car, Calum began to reflect. He had to pick you up at your house in exactly twenty minutes to go have lunch together at his house.

He knew he had changed, he knew he was different and that things were different with you. And he didn't see it as a bad thing, really. Because for the first time, he was taking his time to do things the right way. He wanted to know you well before making things official, he wanted to know you deeply.

Calum was enjoying this little secret situation of getting to know each other. He liked that no one knows what's happening and that it is something that only he can witness. He was fascinated by the feeling of privacy and that no one could steal those moments, they were his and his alone. So, telling his friends about you was a big step for him.

Calum liked you a lot, so he couldn't contain his smile as he turned the corner of your house while simultaneously trying to remember that spice you like so much in salads, he wanted to have it mentally written down.

His smile widened when he saw you standing waiting at the door of your house. He got out of the car and came out to greet you with open arms.

"Hello there, beautiful." He greeted as he eagerly brought his lips to yours without waiting for any response from you.

You giggled before connecting your lips to Calum's. "Hey..." You received another kiss from him on your cheek. "I missed you."

"Me too." Calum had recently started to admit that he missed you when you weren't together. You couldn't deny that you liked the feeling of him missing you. It warms your heart a little every time he says it.

Calum at first was... complicated, to say the least. You really had a lot of patience and trust in the process because this guy wasn't easy. He was very closed to the idea of being in a relationship again or even trying to be in one. It took a while for him to really open up fully, you knew who he was before you started dating and Calum was careful about it. He thought that at first he couldn't trust you, but oh how wrong he was.

You were the most fantastic person Calum had met in recent years: completely honest and spontaneous, you were really patient with him, you never rushed him or pressured him into anything.

Maybe it sounds like you chased him around but the reality is that it was Calum who asked you out (as contradictory as it may sound) after having seen you several times in the same places as him, he developed a crush on you the moment he saw you.

So being here now, opening his car door for you to go to his house, makes it seem like everything was really worth it.

"Have you made any progress on that song you told me about?" You asked after the trip started, your hands intertwined, you felt Calum's finger lightly caress your hand. You definitely didn't know that Calum had written you a song.

Calum smiled to himself as you remembered what he told you, something he was excited about. "A little bit yes, we've been with the boys defining the chords a little so then moving on to polishing the lyrics a little more."

"Sounds fun." You answered him while with a sweet smile observing the panorama through the window.

Calum looked at your profile for a bit and sighed discreetly.

"And how are you doing with your thesis?" He asked you now. "Have you been able to find out anything else or...?"

You laughed a little before answering. "It's not a thesis, it's a research." You gave him a tender caress on the cheek when you saw that he didn't remember the difference. Calum did know the difference, he just likes to play dumb with you so he can see you explaining the same thing to him for the fifth time. "But it's going well, we changed the methodology so it's giving us better results."

The small, casual conversation continued throughout the remainder of the trip. Once they arrived, you didn't wait for Calum to open the door for you before rushing to his house, eager to see his little dog, Duke.

"Why do you seem more excited to see my dog than me?" He asked with an amused smile as he reached your side at the door.

"Because I am." You answered without looking him.

"Rude." Calum answered as he pretended to be offended.

You giggled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Once the door opened, Duke instantly jumped onto your lap. While you were busy greeting the dog, Calum went to the kitchen to start preparing lunch.

Minutes later you joined him and you began cooking a simple but delicious lunch: a classic pasta. Calum was fascinated, he'd never tell you but deep inside he was completely giggling and kicking his feet. Everything came so naturally to the two of you, nothing was forced and you functioned as if you had known each other your whole life.

After a while, the two were eating in Calum's dining room. You made casual small talk, mostly in silence as you enjoyed the food. Calum savored this moment and tried to imprint moments of this tranquility into his brain.

"You know..." He began as he took a sip of his drink. "The guys..."

"Your bandmates?" You finished his sentence.

He nodded. "I told them about you."

Now you were in shock.

He told his best friends?

He told them about you?

You did know that they knew Calum was seeing someone. But that he told them specifically about you.

Wow.

Now that was a big step. Especially for Calum. You knew how much his bandmates meant to him, how much he trusted them. You also knew how Calum hadn't been in anything serious with anyone for quite some time, so it was probably a surprise to them as well.

You swallowed nervously. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, and they were happy for me." He answered you with a sweet smile as he blushed a little and looked down at his plate.

"Well, I'm happy for you too." You told him with your most honest smile as you took his hand across the table and gave it a light caress.

"They want to meet you..." Calum told you, a little nervous that you would say no. "And I want you to meet them too, honestly."

"Seriously?" You tried to contain your surprise. It wasn't a secret that you were also a fan of the guys's music, so you felt the pressure.

Calum nodded with a smile and looked into your eyes again. You saw hope in them, he didn't want you to say no. "Then I would love to, it would be an honor, really."

Calum smiled happily and pulled your hand to pull you over to where he was sitting at the table. He smiled and sat you on his lap. "Thank you, it means the world to me." He told you with a genuine smile while with one hand he caressed your waist and his other hand cupped your face and brought you close for a sweet kiss.

As you shared that kiss, Calum couldn't help but feel a great emotion inside of him, for the first time in a long time, he had a good feeling about this.

[thecavernsabove]

okay now i just want to talk about my expectations versus why i have ended up liking certain characters because i am just so intrigued by everything these people and characters do. for bells hells, i went into it knowing i would love ashton because they are the reason I started watching, i didn't think i would really latch onto any other character, apart from maybe fearne because she's a satyr and i am particularly partial to satyrs, and imogen because i mean it's laura bailey!

but what actually happened, is that yes i did get super attached to ashton of course i did, but my top three quickly became ashton, orym and laudna (and as someone who started being able to watch live at the split you can imagine how devastated i was). and recently chetney is really creeping up there. i do love all the characters dearly though.

ashton just reminds me of myself so much, apart from the fact that they are much braver than i could ever be, and blunter too. i wish i could be them and also see all my faults in them. its a lot.

orym was my first introduction to liam o'brien and his devastating little guys (more on caleb later), and just his backstory and the way he deals with people intrigues me so much and i want to see him happy so bad.

laudna oh laudna. marisha ray you have ruined me. even going into this with my minimal knowledge of the briarwoods, her backstory reveal was so intense and it hurt. also, creepy unnerving girlies stick together! she's iconic.

chetney is so wild to me i love him so much. he is so intensely gender as well i love him so much. i love gruff and grumpy characters that are actually nice once you are more friendly with them.

imogen. i will say it took a little bit for her to grow on me but i do love her. i think the bassuras dusk stuff really helped me like her more. also her immense power and lightning scars are pretty cool if you ask me.

fearne. i love how sweet she is and the stuff like being bad at lying and also just stealing little things here and there was really fun. but what made me like her more was when she got more serious and i didn't expect that (foreshadowing for later!)

fcg. now, i still have, mixed? feelings for fcg. in a sense of i dont hate the character but i think the character arc is not something im too interested in, but i do still like them. the stuff with frida was very nice, and i do like the bits that they do - but i think there still feels like there is something missing for me somewhat.

now, with the mighty nein, i had an inkling on who i would like. i thought caleb certainly because we seem very similar, molly maybe because i liked ashton so hey i might like this taliesin character too! and that was it really. going into it though, because i had seen so much of jester (talking about her and cosplays mostly) i thought that she would be probably my least favourite because her personality didn't seem to really gel with what i usually like in characters. but here i am, on the other side with my favs being caleb, fjord, and jester! it was so much watching everything for the first time, even with knowing the big spoilers and then looking at more minor spoilers so i knew somewhat what would happen - but i do that with a lot of things, its different knowing what happens versus actually watching and experiencing what is happening.

caleb. caleb widogast is such an intense character and i loved every minute i spent with him. i spent so much time checking when i would finally see the nein sided tower of his and watching liam describe everything for an hour was so incredible i was in awe. i truely love that dirt wizard so much.

fjord was a truly unexpected character for me to fall for. the first time i realized that i was going to love him though was when they were in the one politicians house early in the campaign and he held his sword to caleb to make sure he wasn't fucking with them. then seeing his growth, the accent change, and just his whole deal i was enraptured. i do miss the southern eldritch blast though.

jester oh my goodness did she creep up on me. i think her initial cuteness that i had experienced throughout just existing on the internet put me off for some reason but i don't know why. however i did quickly fall in love with her, when she had one of her more sinister/serious moments early on. i don't remember what it was but i remember thinking oh. /oh./ okay. i love her. and then her relationship with her mama, and artie, gosh i just loved watching laura bailey do literally anything. the cupcake bit! also the sprinkle bit is quite funny. i also just love doing her voice when im talking to myself. she is also the reason that i take a decent amount of damage spells with my current cleric.

beau. i think i thought that i would have liked her more than i did (don't get me wrong i liked her a lot but she is not in my top three), but she is incredible. as a fellow monk pc i do love going the extra mile with those stunning strikes, and also seeing her relationship with yasha blossom was so lovely. and her bro relationships with fjord and caleb were also some of my favourites.

yasha. after starting with campaign three, it was really hard to not see ashley all the time and i remember having to look on the wiki while watching to check when she would come back every time she left. i think i really started to like her more after her she got taken, and went through that big arc, and we were around her more often. i loved watching her dreams. i loved watching her so much.

veth was so unexpected are you kidding me?? i will say i have yet to have a sam character be in my top three but god he knows how to throw an emotional punch and i love that kind of stuff. i love her relationship with caleb, the detective agency, the chaos crew. i love her arc of getting herself back, of seeing her family again. ough. im a big lover of families.

caduceus. goodness gracious me what a character. i just absolutely loved the aesthetic and caduceus's whole relationship to how he approaches death. he is also the reason i started playing a grave cleric in a newer campaign. but truly, has made me think differently about death - which was especially needed for me this year.

mollymauk. i knew he was dead. i knew he would die. but that didn't make me any less upset when it happened! i think about him often, what could have been. especially since i was so sure he took the wrong amount of damage in that fight and should not have quite have been knocked out at that time. but his whole maximallist aesthetic is something i very much enjoy, and i love the through line of his cards with jester.

wow okay this has gotten to be very long but i need to get my thoughts about everyone out somewhere!! if you've read this far im so sorry this is so much of my own ramblings.

[writersdare]

Give Me Attention | Ashton Irwin

Pairing: Ashton Irwin x Reader (she/her)

Summary: Ashton and Y/N had been friends for a while. However, everything changed once she found out an unpleasant secret he thought to hide from her.

Warning: angsty, an intimate moment, a bit of cursing and mentioning of alcohol

Word Count: 2 947

Requested: yes

Author’s Note: This one was actually hard! I've been working on this one for quite a bit, and really hope you'll like the story. I'm still not sure about the whole concept, but I like to try new ideas, so I don't regret choosing this path. If you watched a film "Matthias & Maxime", you'll maybe recognise one scene from there. Besides phrases from the requested prompt list I also used another, quite a known one. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts! Thank you for your patience on this one ♡

Friday was supposed to be for parties or at least for something fun. However, Y/N had her own meaning of fun, and Ashton did not exactly like it.

“You do realise I’m not a plumber?” the guy was lying on a floor, head inside a kitchen counter, where pipes of a sink were. 

“I believe in you,” Y/N smiled, changing a wet towel to a dry one. “Besides, you’re almost done, don’t complain,” she giggled and stepped back, taking a moment to appreciate Ashton’s naked back. “You’re so sweaty.”

“Oh yeah?” he mumbled, puffing loudly, while he was trying to screw the pipe. “Next time you’ll clean it yourself and I’ll look at you.”

Y/N bit her bottom lip, but couldn’t hold a giggle again. The guy was slightly mad and salty, she knew, though, he was just tired. It was a late evening, and Ashton was her lifesaver, as no one agreed to drive at such time and fix the pipe. It wasn’t even a big deal, it just clogged up! Well, perhaps, “just” was a wrong word, as Ash had a hell of a night. A drummer of one of the most popular bands in the world was cleaning a freaking sink…

“You’re the best, Ash,” Y/N said, smiling, and filled a kettle with water before heating it on a stove.

“Hell yeah, I am,” Ash chuckled and carefully stood up, being on all fours at first, as he was afraid to hit his head. That would be a dramatic end of the night, truly. “It should work now,” he sighed and turned on a faucet. The water flowed down easily and finally didn’t end up on the floor. 

“Thank you so much! Really! I’d hug you, but—“

“I’m sweaty, yeah, I got it,” Ash smirked and took his own white shirt on a chair to wipe his body a bit. “I’m gonna take a shower, alright? You better get me something stronger than tea,” he warned, seeing two cups on a table.

“Alright,” the girl chuckled and stood up to check if she had something on a shelf.  

Y/N and Ashton knew each other for a while. In fact, she was a good friend of all four guys from the band. Ash lived closer to her place, so it was rather natural to spend evenings together occasionally. 

Rather quickly the girl reconciled with her romantic feelings towards Ashton. They were just there, for him, it was stupid to deny. However, Ash always treated her like a friend, and Y/N didn’t even dare to make a step or give a little hint. It wasn’t like she suffered from low self-esteem; no, that was in the past. The girl just preferred to call herself a realist. Ashton and Y/N were as if from different worlds. His working schedule was a total mess, his relationships were, maybe, even crazier. Y/N knew if something more had ever happened to them, she could not stand unseriousness. The feelings were too strong, and they’d grow stronger, if they were a thing. It was just smarter to have Ash as a friend to avoid a risk of loosing him eventually.

“Feeling better?” she smiled, when Ashton came back to the kitchen. He wasn’t wearing a t-shirt, and drops of water were still noticeable on his chest. “How is this disease called? When a person leaves a shower without a proper use of a towel?” Y/N smirked, trying not to stare at Ash too much.

“Oh, c’mon, are you shy?” the musician chuckled, and she hated, when he was getting a bit spicy with her.

Y/N only grinned and gave Ashton a glass of Martini, when he set down next to her.

“Well-deserved,” the girl joked.

“Thank you. And yes, I’m feeling better. But do you know how I’d feel even better? If you didn’t call me in the middle of the night to fix your pipe.”

Y/N rolled the eyes, and the guy giggled, quickly leaving a kiss on the cheek. Ash smelled like her showering gel; slight alcohol notes hit the nose, too.

“I’m only joking. You know you can call me any time,” he smiled.

“It’s not that late anyway,” Y/N mumbled, but grinned back. They enjoyed teasing each other, no one was offended there. However, when Ashton’s phone ringed, the girl got slightly upset. Who could call him at twelve p.m.?

“Oh, sorry, I gotta take this,” Ash stood up. “It’s Cassy, I’ll be in a minute.”

“Cassy? Not sure if I know who it is.”

“My girlfriend,” the guy said it so easily as if he just announced the weather forecast for tomorrow. “Oh, shit, I forgot! I met her in a bar a week ago, didn’t I tell you? I’ll be back,” Ash rushed up to the living room.

Y/N’s heart dropped, and a smile was wiped from her face completely. A girlfriend then? Who he met just a week ago? That was new. At that moment the girl started to feel uncomfortable for asking him to come over to help. Perhaps, she wasn’t allowed to do so any longer, as he was in damn relationship. And what kind of friends they were, if Ashton didn’t even tell her such news?

“Sorry,” Ash smiled, coming back to the kitchen quite quickly. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Y/N smiled back, making a sip from her glass. “Listen, I didn’t know you were dating someone, I’m sorry I called you–“

“What? No-no, what are you talking about?” he outraged softly. “I told you, you can call whenever you need me.”

“I don’t think it’s right anymore, you have a girlfriend, Ash, you shouldn’t be at my place,” she shook a head, struggling to hide how upset she was. Well, the girl tried, but all her strength was as if drained by the recent news.

“Y/N, we are friends,” Ashton stared at her eyes with his grass green. The phrase was so simple, and yet it hurt so much. The truth was painful. “So, it doesn’t matter. I still can come over and can stay at your place tonight,” he smiled cheerfully, but the girl shook a head again.

“No, I think you should spend the night at your place. It’s not that far from here anyway,” the girl whispered and emptied her glass.

Maybe she wasn’t right. Maybe it was stupid to behave like that and demand Ashton to come back to his place. Y/N wasn’t exactly sad he got a girlfriend – after all, that happened before, too – she was just upset Ash didn’t tell her right away. It seemed he didn’t even plan to. If not the call, who knew for how long the girl would stay oblivious? 

"You can’t skip my birthday party, Y/N," Calum mumbled, sitting on a couch in a music studio the other day. Y/N was sitting next to him, resting a head on a back of the couch. When the girl confessed that she probably wouldn’t be able to attend the party, Cal didn’t even look surprised – it was just out of discussion, she was coming. So, the musician kept his eyes on a phone screen, trying to complete a level in some silly game. "What’s the matter anyway? You don’t want to get me a present, do you?" he chuckled, joking. 

"It’s not that," Y/N sighed and turned her head towards the friend. Ashton wasn’t in the studio that day, and being honest, it was for the best, as their relationship wasn’t great since the guy announced he had a girlfriend. They didn’t talk about it, pretended they were fine, but hung out less – never alone, only with the rest of the band. It was hard to tell what was in Ashton’s mind, and why he just couldn’t tell the truth from the beginning. It had been three weeks, and they still didn’t figure it out. Y/N felt extremely stupid, she needed to let the things go, it wasn’t a big deal anyway. She just couldn’t understand why it still bothered her so much. And was his new girlfriend that special that he didn’t want to introduce to her? It was ridiculous.

"What is it then?" Calum stayed calm, his voice sounded even slightly indifferent, however, Y/N knew he cared. 

The girl hesitated, feeling rather unsure if she needed to raise that topic. Although she was the one who started it, saying she wouldn’t be at Calum’s party, so perhaps, there was no way out.

"Is Ashton’s girlfriend gonna be there?"

"Why would she be there?" Cal finally put the phone away. He was quite amused by the question.

"Well, cause she’s his girlfriend," Y/N chuckled, finding his answer quite annoying.

Calum turned his full body towards the girl and stared at her.

"Wait… He didn’t tell you? They have a contract, it’s a PR relationship."

"What?…" Y/N gasped. When did they end up in that stage of their friendship where Ash stopped telling her anything about his life? The girl felt ashamed. She certainly didn’t enjoy looking stupid in front of Cal, however, the guy knew much more than both of his delusional friends did. 

After being angry for a while, Y/N came to conclusion that she needed to stop thinking about Ashton that much. Clearly, he didn’t care about her or their friendship anymore, so why should she? It all felt quite childish, but the girl was sure that the main kid in their situation was Ash. Even when it was her, who ended up dancing with different guys up all night at Calum’s birthday party, ignoring the friend completely.

"She drives me insane," he growled, staring at Y/N, who was cuddling a random dude and moving her hips to the tempo of music. How wasn’t she still tired?

"To be fair, you did lie about your relationship," Calum chuckled, glancing at the mutual friend and making a sip from his glass.

"I had my reasons," Ash mumbled annoyingly, not being able to take the eyes off her even for a slight second.

"And she has her own," Michael commented, resting a hand on the friend’s shoulder. However, Ash shook it off rashly and hurried up to approach Y/N, when noticed the "dude’s" palm going down her waist.

"Don’t do anything stupid!" Luke begged, but Ashton didn’t hear him.

"Hey, Y/N, I need to talk to you," his whole body was tense. The musician wasn’t looking at the guy and was only staring at Y/N’s eyes.

"We kinda busy, man," the stranger made a step forward, and Ashton placed the hand on his chest quickly, pushing the cause of his bad mood aside. Ash grabbed Y/N’s wrist gently, but persistently, and pulled her from one room to another, where no one could bother them. 

Calum moved to that apartment just recently, so some places were still on renovation, just like the guest room they appeared in. It was almost empty except for few old closets and kitchen counters, which, apparently, were left by the previous owners. It smelled like dust and damp, nothing pleasant. 

"What the hell?" Y/N outraged, once Ashton shut the door behind them. "I was having a good time!"

"Yeah? Well, I had a shitty time!" the guy snapped at her and touched his face with a palm, standing in front of Y/N. "Shit, I… What the hell is going on, really? You’re ignoring me, hanging out with some pricks instead!"

"You don’t answer my questions, why should I answer yours?!" 

"I got jealous, alright?!" Ash spilled out before thinking, and his voice became softer immediately. "And I know, I’m not allowed to be jealous, you aren’t even mine."

The phrase was absurd to Y/N. Wasn’t he the one who had a girlfriend? It didn’t already matter if it was a fake one. The girl set on a counter that was covered with some plastic tape, and shook her head.

"I gave you space, so you could enjoy your relationship, which, by the way, you didn’t even tell me about."

"Fuck," Ashton sighed heavily and touched both Y/N’s hands. "I’m sorry, alright? I just… didn’t want to tell you. Don’t you remember how you reacted that night? You didn’t even allow me to stay at your place!"

"I didn’t allow you, because you hid from me the fact you got a girlfriend at first place!" she outraged and broke the touch. "I don’t care if you have a girlfriend or not, if it’s PR or not, I just want you to be honest with me!"

"Do you? Are you really so indifferent about me having a girlfriend?" unlike Y/N’s, Ashton’s voice was calm.

The girl shoved him in the shoulder and made an attempt to jump off the counter, but her legs happened to be pressed against Ashton’s.

"Answer me," he demanded and touched her palm again.

"Yes, I don’t care," Y/N replied coldly, watching him bending down and leaving small kisses on her fingers. It became hot all of a sudden, and a heart started its race away from the feelings. It was too late to run, though. 

"You’re lying to me," Ash took her second hand and left the kisses on the fingers again.

"I learnt from the best," the girl smirked, but the corners of the lips twitched, when the musician placed his palm on her knee.

"I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t want to upset you. Do you think I’m so happy about having this fake relationship?" the green eyes pierced hers, while the hand moved from the knee up. He had no shame. 

"I wasn’t upset."

"Stop lying to me," he whispered and brought his face close to hers.

"What are you doing?" the girl didn’t breathe. Y/N also wanted to speak less, being scared to gasp accidentally due to everything what she was experiencing at that moment.

"Proving that you’re wrong," his lips almost touched hers, and the hand was under the skirt, when the girl gathered the remnants of self-control and placed a palm on his lips. 

"Fake one or not, but you have a girlfriend. And these lips that… I maybe dreamt about at nights are kissing someone else," Y/N whispered, looking at her own hand. "I’m not doing this," she looked up at Ash. His pupils were dilated by all the emotions that were rushing through his veins. He wanted nothing but her, to hold Y/N in his arms and to kiss her lips, not… someone else’s.

"I’m sorry," Ashton whispered. "I signed the contract. You know how important the job is for me," his voice was trembling a little, as if he wasn’t sure about his own words.

"No one can force you to do that. Others don’t do it," Y/N was speaking the truth. "And I’m not asking you to cancel the contract because of me. You know I’m not like that," she smirked and took away the hand from his lips, once Ashton stepped back. "Even when I found out you had a girlfriend, you didn’t tell the whole truth. Why?"

Ash smirked and shook his head, looking away.

"It’s stupid."

"The whole situation is stupid, Ashton," Y/N chuckled coldly and jumped off the counter. "So tell me. Why didn’t you tell me it was all fake from the beginning?" she was looking at his eyes, but the guy didn’t look back.

"I wanted to see your reaction."

"Are you satisfied?"

"Y/N…"

"You’re just unbelievable," the girl rolled the eyes and headed to leave the room, but Ash caught her by the waist. "Let me go. I really don’t want to see you now," she tried to hold back the tears.

"Like it or not, I am not leaving you. If you want to go, I’ll go with you," he touched her chin, so Y/N could glance at his eyes. "I know I fucked up. But we’ve been friends for a while, Y/N. And I needed to know…"

"You could just ask me," the girl interrupted. "Do you really think I’d say I didn’t like you?"

Ash laughed shortly and turned his head away.

"What’s so funny?" she outraged.

"What’s funny?" Ash asked and returned his gaze back at Y/N. "I’ve been making hints here and there, and you never reacted!"

"Wait… You’ve been flirting with me?"

"For the past year, but thanks for noticing," Ashton shook his head. "You’re so annoying."

"Well, it’s only your fault it wasn’t clear," Y/N allowed herself a small smile.

"Oh, it’s my fault?!"

"Yes," she giggled.

"Come here," Ash chuckled and began to tickle her sides. "My fault then, huh?"

"Stop!" the girl laughed.

The musician smiled and pressed her head against a shoulder, then hugged Y/N tight.

"I’m sorry, Y/N. I know it was stupid. But… Is there a chance that you’re not too mad at me, and we can go on a date any time soon? I’ll cancel the contract…"

"I’ll think about it."

"You’ll think?!"

The laughter rang out behind the door of the old guest room again. Ashton was not going to let her leave his arms that night, although Y/N wasn’t planning to. They both knew that the hardest part was just ahead, but maybe they could go through it together. After all, there was a chance that the girl was simply mistaken, and they didn’t need to lose each other. To take the risk and actually be together was worth it all. 

taglist: @dgrangaa, @gracieboogirl

– gif and photo aren’t mine and belong to the rightful owner – 

© writersdare | all rights reserved

All stories are original and written by me. Do not copy, trace and post anywhere without permission and credit. The stories are fictional, they do not correspond to reality and written just for fun ♡

Masterlist | Taglist

[irwinsblender]

pride month

a/n: wrote this short little pride fic as pride month has now started!! i found these two pics of ash with kind of bi lighting which fits with the story!

pairing: ashton x reader

summary: pride month has started and as you feel more comfortable, you decide it’s the perfect time to come out to ashton

warnings: mentions of homophobia

word count: 1.2k

✩ ✩ ✩

since you were a teenager, you always knew you weren’t like your friends. they had boyfriends, and they did only ever date guys.

you knew you were different from most people you’d seen in movies or tv shows. you didn’t want to only date guys. sure, you had a boyfriend as of right now, but wow did you love women.

when you were sixteen, you came out as bisexual to your friends. they accepted you, until word spread and suddenly the hurtful jokes began and you realised your friends weren’t as kind as you originally thought.

you came out to your parents about a year later, telling them you liked girls as well as guys. your parents didn’t have much to say about it. told you that you were being influenced by the media rather than having a mind of your own.

since then, you didn’t come out to anyone else. not your new friends now you’re a little older, not even your boyfriend knew about it.

you’d been dating drummer and singer, ashton irwin, for a couple of years now. things had been going great. he was caring, supported your interests and different things you did. there would be no reason for him not to accept your sexuality. but, you always had doubts in your mind about it.

you’d been trying to figure out the perfect time to bring it up to him in conversation, but nothing ever worked. either you got too nervous, or the timing just wasn’t right.

until now.

a new year, new month. june to be exact. pride month. the month that you felt most comfortable, the most yourself. you always shared support online to anyone out there the same as you, you were surprised ashton hadn’t figured it out by now.

where you lived, every year there was a fun pride festival lots of people attended. you would never go, either because you were both busy, or because you never got around to asking.

this year may be the first time you had enough courage to ask though. deciding you'd bring it up once he was home from the studio one afternoon.

you’d been preparing yourself for this, going over in your head how you’d ask, how you’d tell him that you’re bisexual. it was hard to not worry that he’d react the same way as your old friends and family.

mid afternoon, you heard his keys in the front door, letting himself into the house as you quickly made your way out of the living room to greet him.

“hi, baby!” you smiled cheerfully. “how was your day?”

ashton pulled you in for a hug and a sweet kiss before stepping back to answer.

“it was good,” he slipped his shoes off, following you back to the living room. “got some more lyrics down with a few guitar pieces.”

“that’s great, ash, i can’t wait to hear it.”

you both sat down on the sofa, ashton could almost tell you had something on your mind. especially going by the half nervous, half excited expression on your face.

“how have you been today?” he asked you.

“i’ve been good, but, um, there’s actually something i wanted to talk to you about,” you paused, shuffling to face him slightly. “you know that pride festival that happens every year?”

he nodded.

“how would you feel about going to it this time?” you popped the nerve wracking question.

he didn’t seem to think anything of it at first, the pride events were always great in your area, super fun. everyone loved them.

“sure,” he nodded. “are we going with one of your friends?”

he was referring to a friend who had been out for a while now. most likely asking because he wonders why you’d want to go if neither of you are part of that community.

“um, no, it’s um—“ you cut yourself off, taking a breath. “i want to go, because i’m… bisexual.”

it’s quiet for a few seconds, ashton taking in what you just said. however, he didn’t seem annoyed, mad, or upset with you.

“so.. you like both?” he asked. “is this why you always go crazy every time we watch the winter soldier?”

a smile grew on his face, as it did on yours. he’d noticed before. instead of not accepting you, he’s asking questions, trying to understand.

“yea, it is,” you tucked your hair behind your ears, a few nerves still there.

“now it makes more sense why you wanna go to the pride festival,” he laughed. “how long have you known for?”

“since i was a teenager,” you fiddled with your hands, not knowing how he’d take that. “i wanted to tell you, but i was worried about how you’d react.”

hearing that you’ve known since then, something clicked in his mind, “wait, this is why you don’t speak to your parents, isn’t it?”

you nodded, sighing. you’d never told him that before, but now he knew, there was no reason not to.

“they never accepted me, told me once i was older i’d realise it’s not normal,” you paused, ashton moving closer to place his arm around your shoulders. “once i moved away from home, it was like a breath of fresh air, people we’re friends with being out, you and the guys getting involved in pride events. i felt like i belonged.”

“you like who you like,” ashton sighed. “your parents are just narrow minded, anyone who doesn’t understand are narrow minded.”

you were happy he seemed okay with all of this. although, now you’ve told him you like both men and women, you wondered if it would make things different between you.

“is this gonna make things weird?” you asked, ashton frowned at you.

“weird? why would you being bi make things weird?”

“i don’t know,” you looked down. “just because im dating you, and now you know i like girls too—“

“that doesn’t make things weird, baby,” ashton reassured. “it doesn’t change anything between us.”

“you’re sure?”

“at the end of the day, you’re still you,” he cupped your cheek in his hand, caressing his thumb back and forth. “you’re still the same person i’ve known for these past few years, the only difference is that you’ve told me now.”

you smiled, leaning up for a soft kiss. you didn’t know what you did to deserve someone like ashton, but this whole conversation went way better than any scenarios you’d thought up in your own mind. not only does he accept you as you are, he’s acting like it’s not even surprising to him.

“i love you, you know that?” you wrapped your arms around his torso, hugging yourself closer to him.

“i love you so much more, my love,” ashton kissed your forehead. “now we should definitely talk more about this festival, or we can watch—“

“the winter soldier!” you excitedly finish his sentence.

“and please don’t hesitate on talking about any of the characters, or actors,” ashton says. “now you can talk about this stuff as openly as you’d like.”

“you’re the best,” you happily sighed. “thank you for making me feel so… comfortable.”

ashton hugs you tighter, knowing how much this must mean to you, “you’re with better people now,” he rubs his hands up and down your back. “you don’t need to hide anything anymore.”

with that, you felt yourself become slightly emotional. after the way you were treated from your parents and old friends, this is exactly what you’d hoped for and you couldn’t be happier to have ashton in your life.

✩ ✩ ✩

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